The Monolith by Albert Nothlit

Author:Albert Nothlit
Language: eng
Format: azw3, mobi, epub
Tags: gay romance
Publisher: MLR Press LLC
Published: 2015-10-06T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FIVE

Reaching the site Corey had described took nearly thirty minutes of additional hiking through rough terrain. Mark had trouble following Corey in a couple of tricky spots because he could not use his hands to clamber over the side of boulders or over fallen trees like Corey could, but he compensated for that with extra speed when they were on more even ground.

“It’s downhill from here,” Corey announced after they had reached the top of a particularly slippery slope. “Not far.”

Mark merely nodded, wiping the sweat off his brow. He followed when Corey started on his way down, careful not to trip over fallen branches and other forest debris among the undergrowth. It was not hard because there were far fewer trees growing on the side of the hill they were descending, and when they got to a large clearing in the trees Mark had a good sweeping view of the land below. He gasped and stopped in his tracks.

“Nice, huh?” Corey asked, pausing as well.

“Very.”

They were headed towards a valley in between two steep hills. There was green on either side, but the bottom of the valley was brown and gray, narrow but very long. It took Mark a few seconds to realize that the snaking gray line he could make out at the very bottom must have been a river at some point, given its softened edges and many twists and bends. It was dry now, but the view was still breathtaking nonetheless. Overhead, a few small clouds had begun drifting on distant air currents and one of them passed in front of the sun. Mark saw the shadow of the cloud clearly as it slid over the bottom of the valley and climbed the opposite cliff, darkening the tops of trees for a few seconds. The wind was warm and full of the buzzing of insects. Mark felt as if he could just stand there and gaze at the beauty of nature for hours on end.

“Spotted it yet?” Corey asked, edging closer to Mark.

“What?”

“The monolith. You can see it from here.”

Corey pointed and Mark followed with his eyes. Sure enough, there was something at the bottom of the valley right in the middle of the dry riverbed. From this height it looked like a nondescript block of sandstone, but they were too high up to make out any details.

“That’s where we’re going?”

Corey nodded. “Yeah. Come on, we’re nearly there.”

They made their way out of the clearing and kept on going downhill, picking their way through the trees until at long last they reached level terrain. Mark was panting from the effort, but Corey appeared just as full of energy as before.

“We made it, and in record time!” Corey announced. “Come on, we still have a few hours before we have to return to the clinic.”

“Great,” Mark replied, but he was just now realizing that he would have to retrace his steps all the way back to his comfortable room if he wanted to get out of here.

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