The Three Feathers - The Magnificent Journey of Joshua Aylong

by Bolz, Stefan

  “I do not wish to find strength within me if this means not to walk with you on my side.”

  “I will walk with you, Joshua. There will never be a day in which I will not walk with you. But now you must go.”

  Joshua heard the wolf’s thoughts, but their meaning did not sink in. They stayed on the surface without much impact on him. He could not fathom losing his companion and he would rather stay here and starve to death before he would leave him.

  “Joshua, if you stay here then all is lost. Wind will have died in vain. We all will have died in vain. You must go. I beg of you.” Grey’s thoughts were unyielding.

  Joshua looked at him then he slowly retreated from the edge and went backwards toward the tunnel.

  “Don’t be so stubborn! You cannot hold off the inevitable!” The wolf’s thoughts were loud and powerful in his mind accompanied by a low snarl. Joshua realized that he meant what he thought completely.

  “I cannot, Grey. If this is the end of the journey for you it is the end for me as well.”

  “Then you are responsible if Krieg does not find Wind. Do you want this? Do you want to prevent him from seeing his beloved again?”

  “No. I do not wish to see him suffer. But neither do I wish to see you die alone with no one but yourself to comfort you!”

  “We all go or none of us does.” Krieg’s thoughts reached them both, abruptly ending their quarrel.

  “You make no sense, war horse,” the wolf replied angrily.

  “And you must learn that you will never again be left behind,” Krieg answered.

  There was a moment of silence during which they looked at each other, seeing in one another what they could have never dreamed of before they began this journey. They knew at that moment that whatever happened, their friendship would abide.

  “Here is what we will do.” There was a warrior in Krieg that he thought had been lost in endless battles with no purpose. He fought his way to the surface for now he found something he could fight for and believe in. And when this purpose rose inside him, the warrior stood up and took control. “Grey, jump on my back. I will carry you to the other side. Joshua, you will follow us once we have landed safely there.”

  Without waiting for an answer, he went to the edge and unfolded his wings, testing their strength with several powerful strokes. “Come now, wolf, and do not think twice on it.”

  Joshua looked at Grey who met his eyes. He nodded slightly. The wolf turned and trotted back ten yards. He stood there for a moment and then charged forward toward the horse. When he jumped, Krieg pushed his massive wings down and when the wolf landed on Krieg’s back he lifted off.

  For a moment they hovered there. Then they dropped like a stone. Joshua saw them disappear below the ledge. He ran toward it and when he got there and looked over the rim, they were far down already, dwarfed against the blackness of the abyss. He saw Krieg’s wings move, working against the fall, the sound of it echoing eerily through the cave. Fear gripped Joshua’s throat. He thought about plunging after them but he heard Krieg’s faint thoughts that told him unmistakably to stay where he was. Joshua felt absolutely powerless, unable to watch them and unable to look away.

  How long is an instant? How long can it stretch out? For Joshua this one felt like an eternity. Until slowly, too slowly, the horse gained height.

  “You can do it, Krieg”! He thought to himself over and over again. “Don’t give up! Please!”

  Joshua tried, as if by the sheer power of his mind, to lift his friends up and carry them to safety. There was an instant, just before they made it to the other side, when Joshua saw in the horse’s eyes that he fought for his life and the life of the wolf, only a few feet below the ledge. His strength had left him, but he still pushed on trying desperately to gain the last short distance to safety. And then Joshua saw the wolf jump off and land on the other side. Krieg followed, collapsing right where he landed.

  “Come to us!” Joshua heard Krieg’s thoughts. Grey looked at him across the gap. Joshua could see the terror still looming in his face.

  He peered down into the abyss. The light wasn’t able to penetrate the darkness far below. Joshua’s heart pounded against his chest. Krieg lifted up his head. “Do it now, Joshua.”

  Joshua knew that if he were to think about this he would lose all hope of ever doing it. So he locked eyes with Grey and pushed off, his wings unfolding. He tried not to look down but it was as if a magnetic force pulled his glance downward.

  “Stay with me!” Grey demanded. And Joshua did. The wolf’s eyes became his guide and he flew across the large gap and landed safely on the other side.

  19. AMBUSHED

  They rested for a short while with Joshua sitting close to Krieg who lay on the mossy ground until he gained some of his strength back. At length, they got up wordlessly and walked into the round opening of the second tunnel. None of them looked back.

  The tunnel went a relatively short distance into the mountain and after a steep incline ended in another round opening that spilled them out onto grass. It didn’t register right away as they stepped onto it. What they saw now was so strange it was hard to accept at first. Before them, a valley extended as far as they could see. There were soft rolling hills, green and lush. A distance away they saw what looked like a settlement of small houses tucked into the landscape. Dotted throughout the valley stood massive pillars of rough cut stone reaching far up and toward a ceiling that was so high above them it was hard to make out at all. The stone pillars were easily two hundred yards in diameter. The same light source they had seen in the other cave–or at least Joshua surmised that it was the same–illuminated parts of the landscape like a sun that stood low on the horizon. There were areas that lay deep in the shadows and others that were flooded with light.

  A slight mist hung in the air giving the image in front of them an otherworldly quality. The small path in the grass led away from them and far down into the valley. It meandered through the hills reflecting the light like a thread of silver and ending in what must have been an ancient mining town during the time when the mountain was still harvested for rare crystallite. That was more than a thousand years ago.

  They walked away from the pillar and onto the path. When Joshua turned around he saw that the landscape behind them extended an almost equal distance as it did in the front. He realized that the exit from the second tunnel was through one of the massive pillars. Joshua, Krieg and the wolf were awe struck by the magnificent scope of the land before them. It felt as if a force of great power had created this, a cataclysmic event of enormous magnitude occurred here in ancient times, millennia before the mining operations began. Joshua suddenly felt very small in relation to the landscape around him. He could sense that there was something larger at work here and he saw himself as just a tiny cog in a huge machinery that turned irrevocably, pushing him in a direction he was no longer sure he wanted to go.

  The further they moved away from the pillar the larger it seemed. It became clear to them that the distance to the ruins of the mining town was much further than they thought at first. But having survived the last few hours had lifted their spirits and they made good time as they traveled down the path and through the hills below.

  “This is odd,” Grey remarked when they were about half way down the path between the tunnel and the town.

  “What is it? Joshua asked. He sat on Krieg’s back. They had decided that it would be easier if Joshua traveled the longer distances on the horse’s back rather than trying to walk and keep up with the speed of the other two.

  “The source of the light is constant,” the wolf answered. “Since we came here it has not moved. I’m just wondering how long it will stay this way.”

  Joshua agreed with Grey. He, too, had had the brief and fearful thought that it would, at some point, just go dark. But he pushed the thought away. No sense playing the game of what if. Living through the ordeals of their journey, had helped steel him against thoughts like this. At least he was able
to keep them at bay for the most part. That in itself was new to him.

  When the mining town came closer they saw that some of the houses were still intact. The path they were on had become a road that eventually would lead into the town center. From it, smaller roads branched off in both directions. The cluster of buildings extended into the hills that surrounded the town. There was a small stream that ran parallel to where they walked. It disappeared underground a little further down the road only to appear again close to the center of the town.

  “It is so quiet here,” Krieg remarked. “It seems there is no one in here other than ourselves.”

  “No one that lives, anyway,” Grey answered. He immediately realized the meaning of what he had said. “I’m sorry, Krieg, I didn’t mean… I did not want to burden you more with thoughts of Wind—”

  “Do not concern yourself with it, Grey. I have a sense that she may still be alive after all,” Krieg answered. Joshua and the wolf exchanged a brief glance. They saw it in each other’s eyes that Krieg was the only one who believed the Pegasus was still among the living.

  Quietly they walked the rest of the way until they passed the first houses. Most of them had no roofs. Blind windows peered at them. The stone with which they were built was crumbling and overgrown with vines. Some of them had thick layers of moss growing on them. When they stopped for a moment to rest by the small creek they realized that aside from the slow running water of the stream, there was absolutely no sound whatsoever. It was eerily quiet. And when they continued toward the center and the creek disappeared underground, the sound of Krieg’s hooves on the road echoed through the abandoned streets like a reminder that as vast as this cave was, they were alone. Until Joshua became aware of them.

  Out of his peripheral vision he saw a shadow move between two buildings. It was low to the ground and fast and gone when he looked again. Then there was another further down the road. Joshua looked at the wolf.

  “I saw it.” Grey’s thought was quiet.

  “What do you think?” Joshua answered as quietly.

  “How the hyenas made it into the mountain, I do not know,” the wolf answered. “But they are here now. I counted four of them so far. Two on either side of us. Joshua, you stay with Krieg. I will take care of them.”

  Joshua was about to tell him that this certainly was not a good idea when Krieg’s thoughts reached them. His were as quiet as their own. “I do not doubt you could take them, wolf, if they were among the living. But they are not. They are dead and not bound by the laws you and I believe in. You cannot take them but be assured that they can take you.”

  Grey looked at him. “What do you suggest?”

  “We have to stay together!” Krieg answered. “That is our only chance to get out of this alive and in one piece.”

  There was no time for either of them to form another thought. The hyenas came at them from two directions. One came from between two houses and charged toward them. Grey, out of sheer instinct, charged toward her. At the same time another jumped out of a window that was near where Krieg stood. It took the horse completely by surprise. The hyena reached him before he could move. Her huge fangs open, she flew at him. Her teeth scraped his side before he went on his hind legs. That was probably what saved him. She couldn’t grab on to his skin and let go for only an instant. It was enough for him to kick her with his front legs and she winced, retreating back a few feet.

  The wolf wasn’t as lucky. The hyena attacked him with all that she had and even though he was at least equal in strength and speed he was no match for her ferocity. Joshua realized that Grey wouldn’t last very long. He flew off the horse’s back and toward the wolf. He didn’t know exactly what he was going to do except to somehow disturb the hyena’s relentless attacks. So he landed on her back. It was not a place he wanted to end up, but he didn’t have full control over his flying and landing skills. He dug his talons into the hyena’s back and started pecking at her.

  He wasn’t sure if she even felt it but she turned her head once to see what was happening behind her. That was enough for the wolf to charge forward and grab the hyena by her throat. Under normal circumstances this would have killed her instantly. But even after his teeth had penetrated the skin and flesh, she showed no signs of slowing down. Her attacks just got more ferocious.

  “I don’t know how to kill her!” The wolf’s panicked thoughts came fast. “Any ideas?”

  In his periphery, Joshua saw the horse trample the hyena, kicking it several times but she just got back up and came charging at him again. This was a losing battle. The hyenas did not get tired and, as of right now, there were only two of them. Where the other two were he didn’t even know.

  The wolf did not back down but it seemed only a matter of time before he would need to catch his breath.

  Suddenly the hyena stopped in mid attack and ran back up the road. The wolf charged after her.

  “Grey, no!” Joshua thought. But the wolf was gone, disappearing between two houses. Joshua flew up onto one of the higher buildings then to another one and yet another. From there he looked down into a courtyard into which the hyena had just fled. He saw the wolf follow her. The moment Grey stepped into the courtyard which was surrounded on four sides by stone walls with a small opening through which they had come in, Joshua knew it. “It’s a trap!” He screamed in his thoughts. “Get out of there!

  As Grey turned, the other two hyenas entered. One came toward the wolf, the other waited at the entrance, guarding it and making sure he would not be able to get out. Joshua didn’t think twice about it. He swooped down and went straight for the one at the entrance. As the two other hyenas closed in on the wolf, who was now cornered on the opposite side of the entrance, Joshua landed on the head of the third. He went straight for her eyes. That was the only thing he could think to do. The hyena tried to snap at him and the first couple of times Joshua was still able to hold on to her. But then she jerked her head to one side and he lost his grip. He crashed to the ground and lay before here. For an instant nothing happened. Suddenly his courage turned into utter panic and, terror stricken, he tried to get to his feet. The hyena turned her head toward him. Her blind eyes stared at him from above and he thought he saw her grin. Then her jaws opened to grab him.

  In that instant, Grey rammed into her, pushing her to the ground. “Go!” He thought to Joshua and with that he fled behind the next house. As Joshua flew up he saw that the three hyenas charged after the wolf. He followed their path from the air. They reached the road and crossed it. The wolf ran through the stream which was surprisingly deep. It slowed him down enough for the hyenas to catch up. One of them went into the water with him; the others ran further down the road to a small foot bridge to cut the wolf off on the other side.

  When Grey came out of the water he went in the opposite direction along the creek. The hyena closest to him followed him out of the water and ran after him. But suddenly something strange happened. When the hyena was just about to reach him, she fell to the ground. She got back up and ran a few more feet before she fell again. This time she just lay there. Grey looked back and couldn’t believe what he had just witnessed. The hyena made one more feeble attempt to get up but then stopped moving altogether. She seemed to fall into herself until, after only a few more seconds, there was nothing left of her but fur flattened to the ground. And even that seemed to disappear rapidly into the earth.

  The other two hyenas didn’t seem to notice and charged after Grey as ferociously as before. Just when the wolf began to run into a space between two houses, it occurred to Joshua.

  “Water! It’s the water, Grey! There is something in the water! You must lead them into the creek!” Joshua hoped that Grey could still hear him as he had already disappeared between two houses. But suddenly the wolf came racing back out and straight toward the creek. The two hyenas followed him into it without hesitation. They did not know. It occurred to Joshua that they had no idea what would cause their demise.

  Grey jumped o
ut of the water on the other side and ran straight toward Krieg who was still fighting the first hyena. Krieg saw the wolf pursued by the other two who suddenly lost their footings and fell, tumbling over several times before they stopped moving. Krieg knew instantly what he needed to do and charged toward the creek. The last hyena was hard on his tail when he went into the water. Krieg didn’t bother coming back out. He just ran up the stream until the hyena stopped moving. Whatever was left of her body was washed away. The life that had temporarily been forced back into her was gently taken by the stream and so purified of all that was unnatural to her being. Death could finally claim her and her tortured soul found peace at last.

  * * *

  Far above them, unseen, unheard, and unnoticed, the vulture circled overhead, her blind eye peering down at them. Her hatred for the rooster intensified a thousand fold and she knew she would not rest until he lay before her on the ground, crumbling and begging for his life. She would take it from him and, in doing so, make hers last forever.

  * * *

  They stood shaking; the terror still clinging to their exhausted bodies. It was only slowly overtaken by the relief that they survived. Grey finally lay down in the middle of the road and began to lick his wounds. They were mostly superficial, but could get infected later on. Better to take care of them now. Joshua looked at Krieg’s new scars. “The old ones haven’t even healed yet,” he thought, more to himself than to anyone else.

  “They will heal, Joshua, as did all the others,” the horse replied. Joshua found himself in awe of the war horse and the wolf and of what they had endured, were still enduring. Is this what friends do? Stay with you until the end? With no question, no complaint and with your safety the sole concern inside their thoughts and hearts? He did not believe it possible that friendship could reach such depths. He was humbled before it. He could not have conceived the riches this brought to him and he could not think of anything he wanted more in his life than this. Even his dream of the three feathers seemed dull in comparison. He thought at that moment that as much as he still wished to find them, if he were to be without his friends, he would not want the feathers, not for any price. He would rather stay with Grey and Krieg instead, wherever that might be.