Chapter 177 - 172: Before the Mountains
John woke before sunrise.
For a moment, he didn’t remember where he was.
The unfamiliar ceiling above him slowly came into focus, followed by the distant sound of the river flowing beyond the village.
Then he remembered.
Riverside Village.
The expedition.
The Ashen Peaks.
Today was the final day before they entered the wilderness.
John sat up and quietly stretched.
The room was simple but comfortable. A small wooden table stood beside the bed, with his field satchel resting on top of it.
He reached for the journal.
Before anything else, he opened it.
---
**Day Six – Riverside Village**
*We reached Riverside yesterday.*
*The village is peaceful. The people are kind.*
*Tomorrow we leave the road behind.*
*After that, most of what we encounter will be unfamiliar.*
John paused.
His pen hovered over the page.
Then he added:
*I’m not afraid.*
*But I don’t think being afraid is the same as being unprepared.*
He stopped writing.
That sentence felt important.
Fear wasn’t weakness.
Ignoring danger was.
John closed the journal.
---
When he went downstairs, the village was already beginning to wake.
The smell of cooking food drifted through the open windows.
Several expedition members were preparing breakfast in the village square.
John spotted Lythriel sitting on a wooden bench, staring at the mountains in the distance.
He walked over.
"You’re awake early."
She glanced at him.
"So are you."
"I couldn’t sleep."
"Neither could I."
John followed her gaze.
The Ashen Peaks were visible beyond the northern hills.
From Riverside, they still appeared distant.
A dark line on the horizon.
But John could now make out several enormous peaks rising above the surrounding landscape.
They looked nothing like the mountains near Greenhollow.
These were larger.
Older.
And somehow...
More imposing.
"That’s where we’re going."
Lythriel said quietly.
John nodded.
"Tomorrow."
She sighed.
"Feels different now that we’re this close."
"It does."
---
Sylvara soon joined them carrying two cups of tea.
"I thought you might want this."
She handed one to John.
"Thanks."
She sat beside Lythriel.
For several minutes, the three simply watched the sunrise.
The sky gradually changed from dark blue to orange.
The first rays of sunlight touched the peaks.
The mountains seemed to glow for a brief moment before returning to their usual gray.
"It’s beautiful."
Sylvara whispered.
John nodded.
"Yeah."
None of them said anything else.
They didn’t need to.
---
After breakfast, Commander Gareth gathered the expedition near the village hall.
The atmosphere was noticeably different from yesterday.
People were more serious.
Today wasn’t simply another day of traveling.
They were preparing for the wilderness.
Gareth stood before a large wooden board.
"Before we leave tomorrow morning, we’re going to review the route."
He pointed toward a map.
"From Riverside, we’ll follow the northern road for approximately half a day."
"After that, the road ends."
"We’ll establish our first wilderness camp near the foothills."
Several people listened carefully.
Gareth continued.
"The second day will take us through the lower mountain forest."
"The terrain becomes steeper here."
"We’ll move slowly."
"No one leaves the group without permission."
He paused.
"That includes experienced members."
A few adventurers exchanged amused glances.
Gareth didn’t smile.
"I’m serious."
The amusement disappeared.
"Mountain terrain creates problems that aren’t always visible."
"A loose stone."
"A hidden ravine."
"A sudden storm."
"One mistake can separate someone from the group."
John listened carefully.
It was exactly the kind of warning he expected.
---
After the briefing, the expedition members divided into smaller groups to prepare.
John returned to the library wagon.
Miriam’s instructions were still fresh in his mind.
He checked every piece of equipment.
Journal.
Ink.
Charcoal.
Measuring tools.
Preservation cloth.
Blank parchment.
Waterproof cases.
He counted everything twice.
Then once more.
A voice came from behind him.
"You’re thorough."
John turned.
Darius stood nearby.
"I’ve learned not to assume everything is where I left it."
Darius smiled.
"Good habit."
He glanced toward the equipment.
"You’re carrying enough to become a pack mule."
John laughed.
"Miriam told me the same thing."
"She has a habit of being right."
"Apparently."
Darius looked toward the mountains.
"You’ve never been there before?"
"No."
"Neither have I."
John looked surprised.
"Really?"
Darius nodded.
"I’ve studied them for years."
"Studying a place isn’t the same as seeing it."
John smiled.
"Master Aldric says something similar."
"Then we already have something in common."
---
Darius reached into his coat and pulled out a folded piece of parchment.
"I thought you might find this interesting."
John accepted it.
The parchment contained a rough sketch of the Ashen Peaks.
Several locations had been marked.
"Where did you get this?"
"An old monastery archive."
Darius pointed toward a valley on the eastern side.
"This was drawn almost two hundred years ago."
John studied it carefully.
"The eastern pass."
"Yes."
"The expedition isn’t taking this route."
"I know."
Darius folded his arms.
"I wouldn’t recommend it."
John looked at him.
"Why?"
"Because the map is wrong."
John frowned.
"How?"
"The river marked here no longer exists."
"How can you be sure?"
"Because another survey from eighty years later shows the river in a completely different location."
Darius tapped the map.
"The valley changed."
"Possibly from a landslide."
"Or something else."
John looked at the map again.
Something about the eastern valley felt familiar.
Not because he had been there.
Because he had seen the same shape before.
He quickly searched his memory.
Then it came to him.
"The ancient map."
Darius’s expression changed slightly.
"The one from the library?"
John nodded.
"It showed the same valley."
"But the river was there."
Darius stared at him.
"You remember that?"
"I studied it yesterday."
A faint smile appeared on Darius’s face.
"Interesting."
---
John carefully returned the parchment.
"Why show me this?"
"Because we’re going into the same mountains."
Darius replied.
"And because I think comparing our notes may be useful."
John nodded.
"I’d like that."
Darius extended his hand.
"Then perhaps we can help each other."
John shook it.
"Agreed."
There was no rivalry in the gesture.
No challenge.
Just two people with questions.
---
Later in the afternoon, John and his companions walked through Riverside one final time.
Lythriel bought several packets of dried fruit from a local merchant.
Sylvara visited the village herbalist and exchanged information about medicinal plants.
Aerion spent time speaking with a fisherman about the northern forest.
John wandered toward the river.
The same little girl from yesterday spotted him.
"Mister Dragon!"
John turned.
She ran toward him with a small wooden object in her hands.
"I made this!"
She held it out.
It was a crude carving of a dragon.
The wings were uneven.
One horn was larger than the other.
The tail looked more like a stick.
John stared at it.
"You made this?"
She nodded proudly.
"My grandfather helped."
John smiled.
"It’s wonderful."
"You can keep it."
John carefully accepted the carving.
"Thank you."
"Are you going to the mountains?"
"Yes."
She looked toward the distant peaks.
"Are they scary?"
John thought about the question.
"Probably."
The girl frowned.
"Then why go?"
John smiled.
"Because there are things worth finding."
She seemed to consider that.
"Will you come back?"
John looked at the little wooden dragon in his hand.
Then toward the mountains.
"I will."
She smiled.
"Good."
---
That evening, the expedition held a final meal in Riverside.
The atmosphere was quieter than the previous night.
Everyone knew tomorrow would be different.
There were fewer jokes.
More conversations about equipment.
More people checking weapons and supplies.
Some wrote letters to family members.
Others simply sat beside friends.
John sat with Lythriel, Sylvara, and Aerion near the edge of the square.
Lythriel looked at the mountains.
"So tomorrow."
"Tomorrow."
John answered.
She smiled.
"Whatever happens..."
"We stay together."
Sylvara nodded.
"Together."
Aerion raised his cup.
"Together."
John lifted his own.
"Together."
Their cups touched softly.
---
Later that night, John stood alone outside the village.
The moon hung above the mountains.
The peaks looked almost black against the night sky.
The Soul Raven landed quietly on a nearby fence post.
John glanced at it.
"You’ve been quiet today."
The raven tilted its head.
"You’ve seen mountains like those before?"
The creature gave no answer.
John smiled.
"Right."
"You don’t talk."
The raven suddenly looked north.
John followed its gaze.
Nothing appeared unusual.
Just mountains.
Dark forests.
Moonlight.
Still...
For a brief moment, John felt something.
Not danger.
Not exactly.
It was more like a distant presence.
Something so faint that he couldn’t tell whether he had actually sensed it.
Then it vanished.
John frowned.
The Soul Raven remained motionless.
After several seconds, it finally looked back at him.
John sighed.
"Probably nothing."
He turned toward the village.
Tomorrow they would enter the mountains.
Tomorrow the expedition would leave the familiar roads behind.
And somewhere beyond those peaks...
The forgotten ruins waited.
John touched the small wooden dragon inside his pocket.
Then he smiled.
"Let’s see what history has been hiding."
Behind him, far beyond the village and deeper within the Ashen Peaks, a single stone shifted inside an ancient ruin.
Dust fell from a wall.
A faint vibration passed through the buried structure.
Then everything became still again.
The mountains remained silent.
For now.
---
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