It was dangerous traveling north. With the way the earth had split, rotkin could have emerged from anywhere. Whether they merely observed or ambushed, we would be at a loss. Yet it was necessary, and we would only have this one chance.
At the furthest northern point of Liurnia was a secret pass to Altus Plateau. Praetor Rykard, one of Queen Rennala's children forcibly adopted by Queen Marika, maintained a mine on the edge of the plateau. He simply "forgot" to inform the royal bureaucrats of Leyndell that doing so opened an illegal passage.
Anyone who could pass Rykard's gatekeeper could reach Altus without being appointed and receiving a medallion to operate the Grand Lift. This was how we Fire Monks had reached Liurnia.
Traveling back was an act of desperation I hoped my ex-wife had not anticipated. No doubt she would learn of it now. We needed to succeed in this mission, or we risked not surviving the return trip.
The many ladders and elevators required to pass through the mine were ash now. Indeed, that was why I had brought ropes to climb and shovels to clear passages. The team I had brought were safe and efficient. We made excellent progress and had reached the final chambers by nightfall.
The gatekeeper was blessedly absent. No doubt slain by the Lord in their passage to Leyndell.
The next day, we emerged to find golden Altus the same grey as Liurnia. No matter. We turned north to Mt. Gelmir.
It was a difficult climb, but that was all. The scorchmarks and melted spots on the mountainside were strange, as if the Frenzied Flame had struck here in particular. However, that also meant it was totally blasted of life. I feared there may have been no survivors, but I kept climbing.