Book One – Chapter 8

Midnight relied on crevasses and breaches in the rock formations to forge her path across the terrain.

Scaling the Albweiss Mountains was a perilous struggle, with the summit proving far more treacherous than the base. The peaks reached into the clouds, where the air thinned and temperatures fell drastically, along with ice and hailstorms retaliating against any intruders from below. The skies were not a domain for Midnight to trespass. She would climb the summits under her wizard’s command, but given a choice, the earthbound caves were her preference. The skies belonged to the winged beasts and to the dragons.

Midnight belonged to the shadows of the night, to the dense foliage of formidable forests. A natural hunter, she craved open expanses to roam and run. Yet, faced with the decision between exposing herself to the capricious skies or delving into the constricting depths of the subterranean, the latter always held sway.

On her ninth day, having spent two days scaling the labyrinthine mountains, Midnight entered an inconspicuous crevasse that proved more than a mere forge between the rock face. It unfolded into the entrance of an expansive tunnel system. Sensing the ebb and flow of air, along with the myriad scents of numerous inhabitants, Midnight intuited multiple exit routes. The darkness of the subterranean tunnel beckoned, and she ventured into its depths.