Lost Soul

Chapter Forty-Two: The Fall

The storm is making climbing ten times harder than it needs to be.

I'm still running on that caffeine-like high I'd acquired back in the tunnel.

But the ice makes my joints lock up. It makes my old wounds burn like they're brand new. Everything hurts.

But none of it matters.

I'd promised many people that I was going to find Thomas and make him pay. Or to fulfill the promise to Andelain the Mage, find Thomas and shove my dagger up his ass. Though, I still don't think that'll be effective.

I'm making better time today than I have this whole time.

Maybe turning eighteen awakes some kind of new power in magical creatures that had no idea they were magical until a few months ago.

Maybe I just really want to shove my dagger up Thomas's nose.

Either way, I move up the mountain in a determined daze. My hands find holds faster than my brain can process them.

A few times, they're not as sturdy as I think they are and they crumble under my hands. I have to catch myself on the dagger, even as the wind tries its best to blow me off the cliff-face.

I grit my teeth and yell into the wind.

Nothing is going to stop me from making Thomas pay. Nothing is going to stop me from going through that portal.

I don't care if Ava's vision comes true and Thomas tries to kill me. I'm going through that portal.

I hold onto Rae's warm smiles in my mind. I hold onto them like they're the only things that exist anymore.

My promise to her outshines all others. My promise that I'll see her again. My promise that I will always fight to come home to my family.

No matter what I have to do. No matter the pain I have to go through. No matter the death I have to cause, I'm keeping my promise.

I will see Raelynn again.

The wind keeps getting worse the higher I get.

At some point, the sun creeps out from behind the clouds, but that doesn't stop the snow and the ice.

My fingers bleed, and sleet turns to water on my skin, everything is slick and cold.

My arms and legs tremble.

The high starts to wear off. Soon, there's no adrenaline left. I'm running on fumes.

I haven't had a good meal in a long time. Or fresh water. I have little strength left. But I have to keep going.

I'm almost to the top. I can feel it. I can feel this trial coming to an end.

Or something is coming to an end.

But at least it'll be over. Even if I don't know what it is.

My fingers are weak around the dagger. I check that my current holds are steady before pulling the dagger back.

I slam it forward, into a crack in the cliff-face.

Before it can hit, the rock crumbles under one of my feet.

I scramble for another hold with my hand before I can lose my balance. My chest heaves. I look up into the sleet.

Even through the dark clouds looming above me, I can almost see the top of the mountain.

I can't stop now.

But I'm struggling to find another place to put my dangling foot.

I slide it along the wall, searching for somewhere sturdy, but everything is just out of reach. I can step back down and go another route, but it'll be difficult.