Chapter 311 Worlds Apart
His words did not make any sense to Northern, smoking a volcano?
'How's that even supposed to work?' Northern thought.
"I know it sounds crazy, but it's the truth."
Northern stared at him and folded his arms,
"Not that I doubt the integrity of your words, not that I trust them also, I am just trying to picture a monster smoking from a volcano."
Cal raised his head a little bit,
"A monster?"
Northern nodded in response,
"Isn't that the case? A monster much more ferocious than these White Walkers…"
A giggle escaped Cal's mouth; as much as he was trying to hold it, he just couldn't. The way Northern spoke so casually about Sura made him want to laugh so much.
If only he knew, if only he had seen…
Northern glared at Cal, finding nothing he had said funny. The strange guy ended his laughter abruptly and coughed it away.
"Don't mind me, it's just that… you think Sura is a monster and I would probably have thought so too if he wasn't the first thing I encountered in this rift. But no, Northern, Sura is not a monster, at least not by appearance. He looks just like you and I. And I'm guessing so does his brother."
He completed with his gaze falling on the snow mountain that trembled moments ago.
Northern frowned immediately, tracing Cal's gaze just now.
His head turned two to three times to and fro.
"Wait, wait, what are you looking towards that place for?"
Cal raised his brows, observing Northern's expression before he intoned:
"Sura's twin, a pillar of heat and fire lives in this region, while Sura, a pillar of cold and ice lives in the volcanic region, thrown far east, if you follow the spectral light you are bound to get to him."
Northern's eyes widened for a moment, Cal observing him for more passing seconds.
"You really didn't know."
He grimaced,
"Of course, I didn't. Raven, my partner, she's probably beneath that mountain right now."
He quickly turned to move but was held back by Cal before he could take a step.
Northern turned his head back with a furious glare.
"What the hell are you doing?"
Cal breathed in deeply,
"Look, up until now, I have observed you and no doubt about it, you are strong, I have seen Sura's power, if his brother is as strong as he is then you have no chance at all."
Northern turned, nodded his head slightly and gently removed Cal's grip on his arm then replied:
"I appreciate your concern but I can't turn my back on my partner just because the opponent is strong. Besides, how are we supposed to get the core of the rift when we are running away from the guardian."
Cal scratched his cheek a little bit, suddenly, to Northern, he seemed like Shin whenever he was hiding something.
Northern's brows furrowed.
"What is it?"
Cal lingered then opened his mouth,
"The thing is… you don't need to defeat the guardians to reveal both cores."
Northern's frown deepened.
"What do you mean?"
Cal continued:
"What do you think the little king of the White Walkers and the little queen of the Red Walkers are meant for?"
Northern raised a brow.
There were another type of monster known as Red Walkers?
They were probably monsters of the volcanic region and their bodies are perhaps like the White Walkers, attuned to the heat.
And Ulzred had a sister?
'Was that why he seemed sad sometimes… wait, does he even know he has a sister?'
All of this was confusing yet for some reason it was making some sense.
He looked at Cal, lingered for a moment, then slowly asked:
"And so, what is their significance in this entire rift… don't tell me…" Northern's voice slowed down a little bit, "that they are the rift's core…?"
Cal observed the expression in Northern's eyes and said:
"You look like you would have trouble with it. I'm sorry to break it to you but they have a fate even more cruel than that. The king of this place is meant to enter into the depth of the volcanic mountain, to retrieve the core himself, and the queen of the heat region is supposed to come here to retrieve the core from the depth of the ice mountain."
He paused for a moment, breathing in and out before he continued, meanwhile Northern's expression broke apart the more he heard.
"The dire problem with this arrangement however is that, it doesn't just end with them retrieving weapons, first they stand at the risk of dying from intense heat and cold, you might have noticed but the boy king has a different skin and markings on his skin, those were drawn by Sura and his brother to give them both a certain resistance to the heat but knowing of the fate of the two, they didn't etch ultimate resistance to heat and cold on their skins, so if they should indeed reach the depth of both mountains, they are bound to burn to ashes and freeze to death.
"Of course, it's a different result if they are escorted by both guardians of the gate. But Sura would never do it."
Northern looked at him with a dour frown and inquired:
"Why?"
"Because the form of the core is a knife and can only be revealed when they both stab the brother's core. It means, the brothers have to die for the cores to be revealed and destroyed as the usual rule is. The complication there however, is that it can't be done by us. And I don't think the brothers want to die. Sura at the very least looks like he still has plenty to expect from life."
Northern sent him an icy glare.
"And how do you know all of these? How am I supposed to know you are not just making stuff up?"
Cal chuckled and shrugged.
"That's on you to believe honestly, why would I lie about all of this. Sura himself told me about it. I told you right, he was a chronic drunkard and smoker."
Northern stood silent for a couple of seconds, processing all of it. Of course, Cal had to be saying the truth. The whole thing was synchronizing too well to be considered a lie, he just couldn't be too sure.
Hijacking himself out of his thoughts he muttered.
"We can think about all of this later, right now, I have to help my partner…"
Cal's carefree expression so far began to crease into a deep scowl.
He breathed slowly and said, his voice carrying a somewhat threatening tone.
"After all I told you, you still want to go?"
Northern scowled back at him,
"All you've told me points to the fact that there's no way forward except we go."
"At least first with the boy's sister. And I advise we deal with Sura, I already have a plan."
Northern looked at him carefully, then he said:
"Well yes, but I'm not going anywhere without my partner."
"Argh, damnit, are you going to be stubborn till the end? Your partner went there with her own two legs, didn't she?"
"Yes, so? Are you saying I should abandon her?"
"Look… we can't kill Sura's brother yet. And you certainly can't fight him without making sure you strike not to kill, you are not strong enough for that. This is honoring your partner, I think it's best we go take the girl as fast as we can…"
"As fast as we can? How far is this region and are the Red Walkers just going to let us walk in and grab the girl? And I'm very sure the moment you step into that place, Sura would come for you, if he's out for your head as you said. So tell me Cal, what do you mean by AS FAST AS WE CAN…?"
Cal was silent for a couple of seconds.
Northern added,
"Are you trying to trick me Cal? Because I really hate it when someone is playing smart with me?"
Cal hesitated, swallowed his spit and said:
"I'm not trying to trick you. Look, I just want to get out of the rift and I don't care what I have to give to achieve that. You have no idea how long I've been here and how much I've had to endure so far."
Northern cast a sympathetic gaze on him. He nodded.
"I might have no idea, but as a person that has been through similar, I can picture the pain and frustration, however, Cal, I can't abandon my partner, under any circumstance. I understand if you have to do what you must and put yourself first, I also will act accordingly."
His gaze towards Cal was cold and the calmness of his expression was incredibly frightening.
Cal scoffed, tilting his head back a little with his eyes fixated on Northern's.
"Then, you will let me take the boy?"
Northern shook his head,
"I have no intention of doing that, since I don't trust you."
Cal scowled again.
"Then I have to take it by force…"
Northern looked at him fiercely,
"I suppose… but you'd have to kill me to be able to do that, can you?"
Cal let out a short giggle.
"I really hated that we had to go down this path…" He slowly moved his hands towards his sword.
Northern nodded with a solemn smile.
"Yes, let's blame our differences."