Risk

Chapter XXVII

Jasta grunted. A bright beam of sunlight was slashing directly across her eyes, and every muscle in her body was so sore she hardly dared to move. She couldn't remember doing anything that would have made her hurt so badly.

Then the memory of what had happened rushed back, and she snapped fully awake.

She opened her eyes and sat up. She had fallen asleep on Rowan, but he had not yet woken up. The morning sun was just peeking shyly over the lip of the gorge high, high overhead. She reached over and shook Rowan's leg, and then again until she felt him shift, and he let out a small grunt.

"Jasta?" He mumbled sleepily, the word all but carried away with the river's thunder. His hair had dried overnight, and now it was sticking up in clumps. His forehead around his wound was caked with crusted blood. He sat up and pressed a couple fingers to the gash, gingerly feeling it.

"Yeah, I'm still here." She scooted closer. "Are you okay?" she furrowed her brow, gazing worriedly at the cut.

"I'll be fine." He blinked, and his eyes focused before locking on her. "But how are we supposed to get out of here?" he was gazing up at the tall cliffs that hemmed them in on either side and then a second later his eyes shifted to the torrential river, that vanished not far downstream.

"I don't know, but we'll find a way eventually." She assured him.

"But what if we don't? We'd be stuck down here. You wouldn't be able to get home." His voice was mostly just laced with the drone of fatigue, but she was almost sure she could hear desperation.

"That doesn't matter as much as staying alive right now. We can worry about me later, but you need to rest. I'll search for a way out." she pushed his chest, making him lay down again.

"But—" he started to protest, but he shut up when she pushed him the rest of the way back onto the beach.

"No buts. You almost died." She glared at him for a second until she was sure that she'd gotten her point across, then she stood up and stumbled over to the boulders that were wedged tightly against the cliff face. She had to find a way out. She rounded a bend in the beach, tracing her hand against the cliff as she walked.

Suddenly, the cliff disappeared from under her hand, but she could still see it out of the corner of her eyes.

She whipped around in confusion, gazing in shock at a small crevice that extended back into the face of the cliff. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw that it went upwards in an almost stair-like pattern. The dark grey stone was covered in moss, and a tiny trickle of water cascaded down the rocks. It looked relatively easy to climb, once they squeezed past the narrow entrance. Her chest swelled with hope. They would be able to get out after all.

She rushed back to Rowan, nearly tripping over her own feet in her haste.

"Rowan! I found a way out!" she skidded to a halt near him, pebbles flying away from her feet.

He sat up, then rose unsteadily to his feet. He seemed strangely steady for the shape he was in, but she stayed close anyways, should she need to help. "Lead the way."

With the words, he suddenly seemed to lose and of the strength that he'd seemed to have. Maybe she'd only imagined it, but now he was trembling and pale, his eyes almost glazed with pain.

"Okay, but let me help you." She didn't like the way he looked like he might fall down at any moment. She walked over and allowed him to wrap an arm around her shoulders, and then they set off together.

The crevice was further than she remembered, and she struggled to remember exactly where it was. She had almost missed it the first time, and the only reason she hadn't passed right by was that she had been touching the cliff at all times.