Mythical Book #1

Chapter 17

"M'lord, can he be trusted?" Krog asks the Troll King, as the two of them adjust their horses back into line.

"I trust him more than I trust you right now. Don't question my judgment!" Kalgun growls back at Krog.

Cronos looks up at the blazing sun, 'There's still a long way to go before we reach the Temple. But I'm content with that. They are completely clueless that I'm taking them the long way,'

The Advisor occasionally looks at the mountain range that separates the desert from the forests. The desert flattens out with some deep canyons and then turns to brush and cacti, and then eventually turns into sand dunes that end at the ocean. "Rumor is, Petnubus swarm these parts; we must proceed with caution," whispers the Advisor after it rides up next to the Troll King.

"Fire doesn't affect them, does it?" Kalgun asks his Advisor.

"Not from what legend tells us." The Advisor whispers its response.

"Centaur, where are the Petanubus?" Kalgun shouts at Cronos.

"Inside, away from the sun, it's too hot for them right now. So, unless you want to face several thousand of them, we'd better get going quickly and quietly," Cronos warns Kalgun.

"How come the heat bothers them, if it doesn't harm them?" questions the Troll King.

"Just because something doesn't harm you, doesn't mean it's comfortable," replies Cronos. 'The Petnubus haven't actually been in this area for years, but the Trolls don't need to know that.'

Petnubus [Pet-noo-bus] are magical creatures that have bodies of a man and heads of jackals. They are sworn enemies of the Felinala. Although they hate each other, they also respect each other. Lately the Petnubus have been scavenging and turning nomadic due to drought and bad crops.

Cronos and his captors begin to enter the deep canyons of the Aradinar Desert. The cliff walls made of flat red sandstone, jut and shoot straight upwards for several hundred feet, which makes it damn near impossible to climb out. 'This Troll King's obsession over the Eye of the Sun may be his undoing. These canyons have severe flash floods. If I'm lucky, one will hit and wipe out the whole bunch. Perhaps me along with them, but I'm willing to make the sacrifice to protect the temple and my family...I hope my yaga was able to run them to safety.'

***

The intrepid group soars with great speed over the rocky terrain, with the runaway yaga in the distance, creating a great dust trail behind it. Paige glances down from the Pegasus stallion she is riding on. It was given to her by one of the towns folk of Fanachcroi, to help her on the journey. Paige sees Gnor and his Shadow Stallion, 'It beautifully teleports to keep up with our speed in the air,' Paige is amazed.

Suddenly, the yaga slides to a dusty stop. They heroes swoop down and land near it. Diego puts his arms up, "Everyone stay back,"

Paige and Kalla dismount their Pegasus horses after landing. The yaga growls as it turns towards everyone, the ground shaking from its massive chicken-like feet.

"Remember, it is a magical being, just like us," Diego reminds the anxious group.

"It's injured!" Paige senses its pain and naturally steps forward to help.

Bannick quickly notices Paige's naive action. He rushes himself between her and the yaga just as the yaga lunges down to attack. The yaga stops just an inch away, as Bannick pulls up his sword holding the blade between him and the yaga. Understanding the strength within Bannick's weapon the yaga pauses, but not without giving a horrendous growl and snort of frustration. Both Paige and Kalla's Pegasus horses fly off, scared from the yaga's reaction.