One slip and he’d plummet into a garden of exposed rocks below.
Here’s hoping!
From this point on, the mountain became more sheer, a pit of icy spikes below my position before another slope took over.
What a gauntlet of death. And so high up, giving me a great view of mountains, forests, and, well, more mountains.
Damn.
Magical light flared in Aidan’s hands. “Target practice, I think.”
He spoke his intent, firing a bolt of electricity into me. I convulsed, tumbling over the edge, careering headfirst into the pit of ice spikes.
Oof. Now that one came fresh out of a nightmare, the pain unreal as my body suffered the impact.
I’d like to never experience that again, please.
But I resurrected once again, this time at the edge of the pit.
Now then, what an interesting turn. The piece of shit howling his head off up there on his ledge hadn’t anticipated this, had he?
I could slide down the next slope; nothing but smooth, moonlit snow ahead of me.
Drawing on a surge of adrenaline, I went for it and leaped onto the slope, taking on the stance of a skier, rapidly gathering speed. No wobbles, only smooth skiing.
Hell to the yes!
My heart slammed into my ribs, my adrenaline burning hot like an engine pushed to its limits. The slope plateaued at the bottom. Not the end of the mountain by any means, but maybe about halfway.
Altitude issues would probably kill me, but screw it. As long as I could keep on running.
I hit the end of the run, using the speed to propel me forward, my elvish lightfeet keeping me upright.
I poured everything into my run, sensing the presence of moss growing beneath the snow. Hardy moss, offering me a massive boost, the fuel I needed to leap over a ravine.
Whoa. That’d taken me by surprise. Thank fuck I never fell down there. Talk about playing into Aidan’s grubby hands and totally screwing myself over.
The level ground sloped again, gently this time, but still riddled with crevasses, littered with boulders. Wrangling my fear, I pushed on, focused on getting off the mountain.
Not even the thin air or the searing pain in my skull held me back.
I can do this!
Aidan appeared before me, right at the point where the slope steepened again.
Bollocks!
I picked up speed, meaning to barrel into him.
“I have an array of weapons at my disposal,” he yelled, pulling out a gun. “This.” He blew out my left kneecap. I went down, face planting in the snow.
“Fucking hell!” I screamed.
Shit! What if I triggered an avalanche?
“And this.” He set fire to my jeans with his magic. “Also this!” He roared the last part, flinging a knife into my chest.
Fuck!
