Wars and Wealth - Bargains with Exiled Fae

Chapter 7

David didn’t miss the not so subtle suggestive tone from Hailey and winked at her as he slipped on the harness and tightened the waist band.

“Good?”

“Ah, let me.” Hailey squatted down and ran her fingers under the thigh straps, checking the tightness and then began pulling on the strap to tighten each leg loop. The back of her hand gently brushed his sensitive parts and he subconsciously flinched.

She tugged on his shorts playfully but David had to admit she had managed to unhunch the pants and make everything fit in the harness more comfortably.

“There. Don’t want you falling out of the harness half way up.” She then passed him a pair of special climbing shoes with a curved sole made of a rubber that could mold to and grip even tiny ridges in the natural rock.

“These are too tight.” David said, disappointed in Jack.

“Do your feet fit?”

“I mean sorta. Its super tight though. My toes are all squished up” David said.

“Then they are just right,” said Kat as she strapped herself and the auto lock device to a tree and set her belay line.

Hailey took the other end of the rope and tied it to David’s harness.

“Normally, you would need to climb and clip the rope in as you go. But as I just came down, the rope is now in a top belay. It’s a good way to start and learn, because if you slip, you will only fall a few inches as the rope stretches.”

“Ok. So what do I do?” David asked.

“Just climb. We will see where your skill is at, and then start giving you better pointers once we see what you can do naturally.”

“You sure you can catch me?”

“The device auto locks if you fall, and its tied to the tree. So long as your weight cannot pull a half meter tree out of the ground, we will be fine.” Kat replied.

David stepped up to the wall, the rope dangling in his face. He stared at the flat expanse and looked up to the tip top over 30 meters away.

Years of conditioning had not prepared him for this challenge. He started his climb with relative ease, scaling the first five meters in a flash.

To the untrained observer, his thin frame might appear weak, even frail, but to those used to combat or even skills like climbing his extremely toned muscles and natural agility were clear.

As he reached for another hand hold, David frowned and looked all around. There was nothing within sight. He glanced down to see the two women snickering as they watched him struggle.

He was the freaking God of War for the Empire and here two women were laughing at his distress while he dangled from a rope five or six meters above the ground.

“Try again?” Hailey called.

David shrugged in frustration and was lowered to the ground. Over the next hour, he watched the two women climb and demonstrate how to use leverage and angles to grip seemingly impossible cracks and ledges in the rock face.

David’s eyes were aglow with excitement as there was one thing he was great at. What had made him such a strong fighter was not endless hours lifting weights but his ability to see an action, synthesize the motions and adapt them to his own body.

Watching the ladies climb, he saw a multitude of possibilities open before him and he was eager to apply his new understandings.

Throughout the day, the trio traded climbing partners and scaled several different routes along the cliff face. They steadily worked through almost twenty different starting positions and attempted various routes to the top.

Finally, Kat and Hailey collapsed to the ground in exhastion.

“I can’t feel my fingers,” Hailey declared, holding out her shaking hands.

“I don’t know if I can still hike out, my legs are done.” Kat said, sitting back against a tree. “We haven’t climbed that much in months.”

“Think you two will be back out again soon?” David asked.

“If you are here, I think we can manage. Perhaps we can make a weekend of it. We are off work again next weekend. Will you still be here?” Hailey asked.

“I should be. I want to explore the caves some but I look forward to it.”

“Good,” Kat said. This weekend then. We will plan better and make sure we are ready for the whole time. But, David, be careful in those caves. I have heard that there is some spooky stuff deep in there. Many cavers never come back and their bodies are never found.”

“Really? Any ideas on what is in there?” David asked, intrigued.

“Who knows. Maybe they just slip and fall. Maybe there is some fae being eating their souls. Some say there is an old burial site several miles underground but you would have to have ropes and lots of gear to get down far enough into the caves’ lower levels.”

“How about this then… if you two will bring the equipment out, I will pay for them. I can arrange it with that Jake fellow.”

That got the girls’ attention. “Really?”

“Yeah. It’s my treat after all you two have shown me today.” David said sincerely.

“Well, perhaps this weekend we can show you some more,” Kat said, her eyes roving over David’s body.

David grinned, “Well, I guess we will just have to see what the weekend brings. I will walk you both out and make sure you get back to your cars.”