mountain

The air grew colder as we ascended the mountain, a biting chill that cut through our layers of clothing. The landscape around us had shifted—gone were the jagged rocks and narrow paths of the lower regions. Now, the ground was blanketed in a thick layer of snow, the white expanse broken only by the occasional outcropping of dark stone jutting from the earth like forgotten sentinels. The sky above was a bleak, overcast gray, threatening more snowfall.

We hadn't spoken much since leaving the cave that morning. Each of us was consumed by our own thoughts, weighed down by the events of the previous night and the silent understanding that something dark still loomed over us. My chest felt heavy, the crystal pressing against me with an almost sentient force, as though it were more than a mere object. More like a living thing, coiled tight and waiting.