All around, slaughter-fest ensued.
Macabre deaths surrounded me, as Algier's guts flew through the air, clashing with a head encased in a helmet, separated from its body and soaring below the ceiling.
I struggled to stand but eventually managed to get on my feet - only to stagger a moment later, when my will, goodness and willingness to help were defeated by my instincts to flee.
Instead of walking forward and launching an icicle to help my companions fight against the opponents, I turned my back and fled, leaving them to a certain death.
I ran through the dark corridor, back the way we came, stumbling on the uneven ground and accumulating a collection of scratches and bruises that slowly made my body numb.
I thought I managed to flee with my life intact until I reached the first chamber - then - a slippery, yet hard impacts started to echo from the corridor behind me. A Frog-man gave chase.
My feet carried me as fast they could, returning to the unimaginable pace that I somehow reached when running for my life from the slaughter chamber.
The slippery stomps grew closer, closing on me despite my hardest efforts.
I had the Gate in sight when a stray rock caught my feet mid-stride - making me fall face-first onto the cold, damp rock beneath.
I looked behind, hearing the Frog-man breathing heavily, just a few metres behind me, only to see a falling blade, reflecting the Gate's myriad of colours.
Falling straight between my eyes.
---
"Are you okay Adam?" Stellmo broke me out of a deep thought.
"I... Just think I forgot about something..." It was that deep, overpowering thought that always haunted me after leaving the house to do something, a feeling of loss and un-remembrance.
"Oh, don't worry, it's normal. Everyone feels like that when faced with something stressful." The red-eyed warrior tried to brighten my mood, I think - but it only made me feel worse.
When I looked at him, following the basic decorum when speaking with someone, I felt dread and fear, a bloodied face appeared in my vision. A deep fog concealed the place around it, obscuring my thoughts.
"Why the big eyes?" He asked, reciprocating the gaze.
"... Is imagining how your companions die also normal?" I asked, worried.
He looked at me closely, his red eyes focusing somewhere above my nose.
"Depends. In your case, from what I heard, it may be just natural" He looked away. "But please, try to refrain from doing so, or at least don't tell me next time... - I don't like to be reminded that I am but a mortal, especially before venturing into the unknown." He quieted down at the end.
"Okay..."
A few moments later, Fenfallal stepped through the amalgamation of colours, after prompting us to follow right behind him.
I moved forward, putting my leg through the twisting colours with intense worry, before the magic pushed all the air out of me just like the other two times I walked through a Gate.
Wait, two times? No, only one - the gate embedded into the monolith was my first time...
Anyway, soon after regaining sight and functionality of my lungs, I felt the snow envelop my legs - up to the middle of my calves, and blinding sunlight shining from all sides, reflecting off the white powder.
"A mountain top, good. I won't be useless here." I said right after.
We stood on top of a mountain, with deep falls on the left and right and a vague path visible in the snow before us, leading down in a serpentine way. Behind us, a huge rock stood encased in snow, a Gate design I could call classic already.
"Maybe, but it isn't so good for us as a whole. In a dungeon, there shouldn't be any long-range opponents, nor flying ones." I shuddered on the thought, as Stellmo's comment stirred something deep inside me.
I flicked my wrist and created a rune for [Shield] in the air before me. A transparent barrier enveloped me in a dome shape, preparing me for an ambush.
"Good thinking. Also, prepare to cast some attacks at the moment's notice,... those clouds could be hiding some truly malicious things." Stellmo commented, seeing magic surround me.
Following his words, I looked above - to see the clouds hanging suspiciously low. Though, we were on a peak after all, it was not that the clouds were low, it was we who were high.
"Focus on me for a moment," Fenfallal ordered from ahead, assuming leadership. I looked at him, but soon turned my gaze, unable to focus with such a vivid sight of horror before my eyes. "We will walk in a close formation, so keep no more than two metres of distance between each other. Algier and Aldam will walk in the middle, I will take the front, Stellmo behind, Gravis the right wing and Tensyn the left one. Keep a lookout on your side - as for the mages, focus on the air." Closing the speech, he turned on his snow-covered heel and started the march down the mountaintop.
I looked at Stellmo worryingly, then turned around and followed the swordmaster.
I mostly looked at the sky, when I didn't need to watch out for my feet. When I abandoned my post and turned neither to my feet nor to the sky - I enjoyed beautiful mountain views. While crossing the Fire Mountains, I couldn't get enough of the high peaks and mesmerising valleys - as we were walking inside those valleys and looking up at the mountains.
Now though, as we trod on the mountain's spine, and were about to descend slowly - I had plenty of room to look down and be amazed at the slope.
Vibrant green trees bent along the ice-cold winds, their mighty trunks supporting a multitude of branches, each different yet so similar to each other.
A rogue bear, or sometimes more exotic monsters strode through the woods, stalking each other in hopes of easy prey - only to be horribly disappointed way later into the day. Either dead or dead tired.
Side to side with the somewhat lush forest, that could pose as great wood from the plains or hill-covered countryside if some deciduous trees were added, the ground went through a gradient - through low bushes and grasses, to a rocky slope.
There, I saw multiple mountain goats - one even chewed by a big cat. Near them, rodent-like creatures, nearly invisible amongst the lichens fought ferociously for survival, having birds of prey watching them constantly, in search of an opportunity.
Unfortunately, amongst the all-natural terrain which could be used to define a forest in every corner of the world, grounds scarred by battles and appearances of powerful beasts, kings of these peaks, lay.
Nearby that goat, which had become a cat's food not long ago, a shallow ravine stretched over a few dozen metres. While overall, the point of snow laid very high, relatively close to my location - over there, around the land's scar - it was frozen. Sticking out like a sore thumb from the mostly green terrain around it.
Death and strife were present even in those most beautiful places as if they couldn't leave us alone for even a moment.
And that's in the relatively low area of the mountains, where the trees still grow and 'normal' animals live.
The higher I looked, the closer my eyes ventured to the point of ever-snow, the less vegetation I saw. There, monsters of various ranks roamed, leaving their caves and hideouts to hunt for food or social rank among each other.
Somehow though, the top was relatively peaceful. Snow was fresh, but even then some marks of battle should be visible, yet it was all clean and for the past twenty-ish minutes, no monster dared to approach us.
From what I saw, I concluded that the beast's strength is proportional to the height they live on, so even if we had some invisible aura deterring the magical animals, those who live at the top should have attacked us regardless - full of pride and unwilling to share their territory.
"Stop daydreaming Adam! We didn't come to sightsee!" Stellmo berated me from behind, probably noticing that I focused more on the mountains below than the skies above.
"Sorry.., I got distracted." I apologised, in a not-so-apologetic tone.
A few minutes passed, in which I struggled hard not to look down and observe something more interesting than a few dozen clouds flying around, each whiter than the other.
"Say... what got you so distracted?" Stellmo asked eventually, breaking the silence.
Few of our other companions glanced towards us, some with disapproving looks, some curiously.
"It's... just weird. From what you told me, when stepping into a dungeon you appear in a relatively peaceful area, then go face a more powerful challenge, yet here we are - on top of a mountain." I explained.
Stellmo didn't say anything for a while, long enough to make someone else converse with me.
"What's unusual about it?" Tensyn asked me from my left.
"Well... if you look down, you can see that monsters get more powerful along with the height - which would imply that the apex predator lives on the mountaintop, yet there is none here."
"... That's worrying," Algier interjected, looking behind me.
I followed his gaze and found myself looking at the Gate protruding from a peak in the distance. It looked the same as before, but I couldn't stop thinking that there was something wrong with my sight, or the things I saw.
We stopped moving, Fenfallal looked around in worry, his head dashing from side to side - before sharply turning upwards.
"Clouds!" He shouted.
I looked up and saw five or six flying beasts.
Their wings were huge, but the rest of their bodies couldn't be bigger than that of a dog, and while they were similar to the canines in size, nothing else connected the creatures to the men's loyal companions.
White fur, smooth and silky, covered every centimetre of their bodies apart from their bat-like, white wings and huge talons similar in colour. Disgusting fags stuck out of their monkey-like mouths, slightly reflecting the sunlight along with the huge talons and large claws at the ends of their wings.
I covered a little, coming closer to the snow-ridden earth, before sticking my hand out of the comforting heat of the pocket - and summoning the runes.
[Shield], already shone near my figure, enveloping me in a transparent barrier that would save me from an attack - but now, three others appeared near it, right above my outstretched hand.
Two [Icicle]'s and a [Sway] - the last one propelled the others as they flew, towards the flying beasts.
But before my spells could reach their mark, a golden crescent and a nearly invisible blade of wind struck down our foes. One decapitating, the other cutting in half from head to waist.
My spells haven't achieved such success - understandably so - one of the icicles completely missed its mark, flying far into the distance, and the other imbed itself into the creature's shoulder - it didn't outright kill, but even then it achieved a good result, bringing the monster down from the clouds.
That's how two of the creatures perished, and one was banished from the sky.
I, seeing the result, didn't follow up with another barrage towards the clouds - I tried to finish what I started and sent the icicles I summoned in the meantime towards the creature that had fallen from the sky.
Unfortunately, Gravis was faster. He stood near to where the hideous monster fell, and slashed across it immediately after it neared.
My ice-made nails, on the other hand, flew next to its head. I would have hit it square where I aimed, had Gravis not changed its position with his attack.
Seeing my foe fell, I looked around once more - the two others, which were still circling in the clouds when I last saw them, already laid in the snow a few metres away from Fenfallal - One with a head blown off, and charred body, the other sliced in multiple pieces as if with a razor.
The Royal Swordmaster and an Advanced Mage took care of them, and based on their appearance afterwards, they didn't even break a sweat.
Now, I get it - I am far below them, and if I could take care of the monster, they should have an easy time - but still, I would feel much better if they had to try harder.
"So, not an apex predator." Fenfallal noticed, standing over the most intact corpse, poking it with his sabre.
I looked around, at the bloody snow and the corpses buried partially in it. It really wasn't an apex predator - more like complete fodder.
Even I could deal with them, and given some preparation I probably could fight all five of them at the same time.
"They are at the bottom of the food chain - maybe here, at the peak that connects heaven and earth, another territory starts." I hypothesised.
"Go on." Fenfallal encouraged me.
"Maybe the aerial beasts live in the caves on the peak - and hunt in the air above. Just as below, the higher they fly the stronger they are.
It would explain why land-based monsters don't go near here - while some weak aerial beasts have their dwelling on the peak, they live along the top predators."
I took a deep breath and continued.
"For these monsters that may be interested in the weak, sneaking through their land-based heavy class and then going between the air predators only for their prey to potentially fly in the sky and escape is simply not worth it. As such, small aerial creatures have some space to live."
Fenfallal fell silent, then Stellmo interjected.
"Yeah, makes sense..." He said that, but when I looked at him I saw a confused man, then a face that was cut apart in multiple places, all in blood.
I stopped facing him, my mind played tricks on me each time I took a closer look at any of my companions, as if something was sealed deep inside me, or I was influenced without my knowledge...
"No matter, we have to press on. Going down, we shouldn't encounter much of the airborne creatures anyway - if Adam's theory proves correct."
Fenfallal once again resumed the march through shin-high snow, this time much more confidently and rashly. We already faced some of the dangers waiting on the mountain, and having conquered the unknown, each and every one of our group gained confidence in our collective might.
The snowy road stretched into the horizon, slowly turning around and disappearing behind the mountainslope. Around it, small plants slowly poked through the thick layer of snow, showing the vegetation's might and perseverance in the harsh environment and telling us that we were closer to the mountain's base with each passing minute.
The creatures that had attacked us the first time seemed to be the only ones who gained interest in our humble selves among the heaven's inhabitants, as no other bird-like monster descended from above to hunt us down - yet, those stable on their feet, and with the agility of the wind, tried their hardest to eat a hearty breakfast featuring a humble beginner magician alongside side dish made of tough-meated warriors.
First was some mountain lion, who in defiance of Fenfallal's presence - which seemed to deter most predators from coming our way - lunged at me from a rock a few dozen metres away.
During the massive jump, which lasted maybe five or six seconds from the initial flex of muscles to the thud against the ground, Fenfallal and Algier once again proved their competency and shot the target down before it managed to crash into me with its heavy body, break my bones then rip my throat apart with its massive fangs.
I, on the other hand, despite reacting to the cat's sudden appearance, hadn't managed to counterattack. Yet, I am not disappointed with my doings - the icicle managed to form, I just needed some more time to launch it forward with fast enough speed. Had it been a less powerful monster, it wouldn't manage to hunt me down without a scratch.
Leaving the massive cat's corpse behind, we finally neared a considerable turn, first on the path we trod. The road that hid beneath the snow, recognisable by the stable flat ground it provided even under the heavy blanket, twisted around a massive rock poking out of the mountainside, blocking the view of what lay ahead and acting as a landmark I tried my hardest to remember for future navigation purposes.
When we neared the big rock and poked around it to see the road ahead, what waited for us was a giant goat. Wide spread legs, with giant hooves buried in the snow, magnificent white fur and menacing horns poking from its head. - it had all the attributes of a giant death-bringing goat.
Looking at us, who just emerged from behind the cornering boulder, the vertical slits in its eyes narrowed, focusing on us.
It spread its forelegs even more apart, and meed at us menacingly.
"Step back!" Stellmo shouted from behind me, rushing in between the goat and Fenfallal with his shield raised.
As the goat moved, Stellmo exploded with flames, augmenting himself mightily and preparing himself to repel the vicious horn charge.
With a head lowered, the white beast rushed at the flaming warrior, its speed was surprising, but believable. I didn't get the impression that it was a very powerful monster from observing it.
Mighty hooves raised a cloud of snow into the air, as the goat neared Stellmo, but just before it managed to strike its horns against the flaming shield, a golden flash blinded me - leaving me in ave at the sight that unfolded in the time I couldn't see.
Fenfallal stood next to a fallen carcass, split in two. Lightning still cracked around him in golden arcs, lighting up the area and further increasing the pain received from the sunlight reflecting off of the snow.
The goat's head, separated from its body, left a stream of smoke going to the sky. Similarly, the cut-off neck was charred black.
"Ohh... How refreshing..." Fenfallal sighed, hiding his sabre back into the sheath.
"You just had to steal it from me, had you?" Stellmo asked angrily, staring daggers at his superior.
"You tried to steal him from me first, I am just protecting my rights." The Royal Swordmaster responded, completely certain about his statement.
"Oh, fuck off." Stellmo spat out and slowly returned to the back of the formation, ignoring the ridiculing looks the rest of us gave him and Fenfallal.
The golden warrior on the other hand, smirked at his leaving friend and focused on the goat for some time - afterwards, we resumed our march down the mountain, in search of the beast guarding the area.
Behind the boulder, the path took a drastic turn, making us nearly face the direction of the Gate, nothing unusual on a mountain path, but there was something surprising associated with it.
The other side of the mountain turned out to be much steeper than the one I had admired before, the slope on our right side, barely off the road was a cliff hanging above a chasm.
I looked down, and the only thing I saw was white - everything else blurred together as if a blizzard raged down below.
And then, I fell.
A burst of wind caught me off guard, throwing me off the edge, towards the foothills below the cliff, where the wind ravished the snowy landscape.
Falling, I turned just in time to see my companions cross the threshold and uncontrollably trash down towards me. The only one marginally in control was Algier, who seemed to control his fall by reflex.
Behind them all, a massive wing poked from behind the mountain, as if some gargantuan bird flipped us off the edge by mistake while preparing for flight...
I felt small, looking at the grand mountain becoming bigger and bigger in my eyes, while I myself remained an ant, an ant whose only hope was in being rescued.