The ascent began with a steep path carved into jagged stone. The air quickly thinned as they moved higher. Evan placed his hands on the rock often feeling for subtle shifts. Mira and Tallo followed smoothly using everything he taught. Bran secured anchors while the three new climbers adapted quickly.

At a narrow pass the wind suddenly roared funneling through two cliffs like a living force. Dust blasted past them. Hesh nearly stumbled but Evan grabbed his harness pulling him in.

Stay low Evan yelled This is wind channeling It means a storm line is forming above

Den shouted.

Then we must hurry

No Evan said firmly We must wait Storms up here follow patterns They pass in pulses Three gusts then calm

They braced. Wind gust one tore through the pass. Evan counted the seconds. Gust two came stronger. Then gust three. After it faded the air grew strangely still.

Now we move Evan said

They crossed quickly reaching a sheltered overhang before the wind roared again with piercing force. Mira let out a shaky exhale.

If we crossed a moment later she said

We would be gone Evan finished

They climbed higher reaching a slanted platform where the stone glowed faintly from within. Elya knelt touching the glowing veins.

Its warm she whispered Like breath

Bran frowned.

Stone should not breathe

Evan felt the warmth too. The pulses matched the same rhythm as the cracks near the nest.

This is connected to that energy surge yesterday Evan said The mountain is channeling something through these veins We follow them They may lead us to the source

As they moved upward the glowing grew brighter. Strange symbols formed naturally along the stone edges swirling in patterns that neither erosion nor tools could create. The air hummed faintly vibrating in their bones.

Serana stepped forward her voice quiet.

We are close to territory no one has walked in generations

Evan studied the massive peak looming ahead its summit wrapped in glowing mist.

Then we go further

But before they took another step the ridge trembled violently and a deep roar echoed through the mountains not from a beast but from the stone itself.

The mountain spoke
And it warned them

They braced instinctively as dust fell from above and cracks began to widen across the slope. Hesh shouted Mira grabbed an anchor line Bran braced the group with a rope lock.

Evan stared wide eyed.

This is not a creature This is structure shifting

Tallo pointed upward.

Coach Look

Above them a glowing fissure split open revealing something beneath the rock something enormous moving like the pulse of a sleeping titan.

Evan felt a chill.

We are not climbing into danger
We are climbing into a living system

The mountain shifted once more and they scrambled to secure footing. When the tremor settled Evan breathed heavily but kept steady.

We retreat for today he said This needs planning But tomorrow we go again And we climb even higher

The team nodded shaken but determined. As they descended the ridge the mountain pulsed behind them glowing brighter than ever as if an immense eye watched their every step.

The Great Expedition had only just begun
And the world above waited like a sleeping giant ready to wake