Torrent and Crystal had little luck in finding their quarry, and time slowly ached by for the three. The mountainside was many times a dragon's length, and the summer passed into fall as the three continued looking. Soon, the snow started to creep down the mountainside, covering more and more of it, Torrent's frustration growing with every inch.
The antagonism between Crystal and Griffin also grew, over the animus dragonet, Schist's leave, and Torrent himself. Eventually, they decided to stop talking altogether, and Crystal joined Torrent's hopeless searches around the mountainside, while Griffin stayed in wherever their current sleeping arrangements were, occasionally leaving the area to search for food.
Griffin's mistrust of Crystal only increased. He approached Torrent a few times about it, but the SeaWing refused to heed his advice, even when Griffin tried to tell Torrent about how Crystal still hadn't taken the Darkstone off. Torrent had asked Crystal why the dangerous artifact was still around his neck, and she'd assured him that it would be completely inert on her, and that she just wanted to make sure it wasn't stolen (she had given Griffin a glance while she said that, as if she expected him to take it). To Griffin's irritation, Torrent believed her. He didn't understand why, and it was infuriating.
Eventually, he got to a point where his only choice was to take action. One morning, while only a gentle drizzle fell on the mountain (it felt like the rain was constant, which Crystal had complained about once or twice), Griffin decided it was time to see if Crystal had any ulterior motives behind her actions. Knowing he would have hours before the two would return, he walked over to Crystal's belongings, consisting of a small leather pouch.
He hesitated a second before opening the pouch. Whether he liked her or not, Crystal was still part of the team, and going behind her tail to do this just seemed wrong. That's what he'd said, way back then, wasn't it? They were a team: Torrent, Crystal, Schist, and himself. Or, they had been. Because of Crystal, they weren't anymore. Schist had left. Griffin made up his mind. If Crystal had nothing to hide, it wouldn't matter anyways.
Griffin carefully lifted the flap on her pouch, and pulled out a couple of food supplies, primarily stuff that he had caught. He moved it to the side, keeping a mental note of where it was in the bag, for when he was ready to put it back. He pulled out the next item, a scroll of some sort. This was of more interest.
Griffin laid out the scroll on the ground, and carefully rolled it open. It was a map of Pyrrhia, a bit different than Torrent's. The lines was more fine, and claw scratches in the bottom-right corner spelled out something in a script Griffin wasn't used to. It took him a few moments to figure it out, it was a different version of the script used in the Sea Kingdom, except with strange embellishments on letters that appeared much more curved than the straight lines that the SeaWing script consisted of.
"Property of Boreal," Griffin read out. Boreal. Griffin remembered Crystal mentioning the name a couple times. Her father, perhaps? It wasn't very interesting by itself, just a mundane map from the Ice Kingdom.
What was more interesting was a faded black line across the parchment, stretching from the cities where Gila had been across the Sky Kingdom, to the SeaWing coast. Griffin wondered for a moment what it was, then sighed, remembering that this was the same map Crystal had used when leading them through the Sky Kingdom. He glanced at it for a moment with a frown, realizing that the charcoal line only led partially up the coast, nowhere near to where Crystal had claimed she'd known about a safe passage. Apparently she'd lied about that, too. Griffin snorted in contempt. That was just like her.
He pulled out the final item in her pack, the diamond she'd enchanted to heal Schist. He felt better immediately as he held it, but quickly put it back. He didn't want this feathers turning out like what it had done to Schist's scales. What if Crystal had enchanted it to do something other than just healing, and that was why it had healed Schist so poorly? It was possible; Griffin wouldn't put it past her.
The diamond was unfortunately the last thing in the pack. It didn't seem like Griffin would find anything else interesting in there. Griffin sighed, and carefully packed away the map and the food, trying to make sure they were just as he'd found them, so Crystal wouldn't notice. He doubted she would anyways, but Griffin didn't want to take any chances. After he was done, he turned back to the cave entrance. The gentle drizzle continued to patter down, and a rivulet of water dripped into the crevasse.
Hours passed before Torrent and Crystal finally returned. As Crystal stepped into the cave, she shook her body, flinging water droplets from her scales and wings. Torrent had no need to do the same. He grumbled in frustration.
"No luck?" Griffin innocently asked, making sure his question was aimed towards the SeaWing and not Crystal.
"Of course not," Torrent irritatedly hissed. "We've searched this mountainside up and down, but nothing. The animus had to get into the mountain somehow!"
Griffin kept his beak shut, avoiding giving Torrent the answer. He could figure out who was under this mountain for himself. Crystal glanced at Griffin in suspicion. "Maybe we should just go," Crystal suggested to Torrent, "if we're not going to have any luck, I'm sure there are other animuses out there."
What's Crystal getting at? Griffin wondered. She can't just be giving up, can she? What does she want? As bored as he was here, Griffin didn't want Torrent and Crystal to leave, either. This way, while trying to look for an animus they'd never be able to find, at least they wouldn't be killing more innocent dragonets.
"I'm not leaving!" Torrent growled in protest, baring his teeth. Crystal shot him a glare.
"Sorry," he mumbled to Crystal, trying to make up for his rudeness. "I just don't want to give up after all this."
"Alright," Crystal sighed, trying to appear understanding. Still, she didn't particularly want to stay here much longer. It felt like they were just wasting their time, when they could be going after an animus who was actually causing trouble instead of one who wouldn't even show their snout. She took a look at the drizzly scenery outside. "We'll try again tomorrow."
Time trudged onwards, and the two continued searching. But on a day when Crystal had all but given up hope that they'd find an entrance into the old peak of Agate Mountain, she finally found something.
Frustrated with the poor game Griffin had been catching for them, she had decided to hunt for herself that day, while Torrent continued his search. By this point, they'd circled the old peak more times than Crystal cared to remember, and had gone around the current peak of Agate Mountain multiple times too. Leaving Torrent to search alone, Crystal hunted further down the mountainside, hoping to find a bear or a mountain lion to take down.
As she was attempting to track a fine grizzly that had escaped her talons previously, the IceWing came about one of the larger caves in the side of the mountain. She remembered this one well — it was one of the largest, and had a stalagmite which looked closely like a rearing dragon. Just another dead end. But this time, as she passed by it, a strange tingling sense itched across her scales like if she'd been shocked. She turned back to the cave for a moment, the Darkstone around her neck tingling. The cave looked different somehow, as if the mouth had grown. Had there been a rock collapse?
On a whim, Crystal decided to investigate further, leaving the bear for later. She stepped inwards. The cave formed a small room, with nearly flat flooring and plenty of space, though it sloped slightly downwards towards the back. A little rivulet of water dripped down from the cave mouth. Crystal crawled towards the back. Even in the dim light, she could tell that there wasn't a pool of water, as she would have suspected. She stepped closer, curious.
The little rivulet of water passed into a small hole in the back of the cave, just large enough for a dragon to step down into. Dull gemstones of a diverse range of colors lined the entrance. How had she not noticed this before?
Crystal poked her head down through the hole, the rivulet of water splashing against her horns. It was difficult to see in the darkness, but the IceWing could make out a large, empty cavern, even greater than the one she was in. The sound of running water could be heard, echoing in the distance, and a gust of cold air blew from behind, pecking against her wings. She'd found an opening.
"Torrent!" she yelled in excitement, running out of the cave, and taking off into the air. She looked around the surroundings, just to be certain that she could find the cavern again. "Torrent!"
She found the SeaWing by the great peak of Agate Mountain, flying around in the distance. She went to join him. "Torrent, I found a entrance!" she clambered, like a giddy dragonet. After so long, they'd finally found it!
"Really?" Torrent asked, skeptical. Had all their work, all their searching, come to an end? Crystal's nod and grinned confirmed it. Torrent excitedly flew after Crystal, following her on the flight back to the old peak.
"Wait, let me get Griffin," Torrent stopped, as the two flew past the cave where they had made camp. Crystal frowned. She didn't see why he had to be involved in this; he'd just try to stop them. Still, she stayed silent. If Torrent wanted to get Griffin, she wouldn't stop him.
A few minutes later, Torrent returned with a grimacing Griffin. Crystal gave him a smirk of satisfaction, and got a glare in response. The three flew down to the cave together, Crystal leading the way.
When they arrived, they stepped into the cave. "Didn't we already check this?" Torrent asked, seeing the familiar site. He was sure he'd been here before.
"There was a rockslide or something since then," Crystal guessed, "and it opened up.
Torrent rushed towards the back, his darkvision quickly adjusting to the dim light. When he reached it, he frowned. A small rivulet of water had dripped to the back of the cave, forming a small pool. He dipped a claw in. It seemed solid, there was no passage.
"Well?" Crystal asked pridefully.
Torrent turned around, and gave her a look of concern. Was this some practical joke she was playing on him? "I don't see anything."
Crystal gave him an expression of confusion, and walked over towards him, Griffin following. She looked around his webbed paws, craning her neck to see. She struck the rock with a talon, as if to make sure it was real. "No," she uttered, shaking her head, "there was something here! I swear."
Torrent looked around, grimacing. "Maybe you saw a reflection?" he asked. Griffin gave a snort of contempt. He started to step away from the end of the cave, leaving it.
"No, no it was real!" Crystal protested. "I poked my head in it." She looked back at Torrent, then up at the rock ceiling above him. It looked like it was shaking a little, and dust crumbled down on the SeaWing's head. "Stop moving," she suddenly ordered.
Torrent stopped. The shaking above ceased, and no dust fell. Crystal frowned, before an idea suddenly hit her. "Torrent," she spoke, "go to the cave entrance, fly directly away for twenty wingbeats, then come back."
Torrent opened his mouth. "What?" he asked in confusion.
"Just trust me," Crystal told him.
He did as she asked, walking to the edge of the cavern before taking off into the sky. Griffin glanced around in worry. As soon as he left, a rumbling sound took place in the cave, and dust fell from the ceiling. He turned back to the end of the cavern, where Crystal was intently staring. Suddenly, the rocks around the pool of water started to pull apart, and little gems again protruded from the grey-brown stone. The pool drained below, and the rivulet started to flow. A hole into the cave beneath had opened up.
Then, just as it had opened, it started to close again. Crystal looked back around. Torrent was returning from his flight. When he touched down, he looked around the cave again. Nothing had changed from when he'd left. "So, what exactly was supposed to happen?" he asked.
"It's magical," Griffin snapped, frustrated, "a passage opened up after you left."
"The entire mountain is enchanted, I think," Crystal grinned, "or something like that. Your dagger was preventing us from finding an entrance. So now, all you need to do is let the animus magic work."
Torrent opened his mouth finally understanding. If the entire mountain was enchanted, that explained why he couldn't find an entrance. "I'm not sure that's a good idea," he nervously replied. "If I let the mountain's enchantment affect me, then who knows what it could do. Maybe I could disenchant it instead?"
"I wouldn't," Crystal replied. "If you do that, all the caves might be collapsed beneath, meaning we could never find our animus."
"If they live down here, and this is their home, maybe it would kill them," Torrent suggested. "If they survive, they'll have to resurface."
"No, he won't," Griffin grumbled. Crystal and Torrent looked down at him, wanting an explanation. "The animus you're trying to find can't be harmed that way. He has a spell on him that makes him invulnerable."
"Him?" Crystal asked with a glare. "Have you been communicating with this 'him' without us knowing? You're a traitor!"
"I'm not!" Griffin hissed angrily. "Seriously? Three moons, you haven't realized? The animus you're looking for is the Darkstalker."
Crystal's scales instinctively clenched up, and she took a step backwards. She felt dizzy for a moment. Somewhere, below Agate Mountain, the Darkstalker was living? "You're lying," she sputtered.
"He's not," Torrent muttered, "Agate Mountain has always been associated with the Darkstalker mythos. He brought down the mountain with his magic, which might be why it's enchanted."
Griffin shook his head. "No, I think it was Fathom."
"How do you know this?" Torrent asked Griffin, suspicious.
"I read the scrolls in the Sea Kingdom, just like you," Griffin replied, slightly offended. "One of the copies of Prince Ripple's scrolls claimed that Darkstalker was defeated by being buried beneath a mountain somewhere. As Agate Mountain fell the same day the NightWings abandoned their kingdom, according to legend, it would make sense that he was buried then."
Torrent looked slightly skeptical. If he remembered his legends right, Darkstalker had killed a bunch of IceWings even after the NightWings left.
"And he's still alive?" Crystal asked, almost yelling.
"Yes," Griffin smirked, happy to see the fear on Crystal's snout, "I think Torrent's map proves that."
Torrent paced back and forth. "How long have you known this?" he asked Griffin. "And why have you only know told us?"
"Does it matter?" Griffin huffed. "You'd have killed him all the same, ancient dragon of extreme evil or innocent dragonet alike."
"How long, and why?" Torrent growled, wanting a serious answer.
"It took me a few weeks to recall," Griffin replied pridefully, "and no one bothered to ask me what I thought about this endeavor."
Torrent seethed, letting out a breath in anger. They had been here for months, and Griffin had known about this the entire time without telling them. He was furious. "Crystal, let's go," he growled.
Torrent walked over towards the growing pool at the back of the cave, looking down on it. Crystal followed behind him. Griffin stayed still, swiveling his head to watch the two dragons.
"Dagger, I allow the enchantment on the caves in Agate Mountain to function normally," said Torrent.
A creaking sound groaned from within the mountain as the hole opened up again. The small multi-colored gems protruded from the cave wall again. Torrent took a step back, so not to fall inwards. When the hole had reopened, he carefully climbed in, folding his wings against his body so to just barely fit. Crystal followed behind him, leaving Griffin behind at the entrance.