Chapter 31
Elias’s first attempt at the wall’s edge almost sent him tumbling the five feet back to the ground when he ripped a large chunk of soggy dirt and stone from it. He managed, just barely, to keep his grip on the stone he was using for a handhold long enough to reach and grab the lip of the wall once more. The second time it held his weight well enough.
His shoulders burned and screamed through the entire laborious climb of ten feet, but at the end of it, he was atop the stone wall with a slush of ice and water running between the ground and his back. He grunted and flipped himself to his stomach; not a second later, the yellow light of Mila’s staff was in his face. He snatched the thing and tossed it onto the ground at his side.
“I was hoping you would help me up with that,” M
