Over the next few days, I learned several important things. One, by scouting the cliffside, I don’t think the ascent is going to be as difficult as I first imagined. The stone is a loose sandstone, and is rather easy to chip and break. Digging handholds in it shouldn’t be much of an issue, and driving bamboo stakes to anchor ourselves won’t be very difficult. The biggest concern really is that part of the soil may come loose and slide with us, otherwise we shouldn’t have any issue interacting with the cliff side.

Second, I learned that too much of a good thing isn’t a good thing. From my experience in life, most women tend to find oral sex as a tedious and undesirable experience. They may perform it for their partner’s enjoyment, but few women (at least of all the ones I’ve known in my lifetime) find performing the action very pleasurable for themselves. Oral sex isn’t something a woman normally initiates, unless its just as a form of foreplay which leads to something more – except with Laulaia and Alaina, this truism doesn’t hold true.

The concept of a sacred ritual which leads to stronger children, truly seemed to resonate with the two girls. The fact that it’s only performed by those “who are worthy”, made them both seem special. And, the fact that it’s two women and only one poor man, had them competing with each other to see who could complete the ritual the best, the fastest, the longest, the juiciest – anything they could compete over, they did! The two had turned The Ritual of Seed and Soil into a personal competition to prove which was the better servant-wife, over the other…

…And my poor balls were aching and dry!

Honestly, when we started our after-storm climb up the slope of the cliffside, it was a massive relief for me. Long hours of physical labor, where the girls couldn’t reach my loins, was precisely what I needed at the moment.

Using several vines, we wove a large net-and-bamboo style pack, which I carried over my shoulders like a backpack, with most of our supplies stored inside. Our hatchets, the hose filled with food, extra vines braided together for rope – all were stashed on my back as I started the trek up the path made by the overflow from previous floods.

Alaina carried Shadow up in a similar pack of smaller design, with half a dozen bamboo-and-stone spears tied beside it, while Laulaia only had to bring herself up. Her shoes, which we’d been using to store water for the past several months, were on her feet, even though I was against the idea. Laulaia claimed she could walk just fine in the heels, and they’d protect her feet from the rough stone of the cliff, but I seriously had my doubts. Bare feet seem to me like they’d be preferable to high heels when climbing, but what the hell do I know? I’m just an idiot man.

I plan on keeping Laulaia tied to us with vine rope at all times, anyway, so she should be okay. If she has difficulties, she can always take the shoes off later, and I can indulge in a nice bought of manly told-you-so.

As we neared the top of the first section of our climb, all was going quite well so far. We’d crossed diagonally about a couple of hundred feet up, while moving from the edge of the shore almost to where we were close enough for the mist from the waterfall to spray down upon us. “We’ll need to climb up to the next section up there,” I yelled at the girls, over the roar of the falling water. Glancing back at Alaina, I shouted to ask her, “Do you want to try it, or me?”

Taking a moment to assess the climb, and her own capabilities, Alaina nodded firmly. “I can do this,” she confirmed, yelling back.

“Not yet!” Digging a few of the prepared stakes from my pack, I used the back of my stone tomahawk as a hammer and drove a series of three of them as deep into the ground as I could. Undoing the thick vine which was normally wrapped around Laulaia – she’ll be safe just clinging to the side of the cliff for now, without moving – I wrapped it around Alaina’s waist instead. The other end, I unwrapped from around my own chest, and then firmly tied it around each of the three studs in the ground. Taking up a firm grip on the slack, I finally nodded back at Alaina.

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Beaming energetically, Alaina flexed a few times, before sliding the pack with Shadow squirming happily inside it off her shoulders. Making certain it was back tight against the edge of the cliff with Laulaia, Alaina then pressed her subtle body tight against the side of the cliff. Slowly, carefully testing each move as she made it, she eased her way up and over to the next worn crevice in the stone. For what felt like an eternity, but couldn’t have been more than a few brief minutes, I held my breath and tensed all my muscles into the rope to catch her in case she might fall.

Then, it was over, and Alaina tugged herself over the edge and onto the next ledge. Waving, she motioned for me to start sending supplies up.

Untying the other end from the stakes driven in the ground, I tied it first around Alaina’s pack, which was still somehow holding Shadow – I’m utterly surprised he didn’t wiggle out of it when given the chance – and let her pull it up first. My pack followed, and Alaina took a moment to drive some supports back into the ground. Attaching her end of the rope to those, she then finally dropped it back down once again.

“I’m going up next,” I yelled at Laulaia, “so I can help pull you up! Make certain you tie it firmly around your hips and under your legs, when I drop the rope back down for you!”

Nodding, Laulaia gave a thumbs up to show she understood, rather than have to scream over the roaring waterfall.

Testing the rope several times to make certain it could support my weight; I finally began using it to pull myself up hand over hand. Just a few short months back, I wouldn’t have had the strength for such an act, but surprisingly it was quite simple now. I wasn’t even out of breath, by the time I reached the top, and Alaina helped tug me over the edge.

Tossing the end of the rope back down, Alaina and I both watched nervously as Laulaia carefully twisted the bottom of the rope into a noose. Measuring various lengths of the rope several times, Laulaia finally rapped it under her legs and around her waist, leaving several feet of vine dangling. Working her feet into the noose, she tugged it tightly, closing it firm around her heels, before straightening her legs to take her weight off her midsection as much as possible. Finally, Laulaia gripped up as high as she possibly could on the rope and firmly held on. Nodding, she indicated she was ready for us to pull her up.

Amazingly, the act of pulling her up itself was almost anticlimactic. Just a few easy yanks of the rope, and Laulaia was easily brought up over the edge. These last several months have truly reshaped Alaina and me – it almost felt as if we were pulling an empty rope up the side of the cliff. Laulaia’s weight truly was inconsequential with my newfound muscle mass.

The rest of the climb back and forth up from one ledge to another was long and tiring, but not really that difficult. Climbing by the moonlight strained the eyes and made us doublecheck every movement before we trusted any weight to it, but it honestly wasn’t what I’d consider overly dangerous or strenuous. Climbing the waterfall isn’t something I’d want to have to do every day, but I could imagine myself challenging it just for fun, in my youth.

By the time we topped the final edge of the cliff, the moon was half between its zenith and the horizon. Guessing, I’d place the time at somewhere between three and four AM. The sky was clear. Thousands of stars twinkled all across the heavens. The view was utterly breathtaking.

Before us was wide open plains, as far as the naked eye could see. Flowers and plants of all various colors, shapes, and hue stretched out in a brilliant rainbow in all directions. No sign of humanity was present, with no smoke, lights, or fires in the distance – just Eden, as far as I could tell. Few trees littered the landscape, and the air was crisp, pure, and vitalizing. Tears, unbidden and unstoppable, slowly began to trickle down my cheeks. Never would I have ever imagined such pristine beauty to exist in the world.

“Heart’s Fire! Heart’s Fire!” Laulaia’s jubilant shout echoed towards the heavens. “It’s back! The Heart’s Fire is back!”

Utterly baffled, I turned to stare as she half danced across the top of the plateau, with the view of the jungle and river sprawling out so far below. Laughing almost like a madwoman, Laulaia pumped her fist several times in the air and screamed out several words I didn’t understand. Springing from nothingness, fire rolled up her arm and exploded into a majestic flash of fireworks in the sky above.

“My Heart’s Flame has returned!” Squealing with joy, Laulaia pounced over and tossed her arms around my neck, kissing me deeply.

Magic. Blankly, my mind tried to process what I’d just witnessed. Magic is the only possible way I could describe what’d just happened. “Shadow, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore.” Blankly, I hugged Laulaia tight and stared out over the misty waterfall.

A New World, filled with the unknown, is all that awaits me now.