They climbed side by side, scaling the first section with ease. Auum felt invigorated, testing himself against the mountain. Across from him Ulysan kept on glancing up and, as they approached the narrows, he began to sweat despite the cold.
‘Keep it going, Ulysan,’ said Auum. ‘Plenty of room for your ego yet.’
Ulysan was gasping. They were forced to turn ninety degrees, their backs to one wall, hands and feet on the other, pushing up. Auum could see, far above, the last of the Il-Aryn and TaiGethen scrambling over the top and away. Faces rimmed the opening and Auum waved they were all right.
Only they weren’t. The narrowing fissure forced them into an ever more upright position, never too much to prevent them from pushing and pulling their way up but tight on the torso.
‘You’re doing just fine,’ said Auum.
Ulysan swallowed. He moved another foot or two up and his left ear brushed a tiny outcrop in the otherwise smooth wall. He overcompensated and his right ear brushed the other side. He froze.
‘Auum!’ he said, the fear alive in his voice.
‘Just rest your head back to the left. There’s room, I promise you there’s room.’
Ulysan’s head was an unusual shape and his ears stuck out a little, but Auum couldn’t see anywhere he risked getting caught though he would get a few scrapes along the way. The big TaiGethen nodded and reached up again, leaning his head as Auum had said. He braced his feet and pushed, inching up.
Right above them the walls angled slightly to the right and closed fractionally, taking the incline off the vertical, but only by a few degrees. Auum moved into the turn, feeling the rock above his head and angling his body to give him the position to drag his legs through.
‘Just follow me and do what I do,’ said Auum. ‘You’ll be fine. It’s tight but not too tight.’
Ulysan inched up and his head touched the angle in the rock, forcing him to tilt his neck. He gasped and stopped, rocking his head from side to side to convince himself there was room.
‘You’re nearly there. You need to push up, get your shoulders across the angle and you’ll have all the space you can dream of.’
Ulysan reached forward, pulled and jerked his legs down to push himself up but didn’t bend his torso to ease over the angle. His head struck the rock face above him and his shoulders jammed against the walls as he tried to turn his whole body to give his head more space to twist.
‘No.’ It was little more than a whimper. ‘No.’
‘You’re all right, Ulysan,’ said Auum.
‘I’m not,’ he said, gasping in shallow breaths. ‘I’m stuck. I’m stuck! Please, Auum, I’m stuck!’
‘You’re not stuck. You just need to back up about a foot and reorient yourself.’
‘I can’t go back. Please don’t make me go back.’ Ulysan was starting to panic. His hands were scrabbling so hard he was drawing blood, and his feet worked at the wall, moving him nowhere. ‘I can’t move. Please, I can’t-’
‘Ulysan, take a single deep breath. . concentrate on the air flowing in and out, good and slow.’
‘I can’t!’ wailed Ulysan. ‘No room for my chest. It’s stuck fast. I can’t breathe, Auum, I can’t!’
Auum was in the wrong place to help. He was a body length ahead and facing up, only able to see Ulysan if he twisted his head down to look past his shoulder. He moved up as fast as he could, looking for the space and angles to turn around.
‘Don’t leave me!’ screamed Ulysan. ‘Please! Don’t leave me here alone in the darkness.’
Auum edged his body around, feeling his back catch on the wall and his left ear scrape painfully against a sharp ridge. Ulysan was still screaming. Auum heaved himself about, feeling the pressure across his body as he faced vertically down. He jammed his feet, pressed his back up as hard as he could and inched across and back down towards his oldest friend.
Ulysan was still scrabbling when Auum laid his hands on the suffering TaiGethen’s and stilled them.
‘I’m here,’ he said quietly and as calmly as he could. ‘You’re not alone.’
‘Ellarn?’ asked Ulysan, managing to turn his head just enough to meet Auum’s gaze.
‘No, Ulysan, it’s Auum. Come back to me, Ulysan. Ellarn went a long time ago.’
‘It’s going to be just like before,’ said Ulysan. ‘Trapped in the dark, no one to hear me.’
‘I heard you, Ulysan,’ said Auum. ‘Can you hear me?’
‘I can hear you. Where are you?’
‘I’m right in front of you, old friend. Do one thing for me. Breathe slow, breathe deep.’
‘That’s two things,’ said Ulysan, and relief flushed through Auum; at least something was left to work with. ‘Auum, are you there?’
‘I’m here, Ulysan. I’ve got your hands. Did you breathe?’
‘I did. I think I did.’
‘Good, Ulysan. You’re not lost. You’re not in the dark.’
Ulysan stared at him. ‘It’s not dark?’
‘No. Come back to me. Remember where you are. Do you remember?’
‘I’m stuck. . I’m stuck in a crack and I can’t move. Auum, help me!’
Ulysan’s fingers began to scrabble again and Auum tightened his grip.
‘Feel that, Ulysan. That’s me. I’m here with you. Yniss is here with you. You are in a crack but you aren’t stuck. I want you to listen to my voice and do what I ask. Can you do that for me?’
‘I can try.’
‘That’s all anyone can ever ask.’
‘Auum? Is Ellarn dead?’
‘Yes, Ulysan. Ellarn is dead and safe in Shorth’s embrace.’
Ulysan wept, his cheek against the rock face and his tears frosting on his cheeks.
‘But you aren’t, Ulysan. And I am going to help you get out of here. You trust me, don’t you?’
Ulysan tried to nod but it was little more than a twitch of his neck. ‘I’m cold. It’s cold in here.’
‘Then let me help you. Warmth and food are close by, but you have to trust me and do as I ask.’
‘Don’t let me die in here.’
Auum felt shivers course up and down his body. Ulysan’s quiet words tore into his soul and he had to force himself to focus on the practical or he’d be weeping too and they’d both be lost.
‘I am not going to let you die. I will never let you die. Shall we get out of here?’
‘Yes.’
It was a whisper of quiet affirmation, almost lost in the whistle of the wind, but it was all Auum needed to hear.
‘Good, Ulysan, good. Now listen closely and we’ll be warm in no time. The first thing you have to do is push yourself back to free your chest and shoulders. Just a very little, just very gently. You can do it and I’ll be watching.’
‘I’ll fall,’ said Ulysan.
‘No, you won’t,’ said Auum. ‘Brace with your back and legs and slide ever so slowly, just a little. I can tell you when to stop if you like.’
‘I can’t.’
‘You are Ulysan. You can do anything.’
‘I couldn’t save Ellarn.’
Tears sprang into Auum’s eyes. After so long Ulysan’s pain had not died; the guilt remained, waiting to rise and bite him when he was at his most vulnerable.
‘Nothing could have saved Ellarn. It wasn’t your fault.’
‘He was so close and I couldn’t reach him.’
‘I know. And I know you loved him and you will always miss him. Keep him in your heart and know he is safe. We will pray for him when we reach the top. But right now you have to move back for me, just a little bit, Ulysan. I’ll keep hold of your hands, and when I squeeze, you can stop.’
Ulysan was quiet for a time and his body calmed. His breathing became a little more regular.
‘Don’t let me fall.’
‘Never, my brother, never.’
Ulysan relaxed and his body slipped too fast. His back came away from the wall and his feet slithered on the rock. His hands jerked from Auum’s grip. He screamed like a child. Auum let himself slide. He was slimmer and quicker than Ulysan, who was scrabbling to stop himself again. Auum grabbed his hands as his body angled back over the vertical.
Auum roared with pain as he jammed his feet hard, one up one down, against the walls of the fissure and pressed his back as hard as he could into the rock surface. Ulysan’s weight carried them both on. Auum pushed harder, feeling his jacket snag and tear. He ground to halt with his arms and head over the drop, hanging on to Ulysan, who was dangling in space.