Kaelor took a long drink from his coffee.
Then immediately regretted allowing Jax to add "a little bite" to it.
The Guild Master stared into the cup.
The cup stared back.
Miriella quietly slid a pitcher of water closer to him.
He ignored it out of principle.
The Vixens watched with interest.
Jax looked entirely too pleased with himself.
"You're enjoying this."
"A little."
Kaelor sighed and pushed the folder farther across the table.
"Enjoy it while it lasts."
That got everyone's attention.
The patio grew quieter.
Even Miriella stopped stealing breakfast.
Which was impressive.
The slime girl had been treating the Compound's kitchen like a personal side quest.
Jax opened the folder.
Inside were maps.
Reports.
Witness statements.
And sketches.
Terrible sketches.
Absolutely horrific sketches.
Bunny leaned over his shoulder.
"That looks like a potato."
"It's a mountain."
"It looks like a potato."
Kaelor pointed at another drawing.
"That one is also a mountain."
Bunny frowned.
"That one's angry."
"It's still a mountain."
"It looks like an angry potato."
Nyxian nearly spit out her drink.
Even Llandra was fighting a smile.
Kaelor stared at the sketch for several seconds.
Then sighed.
"Fine."
He pointed at the page.
"Angry mountain potato."
Victory.
Bunny sat back looking entirely too pleased with herself.
Kaelor continued.
"This was reported twelve days ago."
His claw tapped the first map marker.
Then another.
"Eight days ago."
Another.
"Five days ago."
Jax studied the locations.
His expression slowly changed.
"The mountain moved."
Kaelor nodded.
"That is what the witnesses claim."
"How far?"
"Far enough that mountains shouldn't."
The humor vanished.
Everyone leaned closer.
Even Miriella.
She didn't understand adventuring nearly as well as the others.
But she understood when a Guild Master looked worried.
Kaelor turned another page.
"We sent a C-Rank team first."
Five names.
All marked missing.
"We assumed poor reporting."
Another page.
"We sent a B-Rank team."
Nine names.
Also missing.
Zee frowned.
"No bodies?"
"No bodies."
Llandra folded her arms.
"No survivors?"
Kaelor shook his head.
"No survivors."
The patio became very still.
Nyxian stopped smiling.
That alone told Jax how serious this was.
"What was the last message?" he asked.
Kaelor tapped the final report.
The page was stained with dirt and dried blood.
"Three words."
Nobody interrupted.
"The mountain moved."
Silence settled over the table.
Miriella swallowed.
Even hearing it gave her chills.
Jax closed the folder.
"When do you need us to leave?"
Kaelor visibly relaxed.
"Tomorrow."
"Done."
The Guild Master blinked.
"That's it?"
Jax shrugged.
"You promoted us to S-Rank."
Nyxian raised her mug.
"Best promotion ever."
Bunny immediately raised hers too.
"Hear hear."
Jax leaned back.
"You asked for help."
A faint smile touched his face.
"We help our friends."
For a moment Kaelor simply stared at him.
Then he laughed.
A deep, genuine laugh.
"I really like you people."
Miriella pointed at Jax.
"I told you."
Kaelor grunted.
"You tell me a lot of things."
"And I'm usually right."
"Unfortunately."
The slime girl beamed.
The rest of the day became preparation.
Brannic and Merriweather's forge was their first stop.
The two craftsmen looked exhausted.
Which meant things had gone exceptionally well.
The Vixens received their upgraded weapons.
Starpiercer shimmered with crystal-lined channels.
Earth Breaker hummed with restrained force.
Lilith's Kiss glowed with woven crystal threads.
Sanctaris radiated a comforting warmth that seemed to strengthen everyone nearby.
Merriweather looked at Jax.
"You are not allowed to bring us stronger materials."
Brannic pointed immediately.
"What she said."
Jax thought about the moving mountain.
Then wisely said nothing.
The following morning they departed before sunrise.
Grim and Steed pulled the hovering caravan effortlessly.
Roads vanished behind them.
Forests blurred past.
The world rolled by beneath the morning sun.
And for the first time since Jax had met them, the Vixens carried themselves like veterans.
When potential danger appeared, they didn't look to Jax first.
They looked for solutions.
That made him smile.
By midday they found the first sign.
A forest.
Or what had once been a forest.
Trees lay scattered across the landscape.
Not chopped.
Not burned.
Removed.
Entire sections of woodland were simply gone.
Bunny jumped down first.
She crouched beside a massive depression in the earth.
"What made this?"
The others gathered around.
The hole stretched nearly twenty feet across.
Deep.
Perfectly formed.
Wrong.
Jax studied it.
Then the next one.
Then the next.
They continued in a straight line toward the horizon.
Llandra scanned the surrounding area.
"No battle."
"No monster tracks," Zee added.
Nyxian pointed ahead.
"There are hundreds of them."
There were.
Hundreds.
All following the same path.
Bunny stood slowly.
Her ears twitched.
Then she pointed.
"Those aren't tracks."
Everyone looked at her.
"They're too far apart."
Silence.
Jax followed her finger.
The next depression sat nearly fifty yards away.
Then another beyond it.
Then another.
His stomach sank.
"They aren't tracks," Bunny repeated quietly.
"They're footsteps."
Nobody laughed.
The further they traveled, the stranger things became.
A pond had vanished.
An entire hillside looked bitten away.
Animal life became increasingly scarce.
The wilderness wasn't dead.
It had been consumed.
As if something unimaginably large had simply eaten its way across the landscape.
That night they camped atop a rocky ridge.
Dinner was quieter than usual.
Nobody wanted to say what they were all thinking.
Whatever they were following wasn't merely moving.
It was feeding.
The following afternoon they finally saw it.
At first nobody reacted.
Because it looked exactly like a mountain.
Gray stone.
Tree-covered slopes.
Massive.
Motionless.
Far in the distance.
Nyxian crossed her arms.
"So the witnesses were idiots."
Bunny nodded.
"Definitely a mountain."
Zee visibly relaxed.
Llandra lowered her bow.
Only Jax continued staring.
Something felt wrong.
Every instinct he possessed was screaming.
Then Nyxian pointed.
"At least it's not heading toward Blackthorn."
Kaelor's voice echoed from memory.
Darkthorn.
Not Blackthorn.
Blackthorn was a farming village.
Darkthorn was the town directly ahead of the mountain.
The smile vanished from Jax's face.
Then the mountain moved.
Not a tremor.
Not a landslide.
The entire ridgeline shifted.
Trees tumbled from its side.
Stone cracked.
An entire cliff face lifted upward.
The ground beneath the party trembled.
Far in the distance—
The mountain took a step.
Nobody spoke.
Nobody moved.
Because mountains were not supposed to walk.
And yet this one had.
The second step was even larger.
The third shook the earth.
Then Llandra's eyes widened.
She pointed beyond it.
Past the moving mountain.
Toward the horizon.
Smoke.
A lot of smoke.
Darkthorn.
The town was burning.
And the mountain was heading straight for it.