Chapter 11

Riley stirred, listening to the soft bubble of the river. For the first time in weeks, his body didn't feel exhausted or weighed down. His eyelids fluttered. He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt this refreshed! Unfortunately, his moment of bliss didn't last more than half a second before his eyes snapped shut again. A confused groan escaped his lips as he was blinded by the intense sunlight beating down on the other side of the tent's fabric. Cracking his eyes tentatively, Riley slowly let his surroundings come into focus. It was already light out, well past sunrise by the looks of it. It was a pleasant surprise, waking up on his own. Definitely not something he was accustomed to when he was hanging around Ben. Riley scanned the tent, only now realizing that it was empty. Where was Ben? It wasn't that he was particularly concerned by his absence; Ben was an early riser. The fact that he'd let Riley sleep in was strange though. Most nights Ben would be pestering him with new information at all hours, constantly keeping him up to date when all he really needed was a nap and a quick update in the morning.

Sitting up, Riley winced, the persistent throb of a fading headache lingering in his temples. Raising a hand in hopes of somehow soothing the ache, he noticed that his palm was smeared with dirt and mud. What the...? He sucked in a sharp breath as his memory came flooding back. Every last excruciating detail from the night before was restored in an instant. He pressed his palms deep into his eye sockets. Great. Not only had he managed to let loose a storm of misplaced frustrations, he'd freaked out and made himself look like an even bigger idiot. Scrambling to his feet, Riley quickly changed into a fresh pair of pants and a clean shirt before exiting the tent to salvage what little dignity he had left.

Unfortunately, he didn't have much time to gather his thoughts; he found Ben sitting against the trunk of a tree just off to the side munching on a protein bar. He was so immersed in the map spread out in front of him, he'd probably been sitting there for hours without even realizing it. The fire was put out and everything but the tent was just about packed. He was all ready to go, had been for awhile if the small pile of empty wrappers was any indication. But he still let me sleep...

Ben looked up as Riley approached, taking in his friend's somewhat disheveled appearance. "How are you feeling?"

"Like crap."

Ben grunted and started to fold up the papers. "There was a good amount of rainfall south of here the other night. A majority of the paths we were going to take are probably flooded out and the ones that aren't are most likely unstable and prone to landslides. It took a while, but I've found a way around everything. It'll put us anywhere from one to two and a half hours behind schedule, so we should probably get moving."

Nodding in agreement, Riley anxiously shifted from one foot to the other. It was now or never. "Look, about last night..." Riley scratched the back of his head, embarrassment forcing his gaze to the dirt. "Uh, thanks," he finished lamely. He wasn't very good with prepared speeches, he was more of an 'in the moment' kind of guy, and that was the best he could come up with.

"Don't mention it." There was a long, awkward pause as Ben looked up into the trees, and for a moment it seemed that he was just going to leave it to that. Then he turned to face him with a long sigh. "You know, you can talk to me if something's bothering you." Riley started to argue but Ben cut him off by throwing his hands up defensively. "I'm just saying. I'm always here if you need me." He desperately searched Riley's face as he tried to bridge the gap that had somehow grown between them, willing him to understand.

For awhile it was silent and Ben's shoulders sagged. Finally Riley whispered, "Yeah, I know."

And Ben believed him.

"You have got to be kidding."

Riley looked up the raging current as water came crashing down the cliff face in front of them. A waterfall. "You're joking, right? Please tell me you're joking." Why couldn't the village be hidden somewhere normal, like in a valley or a clearing? Was that too much to ask?

"The entrance is supposed to be behind it somewhere..." Ben trailed off, disappearing behind the curtain of water in blatant disregard of Riley's protests. Giving the screen of water one last calculating look, Riley eyed it critically before he followed. He definitely didn't like where this was going.

Ben craned his neck as he scanned the rock face. After a few seconds his hand shot out, pointing somewhere halfway up. "There!"

Riley followed his line of sight. At first glance, he couldn't see anything but rock. However, upon closer inspection he noticed a slight abnormality, a portion jutting out further than the rest of the wall. It was also an easy fifty feet off the ground, and there was no way-

"The path leading up to it must have eroded decades ago," Ben offered, nodding towards a thin, snake-like line of rock not even a foot wide; in some areas it disappeared altogether!

"Kind of anticlimactic, but oh well," Riley shrugged. "Last time I checked, we didn't pack any form of mountain climbing equipment, so..."

"We'll just have to do it the old-fashioned way," Ben finished. At first Riley thought that he had misheard him, a very real possibility considering the intense crashing of water behind them, but Ben was already staring up the cliff, gauging how high up they would have to climb and formulating their plan of attack. Catching the look on Riley's face, he spread his arms out wide, gesturing all around him. "It's perfectly safe."

"Perfectly-? Are you out of your mind?! In what universe does any part of this translate to 'perfectly safe'?" But the moment he looked into Ben's eyes, Riley knew he had already lost the argument. There was not a speck of fear, not a flicker of doubt in their depths. Ben had complete and utter confidence in their ability to get the job done. A thought process that lacked any form of logic and was completely irrational, and yet Riley chose to follow him all the same.

"Okay, so maybe it's not perfectly safe," Ben yeilded. "But it's the only way up there." Slipping both the journal and a small flashlight into his jacket pocket, Ben left the rest of his gear behind as he gripped two handholds and began his ascent. Riley, safely at ground level, watched him anxiously with the knowledge that he would in no way be able to catch him if he fell. Ben wasn't more than a few meters up before he called back down, "Unless you aren't up for it!"

Riley knew he was baiting him, and while the very thought of how high he would have to climb made his stomach churn, the jab still lit a fire deep inside of him and before he knew it, he'd taken the bait. Ignoring everything the rational part of his brain was screaming at him, Riley snatched up his own flashlight and scrambled right up after him; a decision he came to regret not even five minutes into their ascent.

The roar of the water was deafening and the mist was already starting to plaster his hair to his head. It was a good thing he was wearing his contacts, or he wouldn't be able to see a thing. Not only that, it also made the cool surface of the wall slick. Every time he reached up for the next handhold, he felt his foot sliding across the surface. At one point his foot slipped from the tight niche it was wedged in completely. If not for the steady grip his hands had already established, he would have been splattered at the bottom of the cliff.

Riley sent a nervous glance back down and tensed, feeling the knots in his stomach tighten. "Uh, Ben? Remember when I told you that I wasn't afraid of heights?" His head started to spin.

"Hey, I'm right here with you." Ben was a few meters ahead and had almost reached the lip if the entrance. Pausing momentarily, he bent his head down and cast a reassuring smile in Riley's direction. "You're not going to fall with me around."

"That's all well and good, but considering the fact that you're above me, I fail to see how you would be of any help."

"You worry too much," Ben grunted as he hauled himself up. After brushing himself off, he waited patiently for Riley to catch up.

It seemed like an eternity, but after proceeding at a snail's pace to insure his survival, Riley finally managed to reach the mouth of the cave.

"Let's go." Turning on his flashlight, Ben started down the tunnel.

"Yeah, I'm right behi-" Before he could finish, the rock beneath his foot crumbled. Losing his balance, Riley's arms pin wheeled as he stumbled backwards. His head swam as the last images from his nightmare flashed through his mind. Clinging to the weak and rotting wood. Holding on for dear life as his friends deserted him, leaving him to plummet into the darkness.

He was jarred back to reality by the feeling of a hand clamping down firmly around his wrist. The next thing Riley knew, he was being pulled sharply back over the edge. Slamming into Ben's chest, they were both knocked off their feet and landed in a heap of tangled limbs, not moving for a several seconds.

Finally Ben looked at him. "See? Perfectly safe."