The desert was finally behind us.
At least, that was what I wanted to believe.
The last dunes of Solora disappeared behind the horizon as we followed a narrow trail carved between enormous sandstone cliffs.
The twin suns had begun sinking, painting the sky in shades of orange and violet.
For the first time in hours, nobody was trying to kill us.
It was suspiciously peaceful.
Carlos walked ahead of us with his hands tucked behind his head.
“I don’t trust this.”
Sarah glanced at him.
“You don’t trust peace?”
“I don’t trust anything that happens to us without someone screaming.”
“That’s because you attract trouble.”
“I prefer to think trouble finds me interesting.”
I rolled my eyes.
Ahead of us, the landscape was changing.
The desert was giving way to rocky terrain.
Jagged hills stretched across the horizon, growing taller the farther we traveled.
Beyond them stood mountains.
Not ordinary mountains.
They were enormous.
Their peaks disappeared into clouds that seemed permanently trapped around them.
Strange silver lightning flickered between the clouds, illuminating the slopes for brief moments.
Ethan stopped walking.
“Those weren’t there before.”
Zahra looked toward the mountains.
“They’ve always been there.”
Carlos pointed at her.
“That’s not the comforting answer.”
Zahra ignored him.
“They are called the Veiled Mountains.”
“Why?”
“Because they are never in the same place twice.”
Silence.
Carlos slowly lowered his arms.
“I’m sorry.”
“What?”
“Could you repeat that sentence while I pretend I didn’t hear it?”
Zahra continued walking.
“The mountains move.”
I stared at her.
“Mountains don’t move.”
“These do.”
“How?”
“No one knows.”
“Then how are we supposed to find our destination?”
Zahra glanced at me.
“That’s the problem.”
We continued forward.
The Book of Origins had remained silent ever since we left the temple.
No glowing pages.
No mysterious messages.
Nothing.
I had checked it several times, hoping it would suddenly reveal where the Celestial Compass was hidden.
Every time…
Blank.
Eventually, I stopped walking.
“We need to figure out where we’re going.”
Ethan nodded.
“We know the next artifact is somewhere beyond those mountains.”
“Somewhere,” Carlos repeated.
“Very useful.”
I pulled the Book from my bag.
Its leather cover felt strangely warm.
I opened it.
Blank.
Page after page.
Nothing.
“Come on,” I whispered.
“You’ve shown us things before.”
The pages remained still.
Carlos leaned over my shoulder.
“Maybe it’s tired.”
“It’s a magical book.”
“Exactly. Very demanding profession.”
Sarah folded her arms.
“Try asking it properly.”
I looked at her.
“You think it listens?”
“I think everything in our lives listens.”
That was unsettlingly true.
I placed my palm against the open page.
“What are we supposed to find?”
Nothing.
I tried again.
“Where is the next artifact?”
The page remained blank.
Carlos sighed.
“Maybe it’s on strike.”
Then—
The Book slammed shut.
Everyone jumped.
Carlos stepped backward.
“Okay. Definitely not tired.”
The cover began glowing.
Golden light seeped through the edges.
I opened it again.
Words appeared.
Not sentences.
Three symbols.
A mountain.
An eye.
And a circle surrounded by stars.
Beneath them, a single line slowly formed.
WHERE THE EARTH TOUCHES THE SKY, THE UNSEEN PATH BEGINS.
Zahra moved closer.
Her expression changed.
“I know that symbol.”
She pointed to the eye.
“What is it?”
“The Eye of the First Watcher.”
I frowned.
“Who’s that?”
“An ancient guardian.”
“Guardian of what?”
Zahra hesitated.
“The passage into the upper realms.”
Carlos looked toward the mountains.
“Upper realms?”
Zahra nodded.
“There are places above this world that humans were never meant to reach.”
Ethan stared at the clouds.
“You mean the artifact isn’t on the ground.”
“No.”
Zahra’s voice dropped.
“According to the old stories, the Celestial Compass was created to guide travelers between realms.”
“And its temple was built somewhere beyond the sky.”
Carlos looked at the mountains again.
“Fantastic.”
He gestured toward the enormous peaks.
“So we’re climbing a mountain to reach a place that’s above the mountain.”
“Basically.”
“Of course.”
He rubbed his face.
“Why couldn’t the next magical weapon be buried somewhere normal?”
Sarah raised an eyebrow.
“Like?”
“A supermarket.”
I looked at him.
“Seriously?”
“Imagine it.”
He spread his hands.
“We walk into Walmart, there’s a glowing artifact beside the cereal aisle.”
“We’d still somehow end up fighting demons.”
“True.”
I closed the Book.
The symbols disappeared.
“Then we find the Eye of the First Watcher.”
Zahra shook her head.
“We can’t.”
“Why?”
“Because no one knows where it is.”
I stared at her.
“Then how did people reach the upper realms?”
“They didn’t.”
The wind suddenly changed.
A cold current swept through the canyon.
Everyone went silent.
I felt it first.
Something watching us.
Not one presence.
Several.
My grip tightened around the Tidecaller’s Trident.
“Ethan.”
He immediately raised his shield.
“What?”
“Something’s here.”
Carlos’s expression became serious.
“How many?”
“I don’t know.”
The canyon suddenly became unnaturally quiet.
No insects.
No birds.
Not even the sound of wind.
Zahra whispered,
“We need to leave.”
“Why?”
She looked terrified.
“Because the mountains don’t hunt.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“They don’t move randomly.”
A stone rolled somewhere behind us.
Everyone turned.
Nothing.
Then another stone fell.
Closer.
Carlos slowly raised his hands.
“Guys…”
His voice had lost its usual playfulness.
“I think we’re being followed.”
A figure appeared at the far end of the canyon.
It was Ethan.
Same clothes.
Same face.
Same blue eyes.
He stood completely still.
I stared at him.
Then slowly looked beside me.
The real Ethan was standing next to me.
His shield was raised.
Carlos whispered,
“Oh, that’s bad.”
The copy smiled.
And then its face began to change.
The copy’s face rippled.
Ethan’s familiar features stretched unnaturally, the skin around his eyes melting into something pale and translucent.
His mouth widened.
Too wide.
A row of needle-like teeth emerged where Ethan’s smile should have been.
Emma’s stomach dropped.
“Ethan!”
The real Ethan stepped in front of her.
“I know.”
The creature tilted its head.
Then it spoke in Ethan’s voice.
“Emma.”
She froze.
It sounded perfect.
The same warmth.
The same tone.
Even the tiny way he pronounced her name.
Carlos stared at it.
“Okay.”
He pointed at the creature.
“That is officially disturbing.”
The thing smiled.
“You shouldn’t have come here.”
Ethan raised his shield.
“Neither should you.”
The creature’s eyes flashed silver.
Three more figures emerged from the canyon walls.
One looked like Sarah.
Another looked like Carlos.
The third…
Looked like me.
Carlos stared at his duplicate.
“Absolutely not.”
Sarah’s copy smiled.
“You know you look good.”
Sarah’s expression didn’t change.
“I hate it already.”
The copies moved simultaneously.
Ethan’s shield slammed into the ground.
A wave of blue energy exploded through the canyon.
The creatures were thrown backward.
But they didn’t fall.
They twisted in midair and landed on their feet.
“Great,” Carlos muttered.
“They’re athletic.”
The copy wearing his face suddenly vanished.
Carlos’s eyes widened.
“Where’d it—”
Something hit him from behind.
He flew forward and crashed into the sand.
“Carlos!”
“I’m fine!”
He rolled away just before a black claw tore through the ground where his head had been.
He scrambled upright.
“Okay, maybe slightly less fine.”
The creature lunged again.
Carlos disappeared.
It struck nothing.
He reappeared behind it.
“Surprise.”
He kicked it into the canyon wall.
The creature slammed against the stone—
Then smiled.
Carlos’s grin disappeared.
“That’s not normal.”
The creature’s body began changing.
Its arms lengthened.
Its shoulders widened.
Its face shifted.
For one horrifying second, it became Emma.
Then Ethan.
Then Sarah.
Then Carlos.
Finally, its features dissolved into something completely unfamiliar.
A tall, pale creature with silver eyes stood before them.
“We are the Faceless.”
Zahra stepped backward.
“The mountain’s hunters.”
Sarah tightened her grip.
“They can copy anyone?”
“Not just appearances.”
Zahra’s voice trembled.
“They steal memories.”
Ethan glanced at Emma.
“Then we don’t let them touch us.”
“Good plan,” Carlos said.
“Very inspirational.”
The Faceless creatures attacked.
The canyon erupted.
Ethan’s shield expanded, blocking a barrage of razor-sharp shards that erupted from the ground.
Sarah sent a wave of psychic energy toward one of the creatures.
It staggered.
Then suddenly—
Sarah gasped.
The creature had become her.
Her memories.
For one terrifying instant, Sarah saw herself as a little girl standing in a dark room.
She heard a voice she hadn’t heard in years.
You’re not strong enough.
Sarah stumbled backward.
“Sarah!”
Emma reached for her.
“I’m fine.”
The creature smiled with her face.
“You still remember.”
Sarah’s expression hardened.
“Unfortunately for you…”
She raised her hand.
“…so do I.”
A blast of psychic energy tore through the creature.
Its copied face shattered like glass.
The monster screamed.
Carlos looked at her.
“Remind me never to steal your memories.”
Sarah gave him a look.
“Please don’t give me ideas.”
Another creature lunged at Emma.
She swung the Tidecaller’s Trident.
A wave of water exploded from the weapon.
The creature was thrown across the canyon.
But instead of recovering, it dissolved into mist.
Emma frowned.
“Where did it go?”
Zahra looked around.
“Don’t stop moving.”
“Why?”
“They don’t always attack from the front.”
A whisper brushed against Emma’s ear.
She turned.
Nothing.
Then she felt fingers wrap around her wrist.
She screamed.
A creature emerged from the stone behind her.
Ethan reacted instantly.
His shield smashed into it.
The Faceless creature was sent flying.
Emma stumbled into Ethan’s arms.
“You okay?”
She nodded.
“Yeah.”
His hand remained around hers for a moment longer than necessary.
“You sure?”
“I’m sure.”
Carlos appeared beside them.
“Beautiful.”
They both looked at him.
He shrugged.
“Very touching. Can we survive first?”
Sarah scoffed.
“Finally, something sensible.”
Carlos pointed at her.
“See?
That’s why I’m the responsible one.”
“You teleported into a wall yesterday.”
“That wall moved.”
“It was a wall.”
“Exactly.
Suspicious.”
I held back a smile.
Even now…
He was still joking.
The last Faceless creature suddenly shrieked.
Its body split apart into dozens of pieces of silver mist.
The mist rushed toward the mountains.
Then vanished.
Silence returned.
Ethan lowered his shield.
“Are they gone?”
Zahra stared at the mountains.
“No.”
“Then what happened?”
“They were never trying to kill us.”
Emma’s grip tightened around the Trident.
“What?”
“They were testing us.”
A low rumble rolled through the canyon.
The mountains moved.
Not metaphorically.
The enormous peaks shifted beneath the clouds.
Stone groaned.
Entire cliffs slid sideways as though the mountains were pieces on a giant board.
Carlos stared.
“This is some next-level fairy-tale shit we are in.”
Sarah looked at him.
“Took you long enough to realize.”
Carlos slowly turned toward her.
“I was busy.”
“Clearly.”
Another section of the mountain moved.
A narrow passage opened between two enormous cliffs.
At its entrance stood a stone archway.
The same symbol from the Book was carved into it.
The Eye of the First Watcher.
Emma stepped forward.
“The path.”
Zahra shook her head.
“Not exactly.”
“What do you mean?”
“The mountains have chosen to reveal a route.”
“Why?”
Zahra looked at the archway.
“Because something inside wants you to come.”
A cold sensation moved through Emma.
The Book suddenly appeared in her hands.
It opened by itself.
Golden letters formed across the page.
THE FIRST GATE OPENS.
A second sentence appeared.
BUT THE MOUNTAIN WILL DEMAND A PRICE.
Carlos stared at the page.
“Of course it will.”
The Book continued writing.
FOUR ENTER.
ONLY THOSE WHO TRUST EACH OTHER WILL REACH THE SKY.
The words disappeared.
Emma looked at the others.
“What do you think it means?”
Ethan glanced toward the passage.
“We find out.”
They stepped beneath the arch.
The moment Emma crossed the threshold, the stone doors behind them slammed shut.
Carlos spun around.
“That’s new.”
The ground disappeared.
Emma screamed.
All four of them plunged downward.
Zahra’s voice echoed somewhere above them.
“Wait!”
Then darkness swallowed everything.
Far above…
On the highest peak of the Veiled Mountains…
A pair of crimson eyes opened.
A voice whispered through the clouds.
“They have entered.”
Another voice answered.
“Good.”
“Let them climb.”
“And when they reach the top…”
A smile formed in the darkness.
“…we will be waiting.”