We took off running together, all four of us pushing our bodies to move faster up the mountain path. The stone beneath our feet was smooth and well-maintained, clearly designed to be the main route to the castle. That meant it was also going to be where most of the obstacles were concentrated.
"There!" Tobias pointed ahead to where the path widened into a small plateau. "Something's moving."
He was right. As we got closer, I could see shapes emerging from the ground itself, pulling themselves up from the stone like they were being born from the mountain. They were small, maybe waist-high, and made entirely of rock and crystal. Their eyes glowed with blue light, and when they opened their mouths, I could hear a grinding, scraping sound that set my teeth on edge.
"Rock monsters," Roran said, already forming a spell circle. "Of course there's rock monsters."
"How many?" Kai asked.
