When they came to the sun was already high in the sky.
On his back, Lloyd looked up at the sheer face of a cliff some dozen
meters in height and the way that he now felt, he knew that the climb
up would be difficult.
Boyce was lying on his stomach and he was regaining consciousness,
too. He soon tried to push himself up off the ground and this he
tried a few times.
Lloyd heard him finally stagger to his knees and he called to him.
"Boyce!" he said. "Are you hurt?"
"No -- just a little sore!" he replied.
"Look at that!" Lloyd pointed to the cliff and upwards.
Boyce looked at it then he said the same thing pointing in the opposite
direction.
Lloyd looked and there he saw rolling mountains and shrubs and deep
gullies of rock. What he saw was the tail end of the great Krolalin
Mountain Range that swung down from the north to the south-west.
They made it over the Divider's Ridge, and the Sedash troops did not
pursue them.
Still feeling somewhat exhausted, Lloyd and Boyce didn't eat anything
when they awoke. They saw that it was late in the morning and they
still had a long way to go before reaching Pomperaque.
They kept their pace steady as they headed south, keeping to the ridges
along the route which they were taking so as not be vulnerable to
possible ambushes if trapped in one of the dry river beds.
The sun was beating down on them and they found the heat very intense
and uncomfortable; yet, between the Dark Forest and Sedara, it was a
welcomed blessing of peace to them.
They gained a good distance as they walked and observed the nature
around them; amazed at God's handiwork.
Boyce saw a black bird flapping from tree to tree. He wondered if it
was a crow, having seen a couple other crows throughout the journey,
and when he heard its mocking caw, he knew it to be so.
"Lloyd?" Boyce began. "Do crows travel in groups, pairs or singularly?"
It was an odd question, thought Lloyd, but he did see the crow and he
knew that so did his friend.
"I really don't know!" he admitted.
"Do you think it could be the same crow from the mine?"
Lloyd shrugged, not caring one way or the other.
The day slowly passed by while they hiked through the countryside, and
night was only a few hours away.
Boyce had told Lloyd that it was to their benefit to stop this day's
travel early and rest longer for tomorrow's walk.
On his advise, they stopped beside a trickling brook and built a small
shelter and a fire, and had their first meal of the day.
They were both tired but they knew that they could not rest until
they've reached Pomperaque, and indeed until Boyce regained his
rightful position in Phoride.
They slept under the breezy, starry sky and were blessed with peaceful
dreams that put them both apart from hate and struggle.