Chapter 49- Mountain Pass Traversal

Chapter 49- Mountain Pass Traversal

[Keeno POV]

Once the suns rose and the day truly started, Pram and I left the inn and walked to the part of the city close to the border. It seemed like we weren’t the only ones with the idea of leaving as early in the day as possible as there was a line of wagons and people at the gate.

“Ugh. Lines.” (Keeno)

“I don’t mind it.” (Pram)

I looked over at Pram and saw she was a bit tense. She was fidgeting around and her tail was swaying nervously.

“What’s the matter, Pram?” (Keeno)

“I-I’m just nervous. While I know we may still have a few days until we cross the border completely, it will be my first time leaving my home country.” (Pram)

I chuckled a little and started patting Pram’s head.

“Don’t worry Pram, I’ll be with you every step. We’ll face this world head on, see all the things, and explore all the ruins. And when we find out things that you want to do, we’ll do them too.” (Keeno)

“Hehe. So much enthusiasm, it just blows my nervousness away. I agree, Okami, let’s take this world by storm.” (Pram)

The two of us were receiving warm smiles from and quiet chuckles from a few other people in the line, and a surprisingly short time later, we were outside the gate. We leisurely made our way down the well maintained road until we found ourselves at a split.

“...” (Pram)

“Heh.” (Keeno)

“I can already see where this is going...*sigh*” (Pram)

“Don’t worry, Pram. It’ll be fun. And besides, it’s faster.” (Keeno)

At the juncture of the split was a sign for travelers. It pointed down the two paths and, along with their names, explained how one was a faster route to Odeen while one was safer, but less direct.Yôur favorite stories at novelhall.com

“I’ll add another month.” (Keeno)

“Deal.” (Pram)

With Pram successfully bribed, I mean convinced, we started down the quicker path to Odeen. Once we were far enough down the path, Ama finally spoke.

{Annoying angels.}

“Come to think of it, why do angels have such strong telepathing powers? I’ve wondered about it for a long time, but never really thought to ask.” (Pram)

{It’s just a racial trait. Same with Keeno’s fox fire, not that she uses it.}

We started to run as fast as we could in the direction we were going. The monsters, seeing this, started to chase after us. I started to blindly fire off fireballs behind me, hoping to hit some of them or to knock some rocks loose to slow them down, and it worked somewhat, but after a bit the monsters adapted to that and slowed down or avoided my attacks.

We ran for a good bit before Pram started to skid to a stop. I managed to stop just before bumping into her, which would cause both of us to fall off the mountain. I was just about to frantically ask why she suddenly stopped, but looking over her shoulder answered the question. It was a chasm between two parts of the mountain pass connected by a rope bridge. And, just like in a classic adventure movie, it was in bad shape with boards missing and others just barely hanging on.

“Pram, I get that this is scary, even I think so, but I don’t think this is the time to let a fear of heights get in the way, because we either run across this clearly unsafe bridge and risk falling, or actually falling due to monsters.” (Keeno)

Pram hesitated for another second before running forward with me right behind her.

“THREE MONTHS!!!” (Pram)

“FOR THIS I’LL GIVE YOU FOUR!!” (Keeno)

The two of us ran all the while old boards groaned or even broke under our feet. A few times we had to skip a few spaces and at one point I almost wanted to try running on the rope instead of the boards since it seemed in better condition, if just barely. The bridge started to shake more as those monsters also tried to follow us over. When Pram got to the other side of the bridge, the boards under her broke, leaving a big gap for me to cross.

“Oh, Ama I hope this works.” (Keeno)

{Keeno?}

I leapt from the last plank I had and focused some mana at the bottom of my feet. Concentrated bursts of Solar magic ignited and the pulse was enough to give me enough lift to make the jump and burn the ropes of the bridge at the same time. I landed on my feet next to Pram. I moved far enough away from the ledge and sat down of the ground.

“...” (Keeno)

“...*inhale*” (Pram)

“No, Pram. No words. I already got it and I am starting to agree with you. Just give me a minute and let’s get out of here. I think I’m done with mountains for a while.” (Keeno)

Several minutes later I got up and Pram and I started moving again while Huginn and Muninn flew around happily in the windy chasm next to us.

Chaos Realm:

Luna: ...

Tamamo: Luna, you had your own dangerous bridge thing, there is no need to be jealous.

Luna: I know, and in my opinion mine was better, but still, it’s a cliché I didn’t get to do so I can’t help but feel a little jealous.

Tamamo: Well, we can set up something similar at home.

Luna: Yeah, but why would I run from you? I’d rather run into your embrace than away from it.

Tamamo: Who said you’d be running from me? This is where we have Atmos chase after us after depriving her of a Fluff bed for a day.

Luna: Fufufu. Let’s go then, it’ll be so much fun.