The Heart of the Mountain

~A story began warm and tender, near the soul of a caring angel, a watchful beauty, or an embracing mother. It sometimes began cruel, unnerving, and dangerous, but not dangerous enough to kill a story at its birth.
An adventure, on the other hand, always began at the lowest of points, like a valley surrounded by colossal mountains, adorned with thorns and pricks. They gnawed at the body and soul as water gnawed at stone, years persistent. And at the top of the hill, the desired consequence swung on a delicate balance. It reflected the reality that whence a person reached its apex - the apogee and culmination of all one's sweat and tears - the redeeming gem eyed throughout the smog of the journey could at any inauspicious instance tip and tumble and break~
Hiria focused on the poem's meaning and not on the insanity of the world. She turned to her captain, Zin, who gave her words of comfort as they braced for the challenge ahead. The fellowship of four heart-hunters stood strong in the rocky caves of Mount Kikujor. Far from the main valleys of Rend, Zin, Hiria, Dreedy, and Karagi, sought a treasure unnamed and unseen yet disastrously pristine.