Chapter 213 - 208 — The Road into the Ashen Range
The road became narrower as they traveled northwest.
Greyford was already several miles behind them, its walls barely visible through the morning haze. The familiar sound of merchants and wagon wheels had disappeared, replaced by the steady rhythm of their footsteps and the occasional cry of a bird somewhere among the hills.
John walked near the front of the group, his hands tucked into the pockets of his coat.
The Ashen Range was visible now.
The mountains stretched across the horizon like a dark wall. Unlike the greener hills surrounding Greyford, the slopes of the range were covered in gray rock and patches of dead-looking vegetation. Some peaks disappeared into low clouds.
John had seen plenty of dangerous places during his journey.
This one still made him cautious.
Not because of the mountains themselves.
Because of what was inside them.
He could feel it.
A faint pull came from somewhere beyond the distant peaks.
The second fragment of the Great Dragon’s Legacy.
It wasn’t calling to him exactly. It was more like a quiet vibration inside his Dragon Core, almost too weak to notice.
But John knew it was there.
Lythriel walked beside him for a while before breaking the silence.
"You’ve been staring at those mountains for nearly an hour."
John glanced at her.
"Have I?"
"Yes."
Aerion, walking a few steps behind them, laughed.
"He’s probably trying to decide whether we should turn around."
John looked over his shoulder.
"I haven’t considered that."
"You thought about it."
"I considered whether going straight through the mountains was a bad idea."
Aerion grinned.
"And?"
"It’s probably a bad idea."
Sylvara sighed.
"At least he’s honest."
Darius adjusted the strap of his pack.
"So what are we actually looking for?"
John slowed down.
"The second fragment."
Everyone became a little more serious.
They already knew about the resonance, but none of them had seen the fragment itself.
John had explained what he could the previous night. He had told them about the strange sensation in his Dragon Core and the direction it was pulling him toward.
He hadn’t told them everything.
There were things even John didn’t understand.
For example, why the fragment had remained dormant for so long.
Or why something beneath the ruins had suddenly awakened when he approached it.
And most importantly, why someone else already knew they had found it.
Lythriel looked toward the mountains.
"You said the resonance is getting stronger."
"Slowly."
"How strong?"
John thought about it.
"Strong enough that I can tell we’re getting closer."
Darius frowned.
"Can you pinpoint it?"
"No."
"Then how do we find it?"
"We don’t."
Darius looked confused.
John continued walking.
"We find the place first."
Aerion raised an eyebrow.
"That sounds suspiciously like you don’t have a plan."
"I have a plan."
"What is it?"
"Keep walking."
Aerion stared at him.
Sylvara covered a smile with her hand.
Darius shook his head.
"Brilliant strategy."
John ignored them.
For the first time since leaving Greyford, he allowed himself to relax slightly.
The road continued toward the mountains.
There were signs of old settlements along the way. Broken fences. Abandoned watch posts. Half-collapsed stone buildings covered in moss.
They weren’t ruins of some ancient civilization.
They were much more recent.
People had lived here.
People had mined these mountains.
And then, for some reason, many of them had left.
Around noon, they reached the remains of an old checkpoint.
A stone building stood beside the road, its roof partially collapsed. A rusted iron sign hung from one of the walls.
Darius walked over and brushed away some dirt.
"Mining authority."
Lythriel approached.
"How old?"
"Hard to tell."
John crouched beside the road.
There were wagon tracks.
Old ones.
But some were surprisingly fresh.
He touched the ground.
"Someone’s been using this road."
Darius immediately became alert.
"Recently?"
"Within the last few weeks."
Aerion looked around.
"Miners?"
"Maybe."
Sylvara pointed toward the mountain slope.
"There."
A narrow trail disappeared between several large rocks.
John stood.
"Let’s check it."
They left the main road.
The trail was barely wide enough for two people. Thorny plants scratched against their clothes as they climbed.
After several minutes, they reached a small clearing.
An old mining entrance had been carved into the mountain.
The wooden supports had mostly collapsed, leaving a dark opening between the rocks.
Darius studied the entrance.
"This wasn’t mentioned by the merchant."
"Probably because he didn’t know about it," Lythriel said.
John approached the entrance.
The resonance inside his Dragon Core became slightly stronger.
There was no mistaking it.
The second fragment was somewhere in this direction.
But before they could enter, John stopped.
"Wait."
Everyone froze.
"What is it?" Sylvara asked.
John looked into the forest behind them.
Nothing moved.
The wind passed through the trees.
Leaves rustled.
Then silence.
John narrowed his eyes.
"Someone’s watching us."
Darius reached for his weapon.
Aerion’s expression changed.
Lythriel quietly stepped closer to John.
"Same person from Greyford?"
"I don’t know."
John scanned the forest.
His senses spread outward.
He felt the animals.
The trees.
The faint movement of insects beneath the soil.
But no person.
Whoever it was had either left or knew how to hide.
John straightened.
"Don’t chase them."
Darius looked at him.
"Why?"
"Because that’s what they want."
Nobody argued.
John turned back toward the mine.
"We continue."
They entered.
The temperature dropped almost immediately.
The tunnel smelled of wet stone and old metal. Their footsteps echoed through the darkness.
Darius lit a small magical lamp.
The yellow light revealed old mining equipment scattered along the walls.
Pickaxes.
Broken carts.
Rusting tools.
Some tunnels branched deeper into the mountain.
John walked slowly.
The resonance was stronger now.
Not by much.
But enough.
They followed the left passage.
After several minutes, they found another sign of recent activity.
A small camp had been set up near the wall.
There were ashes in a fire pit.
A few empty containers.
And a bedroll.
Darius crouched beside it.
"Someone stayed here."
"Recently," Sylvara said.
John examined the ashes.
"Two or three days."
Aerion looked down one of the tunnels.
"So whoever’s been coming here might still be inside."
John nodded.
"Possibly."
Lythriel looked at him.
"Do you think they’re after the fragment?"
John didn’t answer immediately.
That was the question bothering him most.
The watcher had known.
That couldn’t be a coincidence.
"Maybe," he finally said.
"That’s not reassuring."
"I know."
They continued deeper.
The mine became strangely quiet.
Too quiet.
John noticed something else.
The resonance had changed.
It was no longer coming from directly ahead.
It seemed to be coming from below.
He stopped.
"There’s something underneath us."
Darius frowned.
"Another tunnel?"
"Maybe."
John placed his palm against the stone wall.
The Dragon Core responded.
A faint warmth traveled through his arm.
For a moment, John saw something that wasn’t actually there.
A massive chamber.
Black stone.
A faint golden light buried beneath the ground.
And something standing beside it.
A silhouette.
Watching.
Then the vision disappeared.
John pulled his hand away.
Lythriel immediately noticed his expression.
"What happened?"
"I saw something."
"What?"
"Someone."
Aerion stepped closer.
"Who?"
"I don’t know."
John looked at the wall again.
"But they were standing beside the fragment."
The group fell silent.
Darius tightened his grip on his weapon.
"So we’re not the only ones looking."
"No."
John looked deeper into the mine.
"And I don’t think they want us to find it first."
A faint sound echoed through the tunnel.
Everyone turned.
Clang.
Something metallic had fallen somewhere in the darkness.
Then another sound.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Measured.
Coming from one of the tunnels ahead.
John’s eyes narrowed.
The footsteps stopped.
Nobody spoke.
Then a voice came from the darkness.
"You shouldn’t have come here."
It wasn’t the same voice John had heard outside Greyford.
At least, he didn’t think it was.
John stepped forward.
"Who are you?"
No answer.
Instead, the tunnel ahead suddenly went dark.
The magical lamp flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Then returned to normal.
The footsteps were gone.
Aerion looked at John.
"Please tell me you heard that too."
"I did."
Darius looked toward the tunnel.
"Should we follow?"
John considered it.
Then shook his head.
"No."
Lythriel looked surprised.
"We’re just leaving?"
"Not leaving."
John turned toward the stone floor.
"We’re going down."
He could feel the second fragment now.
Stronger than before.
Whatever was waiting beneath the mine, it was close.
And for the first time since the resonance began, John felt something else mixed with it.
Fear.
Not his.
Something else.
Something that had been sealed away for a very long time.
John took a breath.
"Everyone stay close."
He placed his hand against the ground.
The stone beneath his palm trembled.
A thin crack appeared.
Then another.
The floor slowly began to split.
Lythriel stared at him.
"John..."
He looked up.
"I know."
The crack widened.
Cold air rose from beneath them.
And somewhere far below, something answered the call of his Dragon Core.
The second fragment was waiting.
But so was something else.
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