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When I woke, it was pitch black outside and a pecking sensation was cratering into my wrists. I forced my eyes to open after being stuck together for a couple hours. It was Sir Judas. The owl was pecking at my wrists and the open wounds on my hand.
“Rise and shine! Time to learn the basics of venturing up the mountain,” Judas screeched into my ear.
The “basics” were tiring. Learning how to scale rock formations, casting large matters of energy, and identifying the non-poisonous berry. I ended up with gashes and scars spotted around my skin. This carried on for the remainder of the month. I had a large sum of scars now and my mother had found out about my expedition. She wasn’t set on the idea, but she knew this would be my way of becoming who I wanted to be, so she agreed. On the day of my departure, tears streamed down my mother’s face. She had packed me enough clothes to last a year and a bunch of my baby trinkets. I was 100% sure she thought I was leaving forever. Judas was perched on my shoulder as we departed. I held the map in front of me and made my way onto the track leading to the mountain.
I trekked through long harsh grass while the wind was swarming my face. I reached sand dunes that I tobogganed down with a piece of abandoned cardboard. I hobbled my way up another hill and there, standing in front of me, was a towering mountain. Judas whooped with excitement. I suppose this was the place. It was rather daunting. Snow fluttered around the atmosphere, building a chilly and overwhelming feeling around me. I was ready to run back home, but Judas was hopping up and down, egging me on. I took the first step onto the mountain, my head held high and my back straight—that is, until I slid right down. I stumbled backwards. Judas went flying and I landed face down in a patch of dirt. I raised my head and dragged my body upwards, while Judas readjusted himself. I lurched forwards, grabbing a rock and then hoisting myself up. I found another rock with a sharper edge and perched my foot on it. This rock gashed my foot and blood slid down, and then the rock bounced up against my leg. I kept on moving forwards, not caring that I had blood dripping down my leg. I moved faster. My legs ached as I kept on going.
My pace slowed as I climbed higher and higher. I looked up—it was only a couple more metres until I would reach a flat ledge. The sun was sinking. I wasn’t going to be forced to climb during the night, so I conjured what little strength I had left and made my break. The sun was finally down, and I had just one more step to make. My gashed-up hands and feet were on fire, but I forced my body forwards. I watched as my soul stepped out of my body from exhaustion. I started to fall. I was fading in and out of consciousness. Judas flew over me. This is the end, I thought—that is, until I felt someone tug me towards the ledge. In that moment, I blacked out.
Bright, beaming lights woke me from my sleep. Somebody was towering over me, prodding me with a stick. “Mister, your pet is throwing a tantrum about being not on time. You better wake up,” the girl said, while continuing to prod me with the stick. “By the way, you almost died but I was here to save you! My name is Lilic and I am coming up this mountain with you because your pet said so.”
Lilic seemed self-absorbed and was a real chatter box. Judas didn’t seem very pleased to be referred to as ‘your pet’.
“Uh, Judas isn’t my pe—”
“I know you must be stocked, you’re lost for words. Williamson, right? Well, of course I am! Anyway, I dibs being in charge of the map.” She snatched the map out of my hands and marched away.
I reclaimed my feet and followed her. Judas flew onto my shoulder and we followed this stranger together. I had a strange feeling that I could trust this bubbly person, but I wasn’t ready for her to take over my mission. I desperately wanted to march over to her and rip the map out of her hands, but instead I studied her as she skipped along the path, rotating the map in an attempt to follow it. I peered over her shoulder and watched as she twisted and turned it. She was going the right way but was inefficiently doing so. I stepped back, not wanting to seem critical.