“You wouldn’t know another way around would you?” Cillian asked Eliana. The two of them were staring at an unusual rock formation that blocked their ascent. The stone came up like a giant cube. To the left were cliffs that would lead to a deadly fall, and on the right was a dense forest. The massive stone cube sat on the only path up. The side that faces them was completely homogenous and flat, except for a thin corridor that cut right through the middle. The corridor would be free to walk through, but even from outside Cillian could see it is filled with small rubble that stacked up to the top of the cube.
“No. I am sorry,” Eliana said quietly.
“Are you okay?” Cillian asked. The blue woman appeared to have lost a bit of hue in her skin.
“Yes,” She gave a subtle smile.
“Okay then, if you don’t know any other ways around, then the only way is through,” Cillian paused for a moment as he eyed the cuboid stone formation. “Or, maybe over?”
Cillian dropped his pack to the ground and dug through it. He pulled out a coil of rope attached to an iron grappling hook.
“I knew I would have to do some climbing so I made sure to ask Ravel for this,” Cillian said. Eliana didn’t say anything and just cocked her head slightly.
Cillian walked to the side of the cube rock that was facing him with his rope and grappling hook.
“Well, here goes nothing,” he said as he started to swing the grappling hook in a circular fashion. He threw the grappling hook as hard as he could towards the top of the cube. To his dismay, the hook only reached up three-quarters of the wall and then came plummeting down.
Cillian coiled the rope back into his hands. He swung again and threw again. This time the hook reached higher than it did before, but not high enough to get over the top. Cillian was just now realizing the height of the stone cube.
“It’s close. I think I can get it,” Cillian spoke aloud to himself.
He swung again and threw again. But it wasn’t high enough. He tried a few more times, each throw with an audible grunt, but to no avail. He stopped finally when the hook had a near miss with his face on its way down.
Eliana let out a little giggle. Hearing it, Cillian’s face flushed red. He coiled up the rope one last time and threw it on his bag. He had worked himself into a sweat and took a moment to rest.
“Maybe I don’t need the rope,” Cillian said after a few minutes of silence.
He eyed the stone wall. For the most part, it was smooth, however, there were little cracks, crevices, bumps, and ridges scattered throughout. He looked around for an imperfection large enough to fit his toes into. After securely lodging into one, he looked for the same for his hands. The handles that he found were shallow and the rock did not provide much friction, but Cillian made up for that with an extreme degree of effort with his grip. Very slowly, and carefully, he started to move upward. Each new entry point for his hands and feet felt shallower and more slippery than the last. The accumulating sweat did not help.
All it took was one lapse of grip to send Cillian crashing down to the ground. He had not climbed very far but the fall was still painful for his behind.
“Are you okay?” Eliana said as she rushed to his side. She grabbed his hand with both of hers.
Cillian used her help to get to his feet. He rubbed his bottom and sighed.
There has to be another way.
“Okay, I guess over isn’t gonna work. Let’s try through then,” Cillian said. Eliana was still holding his hand and nodded in reply.
Cillian pulled away gently and walked into the corridor in the stone cube. The rubble pile that blocked the way extended all the way to the top of the cube and to a less precarious part of the mountain. All of a sudden Cillian felt stupid.
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Why did I try to climb this thing? Obviously, this is the right choice.
Cillian chuckled to himself and went back for his bag. He moved to the pile of loose rocks and started to walk on them. It only took a few steps for him to feel unsteady, and a few more for him to slip and fall onto his hands. The rocks were very small and smooth. They would slip and roll off each other whenever Cillian applied any pressure.
Unrelenting, Cillian attempted to crawl forward on his hands and knees. To his surprise, he gained more ground than walking did, but it wasn’t enough, and he slipped back down to where he started.
“Damn it!” he exclaimed.
Cillian rose to his feet with a jump and sprinted full force into the smooth gravel. There was no difference between this and his other attempts, and Cillian rolled back to the bottom. He spread his arms and legs out wide with his face towards the sky.
Climbing won’t work. Going up this damn pile of rocks won’t work. Am I going to fail here?
Eliana came beside him, crouched down, forming her hands into a cup, and scooped up a pile of rocks. She got up and carried the pile out of the corridor. Cillian watched as she came back to his side with her hands empty. She lifted another pile into her hands and turned to exit the corridor.
“Wait,” Cillian called out. “Eliana, what are you doing?”
“These rocks are in your way. I will move them,” She replied as she turned back to leave.
“But that would take-” Cillian stopped himself.
It could work. If we moved fast enough we could. I could fill my pack up and carry them out.
Cillian quickly dumped the contents of his bag out onto the ground and started shoveling it full of rocks. He ran with the heavy bag of rocks and dumped them outside the corridor where Eliana was dumping them.
Over the next hour, the pair had made a noticeable change in the rock pile. Cillian was still moving at a fast pace, carrying bag after bag of rocks out. Eliana, however, slowed down in her movements considerably. Cillian had noticed. He saw as her skin became paler and her breathing more shallow. Cillian wanted to make her stop, but with time running short he needed all the help he could get. He trusted she would stop and turn back like she promised she would.
On the way back into the cube after one of his many trips to dump rocks, Cillian found Eliana standing still in the middle of the corridor. Her eyes were fluttering, and she was wavering back and forth. Cillian dropped his bag and ran up to her. He held her by her shoulders.
“Eliana, what's wrong?” he asked frantically.
“I…I’m fine,” she whispered. She struggled to keep her eyes open and failed.
“No, you aren’t. Come on, let's take you back to the river,” Cillian said. She didn’t reply. Her body went limp and fell into Cillian’s arms.
“Oh no. No no no no no,” Cillian babbled as he held the girl up. He swiveled his head around, looking for someone or anything that could help. He put his head to her chest. There was a faint beating. Cillian let out a sigh of relief.
She’s alive.
He thought for a moment.
The river, that’s where I need to take her.
Cillian lifted her into his arms and started to run down the mountain towards the valley where she came from. The pain set in nearly as soon as he started. She wasn’t nearly as heavy as Tygus’ pack, but it wasn’t like Cillian had recovered from that carrying job either. Trying to run with her made his arms and back burn. His run slowed to a jog and the jog slowed to a walk and the walk slowed to something barely faster than a crawl. He couldn’t stop for a moment. Cillian knew instinctively that every second away from the river was another second closer to Eliana’s death.
He ground his teeth together to cope with the pain. He gasped heavily and even let out a scream just to keep himself moving. Once Cillian reached the top of the valley and the river came into view, his pain subsided. His crawling walk became a jog that broke out into a full-on sprint.
I won’t let her die. I won’t let her die. I won’t let her die.
The thoughts played in his head on repeat. He didn’t even slow down to place her in the river. Cillian ran right into the river and held her so that the water covered her body but didn’t go over her face. His lower body was wet and cold, but he didn’t care. All that mattered was that Eliana’s skin was becoming blue again.
The relief was short-lived and the reality of his situation started to flood his mind. The sun was getting ready to set, his body was aching with unbearable pain, his clothes were soaked with freezing water, and to top it off, he didn’t even have his bag with him.
Eliana’s breathing was stable and her skin returned to its original color. Cillian laid her on the shore with her legs submerged in the river. This way she would still be touching the river and she wouldn’t float away. Finally, he put his ear to her chest again. Her heartbeat was loud and regular.
Cillian got up and started to move back up the valley: sore, freezing, and running out of time.
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Image [https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/601007576796233728/1008471301662445608/Eliana.png?width=612&height=612]
Eliana