Mado shakes his head in response, an immediate pang of uncertainty reaching his eyes-- was he meant to be a healer, to come along? For that matter, does Ellis even know he's a mage? Healers don't have to be mages--

--it's fine. It's fine.

"I know as much first aid as the next solitary traveler," he supplies instead, the smile springing back to his face, "but in this terrain, it seems far more likely any ledges will just slough away."

It's supposed to be a joke.