Without a word, Cedric stood up, picked up a stone from the ground and hurled it with all his might towards the cliff. Contrary to the dragon's expectations, the stone did not strike the rock face, but slowed just before it and bounced off slightly, causing ripples in the air. The light began to refract gently on the cliff face, like ripples on a calm, mirror-like surface of water. The ripples spread further and further out, but very quickly vanished from view. The reptile was certain that from a greater distance he would not have noticed this intriguing phenomenon at all. He did, however, notice that the disturbance did not extend everywhere.
'I suppose that answer will have to do.' Retfield turned away and began studying the map once more.
Draco looked around, realising that only the goblin was still paying him any attention. The short lad's nervous twitch betrayed his uncertainty about what to do with himself. The dragon glanced at the wall once more, picked up a larger stone and hurled it towards the cliff himself, but this time aiming for a section of the cliff face in a crevice. The impact against the rock echoed off the walls of the chasm.
'It should work further down.' Draco looked at Cedric, who didn't seem particularly pleased.
The commander pressed his lips together more tightly and looked at the spot where the stone thrown by the dragon had bounced off. Indeed, below the Crater's ground level, the rock appeared to lack a protective layer. Retfield thought for a moment in the fallen silence, then turned his gaze to the goblin.
'Can you manage to make a ledge like that? Across the whole width?' He pointed at the crevice and to the other side.
'It... it... depends.' The goblin clearly didn't feel very comfortable with everyone's eyes on him.
'On what?' Cedric pressed.
'Well... It depends on how we get down and how we get out on the other side. I... I can't do it on my own.' His green, slightly pointed ears drooped in embarrassment. 'And... on the way...' The rest of the sentence was lost in an inaudible whisper.
Retfield looked at the goblin for a moment, then picked up another stone himself and, just to be sure, repeated the dragon's throw. The sound of the impact wasn't as loud as before, but it was clear that the protective spell didn't extend downwards.
'I can belay you,' Draco said to the earth mage. 'I'm not afraid of heights, and I'm quite good at climbing.' It was partly true. At the dragon academy, they did indeed practise rock climbing, but only after transformation. The dragon, however, assumed that if he'd managed it then, he wouldn't have any trouble with it in human form either.
'Me too,' said Sheth, raising his hand. 'We often go climbing at home. We even have competitions,' he added, trying to hide the pride he felt in the activity. 'The three of us shouldn't have any trouble.' He turned to Cedric and looked at him expectantly.
'All right then.' Retfield agreed to the proposal, though it was clear he wasn't particularly pleased. It was just hard to tell whether the problem was the plan itself or the fact that he hadn't come up with it himself. 'The three of you will lead the way, and then the rest of us will follow you.' He waved his hand and set about organising the order, leaving all decisions to the people he'd just appointed.
'I'll go first.' The troll approached the edge and looked down. His gaze swept smoothly across the rock face. 'Then Warren, clearing the path, and finally Draco, belaying both of us.' He turned to them, waiting for confirmation.
'We could really use a rope. It would be much easier and safer if we tied ourselves together.' The dragon made a valid point.
'I can help with that.' Draco almost jumped, not realising that Noah was standing barely a step behind him. Parthir smiled slightly, but looked at the chasm with a touch of uncertainty. 'Thick vines should do the trick, and if I add a bit of my own, they certainly won't snap.'
'Good idea,' Sheth nodded and stepped away from the edge. 'You should look for something for the rest of you as well.'
'Cedric mentioned something. I'll find some for you, and in the meantime, have a think about the route.' Noah nodded to them and walked off, glancing up at the treetops as if assessing something.
'We'd better listen to him.' The troll looked at Draco and the goblin, then back at the chasm. 'I'll show you the way I want to go. You can tell me what you think of it.'
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Planning the route took them longer than Draco had expected. At first, the route suggested by the troll seemed quite good to him, but Warren took a different view. The goblin pointed out places which, in his opinion, weren't entirely stable and weren't suitable as handholds or belay points. Later, they discussed the new route together, weighing up their respective comments. The dragon had the least to say on the matter, but he listened eagerly to the whole exchange, learning something from it himself.
Before they'd finished, Noah appeared with a thick, limp vine, which they were to use as a rope. Parthir declared that he'd chosen the best one for them. With everything ready, they set about the descent.
Sheth slid down the wall with ease, disappearing over the edge of the cliff before they'd even had a chance to ask him anything. Things were worse with the frightened goblin. Warren was reluctant to even approach the edge of the chasm, but, persuaded by the dragon, he finally stepped forward and, held on one side by the reptile and on the other by the troll, finally stepped onto the cliff. Draco only set about it once he was sure the goblin was holding on firmly to the rock.
The dragon had no problem with heights, so he took the first step with ease and, holding onto a rope secured to the rock, lowered himself onto the wall of the chasm. Seeing Warren clinging to the stone, he quickly descended further, still using his momentum. Then came the more complicated steps. Climbing onto the cliff, which had seemed so easy in his dragon form, proved more difficult with his human limbs. He couldn't grip the rock with his claws or compensate for his movements with his wings to any great extent. He also decided to thank Sheth once more for his advice to take off his gloves and rely on the sensitivity of his fingers. Indeed, this helped immensely in finding suitable handholds. Fortunately, he was able to make up for his lack of technique with his strength.
'Are you all right?' he asked when he reached the goblin. They were almost at the start of their planned route.
'Y-y-yes.' Warren clearly didn't look as though he really was. 'I just... need a breather.'
'Just a little further.' Sheth appeared on the other side of the goblin, moving along the vertical wall like a spider. It seemed to make no difference to him that he was hanging over the precipice; he instinctively reached out in the right directions. The section of rope connecting him to Warren was longer, making it easier for him to check the wall ahead of them.
'I know, I know...' The goblin heaved a sigh and, muttering a prayer under his breath, began to climb down.
Draco looked the troll in the eyes, but he merely shrugged and vanished again at incredible speed. The dragon followed Warren down to the spot where they were to begin. The goblin waited until the reptile had positioned himself behind him and gripped his braided harness firmly. The green-skinned one needed both hands for the next step, so he had to trust the reptile to hold him. For Draco, the cadet's weight was no problem; the difficulty lay in finding a position from which he could brace himself steadily. When he was sure, he gave the signal and the goblin let go.
'You're lighter than you look,' the dragon joked.
Warren merely gave him a puzzled look and turned towards the rock. He rested both hands on the stone and closed his eyes. For a moment, nothing happened, and then the wall trembled and began to bulge. At first irregularly, bit by bit. Some fragments actually broke off and vanished into the mist beneath them. Suddenly, the goblin tensed, clenched his fingers, and the rock ledge began to take on a more stable form. The cadet's effort was plain to see.
Draco watched it all with genuine fascination. The creation of something so simple, yet so necessary in the current situation, had captured his attention. The formation emerging from the rock face grew before his eyes until it was large enough to accommodate two people and allow them to turn about freely.
Seeing how tired Warren was, the dragon hauled him up and then practically tossed him onto the newly formed ledge. It seemed that creating such a large structure had, after all, significantly drained the goblin's strength. The reptile began to wonder whether they would be able to carry out their original plan under these circumstances.
'Can you manage this ledge?' Draco scrambled onto the finished shelf and, with a rather displeased expression, assessed how much was left to do. Or rather, how much work was left for Warren.
'Yeah...' The goblin panted heavily for a moment. 'It doesn't need to be that wide later on.' He took a deep breath. 'You see, the closer I am to the parent rock, the less mana I need to use.'
The explanation was simple and logical, so Draco accepted it with a mere nod. He didn't suspect Warren of overestimating his own strength either. So far, he'd seemed shy but responsible.
In accordance with the signal they'd agreed on earlier, the dragon tugged several times on the rope secured at the top. In response, Cedric's face appeared above the wall. He seemed to have cheered up a little, as he nodded and signalled for them to carry on. The dragon patted the goblin on the shoulder and they began to move on. Warren remained on all fours the whole time, manoeuvring the rock, whilst Draco followed close behind, belaying him with the rope and clinging to the cliff face. Sheth led the way, trying to assess whether the rock was loose and would certainly support the extra weight. It seemed that everything was going according to plan.
When they were roughly halfway up the cliff, the rest of their group began to descend onto the first, wide ledge and cautiously make their way along the next shelf, which was wide enough to walk along with their backs to the rock face.
Draco did his best to support the goblin, but he also had time to watch how the troll was faring on the rock face. He had to admit that he envied the agility and confidence with which Sheth moved. He'd previously thought he was quite good himself, but now he realised that when climbing, he relied solely on his strength, rather than on technique or instinct.
As they neared the other side of the chasm, the troll took an extra rope from his back and began to climb up to secure it. Draco and Warren were just a few metres short of the end point. The dragon watched as the self-assured Sheth untied the belay rope from himself, tied the end of the new spool to it, and began to climb upwards. The speed with which he did all this clearly demonstrated the vast experience he possessed. Just as he was almost at the very top of the wall, the dragon heard a crackling sound.
In the space of a single heartbeat, Draco lost his footing. The rock face suddenly sped past before his eyes; he felt the rush of air. At the very last second, he clenched his hand involuntarily. The jolt could have torn a man's arm right off. The dragon didn't even have time to utter a single curse, however, as another jolt threatened to dislocate both his shoulders and tear off his fingers. He gritted his teeth and closed his eyes, waiting for the swaying to subside so he could do something.
Draco looked up first. He was hanging from one arm at a slightly odd angle. He had no way of finding a foothold because of a slight indentation in the rock. Above him, he could see several metres of rock face and a broken ledge. He took a deep breath and looked the other way.
Warren hung pitifully from the rope held by the reptile. The goblin was twisting first one way, then the other. The boy was barely a dozen or so centimetres from the white mist swirling below them, in which, from that distance, floating fragments of rock and stones were clearly visible. It looked as though they had fallen into a very viscous solution that was gradually solidifying around them.
Glancing up, quickly assessing the situation and realising that things could hardly get any worse helped the dragon a little. He was used to heights, very great heights, but this was the first time he'd been suspended over a precipice.
'Can you grab hold of anything?' he growled through clenched teeth. The goblin's wriggling wasn't helping; it was just twisting his outstretched arm.
Warren didn't reply, so Draco tugged at him a few times until the green face and eyes wide with terror turned towards him.
'Can you grab hold of anything?' he repeated the question, whilst trying to position himself relative to the wall so that the goblin was as close to it as possible.
'I... I... I think so,' came a tearful reply from below. The reptile tried not to pay any attention to it.
'Make yourself some handholds and try to stand up on your own.'
Warren didn't reply, but it was clear he was trying in vain to grab the rock with his outstretched hand. It was only when Draco swung the dangling boy towards the cliff that he managed to cling to the wall. After that, things went faster. First his other hand, then one foot into the newly created opening, and the same again. The goblin stood on his own two feet, but the dragon was still hanging from one hand, still holding the taut rope.
'Come a bit higher up so I don't have to let go of the rope.' The reptile kept his eyes fixed on Warren, ready to tighten the rope should he fall again.
The goblin, however, reached up, and the rock almost melted beneath his touch, forming something resembling a ladder rung. He climbed up a little further until he was almost as high as the dragon. Warren's face showed both terror and determination. At that moment, he was focused solely on dealing with the situation at hand.
'Right, my turn,' muttered Draco, looking up. To his surprise, on the edge of the broken ledge, he could see the first of the cadets making the crossing, nervously tying together pieces of rope. On the other side, at the top of the vertical wall, Sheth was just beginning to climb down, holding onto a rope secured to a boulder.
The dragon wrapped the rope, at the end of which was Warren, around his forearm so that he could let go without fear of him plummeting into the abyss. He tensed every muscle and pulled himself up onto the hand from which he was hanging. He felt an unpleasant tingling run through his entire limb. With an effort uncharacteristic of him, he managed to grip the rock with his free hand and stabilise his position. He looked down and, swaying his shoulders slightly, helped himself find a foothold. It took a good while, but he succeeded.
Draco breathed a sigh of relief, feeling a firm foothold. A sharp pain shot through his side and his stiff arm, but he paid it no mind. He steadied his breathing and looked around once more. The cadet at the end of the ledge was as pale as a sheet, but even from a distance of several metres, the relief etched on his face was clear. Sheth, meanwhile, was already halfway towards them.
'If you make handholds like that as you climb up, I'll follow you,' The reptile said to Warren, who was still staring at him. The goblin blinked a few times, then began to climb, magically chiselling out the rock rungs. When he passed Draco, the latter walked along the wall to what could best be described as a ladder and calmly began to climb after the earth mage.
The dragon, more focused on the climb than ever before, didn't even notice when a troll appeared beside him. It was hard to tell whether he was frightened or, on the contrary, full of admiration that they'd managed it on their own. He didn't speak, however, so as not to distract them. Climbing up to the level of the ledge was simple.
Upon reaching the site of the collapse, the goblin stopped and created a new piece to replace the missing section. Only then did Draco realise why they had fallen. Seeing the new section alongside what had once been whole, it became clear that as they'd moved forward, the parapet had grown increasingly thin until it could no longer bear the weight.
Just as he was about to climb onto the ledge, he felt someone grab him on either side and he was pulled up onto the cornice. A new one, much wider and certainly a fair bit thicker. The reptile turned round and leaned his back against the wall.
'I don't think I like climbing after all,' he muttered, gazing up at the vaulted ceiling.