Listen:

It’s time to go now. The fire is failing, the gods are howling, the river runs white. I’m scared and I know you are. We may fail if we go but if we stay here we sure as hell will never succeed.

One step at a time. Careful, the rain’s made the rocks all slippery. Find your way by lightning; there’s enough of it that it’s almost like daylight. Artillery of the gods, my old man used to call it, and I used to laugh. I’m not laughing now.

Whatever you do, don’t drop the parchment. If you die I’ll carry it the rest of the way. If I die I’ll make sure to glue it to my body with my own blood. It’s the only reason we matter now. It might be that it was the only reason we ever mattered.

Sorry. I didn’t mean to bring you down. Sometimes I’m a little too maudlin for my own good.

You know it’s true, though.