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“Yeah, yeah. I’m coming.”
Stepping up to the climb, I pause for a second with my palm flat on the ice. Rage rumbles beneath, telling of the waters within and the full danger we face if any foothold slips or any ice pick digs too deeply into the fragile surface.
With a deep breath, I reach for the first hold. Digging my claws into the silver layers, I push my body up, inch by inch, until the top comes into view. Hanazon hands me his arm at the top. We’re joined soon after by Callum and some others for a good look at the day, the crowd, and the competition before things get hairy.
“You ready, boys?” Callum asks with an arm around me.
“Hell yes,” I answer, and I mean every word, right up to the second I see Mira sitting in the crowd.
At once the crowd is silent, and all of Kiphia deafens as the sight of her takes my attention.Am I ready?I wonder as that strange feeling takes hold of me again.
Am I?
4
MIRA
The piercing cold wind whips my hair in my face.What am I even doing here?There are a hundred other things I could be doing with my time off.Like tidying your room?asks a sneaky little voice in my head.
Mentally, I shrug the thought away. It’s a glorious day and the atmosphere is electric. I decide I should relax and enjoy the show. Besides, it’s my duty to support the local athletes.
I jostle my way into the stands, trying to crane around the tall Kiphians so I can get a glimpse of the climbers. I’ve already found out Renxel is second to last to climb, so I take my time, ducking and diving through the crowd until the ice wall comes into full view.
The sight awes me. I would not believe it was possible for anyone to get to the top of it. But there, clinging by his fingertips, is a climber.
There is a huge screen showing a close-up of the guy. He is harnessed, but he looks worried as he scans the sheer wall of ice in front of him for his next handhold.
“Draxion has taken the most direct route up this incredibly difficult climb to try to cut a few seconds off Hanazon’s topspeed,” the commentator says. “It was a bold move that would put him ahead of the field, if only he could find some purchase on what has to be the toughest route possible!”
I watch in awe as Draxion swings from one arm, attempting to get enough momentum to grab the next handhold. I find myself willing him on. I can’t believe the figure we are watching on the big screen is the tiny red dot that can be seen on the cliff face.
Suddenly the red dot plummets. My heart skips a beat, and I turn to the screen. Draxion is hanging by a thread.
“Well, it’s all over for Draxion,” the commentator tells us. “He took a big risk that would have sent him to the top of the leaderboards had it paid off, but now, his score will plummet just like he has.”
The red dot is lowered slowly to the ground and the screen follows him down, showing his smug grin as he descends.
I feel sorry for him, but at least he’s taking his defeat well. It can’t be easy having your every reaction displayed for the world to see.
I watch several more climbers. Some of them make it and some of them don’t. The ones that do make it have their times go up on the board.
They are all chasing the best time from an athlete called Hanazon, but none of them are coming close. Hanazon’s name remains doggedly at the top of the pile. I wish now that I’d got here earlier to see his monumental climb myself.
But I’d been procrastinating. I could not make up my mind whether I should follow through on Renxel’s invite. He’s so damn arrogant that I really didn’t want to boost his ego by turning up!
But now that I’m here, I’m glad I did. I didn’t realize watching people climb could be so riveting.
“The next to climb is Renxel Garome,” the voice booms over the tannoy.
My heart leaps in my chest at the announcement. I curse myself. I don’t want to get attached to this know-it-all Kiphian. He is definitely not my type.
“Renxel is one of our top contenders for the prize today, but even he will be hard put to beat Hanazon’s best time.”
The screen shows again the highlight of Hanazon’s climb, a point where he lets go with both hands to leap across a chasm. He looks like some wild creature the way his body moves. The camera picks him out in the crowd, smiling and waving.
The screen moves on to Renxel checking his harness and limbering up. I find myself gunning for him.Come on, Renxel, rub the smug smile from Hanazon’s face!
I watch with bated breath as the countdown timer goes off.
