Deciding on Which Path part 2

The debate of whether to go back the way they came or to try to find a way to continue moving forward while getting back to the path they had been on took much longer than Kim had thought it would. She also was surprised that the one pushing the matter was Elin the most.

She understood that Elin had wanted to continue taking that path, but she could see a way to move forward while at the same time returning to that same path.

Jonas wanted to continue along the top of the canyon, while looking for a way out of the canyon altogether. Which Kim could understand, though Elin didn't seem to like the idea at all. Though, she wouldn't give a reason s to 'why' that was.

Elmo didn't seem to have an opinion one way or another, though Kim suspected it was because he just didn't want to get involved in the discussion. Which Kim didn't mind. At least as long as he wasn't directly objecting to her idea, that is.

"If we return to where we were on that path, we can see what might be in that darkened area there," Elin claimed, pointing at a place that was indeed deep in shadow.

However, Jonas was already shaking his head. "That may be a depression or whatever in the rock, but it's not going to be very far. I can see it right now and it goes maybe two feet into the rock. We'd be better served finding a way across the top parts here and getting back to the main parts of the mountains."

"What if we're just at a bad angle for you to see it properly?" Elin countered. 'We came up here because we couldn't see what our original path was going because we were at a bad angle."

Kim was pretty sure that wasn't quite the reason they opted to come up here. The angle piece didn't come into play until they were looking for a path up here to begin with. Kim wasn't sure what Elin was thinking, but it was clear she was trying to piece her argument together based on what she thought sounded good.

"If that's the case, what do you hope to find in there?" Jonas merely asked. "I'm pretty sure the fire dragon isn't likely to fit in that shadowed area, no matter how deep it goes. If the fire dragon is around Aquis' size, then it would be to wide to fit in there in the first place."

"Uh, why don't we just draw lots or something?" Elmo asked tentatively, almost like he was afraid everyone would turn on him.

"Why should we?" Elin demanded. "We should just go back the way we came!"

"That might not be a bad idea," Jonas mused. "Though, if we don't work this out, I have a feeling that we're probably going to have more conflict later on, if not right after a decision is made with that method."

"Well, if you remember the shadow that passed over us a few days ago, then we shouldn't try to go along the top of the canyon. If it was a threat to us, then your choice would just make it easier for it to attack us," Kim remarked.

"Maybe, but at the same time, if we head that way," Jonas pointed towards the northeast, "we should be able to make it to the edge in maybe a day or two."

"Wasn't the whole point of quickly moving further into the canyon to reduce the mobility of whatever it was that cast the shadow?" Elmo asked, sounding a little confused.

"Yeah," Elin echoed. "Until we know what cast the shadow, shouldn't we stick in the canyon just so we can avoid getting attacked by something we don't know anything about?"

Kim couldn't help but feel a little surprised at Elin's statement. While she knew Elin wasn't stupid, Elin still felt more like she didn't think things through most of the time. Where with that statement, she had to have thought it through, even if only for a short period of time.

"Don't worry about that," Jonas replied. "I'm confident that whatever it is I'll be able to hear it in time for us to find somewhere we can either hide or take defensive measures."

"What are you basing this on?" Kim asked, wondering if Jonas was serious about this or if he was pulling it out from where the sun doesn't shine.

"Just what I'm certain about what I heard when the shadow appeared that day," Jonas answered. "And so, it's not going to be difficult to deal with in real life here."

"Look, why should we court danger when there's no need for it?" Kim countered. "Besides, whose to say that the fire dragon isn't inside the canyon. If we're correct and the burned out place we found was in fact where Patrick and Patricia had fought the fire dragon, we can say that the fire dragon was in this canyon, and it could very well still be in here."

"Even if it is in the canyon, where's the signs of it?

Kim was about to fire back her thoughts as a response, but at that moment Elmo chimed in. "What if it travels in the river?"

"Where did you get the idea that it might do that?" Jonas cried, incredulous.

"Why not?" Elmo asked. "It makes as much sense as some of the stuff that's happened her has."

Kim wanted to argue against Elmo's point, but she couldn't deny that he did have a fair point. Even if she didn't like it, it was clear that he'd at least stumbled onto something that was a valid possibility.

"Wouldn't the water heat up from the fires?" Elin asked, looking towards Kim with questioning eyes.

"When magic's involved, we can't say what the rules are about it," Kim answered, at least happy that she could do something like that for Elin. "As far as we know, it's a magical fire that can burn underwater."

"You mean like Hermione did in the Harry Potter books?" Elmo asked, his eyes brightening up for some reason Kim couldn't figure out.

"Who's Harry Potter?" Kim asked, feeling like she was missing something . She couldn't think what it might be, but, given the expression of horror Elmo gave her, it was clear that he'd expected her to know what he was talking about.

"Those books were a social sensation. They'd have parties at bookstores when a new one was released," Elmo said, almost looking like he was having his world completely turned upside down.

Not that Kim really cared, but it did feel like it might get a little annoying this time As such, she felt that she should at least offer a token reassurance. She couldn't be sure if it'd work, but she was confident that if she didn't, she'd probably have to endure Elmo being more annoying that she usually found him.

"Whatever those are," Jonas said, "there's not guarantee that those books are in the world that Kim is from. While we might come from worlds with similar technological levels, that doesn't mean you're both from the same world."

"But that doesn't mean she shouldn't know about the Harry Potter series," Elmo protested, sounding like he was completely stuck on that subject.

"Tell you what," Kim offered, interrupting whatever it was that Jonas was about to say. "When we return to our own worlds, you can look me up and tell me all about that series, okay?"

Elmo looked at Kim doubtfully. "What if we're not from the same world?"

"Then that means mine probably doesn't have that series on my world," Kim answered, ready to be done with this topic altogether.

"Whatever that means," Elin said dismissively, looking more lost with the subject than Kim felt. "Shouldn't we talk about that after we finish dealing with which path to take next?"

"Well, if we're not going to go across the top of the canyon, then maybe we should move along with Kim's suggestion," Jonas commented. "That way we can be moving ahead a little quicker."

"But the cave," Elin whined.

"I understand you want to look at it," Jonas said. "Even if I don't understand why. However, if we take the time to look at it and it turns out to be nothing, then how far behind will we have put ourselves? We don't know how close the others are to the fire dragon, so we can't be sure that others won't be able to get to it before we can. Which would mean that we might not be able to get the challenge completion with whoever defeats the fire dragon. So, if we take our time, we run the risk of not being able to succeed with this challenge."

"Well, what about the other bonus challenge that was mentioned this morning?" Elin asked.

"We can't be sure that it's going to be something we can do. For one thing, how would we know what kind of weapon really doesn't belong here, unless it's made with more advanced technology than this world possesses. Not to mention, if it isn't like that, would we even recognize it? At least we know what to look for with the main challenge," Jonas answered.

"Well, let's get moving then," Kim said.

"But we haven't agreed on which path to take!" Elin protested.

Kim looked at Elin closely. "The reason you want to take a look to see if it goes deeper than a couple feet isn't so we can have some 'alone time,' is it?" she asked, doing what she could to bore through Elin with her gaze.

Elin smiled weakly. "Maybe that's part of it, but I still stand by what I said earlier."

"Let me put it this way," Kim suggested. "If we go back to the path we had been on before coming up here, we won't have any 'alone time' for at least two weeks. Probably longer. No matter any opportunities we encounter during that period."

Elin looked at Kim like she'd been told Christmas had been cancelled on Christmas Eve. Although, Kim was pretty sure that Elin didn't know what 'Christmas' was.

After Elin didn't respond for a couple minutes, Kim turned back to the others. "So, we'll be going down the path I mentioned," she informed them, satisfied that the matter had been resolved. Though, she did feel a little twinge of guilt at manipulating Elin like that. Even though she had been about ready to let everyone choose their own path and essentially dissolve their group or team or whatever.