After we initially entered the mountains, there had been a small betting pool between the four of us, only Sasha not yet able to join in on the fun. The question had been, which of the numerous beasts calling these mountains their home would be the first to take a swipe, charge or swoop at us in an attempt to either drive us off or make a meal out of one of us.

We all had our own predictions, with Silva suggesting that it would be one of the numerous herbivores, likely a bull moose, that took offence to our presence and decided that defending his territory was worth risking his life for us.

Lia, on the other hand, thought that it would be an entire pack of predators, likely a wolfpack, if there were enough of them. Though her prediction might have been aimed to needle Silva a little, it wasn't an impossibility; there were quite a few wolves around, and it might only be Silva's presence, infused by Lady Hecate as it was, that kept these canines off our back. Sure, there were some large differences between Dogs and Wolves but at the same time, they were incredibly similar. Similar enough to let Silva communicate with them on some level, adding to our intimidating presence in their minds.

Luna thought similarly to Silva, thinking it would be some sort of herbivore. However, her guess landed on one of the massive sheep that called these mountains their home, with an added suggestion that the sheep would use its insane agility and the apparently innate ability to walk up nearly vertical cliffs to its advantage, sending one of us tumbling down the mountain. Given just how precarious some of the paths we were walking were, and how difficult it was to traverse the mixture of sand, rock and gravel the glacier had pushed into the valleys we were going through, it was as plausible as the other suggestions, though she wasn't sure what might motivate such a beast to try killing us.

I briefly considered whether we would face a solitary predator powerful enough to take a swipe at us, maybe one of the massive bears I had seen through my scrying constructs, but I soon discarded that particular option. The bears were strong, sure, but they were also quite intelligent, likely aware that trying to take down a group like ours would be difficult, if not impossible, without separating one of our number from the rest. Otherwise, our numbers and individual power were enough to let us face a foe quite a few levels above our already high levels. That made us troublesome for predators to face, simply because we were too strong for those who would truly benefit, while those strong enough to face us wouldn't benefit, but only take a risk.

Granted, we had similar problems, though not so much with enemies strong enough to have us benefit from fighting them; those were far and few between. We simply didn't find enough enemies to fight and gain EXP against, which was a bit of an annoyance.

But, with the idea of any solitary landbound predator discarded, I needed another idea, which was when I started to take a closer look at the avians in the sky. At first, I thought those were some sort of eagle, possibly preying on the marmots and other relatively small animals that made their home in these mountains. But then, I managed to get a closer look at one of them, as it was carrying its kill into its eyrie, likely somewhere not even the goats could climb. That's when I noticed it wasn't carrying some small deer or something like that; it was carrying what looked like a fully grown moose.

One of those things had obviously the strength and possibly speed to simply swoop in, snap one of us up in its claws, and continue on its way until it was out of our reach. Sure, snatching anyone but me would lead to its swift and quite final demise shortly after, assuming that it managed to evade my senses in the first place, but that sounded like the only real way for an animal to get to us, so I put my bet down to an avian attack.

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Ultimately, and somewhat amusingly, we were all proven wrong. None of the animals decided to take too much offence at our presence, which was warranted, or maybe our strength was obvious and intimidating enough to keep the various beasts honest and placid; I wasn't sure. Even luck could have played a role, because our path might have avoided the territories of the strongest beasts in these mountains, those who were most likely to go for us; I didn't know enough to make a judgment there.

But where the animals were prudent, cautious and almost fearful of our presence, it wasn't just animals that called these mountains their home. The thing that attacked us was certainly not an animal; it would be a stretch to call it alive, at least by the standards used before the change. Now, it was a different question, but it didn't matter all that much in that instant, as I was confident it wouldn't remain alive after we were done with it.

The thing was somewhat similar to the spirit I had bound a while back, as in, it was a completely magical existence, pure Astral Power, wrapped around a core that might well be called a proto-soul. However, that was the end of the similarities.

Where the spirit I had bound had been a creature of Wind, this one was a being of Earth and Ice, quite possibly born from the glacier we had just reached, or maybe even the mountain itself. Due to that, the central core of the thing wasn't invisible and just wrapped in swirls of wind and Astral Power; it was buried in a massive shell of rock, gravel, sand and ice. Somewhere deep within that thing, to the point that I could barely sense it, let alone figure out a way to strike directly at the core.

Which was a bit of a problem, given that the rest of the thing was just elementally infused stone and ice, meaning physical attacks would only work if they could outright obliterate the thing. To beat the thing, we would have to somehow get to the core and either disperse or bind it, as I had done with the Wind Spirit back then.

However, where that spirit had been essentially incorporeal, this one was about as corporeal and solid as the very mountain it might embody, easily the size of a large house and, quite literally, rock solid. Its form was a strange mix between a bear, a wolf and one of the mountain goats, combining some of their most dangerous elements.

The jaw looked quite canine to me, with large teeth, perfect to tear prey apart, while the head was crowned with a pair of curled horns, allowing it to crash into foes with obliterating force. Just by the looks of it, I was willing to bet that those were as hard as rock could possibly become, maybe even harder. They certainly gave an impression of an unbreakable object, and combined with the largely ursine front of the thing, I didn't want to guess just how much force would be transmitted if the thing decided to simply ram somebody. Enough to break rock and shatter bones, most likely, which would leave the target easy prey for the wicked ursine paws on its front legs.

Its backside was, comparatively, harmless-looking. Just the body of a mountain goat, giving it all the agility it might want, though I wasn't sure how that would play with the paws in the front. Knowing how things like that worked, likely quite well, this thing might just be the epitome of danger in these mountains, strong as a bear, swift as a goat and tenacious as a wolf, or something like that.

Right after it appeared, bursting from the glacier before us while showering us in rocks, ice and gravel, it let out a massive roar, the sound echoing between the mountains and sending more than one avalanche crashing down into the valleys below. It was a challenge and, for a moment, I was stunned at the sheer volume of power it could project. But then, I realised that this thing wanted to keep me from the Nexus, keep me from the only way I was aware of to bring back my beloved.

Rage started to course through me, and my eyes ignited as Astral Power started to swirl around me. This thing wanted to fight, and a fight it would get.

"With me, my children," I bellowed, my voice echoing through the mountains, just as this thing's roar had, "Together!"

My voice was enough to shake the rest of my family from the brief stupor the roar had sent them into, letting them get ready for battle immediately.

This would be no easy fight.

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