King of Kings- Book 4 The Council of the Light Series.

Part 4

Clarence felt his weight shift across to his right hand as he moved his left leg higher up the face of the rock. The rope Sausage had tied around his waist didn't do much to make him feel better about his chances if he fell but he'd watched her climb up to set the route without a rope to help her. He wouldn't be bested by the Pendragon. He shifted his weight back onto the tip of his toes and pressed up. He knew his knees weren't as weak as they were pretending.

"Push through it," Sausage called. "Or don't, just remember to shout 'take' when you fall."

"I can't believe you did this for fun on your home world," he shouted down to her. "The idea of people like you and Beatrix, human until you came here, unable to save yourself if you fell..." He was buying time, trying to distract his knees, but they were not to be so easily turned.

"Can you save yourself if you fall?" Sausage laughed. "That rope's got more magic than your whole body. Come on Clarence, handholds to your right, just push up and reach."

Just. He told himself to just push up and reach but his attempt was pathetic, then he was falling, weightless. The rope yanked tight, he slammed into the rock face. Realised he was still alive, and started to laugh.

"What?"

"I..." Clarence could hardly breath. "I didn't want to die."

Sausage was letting him down to the ground by slowly easing her end of the rope through her hands. "You find that funny?"

"Yes!" Clarence's feet touched the ground and he practically flopped onto the floor. "I'm relieved. I think."

Sausage shook her head in wonder and helped Clarence to unstrap. They were still half way up Everment Mountain, Morag, Sausage's Dragon, was parched some way off slumbering on a stony outcrop. "I was halfway across Morningdew looking for the right spot to cross out of this world into the next, and I realised I'd forgotten to climb here."

"Because this is fun for you?" Clarence asked. He studied the mountainside again and shuddered, even from half way up it was horrific how much more there was above him.

"Your world is pretty, the stone is good to climb, the air is clear. Yes this is fun, don't you see that?"

He paused before he said "I suppose."

"Light!" Sausage rolled her eyes, pulled her hair from her face and craned her neck to look up at the pathways only she could see above them. "So, at the top of this rock is a plateau and a river?"

Clarence nodded, "There's a farm up there, and a barracks but not much else, the barracks is just to stop people climbing down into the castle. The waterfall's directly through the center of Everment. I'll show you the bridge at some point, it's noisy but it's quite nice to look at."

Sausage started to move her hands as if she were trying to work out the route up in her head, trying out different grips as she studied from the ground.

"Do you think they would mind me abseiling down to set the top of the route?"

He shrugged, he wasn't really sure what she was asking his permission to do. "For you, they would be honoured."

"Aww," Sausage ruffled his hair and went to a bag she'd placed at the base of the ledge, she pulled out a canvas bag and offered it to Clarence. "Nuts?"

He took a handful, she settled down on the floor and pulled on a thick fur jacket that she'd tossed aside whilst climbing. Clarence settled next to her and took a second handful. "Where do you go Sausage?" Clarence asked as he ate. "Do you have a secret Dragon world?"