The sun was bright, and the sky was clear.
The mountain path twisted and turned, extending along the mountainous road. On one side was a steep cliff that rose like a wall, and on the other was a sharp drop that vanished into a deep ravine.
Far below, beyond the drifting fog, a long river twisted through the ravine and passed through a small forest like a slithering serpent.
Inside one of the carriages near the back, Petra sat leisurely, resting her chin in both hands as she looked out through the half-open curtain.
She was like a curious child.
The wooden wheels creaked over the uneven black stone of the Blackstone Mountain Range, rocking gently with each turn.
The carriage was simple and plain, but it was comfortable, at least for her.
Outside, the sound of hooves and rattling wheels mixed into a steady rhythm. The caravan was a long procession, over a hundred carriages in total. They slowly made their way down the narrow and precarious road. It was a mixture of traders, travelers, and hired guards, forming a moving procession that wound through the mountains like a long line.
Beside Petra, a weak and nervous voice called out, "I–Is it really okay to go around like this? You're a wanted criminal now, r-right?"
The voice came from Mousa, a small mouse boy who sat awkwardly across from her.
Petra didn't answer right away.
She just turned her head and smiled faintly.
"If I were worried about that," she said naively, "I wouldn't be sitting in a caravan this big and obvious, right?"
Mousa's ears drooped. "That's… exactly why I think you should be worried."
He didn't want to get implicated.
This person was crazy.
The reason he was traveling with Petra was because he had been left behind by the Mercenary Alliance by accident.
Petra scooped him up while passing by not because she wanted to, but because the busty bunnies found him cute and pitied him, so they convinced Petra to take him with them.
Petra just gave a short laugh and looked back out the window.
The wind brushed her hair aside.
The forest below flickered in and out of view through the mist.
At the same time, somewhere not far away, unseen by all, the Tower Spider swaggered quietly in the void, its many eyes open and watching over its master and her ugly carriage.
Driving Petra's carriage was the middle-aged demon auntie that Petra had saved back in Imai.
Her body had survived through some miraculous process that even she, Raina, didn't understand, leaving her in a somewhat confused state. She was supposed to die after all. In the end, she chose to follow the compass and let it lead her.
Since they were going in the same direction, Petra decided to hire her as a carriage driver temporarily.
-
The carriage jolted slightly as the wheels hit a loose stone.
Mousa clutched the seat, wincing in panic. "I really don't like this kind of mountain road! What if we fall!?"
From the driver's seat, Raina let out a low laugh. "Then we fall, simple as that, what's the big deal?"
Petra yawned. "Relax, little squeaky. If we fall, I'll just fly."
Mousa jumped. "You can't fly!"
Petra blinked rapidly. "Then I'll make you into a bird…?"
He froze. "T-That's not..."
Raina chuckled again, flicking the reins. "You're still as strange as ever, little girl. You talk about turning people into things as if you can really do it."
Petra nodded her head repeatedly. "That's just how alchemy works, yep yep."
"Alchemy isn't supposed to work like that!" Mousa screamed.
Petra looked at him with a suspicious glance. "Aya? So you're an alchemist now?"
"I—I just read a few books," he tried to convince himself.
"Then you must've missed the part where books are written by people who don't know what they're doing!" Petra replied, snorting arrogantly.
Petra hated the alchemists of this world, and this was a feeling that was getting increasingly firm.
Raina chuckled.
The carriage quieted for a moment, leaving only the sound of hooves and the mountain wind.
Then Raina spoke again, brighter this time. "Where exactly are you headed, little girl?"
Petra looked out the window.
The fog below shifted, revealing a faint corner of the forest below.
"To play," she said simply. "There's something I want to find before the western region goes away."
Mousa swallowed. "A-ah?"
Petra smiled, but didn't explain any further.
-
After the caravan reached a large stretch of land where they could temporarily stop, they chose to pause here and set up camp for the night. The long line of carriages slowly pulled into formation, creating a loose half-circle along the flat stone overhang above.
The guards unhitched the horses and drove in wooden stakes to keep them still, merchants unloaded crates of supplies and food, children ran around chasing each other while the older travelers began setting up cooking pots in small groups.
It was lively.
The faint orange glow from the dozens of campfires slowly spread through the camp, forming tiny circles of light in the growing darkness.
Raina guided the carriage to the far edge of the group near a cliff wall and stopped. "We'll stay here for the night, it should be safer near the rock wall…"
Petra jumped out first, landing lightly on the stone road with a tiny two feet hop. "Mmm~ finally! My butt's already flat!"
Mousa rolled out after her, his nose still twitching. "You sat the whole time! But I was terrified for hours!"
"Fear builds character," Petra sneered, ignored him, and wandered off to crawl near the edge and poke her head out to look down into the valley below with a complete disregard for her own safety.
The sun had nearly disappeared.
The last bit of the light of day was leaking through the fog, coloring it orange and red.
Below, the river still shimmered faintly in the distance.
"It's pretty,"
Petra's little mouth pulled into a 'v'.
Raina glanced at her. "Don't get too dreamy, little girl. These mountains are this quiet because everything that's smart has already left."
Petra smiled faintly, "Then maybe I'm just not that smart."
Mousa squeaked from the side. "You said it, not me!"
A cold wind blew through the mountain cliff, carrying the faint sound of something echoing in the distance, a low, hollow groan that disappeared just as quickly as it had come.
Mousa shivered. "W-What was that?"
"Wind," Petra said without looking back.
'Probably~'
The night had only just begun.
-
Some time later…
"W-where did she come from!" Mousa's voice cracked as he stared at Lilly and Luna who had appeared at some point to make supper.
Petra looked at him like he was an idiot.
Lilly and Luna were already hard at work, one stirring a pot while the other calmly chopped vegetables. They looked completely natural, as if they had been there all along.
Unlike Raina, Mousa had no idea that the store where he met Petra was 'alive'.
Even Raina had a hard time accepting that it seemed to have been following them this whole time without her knowing.
Petra didn't even glance at them. "They've been here since morning."
Mousa's nose twitched. "S-Since morning!? I swear there were only three of us! No no no, impossible!"
Raina let out a tired sigh, sitting down near the twins. "Don't bother thinking about it, mouse boy. The more you try to make sense of it the less you'll sleep tonight."
"But… how!? They weren't on the carriage!" Mousa clutched his head. "T-they weren't in the caravan! They just, just appeared, appeared!!"
Lilly and Luna just gave him a side eye, then shook their heads.
They continued cooking,
-
After eating, night slowly came.
The mountain wind had turned cold, crawling down from the upper peaks and pushing the mist across the camp like a living shadow. Dwindling campfires dotted the cliffside, each one a small island of orange light surrounded by the endless gray mist.
Petra laid sprawled out on the carriage roof, chewing on a dried root while staring into the sky.
Mousa was bundled up in a blanket, his round eyes flashing between every shadow that moved.
He was already questioning his own sanity, so now he had convinced himself that there was something out there, in the dark.
At least, that was what he kept mumbling.
It was quiet, too quiet…
Only the sound of the wind and the crackle of coals filled the air.
"Why's it so silent?" Mousa whispered, pulling the blanket up to his nose. "Theres not even the sound of bugs. T-that's weird, right?"
"Ominous~" Petra whistled.
Her eyes glowed with the reflection of the stars. "Or… maybe, whatever's out there… is just waiting for the noisy ones to fall asleep."
"That's… not funny!"
Petra shrugged. "Then don't laugh." She shot Raina a glance, and Raina looked away.
The camp continued to settle down for the night.
The wind direction shifted again, followed by a faint crack that echoed from the cliff below.
Mousa's tail shot up. "T-There! Did you hear that!?"
Raina stood up.
The mist had thickened around the far edge of the camp, swallowing the outlines of a few distant fires. Guards were murmuring now, their voices low and uneasy.
The strange mumbling flickered through the fog, leaving one with an unusual feeling of tension.
Something… was happening.
Tock, tock, tock~
From within the mist came another sound, dry, rhythmic, like something crawling on wood.
Petra stood slowly, dusting off her skirt. "Ah? Something did come and find us."
Her little eyes flickered with interest.
"W-what!?" Mousa squeaked.
Visibility continued to worsen.
The mist rippled, and a large silhouette formed in the haze ahead.
Exposed bone scraped against the black rock as it dragged itself forward, eyes glowing faintly green like rotten lanterns that exhausted their life. Its limbs were thin and malnourished, and its body was bleeding black soot.
Raina stepped forward, her fist at the ready. "Stay behind me."
It was directed not to Petra, but Mousa, who quickly complied.
Petra tilted her head. "Mm, no need."
The creature lunged!
But! The moment it crossed the light, the air cracked, and a faint green light spread from Petra's feet, like a snaping wave.
The moment the creature was hit…
It froze mid-motion, its body twisting in pain.
A second later, it collapsed into ash, not even leaving a skeleton behind.
The mist recoiled, fleeing into the ravine below, either from the death of the creature, or the unseen effects of the mental energy shockwave.
Silence returned, only less tense.
The surroundings were filled with low murmurs.
It had ended so fast that some people didn't even know what was going on.
Petra crouched down, brushing the black dust with a finger. "Strange, the poison didn't work, right…? Was it too fragile? Mm, it's not my mental energy that destroyed it, this thing was infected with something that made it brittle. This is…"
Raina frowned. "You mean… Its contagious?"
Petra looked up, smiling innocently. "Not exactly, I mean, kinda… look," Petra pointed at the ash. "This is called Duskwood Dust. It's a very rare substance that was recorded in the Book of Calamity."
Her black eyes drifted toward the western horizon.
"Looks like the west is waking up soon," she said quietly.
Mousa swallowed hard. "T-that doesn't sound good. What exactly is waking up…?"
Petra stood up, stretching her arms like nothing had happened. "Good, bad, doesn't matter what it is. But! It's interesting, and it looks like I can find a lot of treasure on this trip!"
She skipped toward the carriage, ignoring the two curious passengers. "Let's sleep. Tomorrow, we continue to the treasured land~."
* * *
The next morning, the mountain air was fresh and cold.
Dew clung to the grass along the stone edges of the road.
The caravan began moving again, wheels creaking as the long line of carriages slowly returned to the winding mountain path.
Petra sat near the window, half-asleep with her chin resting on both palms. Mousa leaned out the back, scanning the road behind them with lively eyes.
"W-wait! Where did they go!?" he shouted suddenly, tail rose in alarm.
Petra blinked lazily. "Who?"
"L–Lilly and Luna, the Twins! They were here last night, what if they were caught! They made dinner! They, they even tucked me in!" Mousa's eyes darted around frantically.
Petra yawned. "Maybe they went home."
"Home!? But we're in the middle of a mountain!"
Petra shrugged, a cute smile curling on her face. "The world's a big place, little mouse. Some people just live differently~"
He slumped into his seat, defeated. "They disappeared again… Ah ah ah, I swear…"
Petra leaned against the window and added softly, almost to herself, "They just go where I go. That's all." The carriage continued forward, the mountain path narrowing as mist rolled over the peaks around them.
Far below, the river flickered faintly in and out of vision, the long procession of migrating beasts blending in to the early light, peaceful, silent, and still unaware that far to the west, black clouds were already beginning to form above the city of Oriest, and soon, the western region would change forever.