"The mountain," Choden answered. "No trees there." It was safe to say that in the Trans-Himalayan mountains, they would never encounter a single tree. Choden never realized the transformation the mountains had undergone. As they ran to the edge of the forest, they smelled smoke, and a thin mist wafted between the trees. When they came out from under the canopy they saw were it came from. A column of smoke emerged from the top of the mountain were it had grazed the floating mountain. Little avalanches burst from the mountain's flank as<br/>This was all too strange. The mountain wasn't a volcano. It wasn't even all that high. It was as if the mountain... were bleeding.<br/>Choden's first impulse was to run back, but in a few minutes the forest would be on fire. The fastest runner couldn't outrun a wildfire. But if they stayed here, they would suffocate. Choden looked along the ridge. Perhaps there was a way around the volcano. Choden remembered seeing the cave mouths when he stood from on the floating mountain. Perhaps there was somewhere they could hide from the toxic fumes.