Rob threw his fists into the air as the party gathered around the wolffolk. The party was no longer as big as it once was. He took along the pair of youngsters that had attacked him earlier, the Elder and Orndu, the six oxfolk that he had fought alongside against the black viper. He also took with him Marina, Nomar, as well as Emerli and Lana.

He was off to go find Jorgan when Ash stepped forward. Ares stopped for a moment as Ash approached him. “Chief. I heard about Runar. Let me come with you.”

“I’m sorry Ash, but I was going to take Jorgan with me.”

“Please. Let me repay my debt that I owe you.” Ash urged, clenching their fists together as they tensed up.

“If you want to repay your debt to me then stay here. Torak will need help, if you can help him look after Ozar and Ozri, I will consider the debt repaid. I will be at ease if you were to help him.”

Ash glanced down at the ground, clenching their fists once more but they bowed their head. “As you wish, chief.”

“Ash, call me Ares.” He bumped the side of his fist to Ash’s shoulder. “I’ll see you soon.”

Then Ares marched off to go find Jorgan, finding him with the other warriors that had been tasked with protecting the various children of the tribe. “Jorgan.” Jorgan turned to face him. “Grab your gear and say your goodbyes, you’re coming with.”

Jorgan’s eyes widened but he nodded his head. “Alright.” He said as he barked out a few more orders before heading away as Ares went to go and check on his sons. They were with the milk mothers, but they were crying repeatedly.

“Still crying?” Ares asked as he dropped down to a knee and then reached over to rub their heads.

“They haven’t stopped since you left.” Torak replied back.

“They’ve been crying that long?” Ash asked as he threw a look towards Ares. Ares just nodded his head towards Ash.

“Everything is going to be alright. I’m going to make sure your big sis is fine, I just need to go talk to a couple of gods is all. When I come back we’ll all play together, okay? So don’t worry so much.” He kept rubbing the top of their heads, feeling the thin strands of their hair. He swiped them across to opposite sides. “Here, this way I can which is which when I get back.” He joked and then he stood up. “Let them cry as much as they like, but don’t let their throats dry out. Keep all the children together towards the plain side.”

He stared at Torak. “Those who were your oxenblut, please ask them to protect all the children. We have a few guys already, but I’d be more comfortable if they were those that you trusted.”

Torak nodded in return and with that Ares returned to the party. It was seventeen members now, larger than his original goal, but also smaller than the entire group he had called for. Though he had snubbed many of the others by replacing them with the six oxfolk he had defeated the viper with, this was no longer a mission to conquer the mountain.

“Alright. The only thing we need to do is to save Runar. If we’re able to do that, then we’ll come back to conquer the mountain if we’re unable to do so during the first trip.” He turned to face the wolffolk. “I’ve brought you along so that way you get two chances to do so, I hope that’s fine with you.” He looked at Rob in particular who had a grin on his face. He seemed to be muttering something in his own language.

He turned to Jorgan. “You only have one task. That’s to protect Runar. That’s the one thing I am trusting you with.” He placed a hand on their shoulder. “If I tell you to run, you run. This is the most important role, do you understand?”

Jorgan nodded. “I will do as you ask.”

Ares turned to look at his party once more. “If there’s nothing else, let’s head out.” Ares finally said as he motioned with his hand towards the mountain.

Rob led the party. He was far too eager to conquer the mountain, so Ares kept an eye on him. If he decided to start too many fights on the way to the shrine, he’d have to talk to him about it. He wouldn’t let anyone potentially endanger Runar.

They trekked up the mountain path. The path started to wind almost right away, going from one side to the next, however it was quite wide. So far it seemed as though the mountain welcomed their trek, as there was enough food and spots to rest that one could find themselves living here for some time, what a pleasant experience the bottom was.

Yet as they continued through the trek upwards, the mountain became steeper and steeper. Ares kept an eye out on the pair of elderly woman that had joined them, though their supports tended to them well.

Ares then looked over to Emerli, who had remained silent, yet she was already sweating and out of breath. Lana kept an eye on her as well, until finally the oxfolk lifted the woman over onto her back and then carried her. Ares caught Lana’s eyes and she smiled, flexing her muscles towards him. Ares caught himself smiling, but then shaking his head as we went back to paying attention to the surrounding.

After four hours of walking, where they walked up the steep path and then back down, almost sliding as the path inverted to the point they were almost dropping, they found a small area to rest. Emerli remained near Ares and Lana and the wolffolk took guard around the place, sniffing the area.

“Strange.” Marina said. The tension in the air grew as she spoke and Ares stood up, looking around. They waited for her to continue. “Even now, we should have come across something. The mountain feels so empty.”

“Well, yeah.” Ares said. The others looked at him now, waiting for him to continue. “You said that Peros may have come back, right? So either we’re meant to face a ton of creatures since they’re all running away from him or… they’ve all gone to go worship him.”

“So all the creatures have gone up?” Rob said, a wider grin appearing on his face.

‘This guy is definitely a battle junkie…’ Ares couldn’t help but think such a thing.

“That would make sense.” Korra said as she crossed her arms.

“Which means that the closer we get to danger, the more dangerous it will be.”

“…” Ares looked at him.

“What I mean to say is. Now the danger will be focused in one spot, making it more difficult for us to progress.”

“Such a thing like that isn’t an issue at all.” Ares said as he placed his forearm between the hilt of his sword and his side. “That just makes it all the more fun.”

Rob laughed. “You sound like a great chief to follow.”

“I am a great chief to follow.” Ares replied with a grin on his face.

With that the tension in the air fell, and so the party began to speak with one another. A handful of them remained alert, and Ares kept part of his attention elsewhere, yet everything else was so silent.