Ruins On The Mountain

JP with Redsword, Winteroak, and Cindy

Morning comes quickly. The light of dawn stretches across the mountain side, illuminating the small ledge plateau you spend the night on. The boy is already drinking some water from the small rock pool and seems eager to get going.

The horses will likely be safe if you don't take too long although you are not sure exactly how much further the boy is taking you.

Morning had arrived and with it the sounds of stirring from her sleeping companions. Islana watched as the boy drank from the pool. She followed suit and filled her waterskin.

They would be leaving soon, hopefully it wouldn't be that far but just in case the woman got her pack situated. She had to be able to carry it, so it couldn't be very heavy but Islana knew how to make that work.

A quick breakfast, the young woman shared some with the boy, if he wasn't too anxious to eat it. Then it was just to wait for the men to be ready.

After they had broken fast the boy once again pointed to the small trail that led up the cliff face.

You followed him up as the trail became narrow and narrow, twisting and turning at the edge of the mountain.

Looking down on the fort below you could now appreciate how impressive a feat of engineering it must have been in its heyday.

The trail was becoming narrower and narrower. On the edge of the mountain meant they had to be careful but the view was spectacular.

The fort stretched down below, looking even more impressive from up here than it was when she had first laid her eyes on it.

The boy seemed to know where he was going, Islana didn't really question that part. More the question was, what would they find when they got there.

Just before the sun reaches it zenith you all ascend to a larger plateau. Although you are all fit individuals the ascent takes its toll on you. All are out of breath as you crest the summit. All except the boy. In the plateau you find some ruins built into the side of the mountain.

Islana stopped at the sight of ruins, they were fascinating. She was understanding more and more why Boyce did what he did.

A short break seemed like a good option, catching their breath seemed necessary before moving on. Maybe, lunch.

Islana took a drink from her water skin and looked closer at the ruins without touching anything. Her mind wandered a little as to what this could have been. It looked, to her, mostly like a place to worship - a temple, of sorts.

The young woman knew she could be wrong on that but, opted to not ask as there were more important things to concern herself with, for the moment.

The boy looked excited. He pointed to the ruins and walked towards the entrance. Outside the main archway there is a smaller statue like the one you saw in the forge."Fosia." The boy said, pointing at the statue.

Islana was now confused. What did the statue have to do with fire? She looked over the statue and the entrance way not sure, at all, of the connection.

Maybe, she had misunderstood the meaning of the word - no. What was the likelihood the word had two meanings?

Islana continued to look over the statue as she tried to piece together a connection.

Wolf checked on everyone before they started on the trail. he had sure everyone had what they needed for supplies. When Wolf was satisfied. Wolf signaled for them to start. Wold would be in the middle of the group so he could monitor front and back. Wolf looked over the land carefully looking for signs of life people that might have passed through. Wolf could only hope they would find the boy's people soon.

"Islana and Wim, If we find his people you need to think of them like a mother bear and the boy is their cub." Wolf paused, looking around the altitude was starting to be notest. "Just know they could be aggressive," informed Wolf.

When Boyce mentioned the tribe might be hostile, it went with the briefing Alexis had given before they had all started out for Aquilo. Islana gave a nod, before turning her attention back to the statue.

Islana continued to try to see what the boy was trying to tell her, having no luck, and wanting to show Boyce anyway, she turned to the man.

"You might want to see this." Once Boyce was near the statue, "Any idea why, our friend," clearly referring to the boy, "would call it Fosia."

Wolf looked at the boy then the statue. He studied it to see if it had any other resemblance to the one seen earlier. "I would have to guess that it either represents their god or maybe a famous leader, evenp his people," replied Wolf.

Islana guessed more of a god, maybe they had one god, like that word Erewhon meant one god. It was still a fairly new concept to Islana, to have just the one. The young woman wondered if just thinking it made a kind of sense, to worship just one deity was heresy.

The young woman continued to look over the statue and entrance, to see if anything else of interest was there.