The base of the rise wasn't quite sheer, but it was near enough to appear that way. All around the base were stones, starting slowly at first but quickly piling up from where they'd fallen from above. After a couple hundred feet though it went back to the pine forest, clearly marking the barrier between the two regions.

“Well, that doesn't look climbable,” Chien pointed out.

“Not easily at least,” I agreed.

We'd managed to spot a waterfall as we got closer and having no other location to choose from headed towards it. I had questions about what it was doing while it was up there, where the water was coming from, and all manner of other things, but those could wait. Right now we needed to figure out how to ascend this thing, and it didn't appear to want to cooperate.

The water crashed down, hitting a few spots that might have been capable of holding us, except for the falling fluid, and probably slick as they could be. Most of the water of course was being turned into mist before it hit the ground, forming a sort of cloud, but there was at least some that formed a small lake at the base of it all, before continuing on in a little stream.

“Those rocks look odd, like they don't belong,” Isha said, pointing at a line of stones, each about the height of one of us. I had to agree, they were off, like their color was different.

“Let's see where they go then; maybe we weren't the first ones here,” I said with a shrug, it was better than any of the ideas I currently had.

The stones meandered up to the side of the waterfall, and then slowly made their way behind it, revealing a small cave, and hidden within the mist a steep stair. Things like this weren't common, but neither were they unheard of. Elves lived long lives, and those who traveled often had the power to change the landscape, even if they didn't feel like leaving large signs they might want a way to come back and forth. The hidden safe-house was wet, but with some effort one could make a fire and have shelter from wind or night and the stair would lead the way up. These could be hundreds or even thousands of years old.

Of course this little spot was a natural place for a rest. It was visible, so anyone trying to travel this route would have no issues finding it, and it had plenty of water for washing or drinking. Food would be sparse, as the pool had little other than tiny fish and some plants, but that wasn't that big a deal in the grand scheme of things.

Chien checked the cave while I made my way to the stairs. The craftsmanship was unimpressive. They were uneven, oddly shaped, and tall, but they would serve. Interestingly someone had taken the time to score the surfaces deeply, meaning that at least traction wouldn't be an issue.

“Find anything?” I asked as he returned.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

“Whoever used it hasn't been here in awhile. There was a barrier a few steps in to keep animals out, and you can see where the fire-pit is, but beyond that there's nothing of note. Doubt anyone leaves things in there.”

“Stairs are rough, I'm betting they just let the rock break where it would,” I mused, running my hand over one. “Let's stay the night, and in the morning we'll head up.”

“Achoo!” came the small sneeze behind me, and I saw Isha rubbing her nose. “Good, something about this place is bugging me,” she said.

The next morning we slowly cleaned up our camp. There was no great hurry, and so we slept in a bit, finally having a sheltered spot to do so. Even the noise from the waterfall was peaceful, repetitive, and calming as it splashed into the pool.

“I'm going to go wash,” Isha declared the next morning. “Who knows when we'll get another chance.” She had a valid point there too.

I gave her a smile and she flicked my ear before turning to leave. Perhaps in a bit I could join her...

Before I got the camp fully ready she came back, dripping wet and having clearly hurried to get her clothes on. Chien and I were still going through some of our things, repacking and readying for the ascent.

“Justin, something's happening,” she said, slightly alarmed.

We followed her outside to see what she was talking about and I saw it, the wind. Everywhere the wind was beginning to be tainted, stained with the yellow I'd so much feared just a day or two ago. It was late enough that the forest had dried from the dew and now that the wind was picking up it was releasing its sneeze-inducing load everywhere.

“What is that!?” Chien asked, having never experienced pines before.

“A headache, we need to climb.”

Our female companion was already beginning to sneeze, making cute little noises are her nose tried to rid itself of the invaders. I too could feel it coming on, and had no desire to be here when it arrived in full force, so we quickly gathered up our supplies and began the ascent.

Chien was leading, while I brought up the rear, making sure Isha didn't slip in her intermittent sneezing fits. Both Chien and I had stayed at the cave, protected a bit by the falling mist from the allergen while she'd gone right into the brewing storm. Her desire to be clean driving her right into the itching, snot-producing clouds.

An hour or two in and we found a spot to rest, a little place where a section of the plateau had shorn away, leaving a flat spot on the cliff. The stairs we were using were almost hidden, hard to make out on the rock from the ground, particularly against the plain backdrop. The climb was, in one word, awful. My legs were burning from the odd, uneven movements, and the other two looked much the same.

Below us though the clouds of pollen roiled in the breeze, the haze drifting along between trees in the circle of life. It looked almost like smog, or fog, rolling over the landscape, safe for the color.

“Is that stuff dangerous?” Chien asked.

“Just makes your face stuffy and gross,” I informed him, pointing to Isha, who was undergoing the symptoms right now. She must have been particularly sensitive to it.

“What is it?” she asked, having never seen pollen like this before.

“You know how when your with someone and they... you know, and it's a mess?” She looked at me like I was asking stupid questions, certainly she did, we did that all the time. “It's like that, for trees.”

“I breathed in tree goop?” she asked. Interestingly, in our tongue semen was not always addressed as 'seed' as it was in English, instead most of the more impolite words focused on the consistency.

“Basically.” I heard Chien begin to cackle and realized too late that I really should have held that explanation back.

She let her eyes darken just a bit. “We will never speak of this again,” she informed us.

“Haha, feeling unhappy Isha?” Chien teased.

“You know we were all in that right Chien? Everyone got a dose, even if Isha got the worst of it.”

That put a damper on him quick, something which our female member took advantage of.

“What Chien, don't want to imagine yourself covered in tree goo?” she asked, smiling.

“And here I thought we weren't talking about this again,” he grumbled, before standing and making for the next set of stairs.

“Oh? Are you sure? I don't think I mind nearly as much as you seem to.”

Exercising all of my composure, I stayed out of it. It didn't bother me too much anyway, back in my first life this was an almost yearly occurrence.