Month of Wyvern Moon - A Weekend Out
Chapter 31
Friday dawned bright and early as I shuffled gingerly around the stables still sort of smarting in some spots after the bruising Raphael and Felix had given me this morning. The stiffness made getting Zu fit for flying somewhat more of a challenge. The large wyvern was huffy and largely unhappy with his morning wakeup call as I began to oil his scales while waiting for the Professor to arrive.
It had been decided yesterday that we would just fly to our destination rather than travel on foot. When I asked if the Professor was going to be riding a wyvern or a pegasus, the stoic professor requested to ride behind me. I quickly informed her that was not a good option since Zu was a heavy weight Wyvern.
Professor Byleth cocked her head to the side questioningly while the rest of her face stared at me expressionlessly. I tilted my head to mirror her and finally assumed she wanted to know why her plan was not going to work. I then proceeded to explain that while heavy weight wyverns were fully capable of carrying two riders for short distances, such actions were not advisable for longer journeys. It would be better to take a second wyvern for longer flights just to save on Zu's stamina.
My professor's eyes darkened, giving me the idea that she was even confused when I suggested that she take the Adrestian long-wing that had recently come into the stables. After a few pointed questions, I found myself explaining that there were a couple different types of wyvern breeds in the stables.
Using Zu as an example, I had started explaining that the biggest and heartiest of wyverns typically came from northern Faerghus. These huge beasts made up the heaviest of the wyvern classes and, based on Zu's build, I suspected his pedigree came from the far northern mountain ranges. Cold weather Faerghus wyverns were known to be extremely rare and elusive. Taming or egg raids were often fraught with peril as the breed had a tendency to stay up in the snowy peaks chasing pegasi for food. Most commonly this breed was labeled as highly temperamental, territorial, and generally regarded as a nuisance by the battle-hardened northerners. Rather than deal with the huge wyverns, it was commonplace that local lords would just hire mercenaries to kill off nesting pairs just for eating valuable livestock and terrorizing villages.
On the other hand, the Leicester Alliance was probably the most successful territory in Fodlan for actually breeding wyverns. It was well known that the majority of wyvern's bred in Fodlan came from the Leicester territories. In particular, house Goneril was very successful in wyvern breeding, since they were used to patrol the Locket and intercept the Almyran riders as well as carry word of impending doom to nearby lords. Alliance breeding programs typically varied depending on the house, but it was safe to say that most fiefdoms had at least a few battalions of flyers. Of those wyvern rider battalions, most of the mounts were made up of amicable Midweight breeds. Easy to care for, the least temperamental and least flighty of the breeds, Midweight wyverns offered the most cash to utility value. I had noted that a majority of our wyverns stabled here at Garreg Mach were from the Alliance before going on to explain the Empire's wyverns.
The Adrestian breeds were typically built for long flights, possessing huge wingspan to body ratios and overall slimmer builds. The Empire wyvern's were the smallest and most skittish of the breeds. These slimmer, daintier wyverns were known for migrating and moving as a flock, as their yearly flight patterns took them all around Fodlan and the adjacent countries. The cooler weather of the Wyvern moon typically jolted the migration patterns, causing great flocks of them to settle into the Adrestian territories for the winter and subsequent nesting periods. Once the hatchlings were old enough to leave the nest the entire flock would return to migrating to the northern regions for the summer seasons, utilizing their long wings to catch the hot air drafts and drift over the mountains with very little effort.
I explained all this in great detail to my glassy eyed professor over tea, my enthusiasm showing as both a consequence of being interested in the topic as well as Seteth's informative flight classes. Many late-night study sessions also contributed to my knowledge bank as several involved conversations between Claude, Ingrid, Hilda, Linhardt and myself.
The topic turned out to be rather fruitful as my professor sipped her drink. Unsure if I had got too far off topic I waited on pins and needles to see if I had bored her or not. My combat professor calmly selected a biscuit from the tray next to us and informed me she had never been on wyvern back, let alone flown before, so all this was new to her. Too many days as a mercenary and trying to find her footing as a professor left precious little time to devote to learning new skills and realizing I could not set such an inexperienced rider on a fresh wyvern for a weekend long flight, I grudgingly consented to just using Zu as our only mount.
I was less than impressed to learn that her first ride would be with my bruiser, but I felt I did not have any choice if I wanted to put Zu through his paces. I was still uneasy as I roosted him out of his straw nest just after my morning training exercises.
I ducked a tail swipe from my irritated wyvern and continued rubbing oil into the cracks of his wing joints in preparation for the flight. I rolled my eyes as I straightened up after dodging the attack, pouring a little more oil on the rag in my hand as I scowled up at him. "Do you mind? Stop trying to trip me. Look, I know it's early but we need to head out soon so we can be back before Sunday evening."
"Going anywhere fun?"
I tried to poke my head up over Zu's shoulder as my wyvern began to fan his wings. It seemed like my mount was bound and determined to make me regret waking him up at this hour. was trying to inconvenience me further.
I rolled my eyes at my wyvern's behavior and simply put my hands on his shoulder blades. Bracing myself, I hopped up and pushed my torso halfway over Zu's scaly back in order to see who was calling on me at sunrise.
"Morning…?" My voice died as I spotted Claude leaning on the half stall door yawning.
"Morning." The Golden Deer responded sleepy, draping himself over the stall door dramatically bemoaning his fate. "Why am I even awake at this hour?"
I blinked as I pushed the rest of my body up onto my wyvern's back. Zu's broad scaly hide provided more than enough room for me to sit comfortably on either side. I moved and situated myself securely between my wyvern's shoulder blades with a rough chuckle.
"Hehe, good morning sleepyhead." I giggled as I cocked my head to the side. I grew more confused by the second at the early morning sighting of my house leader, as he attempted to snooze while leaning over the stall door.
I found myself considering my words carefully as I watched the Golden Deer's cape flutter over the partition and obscure Claude from view. "So Claude, what are you doing here at this hour? Weren't you supposed to be gone for the weekend?"
The Golden Deer in question shot me a thumbs up as he continued to dramatically drape himself over on the door frame. My house leader's hands hung loosely over his head as his gold cape continued to flutter in the cool morning breeze.
"Haha, what a rare sight." I commented dryly, letting the words roll off my tongue as I teased my exhausted leader. "Seeing such a magnificent golden deer up at the crack of dawn. I think I should mark it as a special occasion on my calendar."
There was a muted response from the doorway as Zu folded his wings back up and shuffled around his stall, scraping his nest back together with a low trill of agreement.
I put my hands back on my wyvern's scaly hide as he fussed, bracing myself just in case Zu decided to try to shake me off. "Say, just how many hours of sleep did you even get?"
"Two? Maybe three? I can sleep on the ride." Claude mumbled half asleep, still not moving from his draped position over the door.
I shifted, unfolding my legs to let them dangle over either side of my wyvern's neck as Zu realized Claude was within his reach. The temperamental wyvern stopped trilling and moving straw around in his nest in order to stomp over to investigate the thing hanging from his stall door.
I stayed put as my wyvern opened his maw and stuck his tongue out to test the air. Curious as to what my brute was tasting for, I giggled as Zu snorted hot air at the prone Golden Deer. Claude, to his credit, did not move except to raise his hand and pet the wyvern's nose.
Zu snorted and ducked his muzzle out from under the Golden Deer's touch, lifting his head to investigate the rest of the curiosity hung over his stall door.
"Uh, Claude, you might want to move." I warned a second later as my wyvern stuck his head out the door and promptly grabbed my house leader's boot in his mouth.
As soon as I felt my wyvern lunge forward, I was moving. Throwing myself off Zu's back I started yelling. "Zu! Drop him now!"
My knee hit the floor causing it to go numb as I heard Claude grunt. I looked up to see what was happening and saw the Golden Deer dangling helplessly upside down as my wyvern picked him up and dragged him into the stall yelling.
I forced myself to stand up as Zu brought his prize over top of me and opened his jaws. My wyvern unceremoniously released my flailing house leader right over top of me.
"Argh!" Claude shouted as he fell haphazardly face first towards the nest of straw and I barely had time to open my arms and braced myself as the Golden Deer landed directly in my outstretched arms.
Unprepared for how much the Golden Deer actually weighed, I staggered backward only to be braced from behind by a warm coil and an irritated snort.
"...Nice catch." Claude giggled nervously as I looked over my shoulder to see Zu coiling around us comfortably. One wing already half covered us in a reddish pink awning as his chest rose up and down behind me.
It looked like my wyvern was getting his stall back in order so he could go back to sleep.
I sighed as I set Claude down on the pavement and promptly began scolding the half-sleeping wyvern. "Zu! Just what sort of game are you playing?! Come on! Get up! The professor will be here any minute and I still need to saddle you!"
The sliver of emerald that was still open promptly shut as Claude straitened up next to me shaking his head breathlessly. "Haha, I think that's a no if I ever saw one."
I rolled my eyes in exasperation as my wyvern proceeded to ignore me and turned my attention back to my house leader. "Argh - I'll deal with you in a minute. Claude, what about you? Are you ok?"
I looked the Golden Deer up and down and noted he seemed to be in one piece.
Claude ran an errant hand through his messy brown locks and let out a sigh of relief as he completed his own inventory. "Other than having the rudest wakeup call of my life, I think I'm alright."
I could not resist another eye roll as I knelt down on the floor. I tried to ignore the protest in my knee as I checked over the Golden Deer's riding boots. "What about your foot?"
"Heavy riding boots, no damage done. Besides, he didn't even use his teeth. It was all bark and no bite." Claude kicked out his boot to show me no damage had been done.
I scowled and rubbed my now purpling knee as glared up at him unimpressed. "You, sir, might only be half awake, but I am not. Show me your other boot, the one he actually grabbed."
My house leader sheepishly adjusted his stance and showed me his other boot. Large, pointed indents marred either side of the boot, but the heavy leathers appeared to be intact.
"See told you, no harm done."
I pinched the bridge of my nose and began massaging it tenderly.
Why did everyone have to be so grumpy and impersonable first thing in the morning?
"Take off your boot." I instructed forcefully, already done with the Golden Deer's games.
"Your boot saved your leg from being breakfast, but that doesn't mean that he didn't crack or fracture something. I have some bruise balm in my pack too..." I pushed off the ground and walked over to the saddle bags I had packed just this morning. Checking which pack was the right one, I began unbuttoning the pouches.
"Come on Petal, I said I'm fine."
I snorted at the lie and found the bruise balm Cereza continued to keep me supplied with. "Tsk, if you're fine, then showing me your leg shouldn't be a problem...unless you're actually lying?"
The Golden Deer leaned causally back, his hands folding behind his head as he grinned at me. "Wouldn't you like to know?"
I flicked open the bruise balm and began smoothing some around on my knee. "Not particularly, all I want to know is if your foot is broken or not. Given your headed off to a round table alliance I kind of want you to be at the top of your game and not strapped to a chair if needs be."
My house leader's eyes glittered as I flicked my hair out of the way and liberally applied some bruise balm on the back of my neck as well. The tension on the back of my neck immediately lessened and cracked back in place.
"And how would you know where I am off to this fine morning?"
I rolled my eyes again as I clicked the container shut. I looked the smirking deer up and down maliciously and shrugged. "How about I just grab your foot and give it a hearty yank? How's that sound?"
My house leader rolled with my threat, feinting surprise and gasped in mock horror. "What if I am hiding some terrible foot fungus or something?"
I shrugged again and dabbed a small bruise on my thigh. It wasn't worth the hassle to force the issue. If Claude wanted to refuse my assistance, then he was more than capable of taking care of the problem on his own. "Know what? Fine, it's your problem, not mine. Forgive me for trying to help."
I went and packed the medicine away, before walking over to my sleeping wyvern. I pointedly ignored my house leader as I grabbed Zu's horns for stability. The wyvern's eyes slitted open as I began to rub the top of his muzzle trying to coach him awake without resorting to bribery. "Come on Zu, stand up please. I need to saddle you and head to the flight paddock. Professor Byleth is probably waiting there."
"Actually, I am right here. I was talking with Judith for a second." Byleth knocked on the stall door looking no different than she normally did. "Are we ready to…?"
Her eyes dropped to Zu who was staggering back onto his feet grudgingly. The wyvern's tail lashing out towards me with an irritated snap as he unleashed a feral growl from deep within his barrel chest as I continued to rub his nose. I saw the incoming attack and ducked, Claude, however, did not.
My house leader was too busy staring at Byleth and the smirking brunette behind her to realize the danger, and for his inattention, the Golden Deer suddenly found himself sailing forcefully into the straw riddled nest behind us.
I shrugged and went over to collect the saddle blanket while the smirking brunette on the other side of the stall cracked up laughing. "Come on boy, this is no time to be hitting the hay. Get out here so we can take off, we are already going to be late as is."
There was a muffled groan from the nest as I threw the saddle blanket over Zu's back. I ducked under the wyvern's wing and pulled the other side taunt as I called over to the chuckling business-like woman next to the Professor.
"You might want to get back, he doesn't take to strangers very well." I warned as we all watched Claude crawl out of the haystack.
When the Golden Deer was about halfway out I reached out a hand to help him up as the lady shrugged my warning off with a careful smirk. Her warm, playful, eyes danced as she watched the Golden Deer get to his feet. "Oh, I think I have survived much bigger threats than him. I know my way around a wyvern don't you worry."
Zu seemed to sense he was the topic of discussion. The wyvern let out a loud hiss and proceeded to slam his tail into the wall as he flared his wings out to appear even larger than he already was.
However, my wyvern's antics were not enough to cause anyone to bat an eye, though I did raise my eyebrow at the dramatic display. Next to me Claude continued to dust straw off his uniform, seemingly unconcerned as he introduced me to his companion. "That's lady Judith by the way. She's a somewhat famous war hero over in the Alliance, you might have heard of her."
I nodded that I had heard of the famous hero and Judith nodded to me. "Pleased to meet you. Your professor here was just telling me all about your upcoming journey, as well as some Claude's most recent exploits. Seems like he keeps you all on your toes."
Claude shrugged, taking the teasing in stride as he raised an eyebrow at me. "One has to question why the famous war hero was sent here after little old me."
The lady casually leaned over the stall railings and I found myself considering the necessity of obtaining a beware of wyvern sign as she looked the three of us over with a critical gaze. "Because I wanted to check in on you. You should have seen the hell that boy would raise back in Derdriu, if you only knew half of the stories you would never rest. There was this one time…"
My wyvern let out another bold hiss and charged the stall doors roaring. The resounding shriek of temper drowned out anything Judith was saying, and she casually stepped back out of reach without breaking a sweat. Zu snorted, snapping his jaws angrily as Judith and the Professor stayed just out of range.
The lady hero shook her head as the temperamental display. "Well, you certainly have yourself a temperamental bruiser. What are you going to do there, hiss at me again? Just give me the boy you're guarding, and I'll be happily on my way."
Claude rolled his eyes as he tossed another lock of straw back onto the floor. "Can you stop referring to me as 'boy'? I am right here."
Judith crossed her arms and smirked maliciously, the corners of her thin lips creeping up in a half smile as she chuckled. "I'll continue to call you whatever I want. You're not Duke yet Boy and until then, I rank over you."
The Golden Deer shook his head and ruffled his hair, shedding the last of the straw as I reached over and picked a piece off his uniform. "Safe travels then button buck. Make sure to get back before Lorenz decides to replace you in the upcoming battle."
My house leader casually reached into his pocket and pulled out another stalk of straw. He grinned as he tapped me in the nose with it. "Sure thing Petal, you take care too alright? I'm counting on you, so make sure you come back in one piece."
"She'll be with me, she'll be fine." Byleth spoke up as Claude finished dusting himself off and exited Zu's stall.
I suppressed a giggle as he continued to shed hay whenever he walked. My wyvern sensing another lull in the conversation, headbutted me. I grabbed his horns before he could tip me over into the haystack.
I shook my head and rolled my eyes as I steadied myself. "Nice try, but we are still going for a flight."
Zu gave me a low growl of disapproval as I watched Byleth walking away with Claude and Judith, apparently still chatting. The Golden Deer waved his leave as I hurried to finish saddling Zu. The wyvern still was not keen on the idea, huffing huge gulps of air as I tried to tighten his saddle.
The sly beast stomped in irritating circles while I waited for him to take a fresh breath before cinching the saddles tight. Reluctantly saddled, reigns in hand, Zu followed after me defeated.
It might have helped that I had a dead rabbit in my bag for a snack later.
"Er, Professor, are you by any chance a bit nervous?" I winced as a solid steel grip slowly squeezed the life out of me.
Zu dropped down to ride another thermal, making minimal use of his wings as he rode the airways heading towards our destination. An unusually warm sun beat down overhead, making an otherwise chilly Wyvern Moon flight more bearable. The frigid winds licked and tickled what small portion of my skin that was still exposed, a tell-tale warning of the snowy weather to come. I found myself content in my traveler's clothes and cloak, but a large amount of my warmth came from the rider behind me.
Who was currently trying to squeeze the life out of me as my wyvern followed the airways, dipping and drifting off to the port side.
"No - I'm not nervous." The strangled voice behind me gasped.
Alarmed that something was wrong with the professor I tilted my head back to look at my passenger. "Scared of heights?"
My ribs creaked in response to her tight hold on my waist as Professor Byleth shook her head vehemently to decree that was not the case. I craned my head back a little further until I caught sight of my professor's closed eyes and pale complexion.
"Oh really? Because you don't sound fine." I raised an eyebrow skeptically as Zu drifted off to starboard to catch the new drift. The new gust caused one of his wings dipped seriously down towards the ground and we both adjusted, leaning in to accommodate the shifting weight. As we both moved in unison, I felt the Professor's vice like grip squeeze me even tighter.
I struggled to breathe as internally I was thinking it was about time to take a short break. It was better not to push Zu too hard for such a pointless reason and Professor Byleth really wasn't looking too great. I swore if she moved her grip up a little more, she would start breaking ribs.
As I began scanning the ground for a clearing or a river to set down next to, I heard a strangled gasp come from behind me.
"It's motion sickness."
Zu leveled out with a beat of his wings.
The professor's sudden confession caused me to also turn pale.
"Oh." My soft gasp of surprise was caught in the wind and was torn from me.
At the same time, I winced as a fresh squeeze from Byleth forced what little air I still retained from my lungs. I lacked the capacity to say anything more as I turned my head back forward. My gloved hands fumbled for the compass in front of me as I started looking for a landmark to rest at in earnest.
Just past the horizon there was a brilliant sparkle as the sunlight hit it and I noted our coordinates as I slowly attempted to take a fresh breath of air.
"There's a...river up head. Do you.. want to stop...there for a bit?" I laboriously tried to point to the sparkle up head as each fresh wing beat drove us a little closer to our destination.
The professor shook her head, rubbing it harshly in between my shoulder blades. "No, can we continue for a bit still?"
I struggled to pry Byleth's hands from their painful position around me, and managed to, some degree, take a full breath of fresh air. Byleth's hands gripped my shoulders with no remorse, but I was able to rub my sides freeing them momentarily from death's embrace.
"We can try to push on until noon. Then Zu will need a break. He's not built for long flights." I leaned forward and patted my wyvern's side as he turned his head back and gave a quick fluted thrill of happiness.
I called out some encouragement as the wyvern began to beat his wings again, causing us to climb higher into the sky. I felt the thermal he was going for, the wyvern's natural instincts in tune with my own as we entered a vibrant thermal stream of hot air.
The professor's arms curled back around my waist and I thought it would have been nice on any other day to feel the secure warmth behind me, then I looked down. The air current yanked us up even higher into the sky. The faintest yellow-green tones of the thermal separated us from the azure sky and I admired the drop with a sense of thrilling excitement.
The intense squeeze from behind me brought me back to reality as we neared the crest of the thermal. I gazed down at the pinpricks of trees below us and called back to my companion in warning. "Oh Fun - uh Professor?"
I barely made out the weak croak behind me as we cleared the crest. The wind began to howl as it pulled us off the top and sent us plunging dramatically down towards the ground in a sharp dive.
I let out a whoop of exhilaration and shouted back a reminder to my professor as she squeezed the life out of me. "Ahhhhhh! Just remember Professor - look behind you if you get sick!"
Despite the rocky start to the trip, be it fate, fair winds, or the fact that my favorite Professor was in tow, we made good time heading to the Red Canyon. The flight took just over a day's journey to make it to our destination. The sun well on its way to its zenith as Byleth pointed to a lake and mountain range that felt vaguely familiar to me.
"Down there, do you think you can land on that platform?" Byleth directed her gaze down to a mostly flat platform that stood directly over the middle of the canyon.
I raised an eyebrow at the unnatural protrusion and did not say anything for a moment. I took my time slowly assessing it as a potential landing zone as I directed Zu to circle the whole plateau.
Connecting to the plateau were two land bridges that branched out on either side of the platform, while the bottom of the middle pillar stood as a stout support. An unmoving sentinel watching over the entrance of the canyon. Wide, worn trails lead down on either side towards the bottom of the canyon. Some of the passages look to be blocked by large boulders or landslides and there was an unnatural amount of debris jutting out from the canyon floor.
As we soared over the jagged expanse, I had an unhealthy feeling in my gut that I had been here before. I jerked my head away from the debris littering the bottom of the canyon and focused back on the platform the professor was suggesting we land on. The area was sparsely populated, only a small amount of weeds and grass even dared to attempt to root in the rocky crevices and I judged that landing there might not be a bad idea.
The red-ish pink hues of my wyvern's wings cast a looming shadow over the landing zone as his talons scraped roughly against the unforgiving stonework. A small cloud of dust and pebbles scattered as we came to a skittering stop a few seconds after landing. Zu roared his accomplishment, relieved to finally touch down. The wyvern's shriek echoing along the silent stonework as I dismounted first.
The uneasy feeling in my gut grew as the lack of wildlife told me something was not right. I stared at the rocky walls, trying to analyze why I feel so uneasy. Nothing stood out on my second investigation and I moved to catch Professor Byleth as she dismounted off my oversized lizard.
"Thanks." The professor muttered as I helped her slide to the ground.
Byleth looked around her face as stoic as ever. One hand went immediately to her sword, the other to her hip as she turned her calculating blue gaze towards the rocking cliff face. "It's been a few months. This place doesn't seem to have changed."
I went to stand alongside my professor, following her line of sight from one arching bridge to the next. "A few months since what?"
Her gaze focused on a small protrusion on the other side of the canyon before drifting off to the arching mountain range itself. "A few months since we chased a bandit group back to this location. We cornered them just off that ridge."
Byleth gestured vaguely over to half standing stonework pillars that cast a lone shadow on the rocky cliff sides. "It was one of my first jobs at the Monastery as an instructor. It was a good combat experience for you students."
"Bandits seem to be a problem wherever you go, faced by every noble and commoner at some point in their life it seems." I acknowledged, my hands working to remove my axe from Zu's saddle.
I threw the harness over my shoulder and adjusted the straps. "You good to go?"
Byleth gestured to the sword to her hip and nodded while I tentatively checked over our overnight bags to make sure they were still secure.
An eerie wind blew through the canyon as the professor spoke. Her voice was carried away on the current and I barely made it out. "What do you think?"
"Do I think of what?" I inquired as I glanced over my shoulder to locate the professor.
My searching gaze located the professor a fair ways away, already walking away from me.
Byleth's steely unmoving gaze was locked on the edge of the platform as she muttered. "What is that..."
I followed after her, my footsteps were dogged by Zu who followed behind me without any prompting. I stuck my hand out to pet his nose as I followed Byleth's gaze, looking out over the edge and into the rocky cavern below.
A crystal-clear river ran through the center of the canyon, drifting along lazily to empty out to the deep blue depths of the lake. A shiver ran through me at the sight of those clear blue waters. I wasn't sure if it was the crisp Wyvern Moon wind or my growing nerves that made me shudder involuntarily.
I shrugged the feeling off and risked a glance back at the professor. "Sothis said something was here. Do you know what she was talking about?"
Byleth's mouth tightened, and I swore I saw her jaw clench as she shook her head to indicate she did not know.
I sighed, still not certain as to what was giving me a funny feeling either. I guessed the professor was having the same issue and let the matter drop. I turned my face into the wind letting my hair blow back as I turned towards the sun. "Well, no problem then! Seems like there is plenty of stuff to explore. Let's start with that platform over there and see what we find. We can work our way down to the canyon floor after we finish searching for answers around here. How does that sound to you?"
"Like a plan." Byleth muttered darkly as I turned toward the rocky outcrop Byleth had pointed out earlier.
The professor followed me as Zu plotted along next to me. My hand strayed toward the wyvern's muzzle yet again and he allowed me to loosely grab onto his halter.
As we walked, I cleared my voice. It normally was not like me to make small talk, it was normally Navan that filled the empty void when we traveled, but I decided to try if only to get my mind off the eerie quiet of the canyon. "I'm not going to lie. I am kind of uneasy and nervous, it's too quiet here."
"It is, lack of birds and small creatures." Byleth pointed out roughly, her mind clearly on something else as she spoke.
The professor shook her head and shrugged. "It was like that last time we were here too. The lack of natural sounds is strange, but not uncommon in areas this inhospitable."
I mulled the statement over, and it still did not sit well with me. I hung onto Zu's halter as we walked. "Wasn't the last time you were here: you were dealing with bandits?"
Byleth nodded to confirm I remembered correctly. "That's right."
"Then a human presence would explain the lack of wildlife then, but it doesn't explain it now." I gestured to the canyon. "I'd at least expect there to be birds or something here."
Byleth shrugged and pulled out her sword. "Then trust your instincts and be on guard."
I frowned as she moved ahead of both Zu and I, the sword of the creator pulsing softly in her hand as I paused and looked at my wyvern's deep emerald green eye. Zu blinked back as I muttered. "I am on guard. This whole place gives me the chills."
I started walking again and shook a stray lock of hair out of my line of sight. The soft end tickled my nose and I held back a sneeze. "Tsk, and I am the one who explores graves and ruins for fun!"
We headed silently towards the pavilion, approaching from over the land bridge. Zu's leads hung loosely from the saddle horn as I walked alongside my mount. My hand rested softly on my wyvern's halter as we both ambled along behind the professor. My wyvern chose to be abnormally docile, opting to stay close to me and that concerned me right along with the lack of natural sounds. As I slowed down to get a better look at something, my wyvern nosed the middle of my back as if to make sure I did not stray too far from the flock.
My gaze went to the ground and the surrounding area with interest as we walked. The ground caught my attention for several reasons. The smooth arching surface could have been from years of weathering, but I swore I saw the occasional, faintly visible signs of stonework. The idea that this might very well have been an actual structure in the distant past continued to hold, as a distinct lack of weeds and vegetation disturbed me. Mulling over the idea and trying to remember my history readings, I came to a halt as Byleth held out a hand to stop as we reached the pavilion.
The professor looking around, her gestures giving off a restless seeking energy that was mirrored by me. Her stoic gaze however, showed no signs of confusion as she dropped her hand down.
"Thought I heard something." She commented roughly as I leaned down and dusted off some of the path.
Dirt and rock came off in the brown cloud but looked like pretty much every other rock and pebble in the canyon. Dusting my hand off on my skirt I stood back up. "Say professor, would you be opposed to us splitting up for a bit? I want to look around."
"Rule number 1, never split the party." Byleth's blue eyes bored into me as I lifted my hand up to rub Zu's muzzle.
"I'm just going to look around here." I gestured to the pavilion area. "I promise to stay in visual range and Zu's probably going to crawl up and nap anyway. I don't want to be too far from him, it's just something about this place that is kind of strange."
The professor crossed her arms and reviewed the sight in front of us, probably considering my offer, before turning back to me. "You're looking for something. What are you looking for?"
I flinched away from my perceptive professor as I answered. "Nothing in particular. I just have a really uneasy feeling and I want to look around a bit. I'm the naturally curious type and ruins are kind of a subject of interest for me."
The professor was silent for a minute before she slowly nodded her consent. "Alright. Stay where I can see you."
I nodded to her, already leading, half being dragged by Zu to a particular spot drenched in sunlight.
Professor Byleth and I spent the better part of the second day in our journey searching the pavilion area from top to bottom. Neither of us found any signs or sources that could be attributed to making us both uneasy. My restlessness did not ease as I walked around my sleeping wyvern, lost in thought.
The brown dust from my pacing was carried away in the wind as I tried to remember what city might have been in this area long enough for nature to reduce it to bare existence. The search of the pavilion turned up nothing more than magical tile and some bones, so it was nothing of inherent interest to me. Some of the rocks showed signs of being crafted, but the structure itself was so weathered that the carvings, culture, or what kind of structure it had been was long since gone. It bothered me that I lacked answers and the professor admitted that Sothis was still sleeping despite the fact we arrived at the canyon. Everything was pretty quiet despite the incessant wind.
I continued to walk in circles around the ruins thinking as Byleth made a small shelter out of the wind - in the shadow of my sleeping wyvern. Zu did not so much as budge as the professor dug around in his saddle bags for some of our travel rations.
"Too bad there isn't much to work with, it's nothing more than some old stones at this point. It's much too weathered to tell the origins thanks to erosion." I muttered looking back at the structure as I climbed up onto my wyvern's leg to eat my dinner across from Byleth.
"Mmm…" Byleth silently munched on a hunk of bread and a sausage link, her eyes not giving me much of a clue into her thoughts.
I growled in frustration as I glared back at the pavilion and then at the rugged outcrop we had used as a landing zone. My finger rubbed the bottom of my chin as I chewed, my brain trying to play connect the dots on the clues in front of me. "If I had to guess...these might have been outposts. There's not much else here besides rocks, so farms are probably out of the question. It would be difficult to haul water up from the lake, and it makes no sense for state or civilian housing to be up this high."
The mystery continued to tease me with knowledge just out of reach as Byleth ripped another chunk of her bread off and popped it into her mouth. I raised an eyebrow at the ex-mercenary as she took a large hit from the ale skin she had packed among her belongings.
The young professor brushed the back of her hand across her mouth as she followed my gaze. "How can you tell?"
"It's...more of a hunch?" I fumbled to explain my feelings. Some nagging sensation telling me I should know more but I drew the most logical conclusions. It bothered me enough that I began considering casting the scrying spell but set the urge to the side immediately.
I was not willing to risk the implications if it backfired again. Growling I took another bite of my own bread trying to think about what I could do to find the answers I sought. Byleth seemed to be waiting for my answer however and I gestured rudely at the ruins next to us. "If you look at the placements of those pillars, you can tell they were built in strategic positions to protect the trails going down to the bottom of the canyon. Though, maybe they were merchant check-ins meant to protect the flow of goods and people into the canyon?"
"What about way houses from travelers?" The professor ventured a suggestion, but I shook my head doubtfully.
"I doubt it. If they were built for shelter, why move them more away from the rock face? Why build them out in the middle of nowhere at the peaks of the cliffs?"
"Area's change over time. Perhaps this isn't what it originally looked like." Byleth cautioned as she made a fair point.
Any wooden or organic type structure would have long since been destroyed due to exposure to the elements. I took a drink of water as my wyvern shifted his wing to cover both me and the professor from view.
The sun was still visible from within the fine pink-hued skin, but I noticed the chill of the wind was cut off as Zu stretched out his wings to sun himself more.
My professor looked up at the living tent, still eating her meal. "What about landing pads for flying visitors then?"
I shook my head and took a bite of my sausage. I looked down at the dry, tasteless bread, no longer interested in eating anymore of it. I offered the other half out to Byleth who gladly accepted my offering and tossed me her pear in return. I bit into the slightly bruised fruit, pondering along with the professor. "If that was the case, why not fly to the bottom of the canyon?"
"Maybe the updrafts made landing in the canyon a hazard." The professor looked over the remaining bread loaf curiously and then bit into it with a fevered gusto.
I shook my head, a slight smile tugging on the edges of my lips as I watched the professor eat. "Not unless the weather is really bad. I could see when storms roll through here there might be some hazard but not enough to warrant wayhouses up here….maybe they were beacons?"
"Hmm, it is a mystery." Byleth polished off the hunk of bread I traded her in record time and rooted around in her bag for more. She emerged a second later and stared at the large wedge of cheese. I watched the professor glare at the cheese as I finished my pear.
I chucked the pear rind into the rocks behind us and shrugged. "Either way, I'd really like to get a closer look at whatever's at the bottom of the canyon tomorrow."
I nodded to my wyvern who flicked his tongue out and shuffled his wings out to further grab more of the fading sun's rays.
I got to my feet and noticed Byleth tucking her untouched cheese wedge away into her bag. She drew out a box of tinder and flint instead.
I tilted my head as she got up and started looking around. There was not a tree in sight. I stretched and went to wake my wyvern so we could go collect some firewood. It was going to be a cold night if we chose not to light a fire.
I rubbed Zu's neck and worked on coaching him awake. As my wyvern struggled to his feet, my curiosity got the better of me. Leaning back, I looked at the Byleth questioningly. "Something wrong with the cheese professor?"
Byleth shook her head and responded. "No, it's fine. I was just wondering if Dimitri would like it."
Her comment was abnormal for the normal stoic professor and it successfully piqued my interest. "Hmm?"
Byleth shrugged and walked over as I pulled myself up into the saddle before offering her a hand up. "He mentioned that he really enjoys cheeses."
"Is that so? Well, you can have mine then too. Ever since Lorenz suggested that I add blue cheese into my salads I haven't been able to touch the stuff." I offered as I ordered my wyvern to take off into the sky.
We spent the rest of the day making a camp at the edge of the lake not all that far off from the canyon, trying to buy time until Sothis woke up. The professor supplied us with fresh fish for dinner that I gladly helped her clean. We staked the fresh fish on young tree branches and roasted them on the fireside until they were grilled tender before eating them.
After supper I took to chatting by the fireside with the professor as she continued to fish as the sun went down. Zu was exceptionally pleased with this development as Byleth kept tossing him her catches.
It was a peaceful evening and I found myself wishing I could have more of these simple nights. The moon rose over the mountain peaks and I lay back to watch the stars.
That night as the stars slowly drifted overhead I found myself huddled up against Zu's side for warmth. The darkness of night was fought off by the low flickering campfire as sleep clutched me tightly in a nightmarish grip. The unease of the day fed right into my dreams, earning me a restless respite. A feeling of terror and loss radiated up from the very grounds I slumbered on. The rocks echoed the memories of the past as the raw emotions wrapped their icy claws around me. The emotion and memories fueled my crest and forced me to watch the nightmarish visions from the past.
In a sleepy grey haze, I stood on the top of the canyon in the exact same place we had landed this afternoon. Only it was now pristine. The freshly crafted roads, bridges, and railing showed that the landing pad had actually been a scenic overlook to a sprawling city. On either side of me lookout posts flanked the sides of the canyon, sentinels watching over the city in a dazzling display of white marble. In the distance I could just make out streets leading out into fields of flowers and farms. In the center of the canyon, a large temple stood surrounded by a sprawling bustling city state.
The haze overlook the edges of my vision as the hue slowly changed. The bright blue sky turned a horrific blood red as a low rolling scream pierced the peaceful city. The watch towers lit up as chaos and flames quickly spread across the city fueled by black tide.
From atop of the overlook, I watched as flames overtook the entire city. The screams from the below erupted in mass chaos as citizens attempted to flee the invading army. The canyon's walls were quickly drenched red with blood. The crimson liquid dripped down the rocking cavern towards the riverbank. The normally crystal-clear blue waters swelled with the carnage, transforming into a river of hellish proportions.
I stood at the peak watching in unspeakable horror as all manner of bodies floated down the river and out into the lake.
More bodies were added to the sea of red as the living were driven into the river by the invading barbarians wielding large weapons that twitched and shuttered. The pleas from the victims begging for mercy were heard in between the screams of the dying as they were slaughtered and sent floating down stream.
Others choose to rally up and defy their fate. Shedding their human forms, pockets of survivors shapeshifted to combat the attacker. Dragons roared out, some taking to the air raining boulders upon the enemy as they were shot down by giant twitching bows. Earthbound dragons charged the incoming ranks, many dying defending those that were trying to flee the carnage. As the insurgents transformed, fighters wielding weapons of great destruction moved in to intercept them.
Sickened by the one-sided slaughter, I gripped the edge of the stone railing watching the city fall. Every last citizen possessed a familiar shade green in both their hair and eyes, marking them the same race as me. My stomach lurched as the temple fell, the statue of the goddess falling as the enemy pulled it down with malicious intent.
Out of the back of the temple several figures emerged as the flames took hold. A very familiar long-haired woman pushed several younger children behind some rubble, gesturing for them to run as she turned and transformed into a great mawed creature. The children ran up the steep incline hoping to escape the city. The older ones carried the younger ones, urging them on as the bandits attacked the freshly transformed dragon.
The appearance of a new dragon caused the battle to shift, centering more on the town. Her dazzling white scales were quickly drenched with blood as an arrow pierced her chest. She fell to the ground, shoving the shaft further inside the chest cavity, blood smearing down the wound as she coughed up blood.
I wanted to turn away but found myself forced to watch the scene unfolding before me. Bile built up in my throat as I followed another arrow's trajectory, this one piercing her haunches as she swiped at the attackers in front of her, eyes blazing red. I followed the arrow and spotted a huge bow twitching and glowing in an ominous red light as an even more ominous red haze grew from the burning village.
The fire spread, columns of smoke poured out into the skies obscuring the archer as he readied another arrow. I wanted to call out, to say something, anything, as I watched the dragon fall. As I felt the tears start to slide down my face another ominous glowing red light caught my attention. The light continued glowing and pulsing like a living thing through the smoke columns to reveal a row of spears blocking off the tops of either ramp. The spear holders proceeded to slaughter anyone who dared to try to flee the city.
I frantically began looking for the children as a manic laughter cut through the terrified screams and my gaze cut to a column of smoke. The darkness shifted in the wind, unveiling a huge man covered in tattoos and scars wielding an entirely too familiar chain sword.
The red pulsing eye of the sword lashed out slaughtering every man, woman, and child in its wake. The bandit turned; its eyes glowing red as it looked straight up at me. I swallowed and stepped away as a bolt of brilliant white light streaked out of the sky exploding on impact.
The land erupted in a flash of light, dust plums and heat radiating from landed wiped out the entire landscape. I let out a shriek as the blinding white light cut all my senses off besides a radiating pain lancing from the center of my back.
Then everything went dark.
I bolted upright in a cold sweat to find the fire had died out completely while the professor slept soundly in her bedroll a few arms lengths away from me. The sword of the creator clenched tightly in her grip.
The sight of the weapon brought back all the horrors I had just witnessed as a fresh wave of nausea boiled in my stomach. The sight of the very weapon I had just watched annihilate my entire race was within arm's reach. The sight of the white beam of light annihilating everything caused the pain in my back to flare as the events of that horrific vision rolled through me. I struggled to get out of my sleeping bag.
Ripping the blankets off I ran for the edge of camp.
Author's Corner -
Hello again! Welcome back for another chapter of Lili's adventure! This week it seems that she is making good on Sothis's warning at Byleth's prompting - and the pair are heading out to the Red Canyon. It seems though that they were a little slower flying then normal and the trip is going to take a few days because of Byleth's lack of experience flying. And - to top it off - it looks like she's a first time flier and is subject to motion sickness! ( Easy enough for Lili to fix - she just needs to land and find some herbs for the professor to chew on while they fly. Not really something I thought required a scene but a fun piece of my thought process.)
We also see Claude is disappearing for the weekend - so the weekend before the Battle of the Eagle and Lion seems to be a very stressful time for everyone. One has to wonder what's eating at Byleth to have her leave off her combat plans with the Blue Lions - but I suspect she gave them all homework and will review their ideas upon return. At the same time it looks like Lili is flat out avoiding her responsibilities for the weekend, she does not wanting to deal with Lorenz trying to re-plan everything while Claude's away. So it works on in her favor.
We also meet a war hero from the Alliance named Judith and she's quick to bully Claude around - teasing him and getting after him as he drags himself out of bed at first light. (Apparently the Golden Deer was up quite late - lets hope Judith lets him nap on the ride home.) Lili is quick to uptake on this and finally gets back at Claude for calling her Petal - calling him a Button Buck! (For reference a button buck is a very young male deer coming into its first set of antlers.)
Then we have the exploration - I plan to wrap up the second part of the Red Canyon episode in the next chapter - but for now we have a rather eerie exploration. Lili's frustrated that she cannot identify the ruins because they are so weathered, and Byleth is unsettled. Que in a rather peaceful night - the professor earning some good will with Zu as she feeds him fish and the group settles down for the night.
Only for Lili's crest to activate while she's sleeping - and she figures out what actually happened to the canyon. She wakes up terrorized and sprints for the edge of camp - only for me to end the chapter!
Wooo what a ride for chapter - got some wyvern action, some Golden Deer action, some alone time with Byleth, and some pretty heavy lore.
I'll drop a little more lore down here just to kind of explain the logic on the vision Lili got - just to clear some things up. The woman protecting the kids near he temple was her mother. Not to be confused with Rhea - which would make Lili one of the children running. She's a younger generation nabatean like Flayn and is about the same age - placing her at the attack but she would be more of a teen/young adult. She's still considered very young compared to Rhea and Seteth. So Lili was in charge of trying to get others to safety - much like a teenager would try to help young toddlers.
So I think thats enough for today lots of tasty little treats in this chapter so I hope you enjoyed it! If you did I'd really appreciate a like/Kudo to tell me I am doing a good job. (If you have already done so thank you so very much your likes and comments really help to motivate me to push out new chapters and it warms my heart to know people are enjoying the adventure.) Also - remember to follow/bookmark if you don't want to miss another chapter! I try to release every week or so - so make sure to check back in soon! Thank you!
