I forced myself into a roll, the snow dousing the flames. But Aidan hit me with a different spell. A poisonous ooze slithered through my veins, freezing me as it worked its way to my heart.
It killed me in three minutes.
There had to be a way to end this mad cycle of death and resurrection.
Waking up, I met his golden eyes. He grabbed me by the throat with both hands, strangling me. His hands were clammy, frustration contorting his face.
Tough shit, prick. I’m never dying properly by your hand.
I kicked him in the balls. He keeled over, letting out a string of abuse.
“Same to you!” I snapped back, getting my snow surfing on for the second time.
A bazillion earthquakes shook my head, and my nose started bleeding again. But I didn’t falter, reaching the bottom, navigating a less steep slope, leaping over crevasses, fighting the cold.
Aidan killed me with his gun when I reached a glacier. A good thing, really, because I came to with a new burst of energy.
After I clocked him with a nifty uppercut, I slipped into the maze of tall seracs, a creepy silence falling over the night.
Damn this place.
Wide crevasses hung open like hungry mouths, those seracs leaning over me, on the precipice of tumbling and turning me into a pancake.
But I soldiered on, not allowing the fear to break me.
You’ve got this.
Eventually, I cleared the maze, letting out a whimper of relief when I hit the other side.
Phew!
There were more plants and trees making themselves known now beneath the snow. Below another series of slopes was a forest of firs painted by moonlight. The air was better at this altitude, working with me instead of against me for the first time in my descent.
So, I powered on until I reached the empty base camp near the edge of the forest. I had no idea when climbing season started and didn’t give two shits. Even if there were folk hanging around here singing the campfire staple ‘When the Stars Speak Your Name,’ they wouldn’t be able to help.
Only I could help me, as long as I stayed alive and kept going.
“Oh, Paris!” Aidan bellowed from above.
And off I charged.
Greeting the trees, I crashed into their welcoming embrace. They thickened around me, darkening, filling me up with energy, doing me a favor while I fed them back.
I loved our teamwork.
“Run, elf! Run!” Aidan roared and laughed, sounding like he was on my right.
I pushed on, waiting for him to pop up in my path. But he didn’t, and he wasn’t waiting for me when I came out the other side, running straight up to a tall wall of iron.
“Dammit,” I grumbled.
The black and bumpy iron monstrosity ran in both directions as far my eyes could see. Ridiculously tall, a real eyesore in this pretty landscape of mountains, snow and trees.
But no wall would ever stop me.
I got to work, the bumps rugged and deep enough for me to gain purchase. Dodgy as hell, but doable. With many a deep breath, my teeth clamped down on my bottom lip, I went up. Pushed myself into my executioner zone, wrapped in determination.
I can do this.
