Wars and Wealth - Bargains with Exiled Fae

Chapter 6

As the sun lifted, David set about the task of his morning training routine. Here in the forest, he was able to take some of his practice to new levels by using dead or dying trees as punching targets.

Most of the dead trunks would submit after three or four massive blows from his gloved hands. With each trunk, David continued to pound until he had a stack of half meter logs.

While an ax would have worked fine, David relished the physical exertion and power he felt from smashing thought the trunks. He took some time to stack the wood along the entrance wall of the cave. Even after he left, there would likely be wood for the next camper to come through, or if he chose to stay here for a while, it would remain out of the rain or morning dew.

As mid-morning approached, voices began drifting down from the summit of the water fall. People were arriving at the overlook and enjoying the view from the top. After another half hour, David heard voices coming down the trail.

He was curious about who might be making such a hike, but found that they stayed far away from his camp site, instead focusing their attention on the sheer rock face on that side of the waterfall.

30 minutes later, David was impressed when he saw the first figure began scaling the rock face, a thin rope trailing beneath them.

David made his way over to discover a pair of women he had seen at the outdoors shop. One with curly brown hair was harnessed to the rope with a line around a tree while the Blonde was scaling the rock face.

“TAKE!” Shouted the girl 25 meters in the air.

The young woman on the ground pulled hard on the rope, taking out slack and braced herself in a low crouch as the climber began to fall.

Instead of crashing to her death, she only fell a few feet before her partner locked the safety line and was able to easily hold her suspended in the air.

“She going to be ok?” David asked quietly.

The young brunette-haired woman whipped her head around to look at him, startled. When she recognized him, she smiled. “Ah the guy from the outfitter. Oh, yeah. She is fine. She just needs a break. It’s common around that crux move. She knew she would fall so she warned me.”

“You ladies come here often?”

“Climbing, yes. To this spot, not so much. We make it out here once or twice a year. There are other areas that are closer to the trail heads that are easier to get to, so we normally go there.”

“Climbing!” Called the girl high above.

David watched in fascination as the two women coordinated seamlessly. The level of trust between them was impressive, for the woman climbing literally had left her life in the hands of this woman on the ground controlling the rope.

When she had tagged the top of the cliff, she sagged in the rope and her partner slowly let the rope out, lowering her to the ground.

The woman panted as her feet hit the ground, winded from her strenuous climb. She then fist bumped her partner and looked at David.

“Hello. You here to climb? I think we could let you work in if you wanted to.”

“Work in?”

“You know, join us. It wouldn’t hurt to have a third. Makes the rotation a bit longer and gives one of us a break between climbs. I’m Hailey by the way.” She said holding out her hand.

“I’m Katerina.” Her partner said with a smile.

“David.” He replied shaking each of their hands. “I’m afraid I have never climbed like this before and don’t have a harness.”

While he had been fighting for many years, there had never been a calling for this style of climbing. He could climb a tree, scale a rope up a wall and all manner of other feats demanding physical strength, but this rock wall looked like a flat surface with nothing to hold onto..

He had watched as Hailey had found tiny slivers of rock to grasp, many no wider than the curled tip if a finger, if that. Somehow, she had found enough purchase with her feet as well.

The two women smiled at him. “Jack, the store clerk was watching out for you. He said that might be the case. He sent us along with an extra harness and even a set of climbing shoes in your size.”

David shook his head with a smile. That Jack would make a capable manager for any business, anticipating needs like that. It seemed that Jack was an excellent wing man.

“If I join, are you going to be able to catch me?” David asked, eyeing the two petite women.

Katrina looked him up and down.  “I don’t think you are that much bigger than us. You are what? Six foot? Muscular but you are toned from what I can see.”

“I wouldn’t mind seeing a bit more.” Hailey said with a smirk.

David knew that to a gym goer, he might not look like much, but his lean muscles had been trained over 12 years of dealing with intense mountain conditions, constant battle, and never ending mental and physical training in all kinds of martial skills.

“6’1” and about 165 pounds last I checked.” David said. “But I might be heavier since I have been on leave.” The two women were about a head shorter than him. Hailey was closer to 5’6” while Katrina was more around 5’7”.

“See. Only about 18 kg more than Hailey. We are a bit closer.” Commented Kat.

David looked at the two beauties. Even in the cool autumn air, both had stripped down to tight tank tops and knee length hiking pants. Kat had lovely brown hair tied in a braid down her back just past her shoulders, while Hailey’s blonde hair was pulled back in a pony’s tail.

“I suppose I have to join if Jack has sent along the gear.”

Hailey grinned and dug through their backpack, retrieving the spare harness. “Its adjustable so we can make it fit. It goes on like a pair of pants. If you need help, just ask,” she said, grinning wider.