The next two days went by in a flash. Taylor was still excited about the possibility of gaining more power and would talk to him about his goals and dreams every time he brought by a meal.
At first Gordon was a little frustrated with the easy way Taylor was using his life, but with time Gordon realized that this was just the way the have nots learned to treat life. Their friends and family could die or disappear at any time. It was expected to happen. That was just the way of it.
Besides he wasn't dead yet. He could still survive. There was still time to figure out a way.
The plane's landing was so smooth that Gordon didn't even realize that they had landed, but when he went out to debark there was a passenger bridge already mated up with the designated hatch of the plane. He just told the crew that he was there for the Philos pilgrimage and they directed him to the place in the terminal that he needed to go.
It was a very tense few minutes until more of the new beast masters arrived. The Philos elders who had been assigned to pick up this group of recently awakened beast masters knew of his inclusion, but they didn't waist any time chatting or getting to know him. They just directed him to the side.
Gratefully, Jessica and the rest of the younglings showed up and Gordon fell into step with her easily. He didn't plan to tell her anything yet. This wasn't the right time. She gave him a strange look though and motioned for him to come over.
They didn't get a chance to talk however, because one of the elders spoke up.
"Welcome to the Philos family pilgrimage! My name is Gareth and I will be your guide for the next part of the trip. Unfortunately for you this is going to be the hardest part or at least the most boring part!"
He was talking to them while walking backwards towards a bus.
"We are going to bus you up mount Renier. You will be given a single pack of rations we will provide. You may keep whatever you have in your space rings. We know better then to try to keep your parents from meddling in your success! Next make your way down the mountain to the valley. There in the center of the valley is a temple ruin. Around this temple is the original home of the Philos family that was destroyed more than three hundred years ago."
Some of Jessica's cousins started whispering among themselves at this. Evidently the ruins were haunted. All of this was news to Gordon so he was listening intently. Most of the Philos kids and their invitees looked bored, though. One of them yawned bringing his hand up to his mouth, uncaring of what impression he was giving these elders.
Largely the elders ignored the kids' disrespect and just continued on with their plans.
"From this point on there will be silence. You are forbidden to speak. If you do speak you will have five points deducted from your total. However, we aren't brutes you may come up and asked questions of us elders if you need anything."
No one went up and asked the elders any questions. At least not that Gordon saw and Gordon was definitely not going to be the first one. Not in this group, he didn't know enough to understand what the consequences of his actions would be.
When no one asked questions Gareth started passing out wrist bans.
"These wrist bans will keep track of your kills and what resources you harvest. You will receive points for every resource harvested and you will be able to keep most of what you find. The ones with the highest points will be rewarded at the end of the pilgrimage."
The bus was already mostly full when they boarded. Sitting near the front they only had to wait another twenty minutes before the bus pulled away from the curb. They had had to wait for one last group of kids to arrive from a different plane.
Gordon had a seat right behind Jessica with another one of the people she invited. A girl Jessica's own age. She didn't even look at Gordon, just stared out the window and even had the guts to fall asleep. She had long curly hair pulled tight behind her head by a scrunchy. The clothes she wore were nondescript but well fitting and obviously of some quality.
Each Philos kid was able to invite three guests. Including Gordon and the girl sitting by the window to his right there was another girl with Jessica.
Unable to fall asleep himself Gordon took careful note of the wilderness they were passing by looking right and then left continuously. He had never been beyond the city walls in this life and while the wilderness he was seeing now wasn't that different from some of the areas he had hiked through back in his old life he knew that there was a big difference.
In these woods awakened beast lurked.
Each bus was equipped with an array of defenses built onto the roof. Gordon could see a defensive position with a sniper. All Gordon could see what the long muzzle of his gun, but above the sniper his spotter continually scanning the terrain from a clear shell covering the position. There were also reserved seats in the middle of the bus for the guards. They were sleeping or playing some kind of gambling game.
These were big revelations for him and the more he saw the more this world was opening up for him.
Eventually the bus stopped and one pilgrim was released into the wilderness.
Thereafter every couple of miles another kid was released. Each time one of the elders would take the new beast master out twenty meters from the bus give a few instructions and then return only to start off again and repeat the process ten minutes later.
There was no order to the schedule of releases, though. With three buses and probably about three hundred kids it was going to take two days to release all the passengers even if they kept up the schedule through out the night. However when the foot hills arrived the three buses split up. Gordon's bus headed to the right around the base of the mountain while the other two went straight up and around to the left of the moutain respectively.
Little by little the bus shed apprentice beast masters and Gordon began to realize that there was more to the release schedule than just a random assignment. It was clear that the Philos kids were released first which meant that the invited guests were released only after all the blood members of the Philos family had already started their trek.
In fact Gordon soon had the suspicion that he would be released last the farthest away from the Philos family ruins on the opposite side of the mountain. Except that at a certain point the bus turned and started zig zagging up the side of the mountain.
Finally Gordon was the last one on the bus and they still hadn't let him off. Quietly he approached Gareth and asked.
"What is so special about the top of the mountain? Why are you dropping me off up there?"
Gordon pointed up the side of the mountain.
Gareth didn't respond for a moment, and when he did he laughed.
"Ha, ha, ha! Kid you have some balls. But don't you worry. The top of the mountain is not the most dangerous place. The valley is actually the most dangerous, that is where the behemoths are."
Nodding Gordon thought that made sense the signature beast of the Philos family was the behemoth. They bred and raised the behemoths, but here in the Renier valley the behemoths could be found in their natural habitat.
"No, the reason why we are dropping you off up here is that the mountain peak has long been recognized as the most barren. Even lacking in the Chi that the lower slopes are so famous for."
Gareth turned serious and filled Gordon in on why he was being left up here.
"So they don't want me to profit as much, is that it?"
Interpreting Gareth's explanation Gordon shrugged.
"Don't let it get to you kid. Everyone always gives the best to their kids and this is the critical time for their kids. Don't judge them too harshly. There are still beasts up here you can contract and if you hike for a few miles straight down from where we drop you there is still a good spot for cultivating. Don't tell them I told you!"
Winking Gareth signaled the bus driver to stop and then walked Gordon out from the bus' door for a few meters. It wasn't even the normal twenty meters, the elders were really slacking off for their last drop. But maybe it was also because it wouldn't matter. There was no one other kids on the bus to watch his actions.
"Alright, this is your stop. Remember you must be at the temple ruins in three days time at sunset. When the sun's corona drops below the horizon the next phase of the pilgrimage will start."
With that he walked back to the bus and watched as the bus continued on up the side of the mountain. For another hundred yards the bus steadily made its way before a hover craft dropped out of the clouds shrouding the mount's peak. As it came closer and closer, the hover craft's sheer size became apparent. By the time it had started to pick up by the time it had landed over the bus Gordon had decided that it couldn't be called a hover craft. Instead it was just as large or maybe event larger than the plane they had flown out from Talon on.
Looking around Gordon was comforted by the fact that the sun was coming up over the horizon. The tree line was directly below him about five or six hundred yards while the snow and ice began only about three hundred yards above. He was currently standing on a dirt track that winded amid a shale. The sedimentary rock was everywhere as far as he could see. The only place that didn't have the shale rock was on this dirt track. And Gordon figured that this must be some kind of game trail. Perhaps if he followed it he would run into some animals, maybe even an awakened animal or two.