Bound by Twilight by Megan Charlie EPUB & PDF – eBook Details Online
- Status: Available for Free Download
- Authors: Megan Charlie
- Language: English
- Genre: Fairy Tales
- Format: PDF / EPUB
- Size: 2 MB
- Price: Free
In Which Grass Stains are Inevitable
TWILA GRUNTED AS SHE reached for the next leafy handhold and
wondered if the rancid son of her adoptive mother could be right. Did a
giant beanstalk lead to actual giants?
Up until a few days ago, she would have said nothing existed beyond the
ever-present clouds obscuring Stonefast Mountain’s peak—the wet climb
through which had been a cold and miserable business—but the large stone
ledge now visible in the distance and the stranger’s words made room for
sincere doubt. Her arms shook as she paused to consider the rocky protrusion
that stood out as a void amongst the star-strewn sky. Sneaking a glance at the
still-bright moon, she made up her mind to take a true break once she reached
the shadow of the stone shelf. Another oversized leaf pulled free under her
hand, sending her scrambling for a safer anchor.
Ignoring her racing heart and dry mouth, she pushed through her
exhaustion to reach the imaginary safety of the shadow. There, Twila
rearranged her ropes and hooks to attach her body to the green pillar in an
upright hammock of sorts. Almost two full days of nothing but climbing the
beanstalk had forced the expertise that kept her secure as she rested her
noodley limbs. Being responsible for the farm work of three people had
hardened her muscles, but nothing had ever prepared her to ascend a plant
stalk so thick that she would struggle to reach around it even with a couple of
friends. If Jack allowed friends.
After a swig of carefully rationed water and a stick of jerky, Twila tipped
her head forward to rest on the fibrous bounciness of the beanstalk and closed
her eyes, worrying about Mother as she fell into a light doze. Unable to ever
fully trust her anchorage, shallow sleep had been limited and defined by fits
and starts. The tight seven-day deadline had done its part to ensure she never
rested for more than an hour at a time. This break lasted far less than that as
she was determined to reach the ledge before dawn and locate a haven.
Keeping her back to the wide craziness of open nothing beneath her, she
spared a glance for the unchanging craggy stone of the mountain before
pushing her tired limbs ever onward. The rock lay a bit out of reach, but it
was a more calming view than both the cloudbank beneath her and the
expansive vista of the human kingdoms visible farther out. If giants or other
monsters inhabited the space above, Twila would have expected to see signs
of them by now. Surely they required farmland or mountain-dwelling prey to
sustain them. But the gray cliff face held neither goat nor crop.
The moon dipped toward the horizon as she neared her goal. Calculating
the remaining time until dawn was too much, so she concentrated on scaling
the noticeably thinning stalk. Twila was able to reach both arms around it
when she finally reached out a hand and touched the underside of the rocky
ledge. Clambering up two more body-lengths got her to the top. Over her
head, the vine wrapped around what appeared to be a crumbling wall, then
tapered away to nothing.
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