The Man in the Boat

He tied the boat off and started to climb the cliffs. He knew that no one had lived to tell what was behind the cloud, but still he climbed.

***

Aderyn awoke that particular morning and found the mist that hid her city was thicker than it had ever been. Mildengrad, Aderyn's home, was a hidden city precariously placed among the rocky crags and over-hangs above the thick mist that shielded the city from prying eyes. She went about doing her chores as usual. As she climbed the stone stairs, which had been carved into the cliff side long before she was born, Aderyn saw the many skeletons of previous invaders. The most recent intruder was left hanging from the tree he had been hanged by. He had been left there to rot and be eaten by birds and maggots. Her people were not usually a violent race, but they would do anything to protect their own.

Aderyn slipped off into the forest to collect herbs and roots for her mother's apothecary. Aderyn could smell the coming rain on the stiff gust of wind that blew through the trees. She had forgotten her woolen cloak and started to shiver. She ran back to her house. Aderyn being only seventeen was only a few months short of marrying age and lived with her parents until such time that she was. When she arrived, she was soaked through to the bone. She placed the herbs she had gathered in their appropriate places. Aderyn's mother and step-father were still asleep, so, as quietly as she could, she changed clothes. Aderyn's father had died when she was young and her mother remarried only earlier in the year.

After she changed, Aderyn followed through with the rest of her daily chores. She fed the cat, chickens, and horses, washed the dishes, and weeded the garden.

When she finally finished her chores, Aderyn ran to her favorite place among the rocky overhangs below the city. Aderyn looked down and saw a boy tying his boat to the dock below, and he then began to climb the rocky cliff side. The boy slipped numerous times before he reached a ledge fifty feet below her.

***

Kristoffer was a strong young man. Standing at approximately six-foot-seven, Kristoffer was the largest of his six siblings, but he was also the youngest. His coal black hair blew around his face from the strong, frigid gusts of wind. He wrapped his thick woolen cloak tightly around him as he looked toward the massive island that had tall rocky cliffs. No man before Kristoffer's elder brother, Kresten, had dared attempt to climb them. Kresten hadn't returned from his excursion. This should have deterred Kristoffer, but he was bound and determined to prove the superstitions were just that, superstitions. Kristoffer tied off his boat as he climbed out and began to scale the cliff. After hours of trying, he came to the lowest ledge on the cliff. He rested there for a little while and then move on. When he was about ready to continue his journey, he heard a quiet muffled sigh come from above him. Kristoffer looked up in time to see a girl about his age turn and scramble up the cliff face.

"Wait! WAIT!! I want to talk to you!" She did not seem to hear him. He scrambled after her. When he reached the ledge she had been on, he saw that she had scrambled up a narrow flight of stairs leading up the cliff side. He spotted her not too far ahead. She was lying awkwardly on her side. Kristoffer turned her over on her back. A trickle of blood ran from a gash on her forehead and down the side of her pale face. On closer inspection, Kristoffer found she was unconscious. She must have slipped and knocked herself out. Kristoffer gathered her in his arms and carried her up the steep slope as best he could on the slippery stairs. When night began to fall, he found a ledge large enough for the two of them to sleep safely without fear of rolling over the edge. Kristoffer set the girl down. She soon began to stir. When she awoke, she looked surprised to see him.

"You're finally awake. What's your name?" Kristoffer's voice was soft and lucid.

"Aderyn," she said and grimaced slightly at the pain in her head.