Given her size, Greer had a lot of room to accommodate feelings, and every nerve in her body radiated with pride for her teammate. Icy droplets from the waterbed trickled onto her like champagne. She hadn't been this happy since last Tuesday when she'd discovered that her local pie shop did deliveries.

"Get in there, my son," she roared, "Saheel, Saheel, Saheel! Come on Eirlys, chant it! We showed Mr. Crowy friend what worms like US do to early birds, didn't we?"

"You're slipping," shouted Eirlys, now a good twenty meters below her. She was almost at cloud level. "And the raven is coming back."

Indeed, Mr. Crowy Friend, a rapidly growing dot on the horizon, was back for more. But if Saheel could unearth such incredible inner strength -- and she'd just known he had it in him, she'd believed in him from the moment he let her peck him on the cheek -- then she was sure Eirlys could too. Eirlys was such a good person, and so clever. All she needed to do was stop hiding her smile and she'd have no end of suitors.

"I need to speed up," said Eirlys. "Can you follow?"

"Eiiirlyyys, noooooooo! The thing I love most about rollercoasters and bungee jumps is the lad whose job it is to make sure you don't die! Basically, I'm offering a volunteering opportunity to the nearest priest!" Greer jammed her fingers into the cracks between the slabs. The way the rope dangled from the harness on her bum made her feel like a monkey with an extremely heavy tail.

"Get out of the way, Eirlys!" shouted Saheel. His voice was so rich and sweet, like god himself was assuring her everything would be okay. Greer was so lucky to have such a great team.

Below, Mr. Crowy Friend landed over Eirlys, trapping her with talons on either side. It raised its beak like it was going to skewer a flesh-and-tower kebab, but it was okay. Eirlys definitely had a plan. She was so cool about it, she wouldn't even move until the last moment. 

"What are you doing?" shouted Saheel. "Move!"

CAW, said Mr. Crowy Friend. Maybe Eirlys was admiring the majestic animal, same as Greer. He had beautiful black feathers and manicured claws to die for. Maybe when all of this was over she could get a pet like him.

"Grab on!" Saheel unbuckled his rope and chucked it down to them.

Right as Mr. Crowy Friend didn't attack, Eirlys snapped back to reality and jumped under the bird to catch the tail end of the rope, dangling free with her two hands above her head. She pushed against the monster to get some leverage and managed to scramble up to a position where she could hold the rope between her knees to stop herself from slipping.

Greer chortled. Her teammate sure had dodged that one!

The Giga-Raven turned, calmly. It opened its beak and clamped down on the section of the rope above her. Eirlys could climb no further.

"Oh no you don't!" screamed Greer. "I'm powering up! Take this... boot attack!"

Above, Greer kicked off Eirlys' ill-fitting climbing shoe with enough force to break a Newton Meter. It bounced off the raven's head.

"Hell's bells, tougher than I thought," said Greer. "Well, there's more where that came from, you munter! Get ready for my second--"

"Greer," said Eirlys. "Don't waste your words, okay?"

Mr. Crowy Friend snapped the rope, and Eirlys fell out of sight, along with the bird.

But it was okay. She definitely had a plan. She was going to come back up above those clouds any moment now. There was even a trope about it. Greer had read hundreds of books with that exact plot device while passing quiet hours as a small town librarian. The hero appears to disappear, then reappears, reckoned Greer. 

Any minute now.

"Greer," said Saheel. "I... I can't help you if you don't grab on."

The stones on the tower vibrated with the distant sound of shouting and then, explosions. Perhaps the other teams were in trouble. Unlucky for them!

"Not until Eirlys comes back," she said. "Just you wait, it's going to be so triumphant! I have to be able to say I was there!"

Saheel kneeled down and muttered a prayer before cutting it off abruptly with a gesture.

"Sister, she--"

"She what? She's a headstrong lass with a brain the size of China! You think she's gonna get caught out by some crow thing? Just you wait, Saheel! She'll prove you wrong!"

Wind crashed against the tower like waves crash against cliffs. It was so bitingly cold in the sun that Greer was shaking uncontrollably as she hugged the slabs. Why were those damned rays suddenly so bright in her eyes? It was stopping her from seeing Eirlys!

She sighed as the sun went away, glad to be in the shade until she looked up and saw what was casting the shadow.

CAW CAW, said the Giga-Raven, spreading its wings. A shred of Eirlys' hoodie was stuck on one of its talons.

Greer couldn’t look away. Going by feel alone, she grabbed onto Saheer's rope, and he pulled her up until she was at eye level with Mr. Crowy Enemy.

"Ice pick," she growled.

"What?" said Saheel, grunting under the strain of her numerous fat deposits.

"Ice pick! Now!"

Mr. Crowy Enemy swiped his talon to attack, and like before sliced the rope in two, but Greer wasn’t getting caught out, oh no. She clambered up the monsters' leg, tearing out big tufts of feathers until she found purchase on top of its back. It twisted its head to try and shake her off, cawing madly.

Saheel tossed her the ice pick. She caught it by its handle.

"Crowy Boy!" she said. "You're about to find out why we're called Team Fear!"

She wrapped one arm around the bird’s neck and used the other one to gouge open a slit along its throat. Blood rushed from the Giga-Raven like water from a burst pipe. Greer wasted no time in scaling the head and grabbing hold of Saheel’s greatly shortened rope.

CAW, it said, not unkindly, before crashing down like the Hindenburg, for good this time.

Saheel pulled her up, mouth agape. They were both so shaken up they didn’t notice Greer’s phone vibrating in her back pocket.