“The cliffs will be the hardest part of this little venture,” said Kitfox. “I hope you packed a lot of rope.”
“Do not fret over the supplies, Demon. I have everything covered.” Shazza returned the scroll to the pack and thumped the wyvern affectionately.
“So when do we leave?” I asked, placing a hand on Kitfox’s arm to silence his growl.
“Right now,” Shazza said as she mounted a wyvern. “Zhealocera-byö will leave on her own once she has returned from informing Teka of your leave.”
“Okay.” I nodded and hopped into the saddle of another wyvern.
Kitfox sighed and took the reins of another before giving them to me.
“What ar– ”
“I will run.” He winked at me and smiled.
I sighed.
“You really should ride the wyvern,” Thera asserted as she mounted up.
Kitfox rolled his eyes.
“Don’t complain when we leave you in the dust,” Shazza said as she urged her wyvern forward.
Thera and I followed a moment later. Kitfox jogged beside us until we reached the gate. The guards bowed to their queen and quickly unlocked the gate. Kitfox bolted ahead of us, and I watched in shock as his form shifted into the shape of a lavender-and-black fox. He stopped a ways ahead and turned to look at us. I could almost see the smugness in his amber eyes.
“Okay, I was not expecting that.” I laughed and urged my wyvern to follow him.
Thera whooped and took off after me. Shazza was soon to follow.
◆◆◆
By the end of the first day, we were already at the foothills of the Ahgberor Mountains. Shazza pulled her wyvern to a stop just after Aruvan disappeared behind the snowcapped mountains. Thera and I helped her set up camp for the night, while Kitfox hunted. He returned in his near-Hume form shortly after we had gotten a fire roaring.
“I am impressed you managed to keep up, Demon,” Shazza said.
Kitfox snorted and dropped the five birds he had caught at her feet. She glared down at him.
“Don’t for one second mistake me for a weakling.” He growled and walked away.
After a moment, Shazza grinned at his back. I sighed in relief. It looked as though they were finally getting along.
We woke early the next morning and packed up camp quickly. Once again, Kitfox refused to ride a wyvern and took off in his fox form. We managed to catch up to him when we reached the road that ran from Aissur to Puukan. He allowed Shazza to take the lead after that.
Four more days passed in pretty much the same fashion. On noon the fifth day, we reached the cliffs Shazza had warned us about. We spent the rest of the day thinking of a way to ascend the sheer faces.
On the morning on the sixth day, we began the dangerous climb up the cliffs. Kitfox made it look easy as he bounded from rocky ledge to rocky ledge in his fox form. Thera and Shazza had an easier time than I did when it came to leaping from rock to rock. Agitated and frustrated at being left behind, I finally broke down and used a spell to levitate myself and my wyvern to the top of the cliffs. Kitfox joined me at the top a few minutes later and peered over the edge to watch the others.
“I shouldn’t have used that spell,” I mumbled groggily.
Kitfox looked back at me and wagged his tail sympathetically.
“Wyverns are heavier than they look. I’m tired now.” I yawned.
An instant later the near-Hume form of Kitfox sat down beside me. He sighed and rubbed my shoulders. “It was better than being left behind by those two. I never realized just how much alike Feykin and Dákun Daju are.”
“Hmm.” I closed my eyes and leaned into his shoulder.
He chuckled slightly and wrapped his arm and tail about us. I do not know how long I dozed, but Kitfox woke me when Shazza and Thera reached the top of the cliffs. The nap refreshed me enough to continue on riding for a few more hours. At nightfall, we finally set up our camp.
The seventh day saw fit to drench us in rain from sunup to sundown. We set up camp early that night and tried in vain to dry off around the fire. That night was the first night I spent curled up next to Kitfox. His fluffy lavender tail proved to keep me warmer than my blankets.
I awoke the next morning to Kitfox’s light snores and his arm draped over my waist. He looked so adorable when he slept that I almost did not want to wake him. But when his amber eyes fluttered open and focused on me, I could not help but smile at his blush.
The sky was grey again that day, and the winds slowed us down greatly. Shazza finally gave in to the brutal weather and set up camp well before evening. That night I prayed to the gods to give us good weather for the rest of our Katalanian trek.
Amazingly, the next three days were sunny and warm. We easily managed to make up for the time lost during the storm. Nonetheless, I was eager to reach the end of our journey.
◆◆◆
It was late in the evening on the fourteenth day when we came across the first grave marker. Shazza immediately slowed her wyvern down. We progressed slowly as the gravestones grew more and more cluttered.
“Be careful here. Bandits frequent the area to rob the graves,” Shazza said as she pulled a contraption from the pack on her wyvern.
With a click, the item unfolded to become a highly decorated bow. Shazza then shouldered a quiver of arrows and knocked one.
“I thought Dákun Daju always fought with close-range weapons,” Thera said.
Shazza glanced over her shoulder. “Not always.”
Kitfox yipped, effectively capturing our attention. An ancient iron gate loomed on the path before us. Its metal was twisted into dangerous spikes that conveyed the message, “Keep out.” Behind the gate stood even more gravestones– some damaged, others worn by wind and time. Several bleached bones littered the ground.
Shazza slipped out of her saddle and strode to the gate. With a gentle push, it screeched open on rusty hinges. She looked back at us. “Tie the wyverns up here. The path beyond is too narrow for them.”
“And hope no one gets the urge to steal them,” Kitfox muttered as he transformed back into his near-Hume form. He sniffed the air and growled slightly.
“What do you smell?” I asked as I tied my wyvern to a part of the fence.
He faced me with a grim expression. “Death.”
I nodded in understanding and freed my tessens from my belt. Thera muttered the spell to summon her staff. Then the four of us passed through the gate.
“Does anybody know who is buried here?” Thera asked, attempting to read the names on the gravestones.
We walked in silence amidst the graves before Shazza answered.
“Most of those buried here are Dákun Daju warriors lost to a war predating the Earthic Landing. However, I’d wager some other races have laid their dead to rest within these grounds.”
“I hope their souls aren’t angry at us for treading this holy ground,” I said quietly.
Shazza sighed and looked at me over her shoulder. “You’re a Priestess?”
I nodded in answer.
She shook her head and walked on.
“What’s wrong with being a Priestess?” Kitfox asked quietly.
“Nothing. Just a pointless occupation.”
“To you.”
“Stop it, both of you,” Thera snapped. “Xy, can you feel Helios yet?”
“Hang on.” I closed my eyes and focused on the nine remaining pulls I felt from the dragons. One was far stronger than the others… and close by. I slowly nodded and opened my eyes. “Follow me.”
I led the others around the headstones at a brisk pace. After a few minutes, we arrived at the sealed door to an ancient tomb. A black dragon stood guard over the door, and I knew I was in the right place.
“Yeow. That stone slab has to weigh, what? Five tons?” Kitfox said as he ran his hand over the door’s surface.
“It is far too heavy for me to levitate with magic,” I said and looked at Thera.
She shook her head.
“I don’t think I can move it either, but let me try.”
Lightning crashed overhead. We both looked up at the darkening sky as thunder rolled.
“Terrific.”
“Give it a shot, Thera,” Shazza said as she backed away slightly.
The young Feykin nodded and cast the spell. A spark of light bounced off the tomb a second later. Nothing else happened.
“What does that mean?”
Thera looked at me then at Shazza. “There is a ward protecting the tomb. No magic can be used on or within it.”
“I love this place,” Kitfox muttered. His ears went flat against his head and he growled as rain began to fall.
The four of us quickly set up a shelter and camped beneath it as we tried to come up with an idea to move the stone slab.
About an hour had passed when Kitfox suddenly smacked himself in the forehead. “We are such idiots!”
“What?”
“We are?”
“Speak for yourself, Demon.”
Kitfox looked at me with a sigh. “Xy, just summon a dragon to move the slab.”
I groaned. Why hadn’t I thought of that before? I stepped out into the rain and brushed my fingers over the jewel marking Kkaia’s presence in the amulet. A warming sensation crawled up my arm as I threw my hand in the air.
“Kkaia!”
Golden-brown light exploded from the dragon eye. Sand and pebbles flowed out of the amulet and amassed into the form of the dragon of earth. Kkaia roared upon her revival.
“Amazing!” Shazza whispered as she gawked at the dragon.
Kitfox snickered. “Wait until you see her other ones.”
“Kkaia, can you move the stone slab that seals the tomb?” I asked as I thumped her foreleg.
She looked down at me then at the tomb. With a snort, she raised her front paw to the stone slab. The instant she touched it a shock of energy blasted through her frame, causing her to loose a pained and furious roar.
“No good,” Thera said with a disappointed sigh.
“Dark magic protects this tomb. You would need either Abaddon or a Necromancer to break through it,” Kkaia said as she licked her front paw.
Kitfox sighed. “We don’t have either of those.”
“Thank you for trying, Kkaia.”
I watched as she nodded and faded into her element. Sand and rocks swirled around me before reentering the eye.
I turned to look at my team. “Any other suggestions?”
“Know any Necromancers?” Shazza looked at Thera for an answer.
I, however, watched as Kitfox examined the tomb more closely.
“Plenty, but they are all back in Thorna.”
“That rules that out.” Shazza sighed. “Who or what is Abaddon, anyway?”
“Amorez’s dragon of death,” I said over my shoulder. I turned my attention back to Kitfox as he jumped to the top of the tomb and stood beside the dragon statue. “Well, I guess the dragon would belong to me now.”
“Aha!” Kitfox exclaimed and ducked behind the statue. A moment later, I heard a loud click. Then the slow scraping of stone over stone reached my ears. Kitfox leaped to the ground as the stone slab slowly sunk into the earth.
The Fox Demon looked at me over his shoulder. “I, uh, found the doorknob.”
I clapped him on the shoulder and laughed as the slab disappeared with a loud thud. “Good job.”
“Well then…” Shazza stood and re-knocked an arrow. “Let’s get going.”
Thera quickly fabricated some torches and lit them with her magic. I took one and led the way over the threshold. Together, we plunged into the Tomb of the Lost.
I had my suspicions from the very moment the quartet walked into the tavern. They spoke in hushed tones, but I kept hearing them repeat the words ‘dragon’ and ‘alchemist’. Eventually a hooded figure, not even a meter in height approached them. They spoke briefly, then all five left together. Very suspicious.
– FROM “MY MYSTICAL ADVENTURES, VOL III” BY DAHM THE BARD
The light from our torches scattered the darkness as we descended an ancient stone stairwell. The air in the tomb was clammy and reeked of decay. The farther we plunged into the tomb, the more pungent the smell got. I could barely breathe as the stairs leveled out into a narrow corridor. Each side of the passageway was lined with skeletons stuffed into countless recesses.
I shuddered. Kitfox gently laid a hand on my shoulder and smiled as I looked at him. With this small comfort, I pushed myself onward. After several meters, the passageway forked left. A sickly green mist crept along the soggy floor as I led the way past the corner. My instincts told me not to go that way.
“What is that light?” Kitfox whispered in my ear and pointed toward the end of the corridor.
An ethereal light glimmered in midair. For each step we took toward it, the light moved away a pace.
After several meters the corridor widened into a round room. The strange light floated at the opposite end where an angry-looking iron gate guarded the next portion of the corridor. I took one step into the round room, and the light sank to the floor and vanished with a puff of smoke.
“What was that all about?” I heard Thera mutter as I dared to venture farther into the room.
Like the rest of the tomb, the walls here were lined with skeletons, some of which had fallen from their recesses to litter the ground.
“Living mortals at last have come to this place where all is numb.”
I froze midstride as the gruff whisper reached my ears. I flared one of my tessens and scanned the room. Excluding my team, the tomb was void of life.
“So…it wasn’t just me who heard that voice, right?” Shazza whispered as she too scanned the room.
“What the– ” Kitfox pointed toward the gate.
The smoke the strange light had left behind swirled and danced, forming an apparition. A moment later the form solidified into the last creature I ever expected to see.
“A sphinx,” I whispered.
It had giant wings that looked as though they were taken from an eagle. Its body was that of a lion, and a tail curled about its four clawed feet. The head of a black-haired woman stared straight at us, its eyes teeming with a mix of curiosity and wisdom.
“Oh, this isn’t going to be good,” Thera said, bringing her staff before her as if it were a shield.
“In hopes to pass my riddle gate, do you dare to test your luck at fate?” The sphinx slowly looked at each of us as it spoke. “Answer right, my test of four, to pass through this iron door. Answer wrong and here you’ll lie with this gate forever nigh.”
“What does it want?” Shazza asked, her voice thick with annoyance.
“We have to solve its riddles to get past it. Four riddles, one for each of us. Answer wrong and it will kill us.”
Kitfox smirked and took a step toward the creature.
“All right, Sphinx, I’ll play your little game.”
“I don’t think that is such a great idea, Kitfox,” I said and grabbed his arm.
“I for one do not want to rest my fate so firmly in the hands of a Demon.”
Thankfully, Kitfox chose to ignore Shazza. He looked at me with a gentle smile. “Don’t worry, Xy. Freya and I used to toss riddles back and forth all the time, so I’ve had quite a bit of practice.” He looked at the sphinx and nodded. “All right, what is your first riddle?”
The creature’s eyes swirled with red light as it took a breath. “I welcome the day with a show of light. I stealthily came here in the night. I bathe the earthy stuff at dawn, but by the noon, alas! I'm gone.”
Kitfox chuckled. “Too easy, Sphinx. The answer is the morning dew.”
The sphinx was quiet for a moment, brooding. “One shall pass and three remain to play my game once again.”
“What is your second riddle?”
“Always wax, yet always wane, I melt and succumb to the flame. Lighting darkness with fate unblessed, I soon devolve to shapeless mess.”
Kitfox was quiet for a moment, long enough that I began to worry. Finally, a smile crept over his lips. “The answer is a candle.”
“Two are free. Save two more. Then all shall pass through my door.”
I breathed a sigh of relief at the sphinx’s words.
“No legs have I to dance. No lungs have I to breathe. No life have I to live or die. And yet I do all three.”
Kitfox bit his bottom lip as he thought. He suddenly snapped his fingers and looked into the sphinx’s eyes. “The answer is fire.”
“One remains to save all four. Does he who speaks still want more?”
Kitfox laughed. “You bet I do.”
A menacing grin etched its way across the sphinx’s face, and I got a sudden sinking feeling.
The sphinx took a breath. “With potent, flowery words speak I of something common, vulgar, dry. I weave webs of pedantic prose in effort to befuddle those who think I wile time away in lofty things above all day. The common kind that linger where monadic beings live and fare. Practical I may not be, but life, it seems, is full of me!”
Kitfox winced as the sphinx’s words died away. He swore silently and turned away from the sphinx to think. I glanced at the creature, the wicked look still plastered on its face as it sat there.
“You,” I whispered.
The sphinx tilted its head, the smug look completely drained from its face.
“The answer is you, a riddle.”
The sphinx hissed and vanished in a puff of smoke. The gate to the next portion of the corridor creaked open.
Kitfox laughed and hugged me. “You are brilliant!”
“Um…guys? I hate to crush the good mood, but I think we should be running now!” Thera exclaimed as she pushed passed Kitfox and me.
Ascension Page 28