"So, Paladin's of Voltron, you wish to travel to the top of the Shining Mountain," the Shah leaned back in his chair, an old pair of white cat ears flicking on his head. "I must warn you, it is not an easy journey. No one has dared travel up there in many generations."
"In generations, huh?" Hunk stutters, tapping the tips of his fingers together. "And, uh, why—why's that?"
"Because the Shining Mountain is sacred. It brings life to our land and replenishes the forests life force," the Shah smiled mischievously. "And probably because of the Guardians that protect it."
"Guardians?" Hunk squeaked.
"Yes," the Shah nodded sagely, hiding a teasing smile. "Great beasts that nest upon the mountain's ledges. They attack anyone who disturbs them. All who have been foolish enough to try and climb the mountain are never seen again. Only bloody scraps of clothing have ever been recovered."
"Soooo," Hunk deadpanned. "You're telling me that we have to climb a big giant mountain infested with Guardian monsters that will rip us apart without the slightest hesitation."
"That is one way to proceed," the Shah said. "But it is not recommended."
"You don't say," Hunk hunched over, sliding behind Egal and shooting Shiro a pleading look that asked if this was all really necessary. Shiro bit back the smile pulling at his face and Egal stared at Hunk, not quite sure what to do about the yellow paladin hiding behind him.
"There is another way," the Shah chuckled, "but whether it will be easier or quicker, I couldn't say."
"Say these things sooner!" Hunk whined as he peeked out from behind Egal.
The Shah chuckled, "There exists a number of caverns within the Shining Mountain that are said to lead all the way up to the top. They were carved out when our people first colonised this island. We believe that our ancestors once lived within the mountain itself, but sadly much of our history about those times have been lost. As such, no one has used the tunnels in generations. Whether you'd be able to navigate all the way to the top or even if the tunnels remain passable? Who knows."
"Couldn't we fly our lions up there?" Shiro asked.
"That would only anger the Guardians. And while I'm sure your lions are very formidable, I ask that you do not bring harm to them. They may be vicious beasts, but they are considered sacred to our culture," the Shah warned.
"Of course," Allura said, placatingly. "No harm will come to the Guardians."
"Then it seems like the tunnels are our only option," Shiro shrugged.
Great, Egal thought and crossed Egal's arms. Dark places. Hunk had backed up a few steps but was wringing his hands and looking around nervously.
"You have my blessing to embark on this journey," the Shah said with warning in his voice, "but the Shining Mountain is not only sacred to our people, but it plays an incremental piece of our islands cycle of rebirth. I ask you to tread carefully and take only what you seek."
"Of course," Allura bowed respectfully.
Oo-oO
Seeing the world through the eyes of the soul was disorienting. Being able to watch the flow of quintessence, to pick out a single life source, to track that life source across the galaxy even though it's been shattered and is fading back into the universe's flow. . . That's how he's been able to track down the delicate fragments of Lance's soul.
Keith uses his sight now as he treks through the autumn forest, kicking up dead leaves and following the bright red signature of the Fire Relic.
He could make out the dull soul signatures of many residents clustered into two villages at opposite sides of the mountain. Keith bypassed the villages and reached the base of the mountain a little after mid-day. The sun was bright and the air was humid and hot despite the clear autumn season.
He tilts his head back to take in the climb ahead of him.
The initial incline up the mountain wasn't too steep, but that didn't last too long. About halfway up it turned to a sheer cliff face. At the very top of this giant mountain was the red light that shone brightly and drove him to keep going. The Fire Relic was up there. The first of five pieces he needed to fix everything.
He's filled with determination and takes his first step up the mountain.
Oo-oO
Egal trailed at the back of the group as the warrior Greyson led them through the village to the base of the mountain where a tunnel that could fit an elguantant had been boarded off.
"Not too long ago," Greyson explained as they came to a stop before the cave, "we used this tunnel to do trade with the village on the other side of the mountain."
Egal's head tilted in curiosity and listened closely. The tunnel was now boarded up and clearly no one had bothered coming near it for a long time based off the undisturbed plant growth on the path leading up to it.
"What happened?" Allura asked, voicing Egal's curiosity.
Greyson's gaze fell. "For generation our two villages have shared this island and for generations we have kept to ourselves. In recent years, we have been having increasingly bad harvests, so the Shah proposed we begin a trade route with our Tyke neighbours. After much discussion these old tunnels were renovated into a bazaar where both our people could sell and trade. But it didn't last.
"Some believe that our people should continue to remain independent of each other. The skirmishes started out small; a broken stall, stolen goods, but it was enough to start discords between us. Things escalated. In the end, a shipment of fish was infected with deadly bacteria and given to us Toms. Many were infected and fell ill. There is a cure, but the infection was so widespread that our stores weren't enough to save everyone. The elderly were lost first, and a number of children were unable to pull through." Greyson's hands balled into fists as he remembered the nightmarish nights filled with the cries of grieving parents. "Since then, our people have been feuding."
"Guess we can't really blame you for the cold reception then," Shiro commented.
"Mateo has always been a spirited child," Greyson said with sad eyes. "But he has more reason than most to hate Outsiders. His brother was one of the children who died."
"How terrible," Allura lowered her gaze. "I wish there was something we could do to help."
"I appreciate the sentiment, but any help from Outsiders will probably end in more harm than good," Greyson said. "Many believe it was an Ousider's influence that began the revolts in the first place."
"Not that I'm ungrateful," Shiro stepped forward, "but if you've had such problems with Outsiders why are you helping us now?"
Greyson studied Shiro and his ears twitched as he considered his response. "I can't speak for the others, but in my experience there are more good people out there than bad. Unfortunately, in our blindness we only remember the bad and forget the good all too easily in our misery. I'm willing to take a chance that you fall into the larger category. But if you prove me wrong, I promise it will be my blade you fall on."
Shiro met his eye and held his gaze in acknowledgement.
Greyson accepted their silent agreement and turned back to the tunnel. "If you continue down the tunnel for half a varga you will come to the old market place. You should find more tunnels to the upper levels in that area. Each tunnel is marked to indicate which chamber it leads to but be careful. No one has used these tunnels in generations. Watch for unstable support beams and rock slides."
"Thank you for your help," Allura bowed her head slightly.
Greyson nodded back, "Good luck."
Soon they were walking in a line through the overly large tunnel with Egal, again, trailing at the back. The light slowly faded away as the entrance got farther away and their armour began to glow a light Altean blue, but it wasn't enough to chase the shadows away and they twisted along the walls as the Paladins passed by. It wasn't long until Egal began to feel the absence of the sun. His chloroplasts began shutting down and he fought off the drowsiness it brought along.
"Anyone else got a bad feeling about this?" Hunk asked with a voice that echoed strangely in the cave. Hunk shuffled a little closer to Egal again.
Yes. Yes, Egal had that feeling, but it may have just been the dark talking.
"There's no one else here, Hunk," Shiro reassured shooting Hunk a reassuring smile. "You heard them all, no one's been here for generations."
"Yeah," Hunk hunched over a little more. "That's what's worrying me."
Oo-oO
Keith managed to haul himself up and sprawled over on the ledge with a heaving breath. He'd been climbing for a few vargas now and it wasn't as easy as he'd first thought. He wished, not for the first time, that Umbra's portal wasn't just for crossing into the pocket dimension. He could really do with some short distance teleportation right now instead of having to scale a bloody mountain with nothing but his bare hands and his knife. He'd nearly fallen at least three times and actually fallen twice, managing to stop himself only by stabbing the sheer cliff with his luxite blade.
Yeah. He'd say he deserved a bit of a rest.
He sighed and pulled himself up to lean against the rock face and pull his legs out from over the edge. While he caught his breath he tilted his head up to see how much further it was to the top.
The red light of the Relic had gotten brighter the closer he'd gotten. He was still pretty far away but it was already blinding. His breath hitched just thinking how it would be up close. He doubted he'd even be able to look at it with his soul sight.
Keith relaxed his eyes and flexed his hand as felt his muscles start to cramp up. He shouldn't stay still too much longer. He had to keep moving. He couldn't stop now. The sooner he completed his goal, the sooner everything would be set right.
He stumbled to his feet and took a minute to find his balance again.
Then he heard it.
An animalistic cry ripped through the air. Keith froze as the wind kicked up and a giant shape flew past too fast and too close. Keith scrambled for a hand hold to prevent himself from being thrown off the ledge and squeezed his eyes shut in the maelstrom.
The creature screamed again and Keith's eyes opened wide beneath his mask as what he could only describe as a giant red dragon landed on the cliff face right in front of him. Giant claws pierced hand holds into the sheer rock, wings outstretched for balance, and its maw opened wide with two rows of long jagged teeth.
Keith swore under his breath and drew his luxite blade. He couldn't believe he was standing off against a dragon! Or, he tried to stand off against it, but the ledge he was on wasn't quite big enough and the dragon was perched a little too far away. He was in trouble. He couldn't maneuver here.
Casting around, he spotted a small path farther up the mountain to a landing that he had been aiming for. If he could make it up there he'd be able to fight better.
Ready . . .
The dragon roared again. One clawed hand detached from the rock sending bits of rubble tumbling down. Then it latched onto the ledge where Keith was standing.
Ready . . .
Another step forward, the dragon took its time, its eyes boring into Keith sizing him up.
Keith braced.
The dragon dove forward, teeth gleaming. Keith lunged, rolled and started sprinting up the path, which honestly wasn't much of a path. Keith stumbled and his feet slid on the loose rock. He heard the dragon scramble and fall off the ledge only to snap out its wings and soar.
Keith kept his eyes in front of him, but he could see the dragon's quintessence with his soul sight which extended a full 360°. It was a deep grey colour tinged with red, probably from exposure to the Relic. The thought barely flit through his head before the dragon swooped in again.
Keith dove. He felt the dragon's claws rip his cloak as he rolled onto the landing.
With practiced movement, he was up on his feet again, hand braced on the ground in front of him and luxite blade held up in ready position. Only . . .
He realized his mistake too late.
The landing wasn't really a landing.
It was a nest.
A deep pit of dread bubbled in his chest as he felt something barrel into him from behind and he cracked his head on the ground.