After four hours of rest they hit the road again, albeit not riding, but walking at fast pace. The night in the jungle was too dark to ride a horse at full speed, thus they mounted them only after the sunrise. This time they were not bothered by any kind of compassion towards the animals and when they reached the mountain trail, the horses were literally half dead. Nick gave another twenty gold to the servant, who already had an ugly look on his face, as compensation – it was way more than the worth of the horses and, if the servant didn't ran off, master Maori would've been compensated generously.
Without saying anything, trio ran up the mountain trail, soon disappearing from the servant's sight, who, in fact, was considering his options at this moment. The sack of gold could feed him for his whole life if he was frugal enough.
The trail was more like a dried up brook or a leftover from a stream that carried down the rainwater during the rainstorms. It looked like a long snake crawling up the slopes and sometimes it was even cut off with cliffs that trio had to scale.
The three figures without any luggage continued to run and sometimes climb for two hours and, when Steven couldn't keep up anymore, Clayton carried him on his back for a half an hour and then they ran all three again. This continued till afternoon when even Nick felt pained all over, but, although they couldn't care less about how they felt, they had to make a stop to rest before the next part of the climb.
In a bit more than a half a day they managed to reach the snowy part of the mountain range. The air was thin and chilly and small spots of snow were the evidence of cold and unpleasant upcoming night. The tropical jungle was replaced by a pine tree forest some time ago and the thin air made everyone increase the frequency of their breathing.
Steven wore warmer clothes, while Nick exactly the opposite – changed to his usual jeans and shirt. Mostly because he was more comfortable in those and wasn't cold in these conditions as well. Even if they were in a hurry, he decided to check his cold resistance and see if it worked like the heat resistance he experimented on while on the boat. In case he got cold, he could quickly grab and wear something, so it wasn't a big deal.
The next problem they encountered while resting was brought, possibly, by their ever decreasing luck.
"Ambush!" Clayton shouted and pulled out his sword. The boys followed and three of them took defensive positions few meters apart with their backs to each another.
Seven gray mountain lions slowly showed themselves between the rocks and carefully made their way towards the newfound pray.
"Rank three! Be careful!" Nick warned. Although few rank three beasts were not a big deal for a group of their caliber, they still had to be careful. This was the territory of these attackers and there might be more hiding somewhere behind the rocks.
Lions quickly estimated the strengths of their pray and most gathered in front of Clayton, while only two approached Steven and one – Nick. Then, as if someone gave a command, all of them pounced at the same time.
Nick used his Wakizashi to cut the attacker in halves and went over to help Clayton while Steven was almost done with the two cats himself. After the quick fight all mountain lions were down and the only one who got injured was Nick – this time his weapon choice proved to be his weakness. Even if he could cut through anything, the lion paw still managed to scratch his chest, albeit only slightly.
Nick wasn't bothered by that, quickly applied a healing paste on his wound and wore a new shirt. The trio left the site immediately after that, because the scent of blood will attract more predators pretty quickly, especially now with the evening approaching.
They continued to climb and soon Clayton had to carry Steven since currently they were stepping on a deep snow. But Nick, while he wore a warm jacket and a hat, was still in his regular attire. The only thing reminding others they were still within the same world was the steamy breath coming out of Nick's nostrils while he performed his usual Qi technique.
Nick discovered an interesting element to his cold resistance. Contrary to the heat, he would still feel the coolness of air, but his body was producing a lot of warmth to withstand it. Although it consumed a lot of energy, he replenished it with constant snacking on nuts and honey while continuing the climb.
They were high above the sea level and on the western side of the mountain range, therefore the setting sun was visible longer than in the jungle. Thus they could prolong their journey by almost an hour and a half and only then reluctantly made a camp between two rock piles that acted as natural defense to the chilly gusts of wind.
To not attract any predators, they didn't light up a fire, but took their turns to guard each other.
Steven's watch lasted the longest – he knew this was one of the rare opportunities on this trip where he could be useful and thus he let the others rest as much as they could. The next day will be much more difficult than this one and they would have to cross the highest point of this journey. The cold and wind will be incomparable to anything they experienced until now, therefore a good rest was imperative.
While they could enjoy the sunlight longer in the evening, the morning came later as well. The east was shielded by the high mountains and the sun would greet them only when it was almost noon. Thankfully there was a positive side to the snow – the natural ability to reflect light brightened up the surroundings and the trio could continue their way up the mountains.
At this point they knew it was impossible to completely cover the whole distance within the next day and they will have to stay in the mountains one more night. Still, they intended to cover as much ground as possible.
While climbing they saw a couple packs of rank three snow wolves, but those just toured around them couple of times and then left when the trio reached the icy part of the trail. Of course, there was no trail anymore – they were simply aiming through the lowest spot between two high mountain peaks, but even that was an unpleasant experience. Even Nick finally wore some clothes, albeit compared with the other two it looked more symbolic.
When they reached the highest point, the sun was exactly above them, but the closeness to it didn't help at all. It felt as if the rays of sun had a freezing effect that got amplified with the gusts of the piercing wind. It was cold to extreme, but all three of them were happy. If they were at midday here, in the evening they could be almost down the mountain, at least it was what logic told them.
Soon they realized that the way down was harder than the way up. Every time anyone slipped, it was accompanied by the risk to fall off a cliff or get buried in the snow and, even if they tried, there was no way for them to increase their speed and start running.
Nick got a five meter long rope from his wristband and tied around himself and the other end around Clayton who was still carrying Steven. This way they could safeguard each other and even though it slowed them down, at least they didn't have any accidents.
Good news was that on the eastern side of the Heaven mountain range they didn't encounter any ferocious beasts like they did yesterday, but the trio still didn't let their guard down.
Learning from the experience and using the brightness of the snow, they managed to continue their way even after the sunset and stopped only right after midnight when they reached a thicker forest. Exhausted, they made a small camp and this time Nick quickly cooked a warm soup. After eating Steven did his best to not fall asleep and guard the other two who almost instantly passed out after finishing their bowls.
With the first rays of sun all three were on the move again. In the pleasant surroundings of the cool pine forest there was no need for Clayton to carry Steven and they steadily ran down the mountain slopes. From time to time they were obstructed by cliffs, but in some way it was even helping them compared to the other travelers who normally would go long roundabout routes to find more convenient ways down.
At midday they already could discern the Rolum town in the distance. Master Maori was right, it did look more like a city, at least from high above. It looked like it's size was ten times bigger than Anula and no wonder the merchants made this place a regular stop for their caravans.
Trio increased their speed as much as they could. The plan now was to reach Rolum in the afternoon, quickly purchase nine, maybe twelve horses and leave immediately. The traveling supplies now didn't matter since they would charge as fast as they could without any stops. After exiting the jungle on the savanna road they could continue their way during the night, at least partially and if not on running, then on walking pace.
Soon they arrived at the cliff's edge right above the city. The sight was breathtaking and, even if they were in a hurry, they still stopped for a minute to enjoy it. Several hundred meters right below their feet, was the city center and from it in a form of a semicircle houses stretched outwards in the distance. Currently the trio was so high up it was hard to discern the almost microscopic figures of humans.
"How come they are not afraid of avalanches or landslides?" Nick pondered out loud while kicking a small stone and hitting a nearby rock.
Before his companions could reply, reacting to the pebble that hit it, the large, gray rock nearby moved and they heard a low growl. The shocked trio saw how over two meter high rock suddenly got on its feet and turned blood red eyes towards them and a huge mouth with dangerous teeth made another, louder growl.
They jumped few steps back and Clayton and Steven instantly drew their weapons. As an answer to that the beast in front of them suddenly seemed to light up in flames, its fur turning bright red.
'Flame wolf!' Nick got a huge shock.
In front of them was the legendary existence – the rank six beast, flame wolf, and, if it decided to attack, nothing could save them. He still remembered how Angel killed a ton of the Holy Sect's freaks even though he was poisoned.
"Sheath your weapons!" Nick shouted to his companions and then turned to the annoyed beast, "Please excuse us for disturbing your rest. I know you can understand us very well and the fact you don't find puny humans like us a worthwhile meal."
The huge fiery wolf tilted its head a little and took a step towards Nick while almost instantly covering the three meter distance between them. It looked at the small human from above and it was obvious there was no escape from this.
'How do I always land in these situations?!' The gears in Nick's head were turning rapidly as he tried to think of a way out, 'He's a sentient being and can be reasoned with!'
"You see, I have a friend – a rank six shadow eagle and he taught me a little about the legendary existences like you. There is no reason for you to lower yourself to our level. We will go and you can continue to enjoy the beautiful sight."
Nick tried to smile while at the same time forcing his knees to not give in. Clayton and Steven were equally shocked and recognized the beast in front of them as well. What shocked them even more was Nick who tried to talk to it. Doing something was better than getting eaten and there was no way for them to outrun this rank six monster, therefore they mostly stayed still and tried to not look aggressive.