[color=lightsteelblue][i]What a generous offer![/i]

Lia watched him drop and adjust to his new foothold, mulling over his words. She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t tempted. Less work was good work – or so the saying went. Probably. She wasn’t a philosopher. Point was, she wouldn’t mind leaving it to somebody else. If it weren’t for the itty bitty fact that [i]somebody else[/i] was a complete unknown and would screw her over if [i]he[/i] screwed the pooch, she might’ve taken the deal.

Instead, she dipped, moving around him to settle against the jagged surface of the cliff. The wind pounded against them, relentless even this close to the bottom. Her hand, having shifted into thick, scaly claws along the way, sank into the rock like butter, earning her a firm grip to hang onto. She’d placed herself at a reasonable conversational distance – perhaps closer than was wise to be with a stranger, but she maintained her smile. What was he going to do, attack and risk losing his grip on his precious rope? That would be [i]hilarious[/i].

‘[b]That’s mighty kind of you![/b]’ she said. ‘[b]Can’t do that, though. You know how it is.[/b]’

These old gods were fair game, usually. The Queen wouldn’t lop off heads for failing a royal assignment, but [i]man[/i], getting points docked was not a good look for any Royal Hunter. Emil would never let her hear the end of it. Jackass.

Still, competitive as these hunts were, Lia was nothing if not economical with the way she spent her time. And if there was a way to shunt the brunt of the work onto someone else, while making sure the job was done [i]and[/i] getting credit for it, Lia was all for it!

‘[b]You seem like you know what you’re doing[/b],’ Lia went on. She flicked a doubtful glance up and down the rope in his hand. ‘[b]Mostly. Whaddya say we team up?[/b]’[/color]