The day dawned cold and blustery the day we left for the mountain. I was probably the least experienced of our group, but I was by no means ignorant. I got into running over the last year and did a lot of mountain hiking and some minor climbs, both day and overnight. But, I feel nothing prepared me for the Monster of all Mountains: Tsangpa Gyare.
The beginning path was relatively easy, the path was walk-able, weaving in between the rocks and trees. We came to a bit of a clearing, the path coming to a huge precipice. We gathered at the edge and peered over. The bottom was obscured in the haze of a fog, where was the bottom? Naropa picked up a rock the size of a large fist and threw it over. We listened. Seconds ticked by, feeling like minutes, and finally, an echo, a faint 'ping'. It would be easier to think that there was no bottom.
Darkyi asked, "What are we going to do? How are we going to get across?"
I looked towards our leader. Drogon stood there, in his thick coat, pondering their next move. "I seem to remember a bridge here somewhere. Naropa, you head up the precipice a ways and Tulkku, you head down. We will wait here until you return with news. Let us hope we can camp where the bridge meets the land tonight. The rest of us will prepare our packs for the remaining part of the journey."
I turned to my companion. "Tamsin, what is this about? I thought we were part of a trek that was going to climb the mountain."
"I don't think I follow you, Justine. That is what this group is doing."
"What does he mean, 'prepare our packs for the journey'? Don't we have everything we need? If we are going to make it to the base-camp, won't we need everything we have?" I asked her.
"Maybe he's talking to the others. Maybe they have extra things that will just weigh them down," Tamsin offered.
I took my water bottle out of my backpack and took a long drought.
"Please come join us," Drogon called to Tamsin and me.
"Coming!" my friend called out and we re-joined the rest.
"Naropa and Tulkku will be back soon. Let's go through our packs and make sure we have what we need, get rid of what we don't need and maybe balance out the rest so we each carry about the same amount," our leader informed us. "Now, let us unpack our packs and see what we have here."
I looked around at the small group. People were opening their bags and starting to take out the contents. I saw the usual - warm clothing layers, dry socks, freeze-dried food in burnable containers. Then, Tamsin nudged me.
I looked at her and she motioned towards Darkyi and I re-directed my gaze. He was taking out something that looked very heavy and very dangerous. The little man beside him was taking out something similar but with chains and spikes. Tamsin and I looked at each other with definite concern in our eyes.
Drogon then spoke, "Darkyi, I see that you and Maloch are prepared."
"Prepared for what, sir?" I asked.
"There are things that you will meet on this journey that are not completely of this world nor of this time," Drogon spoke in mystery. "We need to be ready to meet these if we wish to complete the journey."
"HO! Master!" a voice came through the trees in the direction that Tulkku had gone a while ago. "Bridge!"
Drogon picked up what looked like a funnel and called out in both directions, "Return!"
We finished emptying our packs and with a little bit of re-balancing, we were almost ready to go when our two scouts returned. The wind had begun to pick up, it would be quite chilly and almost dark by the time we reached the base of the bridge, making camp set-up to be somewhat difficult. I refuse to complain because I think things will get much worse before the trip is over.
"Before we head for the bridge, I need to know - did anyone bring the Sparkling Glass?" Drogon asked as he looked around the group.
No one spoke up.
"No one? That cannot be. One of you was given the instructions to bring the Sparkling Glass," Drogon became more intense.
"Why do we need this ... this ... Sparkling Glass?" I asked.
Drogon looked at me, "Oh Miss! We will only be able to go so far without the Glass. And, we will definitely not all return safely!"
"Pardon?" Tamsin asked.
"Och!" Maloch growled out, "little lady, what do you think Tsangpa Gyare means? The Monster isn't called that for nothin'"
I was getting a little nervous. Tamsin and I had come here for a different kind of holiday. We wanted to do something different. We didn't want to risk our lives. "What do you mean?"
Senge, the smallest of the group, a boy I thought no older than 10 or 12, looked around at his companions. Drogon nodded slightly.
In broken English, he spoke, sending chills to my soul. "Tsangpa Gyare ... dragon ... not story - real."
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