The team rested in their tents after a weary battle with the Aquillith. Emma was provided utmost care at the hands of Ann, who had picked up a thing or two about medicine. As Emma got better she used her magic to heal Gavin's scars and Stephen's bruises. Both stood up at full health and danced around as they always did. Emma healed herself as well, the team was coming together ever stronger.
"Guys, you've got to see this!", said Trent as he came panting into the tent.
"See what? Also, calm down dude!", responded Stephen.
"I was examining the corpse of that Aquillith when I came across this" he said pointing at the symbol, "I thought it didn't mean anything at first, but I kid you not, those are the mountains of Pyrothos!", he said as his voice took an excited tone.
"That what of what?", asked a confused Gavin.
"Gavin, my dear, the mountain of Pyrothos is a legendary structure built by the elementals to preserve the element fire. Legend says Dragons had taken over the mountains until they were won back in The Great War.", said Emma stepping in to the conversation.
"Precisely!", said Trent as he got more and more excited.
"Ok? So? Get to the point.", said Stephen,
"The book my mom wrote in had markings at the bottom of every page of this very symbol! When I dusted the cover of this book and held it over a flame, the same symbol was revealed! This means something!" he continued.
"What's on your mind, Trent?", asked Ann holding his hand.
"I think my mother was in the quest of something big. The legend Emma told us stories about, I'm almost certain my mom was a part of it! She may not have been an elemental, or even a mage for that matter, but something tells me she had her own part to play in the entire scene. These doodles, they all point to one thing, the mountain of Pyrothos. Its located on the extreme north of Sylvanora, I reckon a few weeks, a month at best from our camp.", he said laying down a map.
"Okay, stop right there! You want us to go to the mountain of Pyro-whatever with you, to do what?", said Stephen raising his eyebrow.
"You're going to have to trust me on this one, Stev-o!", he said smiling.
"Don't you Stev-o me! Now shut your hole and spill!", Stephen said reddening.
"Hold on to your hats, my team, for I believe we have hit the jackpot of jackpots! Screw the few diamonds we were about to claim for the murder of this Aquillith, we can make billions, if not trillions in pure gold and gems!", he said boldly. The room fell silent, except for the voice of Stephen's drool over the fantasy.
"Trillions?! You better not be fucking with me!", Stephen said as his tongue tread halfway out his mouth.
"No, my dear friend! I kid you not!", Trent said smiling.
"Okay, hold up, how exactly can you be sure?", asked Ann.
"I don't need to answer that, for Emma will herself.", Trent said as he looked at Emma.
"Sigh. The mountains of Pyrothos were once home to many black dragons, creatures so terrible even the strongest wouldn't tread their paths. Dragons have a strong greed of gold and gems, as you'll hear in many folk, and given that Pyrothos was the home to many dragons it's more than safe to say that the lands of Pyrothos hold more wealth than the entire Arionis itself. They would steal this wealth from all over the world, Sylvanora too was robbed of millions.", she said taking a sorrowful tone.
"Hang on, I know I'm not the smartest of us five, but if the lands are so wealthy then why hasn't anyone just taken it for themselves?", asked Gavin scratching his head.
"Because the gold is buried deep inside the mountain itself, which by the way, is also an active volcano.", said Trent smiling.
"A what?! Okay, what?!", said Stephen jumping on the table.
"You honestly thought getting yourself a retirement for dear life would be so simple? The gold is said to be seated inside the heart of the volcano where even the bravest don't dare to tread. The environment of Pyrothos is very unforgiving, my friend. Their air is like blaze and their water warm, it's impossible for us mere men and women to last more than a day there. Not to mention it's also protected by enchantments, mythics and what not." he said scratching his nails.
"So you want us to do what? Go there and watch the volcano explode?", asked Ann.
"Nope. We're going to go inside and rob the mountain of it's deepest riches!", he said arrogantly.
"Are you out of your fucking mind?! Trent, be real! If it were that simple, that gold would be taken by kingdoms ages ago!", said Emma as she glared Trent in the eye.
"We have something no-one ever did, Emms! We have my mom's book! It contains all the mythics this world has ever seen. We know about them top to bottom, inside out. No matter how many dare tread our way, we can kill them the way we killed the Aquillith. Armies have attracted thousands of mythics, you really think 5 people will attract more than a handful?", he continued.
"Trent, I get that you're kind of a left handed monkey wrench, but we barely killed the Aquillith. That thing was nearly immobilised outside it's home, there's no guarantee we'll be lucky enough to find other weak mythics!", Stephen said glaring at Trent as well.
"Guys, come on! Let's cut ourselves some slack, we killed a fucking mythic with our own bare hands! The king was right, my darlings, we're special, a kind that only comes together once in a millennia! Let's not waste what we have now! I say we make haste for the mountain at dawn!", he said repeatedly.
"Trent, there's a boundary between want and greed. What will you do with so much gold?", asked Emma.
"I want a dime at best, my love. We can give that gold to those who could actually use it, villages, towns, cities, every single person, from a farmer to a king would live a lavish life! So much gold we can extract it would last this planet a century!", Trent said as a glimmer ran across his eyes. This really touched Emma, who was the least selfish of the lot. Her heart showed her a world where people didn't have to worry about money and could love life as it were. No-one would have to fight mythics to reclaim their gold, there'd be no wars, they would be the heroes of Sylvanora! Emma had lost her parents to the wraths of a mythic after she had barely learnt to walk. She knew this could save another Emma out there, giving her the family she never had for herself. Gripping Trent's arm and gathering her courage she said, "I'm in." as she hugged him.
"I assume we get to keep atleast a hundredth of the gold?", asked Stephen licking his lips.
"Sure, Steve. That gets all the girls you want.", said Trent sighing.
"Then let's tour this Pyro thing!", he said doing a little dance.
"Ann?", asked Trent.
"I don't know, love. It's just a little too risky in my mind.", she said as different scenarios played out in her head.
"You're going to leave your best friend at the mercy of a volcano? Who'll be there to protect him then?", said Trent bending down on one knee.
"Fuck you! I'm in!", she said kissing his cheek.
"Gavin likes gold! I'm in!", Gavin said as he hugged Trent.
"Too hard, Gavin! Let go!", Trent said gasping for air.
"Alright everybody, once again we travel tomorrow. In my tent at dusk, we have to discuss the route." said Emma as she departed to her tent.
"Aye, captain!", Stephen followed.
The team dispersed into their tents to get a good night's sleep with dreams of gold, riches and their triumphant return to Sylvanora with enough pocket change to reshape it, for Trent had piqued their greed, and now there was no going back!
Morning cracked and the heroes came out of their camps as they marched towards Emma's tent.
"Alright, let's go over the map. Trent?", Emma started.
"Here.", said Trent as he laid down a map,"this is an exact scale map of Arionis. That peak you see at the extreme north, that's Pyrothos. We're here, the extreme east of Arionis, at Sylvanora, and that's Veridia, at the west of Arionis. We need to tread diagonally, through the trees of Wispwood and across The Narrow Arc." He said pointing at said places.
"I'm sorry, the trees of what and the narrow what?", asked a confused Gavin.
"Oh, you poor cave troll. The Wispwood forest is the largest there is in Arionis! It's miles long and miles thick, we shall spend most of our time in the forest itself. The silver lining is that we shan't have to worry about food, nutrition in the form of fruits are a single pluck away! As far as The Narrow Arc goes, it's the largest mountain valley in Arionis. It's said that it connected the eastern and western treads to the mountain of Pyrothos. We must travel along this valley for its a beautifully marked path right to the hills that are infront of Pyrothos. Once we've left the valley, we must climb three hills by their sides and reach the mountain itself. Sound good?", he said smiling.
"Sounds exhausting! However the gold we'll get at the end it so worth it!" said Ann as she snuggled Gavin.
"We leave for Pyrothos tomorrow, we'll have to collect rations from the kingdom and inform them about the defeat of the Aquillith. Once we're set on food we shall leave at once for the Wispwood forest, for that shall be a long and treacherous journey.", said Emma.
"Everyone with me?", she continued to ask.
"Heck yeah!", came a communal response from the team as they all snuggled together in their warm embrace. Despite their differences they truly loved one another.
And so the journey of what was spoken began. The five were off to collect rations, and soon were about to head to the forests. Their greed was their drive but noble was their cause, their journey to Pyrothos had now begun.
