“We do, but if a captain is wise he stays close to shore. The Misty Sea is very dangerous.”
Aurelius let out a frustrated sigh. “Well, what about flying over it?”
“I would not advise that. Wizards of old have tried on gryphon or dragon back, but none have ever returned.”
“Of course. Are you sure it isn’t just a lot of superstition chasing legend? Maybe someone crossed the sea and no one believed him.”
“Perhaps.”
The gryphon they were following turned and banked along the wall of mist, skirting the edges of the clouds. Aurelius turned his ship to follow and they flew along a brilliant stream of white vapor which sparkled in the sun and occasionally reached out to envelop them with a racing white tendril.
Far off along the horizon, just at the edge of visibility and built along the sullen gray shores of a wide-mouthed bay was a sprawling city of brown adobe buildings with thatched roofs. All the buildings were safely ensconced behind high brick walls that reminded Aurelius yet again of how anachronistic everything was. Something very serious must have happened to blast everyone back to basics.
“Looks like our wrinkly friend is headed for a city of some kind.”
“Telan. The most dangerous port in all of Harain.”
“A port? What for? I thought you said no one has crossed the sea.”
“No one has, but even so there is a lot of trade. The sea forms the southern-most border for all of Mrythdom, apart from Elvindom, which has no borders save those which the elves keep for themselves.”
“I see. . . . And to the north?”
“The Rapier Mountains. A range so high and so treacherous that none have ever crossed it. Beyond which is the Stygian Way, a vast ocean that—”
“Is so treacherous no one has ever crossed it. Yes, I think I get the picture. It would seem Mrythdom is surrounded by legendary obstacles that no one has ever crossed, and therefore no one ever does.”
“You are astute for a human.”
“I could say the same about you. Never met a wolf who could talk like you, Hairball.”
“Well, werewolves are smarter than humans.”
“That so?”
“Bigger heads.”
“Hah! Have you see how big Gral’s head is?”
Reven barked a guttural laugh. “True.”
“Speaking of big old numnuts, I wonder how he’s doing. . . . Let’s take a peek.” Aurelius toggled his multifunction display to give him a look inside the cargo bay. The image which flashed up on screen gave him pause. “Uhhhh . . .”
Reven leaned over his shoulder to get a look. “Looks like he found some food after all.”
“Yeah.” Aurelius noted the broken inner doors to the cargo bay, Gral’s bulging stomach looming like a mountain over him as he lay sprawled and snoring on the deck, and the bloody carcass of a half-eaten gryphon lying by his side. “Looks like.”
* * *
Gabrian gritted his teeth against the biting wind and held on tight to the gryphon’s furry, feathery mane. The beast’s wings cut through the air with a constant
whoosh, whoosh, whoosh,
that was periodically pierced by the monster’s shrill cries, which it seemed to favor over roars while airborne.
Gabrian had to exert a constant force of will and magic to keep the gryphon from shaking him off. Gryphons, especially wild gryphons were capricious, vicious, and temperamental, but riding one was the only way for Gabrian to catch up to Malgore and Aurelius. He was going to have some strong words for the boy when they met again.
Malgore had abandoned their fight before long, fleeing the battle on gryphon back, and Aurelius had fled back to his ship. By the time Gabrian had emerged from the jungle to join them, all he’d found waiting for him on the beach had been a few dozen angry gryphons. He’d barely escaped from them alive. Ordinarily it wouldn’t have been too difficult, but it seemed that something had stirred the beasts into a frenzy. Perhaps that explained Aurelius’s thoughtlessly fleeing the island.
Perhaps.
Gabrian wasn’t willing to cut the elder very much slack, not while his thighs were still chafing against his gryphon mount’s bristly fur and thorny feathers. No, Aurelius was going to have more than a little explaining to do.
* * *
Aurelius was still following their quarry at a modest speed, being careful not to overtake him. They had almost reached the distant city of adobe huts, and he could see elaborate castles rising against high walls, facing the sea. Aurelius averted his eyes from the primitive architecture just in time to see the gryphon and rider they were chasing duck into the thick wall of clouds rising from the Misty Sea. The
Halcyon’s
sensors reported the beast and its rider flying straight into the mist, out over the sea.
“Where’s he going?” Aurelius banked to follow and poured on some speed to catch up. His ship was immediately enveloped in a cottony white cloud that grew darker and more brooding the further into it they flew. Visibility was cut to a dozen meters or less, and Aurelius kept his eyes glued to the instruments to avoid losing his bearings. HUD overlays inside his helmet gave him a green grid for the ground which helped immensely. He also targeted the gryphon they were following so that it was highlighted with bright yellow brackets. As they flew deeper into the clouds, visibility increased marginally, and Aurelius caught flickering glimpses of their quarry. Over the long flight from Gryphon Isle, he’d become more and more certain that they were chasing Malgore and not Gabrian. The fact that Gabrian had clearly lost his battle with the evil mage was worrying; it didn’t say much for their chances of defeating Malgore now, without Gabrian.
As the mist thinned still more, Aurelius caught a hazy view of the roiling black water below. Waves were crashing into each other in frothing curls of white foam. It was impossible to judge size, but the swells seemed formidable. No wonder no one had ever crossed the sea. Looking away from the water, Aurelius saw his quarry emerge from the mist ahead of them—
Riderless.
“What?” Aurelius toggled his viewscreen to zoom in on the gryphon, but that only confirmed it. There was no one riding on the monster's back. “Where did he go?” Aurelius turned to his scanners and configured them to search for human signatures. He spotted a pair on sensors about a mile back the way they'd come and he brought the
Halycon
about in a tight turn that had their seat restraints digging into their skin. As they drew near to the human signatures, Aurelius dove in for a closer look. A medium-sized wooden boat with a billowing white sail appeared. The two men on board dropped their fishing nets and pointed excitedly to the sky, but Aurelius pulled up before they could get a close look at his ship. He checked scanners again, boosting their power, but there were no more human signatures within a detectable range. “Where in the nethers is he?” Aurelius asked.
“He was riding the gryphon when we entered the mist,” Reven said. “We followed him out over the sea. When we saw his gryphon next, he was no longer upon it.”
“Way to state the obvious, Hairball.”
“He must have fallen off.”
“Hmmm, well if he were floating around on the surface, scanners would have found him by now. I've already increased their range; there's no one but those two fishermen for miles in any direction. Either we lost him as soon as he entered the mist, or . . . I don't know. I'm going to retrace our flight path.”
Aurelius did so, flying down close to the surface to search with his eyes as well as scanners, but there was no trace of the wizard they'd been following. A pearlescent beach emerged in the distance and Aurelius bled off speed as they approached. He came in low to the sand and hovered for a moment before settling down. The sun peeked out at them from behind a wisp of cloud, glinting weakly upon the
Halcyon's
white bow.
“Time to get our bearings. Let's go check out that city.”
“We are yet far from Telan,” Reven said.
“We'll walk. I don't want to attract too much attention by setting down closer.”
Aurelius unbuckled and started back through his ship. Reven joined him without a word, padding along softly behind him. Their first stop was the supply locker where Aurelius found another sheet and blanket for Reven to cover himself. From there they made their way aft to the cargo bay. Sensing the direction they were headed, Reven asked, “Will we bring the troll?”
“Any reason we shouldn't?”
“Without the wizard, he owes us no allegiance.”
Aurelius froze. They were just around the corner from the broken cargo bay doors, and they could hear Gral muttering loudly to himself. “Then we'll keep Gabrian's absence a secret for now. If Telan is as dangerous as you say, Gral could help ward off trouble before it starts.”
“Unless
he
starts it.”
Aurelius snorted. “Well, there is
that
to worry about,” he said softly as he rounded the corner to the cargo bay. “Gral!”
The giant looked up from poking around inside another cargo crate, his brutish face a mask of bewilderment. “Why you have so many sticks?” He reached into the crate and pulled out a long-barreled sniper rifle.
Aurelius frowned and shook his head as he crossed the deck to Gral. “They're not sticks. Please put that down before you hurt yourself.”
“Gral hurt? Gral can look after self.”
“If you say so. It's time for us to go. You want to come with?”
The giant troll flashed a wicked grin and dropped the sniper rifle to the deck with a
bang!
Aurelius winced. “Go hunt?”
“No, no hunting.”
The troll's grin faded. “Then why go? Stay where it's warm. Save strength for hunt.”
“We need to find something important. And we need you to keep us safe.”
Gral crossed his massive arms. “Not going.”
Aurelius shrugged and started walking away. “Okay, I suppose I'll just have to tell the wizard that you refused to follow his commands. . . .” Aurelius counted silently to three.
“Wait! Gral come.”
Thud, thud, thud. . . .
Aurelius listened to the sound of Gral's footsteps approaching and slowly turned to face the monster. “Good.” He cast a belated glance to the half-eaten gryphon which Gral had left lying in the middle of the cargo bay. “And bring that carcass with you; I don't want it stinking up my ship.”
Gral followed his gaze to the half-eaten gryphon. “That mine.”
“Yes, that yours, so bring it with you for a snack.”
“Hmmm.” Gral seemed to think about it for a moment, and then he stomped off toward the carcass without another word.
Once they were all outside standing outside on the sand, the trio spent a moment searching the horizon, looking for any sign of the city. Aurelius used his helmet scanners to pierce the mist and point the way. Telan was dead ahead and to their right, about four miles distant. He started up the beach, and the others followed.
They'd been walking for less than ten minutes when they heard a terrifying screech behind sound out them. Aurelius spun around, his pistol drawn. He couldn’t believe it. The gryphon they’d been chasing was back!
The beast was diving in toward them with talons and wings extended. It was almost upon them. Aurelius took aim, tracked his target, and fired. The bolt arrowed in for the beast's feathered chest—
And disappeared in a blinding flash.
The gryphon flew on as though the shot had missed. Aurelius ducked as the monster reached for him with its massive talons. Gral roared at the sky, taking an angry swipe, but missing.