[Northern Mountains — Day 67 — 7:00 AM]
The ascent began with the first sunlight.
The village tablets' alternate path started exactly where the west flank of the first slope had a natural cleft in the rock that from the ground looked like part of the terrain and only existed as a path if you knew it was there.
The first hour was pure ascent.
Without creatures, without landmarks corresponding to any map, just the slope and the team moving along it with the efficiency that weeks of difficult terrain had built. Raven's mountain skeletons operating on the rock — the stone's density integrated into their structure making the sloped ground a foothold instead of an obstacle.
Seraph at the front. Maya with the tablet instructions. Kira reading the terrain with Predator's Sense.
Alex at the center with Grim.
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The spiritual plane changed at minute forty of the ascent.
