They walked through the curves of the deep canyon in a lopsided pack, taking refuge from the unrelenting sun in the shadows cast by the overhead rocks. They took turns drinking from their canteen. Beaten Dog's tongue lolled out as he panted to dispel the heat.
The monk seemed to have put the beggar in a dour mood. Sano didn't mind this, as this meant it talked much less. She skipped as they walked and drank in the blessed silence.
The twisting path led down, down, down, then sprouted suddenly into a bridge of old, frayed rope which led back up. Each stepped forward plank by plank, grabbing the rope-holds on either side to balance themselves as the platforms swayed in the wind.
The canyon was filled with the sounds of whistling air, creaking wood, and the bridge's groaning protests under the weight.
Between the sparse planks, Sano caught a glimpse of what lay underneath. The crevasse between the landforms was so deep, so vacuous, that whatever ground lay below then was swallowed up into darkness.
She gulped and turned her gaze back up. Beaten Dog was in front; she shuffled quickly forward to cling to his belt.
They walked and walked for a long time. The beggar limped forward at such a dogged rate it actually managed to outpace them. Sano and Beaten Dog stuck carefully together, moving forward inch by inch.
Slowly, the end of the bridges came into sight. High, high up into the sky they sprawled.
It was an unceremonious stop; four stakes, each as tall as a well-grown bone tree, hammered haphazardly into the dirt. Despite their scale, they visibly strained to keep the weight of the ropes hanging from them.
It was what lay between these four stakes, however, which caught Sano's attention.
First, the backs of two of her companions' heads, the beggar and the monk. Then behind those, a strange, gangly figure with three bulging eyes on eye-stalks. Four long limbs sprouted from its head, each gripping a stake for footholds, and blocked passage forward.
"Further not!" it screeched, in apparent interruption of the monk and beggar's negotiations. "Through Elephant's Pass go not, without permission-words of Elephant himself!"
"Who is Elephant?" asked Sano.
"Great leader he is!" The demon swung to and fro between its footholds like a macaque. "Powerful he is, watchful! Wants not filthy lousesons like you in his town of great value!"
"You're joking," said the beggar.
In response, the demon let out a loud, offended screech. Clearly jokes were not on the table.
The monk clasped their hands politely. "Dearest gate-keeper, we would love to gain permission to walk from your Elephant, but we have not had the fortune to come upon him. Surely there is some way we might progress?"
"Divine Elephant accepts only the finest of gifts!" The gate-keeper pointed at each traveler accusing. "Have brought yun gifts befit his divine beauty?"
The monk tilted their head. "Gifts...?"
"You mean money?" The beggar asked.
"I'm afraid as a student of the Petals, I have divested myself of most items of monetary value..."
"What lens philistine is this!" shrieked the gate-keeper. "Money not! Travelers must bear gifts!"
"Look, gate-freak," interrupted the beggar, "We been traveling a long way. Naught have teeth to spend. We can pay in labor. Do the filth-cleaning jobs yeun want, that one's good at it." It pointed to Beaten Dog.
The gate-keeper screeched. "Wants you not, Elephant does! Especially not a wretched dog-thing like that one! Curses they bring, don't you know? Needs none of that, our Great Elephant!"
The beggar bared its black teeth. "Last time I passed through, t'weren't nothing here. Much less your scrote-eating Great Elephant."
"Methinks yun take back your words twore unto the deep I throw you all!"
"Oh, try me!" cried the beggar, rearing up in indignation and beating its chest.
Letting out an ear-piercing screech, the gate-keeper wrenched two of the stakes up from the earth with unexpectedly massive strength.
The rope bridge heaved, dropping several stomach-churning feet into open air. The party had to cling to the planks to not immediately bowl over, tumbling thousands of feet below into the open void.
"Now, now, be reasonable!!" stammered the monk. "There's no need - for violence!"
"Wipe your rot-names from this world will I!" the gate-keeper screamed. "Dump yon unto the void-wyrm maw!"
Sano scrambled for purchase, for unfortunately she'd landed at the back. It was only her slim frame that allowed her to push herself up, climbing the planks like rungs on a ladder.
In a furious burst of adrenaline she moved so fast she all but launched herself in the air. Filled with nothing but absolute fear for her life, she hurtled screaming towards the cursing gate-keeper, mouth frothing with spittle. So fast did she rocket, she collided with the demon headfirst, forcefully enough to make the ropes shudder.
For a second stretched to eternity, the gate-keeper was suspended in the sky, kept airborne by nothing. Then with a heavy thud it struck the ground, stakes falling limp from its grasp.
Sano remained heavily breathing at the edge of the cliff, shaking like a dog.
"Heavens," said the monk.
"Good job, girlie!" the beggar piped up, voice slightly strained from the effort of not falling. "Struck quick and fierce just like they train you to."
The ropes let out an ominous creak as the stakes shifted in their meager lodgings. The entire bridge dipped further towards the void.
The monk let out a panicked squawk, accidentally kicking Beaten Dog in their haste. "Climb up! Climb up! Everybody move!"
—
By the time each of the party broke the horizon of the cliff, the overhead sun was setting, casting fiery orange light across the canyon.
The beggar chugged their black drink, belched, and with a moment of consideration kicked the unconscious gate-keeper's body off the edge of the cliff.
Sano peered over the side to watch it sail into the abyss, shrinking into an indistinct speck and then nothing.
"Hey fancy robes," the beggar muttered to the monk. "Why didn't you just use your air walking trick back there? Just go right up over that bastard's head."
"Ah, well," the monk replied sheepishly. "I can only do it in bursts. It only really works in areas of a certain density... we're a bit high up for that."
"You know," said the beggar, "I really hate you, I think."