Section Three: Staring at the Sun
Dawn broke, clear and warm, and Elgar found himself awoke by a soft tap on his lifted shoulder. Opening his eyes, he found Fox crouching next to him, fingertips pressed together. "Oh, good morning."
"Indeed it is." Fox agreed, leaving the tent.
The rest of the camp was awake and already going through what had once been routine, during their last quest. Breakfast was prepared, and Elgar's apprentices were assisting Fara and Peppy feed and water their prospective mounts.
"We've got a fair bit of travel before we arrive at the next Lantern Depot." Peppy remarked over his shoulder toward the camp. "The local capital, in fact."
"So it seems." Fox's map was floating in midair as he studied it, sharpening arrows while he did so. Elgar blinked, then shrugged, whatever worked. "Falco, are we going into raider country?"
"Not yet." Falco stepped forward, swallowing a bite of sausage even as he spoke. "We mostly won't be for a while yet, but those that walk the Crimson Road, they're everywhere." He pointed at the map with his fork while he spoke. "And my Guild alliance won't help us any, because for one, my Guild is over a country away, and for another… I'm a thief, not Crimson Road. But I somehow doubt that any raider would be able to shake this party."
"True, but I don't wish to kill or wound those who do not know that." Fox replied. "So it'll be just straight travel for the day, hmm? Hardly routine with us."
"Travel doesn't go smooth with this party?" Elgar didn't disguise the alarm in his voice.
"Even Alan's songs talk about the constant attacks, the stops to help people." Fox looked at him. "Our travels progress well, but are always interrupted."
"I see…"
"You worry too much, Elgar." Fara looked at him and smiled. "Don't worry, we will be at your school soon enough."
He nodded silently.
"It'll be about two more days travel, then we'll be teleported to the next country border, which is the edges of the desert." Said Julian, pacing Fox as the group moved. The road was well-worn and tended, winding through the fields and meadows. This area was clear, with few trees, the grass at most coming up to waist height.
"Good then. Is any of the local wildlife violent?"
"Not generally speaking, why?"
Fox rattled his fingers on the pommel of his saddle. "Premonitions. Nothing to worry yourself about."
"Right. When you get premonitions, they're true." Julian glared. "So what are they?"
"The dananshee which spoke to us said something that bothers me. I think that whatever is doing this to Morningstar doesn't want to be trifled with, and I think any creature, any person who sides with our apparent enemy will try to stop us from arriving." Fox hefted out a sigh. "Which is why I'm glad this area is apparently safe from at least the larger forms of danger."
"I can't say we'll be safe when we reach the desert. There are many dangerous creatures there, in spite of how harsh it is."
He stared off into the distance. "Try to keep me informed. I would like to remain ready for anything that is going to come at us."
It was shortly after they had paused for a midday meal that the sky began to darken and cloud. Fox kept an eye on the clouds as they broke their temporary camp and moved on, Fara launching back into the air on her hippogriff.
It wasn't long before the rain started coming down, and cloak hoods were drawn up against it, or spells were cast to keep rain off. Fara's hippogriff, annoyed with the winds, landed and paced the horses along the muddy road.
"There's a town a few miles ahead." Falco remarked to the rest of the party as they paused alongside the road, wet and miserable. "There might be an inn there where we can wait out the rain."
"I don't like the idea of stopping because of a simple shower." Fox replied, shaking his head. "Wet and raining it may be, but we are hardly going to melt if wet."
Even as he spoke, the wind worsened, and thunder clapped.
"You were saying?" Falco asked sourly.
"More bad karma." Peppy remarked as they carried wet gear inside the inn and dumped it on the wooden floor of the small lobby, pushing back the dripping hood of his cloak. "First we are warned away, now this."
"I would not call a storm bad karma." Bill remarked.
"I agree with Bill, because storms are rather common to this area in this season." Said Julian. "They come up fast and leave just as fast, more often then not."
"After what happened at Fox's home, I suppose I can't help but wonder." Peppy shrugged.
"I'm sure a few of us agree." Fox grumbled. Wet chain mail was about as uncomfortable as was mortally possible.
"Either way, let's just get rooms for now and wait it out." Said Rita. "Priestess I may be, that doesn't allow me to change the weather."
"Ah, why not?" Alan shook off, making people throw arms up as water flew out from him. He hadn't bothered with a cloak. "Then again, rain is a marvelous thing…"
The inn's owner, who had been silently watching all of this, said, "To farmers, aye, but obviously not to travelers like yourselves."
"How true that!" Alan bounced over to the desk where the inn's owner stood. "Though it doesn't bother me in the slightest. Have you twelve rooms available?"
"What troubles you, love?"
Fox was standing at the open window, watching the rain. The storm had lightened, but by his judgment, there wasn't much left in the way of daylight. "Just a feeling, that's all."
Fara stepped over to him. "As Falco would say, you always have feelings."
"Yes, and I am often right. It feels like there is great magic behind Elgar's plight, Fara. Great magic."
"Good or evil?"
"I'm not sure yet." He admitted. "We will have to see when we get there; in that, Rita is correct. We won't be sure until we can see the trouble at its source." He shook off. "How fares everyone else?"
"At the tavern interconnected to this place for the most part, I believe. The last I saw, Falco had the whole town on its toes because of his Guild cape…"
Fox laughed out loud. "Sounds like Falco. Let's make sure he doesn't cause any trouble, shall we?" He took one of her hands and kissed it lightly.
She smiled. "Let's."
"Blight wolves?" Julian tilted his head to one side, looking at the farmers he was talking to. "Are you certain?"
"Yes, yes we are." The farmer rubbed his eyes. "They're on the move. Have been the past few months."
"That could be a very, very bad thing." Bill looked at Rita, who stood nearby. "Aren't blight wolves creatures of the titan Mormo?"
"Supposedly." She tapped her fingertips together thoughtfully. "But I am not surprised that they are on the move…"
"They never were before, Priestess." Pointed out a younger farmer.
"That does not stop them from doing so now." Fox walked over, hands clasped behind himself. "Good evening gentlemen."
The farmers looked at him, saw the pendant of Heironeous displayed, and stood, offering their hands. "I take it you're the Knight Fox McCloud we've heard tales about?" Prompted the first farmer, smiling.
"Yes indeed. Now, what is this about blight wolves?"
"We haven't lost anyone yet." The farmer admitted. "Just some livestock. They don't seem interested in attacking us, which strikes me as a bit odd…"
"Hmm." Fox glanced around, and his eyes fell on symbol of Madriel. "Very odd indeed, but I wouldn't scorn good blessings."
"Oh, believe me, we do not."
"The weather should be clear tomorrow, Fox." Julian remarked to him. "So we should make good time."
"That's a good thing then. I for one do not wish to be rained out again."
"Aw, what's wrong with rain?" Alan suddenly appeared, wrapping an arm around Fox's shoulders and leaning his drunken weight into his leader, ignoring the surprised looks of the farmers.
"Everything when you happen to wear chain mail. Believe me."
Peppy opened the shutters of his room and leaned out, taking a deep breath. After living in a large city, the air here smelled surprising clear by comparison, and beams of sunlight shone down, highlighting some of his fur, especially the silver that had started to come in.
It was a rather depressing thought, really, that this might be his last quest, but he couldn't deny his increasing age. Typical age for death in the Phoenix kingdom was later sixties, and he was now in his mid-forties. Even now, the minor arthritis he seemed to have acquired somehow dug at him, and whenever he stood, his bones popped. For this adventure, he had brought partial plate instead of full plate armor, because he couldn't manage his knight's armor anymore—it was too heavy, too awkward with his now-restricted joints.
Someday, he wouldn't even be able to pick up and wield his longsword…
He shook away those thoughts as he stepped away from the window, combing his fingers through the fur of his scalp absently. Really, he had nothing to mourn over. He had had a good life, all in all, and now was considered a legend.
So, why was he so dissatisfied?
He huffed out a sigh, walking over to the door and opening it just as Fox had lifted a hand to knock on it. "Good morning."
Fox wasn't surprised. Peppy always knew when someone was at the door. "Good morning. We'll be moving out soon."
"All right, I'll be ready." Peppy nodded to him, and when Fox walked away, closed the door, retrieving his longsword and pulling it, weighing it absently.
When Peppy had been young, he had been very strong, and in addition to his Knight's longsword he had also wielded a bastard sword, a very long, heavy blade which he now carried as part of his equipment, but rarely used in current years.
"I admit to being mortal." He remarked to his sword absently, looking at the mirror-clean blade. "But aging is a grand, depressing thing." With that, he sheathed the sword, geared up, and left the room.
"Well, this looks to be a glorious day indeed." Alan said cheerfully, eyes closed and face turned to the sun, arms spread. His horse stood nearby, chewing on a strip of beef jerky. No one seemed to notice.
"It does indeed." Katt said, saddling her horse. "Will we reach our next Lantern station today?"
"I'm not certain, it depends on how fast we travel." Bill had Fox's map and was studying it, frowning. "We were delayed so much yesterday that if we do reach the Lantern station, it'll be late evening. Actually, late morning tomorrow is a more probable arrival time."
"Even if we arrived late tonight, the station would be closed, wouldn't it?" Slippy asked.
"Yes indeed, so regardless, we'd be teleporting tomorrow." Bill rolled the map and passed it back to Fox.
"Well, let's move out then." Fox swung astride his disguised unicorn easily, glancing at everyone to make sure they were ready. Everyone else swung astride their mounts, and Fara took to the air on her hippogriff as the party rode out.
"Seems like there's rumors of rebellion to the Far East." Falco remarked, rejoining the party after conversion with some farmers that had come to their fences upon seeing the party. "Elgar, what do you know about this?"
"Well, Morningstar isn't very involved because we're so removed, but it seems that the great majority of the commoners are greatly enraged at the local rulers, especially those that happen to be mages." Elgar winced. "Hence why Morningstar is trying so diligently to stay out of it, but the rebels don't cause much trouble with us because we're not in charge of anything but our own school."
"Will it cause any trouble with our travels?" Fox asked.
"It shouldn't. You're all foreigners, so what rebels there are should leave you alone, but I can't guarantee anything."
"I suppose we'll have to see when we get there." Fox shook his head, and looked to Peppy. "This may sustain the theory that events and such are being put in our way to slow us or stop us."
"Indeed it may." Peppy shook his head wearily, then paused, ears going up. "Does anyone else hear that?"
The party instantly fanned out and went on alert, ears straining and looking around. Finally, the noise reached them, a bird's screech, but strange and abnormal.
Fara, which had been listening to this via Fox, oriented her steed on the noise, squinted upward toward the sun as a shadow blocked it momentarily. Wings, four wings actually, a long neck…
"Oh Pelor!" She shouted, and pressed her hippogriff into a sharp dive as the eight-foot-long Arrowhawk came right at her, still screeching.
Below, the party scattered, shouting in surprise and pulling out bows, loading arrows and preparing spells.
"Does anyone happen to speak Auran?" Alan asked as his horse reared, snapping sharp teeth at the Arrowhawk as it dove past them. "Not that it matters, Arrowhawks don't speak much."
"I think you're missing the point. Why would a creature of the Plane of Air be here, for the sake of all that's holy?" Peppy asked, two glowing arrows lined up to his bow, squinting as he tried to get a good bead on the creature, which was using the brilliant sun to its advantage.
Fara's hippogriff had spiraled above the creature, and she dove again, her hippogriff's beak and claws leading the way. The Arrowhawk heard and flexed its neck upward, snapping and hissing angrily as Fara's steed dodged and landed a hit on one of the four wings, dodging away and circling.
Fox, who had three arrows drawn and lined up, fired the minute Fara's hippogriff was out of the line of fire, and the others with bows took this as a signal and also opened fire, those casting spells following close behind. About half of the attempts actually hit.
"Anyone here ever rope cattle?" Bill asked, pulling a long length of rope. Having had little practice with distance weapons and being that he wasn't a magic user, he didn't want to be left out of the fight.
"You're going to try to lasso that thing?" Falco asked, lifting his eyebrows. "Well, hell, that just may work."
"Fara, bait it." Fox said aloud, using his connection to her to relay this. She caught on and directed her hippogriff to dance just in front of the Arrowhawk, dodging its lightning attacks, then dove away as the frustrated Auran creature dove at her.
The thunder of the Arrowhawk's four wings nearly slammed the party members and their steeds to the ground as it dove right above them, and the creature had just lowered its head to snap at them when the rope came from seemingly nowhere and settled tight around the Arrowhawk's long neck.
Bill had already braced his steed, but the impact rocked his horse forward as it whiplashed the Arrowhawk, several of the party members having to scramble to get out of the way as the creature's body swung around, tail lashing across the ground, knocking over a nearby fence in the process. Bill's horse dug in desperately, but was still being drug forward, the saddle straining to hold the rope that had been fastened to it.
Alan's horse, which had been watching this, stepped forward and bit into the rope, then planted its feet with ease as the Arrowhawk bucked against the rope, only tightening the noose more in the process. As this happened, the rest of the party members simultaneously opened fire, and the Arrowhawk crumbled to the ground with a defeated squawk.
The farmers that had been working in nearby fields had quickly retreated away when they saw the Arrowhawk first dive, but now they slowly came back, staring in shock at the huge avian creature that was sprawled across the road, and at Alan's horse, which had taken a seat on one of the beast's wings like a large dog, still holding the rope in its mouth, now grinning.
Alan, who was standing nearby, took a swing out of his flask and toasted the farmers. "Sorry about the ruckus."
"We're glad you got rid of that creature, actually." One of the farmers scratched his head, poking the Arrowhawk with his scythe. "Never seen the sort!"
"None of us had either, I don't think." Said Katt, looking at Alan's horse, then looking at him and lifting an eyebrow.
"And I suppose you'd still be normal after being touched by the blood of Kadum?" He grinned, patting his still-sitting horse on the shoulder.
"Ah."
The horse dropped the rope in favor of sticking its tongue out at Katt.
"So what do we do with the body?" Asked one of the farmers.
"I imagine it would taste wonderful with garlic." Alan said cheerfully, making Falco cover a laugh.
The farmers prodded the oversized bird some more, but only Alan was close enough to see the creature's eyes fly open, but before he could shout any sort of warning, the creature reared up, free wings flapping desperately. Alan's horse didn't move from where it sat, almost seeming to laugh as the creature struggled helplessly, pinned to the ground, clearly mortally wounded from arrows and fireballs, just not dead yet. The farmers scattered back with shouts as the party pounded another shower of arrows into the creature, which finally fell, now truly dead.
"Good grief. Our rotten luck, eh?" Falco glanced at Fox, who only shook his head.
"So, just how smart is that thing you call a horse?" Cade asked, eyeing Alan's mount, directing his horse a little farther away when Alan's horse snapped at him.
"Can't say. Smarter then most normal horses, but that doesn't say much. He can't talk, so not like I'd know." Alan shrugged, flipping an Arrowhawk feather through his fingers absently. Before the party he had moved on, he had taken the opportunity to grab several feathers—new quills, he had said.
"To reiterate, what would a creature of the Plane of Air be doing here?" Slippy asked, letting his horse follow along with the party, scanning through a book absently.
"Well, creatures of other planes do cross over occasionally." Said Katt. "But it's rather interesting that one just happens to be where we are, and a full adult at that…"
"Nothing is coincidence with this party." Bill shook his head. "I've learned that."
"Nothing is coincidence, period." Said Rita absently. "Everything happens for a reason."
"What reason was there for James McCloud to die?" Peppy suddenly asked.
Silence pounded across the party. Fox turned to look at Peppy, who was unreadable, then said very slowly. "I wonder that too, but I do not argue with the gods. Nor do I defy their will."
For a long time after that, the party was silent.
Night had just fallen when the party straggled into town, finding a stable and then an inn. The weather had been good, so besides the fight with the Arrowhawk there had been no delays and they had been able to move quickly.
"We're going to be moving into desert again after this." Slippy remarked to everyone. "So be prepared for even more heat and dryness."
"Wonderful." Falco grumbled, hauling his pack up the stairs and into one of the rooms, closing the door behind him as the others were quick to do the same.
"Get some rest, everyone." Fox remarked, leaning on a doorway as the others retreated. "Somehow, I think we're going to need it."