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Chapter 29 - Chapter 29: Heading Up

Chapter 29: Heading Up

It didn't take long for Dal to both understand and appreciate why they'd chosen to call this region the "Hell Mountains." No, that became evident even before he'd found himself nearly decapitated by a massive, green, and fanged ogre that almost took out Volorn and Grolm along with him.

"Fucking die!" Volorn shouted at the eight-foot-tall beast, which wielded a machete and was still trying to cleave Volorn's head off despite having lost most of its own.

Grolm had landed multiple direct hits to the ogre's throat with a shortsword, and now, the monster's head was partially dangling off like a tree in the process of tipping over; but still, the creature growled and bared its fangs as it hacked and hacked at Volorn's shield.

"Hit it again!" Grolm cried.

Volorn, blocking the ogre's machete, countered and swung his flail with what looked like all his strength; Dal watched as he bludgeoned the creature hard enough in the face that it at last caused the ogre's head to tear off from its neck. Even still, the monster managed to lob a few more swings before it finally fell backwards onto the grass- and dirt-covered ground.

"Shit," Volorn said, wiping sweat off his face with his arm. "I hate those things."

Clearly, they're not fans of us either, Dal thought to himself.

It had now been three days since he'd been taken captive by the two marauders, and the last day in particular had been the roughest, with the biggest change taking place early this morning as they began to venture deeper through Hell's Pass. The terrain, which had been mostly open, had swiftly given way to something much more enclosed within densely packed trees.

At first, there had only been a few such trees, but the number increased in both volume and size until reaching a point where, by all appearances, Dal would've thought he was in some kind of jungle if he didn't know any better. It was to the extent that he couldn't even see the mountains anymore, as most of the world—and much of the sky itself—was blocked off by the thick leaves from the treetops all around them, creating a dark, unsettling atmosphere.

And then there were the sounds.

The Hell Mountains were a very, very noisy place. Since the appearance of the very first tree, there had been a constant shrieking, yelling, growling, and roaring that permeated the air at seemingly all times from any number of monsters that were both killing and dying; this, in addition to all the buzzing and zapping of various insects, with one in particular being especially dangerous.

"Grolm, watch out," Dal warned the man. "To your left."

Grolm shifted his eyes, then growled, jumped backwards, and slashed out with his sword. Now, there was a brief flash of yellowish light as he cut open a thumb-sized "lightning wasp," which caused tendrils of electricity to run over and across the point of his shortsword before dissipating with a trail of smoke.

"Thanks, Dal," he said, blowing out a sigh.

"No problem."

Dal was glad to see him okay. Letting the man die to a lightning wasp would not be justice. No, he wanted to slit the man's throat or bludgeon him to death by his own hand for all that he and his partner had done. Although…his goal of revenge had now drifted somewhat to the back burner ever since he'd learned that Ahni might be here. Her name caused his heart to swell with regret and pain, and he had no choice but to forgo thinking about it or else it would cause him to behave suspiciously in front of his captors.

Just concentrate on getting where they're taking me alive, he reminded himself.

Glancing up yet again, he could see a streak of light that managed to work its way through a gap in the treetops. He could see something else, too, though only for a brief moment.

Ravenia. She's still following me?

It had been some time since he'd last caught sight of the familiar. Dal wasn't sure why she didn't just go her own way. Was she compelled or forced by some unknown power to remain near him? Was this some kind of inexplicable tether? Or was there some other reason why she continued to shadow him throughout his entire journey thus far? Whichever the case, she was clearly of no use to him, nor did she want to be. Perhaps she only wished to observe his demise.

"What'cha lookin' at, kid?" Grolm asked.

Distracted, Dal almost walked into a vine. "Nothing."

Grolm glanced upwards, held his gaze a moment, then shrugged. "Try to keep your eyes pointed ahead. This place can kill ya."

"Sure can," Volorn added.

Carefully, Dal stepped over a strangely vibrating twig, which soon revealed itself to be a camouflaged snake. Dal was only able to tell when it moved its head as he neared. He wondered if he'd die instantly if bitten by the monster. In a place like this, chances were good that it was poisonous—extremely so. Everything here was just so incredibly treacherous, and it made Dal feel vulnerable and exposed. He couldn't possibly shift fast enough.

Time Remaining: 1 day, 5 hours, 12 minutes, 13 seconds

The terrain changed as they continued onwards. What began as a relatively straightforward trek through soil began to increase in incline. It started gradually, but soon increased sharply in steepness until Dal found himself literally grabbing onto tree branches as he climbed up something that felt more like a wall than a slope along the ground; incredibly, the trees were able to remain firmly rooted in place despite being slanted and on an angle.

"Yell at us if you think you might fall," Grolm said to him in warning. "This is where things become a bit rough, kid."

Dal nodded. "Where are we, anyway?"

It was Volorn who answered. "We're at the base of Mt. Ahna."

"And we've got to climb the whole way up?"

"Naw, just some. You'll see where we're going after we climb a bit higher. But to be honest, I still prefer this part, because things get a bit safer in terms of monsters the farther away you get from the trees."

"Got it."

With that, Dal navigated carefully, using the thick, slanted branches as footholds as he tried his best not to lag behind Grolm and Volorn, the two climbing effortlessly thanks to their classes. Very quickly, however, his heart began to pound faster and faster in his chest, and sweat started pouring down the sides of his face. Both his hands became absolutely covered in mud and damp, sticky leaves, and so too did his pants and boots.

"Things might get a bit harder up ahead," Volorn said. "If you need a break, let me know."

He was right. Things definitely became more challenging.

Right around twenty minutes after the start of their climb, the soil became thinner until vanishing altogether. Now, there was nothing but rock. And the treetops, which he climbed above and beyond, were replaced by the punishing, vengeful heat from the sun, which burned his face and the back of his neck as though intentionally defying his upward traversal.

Dal paused as his sweaty hands nearly caused him to slip and fall. "Just a second," he said. "I'm not sure how to climb up from this position."

Volorn and Grolm paused in place, with Grolm in particular looking over his shoulder and down at Dal, twisting his body somewhat as he did so. Now, hanging from just one hand, he pointed to something above and to Dal's right. "There's a hold right there, Dal. You should be able to reach it with your right hand."

Dal swore. He was in an awful position with his left foot precariously resting on a tiny ledge that was only big enough to fit one foot, thus his opposite one actually rested atop the other. He also had a tenuous grip on a hold with his left hand. The one in his right felt far more secure. Thus, he feared if he released his left, he would fall before he could grab the hold that Grolm had indicated.

"All right," Dal said, mostly to himself. He took a deep breath and counted to three.

One. Two. Three!

He hopped upwards with his left foot while releasing his right hand, which he then extended, urgently grabbing for the hold. But he screwed up. Due to the awkward tangle his feet had been in, he slipped too far to the right, causing him to ram his body forward into the granite and lose his grip with his left hand.

"Shit!" he cried as he fell backwards. "Oh, shit!"

"I got you, kid!" Grolm shouted, reaching forward and grabbing his hand.

Now, Dal found himself hanging midair, held up by nothing more than Grolm, who made a rowing gesture with his arm, which caused Dal to rise upwards towards him. "Can you grab it now?" he asked as he swung Dal over to it. He even made sure Dal had a firm grip on it before he released him.

"Thanks," Dal said, meaning it.

"No problem. Can you keep going?"

"Yeah," Dal said, nodding. The gesture caused more sweat to pour down his forehead and over his nose. "Let's keep on."

"We'll be at a rest point in just ten minutes. A safe one."

"Ten minutes, huh? I can handle that."

Grolm laughed. "That's the spirit."

With that, the three of them continued on. And Dal did his utmost not to feel gratitude. Once more, he reminded himself of what the two had done.

He would not allow himself to forget.

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