The thin bamboo forest they were in the beginning quickly transformed into a thick jungle. Clayton was leading the way, from time to time cutting away obstacles with his sword, but in an hour they didn’t manage to cover more than four kilometers. There were no dangerous animals or insects, at least they didn’t see any, but the slow pace irritated all three of them.

“This is too slow – we are loosing too much time. Let’s risk it and just go by the road.” Clayton suggested. Nick and Steven immediately agreed and they went out on the open road.

Even though they were limited by Steven’s speed, they still managed to pick up the pace. After two more hours they entered a small village and persuaded the village chief to sell his only horse for an astronomical price of two gold and increased their speed once again since Steven could ride it. There were no ambushes on the way and no other settlements as well, so with few breaks they ran till dusk.

On the way they met few merchants who were traveling towards Berin and warned them about the possible ambush at the last settlement before the desert. May be because merchants didn’t believe them or some other reason, they couldn't persuade anyone to sell any horses and had to continue their run as before.

Clayton and Nick, although tired, were still fine, but the poor horse didn’t look good at all. It didn’t need to save anyone and felt abused all the way. The trio considered to continue during the night, but it looked as if that would be the same as to kill their only transportation unit and in the end they wouldn’t gain anything.

They woke up early and the next day went similar to the previous one. Couple of hours later they managed to acquire two more horses, but their quality was not close to the ones they had when leaving Berin and now all three were mostly used by Steven. Nick was as fast on his own, not speaking about the Qi master Clayton, therefore they just pushed on while hoping to improve their transportation means along the way.

Several days later they arrived in Anula with a small collection of eleven horses, but all of them were poor quality and few looked as if they were taking their last steps, just to join the souls of other six who were left at the roadside. None of the friends took pleasure in it, exactly the opposite – everyone felt bad for riding the poor animals to death, but since that they had to choose to save the girls or keep the animals alive, the choice was obvious.

Despite all of that, the route that should’ve taken seven to eight days took whole ten. They were at least four days behind and there was only one way to catch up – cross the mountain pass of the Heaven mountain range which was already visible in the distance for quite some time.

Anula seemed to be more like a large jungle village than a town and mostly consisted of small bamboo and mud shacks where the hunter families lived. Before entering the town, they crossed a river so probably there were some fishermen as well.

After five minutes trio saw the main reason why this place was called ‘town’ – surrounded by small bamboo shacks, the center was defended by reasonably high city wall and, contrary to Berin, it had an actual gate. But the guards at the gate still gathered the same entrance toll, while there was no such long queue like at entrance of the port city.

Local citizens here were simple people and didn’t really need to enter since they could buy anything they needed outside, but the traveling caravans from other places were quite frequent and merchants preferred the center of the town that offered a better quality food and stay in addition to the opportunity of doing their business.

The trio had already decided to buy necessary supplies, rest well for a night and then to proceed towards the Heaven mountain range early next morning. Because of the cold temperatures in high altitude, they had to acquire warm clothing and footwear and may be even look for a guide.

The recommendation letter from the old man in Berin’s Mercenary guild seemed to be harmless, therefore the first thing Nick did after arrival was to go and meet the old man’s colleague. After getting directions from the guard at the gate, they soon reached master Maori’s house. Similar to the most buildings in the inner city this was a sturdy two storey house which comparing to small shacks outside the walls seemed like a mansion.

To Nick’s surprise the owner of this house looked almost like a copy of the old man in Berin and if not for the very different facial features, one could even think they were brothers or at least related by blood.

After quickly reading the recommendation letter, master Maori widened his smile and invited guests for a tea. The old man in Berin probably was an old friend or a colleague who used this opportunity and let his buddy to earn coin from these clueless fat sheep.

At first master Maori wanted to prepare another six good steeds, but got shocked by the trio’s idea to cross the mountain pass. Although it would take them several days less, it was still a dangerous endeavor. When he saw that they wouldn’t change their minds, he just sighed and tried to provide other services.

There were only couple of crazy hunters who could be persuaded to act as guides, but after sending his servants to look for them master Maori got a disappointing answer those particular hunters were somewhere out of town and no one knew when any of them would be back.

Still, old master quickly organized the clothing as well as three horses with another servant who would escort the trio to the mountain slopes where they would have to proceed further on their feet. The ride would take more than half a day and during the second half they would already be able to climb quite high before setting a camp.

Then he got few maps from his collection that were more detailed regarding the mountain pass and then discussed the difficulties of crossing it, but other than freezing cold, strong winds and unlikely attacks from high ranked beasts, there weren’t that many.

Suddenly Clayton’s hands trembled in shock when he was looking at one of the maps.

“Master Maori, is Rolum town located right on the slopes of the Heaven mountain range?” Clayton asked in anxious voice.

While Nick and Steven looked at him in confusion, old man explained, “Not only its on the slopes, it is right under the steep cliffs of the Heaven mountains. There are beautiful views from anywhere in Rolum town and the cliffs act as a natural defense wall as well. The road down the mountains on that side is one of the most dangerous part of this mountain pass as well.”

“But if we would go around the mountain range by the regular route, why would we need to go to Rolum? Can’t we just go directly to the capital?” While speaking Clayton got more and more nervous. Both youths haven’t seen him like this and they started to feel uneasy as well. But what old man told next, caused large shock to Nick and made Steven almost feint.

“Of course, you can, but most caravans make the four day detour to stop in Rolum to do business there. That town is much bigger than ours and could be considered a real city. Nearby savanna territories are good for farming and it is, in fact, quite prosperous.” Master Maori sensed that something was wrong with his three guests, but continued to explain with the same wide smile, “In fact, after circling the mountain range by the southern route, you can considerably increase your speed as the jungle roads will soon be left behind and you will reach Olava quite quickly. That is also the reason why I’m trying to insist for you to take the roundabout route.”

“Damn it! I should've thought of this!” Clayton cursed, “We were way in too much a hurry in Berin and I missed an obvious important detail.”

At this point Nick already realized the problem, “Master Maori, in your estimate if we consider our end goal not Rolum but Olava, how much time we can gain if we go over the mountain pass compared to the roundabout route?”

“That is why I am trying to convince to drop that idea – you will be only about three, may be four days faster, but that’s only if you are lucky. And there are additional big risks involved as well.” Master Maori still tried to smile despite his panicked guests.

Nick immediately got up and, after throwing a glance at Steven’s trembling hands, he said, “Sir, I understand that friendship can’t be bought, but we beg you to help organize everything, so we can leave Anula immediately. Here are hundred pieces of gold for your trouble.” Nick put a sack of gold on table, “We need to depart at this instant.”

There was no reason for the emperor’s tribute to be brought to Rolum and they definitely took the direct route to Olava. It meant that the trio was already at least day or may be even two behind the schedule even if they could make some ground in the optimistic scenario. Basically, it was almost guaranteed that the girls will arrive in capital before them.

Master Maori felt there were reasons for the three to act the way they did, so he didn’t bother much thinking about it. They were no friends or family members and earning extra gold was the sole reason for him to even talk to them. If these three died in the mountains it didn’t have anything to do with him.

He quickly gave out few orders to his servants and half an hour later the horses were ready at the door. After few more minutes the huffing and puffing servants came running carrying the stacks of clothes and other supplies and, after checking those, the trio left in a hurry accompanied by a servant who would show the way and bring master Maori’s horses back.

The latter just shook his head, but after feeling the heavy sack of gold in his pocket, a careless smile bloomed on his face. He didn’t care if the three weirdos wanted to go and die in the mountains.

Nick, Clayton and Steven were already riding fast through the town, but as soon as the small shacks were left behind, trio ruthlessly started whipping their horses and increased the speed on the jungle road even more. There were only couple of hours till dark and now they were in situation when every second could be crucial.

Without bothering about the shock on servant’s face, they stored all the luggage in their meteorite rings and wristband as soon as they left the town to alleviate the load on horses and tried to go even faster.

They would have loved to continue to ride through the night, but the horses would only die from exhaustion. After quick calculation they decided to sleep for a few hours, because even if they left horses here and arrived on their own earlier, they would still need to rest before going up the mountain trail. In the end it might even turn out to be a time loss.

“Why didn’t the old man in Berin tell us about the direct route to Olava?” Steven complained while they were resting.

“He probably wanted to let his buddies earn more from the rich people like us, may be he even gets a cut.” Nick answered.

All of them were agitated, but they understood that even if they had this information before, if wouldn’t have changed anything. On the way to Anula there was only one route through the desert and jungle. Thus this mountain pass ahead of them became their only hope.