I don't know what kind of reception I expected when I reached the summit, but laughter wasn't one of them. Yet that was exactly what I heard when I finally let myself collapse and started flinging every obscenity I could think of at this damned mountain - the bemused laughter of an old woman.
Wali al Aswad is definitely no guardian angel. She was quick to dismiss those particular rumors with remarks about how the gods have abandoned this wretched place.
As long I avoided that subject though, she's welcomed my questions with surprising warmth, though often enigmatically. I have a feeling that I'll need to be patient with her.