Page 19 of The Silent Mountain
“Actually, it’s not that high,” Barbara explains. “Or we wouldn’t have made it in three hours. The other side of the mountain, leading to the werewolf kingdom, is much higher. However, it also has some easier paths and an actual road.”
“You are right. It just feels higher here because we basically climbed down in a straight line.”
“Come now,” Barbara beams at me and picks up her pace. “The ocean is waiting.”
Her excitement is contagious, and I find myself hurrying after her while Ludwig just groans and complains behind us. The rest of the path is rather flat and comfortable until I feel the noise of the waves coming closer and closer. Unlike the seaside border of my kingdom, the sea here isn’t as angry and wild. Flying on Favian’s back has already shown me that it’s much calmer.
I pause when we finally reach the shore, my eyes widening as I take in the whole picture. The whole shore is covered in thick ice, parts of the water too, and some seals are lying on it. The air is cold and salty but refreshing. “This is amazing,” I exclaim. “I didn’t notice it when I rode Favian’s dragon, but the water is so turquoise here!”
“It is truly beautiful,” Ludwig agrees, looking happy at my obvious excitement.
“You have seals here,” I beam.
“And penguins,” Barbara exclaims. “Though they aren’t always residing here.”
“Can I walk around?”
“Of course, just be careful when you step onto the ice,” Ludwig says. “I don’t want my king to behead me if something happens to you.”
He said it as a joke, but I still feel my cheeks warm up slightly. To diffuse my embarrassment, I walk around, taking everything in. I am in awe, that is, until I see an object close by. “What’s that?” I ask. “A small rock?”
Ludwig frowns and walks past me to inspect what’s ahead of us. “It’s an albatross,” he exclaims.
“What?” Barbara asks, hurrying towards him. I follow her, peeking over her shoulder. A beautiful big bird is lying on the ice, not moving. Ludwig inspects it carefully.
“It’s dead,” he mutters.
“What are the black stripes on its body?” I ask. “It almost looks like veins.”
Ludwig reaches out his hand, turning the bird on its back to reveal its stomach. It’s almost black.
“Don’t touch it,” Barbara says.
“It’s probably nothing, Barbara,” he says.
“We don’t know that,” she says. “It’s certainly weird. I haven’t seen anything like that before.”
“We should have it investigated,” I say.
Ludwig looks at both of us, shaking his head slightly. “I think you both made this into something bigger than it is,” he says. “But if it makes you feel better, we can return here tomorrow and check on it properly.”
He rummages for something in his bag before carefully shifting the bird and covering it with a black net, fixing it in the ice. “I want it to stay here until tomorrow,” he explains. “So, we can find it again.”
“Let’s go now,” Barbara urges. “It’s depressing, and I want Alana to see the beauty of the shore.”
I smile while I turn my attention back to her. “Take the lead, I will follow you.”
seven
A Witch for the Silent Mountain
*FAVIAN*
Ididn’texpectStefantofind help so fast. It doesn’t even take him a week before he informs me that he’s found a witch who might fit my demands for our clan. He claims she is completely different to any witch I’ve ever met and probably won’t awaken any antipathy from my clan.
I also make sure that Alana is around when he arrives with said witch. Alana has experience with witches, and I trust her intuition. If I’m being honest with myself, part of me hopes this works out because Alana, Ludwig and Barbara stumbled over a dead bird recently. They have further researched it and found another dead albatross. We still don’t know the cause of their deaths. On top of that, Alana is still struggling with her nightmares.
I have a bad feeling about it, about all of it.
