The creatures' dumbness saved them. They attacked one at a time, and if others were watching, they seemed to learn nothing. Twice more Noon played bait, and then Rhiana would finish them with an expertly placed arrow behind the head. One time Noon had to swing to avoid the plummeting animal, the other it was Nomi and Beko who were almost swept from the cliff by the falling corpse.

Others came. Noon and Rhiana swapped roles, and between each attack they climbed as hard and fast as they could. Nomi had taken it to mind that once in the cover of clouds, the attacks would end, but the dark idea lingered that these things would only use the clouds for cover. If that happened, they were all finished.

And to add to their problems, smaller flying things started buzzing them. To begin with, Nomi thought they may have been the young of those larger monsters, but these looked very different, and in some ways more disturbing because of that. They had light wings and furred bodies, and their fleshy legs looked almost like thin human arms. They never attacked, but they flew in close enough to keep everyone on edge between encounters with the larger creatures.

Nomi was utterly exhausted, traumatized at seeing Ramin slaughtered by the animal and then cut away by his comrades, and the fear of being trapped haunted her between each attack. She felt sick, and a headache pounded at her skull—altitude sickness, Beko said. The weight of the emptiness above Noreela was heavier than the Great Divide, and it pulled at her, made her woozy.

They climbed, fought off the flying things, and Nomi believed that dusk was falling. They would be trapped out here on the cliff in the dark. Somewhere far below, Ramin waited to welcome them into his broken embrace.

“We're almost there,” Beko said below her. “Nomi?”

She turned and looked down, trying to concentrate her vision so that she saw only his face and not beyond. “Where?” she asked.

“The clouds. We're almost there.”

She looked up and saw that he was right. Rhiana was climbing ahead, leaning back to scan the cliffs above her, but also eager to reach the clouds.

It started raining. It was a fine, cool mist, and as long as they kept climbing Nomi knew it would refresh them. She opened her mouth and relished the chill on her tongue.

“One more cave!” Rhiana called down.

No, Nomi thought. No more. She had lost count of how many things Noon and Rhiana had taken down between them. There were few arrows and crossbow bolts left.

They all waited where they were, Noon loading his crossbow, while Rhiana edged closer to the opening. She was almost out of sight in the misty haze, just a shadow moving across the dark dampness of the cliff, and Nomi blinked several times as she saw the Serian reach the cave.