Jonas wasn't sure what he would have found the most surprising that morning: Aquis apologizing for what he'd done, the competition ending early and sending all the contestants back, or Lance deciding to not have the army continue accompanying them.
Lance had seemed determined to follow Kim around, based solely on how she'd been seen leading the others into combat back when his home was under siege on the night of his sister's birthday. Kim certainly hadn't liked others looking up to her like that, let alone following her. Nor had she been able to convince any of them to leave her alone.
Yet suddenly Lance seemed to have made the decision to take time to train the army, rather than continue on with Kim. An action that felt like it was completely out of the blue. Even Elin, Kim, and Elmo seemed just as surprised about this turn of events as Jonas was.
"Once we're ready to help, we'll find where you're at and come straight for you," Lance assured them.
"Is this because of how I didn't have time to discuss whatever it was last night?" Kim asked, sounding rather uneasy for some reason Jonas couldn't figure out.
Lance merely shook his head. "Not really. I guess in a way it is, but not directly. It's just that someone else mentioned about how the army could use a bit more training to prepare for things like that shadow. So, if we continued on with you, we'd only hold you back."
Jonas couldn't be sure, but he had a feeling that Lance glanced at Elmo when he mentioned 'someone else.' He couldn't be sure that it happened, especially when he wasn't sure what it would have been about, but it wasn't like he had any reason to say anything. Even Elmo did have a hand in this turn of events.
"Okay, well, good luck with all that," Kim merely replied, looking rather uncomfortable.
No need to sound so broken up about it, Jonas thought to himself as he looked away, smiling.
"We'll make you proud," Lance assured Kim.
With that, they continued on, though only Elin seemed uneasy about leaving the army behind, even though they each were taking along with them enough food to last them for a while. As they walked along, Jonas couldn't help but notice Elin repeatedly glancing back towards where they had come from.
"Are you sure they'll be okay? Elin asked at one point, after the sun had started shining directly down on them.
"They'll be fine, my gem," Kim answered dismissively. "I'm sure they'll figure out that they're just playing at being soldier and eventually go home."
"You never know," Jonas remarked. "Even if it started out with them doing just that, they might have started to mature and decide to actually be realistic about it all."
Kim waved her hand as if she was trying to wave away a bad smell. "Doesn't matter. They'll be fine on their own and will still be doing whatever when we finish this competition and return to our own worlds."
Jonas wanted to say something about Kim's statement, but felt that if he did he'd be opening up a can of worms that he really wouldn't care to deal with. Especially since this wasn't a topic that really mattered. If anything, it would merely keep them from continuing on with the search.
Jonas wondered what Kim might have with the army that had followed her and declared her their leader. He wasn't sure if it was because they were made up of mostly enthusiastic youths that had started idolizing her or if it was because she didn't want to be responsible for their lives, and maybe deaths. Though, one thing he was becoming confident about was that it wasn't because they were male.
While Kim seemed to make a big deal out of hating men, Jonas got the impression that she was either putting on a front or trying to convince herself. He wasn't sure what had caused her to do that, but as long as it didn't affect them working together in a negative way, he couldn't care less about it. If it did start affecting them, then he knew they'd have to deal with it. Though he hoped it wouldn't come to that. He really didn't want to have to deal with anything as tedious as that.
The day continued on and as they walked, Jonas started to wonder if the army staying behind might have been a good thing, given now they might not have to worry so much about the condition regarding getting help completing challenges. He didn't want to say anything out loud, just in case he might jinx the whole situation or that whoever was in charge of the competition might take exception to anything he might say. Although, he was more worried about the people in charge of the competition getting ideas than he was about jinxing anything.
The farther they traveled, the higher the canyon walls around them seemed to rise. Jonas was certain that the walls were as high as they were going to go, but it merely felt like they were continuing to rise.
Either that or they themselves were getting smaller. Which Jonas was pretty sure wasn't happening, given how the river seemed to be the same distance across as it had been so far.
When the sun was about to disappear behind the other side of the canyon, it suddenly turned and Jonas felt more like they'd stepped into another world than he had ever felt so far since the competition started. All four of them stopped walking for a few minutes as they took in what lay before them.
None of them could tell if it was just a trick of the light or an illusion, but just the sight before them was enchanting on it's own.
While they had seen the light sparkling off of the stone in these mountains, at this place, it almost felt like it had gone onto a whole different level. Not only had the colors shifted to where it almost seemed like a work of art, but the very air seemed to vibrate with the beauty of what they saw.
Each rock almost seemed to be either a crystal of some sort or a gemstone of perfect quality. While there wasn't any plant life to be seen, it gave the sense that the rocks themselves were growing, making even the river seem like a gemstone of its own.
Jonas couldn't help but feel a little guilty walking into the scene before them, but knew that there wasn't another path that they could have taken. So, already feeling like he was committing a crime for just taking a step forward, Jonas started walking into the crystalized painting before him. Each step somehow echoing around him, even somehow bouncing off the sky.
He didn't dare speak, afraid that his voice would resonate off of his surroundings and somehow cause everything to shatter. However, at the same time, he felt desperate to say something. He didn't know what it was or why he felt the need, but given how even walking through this felt like a crime more serious than anything he could think of, he couldn't help but feel that speaking would be an even worse crime.
He wasn't sure how far they'd come, but he vaguely noticed bleached bones on the ground around them as they passed. Some were animals, but others looked more humanoid. Part of him wanted to look to see what they were, but there was something inside him that told him to keep moving forward.
What had first seemed like a peaceful, serene world of its own, somehow started to feel like it was closing in on him. He quickly glanced at the others and wasn't sure if he was imagining things as their expressions didn't match what he was currently feeling, but was starting to feel like something was wrong with what they were seeing.
He didn't have any idea what it was, just that it almost felt like he could hear a pulse in the very rocks and that whatever it was that made the rocks like they were was hungry. That if they made more noise than they were merely walking, that the rocks would turn them into bones as well.
Jonas wanted to ask Elmo to use his View Stats spell, but felt that doing even that would awaken the very rocks that he was starting to fear immensely. That the rocks were otherwise unaware of their presence and would seek to devour them the moment more the sound of a footstep was heard.
Jonas couldn't help but recall about how many predators had colorful designs or patterns on them, things that would either alert those who knew what to look for about the danger or would draw in prey the predator sought. Such as with venomous snakes and the like.
When they finally reached the other side of those crystalline rocks, it felt like they were freed from an enchantment in itself and could even breathe again normally. Even the surrounding noise that Jonas hadn't realized had stopped, such as the sound of the water in the river, returned, telling Jonas that they were out of whatever spell they had fallen under just travelling through that part of the canyon.
"What happened?" Elin asked suddenly, stopping.
"What do you mean?" Kim asked, sounding like she hadn't noticed anything wrong.
Elin turned to look back at the crystalline rocks that somehow seemed to be getting farther and farther distant from them.
"It felt like there was something there that was alive. That was getting hungry," Elin answered, sounding rather distant, like her mind was somewhere else.
"How could rocks possibly eat anything?" Kim asked dismissively.
"Well, why not see if those rocks have any stats, Elmo?" Jonas suggested.
"Huh?" Elmo asked, looking a little startled.
"Why not use your View Stats on the rocks we just passed?" Jonas repeated.
"Uh, okay?" Elmo asked, looking back at where they'd come from. "View Stats."