I looked down. The cable hung in a straight line all the way down to the ground. I reached into the knapsack and took out the hand grenade that Cruke had given us. Ide never actually used one before – theyre too rare to practice with – but Ide been taught how to use them in Fighter training. Cruke had told us that this one had an 8-second fuse, which meant that once Ide thrown it, Ide have 8 seconds before it exploded.

I didnt know if that gave me enough time or not, but I had no choice. Whatever it took, I had to kill Pilgrim.

Whatever it took.

I pulled the pin from the grenade – making sure I still held down the safety lever – then I moved to the edge of the walkway, focused on the hole in the floor for a few seconds, and lobbed the grenade towards it. I waited a moment, just long enough to watch it arc through the air and drop into the hole, then I turned and crossed quickly to the parapet.

1 second---

I heard the dull clank of metal on stone as the grenade hit the steps, and as I climbed over the parapet and grabbed hold of the cable, I briefly heard it clattering downwards, picking up pace as it went.

2 seconds---

And then I was off, not listening to anything, just scrambling down the cable – hand over hand, slipping and sliding, the cable ripping the skin off my palms as I let myself drop as fast as I could without falling---

3 seconds---

4 seconds---

I was about a third of the way down when a heartsense came to me from my mothers eyes – a vision without sight or time – and as we looked up at the tower together we saw a bloodied dogchild in a giants coat scrabbling down the wall like a broken insect, and at the top of the tower, leaning out over the parapet and looking down, we saw a dead-eyed human in a black Cowboy hat.

The vision left me.

5 seconds---

I grasped the cable, twisting it round my bloodied hands to halt my fall, and as I hung there – spinning and swaying – I looked up and saw Pilgrim scrambling hastily over the parapet.

6 seconds---

I had no understanding then.