Chapter 91: Craggy path


    Chance and Bes ascent up the craggy path went far smoother than either of them had expected it to, but that almost made it even more stressful. Every jutting stone and fallen boulder threatened to hide monsters behind it, and Chance made a double take at every shadow they passed.


    The howling wind added to their stress, making it impossible to rx or even consider enjoying any portion of the hike. But, somehow, the danger that they both expected never seemed to arrive.


    After several hours of walking, Chance and Be hunkered down behind arge boulder at the side of the road to take shelter from the wind and set up camp. They traded off watches throughout the night, but still nothing came.


    The following morning brought much of the same with it. They walked through the day, even more cautious than they had been the day before, but not a single thread of Karma appeared before Chances watchful eyes.


    Despite the threat the mountain held, the view from the mountain was beautiful. As they grew closer to its peak and the inds floating in the air alongside it, they got a better view of the Realm below.


    Large portions of the realm were walled off by other mountains. Between them, Chance could make outrge ruins and lower hanging inds. Many of the ruins scattered across thendscape rose into the sky, some even taller than the floating inds. Chance asionally spotted shes of Essence within and above them as cultivators fought.


    Chance and Be were growing closer to the highest of the floating inds  but there was still no apparent way to actually get onto them from the mountain. A part of him started to wonder if theyd made the right choice, but he never voiced his concern.


    They trudged on, eventually leaving the craggy rocks behind and emerging onto a t, spiraling path. It was considerably tighter than the previous area, but mercifully the wind had let up as well.


    Chance wasnt sure why the wind was weaker at the top of the mountain, but he wasnt about to question his luck either. He and Be continued upward, continuously growing closer to the inds.


    Several times, one of the inds floated by so closely that Chance felt like he almost could have jumped onto it if he had a running start and a death wish. Unfortunately, for the ones that did get that close, it was always the bottom of the ind rather than the top, so getting onto the actual ruins would have been an arduous climb at best and a fall to his death at worst.


    With no other realistic option, they just climbed.


    And climbed.


    And, as the light of the day started to fade and a strong chill set in, sweeping over Chance and Be like a nket of snow, they reached the peak of the mountain. They were greeted by a stone circle covered in runes, roughly two arm spans wide.


    It only took a single nce to confirm that, though the circle bore a strong resemnce to the way theyd entered the Realm, it wasnt meant to serve the same purpose. An arrow had been carved in its center, pointing to the north. Around it, in a separate ring that had been iid in the main circle, were a dozen inds.


    The ring of inds rotated soundlessly, moving at a slow but steady pace. On the stone, an ind approached the end of the arrow. Chance nced up, following the arrow, to see an ind moving to float before them.


    Ill give you one guess as to what this thing does, Be said with a dry smile.


    Im not even going to bother answering that. It does pose a question, though. What ind do we want to go to? I dont know how easy itll be to get back here after we get teleported, and Id rather not have to climb the mountain again.


    Be knelt by the rotating disk, studying the inds carved into it. Theyre all the same on here, as far as I can tell. Guess weve got to make the decision from looking at the inds as they float by. There are twelve on the disk and it looks like itll take roughly thirty minutes for it to do a full rotation.


    Chance nodded, looking back up at the ind floating past them. It was one of the few that was actually right side up, but the ruins on it were rather small. It looked like a small cluster of one story stone houses that had been abandoned to the elements for a few hundred years.


    Not that one, Chance said. Am I wrong in assuming that a bigger ruin probably means better stuff?


    As good a guess as any. More spots for things to go unnoticed, and bigger usually means richer. Also more dangerous, though.


    Chance squinted into the distance at the next ind in the rotation. It was difficult to see in the dimming light due to its distance, but it was several timesrger than the one currently before them, and he could just barely make out the outline of a cracked spire in the purple sky.


    Do we want to wait for them all to rotate around? Chance asked.


    We should at least wait for the next one. I think the current ind is a no. How urate do you think we need to be with this?


    Lets not take risks. Id like to imagine theyd have set this up to locate the nearest ind rather than just send us straight forward, but Im not betting my life on it.


    Agreed, Be said with a nod.


    They watched the current ind slowly slide away on the disk and the next shift to take its ce over the course of the next few minutes. As it grew closer, Chance managed to make out several smaller buildings beneath the spire, alongside arge, rectangr structure that was heavily overgrown with purplish vines.


    Chance instinctively called on his Essence. Golden mist pooled at his feet, slithering over the circle coiling into the air as the inds slowly rotated across the stone beneath it. He and Be sat in silence, enjoying the moment of peace and observing the inds as they passed.


    There were clearly far more than twelve inds in the sky, so their choices were limited. Still, the mountain gave them a wide variety of options. The inds ranged from small to massive, with one of them being nearly asrge as the mountain they stood on.


    Ruins of all shapes and sizes covered them and no two inds looked alike. Bes guess ended up nearly exactly on the dot, and the first ind theyd spotted started its return just a little over thirty minutes past their arrival.


    Well, thats all of them, Be said. Any thoughts?


    Probably not the biggest or the smallest. Maybe something close to the middle? Its fairly likely that other cultivators have gone through this way before us, right? So theyd probably have taken the best looking inds. Going for something a bit above average might be more likely to put us somewhere that others haventpletely looted yet.


    Good idea, Im with that reasoning. But there are quite a few inds that meet those criteria. Any thoughts on which one?


    Why do I have to choose?


    Youre the lucky one.


    Chance opened his mouth, then closed it again. Thats a good point.


    He sent a little more Essence into the golden mist beneath his feet and it curled in response. The streamers slipped along the ground and gathered above the sigil of the ind that was just starting to creep toward the arrow  the second one theyd seen, with the cracked spire.


    We should have just done that from the start, Be muttered. Has anyone ever told you how unfair your Essence is? I feel like its practically cheating.


    Hey, youre the one that suggested it.


    Be rolled her eyes. Yeah, yeah. Its great as long as I get to abuse it as well. Well jump onto the circle as one when the arrow is lined up with the ind.


    They waited in silence and the disk continued its rotation in the circle, matching the movements of the inds. Even though it was moving at the exact same speed, Chance could have sworn that it had slowed down just to spite him.


    Do you think the inds set the speed of the disk, or other way around? Chance asked.


    Be looked at him out of the corner of her eyes, then frowned. Dont make me think about that right now. Its just going to make me think about someone screwing up the calibration and getting us stted into the side of the ind instead of on top of it.


    <em>I guess I wont ask about how gravity works on the upside down inds, then. I figure its probably reversed or something. Ive seen weirder things in Gleam.</em>


    Dont worry. Chance grinned and gave Be a thumbs up. Im lucky.


    Do not make that your catchphrase. Thats basically asking to get smited at the worst possible time.


    Hey, you pointed it out first!


    Im not the one that actually has the luck magic. The rules are different.


    Oh, I didnt realize you made the rules, Chance drawled, a small smirk on his face. Be scrunched her nose in a mixture of amusement and annoyance.


    Whatever. Get ready to jump, lucky.


    Chance gave her a mock salute. The carving of the ind on the ring crept forward, sliding further into the path of the arrow as itsrger correspondent floated before them. Chance and Be watched the ring with narrow eyes, waiting for the exact moment where the ind was perfectly centered with the arrow.


    Now! Be said, grabbing Chances hand and jumping forward. Chance jumped with her, and their feet hit the center of the stone circle as one.


    Chance braced himself for a rush of Essence.


    It never came. He blinked, then looked down at his feet. The stone circle was still. He raised his eyes to meet Bes.


    Huh. I really thought that would


    White Essence erupted around them and filled the air with a furious roar. It lit the night up with a brilliant beam that swallowed Chance and Be whole, ripping them away from the ground.


    They vanished within the brilliant light, streaking off toward the ind that the arrow had been pointing at like a shooting star. The light carved through the sky and alighted in arge courtyard in the center of the ind.


    Behind them, the stone circle continued to rotate. The energy began to dim as the arrow started shifting away from the ind. As it dimmed, a dark form rose up from the path leading up the mountain and shot forward, vanishing into the beam of light just seconds before its brilliance faded away, casting the night into shadows once more.


    A ripple of Essence shimmered upon the stone ring. The image of the ind that theyd just jumped to shimmered and blew away in the wind, leaving no trace of its passing.