“Before we go…” Thar started quietly as Abbot was packing away the food and Yaling was rolling up the bearskin.

D’Argen noticed additional furs on the side and wondered if the meat that had been cooking over the fire was all bear or if there had been wolf in there too. He gagged and then looked at Thar. “What is it?”

“You should look around,” Thar finished.

D’Argen raised an eyebrow at the man in question. His vision was almost back to normal and the night was due to fall soon. They should leave before that happened. He received no answer other than a pale finger pointing behind him.

Then he remembered where they were.

Sky Mountain.

Where D’Argen first fell to the mortal realm.

With his eyes finally better, D’Argen took a look around him. The plateau they were camped out on was more like a crater, surrounded by small hills and outcroppings of rock, hiding all but the sky from view and the tops of a patch of trees that must have been their way up.

D’Argen let go of Lilian and got up. Yaling and Abbot looked at him but said nothing. D’Argen walked away from their small camp and towards a small hill of snow. The closer he got, the better he saw that it was not all just snow and dark black rocks peeked out from under it.

As he climbed the steep rocks and rose higher and higher, he saw more and more.

They were truly above the clouds. When he turned to see all around him, all he could see was white fluff. In one direction, the clouds looked like the raging waves of the ocean, smooth curves curling into white peaks. He felt his mahee respond, knowing the ocean was under those clouds in the distance. He touched his mahee and felt it respond like those rolling clouds, like the waves of an ocean storm. He turned to face the camp and saw the entire top of the mountain. The crater was deep and covered completely in snow. On the opposite side of where he was now was an even taller peak.

He reached inside himself, opened his mahee, slid down the rocks, and then crossed the crater. Within a few heartbeats, he was climbing the other peak. He heard someone call for him in the distance but ignored it. With his mahee opened wide, he did not slip even once on the ice-covered rocks and his feet were steady, barely leaving any imprints at all.

When he reached the top, it was as if he was on the walls of Evadia looking down at their camp in the distance. The sky was so clear. It was the most beautiful one he had ever seen. On the western edge, the clouds were brighter, lit up, disappearing into the distance even as they hid the sun below them. Above him, the sky blended into a grey so dark that it looked almost like the night sky with a sprinkling of stars.

It felt like he had stepped into another world. It was so silent his ears hurt. It was both so bright and so dark his healing eyes could barely adjust. It was so frigid his nose and throat became dry enough to bleed. It was so empty he could barely fill his lungs. His mahee was silent for once, not urging him to run or fighting him from overuse.

It was magnificent.

It was the closest to home he could ever remember being.

It was freedom.

A call from below had him opening his eyes and looking down. His companions were waiting for him. D’Argen did not even realize how wide he was smiling when he slid to a stop in front of them until Abbot pointed it out. Only then did D’Argen realize Thar was missing.

“Where is Thar?” he asked.

“On his way back,” Yaling answered, her eyes unfocused and the citrus scent of her mahee revealing she was listening in on him.

“He went to gather a few more of the flowers. For Ambi. We thought we should stop by on our way back.” Abbot gave him a bit more information.

D’Argen did not recognize the name. Abbot clearly noticed and rolled his eyes as he let out a fond huff of air. “The village. Isme. Baby? Ring any bells?”

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

“Ah! Yes. Good call.” D’Argen nodded and a moment after that he saw Thar walking towards them.

“Here,” Abbot was the first to speak to him and he handed over a small pack.

When Thar opened it, D’Argen saw more of the herbs and flowers from the mountain. Thar deposited a few more handfuls from his own pack and then tied it up and slung it over his shoulder.

“Are we ready?” D’Argen asked. The others all nodded.

Lilian was the first to touch him, their small hand sliding into his own as if it belonged there. Then Yaling touched his shoulder, then Abbot touched his other arm. Thar stood right in front of D’Argen for a moment. The man’s white eyes moved over his face for multiple heartbeats before he too finally touched D’Argen.

The iceberg that D’Argen had to wrap his mahee around was huge but it ceded to him.

Their first stop was the tiny village to deliver their supplies. The winter snows had piled so high that some of the houses were only visible due to their smoking chimneys or cleared paths in front of their doors. There was nobody out and about.

D’Argen led their column to the same house they had stayed in before. He knocked and Amastas opened the door with squinting eyes. When she realized who was there, she smiled wide and ushered them quickly inside. The entire group piled into her tiny house only to be greeted by Shabir’s severe frown.

“It is not proper to have guests so late at night,” Shabir muttered under her breath but still cleared space for them all near the fire.

“How are Marsha and the little one?” D’Argen asked as he kicked snow off his boots.

Shabir frowned at the puddle under him but said nothing.

“Barely sleeping, the both of them, but it is normal. Are you staying the night?” Amastas answered him instead.

“Most likely not. We just wanted to make a quick delivery and share some news, then we’ll be on our way.”

“News?”

D’Argen took the time to tell Amastas and Shabir a lot of the story of what they had found on the mountain. Amastas confirmed that Isme and the others said much the same. In the end, while there were no demons on top of Sky Mountain, there was still a danger. Shabir had to tell her people to avoid the clouds on the mountain and trade for as much of their needed herbs as possible instead of sending people that way.

Even as he told both of the old women of their trip, he kept all information about stray magic and hallucinating mushrooms to himself. Even so, he knew that the story of their adventure up Sky Mountain would probably change in the years to come. D’Argen would not be surprised to return in a few generations and find that the screaming mortals had turned into orgies or something even more ridiculous.

“You should stay until the morning. Marsha would be glad to see you,” Amastas spoke up once D’Argen was finished talking.

D’Argen looked around at his companions. Abbot and Yaling were standing close, holding their palms over the fire to warm them and Lilian and Thar were still by the door. Lilian had some snow in their light hair that made it shine from the fire’s light. Their face was completely blank.

“No, just send them our regards,” he said. “Here, this is for you.” He motioned to Thar.

Thar stepped away from the door and unslung his pack. He and Shabir made their way to the single table in the room where he opened it for her to browse through.

“We do not have the money to pay for all of this,” Shabir’s voice held some anger in it as she spoke.

“No payment is needed,” Thar replied immediately. “This is yours.”

“You…” she squinted up at him as if sizing him up. After a moment, she must have found what she was looking for because she nodded. Her entire face calmed down, the frown finally disappearing as she said firmly, “Thank you.”

Thar nodded and stepped away. Abbot groaned, rubbed his upper arms, and stepped away from the fire. Yaling did as well. Lilian already had one hand on the door to open it.

“I know it is far for you, but if you ever need help, send a message to Evadia. Ask for any one of us. We will be here as soon as we can.” D’Argen clasped his hands in front of his chest in a custom he had seen some of the mortals make.

Shabir’s frown returned as she eyed his hands.

Amastas grinned wide and stepped in front of him, blocking his view of Shabir.

“Thank you, Milord. We will pray to you.”

D’Argen nodded and stepped back.

It was not Amastas, however, that walked him to the door. Lilian was the first to leave and the others followed them quickly, but Shabir held D’Argen back with a hand on his arm.

“That one,” she started and motioned with her chin towards Thar, “he really… why does he do this? For free?”

D’Argen had no quick answer for her so he smiled and shrugged. She narrowed her eyes at him.

“Thar is not a… god… in the sense that the rest of us are. Not in your books.” He finally shared something that would hopefully answer her questions.

“But he is in your books,” she replied.

D’Argen looked back at Thar and they locked eyes. The other man was patient and solid, standing apart from the others in the snow. His white robes, hair, and eyes blended into the background like a perfect picture. He looked like he belonged here, in this village, in this snow, as a statue to be worshipped and loved.

“He is,” D’Argen finally said.

Shabir let him go with a final comment to keep the cold out and slammed the door right behind him. D’Argen could not hold back his grin as he joined the others.

“What did she say?” Abbot asked.

D’Argen shook his head and reached for Lilian. They met him halfway. Once he surrounded the rest with his mahee, he pushed off. He used more of his mahee than needed, but the initial push cleared most of the small village centre of snow and then took them all far to the north.