Their second week in the mountain was mostly spent in complete misery. They left the forest and traveled up the path for two days, but then the path came to an end. From then onwards, they had to climb the mountain and use the small narrow pathways to ascend further.
It was complete torture. When they climbed they had to do it slowly and steadily. Ciaran was mounted on top of Ariadne, and even though the boy wasn't chubby anymore, he still slowed her down. Climbing separately was unviable as well. Without the spider's stealth, the boy would become some random bird's breakfast.
The higher they climbed the more those reached birds got in their way. The birds that stayed higher on the mountain had better perception, their eyes saw further and the cherry on top was that they were faster as well.
The duo had sustained a lot of damage, but it was nothing creping. The worst part of it was the narrow pathways. Ariadne couldn't stay on them as she was too big, and she couldn't climb next to Ciaran because the way that would position her was impractical. Should a threat come and aim for his life she would not be able to respond in time.
The only stroke of good luck they had was that they found small cracks in the suffice of the mountain. With a little digging, it was enough for Ciaran to get in and sleep. Food was scarce, however, and unlike in the forest, they did not have the luxury of cooking it.
"Cooked squirrel was so much better than this. Well, beggars can't be choosers, I guess, but I hope we find a bigger cave so I can at least cook one good meal soon." He said as he munched on a mountain lion's leg.
They were by far the most common thing that the duo encountered on their path. The overgrown cats were stronger than them but were also ambush predators, and when it came to stealth Ariadne was the best. They snuck up on the cats from behind and strangled them to death.
Ciaran had a rope made from Ari's web, which he used to strangle/ cut into their thoughts. Ari was on poisoning and restraining duty.
Together they easily took down their prey, but a few times the cats got a jump in on them. Ciaran and his familiar were good at stealth attacks and trapping, not so much at detecting ambushes. It had become a braw, in which Ari lost one leg and Ciaran one of his eyes.
Needless to say, they were more than a little shaken up by that incident, so their speed slowed down even further. Now they waited out the strong winds that came with the higher altitude to make sure their disguise would not be broken at random.
More than once the wind had pushed the spider where she didn't want to go. It wasn't enough to trough her off the side of the mountain but it was more than enough to break her stealth. She was not equipped for a mountain climb and the higher they went the worst it got.
When two weeks had passed and Verdania came for her biweekly visit, she found them roughed up and bloody. As much as they tried they could not avoid the avian predators. Ciaran had his left arm limping, and his nose torn off as a bonus to his previous injuries. Ari on the other hand had lost three more legs and had a chunk of her ass ripped off, the wound was cauterized.
Verdania had expected them to be bruised up, but this was more than she bargained for. If Eleftherios or Elizabeth were to see them like this they would flip out. Even the
female dryad, who thought herself above smothering her young in needless protection was on the verge of dragging them back home.
"Got the feathers, all forty of them." The boy said, his voice a grow.
It seemed he had recently been crying again, as his eyes were red and puffed, and his voice changed. Before the Archmage could ask, he pulled her towards the spider. The boy was wounded badly, but the spider couldn't even get up, and her eyes were misty.
It took Verdania six hours to heal them up to full. No doubt her brother will ask her why it took her so long, and she had to lie to him. He was bound to the Academy by nothing more than a promise, his restraints were mental, not magical in nature. If he learned what had happened to their young here, there was no force on this Continent that would be able to stop him.
"If Eleftherios were to ever learn the dept of your injuries, forget about ever leaving his side. To be honest with you, I don't know whether I should leave you here either. Two weeks, Ciaran, in just TWO weeks you almost got yourselves killed. How do I leave you here for three months?" She asked, and the boy shrugged.
"With a heavy heart and tainted conscience, I would assume. You know we got substantially stronger in these two weeks. Imagine what we will become in three months."
"Dragging us back home now is the logical thing any reasonable adult would do, but you will not. Give us until the end of the month, I promise you will see results." Ciaran said, not a shred of hesitation in his voice.
Verdania knew he was right, but she also knew that look in his eyes.
'I have only seen him look like that with that one monkey. He is out for blood.' She thought as she observed them. No doubt the boy wanted to repay whatever harmed his spider, but whether or not he could get his revenge was questionable at best.
Verdania thought she should back off a little on the pressure she had put the boy under.
" Like the first time, I gave you too big of a goal Rony. I only expected you to collect the feathers in these three months. The goat is too hard for you, and don't even think about going up that mountain."
"I was taunting you. I didn't want you to play it safe just because you had us as your mentors. But you are pushing it too hard."
The boy looked at her, his face was blank. The usual him would pretend to be shocked and insulted at the betrail. He, of course, knew that she set an impossible goal for him, but the rewards were great and he was taught that greed was a monster you had to feed regularly less you became obsolete.
He had been cut off from his family but their lessons stayed with him even now. That, as well as the gifts his unusual upbringing had left him with.
"We will not die, I promise you. I have a plan. Come back in two weeks and I will prove to you we will not only survive here. We. Will. Thrive." He said and his voice carried power.
The boy hadn't noticed it yet but his obsession had taken control of his mind. It did not cloud his judgment, but it did leave him blind to any and all paths of retreat. His body and soul had been pushed to the limit, and his soul was responding to his will.
The Air had been used subconsciously, the boy was on the very edge of awakening.
'If I let them stay, there is a good possibility Ciaran would be able to hear the Call before the summer is over.' Verdania knew that her choice was made. She knew that she would walk out of the small cave they had made for themselves and that she would worry every single moment of the next two weeks, and she would regret it all just moments after she leaves them. But she did, she did leave them.
"Please, Ciaran, Ariadne, don't die on me. Survive and RICE." She said floating atop the mountain. All the creatures Rank Four and up heard her last word and understood its meaning. Her young would rice, but should they cause them to fall, there will be nothing but death left for them.
With one last look at the duo, now hugging each other for warmth in that small little crevice, she teleported away.
She came back to the beach, the one she stayed at last summer. Unlike before she wasn't in need of a break from Eleftherios, she just couldn't look him in the eyes.
"If he sees me like this he would march. Even if I don't tell him where I left them he will march, and now isn't that a scary thought."
"Galewood the healer on the move again, wouldn't that bring the world some excitement." She sneered at
the cringy title Dyrta had given her brother and then sighted because of the second part its inhabitance had chosen to add.
Her brother had proved himself to this world, and it gave him a title worth his power. He of course never called himself that, for him, Eleftherios was more than enough. The healer was a nickname he got later in life when he was done with all the fighting and decided to cultivate life rather than destroy it.
Ciaran thought of her as a powerhouse but the only reason she was in charge of this huge territory was that no one else wanted to be her brother's warden. Well that, and Magi usually didn't quite give shit about territories, to begin with.
"I will keep quiet for two weeks Rony, after that; well I hope you surprise me…"
The dryad stared at the moon reflecting in the clear waters of her private beach and wondered if she truly did the right thing.