The routes the two elves had taken to reach their current point were similar, only differing from their starting points. Simone had left the plains, entered the forests, and joined with Mercedes. Mercedes had left a coastal city, entered the forest, and joined up with Simone after the smaller elf had helped her deal with a wolf pack, after which the two of them had gradually worked their way through the forests and climbed the foothills to the point where they’d nestled right up to the base of the great forbidden mountain.

  Mercedes was searching for the source of oversized, magically empowered beasts that had been attacking the human settlement of New Degan; Simone was searching for an ancient artifact known as the Pearl of N’Granek, a problematic and troublesome stone that was causing no small amount of grief for Mercedes and her people.

  Together, they stood in the shadow of a forbidden mountain while thin breezes, laden with the icy chill from higher up chapped their cheeks, turning them red.

  Simone pointed at a thin knuckle of stone that created a series of narrow canyons.

  “If we stick to this side, it’ll lead us-” Simone paused, “-to where we need to go.” Simone was slim and petite, with nut-brown skin, shockingly white hair, and blue eyes. She carried a spear that was densely carved in mysterious symbols, only some of which she’d deciphered.

  Standing next to the shaman was Mercedes, a High Elf crusader from the human Church of the Goddess. She wore black-enameled plate armor, a shockingly blue cloak, and carried a large bundle on her back, the same as Simone. She was an elf as well, though she was much taller than Simone, with pale skin and watery pale blue eyes.

  Mercedes adjusted the sword at her waist; Simone pointedly avoided looking at it. The smaller elf was a shaman from a tribe that held no conception of killing; to her the sword was a vile thing.

  “Will we encounter any ... Mountain Elves?” Mercedes asked in a low voice. The elves of the mountain were twisted things, crazed and mutated. Mercedes didn’t tell Simone, but the one she’d had to kill died hard.

  Simone’s mouth twisted. “I hope not. According to my last augury, they haven’t discovered the Pearl yet, so there’s hope.”

  Mercedes pressed her lips together for a moment, but then nodded. “Let’s go.”

  As they descended into the narrow canyon, Mercedes wondered. “I’ve heard their language before.” She mused, “though I just can’t remember where.”

  Simone glanced at Mercedes. “Are you sure? You haven’t been out this way before, right?”

  Mercedes shot Simone a dry look from the corner of her eye, but nodded. “I think I’d remember coming out this way before.”

  “Well, where were you when you heard it?” Simone asked curiously. “Here?”

  Mercedes shook her head. “I can’t remember.”

  “Hmm.” Simone mused. “How old were you?”

  Mercedes gave Simone a baffled look, but then Mercedes eyebrows rose up. “Huh. I was a child, I think.”

  “At home?” Simone prodded.

  Mercedes shook her head as she carefully moved down a slope of scree, a slope of tiny stone pebbles. Simone followed along behind the taller crusader. The taller elf in heavy armor sank into the scree up to her shins; the lighter shaman left smaller tracks on the surface of the dangerously slippery drift.

  “I remember now. I went to the High Elf homeland- where all High Elves originally came from before we encountered the humans and spread across the continent- for study.”

  Simone said nothing, simply listened as she navigated the slope. She had to watch where she put her feet, else she’d slip and go tumbling down the slope of loose gravel with nothing to break her fall.

  “I remember, now. It was the primal language.” Mercedes mused. “Ancient beyond ancient.”She suddenly frowned. “Does that mean my people have ties to the People of the Mountain?” She asked, worry creeping into her voice.

  “I don’t know.” Simone replied easily. “I only know about Plains history. I only know of the People of the Mountain from our dealings with them.”

  Mercedes frowned. “But this is important, isn’t it?”

  “You... could always ask Liatris.” Simone prompted. “But it’s risky. Liatris might require something from you, in exchange. Plus, if you forgot, we’re surrounded by the People of the Mountain, and there’s the Pearl.”

  Mercedes grimaced, but nodded. It was unfortunate, but Simone was right. Assuming she survived, there would be plenty of time later.

  “Speaking of the Pearl, what exactly are we supposed to do with it? Smash it?”

  Simone glanced over at Mercedes and gave the taller elf a wry look. “Is that your idea of ‘wisdom’? Of ‘civilization’? You don’t understand something, so you ‘smash’ it?” Simone rolled her eyes ostentatiously. “Truly the High Elves are an enlightened people, to have come so far.” The sarcasm was thick and ostentatious, but Mercedes ignored it.

  “You didn’t answer the question.” she prompted.

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  Simone sighed. “I know some things, not everything.” She replied, and, as they arrived at the narrow canyon’s floor, she turned and looked back the way they came. “Anyone could see us.” She muttered.

  Mercedes followed the smaller elf’s gaze, and nodded. “We’re exposed.”

  “We should hurry, then.” Simone replied, hefting her spear, the motion scattering a few flying lizards.

  Mercedes grimaced. “I don’t like those things. They’re... creepy.”

  Simone shrugged indifferently at that. “They’re just pests.” She pointed down the long, narrow passageway. “Let’s go.”

  “You still haven’t answered my question!” Mercedes insisted, moving to fall behind the smaller elf. The canyon was so narrow that if she stretched out her hands, she could touch both sides. The floor of the tight space was scree, just enough to make the footing treacherous for Mercedes. Simone simply strode along comfortably, her bare feet finding easy purchase.

  “I’ll tell you what I was told: Breaking it will make things worse.” Simone offered without turning around.

  Mercedes chewed this over for a few minutes as they made their way down the rocky crevasse. There was still too much she didn’t know, and she communicated as much to Simone.

  Simone’s mouth twisted. “Nothing good can come from talking about forbidden things.” Simone replied reluctantly. “Speaking of it draws its attention. Don’t you know anything?”

  Mercedes rolled her eyes; Simone was behaving in some ways like superstitious human peasants. All the smaller elf needed to do was make some obscure hand sign to ward away evil. Her gaze dropped to Simone's clothes; not only were there markings that identified Simone's tribe, family, and role as a shaman, there were marks that Simone had confided warded away negative influences.

  The crusader sighed a little. Simone was, in some ways, acting as a guide for the elven knight, as Mercedes had never been in this part of the world. She'd never been exposed to the sorts of things that they'd faced. The primitive superstitions of the shaman got in the way of proper communication between the two of them.

  Mercedes blinked as an unexpected thought occurred to her- did Simone feel the same about her?

  The narrow canyon they passed through widened and narrowed, sometimes so narrow that they had to turn sideways to slip through; likewise the height varied from a few feet all the way to the point where the sky was just a slice of color.

  “Are we really going the right way?” Mercedes worried. “I’d hate to be stuck here.”

  “Me too.” Simone replied easily. “When I die, I want to be beneath the skies of the plains.” The smaller elf then added, “This will take us close to ... where we need to go, while avoiding the Mountain People.”

  “Can we stop for a minute and have a drink?” Mercedes asked. Simone glanced up at the taller woman thoughtfully, and nodded.

  They leaned against the narrow walls and drank their water, both looking up at the thin slice of blue sky far overhead.

  “Will we have to fight?” Mercedes asked after a couple of minutes spent in silence.

  Simone was quiet for a moment. “I think we will. It makes sense that it will want to protect itself.”

  “I should go in front, then.” Mercedes decided.

  Simone shook her head. “I have the spear; I can react faster.”

  Mercedes reached for the spear, but Simone leaned it away from Mercedes’ grip. “It’s not for you to take.” The smaller elf warned softly.

  Mercedes let out a short breath and looked down at the smaller shaman.

  “You don’t want to fight, right?” Mercedes asked pointedly. “It makes sense for me to take the lead and use it.”

  Simone shook her head again. “I don’t think what we’ll face will be people, but rather, things that have come into contact with the Pearl.” Simone looked up at the faraway sky. “And since the People of the Mountain haven’t found it yet, I think we can rule them out, for now.”

  Mercedes eyed Simone speculatively. “Is this something you know for certain?” She asked. “Have the spirits said anything to you?”

  Simone shook her head. “Spirits don’t like being near the Pearl in the same way that water doesn’t flow uphill. It’s unnatural.”

  This frank admission upset Mercedes a little. There wasn’t much they could do with a spear and sword if dealing with this ‘pearl’ was as dangerous as Simone emphasized.

  “So what do we do?” Mercedes asked. “If we can’t destroy it, what do we do?”

  Simone gave Mercedes a bleak look in response.

  Mercedes sighed. “And this ‘Pearl’ is the source of the monstrous animals?” She asked.

  Simone nodded.

  “Then we have no choice but ... do what we can.” the crusader agreed.

  The two of them set off down the narrow canyon.

  When they emerged from the narrow cleft it was late afternoon, though the shadow from the mountain cast everything in heavy shade. Simone took a deep breath, spreading her arms wide in the air, and let her breath out slowly.

  She glanced around, but it was Mercedes who spotted it first; a darker patch against the side of the mountain.

  “Is that a cave?” She asked.

  Simone’s head tilted to the side in contemplation. “It looks like a giant pu-” She started but Mercedes lightly bopped the smaller elf on the head with her gauntlet.

  “Don’t- don’t say it.” She remarked awkwardly, blushing heavily. “Do you know where the Pearl is?”

  Simone nodded and pointed at the cave.

  “Someone- or something- put it in there.”

  Mercedes rolled her eyes. “Of course they would.” She complained.

  Whether it was done through the caprices of time and the combination of wind and water erosion, or whether it was intentionally shaped with mind, hands, and tools, the opening to the cave in the mountainside resembled nothing more than a giant vulva, with flowing stone curving sensuously, almost invitingly into undulating and crenelated folds and crevices.

  The two elves stared at the cave with varying expressions for a few minutes.

  “Do you suppose it’s wet in there?” Simone asked curiously.

  “Stop it.” Mercedes groaned, and bonked Simone on the head again.

  Something moved in the darkened recesses of the caves, and Mercedes immediately drew her sword, stepped back, and took a stance as a flying lizard, magically overgrown to the size of a horse, crawled out of the cave, its cold reptilian gaze fixating on the two elves.