YES! Three exams down, one to go, wish me luck, y'all!
***
Starwhisper slipped silently towards another of the tents, clutching the small leather pouch full of ki'sath – a plant she had never heard of before now – to her side, remembering what Snowfalcon had said.
"Ki'sath is ingenious to the lands around White Gryphon, but the Black Kings never discovered all of the uses because they don't have much to do with mages." Star didn't know what a Black King was, so she resolved to ask later.
"When it is dried and powdered, ki'sath becomes a quite potent sleep drug. After one has inhaled it, it is only a matter of seconds before they are quite heavily asleep. Very little can reach thme in this state."
"And the other use?" Star had asked.
"It is a poison. If it is mixed with a mage's blood, or a mage inhales or ingests it, they have moments to live. Something to do with the magic, and it reacts strangly. They don't have a mage, though, so we don't have to worry about that aspect."
"Then how did they get that track removing spell?"
"Perhaps the spell was built into a charm."
So now she was scuttling around tents, opening them as quietly as possible and pouring ki'sath into her hand. Then she would very carefully blow, making sure not to breath until she was out of the tent once more. She most certainly did not need to swallow some and fall asleep in the enemy's camp.
Star backed off from the last tent and carfully whipped her hands off in a water bucket. And maybe they'll drink that water in the morning and fall back asleep, she thought, quite maliciously. She turned a little too fast, though, and stumbled. That was close. Righting herself, she continued between two of the tents.
Only to fall flat on her face. She looked over her shoulder and glared murderously at the leadrope that had tripped her. "You little–" she began, then remembered just where she was and what she was talking to. So she settled for giving it a kick before returning to Snowfalcon.
"There's probably guards with Hawk and … the gryphon. What's his name?"
"Krylon. And no, there aren't any guards. Were near the beginning, but they've gotten cocky."
"Just how long have you been following them for, anyways?"
He smiled bitterly. "A year." Star let out a long, low whistle. "That long? He'd better be grateful."
They moved quietly, not sure if all the bandits had been in the tent, and thus have inhaled the ki'sath. It would be just Star's luck to have one of them have left to relieve themselves. Slowly, slowly towards the pile of feathers and human. Star grimmaced. Hy'a was there too, feet and wings bound tightly, and hooded. At least the hood was the right size.
"Hawk," she whispered, putting her hand on her brother's shoulder. "Hawk, wake up." He did so, but by some twist of fate, saw Snowfalcon first. He muttered, turned back around and buried his face in his arms.
"Just a dream," he whispered, even softer than Star. "I hope she's alright…"
"I am, but its no thanks to you," Star said cheerfully. Hawk sat straight up.
"Starwhisper? What in Lady's name are you doing here?"
"Rescuing you, of course. This is Snowfalcon. Snowfalcon, this is Hawksong."
"Pleased to meet you." Snowfalcon walked over to the pile of feathers, and Star bit back a chuckle. The gryphon looked nothing more than like a shredded featherbed, albiet a golden one. He poked it delicately. "Hey, Krylon, wake up!"
"He won't wake up," Hawk said. "Lady knows I've tried, but he just won't."
"Hm." Snowfalcon pushed the gryphon onto its side, then started to run his fingers through the feathers. "Aha!" He pulled out a tiny dart, smiling triumphantly. "So that's how they got him down so fast. More ki'sath!"
"How long till he'll wake up?"
"Well, normally it would take half a day, but since this is empty, I'm guessing that quite a bit of time has passed since he got his last shot. So, we use an antidote." He pulled a small vial from a pocket, and then dumped into the needle-like dart. He pushed a few feathers aside, exposed some flesh, then injected the concoction.
"Wake up, featherhead." Krylon opened golden eyes and clacked his beak sharply.
"Ssssome dayssss, Sssnowfalcon, you trrread much too closssse to dangerrrroussss grrrroundsss. And at leassst it isss not I who brrraidsss what naturrre failed to give me into my hairrr."
"Now, now, gryphon, be nice around the new people. The mage is Hawksong, the … scout? The scout is Starwhisper." Krylon bobbed his head genially.
"Pleasssed to meet you. You'rrre morrre of ourrr Kaled'a'in cousssinsss, no?"
Hawk shook his head. "The Clan's parted. Half wanted to leave magic as a thing of the past, my Clan decided that it would be best to keep magic. So we, the users of magic, are the Tayledras now. There are more of us, not just me and my brother. They've formed themselves into Vales." Snowfalcon and Krylon exchanged a glance.
"I think," the gryphon murmured thoughtfully, "that it would be besssst not to mention thisss to our kin. Though they would probably jusssst arrrrgue for a while and then decide that if they wanted morrrre homessss, they would sssstill have to usssse it."
"Anyways," Hawk said, carefully unwrapping Hy'a's feet, "what do we do now? I mean, now that you've gotten us out – you can tell me how later."
"We run, of course. But-"
"But you came frrrom the Norrrth, no? And they will expect you to rrrrun back that way. Ssso, you don't? You go, sssay, Ssssouth?" The two siblings looked at each other.
"Krylon has a point," Star started heisitantly. "And…"
And I want to go South, I want to go so badly. I want to see White Gryphon, see the Black Gryphon Skandranon, meet Amberdrake, see these Black Kings Snowfalcon mentioned. I want to do these thing so badly, brother-mine, so badly it hurts, but if you want to return to the Vales, I will help you and go with you, because I would go to the ends of the earth and beyond for you, Hawk, no matter what I want.
She blinked in amazement as she realized that it was true, and pondered the thought. Yes. I would go to the ends of the earth for my brother and then walk through fire, because to me, he is the world. And if anything happened to him, if anyone hurt him, I would do it again to avenge him.
And then one more thing occurred to her. She said that when the time to leave came, I would know.
But Hawk just smiled, not knowing what she had just realized. "I don't know, after being on the road for most of my life, I'm not sure that I could just settle down again when I got back to K'Vala. So, how about another adventure, sister-mine?" She nodded.
Snowfalcon shifted impatiently. "I hate to interupt, but I think it would be best if we were to get out of here. I don't like the idea of the ki'sath having missed some one and them coming over to check the prisoners. Because if we stay here much longer, there'll be two more prisoners."
"So, let's go, then." She reached a hand down to help Hawk to his feet.
"I think not," came a hard voice just outside of the fire's light. A loosely dressed man with several pendants dangling from his neck stepped into view. His face and forearms were scarred, and his blond hair was silver-streaked.
"Kokari!" Snowfalcon hissed sharply, blue eyes darkening. "I thought he was still in his tower!"
***
Hehe, yes, yet another cliffy. But I don't feel bad. Hm, today's question. Let's have one besides Fireblade get it. Course, even if she does get it, you can still guess too.
In Owlflight, what was the name of Keisha's sister's flightly suitor, the one who went and sat out in the rain after she got Chosen? Two points if you can remember where he was sitting, too.
Fireblade: Cheers, you got this one too. And of course you're good. That's why I get happy when you update. So, upsidedown pineapple cake or chocolate.
Sceith C. Blackwolf: Yes, but it specifically mentions, in the winds of fate novel, that the Shin'a'in said: "The horses are as good as they will get, and if the bondbirds are not quite perfect…" So the bondbirds were already … bondbirdish. Moreover, I'm assuming that the Clans gathered while they returned to their plains. And I never said that the plains were anything like inhabitable. Besides, until said point when The Great Lady comes in and corrects me – by writing a story there – I'm free to expirement. That's the whole point of a fanfic.
Snowfire: Oh well, here's another cliffy. ^_^ Not my fault, blame Leafsong.
Arrowblade: Hehe, detail. My worst part … except for my tendancy to jump aroun. I'll work on it.
Now, press the purple button and get a virtual brownie.