Glenn’s eyes opened again in the dim glow of first light. The rock felt wet. Morning dew? He was awake, and he wasn’t dead. But Becka? Becka!

He sat up quickly, world spinning, and spotted her crouched low at the edge of the split. She had her [Commoner’s Dagger] in one hand and her eyes focused beyond the split. Which was empty.

“Becka?” he whispered.

She waved her hand at him and shushed him.

Glenn had no idea what was happening, but there was the barest light to see now, which meant the sun must be above the horizon. Even the thick overgrowth of the Deepscorn Woods couldn’t block out the sun forever.

He looked around for his [Bronze Training Sword], remembered it was still outside the split, and regretfully moved over to join Becka entirely unarmed. He said nothing and remained still.

Finally, she glanced at him. “I don’t hear anything,” she whispered.

Glenn took a very careful look through the now entirely open split in the rocks. Just outside, a few leafy green plants gently swayed in the morning wind. Dew glistened on their leaves.

“Did the Moss Beast leave in the night?” he whispered back.

“Or it moved out of sight to make us think it had left, to lure us out,” Becka said darkly. “And it’s waiting to snatch us up and eat us as soon as we emerge.”

Glenn considered all he knew about Monsters. Could a Moss Beast be that smart? The more he considered the danger, the more he believed they couldn’t take the risk it was.

They had a very narrow view of their surroundings, and Moss Beasts were sometimes classified as ambush Monsters. They would bury their big feet and legs in the dirt and tuck their arms into their leaves. Yet even if the beast was waiting, he and Becka couldn’t stay here and starve.

Glenn glanced upward. The cliffs were even more slippery with the arrival of the morning dew, and they rose as tall as he was and half more. He had no pitons to jam into the stone, and Becka’s knife certainly wouldn’t do. Neither of them could climb out of here.

Yet there might be a way to get Becka out.

“I have an idea,” Glenn said. “I’m going to lift you up and out of here.”

She frowned. “The cliffs are way too high for that.”

Glenn snorted. “No, like...” He held out his hands, pointed toward the heavens, and mimed pushing up with both palms. “If you hop on my hands, with your feet, I can lift you high enough to climb up on the cliffs and see if the beast is anywhere about.”

Becka bit her lip and looked away.

“Do you think it’s a good idea or not?”

After a moment, Becka nodded. “We can try. Also, I have new thoughts about what happened last night, but let’s wait to speak until we’re out of here.”

What did she mean by that? “I did say I was sorry.”

Becka touched his arm again. “It’s not about that. You can grope me any time Levos lets us get away with it.” She glanced at the split, then at him. “Let’s get out first. Then we’ll talk.”

What had gotten into her this morning? On the surface, Becka still seemed as flirtatious as always, yet her attempts this morning almost felt ... forced?

Something new was bothering her this morning. Glenn knew it. He also knew Becka wouldn’t tell him until she was ready, and they did have to see if this idea would even work first.

He knelt and held out both hands, palms up. “Step up, one foot at a time. I can hold you.”

An adult man who trained with weights all his life but never Leveled might obtain 9, even 10 Strength through natural means. With 13 Strength, Glenn was already stronger than the strongest of strongmen (at least, most who’d been chosen as Townsfolk) so he could easily lift Becka’s weight as high as his shoulders. The question would be if she could keep her balance.

Becka hesitantly placed a shoe on his palm. The sole was wet and muddy, yet that didn’t bother Glenn. He’d been far dirtier than this after a day of hunting in the woods. Becka then stepped her other foot up to rest on his other palm.

He lifted. With a quiet yelp, she dropped to place both hands on his shoulders. That put her cleavage directly in his face, which should have been the best part of his morning, but it also made it rather hard to see the cliff. He had no trouble with her weight.

“Stop!” Becka shouted. “Just … wait. Give me a moment to get my balance.”

Glenn grimaced. “I may be strong, but I can’t do this all day.”

“Oh, just shut up and enjoy the view.” Becka gave his shoulders a tighter than necessary squeeze. “Okay. I’m ready. Lift me.”

Glenn had almost forgotten that Becka was absolutely, deathly afraid of was heights. Yet how was this a height? She wouldn’t even be beyond the second story of the tavern yet.

He lifted further, and Becka’s fingers flexed before leaving his shoulders. He lifted at the same steady pace, and then Becka gasped. He felt her weight tilting away from him and compensated by taking two steps forward. Her hands dropped to his shoulders again as she thumped against his face.

“I’m going to fall!” Becka shouted.

“Just climb out!” Glenn managed, voice muffled.

“No, this won’t work, this won’t work,” Becka said worriedly. “Put me down, please.”

Glenn sighed and lowered her back down, carefully. Becka hopped off, shuddered, took a deep breath, then turned to face the cliff side. She placed both palms against the cliff, fingers out, then glanced back at him over her shoulder.

“All right. Do it again. This way.”

Glenn blinked. “Lift?”

She offered the cutest little grimace. “Yes, lift. I didn’t have my balance before, because we were doing this the stupid way. I can balance my weight against the cliff side. Just let me step backward into your palms, and then I can walk my way up the cliff with my hands. That’s much simpler.”

“Oh,” Glenn said, and got it. “Yes, that makes sense.”

She arched one eyebrow at him, then adjusted her stance to be a bit wider. She smirked over her shoulder at him. “Am I somehow distracting you?”

“Everything about you distracts me.” Glenn knelt behind her and again held out his palms. “Now get up there, you flirtatious little wench.”

Becka stepped back into his palms with one foot, then both. “Please don’t sweet talk me this early in the morning. Otherwise it will be impossible to concentrate.”

This time, Becka had no trouble walking herself up the side of the cliff with her hands, especially with Glenn’s steady push into her feet from below. It got a tiny bit precarious once he’d lifted her all the way above his head, and then she leapt with a tiny cry.

Glenn jumped back and stared up, ready to catch her if she fell. He grinned as he caught the edge of her dress, and one foot, sliding before slipping up over the cliff edge. She’d made it!

Soft shoes scuffed rock as Glenn mirrored the sounds toward the split. He waited, listening for updates. Finally, Becka spoke loud enough to be heard.

“I think it’s gone. You can squeeze out. I even see your sword down there.”

That was great news! Glenn eagerly pushed his way through the split, and his lack of a pack and the slickness caused by morning dew made it far easier than it had been last night.

He found his sword easily and picked it up. He had no rag to clean it, and it felt wrong to put it away without doing that, yet he slipped it into his back sheath regardless. He could clean it later.

Then, belatedly, he glanced up. Becka crouched atop the cliff, staring down at him mournfully.

Glenn frowned up at her. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

Becka now looked absolutely miserable. “How am I going to get down from here?"