Maleki:

I’m not upset that Kallen left, although the company was welcomed. This journey is mine and Miko’s alone, and I never expected anyone to take us this far. My poor brother, with no social skills, seemed to be finally warming up to him. A shame, I guess. Maybe Nomen can provide some decent conversation on the way, but he doesn’t necessarily strike me as the talkative type.

The mountain’s foot would be the easiest part, requiring more sloped walking than actual climbing. I hadn’t spent the time to figure out how we would even be getting around. I just knew I would figure it out when the time arose, and at the very least, I’d carry him and pull the cart for later use.

“So, is this mountain a volcano?” I asked in Nomen’s direction.

Miko spoke behind me, cutting Nomen off, “This volcano is extinct.”

“Not exactly; magma still flows through Mons Interitus. However, the mountain has lied in dormancy for a very long time.”

“The book I read didn’t say that. How do you know?”

Nomen laughed. “I would be careful what you read in those books. I have seen the magma with my own eyes, and I doubt many others alive have ever made it far enough in and back to write a book about their findings.”

Miko didn’t respond. He returned to the books he picked up from the stall in the outer city of Quavoris. Probably to find the sentence he read about the mountain.

The path up was rocky, but the grass hadn’t abandoned us yet and allowed us something less solid to walk comfortably on. I could tell that further up the ridge, this would go away, but I was trying to enjoy it while it lasted. I had a feeling that we wouldn’t see a lot of green very soon unless we turned around to reflect on how far we had come. The cart would bump back and forth here and there, but it was otherwise easier to get around than I had expected. I did find it challenging to look around me and pull out of fear of being too focused on pulling to see in front of me. Miko wasn’t too heavy, so I was able to lurch my shoulders forward and pull with my arms behind me. There weren’t gnarly roots or fallen trees in the way, so I could confidently move forward without fearing the cart might hit something my foot didn’t first. At least in this phase, Miko can protect himself from the impact of being jolted out of the cart, but I’m more scared of the cart slipping on a loose rock with the weight and him plummeting back toward where we were started. He’s about as strong as an egg, so I can just imagine what I would find at the bottom. Well, I guess I better be cautious then.

We hiked up the trail for a couple of hours until the whistle of the wind became more apparent. The sun was setting, and we wouldn’t want to be climbing in the dark. There’s still quite a lot of light to see around, but the path ahead would start to get more challenging to predict from the looks of it. I had to pay attention towards the end of the thirty minutes of walking since the trail was tightening around the cliff face. The darkness would constrict how far I could predict ahead of us, and much of my attention was directed to taking the path most traveled for safety and spinning my head around now and then to check in on Miko. He stuck to his books pretty much the whole time. Pulling for so long had exhausted me, but the air wasn’t getting too tight yet. I only had to stop for a couple of breaks, but Nomen never really seemed to get tired. He must do this a lot. I guess kids like him have to stay resourceful. In fairness, I guess I’m doing twice the work, so I should be tired twice as fast. I’m not sure if that calculation is fair to me, but it is what it is.

I set up our spots for the night, and Nomen started the fire. Fairly quick, too, as the air on the mountain was a bit more chilly than when the woods protected us. I smothered myself in blankets and looked to the moons. Miko fell asleep quickly, claiming to be sick from the shakiness of the cart. However, I did warn him of trying to look at the tiny letters so intently while in motion like that. He insisted he was ‘immune’ to such effects after being drug in the cart through the hilly farmland and woodlands for so long, so I let him figure it out himself.

I love sleeping outside. It’s a reminder of how insignificant we all are. The struggles of everyday life, Miko’s sickness, missing Mum and Da, and being exhausted from the extra weight all seem irrelevant when I look up there. I like to pretend I’m on the surface of one of those moons. What it’s like and what I’d see are all up to the imagination. Miko says there’s no air up there to breathe, so I would die pretty quick, but to me, each of the moons are a different story. A different life I can live in my head whenever I feel alone. All the stories I’ve heard can be real up there. On one of those moons, maybe Miko and I got to run around and play together when we were little, exploring like there was no tomorrow. Maybe on another, our parents were with us again, and we got to go on a trip with them to see all the kingdoms. On all the moons, Miko and I are brothers; I know that for sure. There’s nothing wrong with pretending for a while, but I don’t ever voice that stuff out loud. It would be worthless anyways. It’s not my life right now, but there’s power in being able to escape your circumstances, and if we make it to the end of this trip, I might not need to pretend anymore. We can find our parents and run around together. We deserve a happy ending after all we’ve been through.

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Nomen’s voice carried over from the campfire as if my thoughts were floating up towards the sky, and he could read them from his flat spot a few feet away. “You should cherish these moments while you have them.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? Pretty ominous to say out of the blue.”

“It is easy to become so concerned with the destination that you sacrifice the journey. There is much to learn ahead, and rushing blindly to the finish line will only embed the lessons you should have seen rather than felt.”

“I appreciate the advice, but I’ll do whatever I have to, to cure him.”

He let out a laugh that he contained in his chest for the most part, “You and your brother both act so rashly. There is a lot you share in common.”

“What’s so funny? Why do you speak in circles like that?”

“It will be some time before you realize. If it’s any consolation, I know what it’s like — to have siblings and the weight you shoulder.”

Everything he says confuses me; Miko’s better at deciphering nonsense. He seemed like the only child type, so that at least intrigued me. “Oh, really? When do you see them? This job seems like it preoccupies you for a long time. Actually, is this even a job? How do you get paid for this?”

“This is not a job. I simply serve The Garden, and it provides all I need. You are correct, though; this is very time-consuming. However, I haven’t seen my siblings in a very long time.”

“Oh, you have multiple? What’s that like?”

“I cannot say my love was divided. Even in our differences or disagreements, I loved each of them as if they were the only sibling I had. The burden of family is not a weight I am unfamiliar with, but if you want to succeed, you must undertake the cost of the actions you take on this journey.”

“You’re quite the fountain of cryptic knowledge. Thank you, though, I know what you’re sharing is with good intentions, but my heart is on the right track.” I think he’s trying to help me in his own mysterious way.

“I would not persuade, but do know that your brother is more than capable of understanding the pain your heart possesses.”

“You gotta be strong for your family, right? That’s what I was taught, at least.”

“Of course, but I know well the burden of responsibility, and it wears the soul so very much if unattended.”

We didn’t talk after that. I just let the words air out into silence. I wasn’t sure how to respond, and I didn’t start the conversation in the first place. To be honest, it was kind of random. I was just minding my own business, looking up at the stars.

We slept till the sun peaked over Quavoris’ side of the ocean and started climbing further up the mountain. After three hours of walking or sitting for some, I decided to take a break and analyze our surroundings. “Nomen, how long is the walk around this mountain?”

“Xhorae will rise fourteen times.”

Miko exasperated, “That’s what — thirty suns of walking?”

I retaliated back. It’s not like you are doing most of the walking! Actually, can’t you walk today? Why am I pulling you in the cart?”

"Well, what if I trip again? Not like I can really stop my fall, can I? Probably safer in here.”

“Convenient excuse.”

“Why go around the mountain?”

“Nomen’s the one guiding us. Why don’t you ask him?”

“We are not bound to this path if you are able to find another. There are many paths that all lead to the same intersections. This is simply the path most traveled, making it the most viable for me to guide you through.”

“Maleki, what if we climbed to that ridge up there? It’s a couple more hours’ walk, but it looks like there’s a path with the mountain range rather than up and around the whole thing.”

He was right. A couple of hours’ walk and there was a slope that disappeared out of view and could save us a lot of time. However, climbing that would be really difficult, and we weren’t well equipped for climbing at all. “I don’t know, Miko. That’s a difficult climb for me alone, and you wouldn’t be able to. The only way it would be possible in your current predicament is if you were blind and had full access to everything else. Even that is too risky, though, because there’s no way you’re going to be able to climb in your current shape. Er — not to be negative — I mean, you haven’t built the strength necessary to climb. You haven’t even climbed a tree since you were four, much less a mountain. I haven’t climbed a mountain either, to be fair….”

“I guess you’re right. Maybe there’s another path further ahead that we can try.”

We walked for the rest of the daylight and slept along a ridge with a single small tree to cover us. It crept over us like a hunched old man with small green branches. It wouldn’t be blocking much wind, but it is the thought that counts. I looked to the stars again and recounted my conversation with Kallen about the moons. I wonder where he is right now. Probably on his carriage heading back to where we were started, or maybe he will post up in Quavoris and take the first traveler heading back to Korvast to make it more convenient. I’m glad he didn’t go with us, even if the company would have been nice.

I woke up before sunset to eat some of the provisions we had with us and offered to share some with Nomen as I prepared Miko’s, but he declined and said he had his own and that we would “need all we brought.” Miko was sleeping heavier than normal, and his normal is pretty abnormal. I prodded him several times to wake him up but with no success, then resorted to screaming his name several times. He was asleep pretty hard, but Grandma could always wake him with a more soft and silent approach. I laid my hand on his chest as she did and said his name softly, “Miko, you have to wake up.” His eyes started to flutter, but several moments passed before his eyes fully opened. “Miko, are you okay?” He tried to sit up but made it only to his shoulder blades before resting his neck back.