Chapter 234

M'redith was right – they were close to the dungeon, but close doesn't mean much when 'close' is thirty feet up in the air and across a deep ravine. Close wasn't going to be enough, Jay thought.

The view through the mask was an interesting one. He was familiar with edge detection, a computer's ability to detect the edges of an object and then highlight those edges. It made things much easier to see when using night vision.

The problem was that the jungle was full of edges – they were everywhere. Jay's magical mask was highlighting the edges of every object that he viewed – every tree, rock, and leaf, of which there were too many to count. The mask was struggling to keep up and Jay's view was a riot of lines as the mask tried to draw an outline around every tree and individual leaf.

He managed to see by simply moving slowly and paying a great deal of attention to where he was about to step next rather than the view ahead of him. The mask had a much easier time of displaying edges when he looked down towards his feet.

M'redith had at one point reached out and grabbed his shoulder. She'd squeezed once and that had been enough to let Jay know to stop for a quick conversation. He had taken up a kneeling position on the soft jungle floor and had waited for her to move up next to him as the fain fell all around them.

“It should be just ahead of us, do you see anything?” M'redith had asked him as the others knelt silently in the forest behind her as the rain ran off of them in thick sheets. It was difficult to make out M'redith's voice over the storm, but she had leaned in and pretty much spoken directly in to his ear.

Jay looked forwards and had given the area a careful once over. That was when he had realized that the ground began to slope sharply downward ahead of them. He had motioned to M'redith to wait for him there and had then scooted up a few feet.

That was when he was sure. They were at the edge of a deep ravine and it appeared to stretch out in both directions which would make passage difficult. He couldn't even see the bottom of the ravine with his mask on.

He returned to M'redith's side and filled her in and her face had scrunched up in thought. She'd taken the dungeon finding device out of her bag and moved it about in a half circle in front of her. She'd frowned and then moved it up and down a few times until she stopped with it pointing upwards.

“Jay,” she'd hissed to get his attention over the pouring rain. “It's above us!”

Jay looked momentarily alarmed and glanced upwards worriedly, “What's above us!?”

M'redith laughed and had patted his arm which was soaking wet. “Easy, it's the dungeon entrance. It's above us. We're going to have to find a way up!”

Jay turned his attention to the tree limbs above them. They could see the bottom canopy of the jungle but the sky itself was blotted out by the thick foliage. The rain however still found its way through.

Jay studied the trees around them for anything out of the ordinary. If anyone was going to find something it would have to be him as he was the only one that could really see anything in the stormy darkness.

The more he looked the more he found. A sudden boom filled the air as the world around them lit up in a blinding white light. They could hear lightning strike somewhere nearby and the thunder had been deafening. As the forest lit up Jay could make out what looked like a three line bridge running from one tree to another high up above them.

Three line bridges were just that – a bridge made out of three ropes. There were two ropes for holding on to with each hand, and a third rope to stand on. They weren't very stable and could be tricky to navigate while carrying a load or pack. They were notoriously difficult to traverse in a howling jungle thunderstorm as well, but they would have to find a way.

Climbing trees is a bit of a lost art for most people. They probably dabbled in tree climbing as children but as they had gotten older they would have left their tree climbing ways behind them once they had reached the ranks of adulthood. Climbing trees just isn't something that most adults run in to on a frequent basis – or at all.

M'redith had gathered everyone together for a meeting and Carly had turned on a lamp and set the light to just barely bright enough to see each other by. That was when Jay had to break the bad news.

“We have to go up,” he'd said to a circle of wet and worried looking faces. They'd each had their own unique reactions to the news. Norri looked excited as she'd wiped the rain from her face. Aiden looked completely unbothered as water streamed down his cheeks, and Carly had looked, well, terrified.

Carly's face had gone white and the group was reminded that Carly was horrified by heights. It may have been the rain but it also could have been her own tears that streamed down her face as she pondered her immediate future.

Jay had explained that there was a tree they'd need to climb, then a three rope bridge they'd have to cross, and only then would they find the entrance to the dungeon.

“Can you make out the actual dungeon entrance?” Carly had asked in a half whisper as she fidgeted with her soaked robe.

Jay nodded, “It looks like there is a bit of a flat area at the other end of the three rope bridge. From what M'redith could tell using the dungeon finder it must be up there.”

Carly was quiet for a moment and then looked a little relieved. “There's a bridge?”

Jay gave her an embarrassed look and shook his head, “Not like you're thinking but yes. There's a rope we'll have to walk across. But don't worry! There are two other ropes to hold on to for balance. It should be easy enough.”

It was not going to be easy enough or easy at all for that matter, the storm would see to that. It wasn't just rainy, but windy too.

Carly looked terrified at the thought of crossing a rope thirty feet in the air but kept quiet. She was well aware of her position in the group, she had been brought along only because they couldn't find a way to be rid of her. If she refused to climb the tree to reach the dungeon entrance then that would be it – it would be tantamount to quitting, not something she had intended to do.

Still, she did not want to use that three rope bridge if she could help it. “Why don't we just climb the tree the dungeon entrance is in? Why do we have to climb a different tree and go over a bridge?” Carly asked reasonably.

Jay nodded as if that was a good question. The others looked over questioningly at Jay as well.

“The tree the dungeon entrance is in is on the other side of a deep ravine. We could try to go around but we've no idea how far it extends. We can't climb the tree because we can't get to it. And also don't forget, we're being timed on everything.” Jay offered.

Carly made a high pitched sound, “The bridge is suspended over a ravine?!” she asked and her voice cracked just a bit as she did so. It was clear that she hadn't heard anything Jay had said after he'd mentioned a ravine.

M'redith reached out and patted Carly's back. She might not like Carly but she didn't want her to snap or come down with dungeon madness in the middle of a run. “Easy there. One thing at a time. Just concentrate on climbing a tree for now. You can do that,” she'd said reasonably.

That didn't entirely help but it at least got Carly's mind off of the ravine.

A sudden mix between a strident trumpet and a lion's roar only at the volume of an aircraft engine sounded from off to their right and Carly instinctively doused her lantern as everyone prepared to hide.

They were running out of time.

They heard nothing. No further walking, no ground tremors, no further calls, nothing. That was somehow worse than hearing the sentinel's loud calls to its brethren. That meant the monster was standing completely still in the rain. Listening.

M'redith leaned in and everyone else did as well. “We're running out of time! We have to climb!”

Aiden chuckled, “That rhymes.”

M'redith gave him an exasperated look, “Seriously?”

Aiden looked apologetic but with a tiny smile.

“C'mon, let's head up. Jay first, then our standard order. I'll go last though. Get moving everyone!” M'redith insisted and the group began to climb the tree. All except for Carly who stood there with a terrified look on her face.

The tree was huge – all the trees were. This was not a young jungle. Old growth trees dominated the space and the tree had plenty of thick sturdy branches to climb up through. When it came Carly's turn to climb M'redith gently guided her to the tree and offered her a boost so that she would start past the toughest portion of the climb – the beginning.

Carly had shut her eyes and began to climb by touch alone. M'redith had to hiss at her to open her eyes but ordered her to only look up, not down. There was barely enough light to see the tree ahead of her but Carly obeyed with a frightened look. She climbed as the rain and wind tore at her clothing and plastered her hair to her face, the cold water making her skin feel clammy and chilled.

A trumpet call came from the same spot it had a few minutes ago and for a moment everyone stopped climbing and froze. All anyone could hear was the howling of wind and thumping of rain on the leaves around them. When no trumpet followed the call though everyone went back to climbing.

The climbing wasn't easy even though the tree should have been easily climbable. The wind alone would have made the journey challenging but the rain made everything slippery as well. This could turn a difficult challenge in to an almost insurmountable obstacle at times.

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Jay picked his way through the tree's limbs carefully, it wouldn't do anyone any good if he rushed only to fall from the tree moments later. His mask made the way easy to see and made the world around him a lot easier to navigate. Eventually however he'd arrived, after what had felt like an hours-long climb.

He was in a four foot space up about thirty feet up in the tree with just enough room for two people to stand. Barely enough if they were carrying packs with them, as Jay's group were. Jay gave each of the three ropes a tug – they weren't going anywhere and were firmly anchored.

Norri's head crested the edge of the platform and Jay didn't wait but grabbed the two lines, one in each hand, and smoothly stepped out on to the single rope line, sideways.

He began to scoot slowly across the ravine and tried to force everything else out of his mind. All he focused on was the next step. Then the next. Then the next.

Meanwhile, back at the platform, Norri was now standing on the platform while Aiden waited patiently for her to move on while he stood on a branch below her. The entire group was strung along the side of the tree and they were at that point high up in the air.

M'redith made sure to follow close enough behind Carly that she could still talk with her and kept up a constant stream of encouragement as Carly held on to the tree for dear life. No one could move on until Jay had reached the opposite side of the ravine.

A sudden streak of lightning split the sky and a roaring boom of thunder followed it as the world briefly lit up white. The entire group could see the world around them – including a giant massive shape that stood not even half a mile away from their tree.

Carly let out a strangled sound of fear. It was high pitched and not excessively loud. Perhaps it was the sudden momentary lull in the storm, or it could have been the precise frequency that her sound made, but whatever the reason was, the massive shape turned its wedge shaped head towards the tree where the group was currently clustered.

The sentinel let out a short trumpet and began to walk towards them. It had not yet seen them but it had certainly heard something through all of the wind and rain.

“Just breath. There you go, in and out. Good,” M'redith whispered to Carly once she had climbed up and on to the tree limb next to her. She helped settle Carly down a bit and the calmer she got the less noise she made.

It was dark again, the lightning had faded, and only Jay was able to make out the wedge shaped head of the sentinel scan left and right – it had lost track of its prey already it seemed.

Jay didn't focus on the creature but instead renewed his efforts to cross the ravine. He swore to never use a three line bridge again if he could ever help it – it wasn't easy and certainly wasn't enjoyable.

The lines he held and stood on weren't stationary either but swung in the wind as it howled around them. His mask allowed him to see the ground far below him and the view made him dizzy as he swung back and forth on the rope lines.

He reached the opposite side and collapsed in relief on to the ground. It wasn't the ground of course though, but a smooth wooden platform that had been built high up in the massive tree. It was roughly ten feet square and up against the trunk itself stood a thick, chunky, and ornate looking dungeon doorway.

The sky above them had lightened a little and there was now just barely enough light to see across the ravine – there was still not enough light to see the bottom of the ravine however. Thankfully for Norri she wasn't looking down, but out, and as she saw Jay reach the other side she smoothly stepped out on to the three line bridge.

She quickly grabbed on to the two guide lines and began to side step her way across. Halfway across she almost fell as the wind swung her about wildly but she had just held on tight until the gust had passed by and then proceeded towards the other side.

Jay allowed Norri to find her own way on to the platform – trying to help might have just tossed them both off balance. With a smile Norri joined Jay over by the dungeon door and sat in the puddle that had gathered on the platform. Her smile quickly faded.

Aiden followed along behind her and moved across the bridge without incident. Jay gave him a grin as he joined him and Norri on to the dungeon entrance platform. Aiden returned the grin as he wiped the water off of his face.

It was now Carly's turn and she had climbed up on to the small platform and clutched the two guide ropes in white knuckled fists. M'redith had climbed just high enough so that her head poked up over the side of the platform. She spoke encouragingly to Carly but in a no nonsense tone of voice.

“Remember, side step. Go slow but keep going. If it gets windy just stop and hold on. Lastly, three people have already done this – you can too!” M'redith said a little bit louder than she had intended.

Carly looked startled by M'redith's comments and looked over at her. She looked afraid. M'redith offered her a comforting smile.

Carly stepped out on to the rope bridge and began to cross. Her face was streaked with tears from her terror but thankfully she couldn't see below her in the darkness even when she had tried. Rain continued to fall all around her as she crept slowly forward across the line in the wet darkness. She was cold, wet, uncomfortable, terrified. She wanted to go home.

Instead she was thirty feet up over a ravine that was probably just as deep while standing on a rope line an inch across in high winds and pouring rain.

A sudden gust almost swept her off the rope and one of her feet slid off and hung in open air.

Carly screamed and clutched the guide ropes as she flailed about in an attempt to regain her balance.

Off to the side they heard a deafening trumpet call. Carly had forgotten that the sentinel was still there but quickly remembered as it let out another ear shattering trumpet call.

It was closer.

A hot panic bubbled up in Carly's stomach and it joined the already burbling panic she was feeling from precariously balancing so high up in the air. The sentinel had heard her and the crunch of trees and branches snapping sounded as the beast slowly approached them.

It was almost worse, having the sentinel move so slowly. Had it dashed towards them in the rain the terror would have been over in a moment, but instead the moment was being drawn out – the tension prolonged.

Carly was making a high pitched keening noise at that point and her eyes were wide with fear. She was trapped out in open space on the middle of the bridge line and had no choice but to continue shuffling slowly towards the other side.

Thankfully with all of the rain and wind it was almost impossible for the sentinel to home in on Carly right away and it was instead swinging its head back and forth as it searched for the source of the keening sound.

Carly reached the other side and collapsed on to the ground. She looked like she was hugging the wooden platform the others were standing on and after a moment Jay reached down and helped her up to her knees. She was shaking and Norri leaned down and spoke soothingly to her in a hushed voice that hopefully wouldn't carry.

It was M'redith's turn and thankfully Carly had gone silent and the Sentinel had lost track of their position. M'redith scampered on to the rope bridge and began to quickly cross it as the wind tossed her back and forth. The ropes swung through the air violently when one gust of wind in particular had swept past. She clutched at the lines as both of her feet slid off the slippery rope line.

Jay watched in horror as M'redith hung over the open space by her hands, which gripped the lines for dear life. She was having difficulties standing back on the line as it kept whipping past her back and forth in the wind.

A crackling of lightning and thunder sounded, close, and the smell of ozone filled the air as everyone could feel the tingle of static electricity. That strike had been extremely close.

In the sudden brilliance the group could make out M'redith hanging from the ropes as well as a large wedge shaped head a few hundred feet out. It had seen M'redith's body hanging in the air and moved to investigate.

As it drew closer to M'redith who had just then managed to get one foot back on to the bridge rope, Carly let out a scream of terror and the sentinel paused in its forward motion and swung its head about in search of the sudden sound.

Norri slapped a hand over Carly's mouth and shushed her. Carly didn't struggle but went quiet as M'redith managed to get her other foot back on to the line. The sentinel spat out a stream of blue light that shot past the tree the group was sitting in and lit an adjacent tree on fire. It burned bright orange for a brief time before it burnt itself out.

The sentinel shook its head like a dog would and water flew off of it in a spray that went in every direction. It gave M'redith enough time to begin her journey across the bridge once again. That was when the sentinel remembered M'redith was there and turned back towards her and began walking slowly. It wasn't sure what it was dealing with and wanted to investigate things first it seemed.

M'redith was now moving at the pace of a slow jog as she tried to scamper as quickly as she could across the three rope bridge. The sentinel however was growing closer. It stopped right in front of the rope bridge and extended its head upwards in to the air as its neck stretched a significant amount. It let out a deafening trumpet and other trumpets answered it in the distance.

The sentinel lowered its head and the band across its face began to glow. With a sudden glare a blue luminescent beam shot out towards M'redith.

M'redith quickly leaned to the side and used her hands to yank herself closer to the dungeon platform and out of the path of the beam. The lines behind her steamed and sizzled as they caught on fire and began to burn.

The bridge swayed suddenly in a gust of wind and one of the lines snapped. M'redith held on tightly as the other two lines split a half second later.

She swung through the air as she held on to the lines with all of her might and ended up striking the tree it was attached to with a brutal sounding thud.

She was hurt – there was no way anyone could take a hit like that and not be injured, but she still held on as she kept the rest of her body motionless.

There was too much going on for the sentinel to find M'redith thankfully. The rain, the wind, the trees, the swaying branches – whatever sense the creature was using to locate M'redith it wasn't effective in the storm.

It hunted around in the immediate area but was interrupted by a trumpet call off in the distance. It raised its wedge shaped head and answered with its own call before it forced its way through the trees and disappeared once again in to the jungle.

It was loud and silent at the same time. The wind howled and the sound of rain was all around them but there was a stillness that descended over them after the sentinel had moved on. It was Jay who broke the quasi-silence.

“M'redith! Are you ok?” Jay tried to call down to her without being too loud.

Nothing was heard for a short time before M'redith called back. “I got the air knocked out of me. Give me a minute to catch my breath then I'll start climbing up to you.”

Jay nodded, stupidly, in the dark before he grinned at his foolishness and replied a second time, this time verbally. “Ok, take your time, we'll wait.”

Jay kept watch. Just because the sentinel had left didn't mean that there weren't other smaller things that were still looking to kill them. Situational awareness was vital in their current circumstances.

It took a bit but finally M'redith reached the platform. Aiden and Jay helped pull her up and were trying to give her a moment to rest but she refused.

“Let's head in. I don't want to spend another minute out here unless we have to. Plus, I want to get dry!” she insisted.

The others agreed. M'redith opened the wooden door and it swung open easily. The room beyond was hazy and impossible to make out as if there were a fog hanging over the opening. M'redith stepped through and disappeared – and moments later the others followed her through as well.

The door shut without outside assistance and clicked as it closed up tightly. The storm continued to rage on even as morning brought the dimmest light to the jungle floor under the thick canopy of trees.

They had finally completed their first task!