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get to this point. Now you must overcome this last."
    Hoodwink glanced at Ari. "But I haven't overcome them all." Far from it.
    Leader turned his eyes downward now, to the snow drift piled against the wall. "We tried to dig under it at first. Like the sappers of yesteryear. That proved a mistake. The wall is embedded in the ground at least as deep as it is high. And digging through frozen ground isn't a pleasant thing." He pursed his lips. "It was the time of our exploratory years. When we believed the Outside a sanctuary. Erdus and Callus were the first of us to surmount the wall. They'd practiced for years, taught themselves the lost art of mountaineering. It was they who anchored the ropes. Good men. Their loss was irreplaceable."
    Leader motioned to the duffel bag slung over Hoodwink's shoulder. "Dress please."
    Hoodwink opened the bag and donned the padded gloves, ermineskin cloak, and the toque. These over the existing gloves, cloak and toque he wore. He wrapped the scarf around his face, and Ari tightened it for him. His breath sounded loud in his ears with that scarf on.
    Hoodwink secured the duffel bag and the supplies it contained over his shoulder.
    "The climb will take about five hours." Leader's palsy seemed to have spread to his face —his lips twitched, and his eyes blinked spasmodically. Maybe he was just excited. Or nervous. "You'll find a new rope every half hour or so. There are ten ropes in total. Use the rigged diary. Keep us updated."
    The Users had either found the diaries or created them in years bygone —it wasn't made clear to Hoodwink. Whatever the case, the books came in pairs. When you wrote in one, your words appeared in the other, no matter how far away you were.
    "You never told me," Hoodwink said. "Did you give diaries to the others who went over this wall?"
    Leader was shaking all over now. "We did."
    Hoodwink wanted the man to look at him, wanted to stare into those eyes and see what he could read there, but Leader didn't oblige.
    "And what did you get back?" Hoodwink said.
    A smile came to those twitching lips. It reminded Hoodwink of a slithering snake. "The truth."
    Leader removed one of his gloves, and extended the palm toward Hoodwink. The start of a handshake.
    Hoodwink peeled the gloves from his right hand, and accepted the palm.
    A massive surge of current passed through him, and he couldn't move. When Leader released him, both of them collapsed.
    Hoodwink scrambled drunkenly to his feet. Leader had recharged him.
    Ari helped Leader rise. The old man had stopped twitching, and his face had become deathly pale. When he spoke, his voice was weak. "Now go. Before you change your mind. And good luck."
    Ari kissed Hoodwink on the cheek. "Thank you. You're saving me by doing this. You're saving us all."
    Hoodwink slid the glove back on, feeling rejuvenated, and eager to climb. "I doubt it. But I'll do my best. I will."
    He began the long climb into the sky.

CHAPTER EIGHT
     
    Hoodwink walked his feet along the rocky surface and raised himself hand-over-hand. He hadn't known what to expect, but this wasn't that bad. "Aid climbing," the Users had called it. Rope laid over a route to make it easier for future climbers. He couldn't imagine what those first two climbers must have gone through to lay the rope.
    And to be honest, the climb proved a little monotonous. Similar to trudging along snowpack on the ground, bent-over, holding a rope for balance. He understood now what it felt like to be a crooked old man like Leader. Except Leader was only twenty-nine, prematurely aged by the power that flowed through him. The same future awaited Hoodwink and his daughter. Well, whether or not he'd see that future was the question, wasn't it? He had to make it past the next few hours to start with.
    The first rope went by easily enough. He was traipsing along, hand-over-hand, foot-over-foot, when the second rope came into view. It overlapped the first route by some paces, so that he could've switched