Story:Kings of Strife/Part 6

Part Six
"Day eight. One day behind projected schedule - no real problems. Progress is good. Resting." Vikcent clicked off his voice recorder and put it back in his coat. The resource would be solid evidence of his bravery when he accomplished his mission and returned to the government. Shivering, he sat on the cold ground while leaning on a face of snowy rock.

Just as he had predicted, the weather high on Mount Gulg was amazingly cold, more frigid than anything he’d ever encountered.

Admittedly, this conclusion was more common sense than his own hypothesis, but it still felt good for him to think of it as his own creation. It was very hard to get used to, the cold that is, especially since he wasn’t anywhere near the top of the mountain and the knowledge that it could somehow get even colder taunted him. The higher he climbed, the higher the summit seemed to stretch, no matter how high he was above ground. At this height snow didn't fall just yet, but it blanketed the ground and the rocks. Looking down, Vik saw nothing but vague grey clouds. And for good reason. The full height wasn't even fully documented yet - any and all expeditions to the summit have always ended in failure. “Even more reason for me to pray that my theory is correct.”

Eight days of continuous climbing up and around the slope and he was almost around a quarter to the top of Mount Gulg, he assumed. At this point, now that the ascension had begun to transition towards vertical climbing and not just walking up a steep hillside, he found himself physically challenged like never before. Nothing could have prepared him for this ordeal other than performing it himself, a conclusion that had finally persuaded him to go about his mission. Rocks and steep hills, freezing winds and monotone whiteness, all of the elements that painted a pure canvas, were alarmingly dangerous to him, and he wanted to shun them.

That was not an option for Vikcent Hyusei.

Even with the high-level military information he had stolen, it was still almost impossible to find the location of the Crystal, let alone one close to his position on the mountain, but it had to be there, he knew it. No matter what the ancient legends say, the sheer fact that Ouroboros still existed in the area was inexhaustible proof to Vik that the Crystal was indeed still in the area.

His theory was that all expeditions to the top were inherently flawed. Nowhere in the past Crystal legends was it mentioned that Mount Gulg had to be climbed - it was always "Gulg holds the Crystal of Fire" or something like that. So he reasoned that he didn't have to get to the top - doing so would be suicide. Not many other places to hide a Crystal in a mountain. The only other remotely plausible solution? To go inside. Gulg was a volcano, which meant it wasn't composed entirely of rock - there had to be a hollow opening somewhere in the peak. So he had to just search around the mountain until he found a way inside.

Deciding he had rested enough, Vik stood up and rubbed his gloved hands together to gather some scarce warmth. He picked up his pickaxe and put his rifle and backpack back on his back. Methodically he raised his pickaxe and took a few swings at rock faces and edifices. Thus began yet another search for a way inside. “I need to find a way inside sooner or later before my supplies run out. It’s already been a whole day I’ve been searching…” He’d found that he talked to himself more often than ever before now that he was so isolated, as a way to keep himself company.

Searching and constantly striking the frigid rock wasn't easy, and he found that he couldn’t sleep much in the blinding cold, so his strength wasn't at its best, but he wouldn't allow himself give up or give into weakness. Not until he had accomplished his goal. As the wind buffeted his body and sliced through the various layers of clothing he wore, Vik shivered uncontrollably, but he never stopped talking to himself and repeating his motivation to himself over and over. “No hesitation. No hesitation. No hesitation.”

He went about his way for hours, slashing and picking at the wall of rock, until unexpectedly a large pile of rock and snow fell to his blow. That last swing had felt hollow. He stared at the hole in the mountain he had just created for a moment before he continued to axe away an entrance, suddenly energized with adrenaline and excitement. “I was right?!” It took another half hour, but afterwards he finally had a sizable hole that he could get into. The inside was pitch black, almost like an abyss. There was definitely space inside - perhaps he had succeeded after all. Vik readjusted the rifle strap around his shoulders and crept inside. It was unlikely that any threat awaited him inside, but it was a risk he’d rather not take.

The inside of the mountain was surprisingly cavernous, and by sheer stroke of luck there was a floor under his feet when he stepped in. Right from the start, that was odd. Why would there be a floor in a hollow volcano? He couldn't imagine an answer and let the question drift back into his mind. From where he entered, a wide and tall natural corridor of sorts branched off for a ways until it opened up into what looked like a huge, open room. The ceiling was very high - if he had climbed any higher, he wouldn't have been able to find the floor beneath him. Again, either lucky or suspicious. As he traveled in the cavern, Vik left deep arrow-like scratches on the right side of the walls as he passed, keeping close to them so that he could leave without issue just by keeping the arrows on his left, going in the opposite direction they pointed out.

Most noticeable to him as he walked was the huge difference of temperature inside the cave. Once he walked a fair distance from the slope opening, the area got a lot warmer, and the walls seemed to radiate heat. He started to sweat very quickly, and went about removing his coat, gloves, scarf, hat, and equipment. He left them in a bundle by the entrance and put his backpack back on. He checked his rifle and put it back on his back, brandishing his pickaxe in front of him. It was very dark ahead of him, but his battery powered flashlight fixed that problem. He had more than enough batteries to last almost half of an entire day, so he didn't have to worry about that becoming a problem.

The inside was much larger than Vik thought, and very complicated. Passages, dead ends, and sudden holes threatened to either confuse him or kill him. He found himself wandering the almost impossibly huge bowels, going higher and higher up in the cave and twisting to and fro, entering passages and corridors and shafts. “Where could all of these come from? Who has been in here before?”

Alarmingly, the higher he got, the hotter the air seemed to get. He wanted to chalk it up to hidden magma, but that didn't make much sense - why would there be more magma the higher he went? The heat and the basic structure of the caves boggled his mind, defying any possible explanation. They weren't manmade or supported, obviously, but their simple existence was harrowing. How did they get there? Where were they leading him?

Eventually Vik found himself almost out of breath from the heat, and contemplation became almost difficult. “It's got to have been hours already...” His clothes clung to him over a thin layer of sweat. His pickaxe was beginning to slip out of his hands and his arms were beginning to burn from the constant notching and navigating; he had to have been walking for hours on end. His rations were keeping him from starving, but they weren't satisfying in any shape or form.

“Worry not, my friends. I’ll make it. I swear.” His thoughts were less to reassure his dead comrades and more to reassure himself. Still he continued onward, reaching a point where touching the now scorching walls caused pain to his hands. They were beginning to seem tinted with red, and light almost reached from them in waves. His flashlight was beginning to become obsolete. Blisters were beginning to form from how tightly he clung to his axe. “Where is this light coming from? What is this place?”

Without his even realizing it, his feet no longer made rustling noises as he kicked apart ground debris. The walls were no longer composed of hard, ancient rock - eventually they were covered by some pure red crimson substance, almost translucent, almost crystalline. His axe no longer cut into them or even scratched their surface. Looking back, he noticed that they continued for long past his eyesight.

The cavern he was in was now wide and empty, lonely and deserted. His involuntary gasp of wonder echoed across the plane. How such a place could exist in these conditions was beyond him. Instinctively he reached out to touch the walls but decided against it - a burn would seriously hinder the climb down, and the heat was already threatening to do just that.

“Nowhere to go but forward”, he reasoned. He staggered onward towards a bright crimson-orange light directly in front of him. The heat was getting intoxicating and his vision was starting to blur. Finally, miraculously, he made it. What seemed like a foolish legend, a dreamy endeavor, had unfolded before his very eyes. The cave continued to drag on and on, but the ground stopped abruptly on a cliff before a boiling sea of pure lava. Like a miniature sun, the object floating in the air before the cut off was letting out almost visible heat waves. It hovered over a circle of some unknown, ancient dead language that were colored in vermillion script. His only instinct was not to run, but to embrace what he knew was the Crystal. Somehow, Vikcent Hyusei knew in his heart that this was what he was looking for, and he was destined to have it. His pickaxe fell with a clang to the metallic floor and he wrapped both of his bare hands around the Crystal.

His hands were met with instant searing agony. It felt like the crystalline sun was setting his hands on fire, causing his very bones to cease existence - he could feel every inch of his skin melting. Nerves popping, blood vaporizing, even bones being reduced to ash. He cried out with all he had, and his screams of pain echoed off the walls and bounced into his ears. He dropped his bag and opened up the smallest, empty pouch with his foot, dropping the Crystal inside of it as fast as he could. His skin dripped off the stumps that were his arms, blood falling like a waterfall before evaporating in the heat. After he zipped up the bag with his teeth, it was like the heat from the Crystal immediately ceased to exist. He looked at his hands with wide eyes as he sweated profusely. No damage.

He stared at his completely intact hands for a minute before started to gather his things as the floor beneath him began to rumble slightly. Vik looked around in alarm with an open, panting mouth. The ground and walls were beginning to crack. “I’d rather not stick around to see what’s going on in this place. I’ve got to get out of here, and fast!” A plan of action formulated reflexively, but his fingers clumsily lagged in their attempt to carry it out. He sluggishly picked up his pickaxe and held on to the strap of his bag and rifle as he started running back the way he came.

Soon he left the crystal chamber and was following his tracks. To his surprise, even as he rapidly descended towards his entrance, the temperature of the cavern continued to rise higher and higher. “How is this possible? Is it because I took that crystal?!” He shook those thoughts from his head and focused on his escape. He would rather be off this mountain than to see what he caused. “No hesitation.”

Vik was almost out of the cavern when he stopped. After hours of running, quickly walking, and running some more, he could see the cavern that he arrived in but was terribly exhausted. Something else was in range for him to observe, something that not only defied logic but pulled heavily on his heart. An anchor of reason that denied any explanation. Despite his harsh exterior, he was always going to be a sucker for justice. And what type of judicial soldier would leave a boy inside of a violently rumbling volcano? Not this one.

So he stopped for the boy. And he woke up the boy who was leaning on the seething hot walls. The boy’s sudden appearance made no sense, much like many things in this mountain, and he obviously wasn't from Nneoh. His clothes were foreign and revealing, and the boy's forehead was sweaty, his dark clothes slightly damp. He was unconscious, barely lucid. So Vik picked him up and put him on his shoulder. He continued among his path, and exited the giant caverns with relief and fear in his heart. The snow was beginning to feel less solid than before, and the cold hit Vik heavily. By now, assaulted with the sudden cold, the boy was awake and could walk, and with some provocation and hurried explanation, silently followed Vik down the mountain. Vik gave the boy his heavy coat without any hesitation.

It took the two another six days to reach the ground again, considering the massive height of the slope, but the journey was expedient because of the almost avalanche-like falling of the snow. Eventually, the snow started to melt beneath their feet, creating river-like streams in the paths, diverting their journey. Soon the two didn't even need coats for their journey. The boy didn't say a single word for the entirety of the travel.

When they made it to the bottom, something told Vik not to stay in Mountanus, the city near the mountain, too long. An omen, a dark tugging at his heart, pushed him not to rest in the town, but to push onward to safer pastures. So he continued to move forward, choosing only to finally stop at an inn at Nures, the nearest town from Mountanus, some 10 miles north.

Later, he would learn that the city of Mountanus was eradicated beyond repair because Mount Gulg erupted for the first time in thousands of years. Molten lava ran from Gulg's intimidating summit, melting all of the snow resting on it and reducing an entire 5 mile radius to barren ash. It was a tragedy, and even though people escaped, it still managed to cause the deaths of thousands of people, not to mention ruin the lives of thousands more. Vik Hyusei's Crystal continued to pulsate with the heat of fire.

****

"It's been days now. Do you remember anything?" Vik sat on his inn bed, his boots on the floor next to him and his supply pouch cradled in his arms. Its warmth pulsated beneath his protective hands. He stared inquisitively at the boy on the bed opposite his with coal gray, unflinching eyes. He was slender, yet with an outline of muscle. Calloused, dexterous hands. Hardened, almost jesting eyes attached to an amelioratory, cold, and heartless face. A boy of mystery and contradictions. None of it made sense. He looked toward Vik with a submissive look. "My name... is Hasey. Hasey... Troblum." Vik's eyebrows slowly shot up, and he stood up from the bed. A sudden lapse of memory?

"That's a start! Anything else? I can take you back to your home. Maybe they can figure out what you were doing all the way up there. Alright, Hasey?" He couldn't tell the age of the kid, but he didn't look anywhere near an adult, so he took the middle road with a tone that wasn't condescending or too childish.

"I... No, I... Snow. I remember... Snow. It was cold."

Vik's face descended into that of confusion. "...Snow? It doesn't snow down here in Nneoh...What are you talking about?" He studied the boy more intensely. He refused to meet his eyes, only looking downwards towards the floor again. "Are you sure about that?" Hasey nodded, his midnight blue hair moving along with his head. His eyes were submissive, but didn't hold a shred of doubt. Vik sighed in defeat and looked towards the window, rubbing his hand through his hair. He spoke softly and to himself now. “So what now? I can't just leave this kid here...can I? Returning him to the authorities might blow my cover, and I've gone too far for that...” He cradled the Crystal in his bag again as its warmth caused sweat to prickle his arm hair. He turned towards Hasey and the boy met his gaze for the first time. "Well, kid, looks like I don't have a choice. You and I are going to the land of snow."

..End of Part Six.

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