She looked past him to the ground, and the horses were no longer visible. Maybe they had all gone, or maybe they were just too small to see. It was difficult to tell. She took a deep breath and looked behind her, out across Noreela, and wondered how far north they would be able to see. She thought she could make out the last of the standing stones they had passed, but it could have been an optical illusion. The expanse of landscape was stunning, and quite beautiful. Some birds flew past below her.

Somebody shouted, a distant call at first too far away to hear, but it was repeated by Ramin. “Ledge!”

Thank all the gods, Nomi thought. She pressed herself against the rock again, then forced herself to start moving. The more she thought about what she was doing, the worse it would become. And if she fell . . . ?

Beko would catch her.

SHE SAW RAMIN reach the ledge and swing his leg up onto it, sliding out of view for the first time since their climb began. His head soon appeared again over the edge, accompanied by Rhiana and Noon.

None of them looked very happy.

When she reached the ledge, Beko not more than a dozen steps below her, the Serians reached out to haul her up. She collapsed beside them and tried to relax, but her muscles spasmed and continued to knot as though she had to hold herself even here.

“Nomi,” Ramin said.

She kept her eyes closed and nodded her head.

“We have a place for the night, but someone was here before us.”

Ramus! she thought. She opened her eyes and tried to sit up, but her body rebelled. Instead she raised her head just as Beko was pulled over the lip, and she saw that her first reaction was wrong.

There was a skeleton splayed across the ledge, selfishly taking up its widest part. A few shreds of clothing remained around the clean white bones, but there was little else.

“Well, now we know why some people don't come back,” Ramin said.

“Been here a long time,” Rhiana said. “Nothing to show who it was.”

“No climbing stuff?” Nomi had looked into the skull's eye sockets and then around at the scattered bones, and it was the first thing she'd noticed.

“Nothing,” Rhiana said.

“Bones are spread out,” Noon said. “Shattered.”

“They fell.” Nomi sat up and shuffled toward the back of the ledge, terribly aware of the wide-open space behind her. They were all panting with exhaustion, and Beko lay out along the far end of the ledge, perhaps eight steps from her. She was glad she was not the only one who appeared exhausted.

“But having no climbing equipment . . .” Nomi said.

“I could have got this far without ropes,” Rhiana said. “Difficult, but I'm sure I could if I was determined enough. And maybe whatever he brought with him has been blown from the ledge. Or washed away by rain.”