Mahon and Jorik said their goodbye to the Silent Bow Clan two days after. They threw a party for the occasion the night before, and the whole village went to say a few words of goodwill to the two new Hunters.
After the ritual in front of the arch, Mahon had told Jorik about the strange magic he had witnessed, and they had interrogated Ranaeril and Halueth about it, but the two men didn’t know anything. For them, it was just the power of their gods, and when the sky was perfectly clear the next-day, it was perfectly normal for them. The mountains answered their prayers.
Mahon dropped the subject after he studied the piece of paper, the arch, and the flowers that made the necklace for the ritual to no avail. There was no trace of any magic in them. Yet, he knew something had happened.
But with such a short notice, and so many friends to say goodbye to, Mahon took advantage of his last day among the Hunters to relax. Neither he and Jorik knew what awaited them on the other side of the Notitia Peak. Would they find the Immortal King still alive? Or would an army of Ill Immortals attack them as soon as they put a foot in the Gedrain kingdom?
Mahon wasn’t the type of person to worry about things he couldn’t control, but he knew when to rest and prepare for all eventualities. He spent some time talking with Ranaeril and asked how he could train his archery skill without the man to guide him. He definitely planned on succeeding on a five-arrow volley one day. The Flow was too much of an asset to give up on it.
On that morning, Ranaeril and Halueth waited for the duo beside the diner table like every other day they would go on an expedition. There was something different in their looks, though. They all knew it would be their last one.
Mahon and Jorik had larger backpacks than usual, but Halueth had made sure to train them to carry heavier bags once in a while to get them used to the exercise. And given Mahon and Jorik’s endurance, it didn’t make much difference.
“It’s about time we move.” Ranaeril sighed once they finished a caloric breakfast that would help them move without thinking about their stomach for long. “I don’t want to ask you this, but I realize I’ll blame myself if I don’t. Are you sure you don’t want to stay longer? There are many things we could teach you, and many more that you could teach us…”
“I’m sorry.” Mahon shook his head, his eyes unwavering. “We’ve got a mission to complete. And even though I personally would love to, this takes priority.”
Ranaeril nodded slowly. He had expected this answer, but he couldn’t help being disappointed.
“But who knows? Our path may cross again in the future.” Mahon added.
“Sure!” Ranaeril said, hiding his sad smile. “You’ll have to come back through the mountains anyway if you don’t want to lose a couple of years going around.” He joked.
The four men left the village shortly after. They took the route that they used to take from time to time to measure Mahon and Jorik’s ability. They walked leisurely without any problem, finding a good rhythm that fitted perfectly the two older Hunters. It was all a matter of going fast but not too fast. Slow, but not too slow.
Mahon’s feet led the way. Moving from rocks to rocks while avoiding roots that sprout on the way and were prone to tripping or spraining an ankle. He didn’t even give them a glance, letting his Flow guide his steps passively. It was becoming second nature to him to have his magic constantly helping him move effortlessly.
In the mountains, it was really a godly skill.
They arrived at the first cliff where they had witnessed Ranaeril and Halueth’s climbing techniques for the first time, and without stopping they took everything they needed from their bags and started their ascent. The two Hunters were obviously still leagues above them in climbing, but Mahon and Jorik had improved their techniques and coordination a lot through the last months.
The cliff had never been a huge hurdle for the duo, but it had still sped up their heartbeat and given them a little sweat the first time they climbed it. Now, such an ascent was as easy as walking for them. Mahon climbed first, placing his climbing nails with the evident ease of someone who had climbed this wall numerous times. The group of four Hunters was at the top in no time.
They continued forward for a bit until they turned left and took a different path than the usual one. It wasn’t about evaluating Mahon and Jorik’s abilities now. They were crossing the Notitia Peaks.
Soon, Halueth took the lead instead of Mahon, and he guided them through the mountains. The first day wasn’t so different from most of the expeditions they did before. The mountains directly close to the Silent Bow Clan were mostly flat and moving through was simply a matter of following a trail of dirt and rocks weaving through the trees.
They camped in a small cottage that had been erected in a small clearing, not so high in the mountains. They found dry food, chopped wood to start a fire, and other necessities that might be helpful to any Hunters that would come around here. The Silent Bow Clan had many such cabins in the vicinity, and one of the most frequent tasks that Mahon and Jorik did when they had trained throughout the mountains had been to fill up those safe-houses.
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The mountains were unpredictable, even for someone like Halueth, but they knew very well that the more preparations they made, the easier it would be to survive should something happen.
On the second day, they started the journey for real. The path was only going up, and they often had to use their climbing equipment to move through vertical sections. It wasn’t about climbing side by side, then. They went for the easiest itinerary each time, and sometimes even the easiest was challenging for Mahon and Jorik.
Halueth would often go first. Ranaeril would naturally follow behind, leaving instructions for either Mahon or Jorik who climbed immediately after. They kept a safe minimal distance to prevent Ranaeril from falling on them, but they were still close enough for Ranaeril to point towards the easiest way, and where they could place their climbing nails.
They progressed slowly throughout the day, alternating between climbs and steep walks, making sure no monster would surprise them, even though Ranaeril said multiple times the surroundings were usually safe. Usually wasn’t enough for any of them, so they kept their eyes sharp just in case.
Nothing unfortunate happened, and they reached the last flat area, at the feet of an immense cliff whose top was lost in the clouds. There, they camped, chewing on their dry meat and sticking together in their sleeping bags to prevent as much heat as possible from leaving their bodies.
They woke up groggy from a too short night and cold from not being able to make a fire. Wood was a scarce commodity at this altitude, and they kept their emergency fire starter for worst situations.
The breakfast was much like their dinner, except it went along with a warmup that slowly heated up their body and muscles for the day to come. Halueth had warned them. The third day was the real deal.
“Starting from there, it’s only climbing.” The old man said while looking up at the perfectly straight wall in front of them. “There will be no break until we reach the summit. We have to climb it before nightfall or it would become a real nightmare. Trust me, you don’t want to sleep on that wall.”
Halueth stretched both his shoulders before he checked his shoes one last time. He exhaled deeply and looked at Ranaeril, and then Mahon and Jorik.
“You’re all ready?” He asked them.
“Sure.”
“Yeah.”
“Yes.”
The three men answered in turn.
“Let’s do it, then.” Halueth nodded. “Follow in my trail, and don’t deviate too much, or you will find yourself lacking any good holds. Once we reach the snow, leave me some space. I don’t want to trigger an avalanche on your heads. I’ll move in zigzag to prevent it as much as I can, but it’ll be inevitable. Once we’re up there, we’re done. The descent is much easier, so no worries.”
He threw one last look at the duo before he smiled cheerfully. “Good luck, then. See you up there.”
They shook hands, and then Halueth grabbed the first holds and started climbing. The three men watched him evolve on the wall with ease. After a dozen minutes he was fifty meters above them, and the rope between him and Ranaeril tightened. The chief of the Silent Bow Clan adjusted his backpack and began his ascent.
Mahon let him move up five meters before he followed in his trail. He grabbed a relatively good hold in his right hand, placed his right foot on a large bump and pushed. They had learned early on that climbing was more about pushing than pulling. It was especially important when considering the height they would need to climb today.
They couldn’t afford to tire their forearms in simple sections when they would need all their power later on in the most difficult parts. The legs were the biggest muscles of the human body, and they intended to take full use of it. There was no other way to climb hundreds of meters without pause.
Keeping his arms mostly straight, Mahon moved his legs in such a way he didn’t need much strength to keep himself from falling backwards. The wall was steep, but the section they were climbing was relatively easy. The holds weren’t that big, but large vertical bumps provided more than enough foot holds to assure an easy ascent. In such a scenario, the arms’ only purpose was to prevent the climber from falling backwards, and most of the weight was actually held by the legs.
Mahon continued his ascent behind Ranaeril, placing climbing nails exactly where Halueth had placed his own. Most of the time, he would have chosen the very same spots if he had been alone, and he took pride in it. Halueth had taught him well.
When he reached Halueth’s belay point, Ranaeril continued forward with all the climbing nails he had picked up on the way while Mahon stopped and secured himself near Halueth.
The old man had linked two climbing nails with a small rope in order to have a nice spot to secure Ranaeril’s ascent. His two feet rested on the wall, and the rope prevented him from falling backwards like his arms would if they weren’t grabbing the rope holding him to Ranaeril.
Mahon set up the same system and yelled to Jorik that he could start climbing. The noble shouted back that he was ready, and Mahon pulled the rope through an ingenious climbing tool to help him secure Jorik in case of falling.
He was suspended fifty meters above the ground, stuck to a vertical cliff, with nothing but high mountains and snow on the horizon. A small breeze made his climbing equipment ring, but otherwise there was not a single sound. From time to time, he could also hear the hushed sounds of Ranaeril’s feet touching the rocks above his head.
Mahon turned his head to his left, and Halueth returned his glance with a large smile.
“It’s always something, isn’t it?” The old man said with a small gesture of his head to their surroundings.
“Yeah.” Mahon answered while taking another look around.
They were speaking with a low voice, as if not to shatter the peacefulness of the mountains.
“The older I get, the more I like these kinds of moments.” Halueth confessed. “When I was young, I always rushed to get as high as possible, as fast as possible. It was far later that I started to enjoy climbing for everything else. The view. The calmness. The mountains. The loneliness, sometimes.”
“I think I understand what you mean.” Mahon said after a short silence.
“Do you really?” Halueth chuckled in answer.