The Ghaldo Mountain 4

“Bloody damn stairs!” Russle exclaimed with resigned exasperation. They had been ascending the steeply climbing stairs that had been carved from the gray stone that made up the rest of the tunnel. By now, it was clear that the stairs followed the outer wall of the cliff, punctured by small openings every 30 steps to let some ambient light in, and in some places it emerged onto flat shelves in the cliff face. Each time they emerged from the long and winding stone tunnel they was once again faced by the breathtaking view of the distant peaks and deep valley’s that made up the Ghaldo mountains, and far out in the distance the flat lands could be faintly seen through gaps in the cloud cover. Once again, they emerged out onto one of the outer sections of the climb. The wind tugged on his clothes and ruffled his hair. Looking down he took note that the giant and ancient trees now looked like nothing more than a green carpet that sometimes ruffled lightly in the occasional gusts of wind. Out west the horizon was starting to take on a more golden hue, and exhaustion was pulling at them all. How high up they were now he could only guess at, it felt inhumanly high, and he caught a shiver running down his spine at the memory of the high pitched scream he had heard earlier that had marked the end of one of his companions life. They were supposed to be the best trained, but that was no guarantee for a safe journey. A thought had started to nag him, how in divinity had people managed to build a huge temple in such a place, maybe there was some truth in the rumor it had been built by other beings. It was an unnerving thought.
“Can’t be far now” he said, though there was only resignation in is voice. His throat felt raw from the exertion of the climb.
“You care to make that a bet?” Russle said with a raspy voice. The climb had not been kind to any of them, but Russle really looked worse than the rest John thought. Half orcs were tough bastards, but humans had better stamina.
“Never mind, I never win any bets against you anyway” he said, and added with a mocking grin “better not risk it with a bet; I want to get there in this lifetime.”
“Ha ha, funny boy” Russle replied with less humor. Apparently, the seriousness of the climb was not lost on him either.
Something caught his attention at the edge of his vision and he turned to look out over the edge. “Whoa, look at that!”
Whoa, is that? Damn we are high up.” Russle replied.
Not far past the edge of the cliff face at close to their own height, a couple of eagles floated in the updraft rising along the sheer cliff face. The dawn had broken in earnest, and now the updraft uplifted the birds to their level. None of them had ever gotten so close to these majestic and mythical birds. As they stood and gawked a few others from their group caught up to them and stopped to look at what they were held up with and ended up standing there to gawk at the sight as well. As one of the birds let out a shrill scream the hairs at the back of John’s neck stood on end. It was such a raw experience. Hell, he concluded, it almost made the climb worth it, almost.
The pain he felt from the climb was getting excruciating, his back hurt, his knees ached and his thighs were going numb. Yet after the ledge the stairs went further up. The next stretch of stairs were completely inside the mountain and they had to walk in groups of six with a single torch between them for light. It was darkness like the inside of a mine, only the dome of the tunnel was taller than what you found in such a place. Sure, he had been in the absence of light before, his father was a miner, but with the solid and rough stone surrounding them, with only a weak point of light it felt like he was walking into the abyss of the earth. The fact that they were walking upwards did little to change that fact. If he had to be honest with himself, he had always been wary of the dark. He had no idea how long this part of the climb lasted, but it felt like the longest. Some parts twisted and winded sharply upwards on narrow steps that was hard to see in the weak light form the sputtering torch, other parts where straight enough that he could see a tiny point of light further back that marked yet another group. That tiny point of light was an immense reassurance, a reassurance that if he lost his group he wouldn’t be abandoned here, alone in this oppressive darkness, with only the sounds of dripping water to be heard. In the back of his mind, the lonely and terrified scream of the man who had fallen to his death was a clear reminder of the perils of this place, the fact that he still did not know whom it had been was equally unnerving.
Finally, the end of the tunnel came in view, with blissful, blessed sunlight flooding in through the opening. As he stepped through the opening, and the surroundings changed in character rather dramatically. The narrow and steep tunnel gave way to a large and carefully tended garden with colorful birds fluttering about from tree to tree, several of which were in full bloom. Looking towards the west and the rising sun there was a finely crafted and sturdy railing of stone. Looking up he could see where the rough gray cliff walls met the smooth white walls of the temple. Through the middle of the garden, a stream flowed to the edge and over, adding to the multitude of waterfalls that adorned the cliff and covered much of it in a fine mist.
An elderly man dressed in a gray robes stood by the first group that had arrived. As he spotted them his face beamed in a wrinkly grin and he walked towards them with arms outstretched.
“Welcome to Sanctuary!”
Behind him trailed a creature he had never seen the likes of before, it was small and feline in form, but covered with pale gray, white and blue feathers rather than fur. And those eyes! John had never know that such a color of blue existed in the world, they seemed to shine with an inner light, and as it came closer it fixed its eyes on him, eyes with double slits like a + looked at him with a hint of intelligence that made his hairs stand on end. It was the size of a large cat but still it scared him.
“Seen my fae have you” the old man said, more like a statement than a question.
“Um….” he was lost for words; it took effort just to look away from its eyes.
“Just don’t try to pet it” the man sad and turned away to welcome the others in the group. The man was a feytier! His soul, merged to this creature, a being from the other world….