David Gemmell – Rigante 3 – Ravenheart

Kaelin held her gaze. ‘I know you have been hurt, Chara . . .’ he began, but she swung away from him, her eyes blazing with anger. ‘Wait, let me finish!’ She paused. ‘What I want to say is this: you were taken in order to force your father to come out of his stronghold and be massacred by the beetlebacks. That was Ranaud’s plan. That plan only fails when you walk into the great house. If you die here Call Jace will likely respond with blind rage. He will come out and fight. And he will lose. The Rigante will lose. I want you to think of this as we climb. I want it in your mind as your muscles ache, and you fear you cannot go on. Anger is good, Chara. Hold on to it. Let it give you strength.’

‘Are you finished?’ she said. ‘Just tell me where to begin.’

He approached the face and pointed up to a deep crack some fifty feet above them. ‘We need to reach that chimney in the rock. Once inside we will find the climbing easier. Move slowly. Rest often. Try to use the muscles in your legs more than those in your arms. The arms will tire first.’

Chara stepped up to the face and began to climb. Kaelin waited until she was more than six feet above him, then climbed after her. The hand- and footholds were good and they moved steadily up the face. Just below the chimney was a narrow ledge. Chara climbed onto it. She glanced down. Kaelin saw her face lose its colour. Vertigo swept over her and she closed her eyes, her body swaying. Swiftly he hauled himself up alongside her, propelling her into the wider ledge within the chimney. ‘Look at me!’ he snapped. ‘Open your eyes and look at me!’ Her eyes flared open. ‘Do not look down. Concentrate only on the climb.’

‘I am all right now,’ she said.

Releasing her, he stared up the three-foot-wide fissure in the rock. It snaked up for at least another forty feet before it narrowed. The rocks were slick with last night’s rain, but handholds were plentiful. ‘Wait here, and watch where I climb,’ he said. He began on the jagged left side of the chimney, then stepped across to the right, climbing ever higher. When he reached the narrow section he paused to scan it. Then he descended to where Chara waited. ‘It is easy to the point where the fissure closes. After that you will need to use your fist to help you climb. I’ll show you how.’ Lifting his hands he held the palms together as if in prayer. Then he drew them an inch apart. ‘Slide your hand between mine. Once inside try to make a fist.’ She did so, and he felt her knuckles pressing against his palms. ‘That is good. It is called a hand jam, and that is what you must do with the narrow fissure while you search for a foothold. Once your foot is secure release the fist and press your hand a little higher into the fissure. You understand?’

‘I am not a dolt. Of course I understand.’

‘Then climb.’

She scaled the chimney with ease, but where it narrowed she stopped. Kaelin moved closer to her. ‘I cannot find a foothold,’ she said.

‘Move your right foot up another two feet,’ he told her. As she did so he guided her foot to a small jut in the face.

‘I’ll slide off it,’ she told him. ‘It is too small.’

Steadying himself, he pressed his hand under her foot. ‘Push now,’ he said. Chara levered herself up – then slipped. She cried out as her hand wrenched clear of the fissure. Kaelin grabbed her as she slid into him. Her foot hit his left leg, dislodging it from the face. Clamping his right hand tight to the rock he hung on. Chara reached out and grabbed a tiny overhang, relieving Kaelin of some of her weight. Then she levered herself clear. Kaelin regained his foothold. He glanced across at her. There was blood on the back of her left hand, where the skin had been gashed. Ignoring the wound Chara moved back to the fissure and, pushing her hand into it, drew herself up. Kaelin followed close behind.

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