A loud roar filled the air, as the powerful thrusters fired to the aft and the vessel picked up speed, sailing back to the monastery, where Wu would wait for the news of their return.

Since there was no cell phone reception up here, they had brought a transmitter to call Wu when they were ready.

Cole piled up some sturdy rocks and formed a small pyramid to deposit the transmitter case safely inside.

“Alright, we’re good to go!” he announced.

Cole would lead the way because he was the most experienced hiker among them. He did not even need a compass to find the right direction. As long as his feet were connected to the earth, he could always tell where he was going.

The only thing that made him feel uncomfortable was flying. While causing a liberating feeling in others, drifting through the air irritated Cole and made him feel uprooted.

Helen looked up at the gigantic mountain towering before her.

It was truly intimidating, and she suddenly felt as small as a mite.

How was she ever going to get all the way to the top?

She felt Cole’s hand on her shoulder. “It’s going to take us the entire day to hike up to that ridge over there,” he pointed at a sharp edge high above them.

“The snow will be less deep up there. We’ll try to find shelter and set up camp for the night.” He had to yell at her, lest the sharp wind would take away his words before they could reach Helen’s ears.

She nodded her understanding, but tried not to think about it too much, out of fear she might lose her courage altogether.

Instead, she followed Cole, dragging her feet through the deep snow. There was no path, so they had to tread carefully.

Luckily, the Master of Earth could sense where they could safely put their feet.

Soon, they all fell into a steady rhythm that lulled them into a trance-like state as they plowed on.

Since conversation was impossible, the friends walked up the mountain in silence, which was especially hard on Jay.

Kai tried to restrain himself not to raise his body temeprature too high.

It was the heat he felt most comfortable in, but while the Elemental Power inside of him was eternal, his own energy was not. The fire would be no use to him if he was too exhausted to use it.

The sky was overcast and did not clear up once during the entire day.

Cole feared it might be snowing during the night. In the gloomy light, it was hard to tell the time. After hours of walking, Cole stopped and waited until everyone had caught up.

Helen suddenly realised that it was getting dark fast. Soon, they wouldn’t be able to see their own feet.

“Let’s look around for shelter, before we lose the light,” Cole commanded. He scanned their surroundings, then divided them into three groups, to check out the areas he had indicated.

When they had found a suitable spot under a rocky plateau, Zane got to work and erected an ice wall, to seal off the space and shield them from the freezing winds. Kai cleared the snow off the ground and heated up some rocks for warmth, then sank down onto his folded up sleeping bag to rest a little.

With an amused smile, he watched Jay and Nya argue about the best method to build a tent.

In the end, Nya snatched the sticks and tarpaulin from Jay’s hands and set up the tents herself, which took her less than five minutes each.

In the meantime, Helen had collected everyone’s food rations and put them into the three small titanium cooking pots they had brought with them.

To Kai’s utter surprise, Zane had unpacked a camping stove and checked the gas bottles for leaks.

“Hey, Zane, why have you brought the gas cooker along? I’m pretty sure I can heat up our food just fine.”

The way he said it almost sounded like an accusation.

Zane’s head whipped around and his eye lenses opened wide.

“Yes… well…,” he began, but took a moment too long to process possible answers and find the least offensive option. Nervously, he glanced at Jay for support, but the Blue Ninja merely grinned.

Zane’s core programming forbade him to lie, so he decided to stick to the facts.

“Jay suggested we pack the camping stove, just in case.”

Kai lifted a critical eyebrow. “In case of what?”, he asked sharply.

Jay snickered. “It’s better to be safe than sorry, Kai. We both know that you’ve lost your powers one time too many, and Cole didn’t wanna take the risk to go hungry.”

Kai narrowed his gaze at Cole.

“You too, Cole?” He clicked his tongue. “I know I can’t expect much from Jay, but you? Now, that’s disappointing.”

He pouted. Cole merely shrugged, then continued to even the rocky ground, so they would not have too many bumps beneath their tents later. Nya patted Kai on the back.

“Don’t beat yourself up, brother. We know it’s not your fault, most of the time.”

She winked at him. Kai’s face flushed, but he decided to keep his mouth shut, assuming they were all in on this somehow and he would end up losing the argument.

“Yeah, right,” he grumbled, then snatched the rice pot with the cold water in it from Zane’s hand and started heating it up.