The landscape gradually shifted as Alaric and Gilbert drove further away from the familiar surroundings of the mansion. The verdant greenery of the forests gave way to rocky terrain, and the air grew noticeably cooler, a sharp contrast to the warm embrace of the morning sun that had greeted them when they first set out. The Frozen Peaks loomed in the distance, their jagged outlines stark against the clear blue sky, a forbidding reminder of the trials that lay ahead.
Alaric sat in the passenger seat, his eyes fixed on the road ahead but his mind elsewhere. Thoughts of Lucy lingered like a shadow in his heart, her pale face and fragile form haunting him. Every beat of his heart seemed to echo with the urgency of his mission. He had to find his grandmother, and he had to do it quickly. Time was not on their side.
