Smoking Power

Chapter 14

We stand at the base of Mount Lhotse with all of our equipment that we'll need for this hike, surrounding us. I take a deep breath and fix my beanie so it's on my head more tightly. According to Amber, who does her research on this type of stuff, it should take just over a day to get there. Normally it would take less but we'll be having more stops and searching for the second piece of the lavapick.

"Couldn't you just fly up there Amber, grab the thing, and save us a whole heap of time?" Declan asks Amber.

Amber looks at him like he's crazy, "I'll freeze up there in my chickadee. Besides I can't fly up to altitudes like that."

"Why? Are you chickening out already?" I nudge Declan with my elbow.

"No, of course I'm not." He determinedly says. I smile at him. To be honest I'm kind of shocked that he's made it this far. "I just know that there have been two deaths from exhaustion, eight deaths from falling, three unknown disappearances, eight deaths from Avalanches and three deaths from illness, that have ever been recorded since nineteen seventy four, all on this mountain that we are about to climb. Yep apart from that small fact, I am completely looking forward to this." My smile instantly vanishes when I hear him say it all in a sarcastically happy voice.

Amber clears her throat loudly, "Gee thanks for that Declan. How 'bout we leave now?" She doesn't wait for a response.

Amber lightly tugs at the rope that we are all connected by and begins the long hike up the mountainside. We spend the next couple of hours full of walking, climbing and the occasional hacking of the snow to make a foot hole. I keep my eyes out for the lavapick piece, but I know that there isn't really a point in doing so. Clarence said that it was at the top of the mountain and we're only about half way up.

I also keep an eye out for any Avalanches coming this way or sheer drops that we could suddenly fall off the edge of. What Declan said did kind of creep me out a little bit. Thankfully the overcast sky has cleared up a little bit more and there isn't any signs of any approaching storms coming this way, so that's a good sign.

The hours pass even slower than they did before, if that is possible, but we soon find it getting dark with the sun sinking below the horizon. We're still not up the top of the mountain yet, though. Amber reckons that we're about three quarters of the way there.

"So, can we have dinner now?" Declan asks when we reach a flatter part of the track.

"I guess this would be a good place to bunker down for the night." I comment, looking at out surroundings more closely. A white layer of snow covers quite a few square meters of ground. Taller parts of the mountain stick up around it in some sort of horse shoe, creating a shield from the powerful blasts of wind.

Amber seems to be thinking the same thing and nods slowly, "yeah, let's set up camp while there's still light."

We each set up our own tiny one-man tents in a circle of some sorts. After we finish setting them up we sit on a rockier part of the clearing to eat our "dinner".

"This ain't food." Amber mutters while stirring the mush that Gareth so kindly packed for us. I'm agreeing with Amber whole heartedly, I'm not even sure what it's meant to be, to be honest.

"The mans trying to poison us." Declan says, suddenly alarmed at the thought.

"It's the thought that counts." I say in a know-it-all voice.

Declan snorts, "yeah? Well I wonder what was going on his hea-"

"MMRAAW HOOOOOO WRRRR!!!!" Declan gets cut off by an alien noise. At least an angry alien noise.