Taking Finn's plan into account, we began our attempt to sneak through the Kyngri Range. This time, I was grounded, much to my annoyance. Flying overhead would expose us, just barely hovering above the ground was too difficult to do. As a result, I could only join them in walking. It was challenging to walk and maintain balance, especially while keeping our luggage floating along, though low enough that it does not attract attention. I was not used to this. Every few steps I stumbled, earning amused looks from Finn and Elara.

"You're having fun, aren't you?" I grumbled, trudging forward.

Finn chuckled, "Only a little."

Throughout our journey, there were several moments when I lost concentration, and a bag or two would drop from mid-air or accidentally get flung away, thudding loudly onto the rocky terrain. We would freeze each time, ears straining for any sign that we'd been heard. Our breaths would hitch as we looked at each other, faces white as the cloudless sky above.

One time, the sound was particularly loud as I jerked our bag of extra weapons. A metallic clang echoed through the mountains, followed by the crumbling of some small stones. We went still, barely daring to breathe. A harsh gust of wind blew, chilling me to the bone as I saw the silhouettes of flugels on the horizon.

"We've been spotted!" Elara hissed, her face drained of colour.

"We need to move. Now!" Finn added, already on his feet.

Without wasting any time, we picked ourselves up and started running, leaving behind the fallen swords. The distant sound of powerful wings beating against the wind reached our ears. I glanced back to see a group of flugels veering towards us.

"I'll try and slow them down!" I called out. My magic wasn't intended to harm the pursuers, merely trying to confuse and disrupt their chase. I conjured a gust of wind, directing it at the oncoming group. It worked, but only temporarily, as they began to regroup faster than expected.

As we darted around a jagged turn, a crevice in the rock formation caught my eye. It was narrow and rough, but it would serve as a temporary hideout. "Over here!" I shouted, pointing it out. Pressing my hands against the rocky wall, I poured some mana and manipulated the rock formation to produce a slightly larger space.

Once we were all inside, I again pressed my hands against the walls and used my magic, this time to close the entrance around us. With a soft rumbling, the rocks shifted, melding seamlessly with the surrounding terrain, at least I hope so. In a matter of seconds, we were hidden in a small space behind a newly formed rocky wall.

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We stayed quiet, listening as the flugels flew overhead, their shouts echoing in the wind.

…

"They've gone past us," Finn murmured after what felt like an eternity. His face was pale, sweat trickling down his forehead.

Elara let out a long breath, her body slumping against the cold rock. "That was too close."

I couldn't have agreed more. We had barely made it out of that situation. Sneaking through the Kyngri Range was turning out to be harder than we'd thought. But we were too committed to stop now. We had to continue. Hopefully, without dropping any more luggage or close encounters.

As we cautiously stepped out and continued on, a sudden realization hit me.

‘!!!’

'If I can use my hands to cast magic, then surely, I can use my feet too!' I pondered, looking down at my feet. Pushing the mana through my boots to the ground felt cumbersome, but it was doable. The revelation brought a wide grin spreading across my face.

Channelling some mana down, I began to subtly flattened the earth beneath my steps, making my path smoother and easier to traverse.

'I must be a genius!' I thought, a triumphant glimmer in my eyes. We continued in this manner for a while, my new method making it significantly easier for me to keep pace with Elara and Finn. Eventually, Elara looked back, her head tilting as she looked at me with a slightly baffled look. Her gaze traced the path behind me and then widened.

"Alythia!" she whispered in exasperation, gesturing at the trail of flattened footprints I'd left behind. "What in the world are you doing? You might as well put up a sign saying ‘We snuck through here!’"

A series of flat footprints trailed after me, a glaring anomaly in the rugged terrain, marking our path.

Oops. That was one thing I hadn't considered. "Ah, I didn’t think of that." I scratched the back of my head, a sheepish grin on my face.

Finn’s gaze followed her gesture and spotted my handiwork.

"I can't believe it." he gasped, trying to suppress his laughter. "It's ingenious, but you really didn't think that through, did you?"

I blushed furiously, realizing my oversight. "I... I just wanted an easier way to walk." I muttered sheepishly.

Elara sighed, shaking her head but wearing a small smile. "Just, please, try not to leave an obvious trail again. We don’t need any more close calls.”

Despite the minor hiccup, we proceeded cautiously through the Kyngri Range, avoiding the main paths and taking longer routes hidden within dense overgrowths and behind large boulders. It was a slow progress, but at least it was progress. We were nearly two-thirds of the way through the range and we were finally getting used to the terrain.

Our group once again took a sudden stop when Elara, her pointed elf ears twitching, held up a hand for us to stop. "Flugels" she whispered. We followed her as she took the lead to hide in some overgrowth among a cluster of boulders.

Following the direction she’s pointing, I saw roughly a dozen or so figures flying around in the air, their formations loose. They were flying around scanning the surroundings, searching for something.

‘I can’t believe they’re still looking.’ I thought as a knot formed in my stomach.