Total pages in book: 134
Estimated words: 127026 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 635(@200wpm)___ 508(@250wpm)___ 423(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127026 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 635(@200wpm)___ 508(@250wpm)___ 423(@300wpm)
Kerrigan gulped. Right. The cliff.
The mountain folk went first, displaying an incredible aptitude for mountain climbing. Once the first few were at the top, they dropped the rope to secure around the next who would make the climb.
Kerrigan glanced at Fordham as they each tied a rope around their waist. “Glad we had that rigorous training for a year right about now.”
He looked upward. “Not much mountain climbing though.”
“Not exactly.”
“We can do this together,” he reassured her.
Kerrigan swallowed and stepped up to the mountain. She had watched foot and hand placement while the others went up the cliff. Now that she stared at it, it looked like an enormous, impossible obstacle.
“One at a time,” Fordham said. “I’m the one who is afraid of falling after all.”
She grinned. “Right. How are you going to do this?”
“Don’t look down,” he offered with a dramatic gulp.
She laughed and then put her hand to the face of the mountain wall. The first few feet weren’t terrible. The mountain folk called down foot and hand placement suggestions. She listened as much as she could while focusing on the task at hand.
Halfway up the wall, she reached for a rock. She grasped it tight and then gasped as it slipped out of her hand.
Kerrigan screamed as she clung hard on to the one piece of rock. Her feet dangled below, and the rope pulled taut, constricting around her ribs.
“Kerrigan,” Fordham cried. “I’m coming to get you.”
“No,” she shouted. “I … I can do it.”
“Don’t move.”
But she didn’t listen. She slowly eased her body flush with the mountain and kicked until she found footholds to take the weight off her arm. The one that held all her body weight felt stretched too far, and her shoulder ached in the socket. She rolled the joint a few times.
“Hey,” Fordham said. He’d moved over a few feet until he was within arm’s reach. “How are you doing?”
“Arm hurts, but I can finish.”
“Do you want to follow my movements?”
She nodded, placing her hands and feet into the crevices he suggested. The only problem was that he was so much taller than her. Some of the arm placements were simply out of reach. She had to find smaller spots and climb twice as many times to get to the same place he’d gotten.
But finally, Fordham climbed his way over the edge. Kerrigan breathed out heavily and then made a huge mistake. She looked down.
Her eyes widened as the ground seemed to rise up to meet her a hundred feet below.
“Oh gods,” she breathed, clinging to the mountain wall.
Fear snaked its way up her throat. She could fly on a dragon and have no fear of heights, but all that held her now was rope. If she fell to the ground here, nothing would cushion her fall and she’d die.
“Kerrigan,” Fordham said. “Look at me. Look up at me.”
She slowly eased her head away from the ground and found the solid eyes of Fordham. Her Fordham.
“You can do this. I believe in you. Keep going.” He held an arm down. “Reach for me.”
“I … I can’t.”
“Kerrigan, you can. What did you say yesterday? We’re better together. Let me help you.”
She closed her eyes and shivered. She had to do this. She had faced worse to get to where she was. Much, much worse. She wouldn’t back down today.
She met Fordham’s eyes again and then made the next climb and the next. Until she could reach far enough up that her fingers met Fordham’s fingers.
“Just a little farther, halfling,” he said teasingly.
“You’re such a bastard, princeling,” she ground out.
“Come up here and say that to my face.”
She gritted her teeth and then pushed herself off of the foothold. She was suspended for a moment, completely in free fall. Then, Fordham latched around her wrist.
“I’ve got you,” he said in relief. “I’ve got you.”
Darvin reached down and grasped her other wrist. Together, they hauled her the rest of the way up the mountain. She collapsed backward in the snow. Her breathing came out in white puffs. She would cry if it wouldn’t freeze on her cheeks.
She’d done it.
She’d made it up the mountain.
Enta towered over her. “Well, I didn’t expect that of you.” She offered her a hand, and Kerrigan slapped hers into it. She dragged Kerrigan to her feet. “Maybe you’re not so bad.”
Kerrigan winced at her abraded hands. “Thanks.”
“Maybe,” Enta said with a shrug.
Fordham stepped up to her with a grin on his face. “A bastard, huh?”
“I’ll try for something more colorful next time.”
He laughed softly. “Next time.”
“All right,” Darvin said. “We trek up this rise, and then there’s a cave to the east. We’ll camp there for the night.”
“We don’t go on?” Kerrigan asked in surprise.
“You can’t cross the divide, except under the light of the moon,” Mendy told her. “Best to rest before you try to enter.”