Half a year passes in peace. The season changes and the already cool nights become freezing. Nature decays and enters its yearly slumber. Brown leaves loiter on the ground, like wandering children far away from home.

POV Zohn

Half a year has passed since Dawkin has joined me on this mountain top. It feels like he just arrived yesterday. Half a year might feel like a long time to some, but it’s irrelevant to me. How many years have I waited? A couple hundreds of years? Maybe longer? Who knows. I stopped counting after the first two hundred years.

It feels like Col will wake up at any moment. Occasionally I turn to stare at the peaks centre, waiting for his large granite eyes to open, but I know that he will not wake. Not yet at least. I can sense it in the air. A sort of hum of power, gradually growing stronger with the passing of each year. Col seems to be growing each year. Only his head is visible, but with the way that he’s growing, I predict that his final size will be more than twice his original. I believe Col will exit his deep slumber in about a hundred years, maybe a little more.

Just thinking about the amount of time that I’ve spent on this mountain top makes me shiver. I’ve never even been close to the ground since we first climbed this lonely mountain. The best comparison that I can think of, to myself, after living on this mountain top for hundreds of years, is that of an old sagely hermit. Living on a mountain top and providing advice for pilgrims that climb this mountain.

Alas, no one has climbed this mountain, or even attempted to climb this mountain, except Dawkin. I also don’t believe that I’ll ever meet one of my own kind again, not after the calamity that changed this world. The absolute devastation and power that I witnessed, still leaves me in awe. Absolute power that I could never… I must stop thinking about such depressing subjects.

I can’t help but wonder why I so readily and willingly joined Col on his journey or even made the vow. Was it the passion of youth that drove me to do something crazy without properly thinking it through? I wasn’t young back then when I first met Col but compared to my age now, I was truly a child. I don’t regret the decisions that I’ve made that lead me to this point. If I had to provide a single word that perfectly encapsulates why I joined Col, then it would be loneliness.

I was an old man past my prime with no family, no heir and no disciples. Sure, I was famous, but my obsession over the spear isolated me from the world. I never tried to make a friend or find a wife, I only trained every single day. When my body began to fail me, I decided to retire. I was content with spending my last days by the spear's side; I already decided to dedicate my life to that spear when I was young and I wouldn’t go back on that decision.

I was a content old man, but ultimately, I was still lonely. Feeling my body wither away each day, with the coming of old age, made me feel even lonelier. When Col first rose from that beach and towered in the sky, I was scared, but I couldn’t abandon the spear. It was an insane decision to ask if I could travel with him, but I was desperate. I didn’t even know this strange being, but I still decided to follow him.

I first tried to treat him formally, but when he built me my new house, that I still use today, I began seeing him as something different. He wasn’t some haughty noble creature that I first assumed, but a kind and caring being. As we spent time together, I noticed a similarity between us. The same look that we both carry, one on his giant granite face and another on my aged face. The same look of loneliness.

He seemed so isolate and alone, much like I was back then. As we talked I could feel that he genuinely cared about me. Pushed by the loneliness that I felt and the opportunity to finally have a true friend for the first time, I made the vow. It felt like some invisible force was pushing me to make the vow, but it was ultimately still my decision.

When he gave me the spear, I decided to follow him forever. My whole purpose in life was to acquire the spear and with it, I had no goals left. He spoke about his ambition and desires. Even if he was lonely, he still had a purpose. Since he completed my purpose, I decided on a new one. My purpose was to help him achieve his desires and dreams. It’s only fair that I should help him when he has helped me.

I now know that he must earn the titles and I will help him to do this. When he went to sleep, I decided to improve my strength. I didn’t want to be a burden, but an asset and to do this, I had to train harder than ever before. Time was on my side, so I started to rigorously train every day. When my body reached its peak, then I trained my mind. Observing the world around me and studying its mysteries.

After hundreds of years of observing nature, I obtained some insight into the inner workings of this world. Armed with this insight, I started meditating. Observing nature and the power that it naturally radiates. I began absorbing this invisible energy. Meditating days on end, growing my power ever so slightly with the passing of each year.

This power isn’t something that mortal being should even be aware of. It took me hundreds of years to discover it and even more to start cultivating it. Anyone else would long have died of old age. This power has provided me with a chance, the chance to finally be able to help Col achieve his dream.