The Battle of Euangelion: Reborn

Chapter 15: Across the Tenebris Sea

Angelo, Lucas, Mateo, and their griffons went on a parameter check before signaling the volunteers. The forest covering the river Nebula was pronounced clear shortly after.

Once again the whole party consisting of five human recruits, three Riders, and three griffons would board their trusty raft during the early hours of the morning. This time they only took the necessities which included water containers filled with Sanctum's finest, bags of the famous Euangelion bread, Accumulo fish, and tools to help them climb and mine mystery artifacts. They were instructed to leave their weapons behind though they also witnessed earlier as Lucas had stuck a couple of human-sized daggers into a bag that was now on the raft with them. Again they were assured it was only as a precautionary measure.

The five volunteers also underwent a wardrobe change. In place of the beige and khaki sets, they were now covered in black and gray overalls. This was intended to help them blend with the seawater and the murky mountain they'd soon be tunneling. It was finished off with an accessory that reminded each recruit of the potential risks involved: a leather breastplate.

The volcanic generators weren't yet emitting any thermal waves and thus immense cold again required the insulation offered by their thick ponchos.

They sailed until they reached the estuary where Nebula's waters became one with the seawater that channeled to Stridor. There Lucas and Mateo proceeded to pull what appeared to be a midnight blue sail over the entire raft in an attempt to cover all of the voyagers thereon. Only a small opening was allowed in front for navigation.

"Alex, you're on my foot," Aurelia moaned.

"Sorry, but I can't see anything."

"You don't need to see anything," Angelo muttered from the front of the raft.

"Can you see at least?" Rufus asked him.

He didn't respond.

"Is he glowering at me? I can feel him glowering at me," Rufus said.

"Oh he's glowering at you," Lucas confirmed.

"This is going to be a long trip," Mateo sighed.

Alexis and Dominic again shared Draco as a heating source, nestling under each of his respective wings. Aurelia scooted into her old nook underneath Aquila's right wing, and Rufus and Phoebus kept playing an audio version of Rock-Paper-Scissors to see who would end up with the griffon Leo.

Leo didn't respond well to long grounded journeys and would soon begin to express his frustration by becoming a bit of a nuisance. During their initial journey to Nullius Terram, he kept pecking at Phoebus' ear, scraping his skin, pulling his hair, and tenaciously nudging him with his beak to be petted. He therefore reasoned it was just fair that Rufus got paired up with him this time around.

"What about you sit next to him now, and I sit next to him on the way back?" Rufus offered.

"What time do we plan to come back?" Phoebus asked the Riders.

"Around sunset," Mateo said.

"Then no deal," he declined Rufus' proposal.

"Okay, rock paper scissors, again. Last time."

"No, you'll just use made-up words like srockers and papriss again."

"I promise, this time it will be fair and square."

"Fine. On three: one... two ..."

"Paper," they both said simultaneously. And then "rock" was cried in unison.

Finally, Phoebus finished by yelling "scissors" alone as Rufus just yelled "Ow!" in pain after Leo had bit his finger.

"That doesn't count!" He petitioned.