Chapter 38

The Way into the Mountain

- For the way is shut to those who cannot find it -

"We have arrived," said Thonavar, pointing to the massive wall of ice that came into view as they came around a bend. "Behold, the face of the mountain."

The stream was much narrower now and was increasingly becoming shallow in depth. The barkboat was steadily decreasing in speed, floating with dreadful lethargy.

"Look, there ends the stream," said Lyla. In the distance, the stream could be seen widening into a huge lake. "We best get off and travel by foot."

"Yes," agreed Thonavar, gesturing for them to move toward the shoreline.

"Aye," echoed Chaeron, and following Thonavar’s lead, he pushed his stick into water, turning the boat toward the bank.

Thonavar held the boat steady as Lyla and Chaeron stepped off and onto the shore. Then he too stepped off. The trio stood for a while, gazing at the long piece of wood that had served them so well, bobbing up and down by the side of the stream bank. They had been on the water for many hours and it felt good to be on land dry land again.

"Goodbye old friend. You have served us well. Without you, we would not have made it this far," observed Chaeron, a discernable tinge of sadness in his voice. Thonavar smiled to himself, watching the barkboat fondly. Lyla rolled her eyes. Then, Thonavar kicked it away from the shore and they watched it move out into the open water. Goodbye, friend.

"Onward then," said Thonavar, turning to face the Cold Mountains, his voice betraying a hint of excitement.

The cold and snow, no matter they blow, shall not deter us as we go.

Slowly, emerging from the snow-covered forest, they made their way toward the mountainside. They were out in the open now and had to be careful. The trio kept themselves very alert to any visible signs of movement across the land.

Snow fell from the sky in gentle patches. However, though the snow was light and the wind whistled gently now, Thonavar had a feeling that the worst was still to come.

After trekking across the snow-covered landscape for about an hour, Thonavar, Chaeron and Layla came to the bottom of the mountainside. They encircled the area. But it became clear that the surrounding sides of the mountain where unclimbable. They were covered with giant ice structures which made any attempt to scale fatally dangerous. Even on the ice wall itself, small spears of ice littered the face of the wall, protruding at grotesque angles. The three of them exchanged worried looks. The idea of climbing the mountain suddenly seemed absolutely impossible.

"How do we climb this thing?" Chaeron asked. "We have no tools."

"There must be a way to climb," said Thonavar. "This is the challenge that was given."

"Perhaps there was someone that will meet us to give us further instructions," said Chaeron.

"No Chaeron," said Thonavar. "I think we are on our own here. This is precisely the task set before us."

"There is not a soul to be seen," observed Lyla.

"You think any of the other candidates made it this far?" Chaeron asked.

"I would not put it past Gargan and his friends," said Lyla darkly.

"I do not think so," said Thonavar firmly. "We are ahead of them. The barkboat has bought us time."

"Well then, it looks as though we are the first to arrive! This is great. I knew we were a great team! And we owe our early arrival to the barkboat which was Lyla’s idea," said Chaeron, cheerfully.

"I would not celebrate so early Chaeron," said Thonavar. "There is a mountain to climb and many challenges ahead."

"Then let us move quickly lest the others catch up to us," said Lyla, with a touch of impatience. "Which brings us back to the same question. How do we climb this mountain?"

"That seems to me an impossible task," murmured Chaeron.

"There must be a way up which they had intended us to find," said Thonavar. "Do any of you recall the words of Biron Malcus, the overseer?"

"The task before you is simply this: enter the mountain’s entrance before last light on the third day, " said Lyla. "That was what he said."

"No, there was more," said Thonavar. "There was something else. He said something about the mountain."

"Then, there is the mountain itself," said Chaeron. "It will tower over you and threaten to overwhelm your minds. But do not give in to despair. Find the way into the mountain."

"Wait, Chaeron. That was it. Repeat what you just said," said Thonavar quickly. His heart started to beat faster.

"Then, there is the mountain itself…," began Chaeron, but Thonavar interrupted.

"The last line."

"Do not give in to despair. Find a way into the mountain," repeated Chaeron.

"Yes," said Thonavar. "This confirms it. Do you not see? There is a way into the mountain. We must find it."

"I see, " said Lyla. "Then let us search for a path of some kind that leads into the mountain."

"I can assure you, if this be the challenge, that it will not be easy to locate," muttered Chaeron.

The three of them spread out along the face of the mountain wall and began searching for any possible openings or rock or ice features that looked like a way into the mountain. But after a pointless hour, they found nothing.

"Sanctum…," muttered Chaeron, coming up beside Thonavar, as he studied the wall of ice. "Where are your gates?"

"Well, what do you think?" said Lyla, with arms folded, as she too stared up at the wall of ice with her head cocked to one side. Her eyebrows were furrowed and knotted as her mind worked to figure out the seemingly impossible task that was before them. Chaeron stared at her blankly, surprised by her curt question.

"Where do you think it is, this place called Sanctum? Could it be on the very top of the mountain?" asked Lyla, as she titled her chin to see beyond the swirling mists that obscured the peaks of the Cold Mountains. "I do not see any sign of it anywhere," she said.

"I do not think so," replied Chaeron, looking slightly relieved. “I think it must be located inside the mountain. But that is just my guess."

His fingers scraped the ice and recoiled quickly from the icy bite.

Thonavar listened to the conversation between his friends but his eyes did not for a second leave the ice wall. He took several steps back to get a better view of the entire wall before keeping very still. Then he systematically scanned the face of the wall, determined not to let any detail slip from his sight.

"Inside the mountain?" Lyla asked incredulously.

"Well yes," said Chaeron. "That was what I said. But like I said before, your guess is as good as mine."

Thonavar was about to contribute to the discussion when he noticed something. How interesting. The entire front face of the ice wall is covered in spikes of ice. Except for that small area toward the right.

Thonavar turned around and moved further back, about a hundred paces to get a better view of the entire ice wall.

Focusing on the small area which seemed to be without those protruding spears of ice, his eyes caught sight of something on a section of the wall. He blinked a few times.

Wait. The colour of that small area of ice seemed to be different as compared to the rest of the wall. It was blue like the rest of the ice, but this area of ice was slightly darker in colour. There seemed to be…a shadow. As though there was something behind the area of ice.

Thonavar’s stared hard. Then he walked forward, his eyes focusing on the darker shadowed area of the ice wall.

And then he saw it.

"Come! Come quickly," shouted Thonavar excitedly. "Lyla! Chaeron!"

Lyla and Chaeron stopped their conversation which had turned into a bickering and rushed to his side.

"You found it, have you not?" Lyla asked excitedly.

"Look yonder there," said Thonavar, pointing.

"What is it?" Chaeron asked.

"The way into the mountain," Thonavar replied.

"Where is it?" asked Chaeron and Lyla. Both spoke at the same time.

"There," answered Thonavar. He was determined to hold his gaze, lest he lose sight of the cunning design. He pointed to the darker blue area of ice.

Chaeron and Lyla followed his gaze and there was a moment of silence as the two tried hard to see what Thonavar had seen.

"I see nothing," said Chaeron exasperatedly, his eyes scanning the wall to and fro.

"Look there. Look hard. See how the ice becomes dark as though hidden by shadow? Now look closely," instructed Thonavar, pointing.

There was another moment of silence which was broken by a sudden intake of air by Lyla.

"I see it," whispered Lyla.

"What do you see?" Chaeron asked again.

"It looks like stairs," replied Lyla, in hushed tones.

"Yes," said Thonavar. "It is a stairway. A stairway into the mountain."