Chapter 5 - Mount Targon II
They all woke up with the Sun.
Lux helped by putting out the fire and folding their tent back into the hiking backpack as Jinx helped Milio wake up.
“Pow, it’s too early. Can’t we go later?”
“Sorry, buddy. Leona said that if we want to be there before tomorrow, we better get going.”
“And since when do you listen to what anyone says?”
She gently punched his shoulder. “Since I’ve got you to keep alive.”
He smiled, his eyes half-lidded in sleep.
“Alright! Ready guys?” Lux picked the backpack up and turned to them. Jinx nodded.
Leona had been waiting outside the cave, sitting on a rock. She had an elegance to her presence that was borderline arrogant, but Jinx could respect a strong woman who didn’t bother to be nice.
“Yup, blondie. Let’s go.” Jinx grabbed her stuff and threw in on her shoulders. Milio grabbed her hand again and the both of them headed to the rock Leona was at.
Lux followed them, slightly struggling to find her balance with the heavy backpack.
“Hey, wait up!”
Leona jumped from her rock and greeted them with a nod. Without much to say, they started walking.
Jinx started noticing the things Leona had told her the night before. Rising high into the clouds, jagged peaks crowned by colossal, ancient structures carved from stone. True monoliths.
Patterns etched into the mountain’s weathered surface twisted and spiraled in ways no mortal hand could recreate.
The air got colder and rarefield.
They climbed in silence, trying to save energy for the long hours ahead.
Leona had a wooden staff, a thick branch of ebony twister around golden metal, that she used to assist her hike on the more complex slopes.
About an hour and a half after they started, Milio asked for a quick pause. They all sat nearby some rock formations and shared some water and snacks.
As Jinx chewed on her peanut butter sandwich, she saw a wandering figure a few feet up the mountain. They were wearing a thick and dark cloak that covered their entire body, and holding a shepherd's staff. Then, Jinx notices the small herd of thick-coated animals that followed.
“A Rakkor.” Leona said, noticing where she was looking at. “The people of the mountains. They believe they were drawn to this place, chosen to live beneath these cyclopean formations. Some whisper that the markings on the stone once mapped the heavens themselves.”
“Are the Rakkor citizens of the City?”
“Some are. Most rather live in smaller groups, being provided by the mountains. He must be heading to the City for the annual fair.”
“There’s a fair?!” Milio asked excitedly, his mouth full of bread.
“The City doesn't have contact with the outside worlds except for the few Rakkor merchants that decide to make business in the Great Sai. The fair is a way for our citizens to get materials and food they wouldn’t have access to otherwise.”
Jinx watched as the shepherd stopped on his track to look at them. His cloak was blowing in the wind, and just like Leona said, the ground beneath his feet moved. As if the mountain itself was breathing.
The shepherd turned around and continued walking. The flock of animals followed, their white manes covering most of their faces.
Instead of hooves, as one might expect from grazing animals, these creatures had claws on their feet. The herd was large, numbering fifteen or more. They were sturdy beasts, their heads reaching up to the Rakkor's shoulders. Jinx watched them silently, captivated, as the animals grazed on the sparse grass of the mountain.
"And what are they called?" she asked, almost without thinking.
"Temus," she replied. "Ancient creatures that formed bonds with the old tribes of the western lands. Some say they were the first animals ever domesticated by humans, though how true that is, I couldn't say."
The Rakkor struck his staff against the ground, and the creatures immediately stirred, their powerful claws digging into the earth as they moved to follow him in an obedient line.
“They are so cool.” Milio commented, dumbfounded. He had a special connection with wild beasts, having grown up in the forest, but Jinx doubted he had even seen some creature like that one before.
“They are,” Leona agreed with a soft smile. “Gentle, noble beings. They’ve been part of our lives for centuries.”
Jinx couldn’t tear her eyes away from the creatures. Even after they disappeared behind a rocky outcrop, she kept staring after them as if expecting them to reappear. When the path cleared and no sign of them remained, she turned to Leona.
“Are there more animals like them here in the mountains?”
Leona thought for a moment. “Not many. I suppose the closest would be an Erbok, but they’re rare in these parts. They prefer the highest peaks, where the snow is thick.” She gestured toward her boots, the tops lined with thick, white fur. “This is Erbok fur.”
“Oh, cool,” Milio whispered. “Did you make them yourself?”
Leona chuckled. “No, my wife made them for me.”
“That’s such a beautiful gift,” Lux said, smiling warmly. “She must be very talented.”
Jinx rolled her eyes, a faint snort escaping her. Anyone could stitch together a pair of boots.
If Leona noticed her reaction, she didn’t let it show. “She is,” she replied simply.
“Powder has some really cool stuff she built,” Milio said brightly, turning the attention to Jinx. “Maybe we could sell those at the fair.”
Jinx felt a flicker of warmth at the mention of her work. It had been a long time since anyone praised the little things she made.
It had been years since she’d build a bomb. Or any weapons, for that matter.
For a while, she had limited herself to tinkering with mechanical odds and ends, things she could pawn for quick cash. But since Milio had come into her life, her creations had shifted.
Now, she mostly built toys.
“I don’t think Mount Targon would care much for my little monkey dudes, Milio,” she muttered.
Milio frowned, looking genuinely offended. “Why not? They’re awesome. Hey, Lux, did you know Powder once made me a monkey that could dance? Out of trash we found!”
Lux turned her bright gaze toward Jinx, her smile disarming. “I didn’t know that. It sounds really cool.”
“It was cool,” Milio gushed, oblivious to the way Jinx’s stomach twisted under Lux’s attention. “Then she tried to give me this big talk about how nothing is really trash and blah, blah, blah, but I’m telling you.” He gave two enthusiastic thumbs up. “That shit was trash, and she made it into, like, a fully functional thing. Genius stuff.”
“Language,” Lux scolded lightly, though she laughed, and Milio grinned back, unbothered.
Jinx shifted uncomfortably. Having Leona around to witness their antics felt odd. She had grown so used to their tight little trio that introducing a stranger felt unnatural.
Still, to Leona’s credit, she kept mostly to herself.
Once everyone was fed, rested, and ready, they set off again. Silence fell amongst them, and Jinx was grateful for it.
There were a lot of unknown variables at place, and sometimes her mind couldn't properly function with noise. It was still hard, sometimes, to separate what was real from what she imagined. Mornings were the worst. She often needed time to ground herself, to figure out if the person she thought she saw or heard in her dreams had truly been there or if it was all just in her head.
She was better now than she had been three years ago. But silence helped. It gave her space to digest reality without the intrusion of ghosts.
From looking around this place, Jinx felt the precipitated relief of a completed task. She'd been set on finding Mount Targon for years now, and she was actually, finally, here.
The last place in Runeterra she wanted to visit before returning home.
She didn’t have magic in her blood like Milio or Lux, but even her plain, unremarkable cells could feel the energy of this place.
If the magic of the City of Stars had been wild and untamed, here it felt ancient, woven into the very fabric of the land. As old as the planet itself, perhaps. It was in the sedimented rock, in the petrified roots of long-dead trees, a kind of primordial hum she could almost hear if she stood still enough.
The DNA of the mountains. The reason it breathed.
It was poetic to think about it this way, even if Jinx had never been one for poetry herself.
Another hour slipped by before they had to stop again.
“Did something happen?” Lux asked, and her voice was shallow with a short breath. The relentless hiking was starting to wear them all down.
Jinx glanced back, noting Milio’s flushed face and the sweat dripping from his brow.
“The river is stronger than normal.” Leona answered.
Sure enough, a wide, rushing river stretched out in front of them, its waters churning with a ferocity that made Jinx uneasy. She couldn’t help but wonder if this was some kind of sign that the mountain had changed its mind about letting them continue.
“We’ll cross at the northern bridge,” Leona decided, her gaze lifting to the sky. “It’s a few more hours of walking, but it’s still early enough to make it.”
Milio groaned in protest, his small shoulders sagging.
Jinx crouched beside him. “Sorry, kiddo,” she said, offering a sympathetic smile. “I promise, once we get there, you can rest as long as you want.”
The boy nodded.
They followed the river upstream, though to Jinx’s relief, it didn’t take the hours Leona had initially warned them about. She was pleasantly surprised when Leona gestured toward a sturdy wooden bridge just a short distance away.
The bridge looked well-built, its thick planks seeming strong enough to bear their weight without issue.
They crossed the river without much trouble.
There was a bit of snow on the other side, which was strange. A light dusting coated the ground, glinting in the sunlight, despite it being the middle of spring.
Milio kicked at a few scattered rocks as they continued. “How much longer now?”
“Not much.” Leona answered. For someone as uptight and serious, she was actually very patient with him.
“You said that hours ago.”
“It was a lie. Now, I'm telling the truth.”
Milio froze, his mouth hanging open in disbelief, and Jinx burst into laughter.
“Suck it up,” she teased.
He huffed and rolled his eyes. Lux came up behind him and gently rested her hand on his shoulder.
He sighed.
“So mean.”
Jinx chuckled at their interaction. She watched as Lux gently patted his back, and averted her eyes once the blonde noticed her staring.
She nervously bit the insides of her cheek and picked at the skin of her left thumb.
“Penny for your thoughts?” Lux asked, nudging Jinx’s shoulder with a playful smile.
Jinx rolled her eyes, though a grin tugged at her lips. “Are you ever not corny?”
Lux shrugged, and playfully stuck her tongue out.
“It is an essential part of my charm.”
Jinx looked at her incredulously and raised her eyebrows. “Oh, your charm?”
“Obviously. Or are you saying you weren’t completely sold from our very first conversation?” She joked. From her tone, it was obvious she was kidding, but Jinx had to suppress the urge to tell her that she was, in fact, sold from the very first moments they exchanged words.
“Corny and arrogant, damn. You sure are building a strong case for yourself here, blondie.”
Lux’s smile widened, and her laughter softened the air between them. “But seriously, are you okay? You’ve been awfully quiet.”
“Just thinking,” Jinx admitted.
“About what?” Lux asked, her voice gentle.
Jinx glanced ahead, watching Milio walking steadily in front of them. “My family, I guess. The one I left behind in Zaun.”
“Right,” Lux said carefully. “Your sister?”
Jinx nodded. “Her name’s Vi. Short for Violet. She’s older than me.” A small smile crossed her face as she thought back. “We had a bit of a… falling out. I don’t know if she’d even want to see me again.”
Lux frowned. “That’s nonsense. She’s your sister. Of course, she’ll want to see you.”
“Maybe.” Jinx shrugged, her voice quieter now. “She practically raised me after our parents died. We had an adoptive father who tried his best, but whenever I try to picture my mom’s face, all I see is Vi. That has to mean something, right?”
“She sounds amazing,” Lux said softly.
“She was,” Jinx admitted, and the tug in her heart was both warm and unbearable. “But we’ve both changed so much over the years. We weren’t exactly on good terms when I left.”
“That doesn’t matter,” Lux said with a conviction that made Jinx desperately want to believe her. “The love’s still there. That’s the cool thing about it, right? It sticks. People choose to give it to you unconditionally.”
Jinx’s mouth suddenly went dry. She didn’t have the courage to look Lux in the eyes and tell her that there were things one could never change. The mistakes from her past were too grand, too destructive. She wasn’t even sure Vi would want her back now, especially if she was still with Caitlyn.
“Yeah.” She muttered.
“You must be really excited to see her again.” She touched her shoulder, and Jinx felt an excitement that was borderline pathetic in her soul. “I’m really happy for you, Jinx.”
Lux’s words were so full of faith it almost hurt to hear them.
“Thanks,” she said quietly. Jinx hesitated for a moment before speaking, trying her darn hardest to make her voice softer than usual. “What about you? Any family back home?”
Lux’s expression shifted.
“Yeah, I do,” she said, glancing ahead as though searching for the right words. “I mean, I did. I had an older brother. His name was Garen. He… passed away not long before I left Demacia.”
“Oh. I’m sorry.”
Lux nodded, a small, tight smile on her face. “Thanks. He was like my best friend, you know? The kind of person who always seemed to have the answers. When he was gone, it was like the world didn’t make sense anymore.”
Jinx nodded slowly. She knew that feeling well, after all. It had been the only constant throughout her life. “Yeah, I get that. It’s like… you’re still moving, but nothing feels real anymore.”
“Exactly,” Lux said, her gaze softening as she looked at Jinx. “That’s part of why I had to leave. It was for the best. Every corner of that place reminded me of what I’d lost, of the life I didn’t know how to live anymore. Traveling felt like the only way to keep myself from falling apart.”
“Did it help?” Jinx asked quietly.
Lux thought for a moment, and Jinx noticed the way she also fidgeted with her fingers.
“Not at first. Grief is funny like that. It follows you no matter where you go. You start to see everything differently, like the edges of the world aren’t as sharp as they used to be. But it changes over time. You stop trying to outrun it and start learning to live with it.”
Jinx nodded, her thumb absently picking at the hem of her sleeve. “Yeah, I get that, too.”
“You know,” Lux started. She hesitated before continuing, looking away and clearly blushing. “When I got to Zirima, I was going through a dark time. I started to believe no one would want to be around me again. I was so scared of my magic, of what I might do if I lost control. It felt like I was better off alone.”
“But you’re not alone now.”
Lux smiled faintly, her eyes meeting Jinx’s. “No, I’m not. I don’t know, when I met you, something just… clicked. It sounds silly, but I felt like I knew right away you were going to be important to me. Like we were meant to cross paths somehow.”
Jinx’s lips parted slightly, but she didn’t know what to say.
Lux’s smile widened, a bit more genuine now. “I stopped feeling like my magic was the only thing people saw, and for the first time in a long time, I felt like maybe I wasn’t broken.”
Jinx looked away, biting her cheek again. “You’re not broken, Lux,” she said.
“Thanks. And for what it’s worth, neither are you.”
Jinx didn’t reply immediately, but when she glanced back at Lux, her smirk returned, slightly smaller, but still sincere. “Guess that makes us quite a pair, huh?”
“Yeah,” Lux said, her smile brighter now. “A pretty good one, I’d say.”
The higher they got, the colder the air felt. The group kept going onward in silence, save for Milio’s occasional huff or the crunch of snow beneath their boots.
Finally, after what seemed to be hours of mindless walking, Jinx stopped right in front of the sight of jagged cliffs. Lux and Milio stopped just behind her, catching their breath.
“What now?” Jinx asked, “More climbing?”
Leona didn’t respond immediately. She stood tall, looking ahead at something Jinx couldn't quite see. When she finally turned, her expression was as calm and unreadable as ever. “We’re here.”
Milio, despite his exhaustion, perked up. “Wait, what? Where?”
Leona merely gestured with her staff. “Look.”
The group’s attention shifted, their eyes following her outstretched hand.
Jinx felt stupid.
The valley stretched out right before them, so delicately outlined that it was almost as if it was carved by divine hands. Right alongside the edges of the valley, hewn directly into the stone, as if the mountain had given up part of itself to birth this spectacle, was a city.
Towers of marble and smooth rock rose in intricate patterns. Dark wood accents curved elegantly along the edges of structures, blending with the natural elements around them.
A river wove through the city, its crystal-clear water fed by a towering waterfall that spilled from the cliffs above. The water split into narrow canals that threaded through the streets, where small, wooden canoes drifted lazily along the waterways.
Trees and climbing vines filled the city with greens, softening the hard edges of the stonework.
Jinx let out a low whistle.
Milio’s mouth hung open, his exhaustion forgotten as he stared wide-eyed at the city. Lux placed a hand on his shoulder.
“It’s beautiful,” she said quietly.
Leona, standing slightly apart, observed their reactions with a slight smile. “This,” she said, and her voice carried a quiet pride, “is the City. The heart of Mount Targon.”
Jinx shifted her weight and folded her arms.
“Not bad for a pile of rocks,” she said.
Leona didn’t respond.