THE FARAWAY LANDS OF OZ - Book One

Part Six, Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Royal Academy of Magic Arts

RUBY

We left the next morning and as soon as we had a little snack. I was not one to waste my time with goodbyes and an unnecessary dawdling before going somewhere. It was still dark and just beginning to dawn when I picked my team up from their homes. By the time I had the two collected, the sun was a good finger above the horizon.
In contrast to how I had seen them appear and what their usual dress code looked like, it was a nice change to see Katina and Ambra in more casual clothes. Travelling gear. I too had swapped my dress for something more practical.
All of us had basically the same outfit. Pants, a shirt or pullover and a jacket thrown over. The backpacks and heavy boots topped off the look. Although the other girls' hair was short enough to keep it open, I on the other hand had to tie the long part of my hair into a loose knot. That way, one could see my shaved side.
I told them not to pack too much to waste any unnecessary space. I would be able to carry most of our provisions; I should be stronger than them as a demon. The only thing they had to bring was something to defend themselves with, a change of clothes and something warm to sleep in. Food and resources were my job.
"ADRAMAN!" I cried into the early morning, a good piece away from the Emerald City not to frighten and wake the citizens by calling the winged demon Malphas. 'The Moon of Darkness' was what I called out to him in Enochian that forced him out of the bowels of hell and to jump out of an infernal portal to take us to the Lost City.
I had once been to Paititi during my early years on this mortal plane. I think it had been somewhere around the tenth century, but I could be off some couple hundred years. When you are a two-and-one-quarter millennia old demon, you lose track of time.
Malphas was a demon shaped like a bird. It was one of the lesser ones, unable to talk. It had two pairs of eyes, a large beak and reminded strongly of a mix of parrot, raven and pigeon but had little to do with these earthly birds in matter of color and physics.
For one, it was purple and blue and for the other, the demon was about ten feet tall; the height of a building. At least tall enough to carry those on its back that could not fly but either way, flying between realms was impossible for any magical species.
We climbed onto the demon's back once it calmed down and I chanted soothing words to it in Enochian so it would accept my plea to take us. Katina needed a little help climbing atop Malphas, but it was something I was open to provide, given her condition. She had not told me but I could see that. Eventually, we were all on the bird's back and ready to take off.
"Hold on tightly, everyone," I advised them and they all took a fistful of Malphas' feathers. Thankfully, this was not Labolas. Malphas does not mind such attacks, but Labolas would have ripped us to shreds. That lion-dog would be too proud about anything we were doing to the bird right now.
"ZILDAR VPAAH!" I instructed the demon underneath us and with heavy wings, it took off. Enochian was a language broad in meaning. What you wanted to achieve with your sentence really depended on how you aligned your words within it. I ordered the demon to fly by asking for 'flying wings'.
But that mattered little. What mattered is that we took off and once we had gained a good amount of altitude and speed, Malphas spread his second pair of wings underneath the other one. His feathers began to glow a brighter purple and crackle with electricity until the lightning hit us and transported us millions of miles away and to Earth.
In an ordinary world, under ordinary circumstances and with only ordinary things going on, the trip would have been done in fifteen weeks. But since this clearly was not the case, the journey took us only half a day.
I could not have used one of my infernal portals to transport us to Paititi because of the spell me and my friend there had put the country under. A spell that did not allow any person or creature of magical descent to enter the Lost City by means of magic. Even with Malphas we could only go as far as the foot of the silver-crowned mountain. We had to do the ascend on our own as well as fighting our way into the cavern that led to the hidden city.
I thanked the demon for its favor and services, treating it with the promise of returning such favor one day before we watched it fly back into the red circle of a portal that would return it to the bowels of El Inferno.
We had to wander up the mountain for quite the time, stopping at noon for a quick lunch break that still was not enough for most to replenish their reserves. Especially for Katina, the journey was a struggle because of her sclerosis. At some point, she was hovering beside us instead of walking, even though flying was not her biggest strength either. At least it was easier for her than walking.
Ambra could keep up with me and my seemingly endless stamina. As a Vampire, not only her senses were sharpened but also her general capabilities increased. We continued until the sun began to drop from the sky, not talking at all, only dropping occasional comments on weather and wildlife.
In front of a little crease inside the mountain and almost at the top, I dropped my backpack on the floor where it landed with a dump and low thud. We were long past the point of trees growing around, rendering the tight crease the only place for us to build a fire and set up camp for the high altitude made the weather up here more unpredictable. We were able to see the endless plain of the Amazon rainforest beneath us like a body of water one could dive into.
"We're camping here," I snapped at the others in a firm and bossy voice, unintentionally. I had tired a little myself and was quite hungry, I have to admit. I doubled it down on my harshness when I continued talking and sounded more like myself. "It is still a long bit to Paititi, and the night is breaking upon us. We should set up fire and have some rest..."
Though the others only thought about objecting to the break, I knew every single word they had in mind. But it mattered little to me what people thought of me. I could easily overthrow them one on two but that was not why I had taken them with me.