[ IP ] In the Verdant Valley

What lay before her mirrored what was past. No longer able to gauge her progress against the spindled patterns of pillared rock, she stopped for the first time in what felt like eternities. 
 
 “ The Verdant Valley leads all those who ask it down the path, but only those who emerge whole on the other side can accept it ’ s gift. ” 
 
 The archaic words swirled turbulently through her head as she surveyed the land ahead. The valley and its walls had always been admired in the village she grew up in. It was thought a divine being must have crafted the web-like faces that artists eternally failed to fully capture. The beauty, though, belied a dangerous belly that battered all before her. Where a village found divine inspiration, a Traveler learned shrewd navigation. 
 
 Grandfather warned of his own journey into the valley that nearly cost his own life. It was only due to his obsessive fandom of the Greek classics that he thought to map his way in with twine. The name Theseus became sacred, almost a deity. It had become a standard practice, but even that was n't enough to save everyone. 
 
 “ No lifeline. ” 
 
 Her twine was gone. After so much distance there was no material left to be let out. She was farther than anyone had made it. Of course no one could tell her that now, but the rotted corpses of her brothers and sisters became less frequent until they stopped entirely. 
 
 “ Travel the Valley. Always forward. ” 
 
 It was all she knew. 
 
 A breeze roused her from her thoughtful trance and she returned her gaze to the mountain that lay ahead. 
 
 “ That is my twine now. Follow the Skyhorn ” 
 
 The snow-capped peak, a foreign sight to those of the water starved village, was all that was left to guide her. She knew, though, that salvation unlike any of her people could imagine lay there. With a final study of what stood ahead, the steps began again. 
 
 When they stopped, trudges began. 
 
 Trudges to drags. 
 
 Crawl. 
 
 “ Snow. ” 
 
 Edit: tenses are more fun when they're uniform!
