Dew Mountain

The Mystic Spires looked like distant pillars from the base of Dew Mountain. The white mountain appeared completely clothed in fog and looked like a swirling cloud. As they approached, doubt crept into Aurora's mind. The Fate's fortress was so high above their heads. It seemed impossible to reach. But she could not give up now.

"I suppose we should enter the fog so that we can find the actual mountain," the Empress said.

"I will go in first. Junayd you be sweeper," Nurlan ordered. "That is, if it pleases Your Majesty," he added, slightly embarrassed.

"I always appreciate your expertise," Aurora nodded approvingly.

Brinn and Devrim looked at each other in wordless understanding. They would watch the Empress. None of them had come this far to lose her now. Nurlan stepped forward bravely and shoved his arm into the fog. It was thick like a wall, and his hand vanished from view. Nurlan grunted in surprise, but when nothing happened, he walked into the white blanket. The rest of him disappeared.

They waited in silence and listened for danger. "So far so good," Nurlan called. "But I cannot find the blasted mountain!"

The rest of them shrugged and followed him into the unknown. Devrim walked in front of Aurora and Brinn behind, with Junayd keeping a watchful eye at their rear. Entering the fog was an eerie sensation for they immediately lost their sense of sight to the white void. On top of this the fog was chilly, with suspended ice crystals and snow brushing against their skin.

Devrim instinctively reached back for Aurora's hand, but could not find it. His heart panicked as he called out, "Aurora! Where are you?"

"Right here," a voice said close to his ear as a hand touched his arm. He looked but saw only white. The hand he could not see slid down his arm and found his own. He grasped the Empress's fingers tightly, and they continued on in the mist.

"Oh!" Nurlan called out ahead of them. The pair halted and felt Brinn bump into them.

"Are you alright?" Devrim asked.

"I…I am fine," Nurlan responded.

"Then what is wrong?" Aurora squeezed Devrim's hand nervously. Obviously something unexpected had happened.

"I cannot explain it. You will just have to come through the fog."

'Through the fog?' Aurora thought maybe she had heard him incorrectly. For how could they get through the fog until they reached the top of the mountain? They began to walk again and before long the fog cleared. "Did we get turned around and come back out?" Aurora was confused.

"Nurlan, where are we?" Devrim walked over to the soldier who was looking stunned. "Where is the mountain?"

"Your Highness," Nurlan said while looking upward. "I think there is no mountain." He pointed and the others followed his finger. High above them something large hovered.

"The Mystic Spires!" Aurora gasped. "They are…floating?" All around them the wall of fog hung like a curtain encircling a lush green field. No wonder people thought it was a mountain. No one ever went up to it to see that it was not solid.

"What do we do now?" Brinn voiced their collective question. There was no ladder or stairs, just a cone shaped fog that they could not climb. Junayd finally emerged and looked as dazed as the rest of them.

"Glad you made it," Nurlan was a little upset that his fellow soldier had taken so long.

"Sorry," he said, still gazing about in wonder. "I got turned around in the ice and snow. Your voices pulled me beyond it. Where are we?"

"What did you say?" Aurora's eyes opened wide.

"I asked where we were."

"No before that. You said you went beyond the ice and snow…" Aurora waited to see if anyone else caught on to what she was thinking.

"Are you talking about the song that Nanny and Bolemir mentioned?" Devrim was beginning to follow.

"Yes! 'Beyond the land of ice and snow you'll find a land of green,' remember? I assumed the ice and snow was the ice barrier, but what if it was Dew Mountain? This field right here is the greenest I have ever seen!" It was indeed so green that the girl thought that nothing else would ever seem truly green again.

Scanning the ground enclosed in the fog, Aurora spied sections of raised ground. "There!" she pointed and began a fevered walk towards her destination. The others chased her, not knowing her aim.

The area was larger than it looked, and they were quite winded when they reached the hills. They, too, were deceptive. The hills looked small from the edge of the fog, but they were in fact quite tall, especially the one in the center. Toward the top of the highest mound a cluster of trees stood in a thick line. "Above the hills and trees," Aurora mumbled before taking off again.

Hiking the tallest hill, the Empress realized that the light around her had not changed since they arrived. It was still bright even though there was no way the sun could penetrate through the fog. 'Yet another magical phenomena I know nothing about,' she mused.

When she got to the line of trees, she waited for the others to catch up. They all looked exhausted. "How are you not tired?" Devrim huffed as he sat for a moment to rest.

Aurora shrugged. "I do not know. I just feel energized. Maybe it was the water from the stream. You all should get a drink." She turned her head to grab the water.

Devrim gasped. "The Fate's necklace! It is glowing!" he exclaimed.

The Empress pulled it from beneath her cloak. The chain shone brightly. "Do you hear that?" Aurora asked with a smile.

"Mhmm," Brinn wore the same grin. The necklace was also humming almost imperceptibly. It was the tune of the ancient song.

"We are close," the girls said together. Running through the thick trees, the group came upon a clearing with a large raised dais in the middle. They climbed on the white stone platform and looked out over the whole of the area under the Mystic Spires. They were high, but not nearly high enough to reach the Fates' dwelling.

"What now?" Junayd asked with a frown.

No one answered as they searched for clues. Finally the Empress looked down at the dais itself. There were symbols carved into the floor including the image of a castle with another image Aurora recognized inside of it. She pulled out the map she had taken from the vault and looked at the circular golden symbol at the top of the map. They matched exactly.

"Where did you get that?" Brinn was surprised. This map was not something that belonged in the human world.

"From a magical vault. What does this symbol mean?" Aurora asked the elf.

"It means 'north', but it is also what we use to describe the Fates." Brinn told them.

"That cannot be a conincidence," Devrim walked over and examined the carvings. As he stepped on the palace, it lit up and glowed a bright white.

Aurora's eyes went wide. "Everyone stand on the 'palace white'!" All five of them crowded into the space and stood on the circular rune inside the castle carving. The ground lit up, and the chain around the girl's neck began to hum loudly. But nothing more happened. Something was missing. The Empress remembered when she had sent the rowboat back to the faun, she had had to tell it to where to go. "Go home," Aurora said gently.

The others looked at her confused. Was she talking to them? Surely not! Without warning, the ground below them shifted and pulled away from the dais. They were moving.