The first two days at the resort went by as expected, with the family skiing, playing, and sledding in the snow alongside other guests, and enjoying the sights. The weather, however, was not the 'clear skies' predicted by the weather report for the week, as the area surrounding the mountains had a lot of snowfall during the nights and was cloudy during the day. Mrs. Diderot chalked it up to 'lousy weather people' and unpredictable weather changes. Since during the daytime they still got much sunlight, it was all good for the twins.

Once the third day at the resort arrived, the Diderot family woke up around 4 a.m. to prepare for the three-day hike up Mt. Reilu, which was to start early in the day at 6:30 a.m. They all filled their bags with warm clothes, blankets, and snacks. The guests' main meals and tents would be provided by the resort.

For the trip, Mr. Diderot wanted to bring Ari along, thinking she could provide warmth with her fire-breath and extra protection against possible obstacles they might encounter. And since Ari is a blue dragon, which naturally live in cold and aquatic environments, she should resist the frigid temperatures just fine, he thought.

As for Nino, being the lazy cat he is, the family needed to find someone to take care of him for the three days they would be up in the mountains. Fortunately, the resort had an area dedicated to caring for the guests' pets while they go on the hike up Mt. Reilu or the surrounding mountains.

After the family had breakfast and made final preparations, they headed to the lobby downhill. Once there, they met with a group of 11 other people of all ages, all headed to climb Mt. Reilu and visit the temple there. There would be 16 people total in their group, including the guide.

Among them, there was one couple who also owned a miniature dragon: a yellow dragon, smaller than Ari and the twins, who had three horns on his head and one row of spikes running down his neck, back, and ending in a very pointy tail. At the tips of his wings were brown claws, matching with those on his legs. 

He was very fidgety and skittish, running circles around his owners, flicking his tongue at guests near him, and quickly retreating whenever a stranger got closer. This did not stop Eila from trying to pet him, though. Ari, on the other hand, approached other guests and lowered her head to them, expecting pets on the snout from them.

Shortly after the Diderot family arrived, a dark-skinned, curly-haired brunette with hazel eyes walked in from the reading room up the lobby stairs. She wore a red jacket, black pants and gloves, light brown boots, and a pair of goggles atop her afro. She was a very fit woman in her early-to-mid thirties and had a very enthusiastic yet knowledgeable aura about her. 

She looked around the room as she came down the stairs, and once near the group, she put her hands to her hips and smiled, "Well, good mornin' everyone! My name's Joanne, and I'll be your guide for the next two days while we climb up Mount Reilu, alright? Hope y'all had a big breakfast and packed lots of water, cuz today we'll mostly be walking up the forest and climbin' up the snowy roads to the temple up Mt. Reilu."

After a short pause, "Now, before we set off, lemme tell y'all about myself, then we'll go over the most important rules while hikin' and campin' here. First off: I've worked here as a guide to and from Mt. Reilu and the temple for about 8 years now, though I also participate in competitive skiin' from time to time. If there's anything you wanna know about the creatures that live up the mountains or about the temple itself, don't be shy about askin' me. Lastly, I've got lots of good stories from previous hikes too, and I assure ya this trip won't disappoint!"

Afterwards, Joanne explained the major rules to hiking the mountains: do not abandon the group nor leave the tents at night unless you notify her first; follow her and the group closely or risk getting lost or injured; do not feed the wildlife; take photos of wildlife from a safe distance; finally, contact her in case of an emergency.

Once done, Joanne briefly looked at Ari and the yellow dragon then turned to her group, "And for those who brought their mini dragons for the trip, I hope they're well trained, cuz I don't want them causin' a ruckus or disturbin' the animals up there." She then lowered her voice, and leaned in towards the group slightly, saying: "Or worse, disturb Khiboreas himself, if he shows up at the temple."

Tomas and Eila felt a slight shiver at the mention of Khiboreas. Something about his name seemed to unnerve a few of the other guests as well. 

Eila then regained her composure and whispered to Tomas, "Do you really think we'll be lucky enough to meet the guardian? You said not many guests get to see him..."

Tomas responded, "It'd be super awesome if we did, but I feel a bit nervous about it too."

Joanne smiled and shook her head, "Now, now, no need to take me so seriously. If Khiboreas does show up, he usually just perches at the top o' the temple, lookin' all pretty n' graceful, waitin' for the Oracle to arrive, and if we're fortunate y'all may get some of the feathers he sheds. And before y'all ask, no, he doesn't eat people, he's a plant-eating wyvern."

After rechecking their equipment and having their last bathroom break at the resort, Joanne led the group out of the lobby and up the hill with the cottages, walking past the luxury suites at the top. The sky looked a bit cloudy, but otherwise the morning rays of the sun gave the sky a light orange color. As they walked up the next hill, they saw a flock of small, feathered white wyverns fly above them, screeching as they passed by.

One of the owners of the yellow dragon, a young man with a dark blue jacket, asked, "Uh, Joanne, are those wyverns related to Khiboreas, by chance?"

As she continued walking up the snowy hill, Joanne answered, "Same species, but Khiboreas is much bigger than those lil' ones. General rule o' thumb with guardian creatures is they're either much larger, more powerful, or both compared to others of their species. 'Course, assuming they're not unique creatures altogether. The Oracle can tell ya more about Khiboreas once we get up to the temple."

After passing the second hill, the group approached a forest that surrounded the mountains, entirely covered in large trees with light blue leaves. With the morning sunlight hitting them, the leaves looked like little crystals, glittering delicately. Below the trees, where there was less snow piled up, little patches of grey grass moved as short bursts of cold wind passed through the woods. And crawling up a tree trunk was a tiny orange beetle, which caught Tomas' attention, but he had to resist the urge to go grab it, not wanting Joanne to get angry.

Meanwhile, Eila spotted a grey pigeon with feathers covering its legs and perching on a branch. She managed to get a photo of the pigeon before the yellow dragon scared it off, though Eila was a bit annoyed that she did not get a better angle.

Joanne heard the yellow dragon growl as it started flying after the pigeon, which prompted her to stop and yell while frowning, "What the...Hey! What did I say 'bout your mini dragons disturbin' the animals here? Get that yellow one under control, ya hear me?"

The young man and his partner then anxiously tried grabbing their yellow dragon, who fortunately lost sight of the pigeon. Seeing that they were having a lot of trouble with the skittish little dragon, Joanne groaned, tightened her black gloves, and swiftly grabbed him by the tail and torso.

The dragon struggled to free himself, nipping at Joanne's jacket, but eventually calmed down enough to curl his body on her arms. Joanne was visibly shaken, tucking a few hair strands back into her afro, "Phew... Alright you little devil, back into yer owner's arms you go." 

Tomas sighed, relieved that Joanne did not notice Ari was also looking at the pigeon chirping softly. Luckily, Mr. Diderot held Ari back before she could walk towards the tree.

After about an hour of walking, Joanne announced they would take a short break to have water and snacks. They stopped at one of the more open areas of the forest, where they could see the sky, the mountain range, and the tall Mt. Reilu in the center of the landscape. Its peak was so high that it was hidden by a few clouds, though the twins could see the tall temple tower to the right of the peak, just below the clouds. 

While she ate some grapes and looked at the landscape, Eila thought, "Man, it'll take forever to get up there at this rate! I wanna see the view from up there already! I bet it's so pretty..."

However, as she looked back at the trees behind her, a sudden memory came back to her inexplicably. A memory of the man they had met in Cherub Forest more than a year ago. Her mind then drifted to the photo album she and Tomas had made of that summer, how they kept photos featuring him a secret between them.

She stood there, entranced, wondering what had become of their friend. "I hope he's fine," she murmured wistfully.

Eila snapped out of it when Tomas saw a few smoke trails at various points of the mountain and asked, "Say, Joanne, are those smoke trails up there from other hikers?"

He pointed at a group of three trails near the temple, where there was a larger smoke trail. Eila followed the direction of his index finger, squinting at the mountains.

Joanne squinted her eyes while sipping from her thermos, smacking her lips, "I reckon they are from another group. Me thinks they're the ones that left yesterday mornin'. As for the big one, that's from the mornin' rituals the monks n' clerics do at the temple. You'll get to meet some o' em' tomorrow."

With that said, Tomas then looked over the side of the mountain opposite to the temple, far away from the rest of the smoke trails, and saw two small, lone trails. One was closer to the peak, while the other was on a mountain beside Mt. Reilu. 

The two lone smoke trails unnerved Tomas, so he asked, "What about those two on the other side?"

Joanne looked in the direction Tomas pointed at and put a finger to her chin, "Man, you sure are a nosy kid. Now lemme see...Those could be smaller groups o' hikers from outside the resort, we tend to run into 'em sometimes. Though...I wonder what kinda wood they're burnin' to make that reddish smoke there." She observed the smoke trail farthest from the temple, located on the other mountain.

Tomas and Eila had to squint their eyes to see better, but there was a faint hint of scarlet near the bottom of the smoke. Before they could think more about it though, Joanne hollered at the group so they could get moving. As the group got up and left their spot, conversing with each other, the twins briefly looked at the scarlet smoke, which dimmed and disappeared within minutes.

About ten minutes later, light snow began falling.