The Storm Tower | Vol.4, The Eldenarian Artifacts ✓

15.

The portal dropped them in the outskirts of a rural village somewhere in East Nepal. Mount Everest and the rest of the Mahalangur-Himal mountains loomed in the north, the snowy peaks rising above the low horizon. They went on forever it seemed, piercing the clouds as they reached for the heavens. The thick, menacing fog surrounding the base of massive mounds of earth slowly made its way outward.

Makaela swore she heard whispers coming from the fog.

She stiffened in the cold, her body trembling slightly as she listened. They beckoned her forward, urging her to disappear into the haze. For a moment, her mind went blank. She took a step forward—

"Makaela? You alright?"

Snapping out of her daze, she faced Karin, swallowed hard, and nodded.

"Yeah...yeah, I'm fine." She took one last look at the fog. It was silent. She suspected it always had been.

"If you say so," the silver-haired girl said. "Come. We need to move."

Makaela glanced at the sky. The sun was sinking like a ship into a black ocean. Within minutes, it would have disappeared behind the mountains, gone for longer than she would've liked. A cold breeze ripped through the air, tearing through Makaela's coat. Shivering violently, she tightened the wooly material around her and grit her teeth.

Snow danced in the air around her. The crisp wind rifled through her black curls. Her teeth chattered as she rubbed her gloved hands together. Even with her winter gear and the weather enchantments on her robes, the climate was proving to be fearsome. Clearly, magic couldn't solve everything.

"Where exactly are we?" she asked while spitting snowflakes from her mouth.

Ismael checked his map as he rubbed his bald head. "We're in a village called...Kimathanka? I think that's how you say it." He tucked the map back into his coat. "It was the closest settlement to the bottom of the mountain we need to climb."

She nodded.

Kimathanka was a modest village. There about fifteen houses in total, along with a few community buildings. Most seemed to have been built out of mud bricks with either sloped pieces of sheet metal for roofing or straw thatching. The place seemed to have ignored the growing world around it, opting to remain in the past.

There couldn't have been more than three hundred people in the entire village.

Makaela smiled. It reminded her of the small town in the south of France she was born in. While she had limited memories of her time there, as she was moved to House Lumai's central headquarters weeks after she her birth, she knew it was a wonderful place full of magic, community, and love.

Her mind flashed back to her unfortunate return to the village.

The smile on her lips faded.

That was the day she met Minerva Moreau, one of the last remaining members of her house. The woman helped her get in touch with Lumi. Then the Shades ripped the woman away from her—just like everything else they had taken from her.

That was the day her Nightling was born.

As she and her group began making their way to the other side of the Kimathanka, she could hear the demon faintly whispering in her ear. Clenching her jaw, she forced it down.

It had taken control of her once before. She wouldn't let it happen again.

"The map says the mountain begins at the other end of the village," Ismael explained, his eyes fixated on the scroll in his hands.

Nodding, Makaela took a look around the settlement as they passed through.

Ismael and Han spearheaded the group, waving and greeting villagers as they went about. Most waved back and spoke to them in their native tongue. Makaela had no idea what they were saying, but Han and Yama seemed to.