The Elves of Cintra (Book 2 of The Genesis of Shannara)

They pondered it a moment. “Hard to say,” Simralin answered finally.

“Be good if we didn’t need any weapons,” Angel said. “But Kirisin isn’t the one who should be doing the fighting in any case.”

Simralin nodded in agreement. “You stay out of any fighting if it comes to that, Little K.”

They took a moment to study everything one final time, a few additional questions were asked and answered, and they were ready. They repacked their gear, shouldered their loads, and set out.

They climbed through the morning hours, traversing the meadows and passing through the forests until they reached the upper edge of the tree line shortly after midday. They stopped then to eat, winded and hungry. Kirisin was sore all through his thigh and back muscles. He guessed from the look on Angel’s face that she was suffering, too. Only Simralin seemed completely at home, smiling as if this climb were nothing more than a morning stroll. She talked and laughed as they ate, describing adventures and experiences from other times and places involving the mountains and Syrring Rise, in particular.

Once, she told them, she had come on a small expedition that included Tragen. The big Elf, still learning about mountains, climbed the paths to the glacier too fast, overexerted himself, lost body heat, dehydrated, and passed out. She said the other Trackers had never let him forget about it; every time a climb was involved, they suggested maybe he might want to give it a pass.

She grinned, tossing back her blond hair. “Tragen doesn’t think it so funny, but he lacks a good sense of humor. If he didn’t make up for it in other ways, I expect I would have to rethink our relationship.”

Kirisin gave his sister a pointed look. “Tragen’s all right,” he said, repeating her words back to her. “For now.”

They resumed their climb shortly after, leaving behind the last of the trees and proceeding onto bare rock and gravel. The trail disappeared altogether, and the slope steepened. Kirisin was finding it increasingly hard to breathe, but he knew the air was thin and that after a time his lungs would get used to it. At least, that was what Sim had told him. In any case, he soldiered on, working his way behind her as they wound through the mountain’s rocky debris, advancing toward the snowpack.

When they reached the edge, Simralin walked them forward farther still until they were atop the glacier, high on the mountain now, the wind blowing harder, dry and biting cold. Amid a shelter of massive boulders, she had them lock on the crampons, pull on the gloves, slip the visors over their eyes, and unsling the ice axes. Moving more slowly now, but still climbing, they passed out of the boulders and onto the ice. All around them, the glacier glimmered dully in the pale sunlight. The gray of earlier had dissipated at these heights, the clouds below them now, a roiling dark mass encircling the rock.

But the day was passing, the light failing as the sun gave way to an advancing darkness. The western horizon, refracting the change in the light’s intensity, was already starting to color.

“Not much farther!” Simralin called by way of encouragement. She had stopped a dozen yards ahead and was looking back at them.

Kirisin slowed, Angel coming up beside him. He hoped she was right. He was getting cold, even through his all-weather gear, and a tiredness he could barely fight off was settling in. He shifted his pack to a new position and began moving ahead again, then realized that Angel wasn’t following. He glanced around. The Knight of the Word was standing where he had left her, staring back down the mountain.

He stopped again. “Angel?”

She looked at him, her gaze vague and distant, focused on something beyond what he was seeing. It was almost as if she were in another place entirely.

“Go on ahead, Kirisin,” she said. “I’ll be along in a moment. I want to check on something. Don’t worry. I can find my way.”

“I’ll wait with you,” he offered quickly. “We both will.”

She held up her hand at once as he started toward her. “No, Kirisin. I have to do this alone. Do as I say. You and your sister go on without me. Do what you came to do.”

He started to object, but saw something in her eyes that stopped him. There was a hard determination reflected that told him she was decided on this. Whatever she intended, she didn’t want anyone to interfere. He hesitated, still uncertain, his fears deepening. “Don’t be too long. It’s starting to get dark.

“

She nodded and turned back down the mountainside toward the clump of boulders they had left earlier. “Adios, mi amigo,” she called to him.