leineIt was even colder than she had expected and she suppressed a shiver, glanced right and left and pushed forward toward the broch. Suppressing a momentary fear of a water-bull or other monster, she stayed underwater as long as possible to avoid detection from the parapet, then pushed forward and swore as her knuckles barked against the rock of the central island.
From the far shore, it had seemed that there was a ledge on which she could balance before beginning the ascent, but the islet rock was greasy and sloped outward, affording no foothold at all. Melcorka smiled; she had grown up on an island where part of life was descending the cliffs to raid the eggs of gugas and other seabirds, a staple food source for the islanders. Climbing the sheer, concave walls of a broch was only a ch
