Chapter 47.5

“Five-eighths says he falls,” I heard from somewhere off to my left, freezing me in my tracks.  But when I looked, there was no one there.  Because of course there would not be.

“Six,” another voice countered.

“You’re on!”

You have got to be kidding me.  Not that I was overly surprised to discover the ever-watchful Faen of this realm taking bets as to my successes or failures.  Still, that begged the question:

“Five-eighths of what?”

My curiosity was only met by a flurry of giggling whispers.

I narrowed my eyes.  Fine then.

I was just going to have to set aside the question of whatever passed for Faen currency and make certain whomever it had been to bet on my behalf received their payout.  I turned my attention back… then swallowed as I glanced to the floor below.

Hopefully…

Flexing my leg muscles, I slowly rose higher on the narrow balance beam until I could just slip a second knee underneath my weight.

“Here?” I called, wobbling.

“Not yet, sexy-butt…” the first voice lilted tauntingly.

“No,” Lynnria confirmed at almost the same moment.  “Can you go higher?”

“Damn it…” I muttered, gradually working my shin forward.

It was a struggle—my palms were beginning to sweat profusely both from nerves and the constant drain of my spell—but I did just manage to get my foot under me.  Slowly, I pushed myself upward to the point where I could begin to stand, though my shaking hands were hovering millimeters above the railing.

“Here?” I called again, hopefully.

“Oh, come on.  You know it’s not,” the second voice jeered.  “What are you so afraid of?  That bar is a half-span wide, easy.  Straighten up, man!”

“It’s rounded! And slippery!” I shot back in a hoarse whisper.

“I’m starting to see something,” Lynnria confirmed again.  “Can you stretch any more?”

A nervous chuckle rumbled its way out of my lips.  “Yeah…”

Breathless and trembling for all I was worth, I slowly began to straighten.  Just a knuckle’s length at a time.

In that instant, my fear-addled mind had a sudden moment of clarity.  This was insane!  I was being a complete idiot!  Why in the unholy fuck was I the one up here trying to balance on this motherfucker?  Arx had an Agility in the upper teens, for crying out loud!  She could have done backflips on this railing.

Mine was 5.  5!  And I had to hold a 27-Word spell?

“Come on, fall.  Fall!” my detractor chanted.  “Fall, or I’ll come over there and slap your behind!”

“Don’t you dare!  That’s cheating!”

“But it’s right there…” the first pouted.  “Don’t you want to just give it a squeeze?”

“You should have thought of that beforehand,” the second replied haughtily.

“Will you shut up?!” I growled.

Bunching the muscles in my back, I surged upward—by a finger’s length, if that—then froze again, trembling.  My instincts were screaming at me not to leave the easy grasp of the handrail behind, but I did not seem to need it quite yet.  And so another finger’s length followed.  Then a third.

Slowly, bit by bit, I began to straighten from my crouch.  Even the bottoms of my feet were beginning to sweat now, ruining my traction and making me regret my decision to remove my boots.  I was having to clamp together with my thighs just to keep them from sliding out into a split.  And with the spell still going, I might as well have had a squat bar on my back.

Maybe adding a touch of Strength to the build wouldn’t be such a bad idea after all. It was a ludicrous notion, of course.  There was no way that Strength would be of any use in holding up a too-large spell but, in the moment, it certainly felt like a good idea.

“Almost there,” Lynnria called.

“Fall!  Fall!”

“Come on, you prick!  Stand up!”

My head rose another span.

“Oh… I’m starting to see something!”

“Just fall backwards!  It won’t hurt that much.  I’ll even give you a blow job!”

“No bribery, you slag!”

“You never said that was a rule!”

“Fine!  Then, I’ll suck him off if he doesn’t fall.  And I’m better at it, too!”

“Ha!  You wish.”

“Will you two fucking—“  My foot slipped ever so slightly, sending a dangerous wobble through my body.

“Oh!  Oh, there he goes!”

“No way!  He can still recover…”

Abruptly, my weight seemed to stabilize, but my hips were now dangerously out of alignment.  I had to hold both arms over my head and at an angle just to keep from toppling over, but I instinctively knew I had to reposition—and soon—or I was finished.  So I jerked myself upright.

“There!  It’s there!  I can see it!  The whole painting in fog,” Lynnria cried breathlessly.  “I’ve never seen something so amazing…”

“Jax!  Now!” I shouted.  My balance was going fast.

“Got it!” Jax yelled back.

There was a soft, yet audible click.  And then the floor gave a dangerous rumble.

“Oh, fuck!”

“There he goes!”

Like a Hollywood stuntman, I went over head first.  Perhaps it was some instinct borne out of repeated falls down stairs and hills, through projectiles and trees, but I kicked my feet out and over me, sending them overhead in a nice and graceful front flip.  At least until my back slammed into the armrest of a chaise lounge, folding me nearly in half.

As I laid there, once more wheezing with pain, I overheard my unseen audience arguing from somewhere overhead.

“Told you he would fall.  Pay up.”

“That doesn’t count!  Outside interference!”

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Thus concluding Ch. 47.

I wonder if that Faen will remember she owes Donum a BJ...?