Kraken Mage 2: An Epic Fantasy Adventure by Robin Hutson

Author:Robin Hutson [Hutson, Robin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Royal Guard Publishing LLC
Published: 2024-07-24T00:00:00+00:00

“I never thought I’d see snow at this time of year,” Beth said gloomily.

“Don’t you like the snow?” Mia said in a teasing voice. She was joking and trying to cheer Beth up, but it didn’t work.

“I do not,” Beth growled. “I’m a cat person, and we don’t like the cold. That’s one of the reasons I chose Brighthill and the Hope River valley in general. It’s nice and warm.”

“Those mountains don’t look nice and warm,” Alaria agreed. “I wonder how deep into the mountains Neroli’s domain is. For all their speculation and knowledge of her backstory, Mira and Rurik were pretty unhelpful when it came to practical information.”

“Aye,” Beth grumbled. “But that’s the way in, no doubt.” She pointed toward the huge, looming mountain that reared up, brooding over the plateau lands and darkening the horizon with its shadow. “We can’t miss, so if we’re going to go, let’s get on with it. It’s farther away than it looks, I’ll bet. Come on, let’s try to put some miles behind us before bed. We needed the rest, but we’re behind schedule. We don’t want Grozmikal to catch us up.”

They pulled their cloaks around them and strode off toward the mountains. The weather had changed completely from the intense heat of a few days before. Hope River valley was known for its baking summer heat, but the whole time they’d been on the road, they’d been climbing a subtle but steady slope. Now, they were much higher above sea level than they would be at Brighthill, and they were in the long, undulating plateau lands that flowed up to the mountains.

Here, the weather was different. Summer in the foothills of Cold Range was like Fall in Brighthill, and this close to the mountains, a chill wind blew down on them from the high peaks above. The wind smelled of snow and clean air.

Unlike her companions, Alaria didn’t find the snow and ice off-putting. Many of the colleges of magic where she’d studied over the years were high in the mountains. She liked the way the cold braced up her energy and made her feel alive. The mountains were challenging places, places where strange and unexpected things might happen. There was a depth of silence to be found up there that could not be found anywhere else. She’d never in all her journeys found anywhere quite like the mountains, and a part of her soul suddenly sang out with pleasure at the prospect of getting up there.

Smiling, she strode ahead. Mia and Beth shared a glance as they hurried along behind, and Beth grinned and rolled her eyes affectionately. Whatever they might think of the mountains, their companion was happy and recovered from her battle with the sentinel, and that was worth a great deal to both of them.

They made good progress toward the mountains that day, not speaking much, stopping now and again to rest their legs and have a quick bite, then pressing on. Alaria was buzzing with the sense of adventure, and the excitement of approaching the destination.

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