It wasn't long before the depths of the surrounding woodlands cured Ayleah of the darker thoughts that had followed her from the trailhead. Her gaze stretched out into the seemingly endless green passing by the van's window. Mottled shades of uncountable leaves layered in pretty ways against the pale sunlight. Small buzzing and chirping things zipped through the air between trees or called out from hidden perches. Ayleah knew forests, but this one was so much grander; it went on into the distance and along the slopes of the hills for miles, climbing up mountainsides with trees that were tall and wise. It was a veritable jungle of vegetation and life, equally over as well as around them. Great pillars of living wood supported a heaven of greenery above an undulating world of rock crevices and leafy meadows.
Though all ages of trees seemed represented in the forest, Ayleah was most drawn to the gigantic ancient ones by which the road passed close. They almost seemed anchors to the passage of travelers. Old trees were numerous enough here that these could not be counted for landmarks, but were impressive nonetheless. Some even sported small inns or camping spots for those journeying up- or down-slope. Along the steeper sections where the road would become more gravelly, small saplings would crowd the washed-out pitches, forming bright little groves. Beech and maple were prevalent in a diverse and lively succession, their huge dead logs lying moldering in wet pockets of the terrain.
The heavy-duty repulsars of the transports tracked slowly under their loads, especially as the road began to pitch upward ever more steeply. It was terrain the like of which Ayleah had never known. They would climb one wooded hill, and reach what felt to her a respectable little summit. Then the road would turn, and they would be faced with another hill just as large as the previous. The engines strained on the hills, but the designers of the mountain road had been clever enough to include brief respites of flatter terrain. The road itself was a wide dirt track fringed with gravel and smallish boulders. On the more rugged slopes the surface broke into shale and the boulders would edge in, making for difficult going. It seemed incredible that anyone could get around up here as a part of daily living. Yet, there were plenty signs of habitation.
The next day, and after a few hills as Ayleah reckoned it, they came upon a small village at a stream-crossing. A wooden bridge supported by boulders in the current allowed locals to traverse around a pleasant clear pool. The waters came out of deep woodlands, fed the pool, and glistened through a broad tangle of rocks to reform in a single current on the slope below. The mountainside river created a wonderful ambiance about this otherwise unremarkable glen. A little further along there also looked to be a second bridge, and a small wooden sign they had just passed read: “Twin Crossings”, with an image of a stag's head below. At the clear pool the party came to a stop and stretched their legs. They had been mostly quiet on the way up from the trailhead, but now took the moment to inquire into each-others' feelings. They all felt somewhat refreshed by the change of scenery, and cleansed by the sounds and feel of this crisp mountain water. There was a general shift in the mood of the party from a dark reflectiveness to a practical excitement for the way ahead.
Ayleah asked Sutton about how the people on the mountainside lived if they didn't have repulsar technology. Parts of the road they had taken had looked utterly impassible for wheeled vehicles.
“Well, sure, almost no-one around here has repulsars; they'll be using wheels to move their goods around. But you see the side roads? They have a whole network of small tracks around the settlements. Often they don't even have to use the main trail much at all. Just as well since repulsars erode the trail surface faster.
“Folks up on the mountainside have a different sense of how to get around on this sort of terrain. A lot of them never go much up- or down-hill from where they live and work, just side to side a bit.”
“Are a lot of these high-elevation town hermit communities?” Ayleah asked. “It seems like one would really have to want to be away from the rest of society to live up here.”
A micro-expression of wistfulness passed Sutton's face. “It's true, there's probably a greater than average percentage of people up here that would prefer to be left alone. For others though, it's simply the magic of the land. Many people see something in the ecosystem up here that attracts them without reason, like a spiritual power. I've even heard them credit it for the warmth and success of their communities. You haven't seen the true high-elevation towns yet; it really is quite special up there.”
Sutton admitted that though he had a deep appreciation for the mountains, he had never really felt that 'thing', as he put it, that would drive one to choose the hermit lifestyle. He preferred to live in the valley, visiting the heights every so often as a pilgrimage of sorts. For her part, Ayleah thought she could understand what that attraction was, and thought a part of Sutton had felt it too.
The group left the twin crossings and continued up through the endless forest. The road crossed along sides of hills where rolling woodland fell away to one side and imposing trees marched to incredible heights on the other. Sometimes Ayleah thought they had taken a wrong turn because the road resembled a stream-bed more than anything else. In places large wooden bars had been inlaid across the path, intending to hold the roadway above in place. It was as if they ascended the mountain on long sloping steps, repulsars slowly raising them higher in elevation. It seemed that ascent would never end. Soon after the stream crossings though the forest began to change subtly. There were fewer giant trees now, and here and there an evergreen stood out proud and dark. Ayleah began to see more moss in the undergrowth, and larger boulders poking from ledges beside the ever-climbing roadway.
It certainly felt like the hill went on for an impossible amount of time, especially if one were not used to traveling in the green mountains. Flor had been on trips like this before, but not many, and still carried some of the dispiritedness that plagued novices to the woods. Luckily he was excellent enough at his job that its focus was a good distraction – the excitement at the trailhead had given him plenty to think about besides the distance to the heights. He had made sure all the vehicles were in good shape after the attack, and could engage in repairs on the road if need should arise. The computers and internal tech of the vans, such as they had, were all still properly functioning as well.
The job was not immersive though, and Flor enjoyed as well the company of the others in the group. He had originally been riding in the second van with Bellinda and a friend of Jaen's who had joined as an extra ranger. After the fight though he had switched vehicles in the shuffle compensating for the loss of Craig. His new driver was a seasoned mountain man, incredibly hardy for his advanced age and of a demeanor that offered little in the way of conversation. Flor thought he much preferred the previous arrangement.
Bellinda could be appropriately serious, but was also extremely good-humored and an essential part of the heart in this group. Flor had known her for some time, occasionally working alongside her around the Lincoln cities. She was also a good friend of Jaen's family, and had offered to come as second-in-command for his sake. Flor knew she cared for Jaen as a sort of aunt, and saw the way she left herself out of all the important decisions of their trip unless prompted by him for guidance. It was a trait a few in the party seemed to have; Bellinda was not the only one hiding useful skills.
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The Second Driver herself was concerned with the quality of the road surface. She knew the other drivers personally, and was confident in their abilities, but these vans were a more recent purchase and it was only human to be preoccupied with the safety of her stuff. The road surface had slowly changed from a rocky earthen track punctuated by steep drifts of shale. It was now littered with more and more boulders that, while not insurmountable, made for rough going. In some places it would get so bad that they would have to use the repulsars creatively to pick their way carefully from rock to rock up the slope. Navigating across the giant tumbles caused the vehicles to roll up and down, and Bellinda hoped all the cargo was secure. Any accident and they might be cursing the loss of their lists manager.
Craig had been a good man, peaceful and intelligent, yet capable enough for a life in the woods. He had lived in a small city on the edge of the valley, and had been fond of walking out in its green spaces. Bellinda was truly sorry for his death, and was attentive to the feelings of others in the party. They seemed to be doing okay, though there was now a sort of melancholy that tinged the expedition. It certainly helped to get up on the mountain's shoulder and out of the thickness of the valley. The air of the mountain forest had a soothing effect as long as you were not behind the wheel. They were nearing a glade where Bellinda knew there was a well-established store, and she decided they should stop soon for a rest.
-
To be fair, Atkins thought, she had come on this trip thinking it might be exciting. It was not her first time on a forest expedition, but it was her first time going to the alpine areas. She was fascinated with the different ecosystems in far-off places, and was actually studying the alpine zone plants when the window in front of her had been broken.
She glanced across at Ayleah, wondering what she was thinking right now. This girl, nearly her own age, had come from a village on the shores of the great lake. She had come all the way into the mountains, to lands brand-new to her for what end? Was it purely concern for a lost mentor that she braved the unknown, or was there a measure of raw curiosity? Most likely it was both, and Atkins respected her for that. The more she thought about it, the more the bandits' mistake made sense to her. They looked nothing alike, Ayleah's hair was a lighter, almost burnt color to Atkins's dark curls, but she could see a possible kinship. They were both explorers in their own ways and Atkins could feel the positive tension of the influence they could have on each other. Her own life had only ever been in danger thanks to this Ayleah, and somehow that wasn't a bad thing.
As they approached the glade where Bellinda planned a rest, large moss-covered boulders continued to shoulder their way into the roadside here and there. The party rounded a corner, climbing a shallow slope that rose their course above a thin water channel off to the side. On a rock just ahead, and casually off to the side of the road, sat a small person as if waiting patiently. It seemed (to Ayleah at least) that they emanated a soft orange glow.
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