Trust Me

For the most part we walked in silence, the quiet only broken by the occasional snap of a twig under our feet.

"I think I can hear water," Adri announced, and the good news almost made me want to hug him.

Bad idea, I reminded myself. "Really? Where do you think it's coming from?"

He paused and craned his head around slowly for a few moments before pointing towards a rocky hill. It was steep and looked challenging to get over, but there wasn't any slippery moss or damp grass on the bare rock, which would make it easier to climb over. "Just beyond that hill."

I paused and craned my head like he had, and sure enough I could hear the mellifluous chirping of water as it bubbled and trickled nearby. Just hearing it sent a stab of pain through my throat, and suddenly the hill didn't look quite so scary anymore. "Then what are we waiting for?"

I walked up to the rock and tried to find some sort of break in the rock, but there was nothing. There were no dents to put my hands in to pull myself up, nor were there any bumps to rest my feet on and push myself over. The rock was perfectly even. I growled in frustration and jumped, flinging myself at the rock in the hopes that I might be able to reach the sharp little apex, but I couldn't grab it. The face of the rock slanted up 15 feet high and then came to a sharp point, like a steep triangle.

"Can you reach it?" I asked Adri. He took a few steps back before running towards the rock and leaping up at it, but he came up several feet short. "I can't even get close," He grumbled.

The trickling song of the water seemed to grow louder, almost as if it were taunting us. The sun was beating down on us now, the morning dew drying and making way for a thick blanket of humidity, and to add to our distress, we had worked up a sweat from trekking through the thick forest and trying to climb over the rock. I glanced on either side, looking to see if there was a break in the rock, but it was just as smooth and high on either side, stretching as far as the eye could see.

"Put me on your shoulders," I said suddenly.

Adri glanced at me. "What?"

"Put me on your shoulders!" I repeated angrily. The heat and thirst was getting to me, making me irritable. "I'll stand on your shoulders and jump to reach the top of the hill. Then you pass me the rope, and I can pull you over after me."

"How do I know you'll help me over?" He demanded.

"Fine, then! Tie the rope around both of our waists, and I'll have no choice but to get you over." I hated the idea of being tied up again, but I was in no mood to fight with Adri over whether or not I would help him.

This seemed to satisfy him, and he grabbed the rope from the pack, tying one end to his waist and the other end around mine. He crouched down and I climbed onto his back, steadying myself against the rock as he stood.

"Jump!" He yelled. I jumped as high as I could but my fingers still fell short of the edge, and I came crashing against the rock, my body scraping against the rough surface as I slid down. My skin was covered in scrapes and I'm sure the purple bruises would start to blossom across my skin soon enough, but I didn't care.

"I still can't reach it." I hissed as he knelt down again, helping me back onto his shoulders.

"Then we'll both jump." He insisted. I felt my knees wobble as he stood, and even he didn't seem very steady. The thought of cool water being just a few yards away was the only thing that kept us from collapsing at this point.

"One...two...three, jump!" I counted out. He leaped up with all his strength, and as he was nearing the peak of his jump I sprang up as well. We were more than high enough now. I caught the edge of the rock under my arms and managed to heave myself over, though I had little strength left.

"Yes!" Adri bellowed out, whooping and cheering. Euphoric laughter echoed through both of us as we realized that we had done it. "Now, pull me over."

"I can't just pull you over!" I pointed out. Even if I was well-fed, well-hydrated and well-rested, I still wouldn't have enough upper body strength to pull him up all by myself. Plus, the edge of the rock was very narrow, leaving me with very little space to keep myself balanced. "I'll lower myself down the other side. My weight will help pull you up a little bit, but you'll have to do a bit of climbing yourself."

Adri nodded, and I quickly scampered onto the other side. It started out just as steep as the other side of the hill, and at first I thought it was a rectangular-based pyramid that stretched through the arena. I started to pull myself down, feeling the rope around my waist pull at my stomach as I tried to pull Adri's weight down with me. I heard his shoes scraping against the rock as he used me as leverage to crawl up, but I could hear something else. It was almost like a sawing sound, but I ignored it. Nothing mattered now but getting Adri over so we could both find water. The sawing sound grew more intense as I lowered myself, but that wasn't the only issue. The hill was getting steeper and steeper, as well as more and more slippery. I grimaced and glanced down to see my worst fears confirmed. This wasn't a hill; this was a cliff.