I took off my mask along with everyone else and gazed at a nearby flower in full bloom. It was large, almost as big as my face, and gave off a soothing, sweet scent.
Pippa's excitement had launched her into another one of her ecstatic explanations. "Tammy discovered interference on the scanner after putting the locator together. The stone's specific location was not revealed, and it was suggested that a high abundance of sage was the cause. Since the stone didn't show up anywhere else, Tammy predicted it would be in an area protected by sage."
"So all of this is being protected by an abundance of sage?" Lux asked.
"Yep." Pippa smiled as she pointed to a dense flowing pillar of light-greenish substance in the center of the protected area. The sage flow dispersed at the top, creating a protective coating that covered the top of the white mountain. "The stone should be somewhere within this protected area."
"Let's leave our packs and PSL hidden over here," Breccan said, indicating the rock wall.
"What kind of hiding place is that?" asked Rei. "Aren't there others here? What if our stuff gets stolen?"
"There's no one around, and it looks like the others didn't come through this way." Breccan took his pack off and shoved it under the rock ridge. "We won't be gone long, unless you want to carry your things with you …"
Rei grumbled, but everyone complied; I was even the second one to take off my backpack. If I didn't have to lug that thing around, I was all for it. I did, however, keep my small pack on my back, just in case. It didn't have much in it, only a flask of water, in fact.
"Hmmm." Breccan suddenly had a devious smile on his face as he faced the beautiful view. "I know; why don't we make a game of this?"
Everyone turned to him for a better explanation.
"Whichever team finds and reaches the stone first, gets to keep it. The team of the first person to touch it wins."
Kiko gave a similarly devious chuckle. "Fine by me." She exchanged smiles with Rei and grabbed me by my pack, and the three of us took off running. "We start now!"
"Hey!" I gasped as I was pulled quickly through the trees and brush. Most of Breccan's team watched us leave, like they expected us to just take off. They huddled together, probably coming up with a game plan before taking off in different directions. Finally, Kiko let go of me, and I stood up on my own again.
"You didn't have to drag me, and why are the three of us sticking together? Shouldn't we split up like Breccan and his crew to find the stone?"
She answered as she weaved through the trees toward the greenish pillar. "There's no need to. We both know where the stone is. I saw Pippa mumbling something to Breccan earlier, and the creepy smile he had on his face was a dead giveaway. It's just a matter of how we both approach it."
"We know where it's at?"
"I told Rei to look around after that using her soul link. Luckily there's still a lot of wildlife around here. It's just beyond the pillar, but we're not alone in this area. Remember the ship that crashed as we were leaving for the excursion? Well, Rei said they made it up here too. I'm sure Breccan split up his crew to ambush those ahead of us. We, on the other hand, are going straight for the stone."
I glanced at Rei, and she smiled. I guessed she already knew what Kiko was going to do. This was typical Kiko, rushing right in without thinking, and I was sure Breccan knew this too.
We made our way towards the small mountain that housed the pillar of light sprouting from the top of it.
"You sure there's a way through this mountain, Rei?" Kiko asked.
"Yeah, but it's like a maze in there so stick with me."
Then she slowed down briefly.
"What is it?" I asked behind her.
"I thought I saw …" She turned to Kiko with a slight look of confusion. "Never mind, it's nothing."
That was strange; Rei didn't usually have any problems looking ahead.
"Stay close to me," she commanded.
I followed Kiko who was right behind Rei, and we shimmied through a narrow crack in the mountain side.
I couldn't see a thing. It would've been pitch black if it weren't for the glowing green veins that covered the walls. I tried to keep up with the sound of Kiko and Rei, but it seemed like they were getting farther and farther ahead of me. I didn't want to hinder them, but I also didn't want to be left behind, lost in this maze of a mountain. Then it went silent, and I could see no movement at all.
"H-Hey!" I shouted.
No response. My heart started pounding. Was I lost?
My eyes caught movement ahead, and I ran to it, but there was nothing there.
My chest tightened. Okay, okay, okay … calm down, they can't be far, I told myself as I continued down an unknown path.
A beam of light shone through a small hole in the wall. I glanced through it as I passed, and my eyes widened. It was Kiko and Rei standing beside a pool of green liquid. I quickly did a double take back to the hole, but they were gone. This was apparently at the center of the mountain where light poured from the hole in the rock ceiling, but I couldn't see them anymore.
"Kiko! Rei!" I shouted out through the hole, hoping they would simply reappear.
Nothing happened.
Frustration began to take over; I was tired of running in circles. I stopped in a dark passageway to catch my breath and get my bearings straight. I bashed the wall with the bottom of my fist. How did this happen? I thought I was right behind Kiko when we entered the mountain.
Then I heard it. I perked up, looking in the direction I heard the murmuring.
I ran to the crack and heard Kiko and Rei's voices getting louder.
"Kiko! Rei!" I shouted as I slipped through the crack.
The area I entered was extremely bright, and I had to cover my eyes. When they finally adjusted, I found myself being stared at in bewilderment.
"Yeah, what is it?" asked Kiko as if nothing had happened.
I was happy and angry at the same time. "Didn't you guys notice I was missing?" I asked, trying not to get hysterical.
"Missing?" questioned Rei. "Since when? You've been with us the whole time. You were pretty quiet though. Is something wrong?"
"Uhh …" I was with them the whole time? That can't be. How would I explain what happened to me? I guessed it didn't matter anymore. I'd found them, and I was not going to lose them again. "It's … nothing, I guess."
Kiko peered at me. She knew I was lying but didn't say anything.
"Oookay," Rei said, raising an eyebrow.
I slapped a fake smile on my face and scurried next to them. There was no way we were going to be separated again, even if I had to jump on one of their backs.
I changed the subject. "So what are we doing here?"
"We just found this pool of sage. It looks like this is where the sage that's protecting this area is coming from."
We went up to the massive pool to get a better look. From where I stood I could feel the heat from the sage, although the liquid was still, rather than boiling—and I couldn't be sure how hot it was. We watched as the sage seemed to be steaming off and rising through the hole in the top of the mountain as a light-green pillar and protective shield.
For some reason, I was drawn to it. "You think it's safe to touch?" I asked, wanting to hold it in my hands.
"I have no idea," answered Rei, "but we can ask Tammy when we get back. I'll take some with us." She took out a canister from her pack and carefully filled it with the liquid.
Kiko stared into the green sage and then took out her knife and dipped it into the pool. "This stuff is supposed to be strong, right?" she asked, examining her knife.
"According to Tammy, yes," I answered.
We all watched as Kiko's black-bladed knife interacted with the sage. It bubbled then sizzled before finally hardening back into its original black form, but now it had a greenish-clear casing around the black blade.
She tapped it against a rock and then quickly stabbed it, breaking the rock in half with her knife.
I guessed that was working well for her. Her blade had slowly evolved since the first time I'd seen it. First, the embedded firestar in the handle, then a strange, organic, unknown creature-thing turned it black on Dezner, and now she'd hardened it with sage on Fargon. Was it even considered a knife anymore?
Rei discovered something. "Hey, it looks like there's a path across the pool if we use the rocks to jump across."
We studied the rocks that were just above the boiling pool.
"Yep," Kiko confirmed, "looks like we can cross here if we jump carefully."
We adjusted ourselves to form another line. I really, really didn't want to be last again. I was going to say something, but I didn't have to.
"All right, Rei, go first. Sarth, you go next since you're acting weird."
Acting weird? It wasn't like I wanted to be separated. I wasn't about to complain though.
Rei took the lead, and I jumped onto every stone she used. She was quite agile which meant her pace was quickly out-jumping mine. I lost track of which stones she used and ended up jumping to the wrong one.
"Sarth! No!" I heard Kiko yell before the stone sank beneath the bubbling green liquid, bringing me along with it.
I braced myself to be burned alive by the boiling hot sage. I even let out a quick 'ahhh! I'm burning!' manly-scream, but it never came. In actuality, the liquid was quite cool and thick.
I was completely submerged when I was suddenly lifted by Kiko.
"Can you please be careful!" she grumbled, her voice higher than usual, holding me up in front of her by my pack. The concern across her face was unmistakable.
I wiped my face before saying, "I'm sorry, I thought the rock was stable."
Rei sighed. "At least we know the sage isn't dangerous to touch. It looks like it's just sliding off your skin."
Kiko set me down, and I looked at my hands and arms. She was right; the sage was simply sliding right off, and leaving it dry to the touch. I didn't feel any different.
Kiko wiped off her arm. I would've died instantly after being submerged in the sage if it really was boiling, and she still risked losing her arm to try and save me even if it was smarter to just say goodbye to my puny human existence.
"Thanks for saving me," I told her.
She was still angry, however, and scolded back, "Just watch where you're goin'."
I really was hindering the journey. Maybe I shouldn't have gone along. I thought back to the seven days we'd been traveling. Throughout that entire time we had to go at my pace since I was the slowest, plus I had to eat the real food rations because I couldn't eat the nourishing capsule. I had to step it up if I wanted to make a difference and contribute to the mission.
We made it to the other side of the pool without any more problems, and I followed Rei back through the caves to the other side. I was so close to her in the dark that I had to watch where I stepped so I didn't trample on her. Losing them again was not going to happen.
Rei could sense my separation anxiety, and after a few steps she held out a hand to lead me through the dark. The glowing veins on the wall grew thinner as we came closer to the other side of the mountain.
After we stumbled through the last cavern, I felt as if we had just won the race. I would put that on my achievement list: Humans – 1, Crazy Mountain – 0.
It took us all a moment to readjust our eyes to the light, and what we saw afterward was stunning. A large ruby red stone was embedded in the ground about a mile ahead of us like it crash-landed there, waiting for someone to find it.
"That has to be it," I said in awe.
"Yeah, I agree," said Rei.
Kiko smiled. "Let's go claim it."