Lex had always been curious about the thing hidden deep within the mountain.
Of course, he had his own reasons for wanting to uncover the truth.
If Nolan truly had a way to break the barrier and solve everything, then perhaps he himself could finally leave this wretched snow-covered mountain. He would be free. And once free, he could travel to where his parents had lived, see for himself how they were doing—if they were happy, if they were safe.
His obsession was simple: he just wanted to know. If they were living well, then he wouldn't even need to meet them. Just knowing was enough.
Hermione stood still for a long time, hesitating.
She understood the weight of the situation. Rationally speaking, the greater good should come first—this mountain, whatever was inside, and the danger it posed to the world beyond.
But her emotions made it hard to accept Nolan's cold, calculated approach.
In the end, reason won out.
Hermione hurried to catch up with Nolan and the others. Harry, upon seeing her return, visibly brightened.
"Look at those icicles above us—they're amazing!" he said, trying to lift her spirits. He had noticed her expression and clearly wanted to distract her with wonder.
"This place does feel surreal… almost dreamlike," Hermione murmured.
As they ventured deeper, the air around them grew warmer.
The once-solid icicles now dripped water onto the cavern floor. Beneath their feet, a bone-chilling underground river flowed. They waded through the icy water, their bodies trembling from the cold. Only Nolan and Lex seemed unaffected—their unique conditions making them more resilient to the elements.
Eventually, the ground beneath them turned dry and solid.
The icy terrain gave way to dark soil and pale-gray stone.
And then—
"What is that?" Harry suddenly shouted, rushing forward.
Before them lay an expanse of thorny vines.
There was no wind in the cave, yet the thorns quivered as if breathing. If they listened carefully, they could even hear the faint sound of human respiration.
"The sound is coming from the thorns," Hermione whispered, horror creeping into her voice. She stared at the writhing plants in disbelief. There was no record of anything like this in any of her books.
"This species doesn't exist in any magical botany texts," Nolan confirmed, his tone unreadable.
Hermione's expression darkened as a terrible realization formed in her mind.
"What if… what if this barrier isn't just keeping things in—what if it's keeping this from getting out? What if the entire snow-covered mountain exists to freeze the land, to prevent these… things from spreading?"
The implications made her stomach churn.
If these vines had once posed a great enough threat to warrant such extreme containment, then they must have been responsible for something truly catastrophic in the past. Someone had gone to great lengths to seal them away.
"Are they… asleep?" Lex hovered over the thorns, peering down with fascination.
He couldn't imagine that such a thing could exist. The vines moved with the slow, rhythmic rise and fall of something alive.
"Lex, you grew up here. Have you ever heard any legends about this place? About what's hidden inside?" Nolan asked, his voice thoughtful.
Typically, such things would be shrouded in myths and warnings—passed down through generations to prevent foolhardy explorers from making a grave mistake.
"I've never heard anything," Lex admitted, frustrated. "By the time I was old enough to be curious, most of the people had already left. The elders had died. My parents worked in the town and only came home occasionally. I spent most of my time alone, reading books. I never had the chance to hear old tales."
If he had known he would one day be trapped here, he would have asked.
Nolan exhaled slowly.
This was getting more complicated by the minute. They had no idea how dangerous these vines were.
"Maybe we should keep going?" Harry suggested tentatively.
Something in his gut told him they weren't done yet.
Nolan glanced at him, considering.
"Stay close to me," he finally said. "If anything happens, don't hesitate. Run."
With that, he raised his wand and stepped into the thorny field.
The vines grew densely, leaving no room for a clear path. He had to manually cut them aside to make way.
And the closer they got, the louder the breathing became.
"If I wasn't seeing this with my own eyes, I'd think there was a giant sleeping in here," Lex muttered.
Nolan methodically slashed away at the thorns, ensuring that no one was scratched. He didn't want a single drop of blood to touch the ground—not in a place like this.
"I once read about a magical plant," Hermione murmured, deep in thought. "It grows on human corpses. Due to special circumstances, the souls of the dead fuse with the plant, while their bodies turn into undead creatures. The plant breathes, talks… it even mimics human speech."
Silence.
The others shuddered at the thought. Even Nolan, usually unshaken, grew visibly tense.
"Hermione, are you sure you're talking about a plant?" Lex's voice wavered. "Because that sounds way too human."
Then—
Nolan stopped abruptly.
His eyes widened in disbelief.
At some point, the vines had grown thick—each one now two to three meters in diameter. The density had thinned slightly, allowing them to maneuver through narrow gaps.
And at the end of the path—
A withered tree root.
It was embedded deep into the mountain's soil.
And growing out of that root was an ancient, gnarled human face.
The breathing—they could hear it clearly now—was coming from it.
Hermione took a step back, her entire body recoiling.
"This… this is exactly what I was talking about," she whispered, her voice barely above a breath.
"So it was true," Nolan murmured.
"Is this… the same as that plant you read about?" Harry asked, his voice uneasy.
Hermione's hands clenched into fists.
"No. This is worse."
- - - - - - - - - - -
T/N:
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