•   •   •

Despite his immense size, Goh Gam Gar was by far the best climber of them all, especially now that his hands were free. The Norns were graceful, agile, and sure, but the great, leathery pads on the giant’s hands and feet gripped the icy stone, and his strength was so great that he could even lift his own massive weight with a single one of his arms. In fact, the monster seemed almost happy to be exercising his skills this way, although it was hard to tell with such an evil-tempered creature; the only other time he showed good cheer was when one of his companions hurt themselves.

Captors, Jarnulf reminded himself, not companions. Foul creature that he was, the monster still had less choice about being on this expedition than Jarnulf did. As Makho never ceased pointing out, there had been more than a few opportunities when he could have deserted the White Foxes, but the giant did not have that freedom.

Why was the giant with them? Did the Norns really think even such a huge creature was enough to defeat a dragon? And what would they do with a dragon if they found one? Makho had said they wanted its blood, but that made no sense to Jarnulf. Not to mention that no dragon was going to give its blood up without a fight—a deadly fight.

•   •   •

Prevented from escaping by the witchwood collar and the queen’s gem, Goh Gam Gar ranged far ahead of the rest of the company now, seeking out the best routes and clearing dangerous obstacles by sheer might. Makho never let him out of sight for long, though, perhaps fearing a sudden giant-caused avalanche. The only consistent noise on the mountainside other than the crunch of snow and the hiss of breath the climbers made were the arguments between the giant and Makho on those occasions when the chieftain used a lashing of pain to summon the giant back.

Late in the afternoon, Makho shouted for Goh Gam Gar to return for perhaps the dozenth time that day, but this time the giant did not appear. After a few moments Makho took the crystal from its pouch and held it up, murmuring the words that Akhenabi had taught him. A roar of pain and fury drifted to them, but the giant did not return. Makho raised the crystal rod again, and once more Goh Gam Gar bellowed in rage but still did not reappear.

His face rigid with anger, Makho had raised the crystal a third time when Nezeru said, “Don’t.”

“Do you dare to give me orders, Blackbird? Your condition has made you foolish.”

Jarnulf wasn’t certain what that meant, but for a moment he was certain Makho would hit her, perhaps even knock her from the narrow path. In that complicated instant, as he tried to decide what he would do, Nezeru told their leader, “Perhaps the giant has fallen, or something has fallen upon him. Would it not be better to see what has happened before we torture the brute any further?”

Saomeji the Singer nodded his head. “I think she is right, Chieftain Makho. If nothing else, in his agony he might destroy what little path there is on this treacherous mountain. If you like, I will go first.”

“No. The Blackbird will go.” Makho’s tone made it clear that there would be no further discussion.

Nezeru took the lead as nimbly as any of the pureblood Hikeda’ya. Just watching her scramble up the sloping, narrow path around the looming mountainside, nothing visible below her but fog and remorseless, empty space, made Jarnulf, despite his own well-honed skills, feel as clumsy as a fat householder.

She had only just vanished from sight when the rest of the Hand heard her call in fear and excitement for them to hurry. Kemme and Makho both drew their swords, but Jarnulf decided to wait and see what manner of challenge awaited them before surrendering the use of one of his hands.

The path was broken where Nezeru was stopped, but only a small part of it was gone, and it would be easy enough for any of them to jump to the rest of the path on other side. Since he could see no sign of the giant, Jarnulf assumed that was what Goh Gam Gar had done. As he drew closer, though, he understood why Nezeru had stopped. It was not just the path that had collapsed: a wide piece of the mountain below had slid down as well, leaving a jumble of boulders and broken tree trunks marking the place where the track had been. It also meant that something below had stopped the slide from continuing down the mountain. What that something might be was made clear a moment later, when Goh Gam Gar’s harsh voice boomed up from the cluttered, wedge-shaped fall of trees, rocks, and snow.

“By the queen herself, if one of you cowardly little bugs doesn’t get down here and help me, I’ll pull the whole mountain out from under you!”

“Look!” said Nezeru, kneeling on the path near the place where the slide had collapsed it. “The giant is just down there. Not too far. Wedged in by broken trunks.”

Makho was staring at the tumble of rocks and wood, his face set in an unhappy smirk. “And what are we to do, monster?” he shouted down, his mockery tinged with disgust. “Lean over and pull you out?”

“No, you fool!” the giant bellowed. “Climb down and get my rope. If you tie it around something strong enough up there, I can free myself.”

“We should let the ugly creature die,” said Kemme.

Makho had probably been considering just that, but he scowled at Kemme’s words. “I told you, we will need him. You, mortal—climb down and do what he says.”

Jarnulf was too surprised at first to be angry. “But I’m the worst climber of any of us!”

“You are also the least useful. Go.”

Jarnulf briefly considered the odds, but Makho and Kemme had their blades drawn. For all his skills, he knew the chance he could take both Norns on a slippery mountain path were unimaginably small, even if neither Nezeru or Saomeji waded in to help their leader. He scowled, but Makho’s fierce, bony face was hard as an ivory mask.

“I will need a good rope,” Jarnulf said at last, by way of surrender. “I do not carry enough.”

“Take mine,” Nezeru said. “It was made by the weavers of the Blue Cave.”

He accepted the coil of silver-white cord from her, then found a stone outcropping that he could not budge no matter how he pulled. He tied one end around it, then pulled his gloves on tightly and lowered himself over the edge.

The rockfall had taken more than rocks in its passage, and within moments Jarnulf was walking himself backward over broken trees as well as fallen boulders, a pile of large, heavy obstacles that he knew had to be supported by something below or they would have continued to slide down the slope and into the misty crevasse. He had no idea how firmly they were held, though, so he did his best to touch lightly and take most of his weight on his arms. As a result, his muscles were trembling by the time he reached the giant, who was caught in a tangle of splintered trunks and icy stones.

“I’ve pulled out the end of my rope,” Goh Gam Gar said, his voice a soft growl that Jarnulf could still feel in his feet as he lit on one of the trees pinioning the giant’s chest. The giant’s face was bloodied with dozens of scratches, which did not make him any handsomer. “Tie it to yours and send it up. Tell them to wrap it around something strong.”

Jarnulf considered this, but he did not want to be without a support of his own when the giant was breaking free of the rockslide. Instead he took the massive cord, wide as his forearm, and draped a single, astonishingly heavy loop of it over his shoulders, then worked his way a few yards back up the slope to where he could perch on solid mountain stone again. “Throw down another rope!” he shouted to the Talons.

It took a few moments, but another of the slender spidersilk ropes spun down from above, which Jarnulf tied around the end of the giant’s rope. “Now pull it up and tie it to something that will support his weight,” he called. Jarnulf wanted to be well out of the way before Goh Gam Gar began to break himself loose, so he swung a bit farther to the side of the rockfall. He missed his footing trying to land, and for a moment swung free over dizzying depths like a spider in a windstorm. By the time he had his footing again, the giant’s rope had been drawn up out of sight.