The ascent up the mountain went from a brisk upward walk on soft grass to us needing to tie ourselves to each other in less than a couple of hours. The fact that the corruption subsided and the forest returned to its former glory only affected Artemis’s morale while Aphrodite and I just wanted to reach the top.

The winds rapidly picked up speed and the sun hid behind dark gray clouds. The temperature was dropping to a dangerously low level, and it looked like I wasn’t the only one who wasn’t prepared in terms of cold-weather clothing.

I had already started considering spending a DP to activate the Master of Storms divine skill and make the clouds go away so we got some sunshine on us, but I had no idea how much longer it would take us to reach the peak of the mountain and since the skill only lasted for four hours, I didn’t want to use it until it was absolutely necessary. Otherwise, the skill might end before we reached the top and we could be trapped in a terrible snowstorm or something. Of course, I might be able to use the skill again at that point, since it didn’t have a cooldown period, but that would leave me without any DP again and I wanted to avoid that if at all possible.

For the first hour or so, Aphrodite and I were pretty talkative, mentioning little stories from our past and the occasional prayer of followers that had sometimes reached us in our sleep. Artemis, on the other hand, was completely silent save for the occasional response to a question that was directed toward her.

Only when the incline of the mountain increased did we realize that she had been saving her strength for what was coming. Aphrodite was the goddess of love and beauty and even though her domain was on the island of Mykonos, I doubted she did much swimming. I had been living on Mount Orthys, enjoying life to its fullest and hardly ever leaving my palace since I’d gained my godhood.

Artemis was much more experienced than either of us in traversing rough terrain and had probably known that preserving her strength was the best tactic for beating something as challenging as the largest mountain in all of Greece.

“Have you ever climbed to the top, Artemis?” Aphrodite asked, probably having had the same thought as I did.

“Not to the top, no,” she replied. “Not that I haven’t tried. But after a certain point, the snow and wind just gets too powerful to continue.”

“Snow?” Aphrodite asked. As if on cue, a few flakes of snow landed on her eyelashes. “Isn’t that great?”

“You don’t like snow, I suppose?” I asked.

“I am a woman of summer,” she said. “One can hardly appreciate the beauty of a body during the winter. Isn’t that right, dear?”

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Artemis was surprised to realize Aphrodite was talking to her, but hurried to nod in agreement.

“So you tried to reach the mountaintop but couldn’t?” I asked. “You said before that you weren’t interested in the place of power.”

“I never have been and never will be interested in a place of power,” she said with conviction.

“Then why go through this?” Aphrodite said, pointedly looking around her at the rocky ground, the frost forming in the moss between stones, and the cloud veil above us.

“Because I was curious,” the huntress replied as if it was the most natural thing in the world. “Who knows what kind of beasts exist on the top of the mountain?”

“You think there are monsters that were able to reach a place that you, a powerful goddess, couldn’t?” I asked.

“Just because I can’t fly,” she said, her words carrying the wisdom of a person deeply connected with nature, “doesn’t mean a bird is more powerful than I am. It just means that it can fly and I can’t.”

“Speaking of which…” Aphrodite jumped in. “If she couldn’t get through before, how are we going to do it?”

“Have faith, Aphro,” I said, and took in her annoyed expression with satisfaction.

Over the next two hours, we probably covered half as much distance as we had during the first couple. The snow was now falling heavily and obscuring our vision as it was carried almost horizontally by very strong winds. The worst part was that we still had some distance before we finally reached the veil of clouds.

But seeing how miserable my two beautiful goddesses looked while we were climbing up, I decided it was high time I used my divine skill and cleared the weather for us.

“Alright, I think we’ve been through enough already,” I said, and raised my hand in a very theatrical manner.

Of course I didn’t need to do any movements or announce anything for the spell to take effect. The divine skill would work even if I triggered it mentally, but I had a feeling this would make it look more impressive.

“What are you talking about?” Aphrodite asked.

I didn’t offer a response but rather waited a few seconds for the winds to die down. Then the snow stopped falling and, slowly, the clouds started moving. It didn’t look like I would be able to move them enough to let any sunlight through but it would be enough to keep us going.

“You had a skill like this and let us be tortured by the weather all this time?” Aphrodite complained as soon as she realized what was happening.

“It’s not like I can make it last forever,” I said, continuing the climb. “And it costs DP. I told you, have faith.”

“Perhaps you could have informed us about this possibility and—” she started saying, but I cut her off.

“I know you’re tired,” I said. “We all are. But I’m the leader of the guild and you need to learn to trust me. Just like I trusted you when we were escaping from those catoblepases.”

“I...” she started, even louder than before, but then she controlled herself. “You’re right. We’re all tired and I need to learn how to let go and trust other people a little more.”

“Let’s start with me,” I said, and brushed her cheek with the back of my hand.

“Oh, your hands are freezing cold,” she said, jumping back. “Next time you decide to take on a mountain, let’s make sure we bring an extra layer of furs.”

“I think we’re getting close to the place where I stopped last time,” Artemis said, before I had the chance to respond. “I don’t recognize that next part.”

She pointed at a group of large rocks that were still visible despite the almost constant heavy snowfall this place must have experienced.

“Let’s make haste then,” I said. “We don’t want to be out when the sun goes down.”