Rune of Oldfyre

Chapter Thirty-three: Up on a Mountain

We returned to the inn, pack our stuff, recollected the stolen goods, and left. Not even looking back at the now distant Night Vale. We trudged through the snow until the terrain became rocky and dotted with cliffs. We had reached the Holíshitë mountain range. On the horizon I could barely make out Mt. Totallyharmless's silhouette.

The terrain became too rough for the sled. Luckily I anticipated this and had wheels that could be used to turn it into a normal wagon. For the length of the day we climbed up and down the jagged passes.

In the evening we set up up camp, a fire placed near the wagon, and waited for morning. Our group had slowly lost its sense of fraternity. We didn't hate each other, just began to fall away. I began to assume that once this thing is delivered we'd all go our separate ways; May and me back to Incursia, Allister off to do his own thing, and Anya off to be an assassin or something. I didn't feel terrible about it. This kind of thing happens. It's not the destination, as they say, but the journey.

Our journey brought us to the Temple of the Disciples of Light, a dark and dingy temple carved out of the side of Mt. Totallyharmless. The main entrance was a massive archway that towered hundreds of feet high. On either side there was a large stone statue of a bearded man holding a ball. I guess it was probably the orb of eternal light, but it looked like any other ball. The passage was massive enough that doubt we actually needed it added to our maps back at Rolenov, we'd have seen it from miles away.

I cast a ball of lightning to light the way. The place was long abandoned and smelled of mildew. The walls were lined with more of the bearded statues, holding their stony balls ever so valiantly. I noticed that each statue, and subsequently beard, was different from the previous one. They must have been leaders of the Disciples of Light.

Though the temple created a passage through the mountain, it did so as a labyrinth. The halls had dead ends. The stairs led into the ceiling. Many halls would lead you in a circle for several miles. The architects of the temple had an argument halfway through design and were both on narcotic influence at the time.

We wandered aimlessly until we made the correct turn and found the main cloister. The large rectangular space was carved from the mountain and was open to the outside world, letting in the cold mountain air. We placed a camp, more of a circle of things really, in its center. The group scattered to explore the crumbling ruin.

May and I journeyed up a flight of stairs and into a stone gazebo set atop a small peak in the mountain. It had a perfect view of the setting sun. She leaned against one of the white pillars and watched the sun's descent over the horizon. I stood on an opposite pillar, viewing the moon embrace its role as imperator of the night. The night air wrapped it's fingers around us.

My gaze jumped to May. The colours of sunset were reflecting off of the platinum slash in her hair, making it appear like she was made of fire.  Her eyes locked with mine and she smiled. I blushed, even after all this time I still do that.

"It's getting kind of chilly up here." She said, shivering.

I approached her and wrapped my arms around her. "Better?" I asked.

"A bit, yeah." She said, resting her face against mine. Her skin was cold. She had grown up in the Incursian heat and this was probably the coldest place she's been to. She was shivering heavily now.

A minute or two later she began to kiss my neck. "Right now?" I asked. "Up here?"

"Good a place as any." She said, moving her lips to mine. "Friction creates heat." She reminded me.

"Can't argue with that." I said as she pushed me against a pillar.

She grabbed my hands, placing one on her cheek and the other on her thigh. I pulled her leg up towards me. She leaned in closer, tongue locking with mine. She began to unbutton her coat. When the heavy coat fell to the ground she moved my hand from her thigh to her breast. I caressed her flesh as she unfastened her belt, it hit the ground with a metallic *clink*.

A gust of cold breeze came in, pushing her in closer for warmth. She reached her hand down and wrapped it around me. "Ah, cold hand." I breathed in shock.

She chuckled at that. "You want me to stop?"

"No," I said, "just surprising."

Under the moonlight, I removed my clothes. Now exposed to the world, I tried very hard to ignore the freezing cold and its hatred for male anatomy. She relinquished herself of her coverings as well. She leaned back into me, sending me back into the cold pillar.

I moved my hand back down to her naked thigh, lifting it back up to my side. Her hand slid back down to meet with me. She positioned my free hand onto her spine for support and then positioned me near her. I thrusted myself forward. We released sighs of pleasure.

She wrapped her hands around my shoulders and I moved my hand from her spine, swinging her other leg up off the ground. I shifted myself into a seated position on the ground, leaning onto the pillar for support. Our eyes locked. Her expertly cut amethysts shined in the moon's light.

An exuberant wave of ecstasy swept through us. We no longer made notice of the cold, the exchange of warming body heat cancelled out the freezing mountain chill. We sat in the moonlit gazebo, hearts racing and lungs breathing in the thin air.

"We should probably get heading back, out of the cold." She soon said.

"Probably right." I agreed, getting up to gather my things. We head back down the stairs, dressing as we moved.

The rest of the party had fallen into bed by the time we returned to the cloister. Molly was doing his part with first watch, by gently resting his head on a long dried up fountain and snoring loudly. We leaned up against Molly's fur, for warmth. I told May that I'd take over for Molly in tonight's watch. I wasn't terribly tired anyway.