ended, the others awoke, and everyone wore their battle masks as they resumed the hunt for the ultra-Monstrosity.

CHAPTER THIRTY

Climbing

They found the giant before anyone had caught the sense of a convergence.

Agrathor made his strange sighing sound when Scythia had Ess gather everyone together and told them what she'd heard.

Apparently, the thing had been walking slowly in this direction since completing its assignment of destruction beneath Chasmverge.

It was surprisingly light-footed, taking long, slow strides that made only a scraping sound as its feet touched the ground. Every once in a while, the massive thing would groan to itself unintelligibly, and this is the sound that Scythia had heard.

"I think it had just risen from a rest," Scythia said. "Otherwise we might not have caught up to it."

"So now what?" asked Agrathor. His flame eyes flicked from Scythia to Pierce. "Climbed any giants lately?"

"Well not one this tall, but..." Pierce was cut off.

"We will be like insects on its limbs. It will probably not see or hear us," said Ess, "but if it feels a brush or prick of any kind, it may crush us as we would a stinging fly."

"We'll need my amulet once again," said Scythia. "That at least will cover any sounds we make."

Sev said, "We will need to hear it if we are to anticipate any moves it will make."

"Ah, true," said Scythia.

"Their skin is tough and scarred," said Pierce. "At least that of the smaller ones is. It may not feel us at all. One of us can give it a test while everyone else hides. If there's no reaction, everyone should be safe to climb. Then we just wait until it moves up a level or assists in another attack."

"Great plan," said Agrathor. "I nominate you."

"Done," Pierce said.

"You're supposed to balk," Agrathor said, eyes narrowing. "No one wants to go first with something like this."

"Why would I balk?" Pierce said. "I love going first."

They had to run to catch up to the giant, slow strides belying its speed. Pierce approached the giant's heels with something between trepidation and excitement. The thing he was about to attempt would be something he'd never forget, if he lived.

Each of the ultra-Monstrosity's steps took an age to begin and end, so getting a grip on the ridges of its scarred skin was easy. On contact, Pierce looked up the height of the creature for any reaction. There was none. He couldn't really see very far - all he had for light was a dim gem Scythia had given him - so looking up was really just an expression of habit. The giant could be looking right at him, and he wouldn't know. The force of movement began to pull at his body as the giant swung its foot forward. Pierce held on with all his strength, braced against the shock of the huge foot's landing.

How far up should he climb before declaring it safe enough for the others?

He moved up onto the creature's calf, sticking to the side in the hopes it would be less sensitive. Still there was no reaction. He wanted to keep heading up, but he began to climb back down instead. He had to get the others.

"Did you see?" he asked when he had joined the rest of the group. "No reaction. I don't think it can feel anything."

"Might explain why it's so hard to debilitate them in battle," Agrathor said. "They never react to pain - it's why we always assumed they were undead - maybe they just can't feel at all."

"Still," Scythia said, "we should take no chances. Be sure to keep your contact light. It will be a long climb, with much room for error."

Ess flew close by to everyone as they mounted the Monstrosity's foot one by one. If someone slipped, she should be able to give them some support, even if she couldn't levitate while holding them for long. If everything went wrong, the others were depending on her to fend off the monster until they could escape. It was unclear whether they could slay the thing if need be, but they had agreed that would be a last resort - there was no guarantee there would be any convergences with which to get back home.

Agrathor quickly surged into the lead, climbing from ridge to scarred ridge of black flesh with ease. He wouldn't tire. Pierce was strong, but even he felt the burn set in as they approached the Monstrosity's knees. He looked down, but the ground was lost in darkness. He'd been counting as best he could though, and thought they must have climbed over a thousand feet at that point.

He glanced over at Sev and Scythia. They both were moving as slow as he, but otherwise seemed to be fine. Ess flitted by behind them.

The farther up he climbed, the more committed he began to feel. It really was either success or death in this situation. Attracting the Monstrosity's attention or having his grip fail would both lead to disaster. Which would be less preferable? Probably the former, although falling to his death would be far more embarrassing than being swatted into paste. Of course, he'd survived the last big fall, so maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all...

Pierce lapsed into the daze of long-term physical exertion until he had mounted the giant's hip. He could feel the thing's leg shifting slowly beneath him as he hunkered down on a wide ridge of scar tissue. Agrathor was just above him, looking down with a grin, armored legs hanging off the edge of a ridge like a child's from a high chair.

Scythia and Sev joined them shortly, and everyone settled in for a rest.

"How is everyone holding up?" Scythia asked the group.

"Fresh as ever," said Agrathor.

"Little bit sore," said Pierce.

Sev didn't comment, but Pierce saw him massaging his arm muscles.

"Well we can all rest our bodies," Scythia said. "I don't recommend stopping for too long, or taking the time to sleep.

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