Demon Hunt

Chapter 7

While she had been rock climbing with Kado for years, they had always used ropes and harnesses. Free climbing was something Auren always wanted to try, but he felt it was too dangerous. Now she was finally getting to do it and instead of being excited, her stomach was in knots. She didn't anticipate her first time would be a fifty meter vertical climb.

Kado was already a few meters into the climb. He gazed down. "Are you coming?"

"Yeah."

Thankfully the demon had gone before them because he left gaping holes in the rock, with its razor sharp claws, they could use as holds. Of course, there could be a downside to that too. Every hand hold was potentially unstable now. Auren rested her foot on a protruding part of the rock face while contemplating her first move. The lowest gouge in the rock was a few feet above her reach, and most of the other holds were small. Her fingertips would barely grip them, making her wonder how Kado scaled it so quickly.

She chose a section where the rock jutted out about an inch, but there was only enough room for two fingers. If she could get enough leverage, maybe she could jump to the deep gouge and grab it with the opposite hand. With one foot still on the ground, she squatted as far her arm would let her and sprung. She nearly missed, but managed to grip her target with her fingertips. It was not a move she would dare to repeat at a higher elevation as she was now dangling by one arm. Swinging her other arm up, she put one hand over the other to give herself some leverage.

It was a good thing her boots were soft soled and had good traction. Even the smallest crevice was sufficient enough to scale the wall until she was in a squatting position on the wall. To an onlooker she might look like a frog about to leap up the side of the cliff. From there it was easy for her to reach above and grasp another handhold. For a while it was almost as easy as climbing a very steep ladder. There were plenty of holds big enough to make even a beginner's climb simple. The rock face seemed to smooth out. Well, not perfectly smooth, but she knew things would get difficult at that point. She wished she had spent more time watching Kado when he got to that part.

As if reading her mind again he said, "You will have to traverse it."

Auren groaned. Climbing to the side was often more difficult than going up or down, the latter being a natural movement while climbing. When she looked up, Kado had his leg over his opposite hand, and he was in an almost horizontal position while he gazed down at her. How he had maintained that kind of muscle control was a mystery.

It looked as though going left would be easier, but it would take her longer to get around. Auren opted for going right despite being the more difficult climb. Faster was better in this particular situation. She looked for a suitable foothold first. The one she found would cause her to have to balance herself in a wide stance, but there was enough room for both feet to rest on it. The real trick was trying to maintain her balance while she brought her left leg across. From there she found it would be easier to climb down a little and then work her way back up.

Kado was several meters ahead by the time she found her way around the obstacle. "Watch your eyes."

Auren turned her gaze toward the ground as mall rocks, more like pebbles, bounced off the back of her head confirming he had cleared a hold. Loose fragments could easily cause a climber to lose their grip or slip. When she could no longer feel the falling debris, she resumed her climb. She cupped her hand over a knob just over her head, using it for balance as she straightened her legs.

Unfortunately the next hold was just out of her reach. When she reached up to grab it, her entire body swayed outward, like a door opening on a hinge. Reflexively, she shifted the outside leg behind the one on the hold and pushed herself back toward the cliff wall. That was a close call. If she had swung any further, she would have lost her grip and fallen.

When Auren glanced upward again, Kado was gone. He must have made it over the ledge leading into the cave. She was surprised to find she only had a few meters left to climb herself. She had been so focused on the climb she didn't realize how far she'd gone. Now she just had to keep herself from getting anxious over the end of the climb. If she got careless now it would be a deadly mistake.

She made herself refocus on the climb and before she knew it, she was pushing herself over the ledge. She sat there, catching her breath and letting her muscles rest, and looked in exhilaration at how far she had come. For her first free climb, she did an incredible job. Well, she hadn't fallen anyway.

"Auren," Kado called from the mouth of the cave.

Getting to her feet was tricky, they were shaky from the adrenalin overload. She took careful steps as she joined Kado, then stopped to stretch her muscles. "Does it look like the demon went that way or did it keep climbing?" There were no gouges in the rock wall above her, so she hoped it had gone through the cave. She didn't think she'd be able to continue climbing until after a long rest.

Kado didn't looked tired at all. "It definitely went through the cave. There's a tunnel that leads off from the cavern here. We'll follow him after we've eaten and had some rest. As long as he's in the cave system, we know where he is. And he'll likely stick to the caves now."

Auren nodded and pulled her backpack off her shoulders. "Kado, what if it takes days to find him while we're in here? What will we do for food?"

"We have some nuts and berries as well as a few strips of dried meat, and I came across some mushrooms deeper in the cave. We'll make due."

"But what will we use to see?"

"There may be some caverns and tunnels with natural light. Otherwise we'll have to go by feel. And before you ask, we have enough water to last a few days. We may even come across some streams to replenish our water supply."

Auren wasn't feeling as optimistic as her foster father, but she could hardly complain. It was her fault they were in this situation.

Kado handed her a bag full of nuts and a nutcracker. "Start shelling these."

After watching him disappear into the back of the darker part of the cave, she dumped the nuts out of the bag and began cracking, putting the shelled nuts back into the bag. She was half way through when Kado returned with a bag full of mushrooms. She hoped he was planning to eat most of those. Mushrooms were good cooked, not so much raw in her opinion.

"We're going to camp here tonight and then we'll get started first thing in the morning." Kado sat on the ground next to her, sorting through his collection.

They weren't all mushrooms. Something was wiggling on the ground in front of him. It looked like a short fat worm.

"What is that?"

"It's a grub. They're full of protein, and they'll keep us going while we're down here. We should find them wherever we find these mushrooms, which grow all throughout these caves."

"I'm not eating that thing!"

Kado held one out. "Try it. It's really not that bad."

"I'll pass."

"Auren, this isn't up for discussion. I will not let you starve yourself because you're afraid to try something."

It didn't look as though he would relent, so she reached out tentatively, and he dropped it into her hand. Its wiggling tickled her palm. Although it looked slimy, it actually felt more rubbery. The longer she held it, the more reluctant she was to eat it. "Couldn't we put a few of them on a stick and use the lighter to cook them?"

"Eat it." Kado's expression was as stern as his tone.

Sighing, Auren closed her eyes and let it fall to the back of her throat before swallowing. The less she had to taste the better. It took a few tries, but it finally went down. She resolved to swallow them with water in the future.

"Was that so bad?"

"Aside from the fact that I can't get the image of a worm wiggling around in my belly out of my head, no, not bad at all."

Kado frowned. "In a few days, if we're still down here, you will be thankful to have them in your belly."

Hewas probably right, but she popped a nut in her mouth to distract her from thethoughts that were now making her nauseous.