Tyranny: Onwards

Chapter 119- Choose

"Any ideas how to prevent Dagwood from attempting to assist us in the air bending?" Aegis approaches me and speaks softly.

"I think the only way for that to happen would be he either stays asleep or Blaze talks to him." I shrug and his eyes give a glitter.

"Thank you!" watching as he goes over to see, Phoenix motions me to follow them over to where the brothers lay firmly dormant.

Dogwood is definitely and thankfully fast asleep, Blaze is somewhat in a wakened state, also lucky for us.

"Alright, we start our journey into the valley now, but we must be swift, move with great haste, a storm is soon to arrive and darkness soon to seize. Me and Phoenix will be air bending the brothers down, Claire will lead you two." hands motion to Rin and Hester before he peers over to the lowering sun of the West then to the deep clouds of the East which bring on bitter winds.

Right now I bear Aegis's cloak still and it would seem Rin and Hester are sharing Phoenix's, as Blaze and Dagwood need their's. However, I slip it off and offer it to Hester, who is shivering and gazing nervously at the coming storm, clearly imagining the frozen weather it will bring. She stares at it and then to me, seemingly unsure, before timidly accepting the warmth and slipping it on.

"Bye!" Phoenix yells, Rin and Hester wave and call back, Aegis simply waves, and I too wave in our parting, showing Rin and Hester to the beginning of our path, which unfortunately must first rise.

"How long will it take to get down into the valley?" Hester immediately inquires, and in my mind I can't help but expect this will be her speech the entire journey.

"I have no idea, it should only take a few hours to get to the highest peak of the ridge, then there's a way down by switchback, but I'm sure we can slide from one to the next as a short cut; should we need or want to." in my head I am redoing the trek and making estimates.

"Three hours up along here?!" the exclamation from Hester begins to get me irritated.

"Yes," I still respond.

"Uh okay, but won't the storm then be upon us already?" again, no hesitation to inquire.

I halt and turn, she stands right at the back with the glowing tipped staff of the wizard we should be quick to find; this was an entire section that had slipped my mind, making the entire thing seem still longer, more difficult, and ultimately, more impossible.

"Maybe if we don't speed up and you still refuse to simply trust me on this." though the words and tone sound harsh, we all know them to be true and required.

"I don't think Hester likes heights much..." Rin whispers in my ear as we pick up the pace.

Suddenly I feel awful and quite ashamed. Never have the steep sides or the deadly falls surrounding us bothered me, never had I one thing to be terrified of such as this.

"Well shit," my voice is harsh in my self anger.

"Just keep going, it's not your fault, you didn't know," her hand pats my shoulder lightly before she leans back.

"Hm," I mumble, every so often checking the position of the dark clouds on our right.

Genesis sniffs my fingers to remind me she's here and she can do a lot to guide us should it be required. With a sigh of peace and a tender stroke over her pelt I can go on with more tranquility and a more tender heart.

As always, the black rock underfoot, which proves as stern as it looks, inspires and intrigues me. It provides a proper entertainment to pass the time while being productive in thought. Gently and very gradually I continue to increase our pace so we manage to get up to the highest peak in far less time and before the storm has hit.

The clouds carpet the sky and float over the entire anomaly on which we stand now, so it is only a mere matter of time before the precipitation will release. Snow or rain, possibly hail, maybe some thunder and lightning, who knows. In a place so un-imaginable as this, I dare not to try and guess the weather.

"Hm, I hope it's not sleet, this sliding down will be challenging enough without the extra obstacle. That'd be like putting oil on a floor in an attempt to polish it." I subconsciously murmur to myself, gazing up and smelling the frosty tone of a brewing chaos awaiting to be released upon some unfortunate souls.

Plants always seem to release a strong scent of their liveliness and the smell of moistened mosses and sprouts appearing in new life, the scents of releasing saps and drenched leaves is one that cannot be replicated but is most satisfying. However, up here it's scent is of wet stone and smoke, something I have not smelled before and cannot quite place, though it goes beyond such a simplistic description.

I once learned that someone who loves rain is called a Pluviophile, if I remember correctly, it is a Greek word. Remembering Hester's apparent yet unspoken fear of heights, I snap out of my daze and point to where you can see the darkness of the tunnels entrance and the ledge protruding from it.

"There, that's where the path starts." gazing down, I now realize this could be quite a lot harder for the two of them. Shivers threaten me when a new, higher, spikey wind ripples through the airs.

Leading, I help each of them down individually as to avoid unnecessary complications or injuries, Genesis simply leaps down with great ease. Now I wonder if we should stay in the tunnel for shelter or use what little time we have left to scramble down and shelter in the forest. Where would it be more difficult for Phoenix to find us? Would he ever even think to search all the way up here? Will he start looking tonight or wait? Going down fast would risk injury, but also better shelter, there could be more giant scorpions in these tunnels still too.

Depending on what kind of terror the clouds plan to release, it could make going down after even worse, though, I know we could not get snow, it would all melt and burn away instantly. Something in my mind ignores everything, all of the pros and cons I just laid out. In a strange way my vision seems to blur, leaving only to route down to the valley clear in my eyes, however, I begin to question if that  even happened. Again and again my eyes skip over to the switchbacks, not letting me move them away, and somehow I just know and am fully certain we just must go down now.