"Land of the Dead? What does this mean?" Arix whispered as he turned a few yellowed and torn pages.

  The next text that was readable was after six pages. Arix narrowed his eyes as he started narrating the text.

  "It's been seven days since we were stuck on this mountain. We cannot find an exit. Clara is sick. We don't know what happened to her. Vaelor and I decided—"

  Arix paused as he read "Vaelor." His eyes widened, and he brought the diary close to his eyes, inspecting it.

  Meilie was staring at him, clueless.

  After a moment, Arix sighed. "So this is Vaelor's group. I see."

  He paused as he turned back to the starting pages, trying to look for something, when he stumbled upon the very first sentence of the diary. "Here it says this was the first group. How have I missed it?" he whispered, and turned the pages again to where he was reading before, and started narrating where he left off.

  "Vaelor and I decided to leave the mainland. We know many things about this land, but we can't share it all because it will spread panic to the people of the island. We are also—"

  The lines afterward were unreadable, and the page had already rotted away.

  Arix turned the page, and the next page was readable from halfway down. He narrated again:

  "Clara died at the peak of the mountain, holding the weapon in her hand. The weapon probably became masterless again as its master died. We didn't pick it up because we would get bound by the law, and we didn't want to. We want to escape.

  The next day, we found a cave entry. We haven't explored it yet and don't want to either."

  "So many questions are unanswered,” Arix said as he turned the pages, but they were empty afterward.

  There were only a few pages left in the diary, half of which had rotted away because it was left here in the cave.

  "Did he throw the diary here in the cave, or did it fall?" Arix whispered. Then Meilie took the diary from his hand to inspect.

  "Can you find anything from this diary?" Arix asked.

  She shook her head, turning the pages from start to finish.

  After reaching the end, she handed the diary back to Arix.

  Arix sighed as he turned the pages again briefly.

  "Let's head back," he said.

  Meilie agreed, and they both started heading back to the group.

  On his way, Arix struck up a conversation again, trying to learn more about her. "So what were you doing in that village, Meilie?" he asked, looking at her.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  She didn't reply, nor did she look at him. She just kept walking with seriousness on her face.

  Arix sighed and kept walking in silence.

  When they reached the group, Arix found both Lyra and Tarin asleep beside the campfire.

  Arix touched Tarin's forehead to check the fever and found it still hot as ever.

  He let them rest and went to bed himself.

  Meilie also went to her bed and slept.

  In the morning, when Arix woke up, he found Lyra preparing breakfast. He asked, 'Is Tarin okay?” Lyra shook her head, looking at Tarin.

  Tarin was breathing hard. He was unconscious and his skin still burned with fever.

  Arix didn't disturb him and let him sleep.

  He told Lyra about the diary he found. She found it interesting and took the diary, investigating it page by page.

  By the end, she closed the diary and gave it back to Arix. “There are so many secrets about this land.”

  After a while, he stood up and went to the cave entrance to look at the weather.

  He knew the snowstorm was still going on because he could still hear the wind blowing. But maybe it eased a little, he thought.

  When he reached the cave entrance, he found the snowstorm hadn't eased at all. The wind was still strong and snow was still falling.

  He went inside because they couldn't venture forth in this weather with Tarin being sick.

  Time passed, but Tarin didn't recover and the storm didn't ease. Lyra, Arix, and Meilie tried helping him, but it was not working. His fever wouldn't break. It eased slightly at times, but always returned.

  Arix occasionally went deeper into the cave to explore but found nothing useful. The diary was the only worthwhile discovery.

  The cave seemed endless. After three attempts, Arix still couldn't find the end or exit of this cave. He didn't go much deeper because he had no weapon and lacked the strength to fight any monster he might face. Arix also went out in the storm once to hunt, and he did catch three rabbits.

  After two days in the cave, the storm finally eased a little, but Tarin was still recovering.

  At night, Arix, Meilie, and Lyra were sitting at the fireplace, eating their dinner. Tarin was already asleep. He had eaten very little in the past two days—only soup, which Lyra prepared from leaves she'd collected during the journey, and some fish.

  The group was silent. The sound of the wind still echoed in Arix's ears, along with everyone's chewing and the crackling fire.

  He was eating the rabbit he'd caught the other day when he said, "I am thinking of going to the peak alone to find the weapon."

  No. What are you saying? Why would you want to go out there alone and without a weapon?” Lyra asked. She stopped eating and stared at Arix.

  "We don't know when Tarin will recover, and even after he does, it will be too risky to go there in his condition." He took a bite from his rabbit and continued, "I'll go there, find the weapon, and return. Then we can leave this mountain. Easy."

  "It's not easy considering that beast is also living on this mountain,” Lyra said. Meilie stared at them both, quietly eating her dinner.

  "I will be careful. We can't be here for long. We are just wasting our time. Our supplies will run out this way."

  "Fine, take Meilie with you," Lyra said, looking at Meilie.

  "No. If the beast comes here, she can protect both you and Tarin."

  "And what if the beast attacks you?" she asked.

  "I will be alone, so it will not be difficult to escape," he answered.

  "But you are putting yourself in danger," she argued.

  "I'll be fine. I'll be extra careful and go prepared,” he answered, taking the last bite of the rabbit.

  "Fine, but be careful, and if you see the beast, run back here."

  Okay, mom,' he answered, and chuckled.