In the shadow of the great, silent peak known as Aethel, the villagers lived with their heads bowed. They believed the mountain was a stern, unfeeling giant, and they only climbed its lower slopes to hunt or gather wood. All but a lonely, curious child named Kaelen.Kaelen, who often felt unheard in the world below, felt a strange pull from the mountain. One morning, driven by a longing he couldn't name, he placed his hands on the cold stone at its base and began to climb.He had not gone more than a dozen feet when a loose stone shifted under