Chapter 26 : The Forbidden Mountains
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Cheeks flushed, heart heavy, and red-eared. Jungwon's chest was suffocated by an unusual type of air. His hand patted his warm cheek as he exited the lower cabin, mind stained by Suyin's face. Incredulous thoughts darted through his mind, pushing him further into questions he hadn't considered in so long.
In his mind, he read over Suyin's expression again. He pinned a mess inside her eyes when his face hung over her. It wasn't only confusion–something else seemed to panic within her. Nevertheless, her face's skin looked so smooth to the touch, her wide-eyed stare soaked up all the light in the room, and her lips were enriched by a berry hue.
"Jungwon!" A voice called for Jungwon as he rose from the lower staircase. Jungwon's name didn't register as he ruffled his hair–his distracted mind was vibrant on display.
"Yah, Jungwon-ah!" Sunghoon yelled again. Jungwon flicked his head up and caught Sunghoon's gaze. "Look at what's ahead!" Sunghoon pointed forward.
Jungwon's eyes drove toward Sunghoon's finger, feasting upon the Forbidden mountains ahead. Deep black burned into its surface as if a clan of fire had ripped the color from the mountain's soul. Jungwon noticed how the water's waves had eased, and the winds were speaking less.
"Is she okay?" Sunoo asked from the upper staircase.
Jungwon faced the boy. "Oh– Yes...she's awake," Jungwon replied, rubbing his nape.
"That's good," Sunoo said, hopping off the stairs. "Better go get your girl now."
Jungwon snapped his head back towards Sunoo. His hand lost contact with his neck. "What did you say?" Jungwon stammered.
"Isn't Suyin your bestie?" Sunoo asked, resting his hands on his hips. Sunoo tossed his arm out. "Go get her. We're almost to the mountains."
"Right." Jungwon spun around and descended back down the staircase. He re-entered the lower cabin, feet squeaking against the wooden planks. Suyin sat against the bed wall with her hand supporting her head. Her eyes sat bored on the ceiling until his footsteps approached.
"So, did you miss me?" Jungwon quipped.
"No, you jerk. You left when I needed you," Suyin muttered, sulking with her head turned away.
He crossed his arms, tilting his head to the side. "Need, you say?" His lip curled up.
Suyin hugged her knees, refusing to face Jungwon. Jungwon arrived at her front, and he guided her chin in his direction. "Upset?" He asked, analyzing her hidden smile.
"My entire head is burning, Won," Suyin groused, pouting her vibrant cherry lips.
"Aww, I'm sorry. I should've been gone longer," Jungwon snickered as Suyin glowered at him. He sat beside her on the bed. "Here, let me heal it before we go to the mountains." His fingertips fluttered over her forehead, treating her head with the glow of healing white quartz.
"We've already arrived?" Suyin inquired.
"We're arriving soon," Jungwon corrected. Jungwon spotted anxiety stirring in her eyes, even when he only captured a quiet flash. The edges of Suyin's lips dipped down. Her fingers twiddled atop her lap.
After emitting a bright amount of quartz, his hand lowered, sensing no sign of her headache. "Is it done?" Jungwon asked.
"Yeah. Thank you," Suyin responded. Her tone dropped, layered over by a blanket of blue. Her sweet eyes flew up to Jungwon's gaze. "We'll be okay out there, right?"
Jungwon patted his hands onto his knees and flattened his lips. "It'll be fine," he reassured her. "They say it's been in ruins ever since the first battle."
"I hope so," Suyin sighed.
Jungwon watched as she freed her ponytail, and her slender fingers brushed through her hair. Her back straightened as she gathered up the silky black strands together. She closed her eyes, retying her hair with a thick black ribbon.
A knock interrupted the moment, followed by my pink-haired boy. "We're here," Sunoo informed from the doorway.
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The colossal black mountains towered before Suyin's eyes. The Forbidden Mountains were a corpse–left rotten for ages. A hush of smoke lingered at the mountain's surface, floating so slowly that it seemed unmoving. Unexpectedly, all sounds had dampened here. The winds no longer shrieked, for they sighed down their backs. The only thing that hadn't changed was the gloomy gray skies, which lived in their darkest state here.
"Is it snowing?" Niki wondered, holding out his palm. Odd dust floated in the air, landing on his hand.
"I don't think it's snow...it's like ash," Jake remarked while scrutinizing the black dust between his fingers.
"Ash from what, exactly?" Sunoo cut in.
"Don't know," Jake shrugged. Sunoo shivered, and his mouth curved in disgust.
The unsettling ambiance ceased the members from moving forward for a moment. Nonetheless, Jungwon shattered the mountains' attempt at petrifying them.
"We should keep moving," Jungwon commanded, heading down.
Now that the weather no longer tormented them, Suyin managed to stay within the group. As she explored every glimpse she could get, she felt like she was walking through an illicit dream. Her feet were stepping through piles of dark history–the birthplace of the most evil being known to their kingdom.
"I'm expecting us to find something explanatory for the queen's poisoning since we've traveled so far," Jake shared. "But at the same time, I'm too scared to find out."
"The enigmatic evil was annihilated years ago. There can't possibly be a significant amount of remains that can harm us. If there are, we can handle it," Jay responded.
Suyin pondered over the hours it could take to investigate the mountains. She contemplated whether she should share her idea with the team regarding the several other times she had. "Well...Should we split up?" Suyin suggested.
"No," Almost everyone answered. Suyin rubbed her arms.
"Wouldn't that be more efficient, though?" Sunoo pointed out.
"Boy, I am not trying to perish here," Niki shuddered. "We should stick together. Who knows what's lurking out here?"
"What a wuss."
"You f–"
"But we'd gain more ground faster if we split up. These are mountains. We don't want to stay here for days, do we?" Jungwon said from ahead.
"They're right. It's the most logical plan we've got now," Sunghoon agreed.
After discussing shortly, they settled on searching for at least an hour before heading back to the spot they split from. The team finally concurred with the plan and split up into groups. Heeseung, Sunoo, Jake, and Jay headed east of the mountains. Suyin, Jungwon, Niki, and Sunghoon headed west.
The mountains' low hum sang for minutes on end. Suyin's group cautiously walked on a trail after climbing halfway up a mountain, searching out in the far distances for even a glimpse of anything unusual.
Suyin despised how everything remained unchanging here. The sky had barely moved, as if the sun had disappeared, leaving its afterglow to roam behind the thick clouds. Chilling breezes stung Suyin's cheeks, forcing her head down. She hadn't kept track of how long they'd been traveling, but she grasped onto her strength.
Suyin sensed Jungwon's eyes checking on her every now and then, but she didn't expect him to speak up.
"Your headache hasn't come back, has it?" Jungwon asked.
Suyin buried her hands into her folded arms for warmth. "Surprisingly, no. What, are you worried about me?" Suyin teased.
Jungwon scoffed a puff of air. "Don't be stupid. I'd give you a headache," he said.
"You wouldn't–" Suyin's hands flew up as Jungwon's finger flicked her forehead. "Ow!"
Suyin rolled her eyes. She raised her hand to get him back, but his grasp captured her wrist. Jungwon snickered while gandering down at her pout. She ripped from his hold and weaved her arms back into her comfortable cross. However, her shoulders stiffened as a hand swiped the side of her hair, fingertips streaking her neck.
"Aw, don't be upset with me again, Yin," Jungwon whispered close to her ear. Suyin's hand simply shoved his face out of her space.
Out of nowhere, Niki stretched out a groan. Suyin and Jungwon looked over their shoulders since they had almost forgotten Sunghoon and Niki were with them.
"It's cold, it's quiet, it's dark, and it's eerie out here. What if we never find anything?" Niki grumbled.
"Don't complain so much, Niki. It's our duty to make sure the queen and kingdom are safe. If we don't find anything suspicious, that's a good thing," Sunghoon said.
"The queen would be relieved to hear that her poisoning had nothing to do with the Forbidden Mountains," Jungwon added.
"You guys have a point," Niki muttered. "But like Jake said, I expect us to find at least something. We've traveled far and wide–it'd be a waste to find nothing, especially in the most deadly mountains known to Lucindian history."
While the boys conversed, a ghostly sound coated Suyin's ears. It stole Suyin's eyes from the ground. Cold air heightened and pricked her skin through her clothes–as if asking for her attention. Suyin glanced to her right, viewing the blank mountainside. Her eyes sprinted around their group, spotting nothing new but the same old mountain atmosphere. She shook her head, mentally convincing herself that the mountains carried naturally chilling sounds.
However, the sound echoed again. For some reason, it was familiar to Suyin's ears this time. The faintest image yanked at her heart, luring her head toward the edge of the mountain ahead.
"There's something here," Suyin mumbled, catching the boys off guard. Suyin picked up her pace, leaving the safety of the group's company. The boys warned her in raised voices, but they couldn't stop as she rushed against the spiteful breezes, determined to grasp her sudden nostalgia. Her footsteps ceased at the mountainside's end, exhaling thick breaths. Once she peered over the side, incredulity struck her eyes.
The boys caught up to Suyin shortly. Her long raven hair flowed in the low winds as if underwater. "Yah, don't run off like that," Jungwon chided, landing his hand on her shoulder.
"What...is that?" Suyin questioned, brushing Jungwon's worries aside.
Suyin gaped at the mystifying view. A dark tower stood out in the lonely distance as if countless blackened knives were bundled together. The structure scraped the sky, but nearby mountains concealed its identity from the outside. Milky fog lurked in the area, swimming slowly over the ground and in the gray shadows.
Jungwon's hand slid off Suyin's shoulder. "I have...no clue," Jungwon breathed out.
"Holy shit, we've found something," Niki gasped, slapping his hands onto his head.
"That is so strange," Sunghoon remarked, "I've never heard of a building in the Forbidden Mountains...was this the Dykro's lair of some sort?"
"Whatever it is, it might have answers," Jungwon stated.