Melenthia trudged to the outcropping and looked up. She swallowed. It was high. Maybe they wouldn’t follow her up. “Keep telling yourself that and maybe you’ll believe it. Up we go.”
She started the climb up the outcropping. Some of it was easy, but at times she could barely find a flat enough spot to put her feet, and the loose rocks and dirt constantly kicked up dust that got in her eyes. She slid back a couple of times, moved forward a couple more. It was slow going, but she was halfway up when she heard the echo of her horse’s nickers below her. She looked down and saw the men below and frowned. She wondered if they were going to climb or try to come up on horse back. The leader started forward on his horse, the other two reluctantly following. I guess that answers that, she thought. She picked up the pace and climbed higher, faster. She could see the top from where she was and didn’t want to look down unless she absolutely had to. It was a long way down, and the altitude made her a bit dizzy. She continued forward, the cliff getting shearer as she got closer to the top. The three men were gaining on her more than they had on flat ground, and they were almost on top of her. She cursed again. She reached for a handhold, a root in the rock face. She pulled herself upward, using the root for security. Her foot slipped, and she gripped the root tighter. She hung like that for a couple of minutes then tried again to get a foothold. Her foot slipped again. The men were only a le-vel below her. She tried again to find a foothold. She found a semi-level spot and pushed her boot into the crevice stabilizing herself. She pushed with her leg and was able to move upward. She grabbed another root and pushed some more, her foot balancing on the previous root she had grabbed a few moments before. There was a small tree growing out of the side of the outcropping. She grabbed a hold of it to pull herself the last few feet. The tree started to bend; she hoped that it would hold her weight. She pulled and the tree creaked a bit, but held. She scrambled up and over and lay on the top for a quick moment to catch her breath. She stood up again and ran to the other side of the cliff. She looked down, the dizziness coming back. She breathed deep. She had to find a way down. She looked from side to side and saw a small trail that led down the far side. She headed that way, and as she was reaching it, one of the horsemen popped his head over the edge. She was startled. How did they get their horses up the shear face of the outcropping? She ran to the trail now, afraid that she would be caught if she did not get moving. She approached the trail and looked down. It wasn’t much of a trail, really, just dirt and rocks winding down the side, but there was a landing some feet below, where she could rest a moment and assess her next move. She started down the rock face, her feet slipping and sliding under her. She squatted and slid down on her behind, the dust and dirt choking her. She coughed but kept on. She risked a quick look up and saw the men climbing down after her. The third man, the leader, who was now climbing behind the other two, looked down at her. His hood was tight on his head, but she could see red eyes looking down at her. She shivered, feeling a chill all the way to her very soul. She was all of a sudden more frightened than she had been in the last two days. She slid further. She was almost to the landing. From there she didn’t know what she’d do, but she needed to figure it out soon. The two men were gaining in speed, sliding down behind her, kicking up more dust, which stung her eyes and coated her mouth. She finally reached the landing, jumping down onto it and almost going right over it with the impetus of her jump. She flattened herself up against the cliff wall, breathing hard, calming her racing heartbeat. She stole forward a bit to look down the side. She was about a half mile up from the raging river below. That river was her escape, because over that was the province of Isamar. If these guys caught up to her, she’d never get away. She looked up. One of the men was scrambling down toward her. He lost his footing and started to fall down to the landing. He hit the flat spot, rolled with the momentum toward the edge. He grabbed her bag’s strap to catch himself and pulled her off her feet. She slid with him toward the edge. If she didn’t loosen it from around her, she would end up going over the cliff with him. She tried to find a foothold as she slid closer and closer to the edge. She wiggled and twisted, finally getting the strap over her head and letting it go. The man kept going and disappeared over the edge, screaming on the way down. She scrambled backwards, panting. She flattened herself against the wall again, then heard a voice.
“There’s nowhere for you to go, Princess. If you fight us, you will end up going over the side just as he did. We don’t want that and neither do you. Come up, and I promise we won’t hurt you.”