AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I know what I must do. I have to descend to Iara's rescue. I double-check my harness and tethers, tugging each buckle andstrap to ensure its soundness. Confident in my gear, I peer over the cliff's edge, gauging my best path down.
I begin driving pitons hard into tiny cracks, creating anchor points to attach my rappelling line and carabiners. Each one I test with sharp yanks. There’s no margin for gear failure here.
Satisfied, I ease myself over the precipice, focusing solely on the technical process ahead. Hand under hand, I grip the rope, lowering steadily as my feet walk down the vertical surface. The winds threaten to rip me off, but I grit my teeth and maintain my technique.
I'm halfway down the sheer rock face when a vicious gust of wind tears into me. Before I can react, it rips me right off the wall, sending me flying out into the open air!
In a flash, I'm plummeting thousands of feet down the mountainside. But my anchor line goes taut, catching me with a violent jerk that nearly wrenches my arms from their sockets.
Dangling desperately from the rope digging into my sides, I look up to see the anchors holding but partially torn from the crumbling rock. They won't support me for long.
Adrenaline surging through me, I swing my body and kick powerfully off the cliffside, building momentum. At the peak of each swing, I drive my axe into the rock to slow my descent.
Hand over hand, I pull myself up the swinging line, muscles burning. With a final heave, I reach the wall and embed my axe deep, halting my plummet.
Iara's startled face is priceless, having witnessed my brush with death. The relief that floods her gaunt, pale face upon seeing me is swiftly replaced by defiance flashing in her eyes. Even now, too stubborn and proud to fully admit her desperation.
"What are you doing here?"she demands hoarsely.
I suppress a wry smile. Even in her current state, her fiery stubbornness remains intact. But we don't have time for bickering.
"Saving your life, it seems," I reply bluntly as I take quick stock of her condition. She's completely exhausted and pre-hypothermic it seems. We need to get her warmed up and hydrated, fast.
She opens her mouth to fire off another retort, but weakness shuts it just as swiftly. The bravado is just a show. We both know she's in dire straits, shivering uncontrollably, skin white and lips cracked. If I hadn't found her, she likely wouldn't have survived another night alone in the elements.
But this isn't the time for lectures or I-told-you-so's. Getting her warm and hydrated is all that matters now. Everything else must wait until we're safely off this merciless mountainside. Begrudgingly, she stays silent as I unwrap an emergency blanket and liquid ration. There will be time for her sharp tongue later.
I quickly take charge, securing Iara's harness to my own with a sturdy tether. She's too weak to cling unaided. The wind whips violently as I shout over it.
"Hold tight around my chest. We're getting out of here."
Too spent to resist, she wraps her arms around me, pressing close as her icy fingers grip my jacket. I can feel her shivering body burrowing into my pockets for warmth, igniting my protective instincts. She clings to me like a babe, fragile yet trusting. At this moment, I know I would brave any peril in the galaxy to keep her safe.
I scan the cliffside, plotting our path. We're in this together now. I won't let her fall. With a steadying breath, I step off the ledge, beginning our harrowing ascent. The winds threaten to tear us loose with each inch gained.
Iara's added weight strains my exhausted body. My fingers are numb and my shoulders are screaming as I maintain our desperate grip.
But failure means death, so I grit my teeth and continue the agonizing climb. Iara's arms tighten around me each time the wind gusts. Up and up we inch, slowly escaping the mountain's merciless clutches.
My mind goes blank, consumed solely by the all-encompassing task of finding the next handhold. Nothing exists except the rock before me and the precious cargo clinging to my back.
My axes are the only things stopping us from plummeting to our deaths. There's nowhere to anchor safely. The only way out is up. Higher or we die, it's that simple.
It’s that simple.
The weight drives me right up to the edge of my limits and over. I stop on a micro ledge to rest my hands. Looking up, I really don’t think it’s possible. Despair is hot on my tail.
But I’ve been here before.
I’ll be here again.
Iara's added weight pushes me to my limits and beyond. I pause on a tiny ledge to rest my screaming muscles. Staring upward, the summit seems impossibly distant. Despair nips at my heels.
If I lived this life the way I’ve lived it, and I cannot use my entire fucking life of training and experience to save one pathetic little human, then what the fuck am I even doing with my life?
She nuzzles into the warmth of my neck and I let loose a blood-curdling roar, channeling that brutal and hideous strength deep inside and continue my impossible ascent.Just ten more feet.
12
