Page 128 of Ashborne: Defiance

And sure enough, one by one—only falling twice more—I finally made it to the front of the net.

The entire squad cheered for the last two steps, and my cheeks warmed out of thrill this time.

I forgot myself when I reached the edge—the net sank under my weight, so there was a steep foot of netting to the thick, supporting rope that made its frame.

Koa flew directly below that point, and she crowed at me, whistling and flapping quickly, throwing her nose up, sending me her feelings of elation.

I managed to turn my head and look at Ronen. He was clapping also, and beaming a smile at me as he nodded. “Well done, Grace! Very well done!”

The compliment stunned me and I looked at Bren who whooped her encouragement and pumped her fist.

For a moment, I felt as if I was one of them. Their delight seemed very real.

A pang jolted through my chest, and instinctively, I looked at Voski. In the blink before I overbalanced, I saw his blank face.

But he was clapping.

I frowned, but because my weight was forward on that side, turning had shifted my weight again, and I almost tipped over the front of the net.

Bren shrieked, and a couple of the men shouted, Whoa! But I caught myself on the thick rope and steadied myself before straightening upright again.

“Sorry, sir!” I called frantically to Ronen without looking aside. “I won’t touch it again.”

“You can always touch the net when you fall, Grace,” Ronen called. “Be safe. Just don’t use it to your advantage.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“Prepare yourself, Flameborne: Just to your left, you’ll see a thick, leather strap hanging from the net. Pull it up, clip it to your belt, then stand and await instructions.”

I looked down and found the strap just as he’d said. It took a couple of careful, shuffling steps sideways until it was immediately in front of me, but I managed it without falling, and there was more cheering. My name rose more than once as I stared at the strap, four inches thick, and riveted to the rope.

I bent over to reach for it, but when the net rippled, it felt like I’d tip forward over the edge of the net. I heard several gasps and a few calls, but I steadied myself, then took another approach, bending my knees so I squatted and could reach the rope while keeping my weight on my heels.

The problem was, the strap was thick, solid leather, and many feet long. Easily as long as a mounting strap on a dragon harness—but wider, and heavier. Because when I got both hands around it and tried to lift, the weight of its length was so great, and its end fixed on the rope between my knees, I couldn’t lift it.

I tried lacing my fingers and letting it slip through my hands as I leaned back, but it bent too sharply and wouldn’t slide, so I only leaned against it, without gaining any more of its length.

Then I tried to pull it to the side, but I couldn’t get a grip on it low enough to pull it aside, and the couple of inches below the rope that I could reach stopped me from moving my feet far enough sideways to heave it up.

Frustrated, I fought with it for a few minutes, muttering and wishing I could curse, while all around me, the men and Bren clapped and urged me on. But I made no progress.

Eventually, I was still standing there, my palms smarting from the rough back of the leather, but no progress made.

“Don’t give up, Grace!”

“You can do it!”

“Assess and overcome, Flameborne!” Ronen called.

I carefully lifted a hand to wipe the sweat from my brow, looking at the long strap dangling below and blowing back in the wind of our passage. That was half the problem. The strap’s weight, pulled it in the opposite direction that I needed it to travel.

If only I could get a grip on it lower down, I could pull it up, and there would be less weight below. The more of it I gathered, the easier it would be. But this was the most difficult part.

And then I remembered the way I used to climb up and down the ropes to get out of my parents’ manor house.

If I could get down onto the strap, I could loop it around my ankle, and use that to brace my weight, lower myself down and get to the end with the clip. Then I’d be clipped in and safe and could climb back up if I needed to. I knew these straps could be trusted to hold my weight. I’d already learned that launching off Kham.

It was just a matter of getting to the end of it to clip in. I nodded to myself, sending Koa an image of the plan. She whistled.