The others did the resting, leaning against the rock wall and dozing off. It was warm to the touch, although it was the shady northern side.

I walked around the area, sorting the vegetation into water-retentive and edible or poisonous. From time to time, I knelt on the ground, digging my hands into the sandy soil and checking the moisture.

"We're so dead," squawked Polly from my shoulder. "Can I have fresh fruits for my last meal?"

"You'll feast on idiots before we die. I'll take extra care to make their flesh as tender as can be," I mumbled viciously, dusting my hands off and checking on a different plant. Poisonous but water-retentive. Little lizards scrabbled over the hot ground from time to time, when I came too close to them. One scorpion clicked its pincers threateningly. Polly spread her wings and it scurried away.

"I utterly love to eat idiots. When will they be served? Dinner, I hope? They taste best around dinner, after half a day of exertion and another half of being roasted during napping time," came Polly's dry remark.

I sighed. "Is there an easy way up that rock?"

Polly craned her head around, eyeing our resting rock with a critical eye. "No. But there is a good starting point on the left side." After a moment, she added: "I could also fly up, if you give me fresh fruits to eat."

I punted her from my shoulder for her implication that I still had fresh fruits hidden in my packs and inspected rock. The left side did look better than the others. Hiking up my long robe and tying it around my waist, I started to climb.

'Left hand is next. Deep breaths.'

"The one a bit further up is better," said Polly.

My left hand slipped from the shallow crack I had tried to put it. I pressed my body against the hot stone as I searched for the spot Polly meant, all while cursing her in my mind. My back was sweat-soaked and I didn't dare look down to check how far I was. My left hand found a new purchase, tested it and stayed where it was. I heaved a tiny sigh of relief.

'Next: feet.'

"You have to move to the right. Keep going straight and you'll reach a dead end." Polly flapped away. 'Hopefully to break her stupid neck.'

Much as I loved to curse her, I did as she had said, moving to the right, instead of straight up. Setting one limb at a time and testing the hand- or foothold, before moving the next limb. It was slow going and exhausting, but I needed to know more about the surroundings.

How many rock clusters were on our path?

Left foot.

Were there any larger herbivores around the area?

Left hand.

Birds?

Right foot.

That would mean a spring in the area.

Right hand.

And then we could refill our water supply.

Left foot.

If we were really lucky, maybe I could catch a glimpse of Rovia.

Left ha-

My left hand touched empty air. For three seconds, my breathing quickened, as I pulled my hand back and slowly inched it up the rock wall until: nothing again. Searching around a bit, I found that I had reached the end of my climb. Grabbing the edge, I searched for new footholds and pushed myself over the edge and laid there for a moment. The warm breeze dried the sweat on my body near instantly.

"You could've saved yourself the trip. See? Nothing but sand and rocks." Polly sat down besides me.

"Can't say that until I had a look, right?" I rolled onto my belly and came to my feet. The plateau I was on was roughly 4 meters long and 3 meters wide. Enough to walk around a little bit, but I preferred to stay near the center. Climbing back down would be enough excitement.

"Now then. The sun should be standing southwest by now. Then this here is south, west, east and north." I scratched a simple compass into the rock around me. A stone marked north. "The wind is coming from the east. Going by my previous directions, Rovia should be more south than east. Let's see."

I turned towards south-east to take a look.

"Where is he? Drake? Hello? Where are you?!" someone shouted from far below me. I was pretty sure it was the chatty Darid. "What do you mean, you can't see him anywhere? He was here just a moment ago!"

"Polly, you go tell them where I am," I mumbled to my bird, who was as unwilling to fly down as I was to shout. "Fine. I tell them where I am, but you fly down to explain. - Darid, I'm up here!" And I grabbed Polly and threw her over the edge of my rocky plateau.

I heard her angry squall, followed by the screaming sound of humans fleeing from her sharp beak and grinned.

"The land. Looks like a rock desert to me. Not much sand around. The rocks get smaller towards the east. And is that a flock of birds slightly northwards? Could be a days walk. East to that sleeping-lion rock and then north for 3 rock clusters... Wait, it's not really a rock desert, is it? Eastward are more plants. South-east is still only rocks and not as many plants as directly eastward, but still more plants than towards the south or the west. Though I can't see this ocean. Teacher said it was blue? Similar to a gigantic oasis." I shrugged. "The only blue thing I can see is the sky. Maybe we're not yet close enough. But that flock of birds could solve our water problems for a while. Unless I've started to hallucinate, there should be some kind of surface water over there. Time to climb back down, I guess."

Which was easier said than done. I laid on my belly and carefully pushed my legs over the edge where I had previously climbed up, searching for safe footholds. My knuckles were white from holding onto the rocks on top of the plateau. Slowly, with one foot wedged into the rock, I pushed more of myself over the edge, searching for purchase for my other foot. Finding it, my hands were next. First left, then right. I hung there, near the top, for what felt like an eternity, preparing my fluttering heart for the climb down.

"Just have to be slow and careful. Left foot, left hand. Right foot, right hand. You can do it, Drake. Slow and steady. What guard is afraid of heights? Slow and steady. First a foot, then a hand." I forced my left foot to move. Any longer and I would be making part of the climb in the freezing dark of dusk. The left hand followed. Then the right foot.

"Don't forget to climb leftwards again. Maybe there is a dead end if I go straight." I refused to look down, trusting my feet to find safe purchase on the outcroppings and cracks offered by the rock. "Slow and steady. Breathe. You're doing great. Next foot. Yes, not that bad. Now the hand."

At some point, my right leg couldn't find any good foothold. I pulled it back to the previous foothold and rested my head against the warm stone. "Dead end," I whispered, sick to my stomach. I risked a glance over my shoulder and quickly closed my eyes again as the ground immediately began to swim before my eyes, pressing against the stone and breathing through my nose. "Easy, Drake. Nothing to worry. You climb up three steps and try again. This time, more to the left. You can do this."

But my body refused to budge, my hands and feet locked in place by irrational fright. 'What if I fall? Is it high enough to kill me directly? Or will I just break an arm or a leg and forever be a cripple?'

"..u hear me? Say somet-... have to move right for a bit, - you can climb down again. You hear me, Drake? You have to move right."

I couldn't pin down whose voice it was, but it broke through my shaky thoughts.

"Move right. I can do that," I mumbled to myself. "Turn my head and open my eyes to look for a good handhold. There. Solid, red rock. And that looks like a good handhold." My right hand moved and checked, just in case. Then my right foot. Stretched as I was, my left hand was forced to move as well.

"Great! A little bit more to the right. Yes, that's it. Now you have a straight climb down."

I don't know how I reached the ground, the rest of the climb a mixture of my own encouraging mumbling and the calm instructions from the voice below. But I was near to tears when my feet touched solid ground again. I leaned against the rock wall for a moment, getting my emotions under control, before turning around. It must've been a spectacle and I was sure to get some ribbing for freezing.

Instead, there was only Lizia with a soft smile. Strange. I had thought she was the grumpy one.

"Welcome back on solid ground. Was the view worth the climb?" She didn't laugh at me, nor did she ask about what had happened. Instead, she outright ignored it.

'Right. The view.'

"It was, indeed. I may have found a solution to our water problem. Seeing as the sun is setting, we should get going. We could probably reach it by midday, if we're fast. Or in the evening."

That caught her interest. She volunteered to round everyone up, while I stumbled to the other side of the rock and vomited the jerky from lunch. I rinsed the horrible taste from by mouth with a precious gulp of water and went back. My legs were still trembling from my climbing adventure, but every step on solid ground made them more stable.

"We're going eastward. After the night rest, we should find a rock like a sleeping lion around mid- to late morning. From there we go north - or left, if that's easier for you - and pass by 3 rock clusters. If we miss the sleeping-lion rock, we'll miss our chance to refill our water supply and reach Rovia, so keep you eyes open during the morning."