“There’s one little problem with the route I scouted,” Peter said, waiting to be sure the others were paying attention. “There is volcanic activity. Fart smelling smoke comes out of holes that have opened up, and if you breathe too much of it you might faint.”
“Is it safe?” Egbert asked.
“If we don’t linger. Safer than either of the other options.”
“Let’s go, then,” Nelson said, hopping to his feet.
“There is something else,” Egbert started, which seemed to confuse Nelson. “There is a big predator in the woods nearby. A wolf-bear.”
“Oh, that’s just Bentley. I was told he was watching over you guys.”
“Bentley? Told by who?” Egbert had more questions.
“Oh, uh, it’s a bit weird. This dryad keeps popping up when I’m alone in the woods and talking to me. I don’t really understand why. Bentley is her … friend, I guess.”
“I don’t know if you’re lucky or cursed,” Egbert said, clearly uncomfortable. “But if the wolf-bear isn’t a threat, we can get moving before something else comes along.”
And so Peter found himself leading the two, as well as a few dozen of the donkey-sized goats, around the landslide. As tired as he was, he was surprised to arrive back in town without incident. Nelson’s father was grateful and promised them as many beasts as they needed when they were ready to head out. Egbert said something about being late for his shift and hurried off. Peter smiled, thinking of his bed in the inn, and headed there.
Peter was woken by Marla with a tray of hot food. “You didn’t wake, so I went to get you something to eat. You’re back safe, then?”
“Barely. Bugbears sacrificing townsfolk to a dire lynx family. A jumpy herder. Fucking volcano.”
“I don’t think you got enough sleep; you aren’t making sense.”
“Nothing has made sense since I accidentally travelled here. Oh, we can have as many of those overgrown goats as we want, whenever we’re leaving.”
“That’s the last thing we needed before we set out. I guess we can leave in the morning.”
“If you want. That smells delicious, is it for me?” Peter’s stomach growled.
It only took two animals to carry all their things, which boggled Peter’s mind. It looked like the beasts had weather balloons strapped to their back. As they were leaving town, they encountered Egbert leading a similarly laden animal muttering to himself.
“Damn Captain, sending me. Just because I was late for the first time in years of service.”
“Where is this Captain sending you, Egbert?”
“Peter? What are you doing out here?”
“We finally finished our business in town, now it’s up and over the mountain for us.”
“Why?”
“That’s the route to the Capital that was set out for us.”
“You’re going to the Capital too?”
“Is that where you’re heading?”
“Yeah. Captain said the bugbears and dire lynx were above his authority. I’m to report to a General in the Capital.”
“Well, if we’re going to the same place, maybe we’re safer together,” Peter looked at Marla, who had two competing emotions on her face. He couldn’t tell if she didn’t like the idea or if she approved.
“I’ll be travelling as fast as possible,” Egbert started.
“As will we. My business in the Capital is best done as soon as I can.”
“Well, as long as we don’t slow each other down, then. Let’s get moving.”
And so they started hiking up the mountain. The road soon dwindled to a trail. It got a bit harder to breathe. The trees thinned out and gave way to stunted evergreens. Considering the number of dangers he had encountered just going to a pasture near town, Peter was surprised at how quiet and boring that day’s hike was.
They camped under the stars that night, and the next day they made camp early to avoid getting stuck in the most exposed section of the pass when the sun went down.
The pass itself was a bit underwhelming. It was just a valley between two peaks, a section of ridge that had been ground down to a nearly gentle hill. Still, the footing wasn’t great, the temperature dropped noticeably, and the air was too thin to continue at their preferred pace.
Peter was glad when they were once more moving downhill.
He shouldn’t have been surprised when his luck ran out.
While ranging ahead, scouting for some sign of a waterway, Peter found himself on the edge of a cliff. When he turned to backtrack, he found himself face to face with what looked uncomfortably close to a gorilla. It roared, but more like Wookie noises.
“I’m just passing through, not good eating,” he said, calmly, slowly trying to edge around the stone-grey ape.
It quieted instantly and brought its head back, cocking it to the side, dropping its hands. “You speak?” it asked.
“Well, yes, I speak. Most humans do, you know. I’m sorry if I’ve disturbed you.”
“Don’t understand other human. You here why?”
“Came over the mountain, now heading down to a river. I’m looking for water.”
“Water goes down hill.”
“It does. This hill was a bit too steep for me, though.”
Whatever this ape was, it was more intelligent than Peter would have guessed. Still, it came closer to look over the edge, as if it had never seen the cliff.
The edge crumbled, and Peter slid after the ground he had been standing on.
His luck hadn’t given out completely, though, because instead of falling the hundred feet to the rocky ground below, he slid down fifteen feet and found himself on a ledge. Peter couldn’t climb back up, but he was safe, at least for the moment.
It wasn’t a good time to remember he was afraid of heights. His eyes widened, his hands started shaking, and his knees collapsed. Peter managed to control the collapse so he stayed on the ledge, but that was the best he could do. He stared off with unfocussed eyes, tears starting to collect in the corners of his eyes. His chest hurt and his breathing was a bit funny.
“A strange spot for a rest,” a voice said from somewhere on his left. He recognized the voice as belonging to Honeyhips, though it was a distant thought that took several minutes to form. “Are you okay?” she asked him.
Peter shook his head slowly, his shoulders shaking.
“You don’t like heights? Boring. Would you like to leave, then?”
When he finally processed the words, Peter gave a slight nod.
“This probably won’t be any better, but I’m going to take you somewhere else for a few seconds, okay?” Peter didn’t respond, and Honeyhips grabbed his elbow. There was a brief sensation of floating in a void of darkness, a flash of green gone before his eyes could focus, though a smell like a greenhouse lingered in his nostrils as he found himself tumbling across mossy ground.
Peter slowly calmed down, leg kicking, and could take deep breaths again. When his eyes focused, he managed to sit up and look around. Honeyhips was perched on a stump watching him, looking worried.
“I can’t heal that kind of thing,” she said, upset at the thought. “Are you okay now?”
“Yes.” It took him a few tries to get his voice working again.
“Good. You’re going to go that way to find your friends, okay?”
Peter saw where she was pointing and nodded.
“Be more careful, Peter. I need a rest of my own, sorry.” She walked to the nearest tree. “Bye,” she added before stepping behind it and disappearing.
Half an hour later, Peter finally felt strong enough to get back to his feet.
“Where have you been? Do you know what that boom was?” Marla was fretting when he stepped into view.
“I was talking to a gorilla, and it looked over the cliff. The edge crumbled, and we fell. I landed on a ledge. Honeyhips rescued me by taking me somewhere else for a second.”
“Gorilla? What happened to being careful?”
“I was being careful. I was trying to leave the cliff when a hairy brute of an ape appeared and roared at me. We were having a conversation, it turned out to be rather polite. Just not to bright.”
“Well, I’ll make a cup of tea. You look like you need more of a rest before we move on.”
“I’m going to go take a look around,” Egbert said, not waiting for a reply before leaving.
Peter sat down with his back to a rock and dozed off.