About a day later, Ondun and Sylphie were still holding hands.

  "Ondun?"

  "Yes?" he answered.

  "I'm not mad or anything...but can you let go of my hand?"

  Ondun tried, and frowned when both their hands moved. "Aah, crap." There was an awkward silence. "Did the sweat from our hands freeze?" he asked with a frown.

  Hiro rolled his eyes. "Marnie, you're up..." he said with a shiver as he released his Flamarmot, who immediately tried to retreat into his warm capture capsule. "The lovebirds' hands are frozen together."

  "Flamarmot!" the bright red marmot made record time reaching the two, where it breathed fire into the frigid mountain air. The snowflakes immediately vaporized, and after a few seconds, Ondun and Sylphie pulled their hands apart. "Thanks Marnie! Thanks Hiro!" they both said in perfect unison.

  Hiro returned Marnie. "Fricking lovers..." He kept putting one foot in front of the other, stubbornly ignoring both the awkwardness between adventurer and monster coach, as well as the ever-deepening chill of Mount Yinshan.

  Aenora was ahead, maintaining a very weak shield of wind that kept the worst of the snow from falling in their faces. She peered back, with a concerned expression. "It seems not all of this is Lord Shenlong's doing. A storm approaches." Her eyes flared silver as she turned her head back. "The storm itself is perfectly normal," she added triumphantly as her now-seeing eyes returned to their normal blue.

  Hiro nodded. "Shelter. Aenora, how far out is the storm?"

  She took a few steps. "I'd guess about three to four miles. I'd guess we have about one hour before it hits."

  He nodded. "If we don't find shelter in one hour, we have about one hour of grace. By two hours we'll be hypothermic. We won't last three...even with Wispy and Marnie at full power."

  Ondun nodded. The kid definitely has roughed it before. He knows the Rule of Threes. Arcanis, being a rough world, made basic survival skills a necessity for most to learn. You can last three minutes without air, three hours in a storm without shelter, three days without water, and three weeks without food, he recited to himself, all but seeing his father's face explaining it to him.

  The adventurer and Sylphie frowned, then nodded to each other as Zephanie and Maggie were released. "We need to find shelter. We have about one hour before a storm hits," Sylphie said. Both bird Mons nodded, looking very unpleasant in the chill air, then immediately flew straight up, where they began a spiraling search pattern.

  "Willo..." cried Wispy. The tiny Mon had been at the center of their formation, doing their best to stave off the worst of the cold, but their bright red flame had largely tapered away. Sylphie nodded. "Wispy, thank you. Take a rest." She turned to the rest of the party. "The walk onward is going to be cold until Wispy rests up."

  The team nodded. With a cry of "Galeloon!" Zephanie soared down and began gesturing to a point ahead. Maggie was right behind her with an enthusiastic cry of "Levkite!"

  Ondun and Sylphie patted both birds warmly, and then returned them to their capsules, which were probably still comfortably warm. If we stay out here...will the temperature inside eventually equalize to the outside temperature? He wondered idly. Immediately after he shook his head. No, I'd rather we didn't find out.

  The team reached a small cave. Aenora used some water magicks to reshape some snow into a protective barrier of ice with holes in it. Hiro and Sylphie raised an eyebrow at this. "A land Ondun and I adventured in was in a perpetual state of winter." He nodded at his memories of the adventures across the Order-State to stop an ancient war between a flight of dragons and an Elvidan theocracy. "A trick I picked up from the locals was to use some ice to help build a shelter."

  Sylphie nodded. "That's actually a good idea! Ice is an amazing insulator, it retains heat really well." Hiro nodded in agreement while Ondun and Aenora tilted their heads in thought. After a moment Ondun nodded too. "Actually...I did notice that the ice caves were warmer than the lands outside them. I never actually knew ice had those properties."

  He shifted to Shinobi, pulled out some wood pellets, then used an Earth jutsu to create a rudimentary firepit. He put the pellets in the improvised pit, then used a Fire jutsu to light them up. Everyone huddled together about the warmth. Marnie and Wispy were released, where they bathed in the warm glow and added a bit more heat. Aenora wove some ice about the walls of their cave, and the tiny shelter became toasty rather quickly. The rest of their Mons were released about the cave where they warily watched the air outside, or chirped, barked, or telepathied messages to and fro.

  Most importantly, everyone got warm. There were few words as the heat of the fires soaked into the half-frozen skin of the Knowing Circle.

  Hiro broke the silence. "You know, I've always loved mountains. My homeland, Yamato, is literally named after them. I think I'd like to spend like, a year or three camping out on one. I wonder if, when this is all over, Lord Shenlong wouldn't mind me setting up a more permanent camp up here? I have teleporters, so getting supplies would be trivial. My Mons have enough elemental control to build shellters, tap wells, light fires, and grow food. This silver mountain might be a good place to train both my teams a little."

  Ondun rubbed his chin. "I admire your willingness to be still that long. I've always had a hard time with settling down. As a child, my parents and the elders of my village were always mad at me, because I just couldn't calm down." He fondly remembered a few of the more animated scoldings. "I've always wanted to go and see the world, for as long as I can remember."

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  Sylphie looked mournfully into the fire. "I used to love being a homebody. After everything happened with daddy...it fell off for me. I only felt halfway good when I was moving, or exercising, or training Maggie. Now?" she paused. "Now I don't know how I feel about staying or going."

  Aenora nodded seriously. "I love to stay, provided there's a good book to be read, or learning to be had. Though..." she paused thoughtfully. "Traveling about the realm...about the worlds," she corrected herself, "...has shown me the value of seeking out knowledge. I fear I will ever be a recluse, though."

  Ondun and Hiro elbowed her suddenly, and she gave a yelp. Ondun snickered fiendishly, and Sylphie gave him a surprised look. "Aenora, even if you are a recluse, I swear to check in on you and bring you tidings of the worlds. I am your friend, and no amount of books can keep me away forever. Besides," he added, "sometimes you don't eat when you get into your research. I will not see the Lotus Blossom Shaman be undone by hunger."

  Hiro started. "Wait, she's known as that?" Ondun nodded as Aenora's tail and ears fell. "Actually...that's really kind of a cool name. Very Yamato." He made a rectangle with his thumbs and forefingers. "You know...I see it!"

  The Felinian immediately perked up. "You're not going to tease me?"

  Hiro laughed. "Naah. You've got a smart mouth, but that's because you're the sensitive type. I get you."

  Sylphie raised an eyebrow. "Takes one to know one."

  He grinned. "Eh. Guilty as charged."

  They all laughed together. "You know...it's really good being like this," Ondun said. "Having a nice, light conversation like this..."

  "Not much discussion of terrible trauma?" Sylphie added. Ondun nodded.

  "This is what I started adventuring for...and this is the world I want to make Arcanis like." he declared with a bit more force and intent than he'd thought he'd add.

  Aenora raised an eyebrow. "That sounds similar to what the Dark Ones want," she warned. Ondun shook his head.

  "No, it's...it's not like that." He unconsciously tapped his lip as he tried to find the words. "In Cheng, I realized that I want to live in a world where I journey with my friends, and especially with Sylphie. I want a world that's safe to travel, where a warm and welcoming heart isn't ever too far away." He nodded to Ariel. "We shouldn't overbuild, of course. Mons - and even monsters - need their space, as do the Beast Folk," he added with another nod to Aenora. "You've always been right, Aenora. The summoning of the Beast Folk Astrals has always been in response to the overreach of the Civil Folk. The people of Monastria have figured out a solution: Agree to live and let live, then honor that agreement."

  The Lotus Blossom Shaman perked up even further. "It's good one sees wisdom, but it's more than that. Have you never considered that Man and Mon, Civil Folk and Beast Folk may be less meaningful than you think? Are we not all living beings? Why do some folk need to be greater, and others lesser?"

  Ondun did think of that. "I...I don't know, actually. It's always just sort of been how things are, at least as far as I've known."

  Sylphie shrugged. "I don't know anything about Beast Folk or Civil Folk...but I do know that relations between humans and Mons only improved when we stopped seeing them as predators or tools. When we chose to cooperate, and started forging pacts with the Legendaries, was when life here on Monastria changed. Some of it we learn in school..." she said with an open-handed gesture to Hiro, who nodded. "But some of it, we have to learn. I think that's why these journeys we go on at sixteen are so important. Some lessons can't be told; they have to be learned." She patted Maggie and Venus, as Wispy hovered overhead. "These gorgeous Mons really drive the lesson home."

  Ondun felt Strudel curl up at his side, and Zephanie roost in his crossed legs, as Joyeuse jammed their blade into the ground at his side. "They really do. Everyone - 'Man' and Mon alike...thank you for opening my eyes. I think I can properly fight again. I think I have a better reason to fight now."

  Everyone smiled, deep in thought about what they wanted after hearing that heartfelt declaration, after seeing a gauntlet thrown down in the face of two worlds. The wind howled outside for some time after that, but it never touched the people of the Knowing Circle, in their comfortable cave.

  When the winds died down, Mons were recalled, and the formation was re-established. Aenora had improvised a new Fire spell based on Ondun's jutsu, and Wispy sharing their insights on how they controlled elemental Fire, at least as relayed by Ariel. She used this new spell to melt the icy barrier and the improvised insulation of the cave.

  Lady Aenora has used Ember. It was super-effective! Ariel added helpfully, and happily.

  Everyone laughed at that as Aenora helplessly shrugged. With lighter hearts, she rebuilt her wind shield, and the party continued up the treacherous mountain path yet again. For many hours, the Knowing Circle put one foot in front of the other, with the sparse vegetation growing non-existent after a certain point. Sylphie was starting to lag, until Hiro and Ondun had her pinch her nose to repressurize her eardrums, and also to breathe in through her mouth, and out through her nose to maximize the amount of air going into her lungs.

  Ondun had never heard the word 'oxygen' before, but quickly learned that air wasn't, in fact, some homogenous substance. I wonder if I can exploit that as part of my Wind jutsus, to help take down opponents non-lethally and less violently? He mused.

  The Knowing Circle trudged forward and upwards. The thin air chilled.

  The Knowing Circle pushed against the frigid breeze. The breeze and snows grew stronger.

  Aenora's eyes flared blue. "Everyone...we are greeted. Lord Shenlong," she bowed into a particularly dense block of fog, "we are honored with your presence. We had hoped to knock before intruding, but alas we found no door."

  There is no door, because there is no threshold I wish to invite mortals over...regardless of what world you hail from. You should leave. You will find no treasure, nor weapon, nor Mon save myself here. I will not join you on your journey, nor will I interfere in the affairs of mortals of any world. You have wasted your time.

  "And you haven't even heard us out," Sylphie said, in challenge. She reached up and activated her Shadow Knight powers. "We come because Monastria itself is in peril."

  The crisis is the result of two accidents. One long ago, another a few days ago. The dragon-born there knows of what I speak, I believe.

  Ondun stepped forward. "We have questions. You warned Hiro here that my actions would doom this world, and to stop me. He succeeded. Before proceeding further, I came to seek wisdom."

  If you were wise, you would leave the way you came. To do that would do much and more good. You would close the door behind you. You - nor any from your world - would never return.

  Aenora stepped forward next. "That we cannot do. Arcanis and Monastria are connected by threads more substantial than happenstance. The Allemandians came to this world. I have their diaries and research materials. Their designs for something much like a Teleptite are scattered about this world. It is this we seek so that we may return, and the knowledge we seek that we may save our soul-rended friends.

  A massive, silver, long shape with two glowing blue eyes emerged from the fog and snow. It glared down at the Draconian, the Felinian, and the two humans. Friends whose souls are rent? Were they drawn elsewhere by the call of one who resides beyond the circles of your home?

  Ondun nodded. "What do you know?" he asked, his expression set and serious.

  The mighty dragon drew back.

  If you would have answers, prove your worthiness to me.