Dark Faïz (Book 2) [Completed]

Chapters 7-4

The beginning of the climb consisted of climbing steps no more than a meter wide, vertically. We had to settle for rusty chains on each side of this dangerous course to help us move forward.

"Ecology, ecology. We have heard that since we arrived, but this thing will give us tetanus!" Lexy complained just behind me, my face now sweating.

At that moment, I was surprised to rethink about Madame Valls' class on the effect of rust and its consequences. The result of a simple screw or bolt contaminated by oxidation could weaken the surfaces or structures supported by this assembly member. What are you playing at, idiot? This isn't sensational enough? I shook my head, which must have been dripping as much as my friend's, in order to chase out of my mind those ideas that had no place at a time like this.

We arrived after more than half an hour of climbing, which felt to me like forever, at the top of the stairs. Obviously, William and Ray had been waiting for us for a good ten minutes. With my hands on my knees and my eyes on the ground, I slowly tried to catch my breath.

"Finally. It wasn't too bad," I said between two breaths.

The head still lowered and unanswered by my two friends, I continued mocking, "is the lack of oxygen at this altitude leaving you speechless?"

"Zoe?" asked Asarys in a barely audible whisper. "Get up!"

I did so and immediately regretted my words. In front of me, a glass walkway, suspended above the void, served as a bridge to reach the cliff on the other side.

"Oh no... Ah, no, no, no," I stuttered in panic, "I won't go a step further!"

"I'm going to have a heart attack!" exclaimed Asarys, kicking the air. "That wasn't planned. I didn't sign up for this kind of suicidal mess."

"I've never done anything so crazy," said Lexy in a low voice.

Asarys and I looked at her, dubious, then we added in unison,

"BUNGEE JUMPING!"

She rolled her eyes, blasé, sweeping our remark away with the back of her hand.

"This is so cool!" cried Ray, who was already standing on the deck, jumping on it with both feet together.

Behind him, a little further on, we could see the temple whose imposing architecture seemed to be covered with silver. The building, seen from here, was nothing old. On the contrary, it seemed to be built on a cruciform plan.

"So?" asked William, who had joined me. "It's worth crossing this glass bridge to get a closer look at the Idaina Megami temple, right?"

My gaze fell again on the bridge, suspended between two peaks more than a thousand meters from the ground.

"Zoe?" William murmured, staring straight at me. "If you start to cross it, the girls will follow you. You have to go first."

I turned to my two friends, paralyzed, who at first sight were unable to walk these last few meters.

"Okay, but swear to me that the vehicles will come to get us in front of the temple steps for the return. We have reached our limits for today."

"They'll be there, I promise."

"I wonder how this bridge could have been tested," sobbed Lexy on the back of William.

"We're almost there," I tried to reassure my friend, although I wasn't very confident, either.

Although the temple stood right in front of us, we were missing a dozen steps to finally set foot on solid ground. Asarys, silent, concentrated so as not to panic. She advanced in a curve, and the slightest movement seemed to require a superhuman effort. For my part, I forced myself not to look at the void below me, preferring to fix on the temple. The most horrible thoughts came to my mind: what if it was a trap? What if the glass wasn't as thick as it looked? Or if a rock descended the mountain to break the ends of this bridge? I shook my head vigorously to chase away those horror visions.

"Zoe, you did it!"

William's voice brought me back to the present moment. His benevolent blue-gray glance caught me, immediately releasing the heavy pressure. I grabbed his outstretched hand and my foot touched the ground. The huge building stood in front of us. Euphoric, my cry of joy was added to Lexy's and Asarys'.

"Well! I don't want to jinx it, but I really think that this time, the worst is behind us."

I was hoping, at the time, that Lexy was telling the truth. Psychologically, this walk had been the most difficult and most scary of my whole life.

"Team number two, where are you?"

Faïz's voice echoed on the radio, hanging on Ray's belt. He grabbed the device without further delay and raised it to his lips.

"We arrived in front of the temple. Everyone is fine. You're missing something incredible."

"I want to believe you! Keep your radio on. We will now record everything."

"Confidence reigns," Ray quipped, putting the device back on his belt.

Before crossing thethreshold of the gigantic building, we stayed a few minutes to admire thebuilding, constructed entirely of gray marble and inlaid with magnificentgilding. On each side of the entrance were installed two huge statuesrepresenting a man holding the moon in his hands and a woman with the sun. Theimposing sculptures seemed to guard the doors of this mysterious sanctuary.