Chương 8: The Climb

I stared at the display. DECLINING THE QUEST WILL AUTOMATICALLY RESULT IN A PENALTY ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO DECLINE YES/ NO For a second, everything just… stopped. My hands wouldn't stop shaking. The choice was difficult. I couldn't think straight. It reminded me of the crash— Watching my crew disappear into the dark, when I went through that wormhole. And now I was about to lose yet another companion. If I decline, the flock of pterosaurs could come immediately and kill us both.

If I accept, I climb and leave her. All alone. I looked at Scar. She tilted her head. Chirped softly. Those amber eyes, trusting me She doesn't understand. She doesn't know I'm about to leave her. My legs gave out, I dropped down to the ground, body trembling. I've lost everyone that I loved and cared for. Mom. Dad. Iris. My crew and now Scar. The bond between us was short— two days, maybe one. But it was real Scar walked closer and chirped. She leaned her head into my hands. I can't do this.

Something heavy deep inside me went numb. The grief, the emptiness— I know that feeling, I'd been carrying it for a while. Scar chirped, confused, she rubbed her head against my shoulder. I cupped her jaw with both of my hands.

"I am sorry." I whispered, my voice broke.

"I am so sorry." I bit the inside of my cheek, trying to keep it together. She blinked. Still confused didn't understand. How do you explain the feeling of abandonment to someone who's never known it? I stood slowly and clenched my fist, so tight my knuckles made sound of cracking. I have to go, I have to… She blinked and tilted her head. Staring at me as I walked towards the cliff. I don't want to. My throat closed. But if I don't climb, we both die. I'll come back for you. I swear. I will…

But till then you have to stay alive. For me… I chose not to look back. It crushed me from inside, but it had to be done. Another promise, was it also a lie?

"We won't ever leave you again, okay?"

"We promise." My parents made those promise and they'd broken that promise. What makes me think that this time will be any different. What if there is no way for her on the other side. But I couldn't think like that. There had to be someway…

"Open Log." The display popped up (DO YOU ACCEPT)"Yes" I said with a heavy heart. QUEST ACTIVATED DESTINATION: CLIFF CAVE DISTANCE: 300 METRES Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. TIME LEFT: 02: 59: 58 I looked up the cliff and checked my gear one last time. Parachute cord. Harness. Carabiners and pickaxe. Everything I needed to climb was there. I breathed deep. No matter what, I cannot look back. My chest felt like it was tearing apart.

I knew if I looked back, I won't be able to do this. I walked to the cliff base. Put my hand on the first carved hole. Behind me, scar chirped. Where are you going? I could understand her emotions flowing in me. I forced myself not to turn around. I can't stop, I have to keep moving. I pulled myself up and took the first step. It was hard. Behind me she chirped again. Louder. Come back. Why are you leaving? I kept climbing. I heard a noise below, her claws were scraping on the rock. Eagerly.

She jumped trying to climb up, but fell on the ground. I couldn't help but look at Scar. She was still there. Trying.

"No!" I called down.

"Stay there, Scar!, You can't follow me." She sat down and looked at me with those amber eyes and chirped. Don't go, please come back. Every chirp she made was breaking me from inside. I climbed ten to twenty meters, I heard her voice. Louder now. Chrr… rr Chrr… rr Chrr… rr She was calling me. I don't understand. Why are you leaving me? It hit me hard. I broke. Swallowed hard. I couldn't hold it anymore Tears rolled down my cheek. It felt warm against my skin. I sobbed, My lips quivered.

She didn't stop just kept calling. Chrr… rr Chrr… rr Chrr… rr Each call felt like a knife twisting in my chest. Scar, I'm sorry, I am so sorry… but you have to stop calling me… I can't come back… I kept on climbing. Please come back. Please. Even if my vision blurred, even when my hands stinged, I just kept climbing. Higher and higher. Her voice faded away eventually, I couldn't see her face anymore. Just her shape. She trusted me, she needed me, she loved me despite being a predator.

But I did, what I had to do, to protect her, to protect myself. I drove the pickaxe into the rock. Some choices in life. CRACK Are always harder. CRACK No matter what. CRACK You have to pull through. CRACK You have to keep moving ahead. TIME REMAINING: 02: 14: 33 I had climbed one hundred metres, two hundred were left to go. Finally I reached a wider corner end, ahead of me there was a ledge, really thin and long. The view below could shatter anyone's will to go ahead. But for me it was do or die.

You've got to be kidding me. I have to cross this ledge. My arms burned. And hands had some cuts, it was bleeding, every part of my body was exhausted. I shook my arms in the air. Stretched my legs. I pulled out my parachute cord and attached it to my harness.

"Phew… Come on nova you can do this." I rubbed my hands and breathed out, warming them. I took the first step. My toes hung over the edge. The ledge was too narrow, I had to constantly keep my hands attached to the cliff. Moving across, one step at time. The wind at this altitude was an extra weight that I had to carry. It was cold and challenging. I couldn't look down. If I tried, I would surely lose my balance. I slid my foot with each step, inch by inch. The rock was crumbly and smooth beneath my boots.

One slip, one wrong step and I'm dead. I carefully crossed ten metres of that ledge. My hands found a thin crack in the cliff. I gripped it, and started attaching my other carabiner. I saw the path had vanished, there was a gap between the ledge. The wind picked up. A strong gust hitting me from the side. I froze. Every muscle locked. My fingers glued to that crack on that cliff, one of my foot was in the air. Desperately, Tried to hang on. Hang on, just hang on. But the gust was so strong, my foot slipped.

For one second, my heart stopped. I fell — The parachute cord caught me. Jerked me to a stop. My body swung against the cliff, feet kicking at nothing but air. I grabbed the cord with both hands, feet attached to the cliff surface. Desperately trying to climb up. Trying to grab on to the other side of the ledge. The crack on that cliff which was holding my carabiner was about to loosen its grip. Come on, pull up! Pull up NOW! My arms were screaming at me, couldn't hold any more of this pressure.

I pulled myself up hand over hand. And extended my legs. One more metre, just one…. Finally, I found the ledge on my toe tip, I tried to keep balance and steady myself on that ledge. I took a deep breath, I made it. Just few more metres, I could see a land. My feet touched that land, I collapsed. Safe, for now. TIME REMAINING: 01: 32: 09 Can't rest now, I have to keep going. I forced myself to stand. My legs were trembling, arms went numb. But I kept climbing. When I climbed 150 metres more, I was on a steady land.

I walked ahead. The sound of water, rushing down. A flicker. TECHNOLOGY LOG ANALYSIS COMPLETE: THE HEAVENS FALL LENGTH: 23 METRES. HEIGHT: 15, 238 FEET.

"The heavens fall?" its height was more than the height Mount Fuji in Japan or Mount Whitney in California… That tells me the cliff height is 15, 000 feet high. The waterfall spray created a thick permanent mist that soaked everything within its reach. I walked closer and stopped at the edge. I squinted my eyes, try to look harder through that mist. The cliff cave, that is what the log had mentioned in the quest. That is where my destiny lies. But I couldn't reach it. The waterfall blocked the path completely.

The current was too strong, the mist got thicker and the gap was too wide between both the cliff end.

"I need a bridge to cross over." I looked around. To my right, a tree, near the cliff edge, it was old. The trunks was thick. Twisted. If I could cut it down. It would fell towards the other side, creating a crossover bridge. I pulled out the makeshift axe that I'd crafted from the weapons Aeris's group had left behind, it was sharp enough to cut it. This is gonna take forever. TIME REMAINING: 01: 00: 00"Just an hour left!" One tree. One hour. One chance. I wasted no time and swung the axe. THUNK. Nothing happened.

Just a scratch in the bark.

"Alright, let do again." THUNK. A small piece of wood flew off Again. THUNK. Again. THUNK. My arms were already exhausted from climbing, My hands were bleeding. Each swing sent a shiver through my arms to my shoulders. But I kept swinging. THUNK. THUNK. THUNK. I should've put all those points in Strength. Too late now. THUNK. THUNK. THUNK. The cut have deepened TIME REMAINING: 00: 30: 00 The tree leaned a bit. Slightly. Almost there!

"Just one more—" I swung hard, with all my might. CRACK. The tree fell. Its Braches reached the other side of the cliff. It was just like I expected it to be.

"Perfect""Well look at that, it's the first thing that's gone right today." I carefully took the first step.

"Alright, You can do this." Just a few metres… No big deal. I extended both my arms for balance and carefully moved ahead. The mist crated by waterfall made the trunk wet. It became slippery. My boot almost slid off. I crouched, and picked myself up. I was about to reach. The trunk shifted the weight as I reached at its branches. It's gonna split in half. I need to run NOW! I ran, my boots slipped.

"Oh Shit!" Behind me, the tree trunk cracked, it started to split in two It slid. I jumped. My hands and legs swinging in the air, trying to get hold on the edge. My fingers touched the edge and palms grabbed the cliff. The tree trunk disappeared into the mist. I pulled up with everything that I had. Finally I was near the destination. TIME REMAINING: 00: 20: 26 It was strange that at this height, there were stairs that led to the cave entrance.

I walked through the stairs almost 10 metres left to reach my destination. The view took my breath away. For a moment everything seemed peaceful. I was near the cliff cave with time to spare. I didn't expected there was another trouble on my way. I looked up, and my jaw dropped. What I saw, shook me to my very core. A huge boulder, probably a size of a car, just barely sitting on the outer edge of that cliff, above the cave.

"Holy shit!" It was going to fall. If the boulder falls it would block my path to the entrance, I couldn't go in, if I stayed outside. And if it falls when I'm inside… I'm trapped. I didn't know if the cave had a dead end or not. I had to make yet another choice… The time was ticking. TIME REMAINING: 00: 01: 03 Do I run for the cave now? Or stay outside and risk the penalty?