Man these just get harder and harder. Thanks for reading, guys. I sure appreciate it. And thank you for reviewing, Reviewers. You rock.
Chapter Thirty-One...
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
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Day Three.
My gums are bleeding.
Day Three because it is indeed day-time. The first light I saw--the one that vanished before my eyes--that was the sunlight, the setting sun. And then there was yesterday with the sunrise I recorded, and then today. The third day. It feels good to write that. Day Three.
The measurement is comforting. I know we are as lost as Daccat's horde, but now we have the sun. And a Moon, and the stars, and their light. And I count us as lucky for having them. It makes me feel... not quite so lost. Now when I hold up Shanda's ring, it sparkles and gleams as it used to. Like the first time Haley showed it to me.
It makes me happy to see it shine again.
We spent most of yesterday resting under the blankets. The light was just too strong; we couldn't stand it after so long in the dark. It's easier today, looking around. And the view we have is... stunning, if nothing else. But I am stunned enough with being able to see at all. To have a proper horizon, a hundred leagues from end to end. No more fog.
We moved to a higher spot on this ridge today. I don't think--
I don't think we'll move again.
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I'm not afraid anymore.
We're here. As high as we can be. No moss, no fish. Just us, and that's all. Nothing left to do, and that's fine. We're both tired and terribly parched, and a day without climbing is most welcome. It's very cold, and the winds make a howling and a moaning, but I do enjoy the rest.
As for where we are... I just can't say. We've reached the top of our mountain. And that's all it turns out to be. A mountain. Odd enough, a mountain from Deep Sky. But it also has a gigantic depression in the middle. It's very deep and almost a mile across. I've never seen anything like it, and it doesn't line up with any geology I've ever read about. It looks like some kind of crater. Like something left by a giant moonstone impact. Almost.
But I don't think that's what did it. We're on the southern brim of this one, and to the south and west of us there are six more of these mountains. The nearest one looks about four or five miles away. There is one far beyond that one, just to the left, that looks to be the farthest. A few leagues maybe, I don't know.
But they are all roughly flattish on top, like this one. I can only assume they each have the same depression on top. The scene they present is... bizarre. Stunning. Mountains coming up through the cloud sea like giant ant-hills. It's almost... spooky. It makes me feel very small. It's a big world. Wonders that render all aforecollected knowledge useless.
I'm in a strange place.
Greys and I looked at the stars and Moon last night. There were thin layers of whispy cloud above us that made it difficult, but judging by what we were able to observe, we think we're still near the Valuan Rift, far to the west of Isla de Faro. Same as when the pirates attacked us.
He went on speculating about the rift, and the trade winds, and the traffic this area might have. It bothered me, I don't know why.
Greys... I can't begrudge his intolerable... mechanical... practicalities. He is human too. He's... Moons, I have no right to think ill of him in the least.
I felt like death when he said--it was when he woke up, and I was gone? He thought I'd fallen down the slope, either accidentally or... otherwise. I don't know what I was thinking when I left. Maybe I'll never know. But I'm all right now, we're both all right. Maybe I was mad for a time, but Greys has kept me here, kept my head clear.
He's kept me alive. He has saved me.
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It makes me shudder at my own frailty. My own weakness.
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Part of me hopes it's just the chill of the wind. I do feel a little shivery. And very tired. But I'm all right. But Greys doesn't want me doing anything at all. He wants me to rest.
I daresay writing is restful enough.
But... I am tired. Nothing more to write about for now anyway.
Dearest family, know I love you, as ever and always.
Alexandro