The Fractured World, page 19
“Okay, okay. I promise I won’t run away and leave my big strong stud all alone.”
“Good,” I said, kissing her before letting her down. “How did the scouting go?”
“You remembered. Here I thought you were more interested in my mouth than getting out of here.”
“I’m positively enamored with both.”
She bit her bottom lip. “To answer the one that ain’t making my knickers moist, I found some good spots. Even gave them a good bounce to make sure they ain’t snapping anytime soon.”
“Don’t do anything so dangerous again,” I said.
Trez tensed but laughed it off. “Don’t get all serious outta nowhere. I’m a tree-tussling pro. You don’t need to worry about me.”
“Of course, I’m going to worry about my mate.”
Again, she stiffened up. This time, the tinted-cheeked alien waved me away. “And don’t drop the m-bomb outta nowhere. I’m still kinda processing how I got so carried away.”
“Regret it?” I asked.
“I wouldn’t say that…”
“Good because I sure don’t. I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”
Trez went back to nibbling her lip like it was going out of fashion. In the end, she skipped past me. “Would you look how dark it’s getting? I’ll freeze my tits off if I stay nattering out here. Let’s go see how the rope-buddies are faring.”
My eyes followed the escaping wobble of her amazing behind long before my feet did.
I can’t believe how lucky I am.
They were seriously the best mates a guy could ask for. It was up to me to prove that the inverse was also true. And the first step in fulfilling that ambition involved getting us to the paradise lurking in the heights above.
Come morning, I took a long weaved green rope and set off to perform a valuable test.
Faris and Casella had done an amazing job. The whole thing was firm as the real deal and was getting there in length.
The pressure was on me to live up to my end of the bargain.
I tied the rope around the corners of the raft, joining them in the middle. “That should hold for the test.”
“What do you need from me?” Trez asked.
I threw her the pulley. “Fit it onto the sturdiest branch that will fit.”
She wiggled her fingers into the hollow. “Ooh, you cut out the inside.”
“It was that or a fashion a hook. This one seemed easier.”
Trez had no follow up questions. She scrambled up the tree and fixed the pulley in place. Her next job was hoisting the rope into position before handing it back to me.
“Let’s see if this works,” I said as I pulled.
The wooden surface rose effortlessly into the sky.
“Whoa. It totally did,” Trez said.
I laughed. “What did I tell you? The old ways are the best ways.”
“I don’t know. I’d still pick an anti-grav lift if I had the chance.”
“Shush,” I said as I kept the raft suspended in the sky with one hand. I offered the rope to Trez. “You try.”
“Okay,” she said, taking hold of the rope. All was well until I let go. She shrieked and scrambled to stop the wood plummeting to the ground.
The raft fell into the snow. And so did she. Face first.
“What’s the big idea?” Trez snapped after pulling herself out. “You trying to kill me?”
“Calm down,” I said, rubbing her head.
“Don’t think I’ll be placated by something like this,” Trez said, becoming calmer with every word.
I smiled but it was marred by the sight of a half-submerged lift. “Was it that heavy?”
“And then some! Felt like it was gonna rip my shoulder out.”
I gritted my teeth. Why hadn’t I thought about that earlier? It was easy for me to shift its mass but I couldn’t handle every journey. At some point, the girls would need to lift my weight.
Yes, both me and the platform that was too much to me handled on its lonesome.
How didn’t I see that? I’m such a moron.
Was this a stupid idea from the start?
No, it’s close. Just a little more. There’s a way around this. There has to be.
If I could just find a way to make the lift lighter. Using fewer logs would work if I didn’t care about reducing the stability. Or, to put it more bluntly, if I didn’t mind endangering the others.
That was the one thing I couldn’t allow.
Was there no way I could have both?
“Stupid,” I mumbled under my breath, kicking a nearby tree.
A tinge of pain shot through my ankle.
I grunted and hopped on one foot. The tree had been a lot sturdier than I’d been expecting. It’d only been thin, but it felt like I’d just walloped a building.
“Careful,” Trez said. “You trying to crush your toes?”
Why would I… wait. This tree…
Thin, silvery, and stubborn like no other. I remember it stopping a rampaging beast dead. I also faintly remembered hearing it mentioned in a lecture.
“Trez!” I said. “Didn’t you say this stuff is strong and light?”
“Aye,” she said. “Steelwood’s pretty incredible. Why… oh!” Her eyes darted between the trifecta of me, the tree, and the lift. “Are you serious? Do you know how hard steelwood is?”
“My foot sure does,” I said as I rubbed my toes better.
“Then you know it’s a no-go.”
“Did you forget who you’re talking to?” I drew my club and swiped.
There was a grisly metal crunch. The tree folded as if clutching its shattered midsection.
I peeked back at Trez while wearing the cheesiest grin. “You were saying?”
Trez gawked at the damage. “Fuck, you’re awesome.”
“Tell me about it. I’m not losing to a cliff and you better believe I’m not going to lose to a couple of trees.” If there was one thing I had, it was power. And it was that monumental strength that was going to help me get my mates out of here.
My plan was the right one after all. And I’d just found the missing ingredient that would make it perfect.
Chapter 22
An unhealthy amount of sweat poured down my brow.
I gasped for the sweet frigid relief of arctic air. It had been transmogrified into a throat-burning smog long before reaching my drained lungs.
Why did I get so cocky?
This is what I get for trying to show off. I can’t back out now. I need to finish this, so I don’t make a tit of myself.
The steelwood laughed at my predicament. They mocked me for thinking I could win.
I growled through my teeth. I wasn’t going to be humiliated by some freaking plants. I clenched down on my club and delivered another whack.
Another indent, rather than a cut, appeared in the tree’s hull.
I sighed. Yep, that was to be expected.
Chopping down steelwood was incomparable to felling any other tree. There was no lovely crunch as the whole thing split in half. Cutting down steelwood was a battle of wills, a contest to see which of you would fall first.
I delivered another blow.
My club folded the metallic trunk into the tree’s hollow exterior. The empty space acted as a buffer that let the main stem malform without shattering.
I didn’t let that simple trick defeat me. Even as my muscles burned star hot, I hammered away with one-track determination.
After an hour of resilience, I finally smashed through the completely compressed trunk and brought the whole thing plummeting down.
Then, and only then, did I drop my club and allow myself a well-deserved rest.
Trez wasn’t wrong. This stuff’s a nightmare.
My only solace was that Trez had been right in every aspect. Not only was steelwood solid, it was air light. I was surprised the felled log didn’t float off into the clouds.
It was perfect raft building material. At least, it would be once I’d collected enough of it.
I groaned and heaved up my club. “Better get back to work.”
“Wait, my Brandon,” Casella said. She burst from the foliage and toiled over with her hands full.
Just seeing her exorcised my exhaustion. My beautiful alien mate was a tonic like no other.
“Were you spying on me?” I said with a grin.
She blushed. “I didn’t mean to. It sort of just happened.” Casella clenched the bottle in her arms and swayed from side to side. “You looked ever so manly. I found myself falling for you all over again.”
I snorted. “Honestly, what did I do to deserve a mate as amazing as you?”
“You are the incredible one, my Brandon. I am ever so lucky that you came to my aid.”
“Nothing lucky about it. Anyone would have done the same thing in my shoes.”
Casella giggled. “It’s statements like that which prove just how special you are.” She offered me the drink. “For you, my Brandon.”
I took a long, much needed, swig of the good stuff. It was like medicine to my parched mouth.
“We can’t have much of this left,” I said after gulping down my portion. “How’s the supply situation?”
“We’re starting to run a little low,” Casella said.
“How low?”
“Erm… maybe a couple more days?”
And then I’d have to go hunting again. That wouldn’t do. If I was spending most of my time providing for the girls, I wouldn’t be able to complete the lift.
I did not want to be caught choosing between the two. Not with Faris in a precarious condition.
“I’ll get us out of here before then,” I said as I picked up my club.
“Please watch yourself, my Brandon,” Casella mumbled. “None of us want you to overwork yourself.”
I pulled her closer and eased her worries with a kiss. “Who, me? Never. As long as I’ve got a goal in mind, a little tiredness is nothing.”
Casella pouted her deliciously thick lips and fluttered her heart-tugging lashes. “Really and truly?”
“Truly and really. You just need to worry about having the rope ready. I’ll handle the rest.”
“Okay. If my Brandon says so.”
I smirked. “He knows so. We’ll be out of here before you know it.”
There it was. Another hole I’d willingly dumped myself into. Seeing how I didn’t want to let my mates down, there was only one way I could dig myself out and keep my pride.
The rest of the day was spent without pause. As far as I was concerned, all the steelwood in the forest belonged to me. It was duty-bound to help me save my mates.
As long as I remembered that they were my driving force, no amount of exhaustion could keep me down.
By the day’s end, the forest sat conquered. I’d collected enough logs to get started, not that I could. Cutting down the trees wasn’t the end of my hardships. I still had to prune off the iron bar branches, hack each hollow log down to size, and countless other touches which would help guarantee the safety of my girls.
The things I did for my mates.
Still, they were actions I performed without complaint. If it was this or stay trapped in a world of ice and monsters, then there was no competition. I worked straight through the night and told my groaning muscles where to stick it.
Hack, clack, smash, thud. I immersed myself in the sound of crafting as I made the best lift I could.
Darkness gave way to light and slowly surrendered to night all over again. When the sky was stained orange, I finally dropped my tools and wiped my brow.
“Finished,” I said with a tortured sigh.
After two straight days of backbreaking labor, my newest creation was complete.
“Did I just hear the magic words?” Trez said as she hopped onto me from behind.
My sturdy back caught her lithe body with ease.
“Not even a buckle,” Trez said. “You’re too damn strong. Where’s my stumble, eh?”
“You trying to bully me?” I said.
“Totally. When else am I gonna get the chance? You’re supposed to be knackered.”
“Oh, I am. I’m completely exhausted. Still, I feel great.” It was so weird. I’d been working all day, every day, and yet I was more energetic than ever.
“You look it,” Trez added. “You’ve become proper hench of late.”
“I have?”
“Sure. You’re basically bursting from your clothing.”
Now that she mentioned it, my coat was feeling a bit snug. When I flexed, it became even more prominent.
Is this muscle? Proper muscle? Where did this come from?
Previously, I’d been a weed with too much strength. Not anymore. I was developing a body to match my stats.
All that hard work was paying off in more than one aspect.
“I concur,” Casella added as she trudged through the snow. “My Brandon looks stronger than ever.”
“Nobody told me the whole gang was here,” I said.
“Dude, we’ve been here for, like, hours,” Trez said. “Seriously. You get too in the zone when you’re doing your crafty shit.”
“Not that we’re complaining,” Casella said. “We know you’re doing this for us.”
“Yeah. It’s actually kind of hot seeing you so focused.”
“So, it isn’t just me?” Casella said as she nibbled on her bottom lip.
“Like, no way!” Trez said. “There’s something proper manly about it. Makes me wanna jump in and get that attention for myself.”
“Right? I know it’s strange to feel jealous of an inanimate object, but I can’t help myself.”
“Nothing weird about it if it means a long private session with those hands.”
Casella gasped and covered her face. A warmth filled her cheeks.
I laughed. “I’ll give you both plenty of attention later. For now, don’t you want to see the instrument of our salvation?”
At base level, it was pretty much my original lift made from a new material. The bottom was the still a raft that would feel comfortable trundling down a river. However, there were a few additions.
I didn’t feel right about leaving the sides bare. All it would take was one bit of turbulence to throw somebody overboard.
Such a safety concern could not be overlooked.
I’d remedied the issue by building up the sides. First, I’d punched holes into the lift’s foundations. Then I’d used leftover branches as support poles to build a clumsy series of barriers. Aesthetically, they were hideous. Just a mismatched amalgamation of wood crossed and tied together. However, it was performance that really counted. The entire thing could take a hit. They could handle anybody thrashing against them.
“What a wondrous creation,” Casella said.
“You’ve really stuck more stuff on there?” Trez groaned. “Wasn’t it heavy enough?”
“That shouldn’t be a problem. Especially thanks to this,” I threw Trez two hand-crafted pulleys. The original and a freshly made doppelganger. “Find a place for them. Then loop the rest of the rope around a couple of branches.”
Trez did what I asked before coming down to look at her work. “It looks a right mess.”
“No, that’s fine.” I handed her the rope. “Now pull.”
She gave a firm tug.
The wooden lift shot up.
“Shit, look!” Trez said. “I’m doing it. It’s rising!” She pulled until the lift rose as high as it could go. “What did I tell ya? Steelwood is the bomb! They don’t call it a miracle material for nothing.”
“It’s not just steelwood,” I said. “Never underestimate the power of high school physics.” I’m not going to pretend I remembered all the theory and formulas behind how pulleys worked. However, the important stuff stuck with me. The more pulleys you use, the less force needed to achieve lift off.
Trez giggled as she had fun sending the lift up and down.
“Now for the real test,” I said, motioning her to bring it back down to ground level. Once it was there, I went and sat in the lift’s center. “Try it now.”
“Alright,” she mumbled before giving it a pull.
The entire lift lurched and heaved off the ground.
Trez’s crimson cheeks bloated as her expression scrunched. Her pale arms trembled as she dragged her weight back, taking me up into the sky.
“You can let go now,” I said as my head approached the branches.
She sighed and released the rope while falling onto her ass.
I was sent plunging back to the floor. The lift smashed into the snow, creating a boxy angel. That was the only damage any of us incurred.
Something which I’d needed an hour to cut down was never going to crumple from such a small drop.
“Are you quite alright?” Casella asked as she crouched down next to Trez.
“I think so,” Trez said through deep panting breaths. “I thought my arms were going to fall off.”
“Sorry about that,” I said, hopping over to join them. “You’re the only one who can do this.”
“Wait, you want me to do that again?!”
“Sort of,” I said as I glanced to the top of the cliff.
Trez gulped. “Has all that hard work melted your brain? Look at the size of that thing!”
“Don’t think you’re up for it?”
“Of course, I’m bloody not! Look how skinny my arms are. I’m not made for heavy lifting.”
“Someone needs to be pull me to the top. I can take over from there, but I’m going to need that initial helping hand.”
“You’re crazy,” Trez whined.
“Yep,” I agreed before I grabbed her shoulders. “Crazy about you girls.”
Trez looked away. “Fuck, that was a good line.”
I snickered. “You know that reward I promised you? Call it double if you come through here.”
“You think I’ll be bribed so easily?”
“I hoped so.”
She pouted. “Well… you were right! I’ll give it a go.”
I grinned and kissed her right on those bratty lips. “That’s my girl.”
A warm glow spread across her face. She flashed her canines. “I’m gonna have you face deep in me for a week.”
“I’ll get my tongue ready in advance.”
