Yalia 

 

Lowering myself down the rope I tried to ignore Cawthorn’s impatient foot tapping. Seriously you would think he would have a little more professionalism. Not everyone could prance up and down mountains as easily as you please like Bovidea, some of us actually had to put effort into it. 

 

Still as annoyed as I was, I couldn’t complain too much. I had seriously underestimated the difficulty in crossing this mountain range, if I hadn’t contracted the Felton brothers I would have had to turn back long before reaching the summit. 

 

The verticality of the mountain combined with the icy conditions at the top of the mountain made it one of the more difficult treks I had ever undertaken. Watching the two brothers literally walk up the side of the mountain, while securing ropes for me to pull myself up had been a humbling experience. 

 

Watching them stroll down the mountain securing ropes for me to slide down had just been annoying. 

 
Grunting as I slowly lowered myself down onto a small ledge I finally felt my feet land on something solid. Looking up, Charles was walking down the almost vertical cliff face while coiling the rope I had been holding onto just a few moments ago.  

 

From where I stood I saw that the vertical section of the mountain was finally ending and soon, and I would be able to walk without the aid of rope, after that I would be in the deep jungle. By tomorrow at midday I would be able to wash myself off in the river.  The very same river that the soldiers who had kidnapped my father would be traveling down at this very moment.  

 

Letting my gaze wander I spotted The Summit of the Ancients, the closest peak to us. I had no idea where the Empires boat would stop and allow their people to disembark, but I knew that mountain was their ultimate destination. If I could get there first I would have the best chance of finding and rescuing my father. 

 

“Are you almost ready? I would really like to get off this mountain before we all die of old age.” Cawthorn said as he held the rope out to me. 

 

My initial impression of Cawthorn had been that he was quiet and serious, I was seeing now that I was wrong. He was rude, inconsiderate and impatient, the only reason people didn’t realize it sooner was because he was quiet. If it weren’t for the fact that he was also an excellent climber I would have regretted hiring him. Taking the rope from him I double checked his knot as Cawthorn watched from beside me. 

 

“You don’t have to do that you know. I do know my knots.” Cawthorn said. 

 

“I am sure that you do but I haven’t made it this far in life by being sloppy.”  

 

Instead of answering the Bovidea simply shrugged his shoulders. For a moment I looked up at him he was standing beside and a little above me. His arms were folded in front of his chest and he leaned back onto the mountain like he was relaxing, all while standing on an outcropping that couldn’t have been any larger than the width of one of my fingertips. 

 

No one had any idea how Bovidea could manage to walk easily straight up the face of a mountain as if they were walking up stairs. I had read dozens of studies from scholars who had spent years attempting to replicate the feat to no avail. It was simply a type of magic that all, or at least almost all Bovidea could use on instinctual level. Their gift from Gaia those types of abilities were called. 

 

Putting my weight on the rope I began rappelling down the final vertical stretch of the mountain and before long I found myself actually walking down the mountain instead of having to climb down. Charles was in the lead muttering to himself as he tried to find their usual path to the river and Cawthorne insisted on following close to me. 

 

“How much longer until we reach the river?” 

 

“It will take a while longer and the sun is starting to go down. We’ll get a little bit lower to get out of the wind and find a place to camp.” 

 

“You said that you and your brother are usually able to make it to the river one full day.” 

 

“We usually don’t have to carry someone up the mountain so we’re not making as great time.” He responded testily. “Don’t worry we’ll get you there and introduce you soon enough. Trust me you don’t want to be wandering down this mountain in the middle of the night, we’d be fine but you’d probably break your neck.” 

 

“Hey I found the trail!” Charles shouted from in front of us cutting me off from my rebuttal. 

 

We continued hiking for another 30 minutes before we stopped hiking for the night. The place they had chosen for our campsite was a small rocky depression on the mountain just large enough for a small group to lay down shoulder to shoulder. The ground was hard and uncomfortable but it blocked the wind on three sides letting us stay a little warmer. I hadn’t brought very much food with us preferring to travel light but we had enough to get us through the night and the next few days. 

 

Not bothering to make a fire we simply camped under the stars. While the Alatross islands were tropical being as high up on the mountains as we were made for a pretty chilly night. 

 

I was lucky I had purchased my new coat, while it had barely been enough to keep me warm when crossing over the mountain it was fine for where we were now, and while I wasn’t comfortable I had slept in far worse places in the past. 

 

“So how do you two recommend I introduce myself to the Lamia? Do you speak any of their language?” 

 

“What are you asking us for? We’ve never really spoken to them before.” Cawthorn said. 

 

“What? How long have you two been coming here?” 

 

“About nine years now.” Charles answered for his brother. 

 

“And in nine years you’ve never spoken to the Lamia? I thought you’ve given them presents before.” 

 

“We’ve spoken to them occasionally, and our father taught us some of their language, we just usually avoid direct contact with them and don’t give them the presents personally.” Charles said. 

 

“We’ve seen their scouts before, but try to avoid talking to them. We leave them alone and they leave us alone. We just leave them an offering at the river and when we come back later in the day they leave us some potion supplies that we can take back.” 

 

“So how do you recommend that I make contact with the Lamia then?” 

 

“We can teach you a few phrases that should get the boulder moving, but for the most part you’re on your own.” 

 

Charles continued. “Don’t worry too much, they’ve never been aggressive towards us or threatened us so I don’t think you’ll have too much trouble talking to them. Just make sure you lead with the gifts. Oh and maybe cook for them, in Kallamachu at least Lamia really like it when people cook for them. It’s a sign of respect, or hospitality.” 

 

I kept my mouth shut and looked at the stars. I was very good at a lot of things but cooking was not really one of them. I could make a serviceable meal with the right ingredients, but I’ve never been very good. Hopefully I would catch the Lamia in a good mood and they wouldn’t be too harsh with their criticism. 

 

It had been a long night and I didn’t sleep very well but by the time the sun was crawling above the horizon I felt ready to take on the world. 

 

We followed a rough trail down the mountain and in a few hours I found myself in a small copse of trees overlooking a wide river. 

 

“You see anyone on the other side of the river Cawthorn?” 

 

“I do not Charles, but that does not mean they aren’t there.” Cawthorne replied. “We’ll help you get your things across the river but after that you’re on your own.” 

 

“Thank you, I appreciate the help.” Despite Cawthornes attitude the brothers had been extremely competent guides. If I had chosen anyone else to help me I likely would have still been ascending the mountain. 

 

Wading into the river each of us holding a bag above their head we entered what most people would consider to be the deep jungle. A place where most of the Lamia would have never seen another species before, let alone have regular contact. I was fortunate that while the water only reached up to my neck so I was able to keep most of my clothes and supplies dry and before long we began trudging up the far bank. 

 

Throwing down my bag I dug out my purse and turned to pay the two brothers and paused as I saw them each with their hands in the air and looking into the forest in behind me. Dropping my purse I raised my hands and slowly turned around as well. 

 

Slowly coming out of the forest were six Lamia, an even mix of men and women all of them holding bows and arrows which they brandished at us. 

 

Using the words the brothers had just recently taught me, I started with that. “Gifts, gifts for Lamia.” 

 

Charles continued behind me, I was able to make out a simple greeting as well as the word gifts again, but the Lamia in front of us didn’t really relax just yet. The lead scout sounding angry asked them a question and the brothers answered it. The slow halting conversation kept up for a few more minutes before the Lamia scouts began to relax and we were allowed to lower our hands. 

 

Slowly walking back towards the brothers I handed them the entire purse. “What just happened?” 

 

“It seems the Lamia have an intruder in their lands, they thought that we were with them. My brother and I convinced them that we had nothing to do with them and introduced you as someone with gifts for their village. They are willing to take you back with them to their tribe, but... well the Lamia are angry. I can’t guarantee what will happen if you go back with them. I think you should leave with us.” Charles said. 

 

“I appreciate the offer but I’ll take my chances.” 

 

“Whatever it is your working on can’t be worth your life. Just give them the presents and be glad they’ll let you leave with your life.” Cawthorn said. 

 

Shaking my head no I didn’t bother to respond verbally. “This is something I have to do, it is a matter of life and death.” 

 

“It’s going to be your death.” Charles said. 

 

“We won’t be coming back over the veil for a few weeks. Give the Lamia a chance to settle down. If your still alive and you want us to bring you back over tie a shirt to one of these trees here and we’ll tie something to a tree on the other side of the river. We’ll be able to wait for you for a day or two but that’s it. Good luck.” 

 

Shaking the elder brothers hand I picked up all of the packs and turned back to the Lamia. Handing the lead scout the pack with all of the steel tools in them I said. “Gift, for you, for tribe. I give to tribe.” 

 

The scout opened the bag and despite how angry he looked his eyes practically bulged out of his head when he saw all of the steel tools.  

 

He said something to the other scouts and they relaxed a little more, some of them putting their arrows away. Then they turned and led me through the forest towards their village. 

 

As we walked to their village I got the impression that the scouts were getting more tense and not less tense as I would have assumed. Did they expect to be reprimanded for bringing me in? Surely they couldn’t be expected to kill all outsiders? If they had I never would have made it this far, gifts or no gifts. Could the empire have beaten me here? They certainly could have turned the Lamia against me. 

 

Before long we were pushing through some trees into a small village near the base of the mountain. There were a few dozen small wooden buildings, enough for about 500 people, and it all looked far more permanent than I had thought it would be. As soon as we pushed through the trees we were spotted by an older man who greeted the scouts with a smile. The smile quickly fell off of his face as soon as they spotted me however. 

 

Looking at me he began shouting something at the scouts while gesturing wildly with his hands towards us and then towards the Summit of the Ancients that their village was at the base of. 

 

Deciding to take the initiative I walked towards the man who immediately stopped talking and reared up on his tail making him much taller than me. 

 

Bowing a little at the waist I tried to look harmless. I didn’t really like bowing, and a lot of cultures didn’t bow at all, but I hope he would see it as a sign of respect. Taking the pack from the scout who held it I opened it and showed him the metal tools inside. “For village, gifts. Me mountain.” I said pointing at myself and the mountain. 

 

This did not have the effect that I hoped it would instead of calming him down he instead started yelling at the scouts who held up their hands. They had a loud conversation with the man before I was ushered into a small building with all of my bags and placed under guard. 

 

The man said something to me and I was able to understand the word “elders” and I got the impression that I was to wait here for the elders. 

 

With nothing left to do I sat and waited until just after noon when I heard a commotion outside. It seems the elders were finally able to see me. 

 

A short time later two older looking Lamia walked into the room, one man and one woman. The woman was absolutely pissed and started shouting at me the second she entered the man who came in after her was more relaxed in comparison but he still looked upset. 

 

Standing up I bowed to the woman and then the man and said “Gifts for tribe. I cook food for you.” I wasn’t sure why but the man started laughing at this while the woman just looked more and more angry. 

 

When I tried to take out the food he gestured for me to put it down and he sat near the hearth with me while the woman loomed over us still fuming. 

 

He tried to hold a conversation with me and I was completely unable to understand anything that he said. Quickly he seemed to realize how little I was understanding and he tried a different tactic. “Jax.” He said pointing at himself. “Hallice” he pointed at the woman and then pointing at the mountain he said. “Neil. You go Neil?” He asked pointing at the top of the mountain. 

 

The mountains name was Neil? What kind of a name for a mountain was that? Cawthorn had taught me the word for mountain and it was something else entirely, maybe it meant summit? “Neil?” I clarified pointing at the summit.  

 

Jax nodded yes. 

 

I pointed at the mountain itself and said “Mountain?” Another nod from Jax. 

 

“I go mountain. I go Neil.” 

 

The two elders shared a look and before I could say much of anything else they called in several guards, a quick discussion later and I was being manhandled up a rough mountain pass with several guards. I was able to hold onto the bag containing the presents and grab my own bag as well, but the atmosphere in the room had deteriorated so quickly that I hadn’t been able to cook them anything like Charles had suggested. Well if those dicks didn’t appreciate my or my presents then I would hold onto them for now. 

 

I was then given an escort up the mountain, so despite the rudeness and hostility this was going about as well as I could have hoped. 

 

It was late in the evening by the time we reached the peak and my eyes practically jumped out of their sockets at the sight of the ruins. This certainly wasn’t what I had been expecting. The buildings looked like they had been made for Humans, but they lacked a lot of the hallmarks of Human design. 

 

It was far too small and the structures to simple. Simple stone buildings, even crafted by earth magic like these had been would never have been used by humans as anything but emergency shelter. I would have loved to take a closer look at the ruins anyways but my escorts pointed to the tallest building on the summit and they looked angry enough that I didn’t want to try and argue with them at the moment. 

 

My escorts started talking to two Lamia who had been camping near the building and several angry gestures later and some shouts of “Neil, Neil!” Later and I was being shoved through the door into a small room with a descending staircase carved into the mountain. 

 

I wasn’t sure exactly what they were saying but I got the impression that they wanted me down the stairs. This wasn’t really part of my plan but I didn’t see any choice at the moment, and while I couldn’t just stay underground I figured I would be able to sneak out in a day or two if I wanted to. So I smiled at my guards and started down the stairs. 

 

Using a small amount of light magic to make a small ball of light hover above and behind my head I walked down the steps. I was starting to doubt that this was even a Human settlement at all. Human cities tended to be much larger, sprawling things with towers made of ivory, glass, or even marble. Not made underground out of stone. 

 

When I reached the bottom of the stairs and found myself on a roof top with a single flickering light still working my suspicions were raised even further, although it looked to be Human made I had never seen any Human settlement like this. Touching the flickering light I studied its connection to the local Mana source before extending an incredibly small thread of Mana into the center of the crystal. Gently running it over the runes in the center of the crystal, I felt the runes and I found where they had been degrading and I used my mana to gently reinforce the runes and I was rewarded when the crystal stopped flickering and the light increased in intensity.  

 

Picking the crystal out of its stand I walked over to one of the dark crystals and touched it, trying to see where the runes had failed, after a few moments I left it and moved to the next. I could probably repair it in time but at the moment I wanted to get myself situated before spending too much time fiddling with the lights. 

 

I had however managed to find two other lights that should be fairly easy to fix and I threw them in my bag along with the one I had managed to repair. 

 

Pulling out two of my knives I walked into the open doors in front of me being careful to check my corners. With the light over my head I had no hope of being stealthy and it wasn’t usually possible to sneak up on most monsters anyways so I instead tried to be as ready as possible. When I entered the rooms however I didn’t find monsters, I found a small camp. 

 

Examining the room I saw a simple set up with some very old looking alchemical equipment filled with some very new potions. There was also some strange clothes on the desk with various potions ingredients, food, and several other things that I couldn’t identify from my quick examination. I was about to start opening some of the strange containers when I heard something. Walking over to the door I listened as intently as I could. 

 

Click slide, click slide, click slide. 

 

Whatever it was it was rhythmic and coming straight towards me. I couldn’t think of why a person, especially a Lamia would be making that sound. Closing the door I pulled out my knives, hid behind the desk and extinguished all of the lights. 

 

After a few minutes I heard the shuffling stop outside the door. Tensing myself I tried to still my magic. Most monsters had excellent Mana senses to go along with whatever more mundane senses they had, but if I was careful I actually may be able to get the drop on it. 

 

Click slide, click slide.  

 

The sounds were approaching the desk, so I slipped around the desk on the other side, I would only have a few seconds so I would need to make them count. Rushing out from behind the desk I flared my light magic in its face as it turned around, even monsters were vulnerable to that old trick. 

 

Whatever this thing was it was taller than me by about half a foot and had stood on hind legs, not related to a Lamia then. I struck at the creature when it dove to the side rolling and coming up flailing at me with a weapon.  

 

Monsters didn’t use weapons.