£ Cat tongue £

$ Serpent tongue $

: High Mind Speech:

SPRB

Sometime in the night, the boat had made landfall, so Harry just shrank it and dropped it into the Saddle bags that he wore whenever he was outside the tent.

Or rather he had Hermione put it in the back pouch as he watched Soran pile the soiled and spoiled rags on a large flat rock.

Hermione shakingly drew out the Firebolt broom, before passing it to him.

Harry stroked it as he set it on the ground, as He fed his magic into the trusted friend. He stood, extended his hand. "Up." The broom was smacking into his hand before he even finished the word. He swung his leg over the shaft, and set his feet in the hooks.

Kyra smiled at Hermione, before she climbed up behind him. "So I just grip… here?"

"Any lower, and I will dump you." He growled over his shoulder.

Hedwig barked before she settled smugly on his left shoulder.

"And that's why I asked you to wear the vest." Hermione smiled before she took two steps… jumped … and landed on Kyra's shoulder as the smaller owl.

"Okay, dragon breath, lead the way, you set the speed, but keep an eye on us." Harry pulled the broom up, as Kyra held the Wayfynder and shouted the course corrections as needed.

Just as they got to cruising height, Harry drew his wand and threw a fireball at the pile of Grungies.

Just before Noon, Hermione spotted something on the horizon to their starboard, and hitting the back of Kyra's head, dove off, heading down to the small city.

Harry felt the shift in the balance, and seeing Mynx winging it to the starboard… he blew his Quidditch whistle, as he banked to follow… giving Hedwig the perfect launch pad to clear his head and follow her rival to the ground.

Soran pulled a loop to loop with a twist and returned to find the group heading down.

They landed behind a wrecked jeep and stowed the broom as those who could returned to human.

"How in the nine hells were you able to ride for the last six hours?"

Hermione snorted. "Six hours… that's nothing compared to his training weekends."

"Just don't tell Wood… or Angela." Harry looked a bit wide about the eyes.

"So…"

"Three point. again." Hermione snapped. As she has done this several times since the Vale… the others were quick to take their readings. "Good news, we made good time. Good enough for us to spend the night. Besides…" she rubbed her belly.

"More Chocolate." Harry slung his arm over her shoulder, pulling her to his chest before he started purring. "Where are we?"

"El Calafate." Kyra pointed at a sign they passed into town. "So how do we play this?"

"Four American Tourists walking the Rockies." Hermione smiled. "But our guys overlooked a few things in their last resupply run…"

Kyra nodded. "Males will wonder why the guys would need the supplies and the women will know exactly what is wrong."

"And no one is going to be thinking about why we are here and how we got here." Harry nodded. "Just say Soran was navigating it anyone asks."

"I feel like that was a 'Oi' moment." Soran glared at the other guy.

"That's for eating the last of the meat!"

Soran frowned, before nodding. "Accepted."

SPRB

Three hours later, the Four of them were sitting in a parrilla enjoying the feeling of being stuffed. Kyra, being older, had a crate of wine while everyone else had a coke.

Soran, being the same age as Kyra, had paused, before choosing the cola, because as he said, "Dragons and Alcohol mix like Fire and Lamp Oil."

"And he can wreck a joint." Kyra smiled, "Someone slipped him a 'sex on the beach' and he took out six of the Silver Guard before he was pinned down."

"Yeah, that was not a good week." Soran sighed. "So… what do we owe you?" He rubbed his belly.

"A favour. When I call it due, no questions asked." Harry smiled at the Drake. "Anything short of killing… I do my own killing."

Harry dug out his fold of twenty dollar bills. He counted out ten… before he looked around again. He pulled two more, before he replaced the fold of cash into his pouch.

He stood, and approached the register. He dropped the two hundred on the counter. "Best I have had in a long time." He then approached the waitress and kissed the back of her hand. "Until we meet again, señora." He left the two bills in her hand.

"You should not be doing that." Kyra snorted.

"I know… but Soran is needing a little something to help settle his stomach." Harry led the way into an alley.

Hermione groaned. "How did you know?"

"How he was treating his dinner last night. Where Kyra was sucking the bones clean, you were picking at your serving, and I was ripping it off the bone, he was savaging it from the minute it hit his plate. He was also growling and grunting. I could almost understand what he was saying."

The two Americans looked at him wide eyed. "You know the Drakon Tongue?"

$You tell me.$

Kyra was prostrate before Him. $ Speaker! Command me.$

Soran was on one knee, head bowed. $# Great One… your Orders #$

"First, stand." Harry huffed. "Second… what was that? I mean since I was young I could speak to snakes or at least hear them muttering when I was near. Then in Ninety Two… I find out that I am a speaker of the serpent tongue… but this…"

"That was no simple serpent tongue." Kyra eased up. "Now that you have spoken, I can sense the Touch of the Imperial… not blood… but it is in your blood."

"Yeah." Soran stood and dusted his pants off. "It was not a Dragon Tongue, but I was compelled to obey."

"Well, I will never use it unless I believe that you are in danger or out of control. I don't like to strip people of free will, but like I was saying about Dobby last night."

"But…"

"Looks like you will learn another secret tonight." Hermione sighed.

"And while you think it over, think about what you want for dinner tonight. Oh… look, Soran's dessert has arrived." They turned to look…

Six thugs were walking towards them. While they all had hand guns tucked into their belts in the front of their pants, they each were wielding melee weapons. A length of metal pipe, a long length of chain, a machete, baseball bat, a two by four, and the Leader had a knife with a D guard with spikes and a long serpentine blade.

"Oh Boss, you really do get me!" Soran sniffed before he was sprinting into the melee.

Harry slashed his wand, creating a wall of silence behind the fight.

Before anyone could react, it was over. The Baseball Bat and the two by four were broken. The length of metal pipe was bent and twisted.

Harry wandlessly Summoned the serpent knives to his hand, followed by the sheath. Harry tucked them under the pack on his chest, he would lock it in tonight.

Hermione collected the handguns and dropped them into the packs pouches. She dusted her hands of the rest of it.

Soran took a few swings of the machete before he worked the vest off the thug who was welding it because the sheath was worked into the shoulder section. Before he could put it on, Harry hit it with a [Scourgify].

Kyra smiled as she slung the chain across her chest.

As they stepped out of the alley, the spell crashed.

"Where is Culrebro?" A boy just short of twelve asked.

"You mean the six that went in after us?" Harry grinned as Soran exited trying to get the vest to hang right.

"Si."

"Yeah." Harry turned to look back down the alley. "Drake played a little rough with his new toys." He frowned at the boy, before looking at the sky. "So… how does Culrebro and his boys get around?"

The boy pointed at a Harley, two Triumphs, and three dirt bikes.

"And other than the law, will anyone ask questions about them dying?" Harry asked.

"Not for a couple of days." The boy frowned. "Qué?"

"Well… I have a need to travel far… fast. That Harley looks interesting. My companions might also be wanting a bike… but that would leave two and I would not like to bring trouble down on you and yours."

"Three." Hermione smiled at Harry. "I will be riding with you."

As they climbed on the bike of their choice, Harry the Harley Touring Cruiser, Kyra snagged a serpent green Triumph, while Soran jumped on the blue Motor cross Special, they found the keys in the ignition.

"Who should I say did this?" The boy asked.

"Grypho.*" Kyra grinned as she kicked the triumph over. "His name is Grypho."

"But my Prey calls me 'Jinete de la Tormenta'. Tell those who are looking for us… we are heading South. We are willing to… talk." Harry waited for Hermione to get settled, before he whistled, and Hedwig landed on his shoulder.

The three of them rode out of town, and no one bothered them.

They rode the Highway as far south as they could, before their course started to shift from proper south to more of a Southwest direction.

"Well good news." Hermione smiled as she doodled her math in the roadside gravel. "We are within two days. Give me ten feet, and point again…" the guys stepped out as Kyra stayed still. Again Hermione took the readings and did the math. "We could be there in thirty six hours if we traveled directly along this line."

"We still have three days… seventy two hours." Harry sighed, as he returned to the Bike. "We have made good time and all, but you are not factoring in my Luck and et all."

"Yes." Hermione started purring as she rubbed her head along his jaw. "I can't plan for your luck so…"

"We use the Seventy two hours like they are thirty six." Harry adjusted his pack. "We leave the road here and get as far into the Forest as we can."

"Agreed." Hermione and Kyra chorused.

"Don't I get a say?" Soran asked.

"Sorry, I thought you wanted to hunt tonight." Harry looked at the blue haired lad.

"You're a right Bastard, you speckled git." Soran glared at the Wizard. "What about the bikes?"

Everyone turned to look at the bikes.

Only the bikes were no longer there.

Hermione snickered, before burying her face in Harry's chest. His improved hearing caught her gasping the word 'Dobby'.

"Oh Shit… I hope he doesn't clean them too well. Blasted Elf is Not a GearHead."

Soran laughed as he turned to the woodland, heading towards the far off Academy.

SPRB

Headmistress Adriana watched the half dome before her. From sixty groups of three to five applicants, three held her attention.

One was a group of three griffons and two kree from the cliff cities of Africa.

Another was a Dragon blood, a Centaur, and a Minotaur from the Crete Vale.

Both these groups had used a hertasi messenger to sign the form and collect the Wayfynders.

The Last was a group of four that looked human… if you didn't look too close. Two of them seemed to be very knowledgeable about the Mundane and even navigating the mundane world like it was their backyard. The other two must have had Mundane Studies.

They were told that they were not to fly… but they took a mundane plane… until it crossed into a Roc's Territory.

Grymsythe, the professor of Necromancy, wanted to disqualify them.

She overrode him. "Use of Mundane Machines is not against the rules. The Wayfynders obscure any mundane locator. By flying, they catapulted to the head of the pack, yes, but then they jumped from the plane, and landed safely on the ground. They did not violate any of the rules so far."

"He is carrying a Broom!"

"Yes, but he didn't use it until I gave everyone clearance to do so to escape the Wrysa. And he didn't even take the full day."

"No … he stole those machines…"

"No." The Blood Magic Professor, Sanguino sighed. "The mundanes went looking for easy prey. The Boy showed that they were wrong."

"So…" Grymsythe huffed.

"We wait, we watch, and we place bets. I got the Griffin and Kree team, the Crete trio and this contested team." they were ringed in blue.

"The Wolfen trio." Grymsythe sneered "And the Karse Pintaid." He frowned as his two teams lit up in red. "I thought they were doing better than that?"

"Yeah." Adriana smiled sadly, "Your Wolfen tripped over the Chimera and had to deal with it… permanently."

"The Beastmaster is not going to be pleased." Grymsythe leered.

"Actually, he wanted to hold a Beast Splicing Class this year." Sanguino smirked. "But his contract forbids excessive breeding of spliced creatures of the higher tiers."

"Someone talking about Beast Breeding without me?" A wizened hertasi tottered up.

"The Chimaera with three tails was killed." Adriana watched the Beastmasters reaction.

"Yesss!" Bastion the Breeder hissed in excitement, the tip of his tail twitching. "That was Franklin's Folly. She ate him." His sparkling eyes turned to Adriana, "I will be holding that class after all. The usual requirements." He stepped up on a raised stool to inspect the viewing dome. "What happened to the carcass?"

"Wrysa ate it." Adriana huffed. "One of the incoming is a Legacy with a cellphone. When the Wrysa cornered them, they called mommy, and she relayed to us. We drew them Wrysa off and and allowed all to fly until Dusk."

"And the Wrysa?"

The Hunter Core and Advanced Combat Core will be sent." Adriana huffed. "That said, the location of your beast is cemented."

"Acknowledged." Bastion nodded. "Whose left." Forty rings lit up. Five were colored. "Any Hertasi?" One flashed purple. "Okay, them… and the third from the last." Both teams now had a solid purple ring around them.

It was a points game. The teams earned points by overcoming the challenges between the starting point and the Academy. The system that watched the teams also kept track of the points and challenges.

TBC

not a typo. Gryphon translate to Grypho in Spanish .