Kthaahthikha

XI - 2200

When I awoke the next day, I was unsure of whether what i had seen was reality or a dream. I could not be certain either way, for little recalled itself prior to waking aside from watching that figure vanish into the storm. I was frustrated at my inability to discern reality fro fantasy, and I cursed myself as I made my way along the path, snivelling with the cold and saturated all throughout my form.

The trail betrayed my inclinations around noon, when it turned on around the moutain upon which I stood, rather than wending its way towards the bizzarely-misshapen peak. After some time spent in indiscision, I decided to follow my instincts and my vision - I had compromised between reality and a dream. I turned away from the path and pushed my way through the trees, down into the deep, narrow valey that seperated my peak from the one that I sought.

This valley, or gorge, rather, was of a most precipitous nature. I was forced to take extreme care as I scaled the edge, in many cases forced to clutch at roots and outcrops, clambering down the face as I ever neared the bottom. It took me an hour or so to almost complete the act, after which I was forced to pause and rest. I resumed the journey, and finally found myself at the bottom of the valley, looking up on either side at the sheer, green-swathed faces, the great sheets of grey rock that showed themselves amidst it, and the trees and shrubs that clutched at every available foothold, over hanging the tops of the cliffs like the teeth of some gruesome giant.

I was in a sensitive state, and the idea of being consumed by an enormous giant crafted of the mountian wa quite enough to unsettle me. I waded through the clover that swathed this shadowy reach, and began to climb slowly up the other side. I was quite exhausted before I had even reached the level of the game trail, and forced to rest several times. Climbing upwards is far more effort than climbing down, for in the latter case gravity is on ones side.

I pulled myself, slowly, agonisingly, up the mountain side, and when I pasued next I looked out over a vast an stunning view. Down below I could see the game trail, sharp cut of grey amdst the green and black, and over the tops of the trees the clouds had turned to gorgeous shades of purple and red and gold, tumbling into blackness as night came on.

I slept on the slope, lying upon a ledge a few feet wide, with the gulf before and the bluk of the mountain behind, so immense that I felt almost asthough it sought to force me off by the shear bulk of its magnitude.

With the morning, aching beyond any easy comprehension, I resumed once more my climb up the mountain.

It became gradually more gentle now. The shearness diminished and I was able to rise occasionally from all fours and stumbled a few short steps. I tore a sapling from where it had grown wedged into a stoney crevice, and used it to hook into the earth and draw me on. I felt asthough I were some titan, climbing the slope of the globe itself, and when I reached the summit - the horizon - I would look out across an endless void with all the countries of the world below it, and the stars and planets suspended like lanterns above.

But then I felt a lot of things in that thin mountain air.

It was midday when finally I reached the summit, and the anticipation that coursed through me was such as I had never known. I dragged myself onwards, nearing total exhaustion, eager to discover the ultimate answer to all the questions that I, my friend, and circumstance had posed. The emotions that ran in my veins were positively electric, and it was to my credit that I did not faint with excitement.

I stumbled up and over a rise, and found myself upon a heavily-forested tableland. Nothing could be seen amongst the dense tangle of foliage, a ridge of hills on the far sie of the plateau that seemed to work themselves towars something of a peak. I could see nothing at first to show of my success, and so lay down beneath a tree to rest before continuing my search.

When I woke, I was still weary and aching, but I felt that I might manage to make a small surveillance of the area. I do not know how long I had slept, but by the position of the sun it seemed to be the morning of the following day.

At first, as I sought about, I noted little of any real import. Birdsong filled the air, and now and then I would pass the spoor of some animal - a dear or pig - but I payed this little heed as i was fizated upon unearthing some further proof of what i had now - for some reason - convinced myself was fact.

I continued towards the interior, and found after some time a small brook that was winding towards the centre of the plateau. The entire top of the mountain seemed to slope towards the centre, and the peak on the other side suggested that a lake or some such might collect at the heart of the mountain. My theories about an extinct volcano seeming to be confirming themselves.

I have 'Dance Music' by the Mountain Goats stuck in my head. I figure this must be some sub-conscious lateral thinking thing.