Along a seemingly boundless mountain range rested a crown of seven imposing icy-white peaks, who lost themselves among the clouds. A mythical place, a dangerous place, a place of no return, so it was at least told.

But if you travelled down from this most desolate place, crossed its sharp cliffs and massive ice fields, you’d start to find the vegetation to spread and rule. It’d grow ever so dense and even though the massive shadows cast by the mountains were left behind, light still was scarce. One could only seek a clearing in the maze that was an overgrown forest.

‘What are you reaching for?’ a boy thought as he stared at a massive branch. It must have been a long time ago that its weight had pressed it down on the ground and still it had continued to struggle forward to where he sat, nearly the middle of the clearing.

He sunk his chin into his hand and muttered, 'It's still growing ...'

His gaze wandered and settled on the tree. It stood strongest among its kin. Stretching the farthest left, the farthest right and the highest. It irritated him.

‘Don’t you have all the light you need?’ he spoke lightly, but the tree solely continued to wave its leafs in the breeze.

The boy shook his head and then took a deep breath to clear his mind. He swung his body back and pressed his hands into the cold ground. Enough strength filled his arms to lift his body and his shoulders left the firm earth behind. For a moment he stood on his hands, straight as the trees surrounding him, before he shifted his weight and steadily set his feet on the ground.

He slapped his hands and tugged his shirt, scattering pieces of soft soil. An indistinguishable strong scent of sweat lingered on him, yet he didn't seem to mind. He stretched his arms right and left, and then grasped for the sky. And just like that, his head held high, he watched the white clouds drift about.

One gentle summer breeze after another stroked his sweat-drenched hair. It was a silent dawn, where the fresh, moist air ran down his throat, once and again. It seeped into his every corner and spread a comfortable feeling of exhaustion in his body and mind.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

He spotted a bird crossing the nigh blue morning sky and watched as it happily flapped its tiny wings.

‘An entire world to itself,’ he spoke lightly.

‘But all alone,’ he followed in thought. He turned towards this tallest tree and his lips broke into an heartfelt grin. For a breath he wondered whether he should, but already summoned as much air as his chest could hold.

'One day,’ he thundered and instantly as if lightning had struck, an entire swarm of irritated birds rushed through the dense green, into the sky above him. They left behind countless leaves drifting, dancing towards the ground, settling as soft and tranquil as a stream running a hill.

‘I will fly like you,’ he whispered.

Eventually the birds faded away and the boy’s head sank, but the bright smile he’d worn was nowhere to be found.

‘It is time ...’ he said.

A burden, he’d cast into the depth of his mind, surged mightier than ever before. It fell as heavy as a mountain and took his breath. He bit his lip, held on to the light pain and then whispered, 'The exam’

A certain terror rooted him in place, while the sun rose at the end of the mighty mountain chain. It gradually bathed the world in its warm light and the ground, covered in morning dew, turned into a sparkling green sea.

‘What if I fail...’ he thought in dread, when the light found its way through a gap in the trees and touched upon his tensed up face. Its warmth flooded his skin and slowly washed away the anxiety he felt.

'With what grandfather taught me,' he faintly muttered. 'With all my training, I should ...' His eyes narrowed. 'NO,’ he suddenly shouted and clenched his fists. ‘I will - definitely,’ he spoke, raising his chin. ‘Definitely - make it!' he shouted, for no one else but himself.

With the faint echo of his voice in his ears, he took a firm step and fell into an abrupt rush. The soft grass tickled him in between his toes a last time, before he left the clearing behind. Fast yet certain he dashed through the gaps between trees, leaped across strong roots and carefully avoided the countless loathsome thorns adorning bushes. It was a perfect, swift dance, where every step he took, was placed with absolute certainty. Every corner, every obstacle, part of a puzzle he’d solved countless times.

He spotted the place he’d headed for. It stirred his soul and he quickened, just to abruptly halt a few breaths later. A cliff lay to his feet, but he paid no mind. Instead his sight was focused into the horizon, towards a place he could not see. Countless leaves in any green that you could imagine waved and rustled, playing a dreamlike melody.

'Free like a bird,' he spoke, shut his eyes and leaned forward. His feet left the steady earth behind. A storm drowned all the noise, while his heartbeat soared to his throat. But all the while he merely smiled.