“You were right, the view here is amazing!” the girl said while sitting on a blanket, looking vividly at the landscape in front of her.

“Said so, I knew you’d like it.” Next to her was a boy sitting, admiring the same view as well.

These two kids were Aline and Quin, who had climbed up to the top of one of the mountains at the back of the city. Having found the place a couple of days before, Quin decided to invite her to share the same astonishing scenery he had met.

“Wow! You can even see the Mountains from here!” Aline exclaimed.

“Yeah, that’s the best part of it,” Quin answered smiling, “you know their proper name, right?”

“Of course I know, they’re called The Three Mountains, what do you take me for?” she answered half seriously and half jokingly.

“Alright, alright, sorry. But then, do you know why are they called that?” the boy asked another question.

“Because there are three of them?” she said plainly.

“Not really.” He smiled and paused for a moment. “Well, there are three of them and it’s part of its name, but the key is the number, the three. It’s considered to be the perfect number, one which contains and describes everything.

‘One of the mountains is low, another is high and the last one is in between them.

One of the mountains is cold, another is hot and the last one is in between them.

One of the mountains is dark, another is bright and the last one is in between them.’

Just like there’s evil and good, there are also things which are both of them, just like you can mix black and white to get gray. On the path to perfection, to reach immortality you have to experience the warm, the positive, the happy and the good side of life, know the cold, the negative, the sad and the bad side of life and then be able to choose the third side, which is both of them but neither of them, which is the same path but a completely new one as well,” Quin explained.

The girl sat there silently for a time, contemplating on the words, her mind reeling and meanwhile still staring at the mountains in front of her.

“It’s... Very interesting, how do you know all of this?” she asked turning towards him, and looking into his eyes.

“Um, well, to be honest it was just something I read a few years ago in the library but there are numerous books about it if you’re interested. I only covered the main thought behind this,” he answered. He felt happy and proud to be able to impress the girl both with the view and his knowledge, so though with a slightly red face, he smiled.

“Do you think we can ever reach that, the immortality?” she asked.

“Honestly, I don’t know,” he replied. “I don’t even know whether it’s true or just a myth. I’ve read countless stories about them, and when I was little I was intrigued by the topic. For some time I even wanted to be a Seeker, but thinking back I’m not sure about the whole thing. Though there was some books which included thorough researches, but without much solid evidence, all they could do was to work with rumors, legends and different traditions. Even examining the artifacts and relics haven’t provided much to it. Well, most of these ended in speaking about the social effects of the myth, rather than the topic itself, which became quite boring. The other kinds of books contained stories, poems and even strange rituals.”

“Hey, what kind of stories were those? What were they about?” Aline, who looked fairly interested in the subject asked him.

“Hmm, there was one story which for some reason stuck to my mind and about which I had thought often: Tsao, the Betrayed. It’s quite interesting, though definitely not a fairy tale. Do you want to hear it?” Seeing her eagerness, Quin decided to tease her a bit.

“Of course, that’s why I asked,” she replied solemnly; it did not seem she was in a funny mood.

“Alright.” He sighed. “So the story takes place in the Spirit Realm, countless years, eons ago, before any human inhabited these lands we live on.

“It was the time, when the Sovereign of the Spirit Realm died, and his position would be inherited by his oldest and wisest son, Tsao the Crane. He was popular among the people, and even enjoyed the support of his younger siblings. The only thing left for the coronation was that he had to get married, as it was ordered by his late father that only someone wedded was eligible for the throne.

“Thus he proclaimed that he’s searching for a spouse, to be at his side governing the realm. Undoubtedly countless women and even girls visited the capital to be the new wife of the Sovereign. Years passed and there was still no end to them, however Tsao couldn’t commit to either of them. It wasn’t that they lacked beauty or personality, he simply didn’t feel anything for them. Living for all eternity by the side of someone whom he didn’t love? Having someone’s children whom he had no feelings for? He wasn’t able to imagine that or rather, he just wasn’t willing to live like that.

“Soon even more than hundred years passed, and though the number of the crowd of the bride-candidates dwindled, he still wasn’t able to find one. Just as he was considering choosing randomly someone from the crowd in his desperation, his younger brother introduced him to a woman, named Liang. Despite her true form being a mere fiery sparrow, she looked beyond beautiful and her aura was otherworldly. She utterly bewitched him, not being able to take his eyes off her.

“Although he felt like he could marry her right away, he wasn’t that foolish, and decided to get to know her. They talked for days, months, even years and Tsao concluded that she was shining even on the inside, thus he quickly ordered for the wedding to be held.

“Everything went swiftly to the very last day before the wedding, when a pre-wedding banquet was held, which was attended by all of the important people of the realm. Just after drinking the first sip of the champagne, Tsao realized that it was poisoned, however it was too late then, as he felt his power leaving him. The only thing he saw was his brother walking towards him grinning, huge canines visible in his mouth and a long forked tongue coming in and out from it, meanwhile his previous bird-like appearance transformed into a snake-like one. It was then, when he realized that he wasn’t his true brother, but a fake one, who didn’t belong to the same Divine Bird family as him but to the most disgusting and terrible race: the Leviathans.

“It was his trust, family love, ignorance and naivety that caused all of this. He has always cared for his brothers and sisters, and never suspected their actions of any kind. During his so-called wife-hunt he even let his younger brother take care of the worldly matters, which turned out to be a fatal mistake.

“His younger brother always craved for strength and power, and during those hundreds of years he wasn’t idle. Either with flowery words, or through money or threats he acquired a great chunk of power. Though he was the one to introduce Liang to him, it was only a part of his scheme. First of all, he knew that Tsao would be even more distracted by this beauty, decreasing any chance for his plans to be revealed and secondly, a gathering like this banquet was exactly what he needed. The whole personal was managed by him and due to that they were his underlings, he could poison the drinks without breaking a sweat.

“Nearly all of the important figures were there who still supported his brother and who could be a hindrance to his future rule. So he got rid of his brother, Tsao, and he also got rid of all of his supporters in one stroke. After this there was no one to oppose him, and especially no one who dared to do so,” Quin said finishing his story.

“And what happened to them? I mean Tsao and his people?” she asked.

“It’s said that nobody knew what happened afterwards, some say that they were all thrown to the prison left to suffer, while others are convinced that they were eaten by the leviathan itself.”

“And Liang?”

“According to the story the Leviathan forced her to be his wife and bear his children. Well, I said it was a sad story,” Quin explained.

“Oh. I guess so.” After this she was looking towards the Three Mountains, with an empty expression for a long time.

“Hey, are you okay? Sorry, about the sad story,” Quin was afraid that he made her unhappy, so not having any other idea, he apologized.

“Don’t worry about it.” She smiled lightly. “It wasn’t like that, I just never heard something like that so I was lost in my thoughts for a bit.” The girl then laughed, making him relieved.

“Alright,” he said.

“Um, I think we should head back, it’s already getting dark,” she told him after looking around, a bit worried.

“Are you perhaps afraid of dark?” he bantered but quickly regretted it, because he saw that the girl seemed to be genuinely afraid. “Sorry, it was just a joke! But as long as I’m here you don’t have to be afraid!” Quickly recognizing the opportunity took it and while saying it he straightened up and smoothly took her hand in his own, while guiding her down the mountain. He tried to show a serious, manly look on the outside, but seeing that Aline reacted with a sweet smile, in truth he was on cloud nine, jumping for joy that their feelings seemed to be mutual.