Watersmeet (16 page)

Then he joined Abisina in the sun and they began to climb. They picked their way up the treacherous rock slides, working toward the saddle between Mounts Sumus and Arduus. After hours of the uncertain footing, steep incline, heat radiating from the rocks, and Haret’s increasing nervousness, Abisina doubted what had seemed so certain before. She could see no sign that anyone had ever come this way or of a pass between the two mountains. They crested a rise, and a precipitous cliff blocked their way like a wall. The cliff’s face, striated with white, black, and gray ribbons of rock, glittered in the light.
How will we get up that?
she wondered, with a glance back at Haret’s anxious face.
But we have to
, she told herself and kept climbing.

The field of boulders leading up to the cliff looked deceptively small. Abisina expected to reach the base of the cliff in an hour—two at the most—but the sun was well past noon and still they toiled over, around, and between huge boulders worn smooth by wind and storms. At every footfall, rocks rasped at Abisina’s toes and wobbled under her boots. Her right foot ached terribly. Twice she fell hard, and Haret fared little better. Though more comfortable moving among rocks, he couldn’t take his eyes off the cliff towering ahead.

They rested in silence in the long shadow of one of the boulders. They’d already had some water, munched some of the wilted greens, and should have been back on their feet, but neither moved. Absentmindedly mimicking a gesture she’d seen Sina make countless times, Abisina reached for her throat and pulled out the necklace, running her fingers along the strands of cool metal. “We should keep on,” she said with forced conviction.

“Hmm,” Haret murmured, eyes closed.

With effort, Abisina stood up and then bent down to pick up her bag and water skin. As she did, the necklace fell forward, catching the light of the sun. She was about to hide it from Haret when she saw before her—winding among the boulders—a narrow, gravelly path. It was barely discernable but for tiny bits of mica that reflected the light of Sina’s necklace. She took a few steps, pausing before she rounded the next corner. The path continued. It wound and winked around the next boulder, and when she ran to where it turned—Haret yelling behind her—she saw it leading on.

The pass! She’d found it!

She raced back to Haret, who stood bewildered where she had left him.

“Haret, it’s right here! It’s been here all the time.”

“Put it away!” he cried, pointing a shaking finger at the necklace.

“But that’s what is doing it! Look!” She pointed to the sparkling stones at her feet. “Can’t you see it? It comes from the necklace. Watch!” Abisina tucked the necklace into her shirt, and the path disappeared; she yanked it out, and the path shimmered to life again. “See?”

Haret looked at her suspiciously. “What are you up to, human?”

“Haret, it’s right there! You don’t see it?”

“I see nothing. And I told you, put the necklace away!”

“Well, I see it,” Abisina asserted, her excitement undiminished. “Just follow me. I’ll lead you.”

Haret’s frown deepened.

“What is it, dwarf?” Abisina asked, imitating Haret’s gruff voice. “Don’t like to be led by a human?”

Haret took a step toward her. She slid a few more steps along the path.

“Human,” Haret rumbled, but he followed. Abisina leapt on ahead. Haret followed once again but cried out at Abisina’s retreating figure, “Not so fast!”

It was all Abisina could do to keep from laughing.

They made steady progress after that, Haret getting more and more comfortable following an invisible path. By late afternoon, they had reached the cliff. The path snaked back and forth across its sheer face, rising higher and higher. But from the bottom, the shining line looked thin, feeble; could they really climb it without tumbling off? She held the necklace for a moment. “It’s worked so far,” she whispered and took a few steps onto the narrow path.

“Are you crazy?” Haret’s face turned a sickly shade of gray. “You plan to climb that?” He stabbed a finger toward the top of the cliff.

Abisina backed off the path and returned to Haret. “The path is clear all the way up.”

But Haret was having none of it. He crossed his arms and said flatly, “I will not go up that.”

Abisina looked toward the cliff in desperation. The sun was sliding down the sky. The path already shone with an orange tinge; with the fall of night, it would be gone.

She tried again. “Haret,” she coaxed, “we can do it.”

Silence.

“Come on, you stubborn dwarf! Are you going to stand there like a stone until—until what? You practically killed me those first few days out, but now that you have to face something hard, you refuse?” She realized she was yelling.

With glacial slowness, Haret faced Abisina and spat through clenched teeth, “I—am—afraid—of—heights!”

“What?”

“You heard me, human. Don’t make me say it again.” Haret’s ears reddened.

Abisina fought the urge to smile and raised a sober face to Haret. “We have to go up. What else can we do?”

“I don’t know,” said Haret, dropping his crossed arms helplessly.

“Would it help if you could see the path?”

“Maybe.”

“Then try the necklace,” Abisina offered, pulling it over her head.

“No!” Haret took a step away, even as his hand reached for it, twitching with desire.

“Go ahead. Take it,” Abisina urged. “I know you’ll give it back.”

Haret licked his dry lips. “You trust me?”

“Yes.” Abisina sounded surer than she felt.

Haret snatched the necklace and threw it over his head. As the pendant came to rest on his chest, he sighed deeply and stared down at it.

“Well, do you see it?” Abisina asked.

Haret started as if he’d forgotten she was there.

“The path, Haret. Do you see it?”

“Oh.” Struggling, he squinted toward the cliff. “I see
something
. It’s faint.”

Abisina could see nothing but sheer cliffs now, and her stomach lurched. “Faint? It was there a moment ago.”

“Well, it’s faint,” Haret snapped as he stared again at the necklace.

“Let me try again.” Abisina held out her hand, but Haret shrank back, curling protectively around the necklace.

“Haret!” Abisina spoke sharply, and he blinked a few times. “Let me try the necklace.”

Haret’s eyes flamed, and then, as if a candle had been snuffed out, they dulled. His shoulders slumped as he fumbled at his throat and took off the necklace with trembling hands.

Abisina slipped it back on, and it settled over her heart. The pathway sprang to life, redder now, but clearly defined. “It’s bright, Haret. I can see it as easily as I can see you.”

“It’s
your
necklace,” he said morosely. “The power resides in you.”

“Power?” Abisina repeated vaguely, studying their path.

“The necklace belongs to you, human. It sought you out. I’ve known since you told me about the snow and wind at the altar. That was the necklace, too.”

“At the altar?” He had her attention now.

“The wind blew the ash away—so you could find the necklace. The snow prevented pursuit. This path is the same. You’re meant to go to Watersmeet. But the necklace’s power—it works only for you.”

“But it was my mother’s—and my father’s before that. It really isn’t mine.”

Haret shrugged. “It is now. Come on, human. Let’s get going. I’ll walk with my hands on your shoulders.”

Abisina couldn’t imagine how Haret made it up the cliff essentially blind. The path in front of her ran into long, narrow switchbacks chiseled into the cliff face, and each step terrified her more. At times, the ledge was so narrow they had to sidle along it; any misstep on the loose gravel threatened to send them both over the edge. Haret’s hands were like iron on her shoulders. She learned early the mistake of looking down—her head spinning at the sight of the jagged rocks below—and the terror of looking up—feeling as if the wall above her were tumbling down. She kept her eyes locked a few feet ahead on the path and thought only about putting one foot in front of the other.

The sun was sinking fast now, the night chill already biting at her hands and ears. Abisina knew they would not make the top of the cliff by sundown, but they had come too far to turn back. As the path faded from orange to red to gray, her thoughts raced:
What will we do when the sun sets? There has to be a wider spot here somewhere, a place where we can sit safely until the moon rises.
But when the sun dipped below the edge of the horizon and the path snuffed out, they were at a place as narrow as any they had yet encountered.

Abisina stopped.

“What?” Haret croaked behind her.

“Sun’s down,” she said. “I can’t see the path. We can’t go on.”

“We have to stay here? All night?”

“Just till moonrise,” Abisina said as lightly as possible. “And we’ll have to stand. There’s no room for us to sit down.”

Haret knew as well as she did that the moon would not rise until after midnight. A low moan escaped his lips.

Time crept by as Abisina and Haret waited for the moon. The warm rocks at their back provided a little warmth but, even in early summer, nights at this elevation were cold and Abisina’s muscles soon cramped. She tried to talk to Haret; he could barely utter a word. Exhaustion overtook her, but trickles of falling rock brought images of rock slides and avalanches, and once she nearly screamed as a puff of air hit her face and she sensed a large body winging by her.
It’s only an owl
, she thought. Still it took several moments before the rush of fear left her.

Worst of all, Abisina started to nod off. Without realizing she had shut her eyes, she was lost in a swirl of color—blues and purples and reds, drawing her into their midst. In the center of the maelstrom, a blond man, somehow familiar, smiled at her, his lips forming her name. Abisina started to take a step, unable to resist, though she knew that this man was dangerous.

“Human!”

Abisina jolted awake, her head slamming against the cliff behind her. Haret’s arm was across her chest. “What—I—what—?”

“You almost stepped off the cliff!” Haret panted. “I think I’m going to be sick.”

Abisina’s head pounded. The pain drove sleep and the dream from her mind. “I think I saw—” But she wouldn’t say Charach’s name.

Haret groaned in response.

Please
, she pleaded to the sky above her, to the hidden moon, to anything that might be listening.
Please help us!

And, as if hearing her call, a bit of moon did peek over the horizon, a soft beam of light reaching toward Abisina and finding her necklace. Before her feet, the path reappeared, shimmering across the face of the cliff to the next switchback.

“I can see it, Haret!” she cried. “We can keep going.”

Haret’s hands fell heavily on Abisina’s shoulders, telling her how much this climb was costing him. They groped across four more switchbacks before the path curved over the top of the cliff.

“We’re almost there!” she said. Haret’s steps dragged, as if he had stopped lifting his feet. She struggled on, legs protesting, until they crested the cliff and the path disappeared. Abisina fell forward, Haret falling on top of her like a dead weight. She crawled away from the lip of the cliff and collapsed. Haret rolled off, panting in the dark.

Abisina woke with the warmth of the sun on her face. She opened her eyes and squinted into the blue sky. Sitting up, she saw the edge of the cliff just beyond her outstretched legs. Below her, she could make out the field of boulders and the lower slopes of Sumus and Arduus, first rocky, then giving way to forest. To her left, the Obrun Mountains stretched like the backbone of a huge animal off into the brightness of the rising sun. To her right, several more peaks reached toward the Mountains Eternal. A mist rose from the foot of one of the westernmost Obruns. As the light of the sun hit the water droplets, they bent the light into two rainbows arching like bridges between the high peaks.

“Haret!” she called softly. He lay on his belly nearby, sleeping. “Haret, it’s morning.” He groaned and pushed himself up onto his elbows. He glanced at Abisina, then back at the edge of the cliff, and groaned again, dropping his head between his hands. “I’ll not soon forget last night.”

“What do you think that is?” Abisina asked, pointing toward the rainbows. Haret looked up, then buried his head back into his hands.

“Waterfall,” he said, his voice muffled. “I’ve heard stories of it. The waters of the Great River run through the Obruns. But don’t make me look again. Makes me dizzy.”

Abisina gazed toward the rising mist, enjoying the sun kissing her face, the journey up the cliff and her vision of Charach pushed to the back of her memory. Her stomach grumbled. “Breakfast,” she muttered and reached for her bag. Haret stirred, getting to his hands and knees.

“Oh, the Earth!” he cried, and the note of wonder made Abisina turn quickly.

Only fifty or sixty paces behind where they had slept, set in the notch between the upper slopes of Sumus and Arduus, a cluster of rock pinnacles pointed like bony fingers into the sky, pink in the light of the rising sun. “Those spires! What are they?” Abisina echoed Haret’s reverent tone.