Mountain Sound

Coming out of the thick forest, the group was delighted after reaching the headwaters of the Abworth river.

The tall frozen mountains in the south looked so magnificent that they stood there for quite a long time taking in all the artistic natural beauty, saving the images in their minds and swearing not to forget this beautiful sight for their whole life. Most of them had spent all their lives venturing out in the small forests and hills near the Moon-harbour. The scholars and mages have spent their lives in the north or in the Royal Capital. In a world with no means to look at fantastic colourful imagery, the surreal sight caught the young pioneers off-guard, and they experienced some of the best moments of their life during this expedition.

In the distance, they saw the rumoured majestic 'Snowdeers'. The Snowdeers, in the backdrop of the beautiful mountains, looked beautiful like a painting. Even without having prior knowledge about them, one could tell that they are one of the rarest creatures in this world. One couldn't even fathom the price of its pure white hide which glistens with a faint glow of silvery blue, which may be because of its mana and the rays of sunlight beating down on it. And, only a few have ever touched its diamond-like crystalline horns. It is an endangered beast found only in certain parts of the Aster Mountains. Legends say that there were many of them in the past. But overhunting has brought them to the brink of extinction. Nowadays, they are seen only in untouched places like this. But still, Filbert couldn't stop himself from actually trying to hunt one of them down, before being smacked down by Lady Jannet.

According to the legends, there is also a gate somewhere in this area, which leads to an equally majestic shrine at the mountain top. But as they had only a few hours of daylight left, they decided to search for it the next day. They set up camp for today, near the exit of the Hissing forest. The temperatures had dropped tremendously low, and some parts of the streams were frozen. So, they logged down trees and built many campfires. The ladies prepared hot barbequed meat and warm alcoholic drinks. The men with craftsman skills repaired their damaged weapons and sewed leather and fur into blankets for the cold nights of the mountains. The younger ones sat down near the fires singing and dancing, making merry until late in the night.

----

But the cold night was not as peaceful as they had hoped. This happened sometime past midnight.

The captain was woken up by several strong presences. His highly trained magic sense abilities were sending off significant alarms in his head as if something strong were approaching them. He quickly got out of his tent and ordered the night lookouts to send emergency warnings to everybody.

But they were late. The strong monsters which had visited them during the darkness of the night were the famous Cath Sith, popularly known as Shadow Cats. They are large and ferocious magical beasts, with a relatively muscular and sturdy build enough to hunt down those Snowdeers with ease. The spectral cats haunt the soaring peaks of the Aster Mountains and rarely come down to the plains, where the temperature is higher. And when they do so, it is mainly because of the lack of food or extreme weather atop the peaks.

A young lad went towards the forest to pee, after their late-night drinking bouts. The drunken man froze when he felt the strong presences around him. His mind was howling to run, to escape. But the wild, murderous intent that was coming from all directions gripped his heart, and the fear petrified him. Suddenly a gush of cold freezing winds came out of nowhere, and his vision went white.

----

The ex-prince, currently an adventurer, Ryan was sleeping peacefully in his grand tent. Well, as for why he is an ex-prince, the reasons all sum up a royal feud and some other pretty complex circumstances. He was personally recruited by the captain for the expedition because of his talents with the bow.

But his peaceful sleep was interrupted by the chaotic noises from outside. Suddenly a tall woman of a slightly darker complexion entered his tent. "Ah! You are already awake, Prince. I thought I would have the privilege of waking you up with my sweet tongue." she said, licking her lips with her tongue.

"Mylisant, how many times do I have to tell you to call me just Ryan? And stop with your perverted tricks." He got down his hammock and continued, "So? How's the situation outside?"

"Well, it's the Shadow Cats. You wanna come out and help the captain?" she asked and continued in a teasing tone. "This might be a chance to clean off that notorious name of yours."

"Hahaha...I wonder what name you are talking about," said Ryan. And as he finished, the ground shook, and a massive explosion sound was heard.

"O! I better be out there. Or that witch might blow us all down," Mylisant said in a hurry and prepared to leave.

"Just don't forget to look out for 'it'." Ryan spoke in a heavy tone, "and...Don't die."

"Oh my, look how caring you can be!" Mylisant said in a flirting tone and headed out. Further loud explosions and screaming shouts followed. But they were unable to instil the dread of the situation in the man. The mind of the man, called Ryan, was only focused on his objective. He sat there thinking for some time...then put on his battle gear, and left the tent.

----

Lady Janet immediately headed out after sensing the presence of enemies. Fear, you ask? It will be wrong to say that she wasn't afraid. But she was bound by her duty; her duty to protect her fellow comrades. It didn't allow her to sit idle while her fellow adventurers put their life on the line fighting the invisible enemy.

The enemy was using the darkness of the night and illusion magic to hide. So the first thing she needed to do to help her comrades was to help them see the enemy. She decided to use an unusual spell, according to TPO. To preserve her own mana, she used 3 regular sized mana crystals and cast the 'Spirit's Eyes' spell. It is generally used by expert healers to identify the parts of the body which are alive and which are dead. The live parts show up by glowing with a faint bluish hue. Though this spell cannot pass through magic barriers and illusion spells, after long research, Lady Janet has been able to modify it to her satisfaction. Thus, it has become one of her original spells.

All those alive began emitting a faint bluish glow, thus bringing their night visitors to the light. There were several of them. Knowing that they have been noticed, they began to come out of the dark.

The weak-willed adventurers panicked at the sight of the mystical creature of the mountains. The shadow cats which stand tall at about 5-6 feet have a pitch-black furry coat with a white spot on its chest. No, that was not all. Upon close observation, one could see that their fur refracts and reflects light in strange ways, making them able to cast illusion spells. Their canines and claws were also made up of some kind of transparent material which gives them the ability to break magic barriers. With a large pool of mana, they can cast various 'Frost' series spells. Their beautiful spectral white eyes send chills down one's spine; as if they are directly looking at the soul.

The captain was confused as to why they have attacked them, 'cause the cats tend to avoid encounters with humans. If possible, he wanted to avoid confrontation to reduce their losses. But, this time it looked like there was no other way. "Everybody, prepare for battle. Use fire magic as your main weapon and protect the mages." He shouted the orders, and the violent battle began.

The battle that followed took a heavy toll from both sides. The cats were fast, enough to overwhelm even the highly trained warriors. So, they had to fight a defensive battle. Their barrier magic was failing and barely protected them from their Frost Breaths. Soon they were at the mercy of the shadow cats.

The tables turned when Lady Janet arrived at the frontlines. With the help of her and the other mages, the adventurers retaliated with all their might. The captain himself plunged into the battle and protected his comrades from the cats' frost attacks with his magic sword. The archers provided support with fire arrows. And slowly, the cats were reduced in numbers. The rest retreated back to the mountains when they realised that they might get annihilated.

But the damaged had been done to both sides. 2 mages and 1 warrior had lost their lives.

Slowly the dark clouds receded a little, and the moon shone its light on the aftermath of the battle. The captain stood there in the middle gazing at the beautiful heavenly object. His duty was to protect everybody in this expedition, and yet, he has failed again. He has again let his comrades die. The grief clutched his heart.

"Those brave souls had already accepted the possibility of death when they joined this expedition. Master Yon, please don't feel sad for their loss. They fought bravely and protected us. We should honour their sacrifice." Lady Janet said in a soft voice from his back.

"Yes...right." muttered the captain in a heavy voice.

"Come on C-a-p-t-a-i-n. Let us rest awhile before the sun comes up."

"Yes."

----

The next morning the sun was late. No, it was not the sun, but the weather, which had become windy with occasional snowfall. The heavy clouds covered the sun, and the temperature fell further low. The conditions were very harsh to survive. They dismantled the corpses of the shadow cats and used the fur to cover their essential parts of the body. Food and alcohol were consumed in large amounts to maintain body heat.

But the most onerous burden was on the head of the expedition team, the Captain, Alderman Yon. They had already consumed more than sixty per cent of their resources. Few of the members are suffering from significant injuries that take time to heal even with magic. And as for the death count, they have already lost 9 of their members. The current conditions are harsh, and it's going to be even harsher from here on out. And...they have already accomplished one of their original objectives - to explore the southern bank of the river up to the headwaters. They why not return now, and try to conquer the unknown some other day.

Another voice asked that - they have already come this far and their goal is not far away. So, why stop now?

The captain was contemplating these choices and was lost in his thought. He was carrying the responsibility for the lives of the whole expedition team. Seriously, it was not a natural choice.

Suddenly, a tall woman with a plain mask covering her face entered his tent. Her movements were so fast that someone ordinary wouldn't have noticed her. But the captain had already felt her presence. He had also recognised her. So, he asked her without looking, "What is it, Mylisant?". Mylisant is currently acting as the leader of the scouts and rangers of the expedition group. She was tasked with searching the remaining shadow cats other possible nearby threats.

"Ah Captain, I was looking for you, you know!" she said in her usual flirting tone. "There is good news for you. In search of those cats, I think I went a little further ahead, and...found it, the southern entrance to the 'Red Forest'."

Hearing that he turned around and looked in her eyes with firm determination.

"C..captain, w..why are you staring at me with such passionate eyes?"

"No, its nothing." he answered in a firm voice."It's just...I have made my decision."

----

(in first person POV)

It was the day after the duel between Mimosa and me, as well as our visit to the SnowFalls. I woke up late. So I quickly jumped out of bed and dressed up in front of the mirror. As I put on my shirt, I remembered last night's events. We were playing in the waterfall lake for quite some time. Suddenly, Mimosa's naked image popped up in my mind. My cheeks reddened from embarrassment.

*cough cough* It isn't anything like that you know. Mimosa was just teasing me, like teasing one's younger brother, or so I guess. And it's natural to be naked when taking a bath, right? Yes, yes, it's completely natural. I quickly put on the rest of the clothes, combed my hair and went downstairs for breakfast.

Breakfast was already served and the prof. was sipping a cup of Spruce Tea. There are various blends of Spruce Tea found in the lakeside town of Alison. They are prepared from peculiar herbs gathered from the 'Red Forest'. Brewed with a spoon of honey, which is collected from cultivated bees, it is one of the drinks I quickly became addicted too. Accompanying it was the sweet cookies made by Mimosa. Ah! The mornings in the High Gardens are a bliss.

"Hmmm, Kenny has a sweet smile on his face." the prof. asked with an even bigger smile. "Did you remember something good?".

"Aaa...Kenny is a pervert!" Mimosa said with a teasing smile, as she sat down on the opposite side of the table. "Were you just recalling something naughty?"

"No no, I didn't recall about the mixed bath in the lake at all."

"Whaaaat..a mixed bath!!!?" the prof. exclaimed. "Kenny we have a lot to discuss today." And then, a karate chop landed on his head, and his eyes became watery. "Mimosa, what did I do?".

"Nothing, nothing at all," she said, angrily chomping on a cookie. "And Kenny, I will be teaching you some elemental spells today."

"Ah, the first magic lessons!" the prof. quickly changed his mood and talked with dreamy eyes. "Those were some memorable days. Though my age makes my childhood memories quite fuzzy, I still remember the time, when I was first taught elemental magic by my mother. In the beginning, I had a very rough time understanding the underlying principles. I practised daily with my friends. But my knowledge and skills were solidified only after I learned to use them in real scenarios that contained the danger of failure. The huntings trips with my father provided some excellent opportunities to practice my spells. Later I learned more when I joined a guild and went on dangerous missions...Magic sure is interesting."

"Is magic really that hard to learn, professor?" I asked, intrigued.

"Yes, it was indeed tough to learn back in those days. But nowadays the aspiring mages are first taught the underlying principles from their childhood in academies. After completing that course, they are sent to higher institutions where they learn sorcery under the tutelage of various professors. So, the discipline of elemental sorcery has become rather easy these days, you see. But, as the saying goes - learning something is easier than mastering it; you gotta practise a lot to become an expert."

"But, don't you worry Kenny," Mimosa said with a confident smile. "I will teach you using some special techniques, and you will become a real mage very quick."

"Hahaha." the prof. gave a peal of joyous laughter. "That's good for you, Kenny." He continued, "Well, you know, sometimes, even with all the necessary background knowledge, it is quite hard to manipulate mana. So, only quite a few become successful mages. But I have heard that you are quite proficient in that area. So, it shall be easy for you."

I was happy and said with a gleeful smile, "That's reassuring to hear. I look forward to it."

And so our jolly morning continued...