38

"I heard him, you know," croaks Stevo as you close the tent flap. "And you. You can't leave me, mate. I've got life in me yet. I'll make it. We all will, if we stick together. Come on, remember, Stevo and OafarBurea, world's greatest adventurers. Together till the end."

We're leaving you, Stevo. And it's your fault. You should have stayed behind."

Oh mate!" Stevo cries. "Don't say that. We're a team. I'm—I'm sorry if I let you down. I didn't mean to be a burden. But we've come too far. Don't leave me here. Don't let me die alone."

"I'm sorry, Stevo. If we take you, it'll kill us all."

Your mind is made up. Stevo begs and cries, but you know that if you try to take him with you, it'll be the death of all three of you.

Closing your ears to his pleas as best you can, you dismantle the tent around him, hoist your pack onto your back, and set off with Zhu. You don't even spare a backward glance at your abandoned friend as the snow falls around him, already claiming him in the gray dawn light.

Now it's just the two of you, pushing ever onward to Shambala.