Drakko
Raised in the hidden monastery of Mahālaya. Chosen as one of the Nine, the select few entrusted to brave the ancient path up the eternal sky-mountain. The climb tests everything he thought he was.
The Path of None · Book 7
The Ascent
An Epic Spiritual Fantasy Adventure
"The ascent is not escape from the abyss. It is what begins when the abyss follows you upward."
The Story
The eternal sky-mountain rises beyond sight. For Drakko, the climb is survival itself.
The Eternal Mountain rises beyond sight. Drakko, a young initiate raised in the hidden monastery of Mahālaya, has been chosen as one of nine climbers permitted to attempt its ancient route. No one can promise that any of them will return.
The climb crosses ruined paths, unstable ledges, severe cold, and places where perception itself becomes unreliable. Drakko's visions may be warnings, temptations, or symptoms of exhaustion. Each decision also changes the uneasy trust within the group.
As friends become rivals, the mountain begins to expose what each climber wants from it. Some seek knowledge, some power, and some release from the person they were below. An old force waits higher on the route, but reaching it may be more dangerous than the ascent itself.
The Ascent combines expedition survival with spiritual fantasy. Its central conflict is not simply whether Drakko can reach the summit, but what the climb reveals about him and the other eight.
The closest fit is a reader who enjoys expedition survival, initiatory trials, and spiritual fantasy driven by character rather than doctrine.
Where The Climb Begins
The hidden monastery beneath the impossible mountain.
Mahālaya is the first world Drakko knows: a sanctuary of discipline, silence, and sacred expectation, held in the shadow of the Eternal Mountain.
Before the path strips him bare, before the Nine are chosen, the monastery shapes the beliefs he will later be forced to question with every step upward.
Souls on the Mountain
Who You Will Meet
The Nine
Selected to climb the ancient path alongside Drakko. They begin as companions, but the mountain turns them into rivals. Trust becomes a fleeting luxury. Every decision carries the weight of fate.
The Ancient Power
Something stirs in the swirling mists of the high peaks. It does not come to the climbers. It waits for those bold, or foolish, enough to reach it.
What This Book Explores
The mountain strips away everything false
Identity & Ego Death
The mountain does not ask who you were. It asks who you are when everything you used to call yourself falls away. The Ascent traces the dissolution of the false self, not with comfort, but with precision.
Survival as Revelation
The climb is not a metaphor. It is a crucible. Each step across crumbling ledges and through ancient ruins tests not just strength, but the very core of who Drakko is.
Trust & Rivalry
The Nine begin as companions. The mountain turns them into rivals. In The Ascent, trust becomes a fleeting luxury, and every bond forged on the path can be broken by the altitude.
The Hidden Monastery
Mahālaya, the monastery where Drakko was raised, is not just a setting. It is the origin of everything he believes, everything he trusts, and everything the mountain will ask him to question.
Look inside
From Readers
What readers are saying
★ 4.8 / 5 · 59 ratings on Amazon
“Captures the rawness of survival and the beauty of inner transformation like few fantasy novels do.”
“The spiritual parts of The Ascent resonated with me the most, adding real depth to the journey.”
“An inspiring, soul-stirring climb up a mystical mountain. I couldn't put it down!”
About this book
About this book
Series
The Path of None
Order
Book 7 of The Path of None
Format
Epic Fantasy Adventure
Editions
213 pages · Kindle · PB · HC
Questions
Frequently asked
Should I read The Spiral before The Ascent?
Yes, The Ascent follows The Spiral in the Path of None reading order. Both explore later incarnations of Drakko's soul, but The Spiral introduces the world and the language of pilgrimage. The Ascent lands harder if you have already walked The Spiral's path.
What is the Eternal Mountain?
The Eternal Mountain is both a physical ordeal and a place of initiation. Its dangers expose the beliefs, fears, and rivalries that each climber brought to it.
Is The Ascent a standalone?
The Ascent works as a standalone epic, but its full depth rewards those who read The Curse I first. The Path of None is a connected saga, and reading in order reveals the architecture behind the journey.
What books is The Ascent comparable to?
Readers who enjoy survival fantasy, mountain expeditions, initiatory trials, and character-focused spiritual fantasy are the closest fit. The book combines a dangerous climb with questions of identity, loyalty, and ambition.
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