Memoirs - 72

by Flameruner

Chapter 72 - Haunts & wolves

When she opened her eyes again, Scarlett found herself at the top of a wide platform. Towering before her were the countless white peaks, jutting up towards the skies with deep, snow-filled canyons between them, continuing on for miles.

To her right, gazing above some of the lower mountaintops, she saw hints of grey highlands in the far distance. Straight ahead, closer than the highlands but still only barely visible on the distant horizon, she saw a large area of land that was best described as a scar. Burnt and desolate, massive fissures ran along the ground for what had to be thousands of meters on end.

A light appeared next to her as Garside materialized from thin air, his eyes darting around for a second before finding and settling on her. "My Lady, please. I ask that you refrain from exposing yourself to any unnecessary risk. If there is anything unknown and dangerous, please allow me to investigate it first."

She almost felt like laughing a little at his immediate reaction. "I understand your concern," she said. "And I can assure you that I do not enjoy needlessly taking risks myself. There was, however, no need for such worries this time. As you can see, it was entirely safe."

The old butler didn't look exactly pleased by her response, but he seemed to accept them as he lowered his head. Scarlett turned her attention to their direct surroundings.

There was a stone obelisk, like that back in the crevice, standing near them, at the center of the platform. The platform itself was just simple stone, but it seemed to have been cut out off the mountain somehow, creating a balcony sticking out of the mountainside.

Another light appeared and Rosa emerged next to them. The woman opened and closed her eyes, gazing out across the mountain range. "Wow...That's some view," she said. She hugged her arms close to her body. "But it sure is cold."

Scarlett gestured to Garside. "Give her something warmer."

The butler bowed shortly and stepped up to Rosa, pulling out a thick coat that he handed the woman.

While the winds weren't too bad right now, it could likely get much worse. The air up here was also noticeably thinner—and colder—than it had been earlier. It wasn't unbearable yet, but Scarlett found herself wishing that some of the items she had found during her dungeon runs up till now had had frost resistance. [Mark of the Gale] was the only such item she'd found yet, so for now, she would have to with some warm clothes.

Garside handed her a coat too as they waited for a few moments longer. Soon, both Allyssa and Shin appeared. The young Shielders seemed to take in the impressive sights as Garside handed them some warmer clothes as well.

Fynn came walking over from the edge of the platform and pointed to a long stone path that continued up the mountain. "We're going there next," he said and immediately started walking.

"Wait," Allyssa called out. "Where exactly are we?"

He glanced back at her. "My home."

Allyssa stared at him. "You live in these mountains?"

Fynn nodded. "I used to."

"Judging from the surroundings, I'm guessing we're somewhere close to the center of Whitdown Mountains," Shin said.

"Yes. This is Grehazant, the second largest peak."

Shin raised his eyebrows. "I didn't know it had a name."

"It has always had one," Fynn said. "You in the empire might not know it though. It means fang of the gale, or gale's fang." He gave Shin one last look, then turned around. "Come. We have to go now."

Scarlett and the others followed him as he started walking toward the path and soon they started climbing the mountain. They continued for some time, and as the winds fluctuated in strength Scarlett opened and pulled her coat more tightly together, but eventually reached a wide plateau where the path diverged. In one direction were stone staircases that led down into a low canyon that was too steep for them to see anything from here. It was guarded on both sides by two large stone statues, both depicting wolfs howling up at the sky. One of the statues had lost most of its back half though, and had large cracks running through its front.

Fynn ignored the staircase and immediately went for the other path that just seemed to continue up the mountain.

"Rosa? What's wrong?" Allyssa's voice sounded out from behind.

Turning around, Scarlett saw that Rosa had completely frozen where she stood, staring at the two statues with wide eyes.

Allyssa put a hand on the woman's shoulder. "Rosa?"

The bard flinched, turning to Allyssa. For a moment it didn't appear like she was truly seeing her, but after blinking a few times her focus seemed to return. Rosa shook her head with a smile. "Never mind me. I just thought I saw something over there. My mind's just playing tricks on me."

Allyssa squinted her eyes and looked toward the statues. "What's over there?" she asked, turning to Fynn.

He glimpsed back at them. "...Nothing," he said after a moment. "There's nothing there. Not anymore."

Allyssa turned quiet at that, and Fynn soon returned to walking towards the other path.

Scarlett regarded Rosa. The woman's smile didn't seem as convincing as it usually did. "Is everything okay, Miss Hale?"

"Yeah, 'course it is. I'm fine." Rosa chuckled. "Fit as a fiddle, even. All this mysterious exploring just has me a bit too eager, that's all. It's not every day you get to climb one of the highest mountains around while being paid, you know?"

"...I am glad to hear that," Scarlett said. "If so, I believe we should continue onwards. We would not want to keep Fynn waiting."

Rosa performed an exaggerated bow. "After you, my Lady."

Scarlett glanced around to ensure Garside hadn't seen the action. Otherwise, he would probably have had something to say about it. Thankfully, he was further ahead, discussing something with Shin. Not wasting any more time, Scarlett returned to following after them.

The mountain path grew more and more irregular the higher up they got, and as was Scarlett's breathing after they'd been at it for a while. Even the others seemed to start having a hard time—everyone except Fynn—and it didn't help that the air was so thin up here. Eventually, when every breath had started feeling like they were filling her lungs with ice, Scarlett began to wonder whether she would actually be able to complete this climb by herself. Thankfully, Rosa had eventually decided that it wasn't worth saving the mana and had started playing short tunes on her instrument that filled them all with energy. The magic only worked for short bursts, but by spreading it out over longer intervals, and taking short water breaks now and then—during which Scarlett found herself being incredibly thankful for her ability to quickly heat the water up—they managed to make good progress without Scarlett feeling like she would topple over and die at any moment.

After a few hours, the path flattened out as they reached a terrace of finely cut stone. It was situated on a large overhang, and many of the same kind of markings that had been on the stone obelisk before were spread out across the ground here. Furthest in on the terrace, cut into the face of the mountain, were several large stone protrusions. Each one bore lifelike illustrations of wolves. Some appeared to be of a wolf running at the forefront of a storm, while others depicted a giant wolf standing before a group of people. There was even one where a wolf stood atop the peak of a mountain, peering out at another mountain peak that had a humongous dragon nestled atop it.

"Wow..." a sound of awe left Allyssa's mouth.

The quality of the carvings certainly was impressive. That, coupled with the view from here that was even more amazing than before, gave everything a certain atmosphere to it.

Allyssa soon pointed towards another mountain that was a good distance away. Their mountain was a lot higher than most of the others, but this one towered above even the one they were on. "Is that the same mountain as on that carving?" Allyssa asked.

Fynn stopped to see what she was pointing to. "It is. That is Haetrach."

"And what does that mean?" Shin asked. "If Grehazant was gale's fang."

"...It means grand dragon," Fynn answered. "But that's not important now. We have to begin the trial."

Allyssa looked around. "Is this where the trial is?"

"No." Fynn walked towards the center of the stone protrusions, where there was an indentation in the form of a door in the stone. Scarlett looked on as he stopped in front of it and raised his right hand. The white ring on his finger took on a bright glow, and the already-frigid air around them cooled down even further as it surged up. Taking on the same glow as Fynn's ring, the stone in front of him grew brighter by the second. Finally, it disappeared in a flash of light and a torrent of wind rushed past them into the now-open gap.

Fynn looked back at them. "It's open."

Garside knitted his forehead, staring into the entrance behind Fynn. His mustache trembled as he turned to look at Scarlett. "My Lady, are you certain continuing here is wise? This is all very...unusual."

"I am certain, yes," Scarlett said. She did understand that, from Garside's perspective, all of this would be incredibly strange. But... "At this point, there are not many other alternatives," she said and started walking forward, following Fynn as he went inside.

They entered into a wide, poorly lit stone passage. Scarlett conjured a sphere of fire to illuminate their surroundings. The passage shared a lot of similarities with the old ruins Scarlett had explored with Kat outside of Whistlecreek. Murals covered the walls, of the same kind as outside, but smaller. As far as she knew there also weren't any traps here.

"This place feels a little eerie," Allyssa mumbled as she came in behind them.

"Who built it?" Shin asked as he stepped beside Scarlett.

"The ancestors," Fynn answered, his voice echoing off the walls as he continued moving ahead.

Shin ran his gauntleted hand over one of the murals. "And whose ancestors is that?"

"Mine?" Fynn's voice rang out. He stopped for a moment to look back at them. "They're getting impatient. We have to move faster."

"I get that they're antsy, being dead and all that, but maybe a short rest wouldn't hurt?" Rosa had an uncharacteristically tense face. "I'm in some real need of it after using all that mana earlier..." The woman seemed to want to avoid looking anywhere but straight ahead.

"We can't," Fynn said, continuing forward.

"Alright then. Happy thoughts it is..." Rosa's murmur was barely audible.

"Would you care for a mana potion?" Scarlett asked.

The bard turned to her with a surprised look. "You have any?"

Scarlett nodded. "Allyssa prepared two of them," she said and pulled out a dark vial from her [Pouch of Holding], handing it to the woman. It was a [Mana Potion].

She'd originally intended to have Allyssa prioritize only making health potions, in case something unexpected happened. But considering Fynn's awakening, she had judged it good to have some mana potions as well.

Unfortunately, Allyssa only had time to make two of them, one of which was a [Minor Mana Potion]. In addition, Scarlett didn't know how much mana they restored, since she couldn't afford to test them out before going here.

Rosa shook the vial lightly as she studied its contents. She pulled the cork off and sniffed it. "It doesn't smell anything." She took one short sip, before turning the vial upside down and swallowing the rest. A grimace formed on her face. "Tastes like sour cranberries."

"I don't know how to change the taste that much," Allyssa said as she reached out a hand to receive the empty vial from Rosa, putting it inside a pocket in her cloak.

"...Feels good though," Rosa added after a moment. "You wouldn't happen to be able to spare the last one?"

Scarlett glanced down at her pouch. After a moment, she pulled out the other potion and handed it to Rosa as well. The second potion was something she'd preferred to have kept for herself, but Rosa's abilities were more important for the group. She was also worried about what might happen otherwise, considering the signs the woman was showcasing.

Rosa downed the second mana potion quickly, and their group continued their delve deeper inside. It didn't take long for them to reach a large oval chamber that split off into two different paths. One to the right, and one to the left.

Unlike many of the other dungeons in 'Chronicle of Realms', the Howling Gale's Haunt was divided into completely separate sections, and you couldn't clear all of them at the same time. Each new section was only unlockable if you both had Fynn with you, and if he'd reached a high enough level to have the relevant awakening. This also meant that the sections themselves were relatively short, and they lacked any real trash mobs like other dungeons might have.

Scarlett shifted her gaze from one path to the other, then pointed to the left one. "I believe it best if we begin with that passage."

"Is the other one wrong?" Allyssa asked.

"Not exactly, no. It is likely that we will have to traverse both paths, but we will have to start with one of them nonetheless."

In the game, both of these paths had a miniboss at their end, and you had to defeat both of them to unlock the way to the last boss.

Scarlett started moving towards the left opening.

"Wait," Fynn called out. "They're saying we should split up."

Scarlett stopped, turning to him. "What?"

"They're saying one group should go to the left, and the other to the right," he said.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "We will not be doing that."

He wrinkled his nose. "But they're saying we should."

"You keep mentioning they. Who's they?" Allyssa asked with a frown.

"The ancestors."

"Wait, you mean to say they're actually talking to you? Like, literally?"

"Yes," Fynn said. "And they want us to split up."

Scarlett crossed her arms. "It does not matter what they want. We will not be separating."

Fynn gave her a bewildered look. "But I have to pass the trial."

"That is not part of the trial," she said. "If we were to divide ourselves into two groups it is unlikely that both groups will survive."

Fynn furrowed his brows. He looked to the side as if he was listening to someone. "They're...saying we're too many. If you want to help with the trial, they want you to prove yourselves, so we have to split up."

Scarlett scowled. That didn't even make sense. If they were too many, why would it be better just because they proved themselves? This couldn't actually be a part of the trial, could it?

Even if it was, she couldn't accept it. It was far too dangerous. Failing the trial would be preferable to accepting such a huge risk.

"We will be moving as a group, no matter what nonsensical thoughts they have regarding it," she said.

Things went quiet for a moment, then Fynn's eyes widened. "T-They say they can't accept that."

"That may be so," Scarlett began. "But th—"

The wind swelled up around them and she froze as a cold aura filled the chamber.

She locked her gaze on Fynn. "What are you doing?"

The young man just shook his head. "I-It's not me."

The ring on his finger turned a bright white and the wind suddenly intensified, rosing into a violent tempest. Scarlett hurried to activate [Sidhe's Flowing Garbs] as she and the others were thrown back.

The others' cries rang out as she landed heavily on the ground, and a terrifying cracking sound reverberated throughout the room. Scarlett stared up as several fractures formed in the ceiling above them.

She tried to get up, but the wind continued to press against her. A moment later the entire chamber rumbled as the middle section of the ceiling tore off. A cascade of stone followed.

Everything shook as a cloud of dust spread out around her, along with darkness.

She coughed heavily as the dust slowly settled. The strong wind had also disappeared. She hurried to take out her enchanted glasses from her pouch and put them on. Shin and Rosa lay near her, but there were no signs of the others.

At the center of the room was now a mountain of stone, closing them off both from the exit and the other end of the chamber.

Scarlett wanted to scream.

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