Chapter 28: The Crater of the Ashpeaks

The final approach to the summit crater took four hours.

I record this as a fact, having timed it against the position of the sun, but the timing does not convey the nature of those four hours with any accuracy, and I have spent considerable professional effort in my life ensuring that measurements convey what they purport to convey. Let me therefore add: the path narrowed to a width that permitted only single file; the wind came off the upper slopes in sustained lateral gusts that required active correction with each step; the air was thin enough that even Bryndis, who I had previously assessed as the most physically capable person I had ever met and possibly the most physically capable person alive, was breathing with visible deliberateness by the second hour; and the smell of sulfur, which had been a background note since the lower passes, became in the final ascent the only smell there was.

Caelen walked directly behind me, carrying the Shard's case.