Mother of Monsters (Camp NaNoWriMo 2015)

Chapter VII

I woke up when it was still dark out, half my face covered in my own drool. Everyone else was still asleep. Elios snored so loud, it would scare thunder. Milea had to use Elios's arm as a pillow since there wasn't enough for all of us. And since she got to sleep in the middle in the forest, she would have to go pillowless tonight.

I slowly got up from the bed and stood up. My legs were taking their revenge from all the activity yesterday. I could tell they'll love me even more once we start climbing Dianae.

As I was washing my face with some water Milea got yesterday, I thought of Areus. What kind of man was he? Would he consider coming back to Strago? Would he even help us? Why did he choose such a remote place like Mount. Dianae?

Since I was up, it's probably best to get this party started. I jumped on the bed, my head landing on Elios's stomach, my arms hitting Milea's legs. "Rise and shine my mandrakes." I sang.

Elios sat up immediately. "Fuck. My arm!" He yelled in agony. He moved his right arm in a circular motion. "Milea, the fuck were you doing to my arm?"

"Nuthin'" She mumbled, turning her head into the sheets. "Can't we sleep a bit longer? The mountain's not going anywhere."

I grabbed Milea by her shoulders and rolled her over. "Sure the mountain's not going anywhere, but the same can't be said for Areus. Y'know. The guy who's going to help us change fate so the world doesn't go to shit."

Milea groaned. "Fine. Just give me a minute."

My smile was wide and bright. "So how's your arm. Is it still dead?" I asked Elios.

He gave it a good last shake. "It's fine now. But I am not carrying anyone up the mountain for any reason. But I'll make an exception for you."

I laughed. "What is that supposed to mean?" Milea asked Elios. Now she was definitely awake.

"Ask him on the mountain. I want to leave this place by sun up." I jumped out of the bed.

Milea slowly rose from bed and Elios strapped his sword to his belt. "Is the gate even going to be open this early?" Milea asked as she splashed her face with whatever water was left.

"Let's find out."

The gate wouldn't open until sunrise, so me, Elios, Milea and citizens of the city were all camping by the wall until we could see that pinkish-orange orb rise from the ground. That's when the heavy metal gate started to rise. The higher the gate rose, the more butterflies started flying around in my stomach. I was so excited to climb this mountain I didn't care what my legs told me.

The first hour or so wasn't bad because we were walking up and down hills. The fact that those people from Fos weren't chasing us down really helped tone down any stress factor. We didn't have a reason to run anymore, so my legs wouldn't be screaming from the pain of yesterday and today.

However, the more we walked those hills slowly turned steeper. Soon enough we were on the mountain range. The air grew thinner and it kept getting harder and harder to walk without our bodies practically screaming at us to stop.

We all agreed to take a break. It wasn't good for us to keep walking like this. We all walked over to the side. Suddenly, the floor I stepped on went down, not far though, I'd say like an inch down. It caused me to go off balance, but the next thing I know Milea and Elios are yelling at me to get down.

I did what they said and dropped to the ground. A sudden pillar of flames showed up above me. After a few minutes, it seemed like the flames wouldn't stop, so I had to crawl my way out.

I rolled over so I would be sitting down. The flames stopped after half an hour, which I thought was to excessive. "Great. So the place is booby trapped." I sighed.