Eye of the Storm (DISCONTINUED)

Eye of the Storm- Chapter 2

Didn't I mention before that climbing cliffs when your head is pounding is no fun?

So now I found myself trying to haul my own battered body up a pile of shifting, tumbling boulders, using only one arm, as the other was clutching at the dragon egg's smooth surface, trying not to let it fall. It was my only hope of getting a life with my family. But if I couldn't get out of here, there was no chance of life at all.

By now, night had fallen, and I wasn't even halfway up the rock pile. I wasn't even a quarter of the way up, in fact.

I sighed and slid back down the boulder pile on my behind. Climbing up with one arm was just too hard, and I would never make it at the rate I was going.

I lay back and glanced up at the stars shining down on me, casting their cold silver glow across the world above. Their light didn't reach down here, and I was lying in utter blackness. I closed my eyes. Maybe I should just sleep down here and climb again in the morning.

Something about the thought of sleeping down here with who- knows- what lurking in the shadows frightened me though, so I began to look around for a few things I would need for the long climb up.

First of all, I would need a basket or knapsack of some kind to put the egg in. I couldn't do what would inevitably be a several- day climb with only one arm. Second, I needed to find something to keep me warm at night. I was dressed in a worn tunic and trousers, which were ripped after my ordeal the day before. They were threadbare and their many holes and tears allowed the chill in. I couldn't survive long like this.

I would also need to find some source of water and food. I needed to drink and eat, and I felt that the cut on my forehead was becoming infected. I needed to wash it out somehow.

I had found a thin scrap of cloth, which I had tied around my head to stop the bleeding and keep out infection. But the blood was quickly seeping through, and pus was starting to leak out as well.

I began walking back the way I came, searching for everything I needed. I found some reasonably good pieces of fruit and some nuts that the herbalist and I had been to full to eat. I also found the remains of some pork the herbalist had probably thrown down here last night. It smelled fine, but it would need a little more cooking.

So then I began searching for wood and matches. I remembered that the herbalist had thought a packet of matches was empty, (though in reality it had been full,) so he'd made me throw it in the pit. I found these quickly enough, but there was no wood to be found. I guessed I'd have to make do with what I had on the rockpile.

Time passed by in a blur and by morning I had collected a large basket, a small bag of fruit and nuts, some berries from a tiny bush that had been knocked down by the rockslide, the box of matches, an old moldy blanket, a rope, four old, weathered wooden stakes, the pork, and a patched up old waterskin. All I needed to find now was water to fill the waterskin, which it was very unlikely that I would find any. So I decided to go as fast as I could up the slope and get the moisture I needed from the fruit and berries.

I packed the blanket into the basket first, then nestled the egg into it. I put in the nuts, berries, fruit, meat, and matches next, all surrounding the egg. Then I tied the stakes together with the rope and with the other end lashed them to the basket securely. Then, I tied the basket to my waist and began the climb.

I had to be very careful that the basket didn't tip, or all of my hastily collected belongings would spill out. So I was careful to take the easiest route, even if it would take longer.

I was reaching for a handhold high above my head when I felt something tugging at the basket. I looked behind me to see that the rope had gotten caught on a tree root sticking out of the pile. I tugged at it to try and get it free, but all that happened was that the rope snapped and the basket dropped onto a ledge about six feet below. I silently cursed my stupidity and began to carefully climb down.