To his great surprise, the first storm cloud didn’t elicit any concern from the aristocrats. Low and gray, it appeared in the until-recently clear sky as if by chance.
“I understand why Dora was called back. She’s the eldest heiress of the elves. But why Tom?”
“He’s the only one who met the requirements,” Anise growled. “He didn’t want to go!”
Hadjar remembered that, when they’d been leaving the School, Tom had had a slight limp. He hadn’t given it much thought, so he hadn’t taken a look at Tom’s energy body. He would’ve had some suspicions had he done so.
“Are you quite finished? If so, can I continue?” Dora shivered slightly. It was getting colder, but the inexperienced youths didn’t pay any attention to it. “My father,” she continued, taking their silence as confirmation, “and the Head of the Predatory Blades clan prepared us for the journey.”
“Prepared you?”
“We got special artifacts,” Dora clarified. “Various potions. Talismans and amulets. Even a map. It’s very old and barely legible, but Greven’Dor is clearly visible on it. However, there are no-”
“Dora!” The Dinos siblings exclaimed in unison, outraged.
“-entrances to the monastery.”
Wonderful. They have a map that they’ve been following this entire time.
The trio of nobles had been playing Einen and him like a fiddle for the last few days. They were nothing but pawns in their game. Or servants. Or cannon fodder. He couldn’t blame them, though. When he’d been a General, he had often been forced to use hundreds of thousands of weak practitioners the same way.
“And if one doesn’t have these potions and artifacts?”
“It’s impossible to complete the journey,” Dora said.
Einen kept quiet and focused on his task. He didn’t need to get involved. He was as experienced as Hadjar, and he knew what was happening.
“What’s waiting for us inside?”
“You’ve gone too far, barbarian!” Tom snapped before Dora could say anything. Hadjar didn’t see him, but judging by the metallic rasp that sounded behind him, he’d begun to unsheathe his blade.
“He has a right to know, Tom,” Anise said. “They aren’t our servants, and we had no right to use or deceive them. Einen of the Islands, Hadjar Darkhan, on behalf of the Predatory Blades clan, I apologize.”
In the world of nobility, this must’ve been more than a mere apology if Dora and Tom’s reactions were anything to go by. The latter swore, and the elf gasped in surprise.
Hadjar was angry, but one of the many traits that distinguished a man from a boy was the ability to restrain himself. He turned and nodded at Anise.
“I, Hadjar Darkhan, hold no grudge against the Predatory Blades clan.”
Einen followed suit. Dora was about to say something, but then the mountains seemed to come to life. A low, drawn-out hum reached their ears. As if the heavens had opened up fully, the entire universe seemed to come down on the five cultivators. Their faces and hands were instantly streaked with blood — ice needles, sent flying at an incredible speed by the wind, pierced their skin, gouging long, stinging scratches in their flesh. The storm blinded them. The world, which had been bright and sunny moments ago, was suddenly plunged into darkness. A hungry, roaring abyss fell on them.
“Now!” Hadjar shouted, using the communication amulet, not caring if the rest heard his command or not.
The nobles were too stunned by what had just happened and didn’t have time to react. Hadjar and Einen, who’d planned for this, immediately got their bearings. It took them only a few seconds to drag the gawping trio to one of the protruding rocks. Sheltering behind it, they put their weapons to their necks.
The world was going crazy. The wind was kicking up waves of snow and bringing them down on the rocks. The rocks trembled and groaned beneath the weight of the snow. Gigantic chunks of ice rumbled and screeched down the slopes, turning the stone into a fine, black dust that added to the growing gloom.
They were all shielded by one of the highest and sturdiest rocks, and it was bright enough for Tom to see the shift of power that had taken place in their squad. The rope that had bound them together had been cut. Hadjar was holding his blade against Dora’s jugular, and Einen held the point of his spear-staff against Anise’s neck.
“What the-”
“Give me the map,” Hadjar demanded. “Or our alliance is over.”
Chapter 665
“W hat are you doing?”
Tom drew his blade. The lightning bolt that arced off it and melted the snow seemed to fit right in with the world that was going crazy around them. Its roar turned into a furious thundering, almost drowning out his words.
“We just want to ensure that we’re on equal footing with you!” Hadjar said, trying to shout over the raging storm.
The weather was getting worse. An avalanche had already begun to descend the slopes, seeking to change the landscape. It was the most dangerous and intense part of any mountain expedition. For many months, if not years, the ice cap had thawed, and it was now rushing forth, seeking to destroy everything in its path. After that, the storm usually turned into a regular blizzard. Hadjar and Einen didn’t have much time left. They couldn’t afford to waste a second more.
“We’ve already apologized and told you everything we know!” Anise shouted in a hoarse voice.
“Not everything.” Hadjar shook his head. “We’re still going in blind. Either we see the map immediately, or you continue forward on your own and without half of your artifacts.”
“You’re insane!” The Sword Spirit flashed behind Tom.
The world was falling apart. Darkness, bringing with it snow and death, surrounded them from all sides. The rock they were hiding behind shook, showering them with debris. But none of that seemed to bother them. Right now, they posed more danger to each other than the storm did.
“Consider it just compensation for our troubles.” Einen’s eyes flashed, and his lips curled into a wide grin.
Hadjar shivered. He always felt uncomfortable when Einen showed his more... adventurous side.
“I’ll-”
“Show them the map, Tom,” Dora said. She sounded surprisingly calm.
“But-”
“Do it!”
A large chunk of ice detached itself from the slope. It plunged down, creating the illusion that the entire mountain had begun to crumble.
“Bloody hell!” Tom cursed.
Putting his sword away, he held out his hand. In it, popping out of his spatial artifact, appeared… not a scroll or a piece of parchment, but a jade tablet decorated with various patterns. “Are you happy now? You pathetic bastards! You don’t even know how to use it!”
Hadjar’s eyes widened and he jerked his blade away from Dora’s throat, turning his back to a startled Tom.
“Get ready!” He shouted.
The cloak of black fog fell across his shoulders. A matching belt, shoulder pads, and gauntlets appeared on him as well.
Einen instantly summoned his Spear-staff Spirit and sent it toward his armored ape.
Using their most powerful Techniques, the two of them, standing side by side, struck the oncoming avalanche simultaneously. The combination of slashes and thrusts broke through the violent tsunami. Two plumes of white, blue, and black surged out, cutting a wide trench around them. The remnants of the avalanche — a mix of ice, rocks, and snow — flowed around and into it.
“That wasn’t ice,” Hadjar whispered, adjusting his grip on his sword’s hilt.
Directly in front of them, shrouded by the blizzard, stood a monster. It was as big as the Primeval Giant had been. However, unlike that monster, this creature didn’t emit any aura at all.
“Did they tell you anything about ice golems?” Hadjar shouted over the wind.
Instantly forgetting about their recent argument, the five of them got into formation together. Clad in armor, their weapons at the ready, they watched the giant come down
from the mountain peak. Created from ice crystals, it had almost humanoid features and bright eyes. A blue heart was beating in the center of its chest — a round stone that radiated incredible energy.
Anise, the strongest among them, launched a scarlet crescent of energy at it. By now, she’d learned how to form it without using the ‘Bloody Charge’ Technique.
The crescent didn’t lose any power, even after it covered a distance of two hundred yards. Even now, it could easily bring an ordinary, initial-stage Spirit Knight to the threshold of their forefathers’ abode. That’s why it was surprising to see the ice giant not bothering to shield itself from the attack. Scarlet struck azure, scattering a myriad of rubies everywhere that immediately turned to dust.
“We can’t beat it,” Einen said calmly. “We ought to retreat.”
“Retreat?” Dora, the ‘Forest’ hieroglyph shining behind her, swung her warhammer over her head and then brought it down in a powerful swing. “Where would we even go?”
Her blow caused the ground to shake no less violently than the recent avalanche had. Cracks split the rocks and rushed toward the giant. Bursts of green energy shot out of them, forming hundreds of copies of the warhammer that struck the giant’s left foot. With this powerful Technique alone, she’d demonstrated that she was truly worthy of being the eldest heiress of one of the seven great clans. She’d chosen the right moment to strike, waiting for the giant to take a step toward its prey and lift its right leg off the ground. The monster lost its balance and staggered, roaring no less loudly than the storm. But it didn’t fall. Grasping the mountain peak that towered above the group, it regained its balance.
“Tom, lead the way!” Hadjar commanded.
The young man didn’t argue. Seeing that there was no point in trying to injure the giant, he turned and raced toward a range of mountain peaks. Everyone followed him.
Hadjar and Anise brought up the rear. They often had to turn around and use their best Techniques to cut apart the ice spears the giant kept throwing at them.
“Look out!” Tom shouted and halted in front of a seemingly bottomless ravine.
“What now?” Dora asked.
Before anyone could answer, Hadjar’s cloak came to life. It divided itself into five black plumes and wrapped itself around the belts of the startled cultivators.
“Jump!” Hadjar shouted and leapt into the chasm, deflecting another ice spear as he went. The others followed.
Chapter 666
A nise was the first to recover. She abruptly propped herself up on her elbows and grimaced at the flash of pain, but it was normal for a Spirit Knight to suffer pain. Cultivation was difficult even for the children of the aristocracy. Sometimes, they had to go through trials that would make mortals pale in fear.
Anise looked around. The darkness danced around them. It kept trying to strangle a small, orange petal. A fire burnt, started with rare, special wood that could last for weeks.
“The others are still asleep,” Hadjar said, and remembered Steppe Fang. Their current situation was somewhat similar. He looked at Anise. By the High Heavens, she might not be the greatest beauty in Darnassus, but he would burn the whole Empire down just to see her smile.
After making sure that the rest of the squad were indeed lying around the fire, Anise turned back to Hadjar.
“Where are we?” She asked, fumbling with her hand along the wet stones. Grinning, Hadjar picked up the sheathed, narrow sword that stood beside him and tossed it over to the girl. She caught her weapon and set it down close by so she could grab it instantly if need be.
“A good question.”
Hadjar took one of the sticks out of the fire and tossed it away. It flew a hundred yards, then fell and rolled, echoing, into the darkness.
“At the bottom of the gorge,” Hadjar said.
“I can see that.”
“Then I don’t understand your question.”
Anise looked up. Hadjar followed her gaze. The sky looked like a small, blue scar above them in the distant, dark gloom.
“How did we survive?”
Their perilous fall flashed through Hadjar’s mind… They’d slammed against the rocks, rolling down a rough wall that was many miles long. At some point, all of them had lost consciousness. Only Hadjar, whose body had been strengthened by the Wolf Broth, as well as the dragon’s meditation Technique and heart, had stayed conscious. He’d used his fog cloak and the Black Blade, performing the same trick he’d pulled off back at the Dah’Khasses’ castle, and had managed to save them all from certain death. Such a fall would’ve killed even a Lord.
“We got lucky,” Hadjar replied.
He had absolutely no desire to go into detail about it. The main thing was that they were all alive and relatively intact. Tom had gotten the worst of it — he seemed to have broken his right leg. Which, of course, had nothing to do with how things stood between them. By the way, Tom lay closest to the fire, writhing in pain. Hadjar had taped several planks to his leg, creating a kind of splint.
“Don’t you want to help him?” Hadjar decided to change the subject.
“An heir of the Predatory Blades clan can endure a little pain,” Anise snapped.
With some difficulty, she got to her feet and took a few clumsy steps, almost falling. Hadjar sat motionless. It never occurred to him to offer Anise any help.
After all, she wasn’t a simple mortal, but a warrior, a powerful cultivator who had grasped the mysteries of the Weapon’s Heart. Hadjar’s offer to help could seem like an insult to her, and he didn’t want to sour their already difficult relationship any further. He watched carefully, but in silence, as Anise tried to figure out whether it was possible to climb the cliff. Alas, even cultivators had their limits. This gorge, which probably hadn’t appeared naturally, served as a kind of barrier.
Anise looked at Hadjar.
“You’ve already tried,” she stated.
“I have,” Hadjar agreed. “Maybe if we spent six months using Techniques and weapons, we’d be able to carve a ladder to the top.”
“We don’t even have ten days!”
“I know,” Hadjar said. “That’s why we don’t have much of a choice.”
Anise was a smart girl and quickly realized what Hadjar meant. Using her sword as a walking stick, leaning heavily on its hilt as she did so, she trudged behind him. A black fog enveloped Hadjar’s palms. He wasn’t going to make the same mistake the nobles had recently made. In the world of martial arts, trust was a great luxury that one only extended to their closest people. And these people were usually connected not just by friendship, but by mutual oaths as well.
“Where do you think it leads?”
Anise took a small paper talisman out of her spatial artifact. Placing it between her middle and ring finger, she whispered something. To Hadjar, who was cut off from the flow of external energy, it all looked and sounded like utter nonsense.
The talisman flashed with silvery energy, which instantly incinerated the paper and turned into a ball of flaming mercury. Then, transforming into a dozen small birds, the spell flew off into the darkness.
“I have no idea,” Hadjar said as he stared at the birds.
The use of magic and the Techniques associated with it always amazed him. His temporary allies and Einen used the external energy so freely. With its help, they’d made their Techniques more powerful.
“Are you suggesting we go this way?”
“Do we have any other choice?” Hadjar took out his pipe and lit it. He’d been doing that more and more often lately. “We’re stuck in the middle of nowhere. So, whichever way we go, it’ll change our situation.”
“It might change it for the worse.”
“Then grab your sword and make us a ladder in the rock.”
Anise glared at him, unamused.
“I’m not going to argue with you, Darkhan,” she said seriously. “But it’s your and Einen’s fault that we’re even down here.”
“You deceived us for several days.
”
Anise calmed down a little.
“We had a right to do so, Hadjar,” she said heavily. “You and the islander have your own secrets, too.”
“But our secrets don’t endanger your lives!” Hadjar shouted, then paused. Well, he did have some dangerous secrets he’d kept even from Einen, so the Dinos siblings and Dora had really been in the right.
“Why are you yelling? Shit! My leg!”
Tom woke up and the conversation between Hadjar and the boy’s sister instantly subsided.
Chapter 667
T he others woke up as well. Einen was the last to do so, which made Hadjar nervous. The islander grabbed his spear-staff and was about to summon his Spirit and Call, but stopped himself just in time. The peaceful atmosphere around the fire assured him that there was no danger at the moment.
Unlike the others, Einen didn’t ask what had happened. Instead, he looked up, then poked the wall with his weapon, and finally, he just nodded.
“What’s the plan?” He inquired.
“The barbarian has suggested that we go down there.” Tom, the only one who was still lying down, pointed with his scabbard in the direction where the firebrand was still burning. And, if nothing unusual happened, it would continue to burn for several days.
“We’re not exactly spoiled for choice,” Einen said in his usual, unemotional way. “This way, or that way… There’s no difference.”
“Then why shouldn’t we go this way?” Tom pointed behind him.
“Explain your reasoning.” Einen said.
“I don’t have to prove anything to you, you bastard-”
“Tom!” Dora protested. “We agreed that as long as we worked together, you would leave your bad manners behind.”
Tom’s eyes flashed unkindly, but he stayed quiet. Whatever ideas of honor he might’ve had, he always kept his word.
Dragon Heart: Land of The Enemy. LitRPG Wuxia Series: Book 8 Page 13
