Shanahan examined the vertical climb they were going to attempt. He could pull himself up with his hands. Ideally pitons would be driven into the wall with a hammer so the others could ascend as fast as they could drive in the spikes and tie the rope off.

He doubted they had that kind of time.

He glanced down. Fire still danced at the bottom of the shaft. He doubted that would stop the frogs from growing more dragons. It wasn't his problem after they got out of the shaft.

“I can carry you two up if we can get rope harnesses and tie you off to me,” said Shanahan. “The rope we brought with us should hold your weight.”

“It's our only choice unless we make our way back up the tunnel from the other door,” said Wyndham. “Hunting parties are between us and the entrance.”

Shanahan barely shrugged. If they took the internal path, shooting more of the mole riders wouldn't bother him. It just added a critical factor of having to watch for ambushes while climbing for the surface.

It wouldn't be the first time he had killed people for just getting in his way. The fact they were exceptionally unfriendly didn't factor in to what he needed to do to get the job done.

“Let's get the harnesses together,” said Wyndham. “We'll worry about the next problem when it arrives.”

Shanahan helped them make harnesses out of the rope they had brought. He made a harness for himself so he could tie the other two to him. It would be better if he took one up then came back for the other, but there was no telling what would happen to whomever was left while he was gone.

The one left behind might wind up facing a hunting party and get killed.

He didn't care about the Wu Chi, but Wyndham had been admitted to the small circle of people he considered friends. And he didn't plan to let one of his friends die in a hole in the ground for someone else's problem.

“Ready?,” Shanahan asked.

Wyndham checked the ropes tying the three together using the harnesses as carrying slings.

“We're ready,” she said.

“I'm going to go out and start climbing,” said Shanahan. “You two should try to keep your movement down, use your feet to keep away from the rock so I'm not dragging you. Look for handholds in case something goes wrong. If we get seperated, the two of you might be able to repel back here and look for another way up.”

“I can dig into the rock in an emergency,” said the Wu Chi. “That should buy time for us to think of a fix for any bad situation while we're climbing.”

“Good,” said Shanahan. “Let's get started and see if we can catch up with the others.”

He stepped out of the door and started up the rock face. His fingers dug into the stone where he couldn't find a grip sticking out of the wall. The rope tying him to Wyndham pulled her out over the shaft. She got her feet under her and walked up as he pulled her along. The paper master swung out a few seconds later. He had affixed claws to his hands and feet to help him climb as the rope pulled on him.

The marine kept his gaze upwards towards the ceiling. He didn't need a reminder that he could fall stories to the underground city if he wasn't careful. The fact that he didn't think the Fist would help him survive such a fall didn't help.

They passed the second door and kept going. The spirits inside him allowed Shanahan to exert himself for longer than humanly possible. Wyndham and the Wu Chi barely felt solid as he pulled himself up to the sky.

“I think we're going to catch Everett,” said Wyndham. “We might be able to form up with him.”

Shanahan didn't answer. Having the Spider to help him leapfrog the other three to the top might be there, but it could turn out to be just as much of a hindrance.

They would think about possible options if he did catch up with Everett. The other's weapon allowed him more natural movement on the stone. And his web could be used to swing upwards faster than Shanahan could dig out handholds with his strength.

“It looks like they have the fire under control down there,” said the Wu Chi.

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“Probably burned out,” said Wyndham. She looked down. “I don't see any new dragons yet. Maybe it takes a while for them to unleash one.”

“What happens if they do let another one fly up at us?,” asked the assistant.

Shanahan grunted. He didn't have a clue what he would do with two people hanging on to him, and a monster trying to soak him in acid. They didn't cover that in Boot.

“I have some Shaper weapons I could use,” said Wyndham. “I don't know if that would be safer than trying to shoot the thing.”

“I think it would be easier for me to cut it if it gets too close to us,” said the master.

Wyndham nodded.

The paper masters were not known for the combat effectiveness of their magical abilities even if some of them had skills that rivaled the other factions. They were known for being masters of hand to hand combat and weapons.

Everyone on their hex supposedly knew how to break bone and stab through the rib cage to the heart.

Every now and then, there were small disputes at the Wu Chi border with other hexes. That never ended well for the other hex as far as she knew.

Emil liked to use the faction as a buffer from hexes on the other side of the Wu Chi. He had a good enough relation with the Masters that he would send one of the weapons to help them if trouble started on a touching border with another hex.

The weapon master liked peace more than most of the factions, but had proven to his peers that he was more than capable of war if pushed.

Shanahan squinted. He saw two shapes moving above him. He nodded to himself. Everett and his burden were almost within talking range.

Once they had caught up with the Spider, they could figure out what to do.

He pushed himself faster. The Fist gave him grips as he tried not to pull the rock from the wall. The Horse gave him balance and endurance to keep himself against the wall while not letting his muscles tire as he climbed after the other weapon.

“Shanahan?,” called Everett. He must have glanced down and saw the strange crew climbing up after him.

“Yes,” said Shanahan. “Keep going. We'll catch up with you.”

Everett didn't bother to answer. He pulled his own burden along as fast as he could. He was strong from the spirit coursing through his veins but eventually he would need to rest.

Shanahan pulled himself up faster now that he was closing on the other climber. He wondered how much longer Everett could keep climbing. He might wind up carrying the four of them on his back.

He thought about alternate means as he yanked himself upward. There had to be something faster than what they were already doing.

Maybe he could throw Wyndham and the paper master to the top of the shaft from where he was now.

He could throw Everett. That seemed much easier, and the Spider should be able to grab something up there. Then he could drop down a few lines to yank the rest of the party up and out of the hole.

The only risk he could see was that he killed Everett by accident by throwing him too hard. Crashing against the ceiling would be like a bug running into a windshield.

He didn't really care, but part of the job was trying to get Emil's servant back to him in one piece.

Shanahan nodded when he was almost close enough to touch the other weapon. He had climbed above where they had camped the second time he thought. They might be higher than that.

He did like the idea of throwing Everett to the top. It would solve a lot of their problems if it worked.

He could write it off as a tragic accident if it didn't work.

On the other hand, if he went up to the top first, he could yank the others up if they had a long enough rope capable of holding all their weight at the same time. He could yank them up one at a time if they couldn't get a group climb together.

The main factor was how long did they have before another monster was released.

He thought they might have another few days. He wasn't willing to bet Wyndham on that. He wanted to be done with the climb so he had solid footing to fight on.

He didn't like the thought of leaving Wyndham with Everett on a rock face where killing her would be as simple as cutting a line.

Could they trust Everett not to do something stupid until they were out of the cavern?

He frowned. This type of thing was way too complicated for him. He decided to let Wyndham lead the way. He trusted her judgement, and she was the one at most risk. He doubted there was anything the Spider could do to him with just his hands.

“Could we take a second when we catch up, Mister Shanahan?,” said Wyndham.

Shanahan nodded. He jumped from handhold to handhold as he rushed to catch up with Everett. He landed a few feet under the other assistant master and hopped to a landing beside the Spider.

“I think I'm going to vomit,” someone complained from below.

Shanahan looked down. He couldn't see the bottom anymore. He hoped they could get out of the shaft before the frogs decided another attack on the surface was due.

They might not be able to control the attacks. The mechanism might be totally automatic. Their city was just immune to the dragons wanting to rip it up for some reason.

He could see that.

The huge beasts were still a danger to the upper world until they were shut down. He was glad they hadn't thought to order Wyndham and him to stop whatever was going on.

“Everett,” said Wyndham. “Can we take a break for a minute? All this bouncing around is upsetting my stomach.”

“Yes,” said Everett. “That was really impressive.”

“How strong a line can you spin, Everett?,” asked Shanahan.

“I think I can hold some stones,” said Everett. “I've never tested it.”

“I want to run this by you,” said Shanahan. “It might speed things up.”

He laid out his plan.