Everlong

Copper Laughs

As Olly and Ed came to the base of the mountains they looked up to the high peaks that had several large birds flying around in a circle. Olly knew there was no way the Ranger would scale the mountains...... no if she were trying to investigate, she would look for an opening in the mountain. All sorts of beasts liked dark places to hide, and mountains were usually coveted by big monsters and beasts alike. She just hoped that Ranger Gunner hadn't gotten himself too far deep into trouble.

"So where exactly are you from?" Ed said as the moved past large boulders the crisscrossed into a opening that seemed to stretch ahead instead of dipping down into some unknown darkness.

"Well, I was born in the Vassa region, but I guess I'm from Silverymoon" Olly said "We never really settled down anywhere till we got there. Now that's the place I consider home."

"It's called Arrowmoor Keep right?" Ed followed Olly steadily, their footsteps syncing together as the navigated the rocky path. He tried to stifle his grunts as he tried to keep up with his companion, and only halted when she went silent herself.

"Right, the High Mage gave the place to my parents" Olly said only hearing the dripping of some water coming off of the rocks as she continued on.

"Silverymoon have a lot of mountains like this?" Ed asked ducking under a large hanging boulder. Cobwebs and stone moss coated the sides of the crevace, Olly ploughing through it as it started to coat the top of her head and braid of hair.

"Two twin mountains, but mostly Silverymoon is all green" Olly turned to him, taking a few deep breaths since the air had grown tight "Green and white. All the buildings look like they were painted instead of built with real stone. The tree's meld into the structure of the town, like bridges made out of giant roots from the forests. Green as far as the eye can see, it's called the Gem of the North for a reason. I think it's one of the reasons my parents decided to settle there. Hardly anything happens there, it's well protected and most people just travel to the city to learn something."

"It sounds nice" Ed nodded "I remember going there only once when I was real young. My teacher was taking us on a small pilgrimage to the woods of Mielikki."

Olly smiled and nodded her head "Arrowmoor Keep overlooks the Moonbridge that leads into that forest."

"Oh I remember the Moonbridge" Ed smiled giggling a bit as he thought about it "You can't forget something like that. When you go up that arch-"

"You don't think that there's an end to it" Olly finished excitedly, happy somebody could describe it just like in her head. She suddenly felt very light and bubbly, a strange feeling for being in the dark recesses of a mountain.

"But then when you get to the top of the arch, it's like being up above the word, like on the moon" Ed said looking down, remembering how small he had been, trying to look over the railing of the bridge, the sparkling lake below him.

"Sometimes when it's real foggy" Olly said breaking his thoughts and taking him back to her "It almost looks like you are up on the clouds, like in the sky. My brother used to take me up there and let me play on the railing, like I was actually flying...."

Ed watched her face turn from such a joyful glow to a flat stone as she finished her sentence. It wasn't her little brother she was talking about was it?

"We should keep going" Olly said a little stiffly "I can sense something a little further on, but we should keep quiet because it feels....big."

"I'll follow your lead" Ed nodded, ready to go as he cracked his shoulders, his body needing a bit of a warm up in the dark cold of the mountain. They continued to chatter though, Olly finding herself unable to stop giggling and laughing, much like her companion as they traveled deeper into the cavern.