Chapter 1
The Tyrolean Mountains were unforgiving even on clear days, and this one was far from clear. Low clouds dragged across the peaks as the search and rescue team assembled at the base station, radios crackling with fragmented updates. A group of climbers had failed to return by nightfall. Their last known position placed them high on a ridge notorious for sudden weather shifts.
Helicopters scanned the slopes while teams advanced on foot, boots cutting into fresh snow. Hours passed with no sign—no voices, no movement, no trace of the missing group. Then, just as concern edged toward catastrophe, the call came through.
The climbers had been found.
They had descended by an unplanned route on the far side of the mountain and reached a remote village at dawn. Cold, exhausted, but alive. The mission was cancelled immediately. Relief rippled through the team as they regrouped and began their descent.
None of them suspected the mountain still had something to reveal.
