Chapter 66: The Mountain's Remains
Fenrir's gaze hardened as he led the team deeper into the mountains. The sun had barely risen, casting long shadows across the rugged terrain. His mind raced as they ascended the mountain path, knowing that what lay ahead could change everything. The energy that had disturbed the Eastern Lands months ago had dissipated, but the aftermath remained, and they were about to witness it firsthand.
As they climbed higher, the air grew thinner, the wind more biting. The landscape around them grew harsher, as though the very earth had been scarred by something unnatural. The silence was unnerving. There were no sounds of birds or wildlife—just the sound of their footsteps echoing on the rocky ground.
And then, they reached the crest of the ridge.
Before them lay the remnants of what had once been a towering mountain, now reduced to a gaping chasm. The peak that had once stood proud in the center of the range was gone, as if it had been torn apart by some unimaginable force. In its place was a massive hole, its edges jagged and raw. The walls of the pit stretched deep, a sheer drop into an abyss that seemed to swallow the very light.
"What in the heavens happened here?" Kiera's voice broke the stillness, her tone a mixture of disbelief and awe.
Fenrir's eyes scanned the scene with a practiced calmness, though his mind raced. The size of the destruction was beyond anything he had ever encountered. The chasm was vast, a void that seemed to consume the mountain. The once-solid rock had been torn asunder, the very earth itself reshaped in a single, catastrophic event.
"This… this is not natural," Fenrir muttered, his voice low. "It's as if something… or someone, broke through the mountain itself."
He turned to Kiera, his face set with determination. "Prepare yourself. We're getting closer to the source."
The team advanced cautiously, their steps measured as they neared the edge of the chasm. The scale of the destruction was staggering. The walls of the hole were riddled with fractures, massive fissures that ran deep into the earth. What had once been a peak of towering granite now resembled the remains of a broken titan, its form twisted and torn apart by an unimaginable force.
"Who could have done this?" Kiera asked quietly, her eyes wide with disbelief. "This destruction… it's beyond anything I've seen."
Fenrir didn't answer immediately. He was too focused on the scene before him, piecing together what little they knew. The source of the disturbance, the strange power that had shaken the land, had to be here. The question was no longer whether they would find it—it was what would await them once they did.
"Someone with unimaginable strength," Fenrir said finally, his voice grim. "Someone who could shape the very land with a single blow."
As they continued to approach, the remnants of the destruction became clearer. In some places, the rock was scorched, blackened by intense heat. In others, it had been pulverized, ground into fine dust that still lingered in the air. The sheer force required to cause such devastation was impossible to ignore. Whoever—or whatever—had done this had tapped into power beyond comprehension.
They reached the edge of the chasm, peering down into the dark void below. The further they looked, the deeper it seemed to go, the walls disappearing into shadows.
"The power that did this… it's still alive, isn't it?" Kiera asked, her voice barely more than a whisper.
Fenrir didn't respond. He was lost in thought, his mind working through the possibilities. The intensity of the destruction suggested that whatever had caused it was not just an individual with immense power—it was something else, something that had been waiting to be unleashed.
As they surveyed the scene, they noticed something strange. Among the debris and rubble, there were signs of something—someone—having been here recently. Footprints, faint but still discernible in the dust. A person had been here. And the realization hit Fenrir like a jolt of electricity: the source of the disturbance was still close. They were on the verge of finding it.
"We're not the first to come this way," Fenrir said, his voice hardening with newfound resolve. "Someone's been here. We need to move quickly."
Kiera nodded, her eyes narrowing as she scanned the area. "Do you think it's the boy? The one with the silver hair & eyes?"
Fenrir turned to her, his face unreadable. "It has to be. The power we're sensing—this destruction—it matches the reports. We'll find him. But we need to be cautious. We don't know what we're dealing with yet."
As they moved forward, the air seemed to grow even heavier, the pressure in the atmosphere intensifying with every step. The remnants of the mountain were a warning, a testament to the raw power that had been unleashed. But it wasn't enough to stop them. Fenrir and his team were on a mission, and they would not turn back.
They pressed onward, the destruction at their backs and the unknown ahead. Every step closer to the source of the disturbance brought them closer to answers—and to danger.