Everflame (32 page)

Two horses, each as big as the statue of Tenturo, landed and closed wings that looked like they belonged to a giant raven. The black beasts released their terrible cries at the travelers. They dragged their hooves in the snow, dipping their heads, indicating they meant to charge. They shook their manes wildly and the group could now see that their necks were not covered in hair, like the creatures of the earth. Instead, they were covered with writhing serpents, like the fell things that only the blackness can know. One of the creatures reared upon its hind legs and blew a jet of fire
, high into the air. These beasts were created to bring death.

“Retreat behind the statue!” yelled Whiteclaw, and the party ran through the snow, the
guardians charging behind them.

They ducked behind the statue as a jet of flame narrowly missed Ben. Tomas spun and unleashed an arrow at one of the beasts. It flew through the air and met the guardian directly in the throat. The arrow lodged itself deep in the hide of t
he beast, but caused no effect.

“The juice!” called Ben, the wind howling as if trying to silence him. “Put the tip of your arrow in the juice!”

Ben took the vial out of his pocket and emptied some of the contents onto the tip of Tomas’ arrow. Tomas spun, ready to release the arrow into one of the beasts, but they were gone. Suddenly, a cry came behind them and the guardians landed on the side of the statue where the group had taken cover. One of the creatures kicked Riverpaw, sending him flying into the rock wall. Tomas wheeled himself around and unleashed his arrow, burying it deep into the flesh of one of the guardians’ chest. The great thing reeled and fell to the ground. In shock, the other guardian took off, disappearing into the sky. The wounded beast lay upon its side, unmoving, yet still breathing.

“It’s not finished!” said Ben. He poured the rest of the vial onto one of his blades and ran at the beast. He climbed upon the creature, aiming to get at its head. Giant serpents struck at Ben as he walked upon the beast. Swinging his blades, he cut them down before they reached their mark. Ben reached the head and the b
east’s black eye stared at him.

“Tell your maker, the Ancients shall return.”

Ben plunged his blade into the creature’s eye, all the way to the hilt. The great beast shook and Ben was thrown from it, into the snow. They watched as its massive body convulsed and slowly disintegrated into the air, leaving no trace of its existence.

Evercloud ran to Riverpaw who was just pulling himself back up. Riverpaw was all right, with the
exception of cuts and bruises.

“Where d
id the other one go?” he asked.

“Don’t know,” said Evercloud. “But I’m sure it won’t be gone long.”

They returned to the group, keeping their eyes to the sky. Tomaton continued to pound away at the statue, which was now cracked over its entirety.

“What is Tomaton doing?” asked Tomas.

“It doesn’t matter,” said Whiteclaw. “We don’t have time to guess why he destroys that statue and it doesn’t seem as though Tenturo is coming. That thing will be back soon and we have to be ready for it. Tomas, your arrow worked beautifully. Evercloud, pour a bit of your vial over his arrow. We should be able to wait for the creature, under the cover of this statue, until it returns and decides to land.”

A cry came from the sky. The second guardian reappeared and flew high above their heads, shrieking in anger. However, the creature would not land. They waited and waited
, and all the time, the shrieks never came closer.

“The blast
ed thing won’t land,” said Ben.

“Then we’ll ha
ve to bait it,” said Whiteclaw.

“Bait it?” said Tomas. “With what?”

Whiteclaw answered, “With me.”

“No!” yelled Riverpaw. “What are you saying?”

“Tomas,” said Whiteclaw, ignoring his son’s protests, “I’m going to walk out there. When that thing comes for me, release your arrow.”

“It’ll kill you!” cried Riverpaw. “You can’t! Let me go instead!”

Whiteclaw walked over to his son and pressed his forehead against his son’s. “Everything will be all right. I must do this.” Whiteclaw backed away from a stunned Riverpaw and walked out into the snow, alone. Instantly, the guardian took the bait. The beast shrieked in the sky and dove at Whiteclaw, blasting fire from its evil maw. Whiteclaw looked into the sky and whispered at the beast. “Come for your death.”

The guardian came closer and closer to him, fall
ing like a meteor from the sky.

“Shoot it!” Riverpaw screamed at Tomas.

“It’s not close enough. The arrow won’t reach it.”

“It’ll kill him! Do it! Shoot it!”

The creature was almost upon Whiteclaw now and he raised himself up on his hind legs to meet it and roared, “COME FOR YOUR DEATH!”

“NOOO!”

Tomas released his arrow and it sped toward the guardian as the beast descended upon Whiteclaw. All eyes were upon the arrow as it flew to meet its mark, as if they were willing it to stay true. The arrow met the beast in the throat and it fell, crashing down upon Whiteclaw.

“FATHER!” screamed Riverpaw as he ran out to him.

Evercloud poured the rest of the vial upon his golden claw and sprinted out toward the beast as it lay paralyzed on top of his uncle. He reached it and slashed at its throat as tears stung his eyes. Over and over, he sent his blades tearing through the creature’s flesh. He raged in the agony of loss until the guardian disappeared to join its twin in the nothingness.

Riverpaw bent down and looked at his father. “You’re going to be all right,” he said. “You are.”

“You,” said Whiteclaw, licking his son’s face, “are going to be just fine.” And with that, Whiteclaw’s eye grew still and he passed, forever into the blinding white light.

Chapter 30:
The Gift of The Wind

The wind had stopped. The snow had stopped as well, and only the last few flakes were left hanging in the cold air like the seeds of a dandelion, looking for a new home. But there was no refuge on the mountain, and there were no words either, no touch, no sight, no smell, nothing. All was loss. They knelt around the body of Whiteclaw, wondering how the world leaves us so quickly, so finally. Kneeling there, staring at him, it seemed as though they had died in his place, even as they drew in one shallow breath after another.

Something nudged Riverpaw from behind, but he paid it no mind. His muscles weren’t feelin
g up to turning his body around to see something that, most likely, didn’t matter.

“Who was he?” asked a softly rumbling
voice.

“His name was Whiteclaw,” Riverpaw said almost inaudibly. “He was my father.”

“The memory of Whiteclaw shall live as long as my own,” said the voice. “For I am forever in his debt, as I am, also, to the four of you.”

Finally, the weary heads of the travelers turned to see where these words of kindness came from. The sun broke through the clouds as their heads turned, giving warmth to their chilled expressions. Their eyes adjusted to the light and then
, they saw the very thing for which they had been searching. Before them stood the Ancient, Tenturo, master of the wind, the great griffin. The Ancient arched his sprawling back and opened his silver-tipped wings as the last pieces of rock fell from his body.

“Tenturo?”
asked Evercloud.

The griffin blinked his large
, glassy eyes. “I am.”

The travelers looked for the statue
, but it was gone. Tomaton now stood in its place, once again inanimate, behaving as a proper statue should.

“You were trapped in the statue,” said Evercloud.

“I was,” said the Ancient. “No doubt you knew that from your time with Padre Esteban.”

“Actually,” said Ben. “We may have seemed in a bit of a rush and did not receive all the information the Padre had. We have been told the Great Tyrant’s story, but we are not aware of how the Ancients, I mean you, were driven away.”

“I see. I suppose it would only be fair of me to fill you in on that bit.” Tenturo lowered himself to the ground, the way a lion might rest itself while it watched the savannah. “Well, firstly, the Tyrant had the element of surprise on his side. We didn’t really know what was going on until it was far too late. Also, he was smart enough to ambush us each separately, diminishing the power we held as a group. Unfortunately, for that very reason, I do not know exactly what happened to the others. But in his vast arrogance, the Tyrant told me things that gave me clues as to what he did with the others. I was the last that he attacked, and he taunted me while I was trapped in stone.”

“You mean you were awake in there?” said Tomas.

“Oh, yes,” replied Tenturo. “We’ll get to that. The Tyrant drove me here with those two foul beasts that you dispatched. I know not where they came from or how they came to be in the Tyrant’s service, but when they drove me here, the Tyrant was waiting for me. He had received a power from the Earth that we were all powerless against. In appearance, it was very much like lightning, but he controlled it with his hands. He used that power to melt the rock of this mountain, and then, cast me in it, choosing to leave me as a statue. I am immortal, so I stayed conscious inside a prison of stone.

“
It was then that he began to taunt me and give me clues to his actions. He told me that I was the last, that he had already driven the others away. He told me that he would make sure that this world remembered us as evil, destructive beings, and by the time he had finished, the world wouldn’t remember us at all. He told me that he had cast Chera into a sea of fog, to remain there for all eternity. There is no sea of fog in this world that I am aware of, but he did tell me that he ambushed her in the land of Felaqua that lies south, across the sea. Chera had always been fond of Felaqua. He then told me that he had trapped the great dragon, Bahknar, just as he had trapped me. He gave no evidence of where he had trapped him, though he did say that Bahknar didn’t share the monumental dwelling that he had given me. Regretfully, the Tyrant did not give any real clues as to the fate that befell Densa. However, the Tyrant gained an edge in his voice when he spoke of Densa, merely saying, ‘he will know my pain.’ It is a mystery, what he meant by that. He continued taunting me a while longer, with nothing that was of any use, and then he left me, never returning. For ages upon ages of this world, I lived in that statue. I so deeply regretted what we had done to the Tyrant. After all, I was partly to blame for what he had become. I couldn’t feel sad for myself during my time trapped in stone. I only felt sadness for the world.

“
But then, after ages of solitude, a man found me. He came up to the statue I was enclosed in and spoke to me, not with words, but with his mind. I asked him how he knew that I was there and he responded that he could feel my presence. We spoke at great length and shared our stories with each other. To this day, he still visits me regularly. A wonderful man, that Esteban. It was his plot that brought you here. He came up with the test that gave you passage to this mountain, and it was also he that knew we could use the items found in Oldham’s Bog to free me. He even made little Tomaton over there, an ingenious invention.” Tenturo looked at the group and he could see that they were only half listening to him, their minds being occupied with something else. “Loss is difficult,” he said. “I would assume that this bear is from the Kingdom on Gray Mountain.”

“Yes,” said Riverpaw.

“Then, before I return to my home in the Green Mountains, I shall take him back to his home and oversee his burial. All in his kingdom should know of his sacrifice and herald him as a champion. I owe him that much.”

“Thank you, Tenturo,” said Riverpaw.

Then Tenturo began again. “It is of my nature to reward the four of you for the service that you have provided me. A gift, if you will. Ask of me anything.”

“Anything?” asked Tomas.

“Yes,” replied the griffin.

Ben stood up eagerly and addressed the Ancient. “Great Tenturo, my name is Ben Floyd and it has been mine and my family’s mission, for ages, to find the Ancients and return them to power. All that I would ask of you is
help in completing this mission. Transportation to the land of Felaqua, Tenturo, so that I may gain clues in how to free the great Chera.”

“Your request is quite noble, Ben Floyd. It does me well to know that I am not alone in this endeavor. I will grant your request, happily. Travel south
, to the village of Cerano, and find a Captain by the name of Nesbitt. Speak freely and honestly to him and you shall receive what you need.”

“Thank you, Tenturo,” said Ben as he bowed.

Next, Tomas stood and spoke. “Tenturo, my name is Tomas Floyd. Ben is my brother and we share the same mission. I also ask for help in that mission. Today, I failed those who depended upon me. My bow was not strong enough and my aim was not accurate enough. I do not want to fail anyone in these areas ever again.” Tomas lowered his head in shame.

“Tomas Floyd,” said the Ancient, “step forward.” Tomas did as he was told and stood before Tenturo, merely feet from the massive being. “Present to me your bow.” Tomas took his bow and placed it upon the ground, in front of Tenturo. The griffin stared at it
, and as he did, the dark, wooden bow began to change its color to a leafy green. “Now look into my eyes, Tomas.”