Of Gods & Champions: Book I: Fate

XV. Fortress of Eagles

IT SNOWS ON AND OFF AS I GALLOP ARGAS ACROSS THE white sleet, heading towards our first destination.

Hours have passed since we departed, yet I feel as if we're no closer to our destination than before. The more I ride, the more I wish I could turn around and go back home. I'm not the courageous one, I never have been. And I don't want to start now.

When Argas stops on his own at the top of a hill, I lean forward, startled. That's when I see it. Large and triangular, a clay building with hundreds of sharpened tree trunks jutting out of it's sides. It has a cold, lifeless energy, distantly standing beneath blackening clouds.

I grip Argas's reins tight, and I'm tempted to turn back, quite daunted by this frightening vision.

"So that's the fortress, eh?" I say to myself, my breath clouding in the frigid air. "Time to face the music, I suppose."

I snap the reins, and Argas sets off down the hill at a tearing gallop, his churning paws turning up the snow and sleet. I shift my scabbard forward, so the handle of my sword is easier to grab should I immediately meet opposition.

We reach the bottom of the hill in record time, and I pull the reins up sharply as we skid to a halt.

The fortress is silent, an enemy withholding vast secrets from prying eyes. I stare at it, in a coma brought on by a mixture of awe and dread. It's not as if I haven't danger of a similar nature before; in fact, I'd say I've faced danger of a higher level just recently.

"Shall we?" I ask Argas, running my fingers between his ears. He snorted and jerked his head back towards the way we came. "Yeah, I know that feeling."

I grip his reins and urge him on with my knees, pushing him up into a fast run. I begin to circle the fortress, gazing intently at it to see if I can spot an entrance. The sides slope down smoothly and meets the sharp icy snow, sleet caked on the sharp angular edges.

After circling the imposing structure several times, I ride off a good bit to take a faraway appraisal of the fortress. As I glance up, I can see the very crest of it is extremely wide... wider than to be expected. I can almost see the edge dipping down... an entrance. The only entrance. A hundred feet high.

"Of course that would happen!" I groan. I carefully slide off of Argas, and slowly approach the side of the fortress which is absolutely bristling with sharpened trees. No wonder they were there; no one in their right minds would dare attempt to scale the tree.

I grip the handle of my sword, and pull it out of the sheath, shivering as it slices through the cold air with a swish.

"Wish me luck, boy," I say to Argas, and all at once I rush the fortress.

Leaping between two tree trunks, I jab my sword into the cold stone, before gripping the handle tight enough to pull myself up, and rest my feet on top of the two trunks. Once there and steady, I stop for a moment to catch my breath and gaze upwards to see the best possible path to climb.

Taking a deep breath, I carefully withdraw my sword before reaching high above me and thrusting it again, and pulling myself up. Slowly and painstakingly, I inch my way upwards, hugging the wall with my legs whenever there isn't a trunk or two to support me. Within an hour, though it feels like longer, I've almost reached the very top, exhausted and weak though I am.

I reach my arm up, straining for the edge of the hole at the top, and finally, after a few misses and fumbles, I grip it, and heave myself up, hooking my arms over the edge as I dangle there.

I crane my head to look down into the hole, which is really quite large, but I see nothing but darkness. I feel extreme dismay, naturally, since there's no way for me to climb down into it, if I can't see where I'm going or even what's down there.

I sigh loudly, and the sound echoes down in the fortress, echoing around and around, until everything falls silent. Suddenly, the entire building begins shaking, shivering and rattling as if they earth is quaking.

I glance down into the hole, straining my eyes to see the source of the commotion, and I think I see a bit a movement when all of a sudden, gigantic dark shapes explode from the hole, and I'm thrown from the fortress.

Hurtling through the air I am, my sword whistling as it falls to the ground as well. My visions blurs, and all I can see is a gigantic host of dark masses, and all I hear is a deafening shrieking.

As I near the ground, I try to move my legs so I land somewhat on my feet, but the wind turns me on my side and slams me down, hard.

My head swims, and my back aches, but I roll over and rub my eyes. Thank the Gods for the snow, something I never thought I'd say, but if it wasn't for the drift I'd landed in, I'd be dead.

I glance upwards and stiffen when I see a horde of gigantic, monstrous eagles, black as night asides from the fire blazing in their eye sockets. They swoop down towards me, shrieking loudly.

Panicked, I glance around for my sword, and finally I spot it, standing upright several feet away, piercing the cold icy earth beneath the snow.

I roll, preparing to make a run for it so I could defend myself it the first of the eagles reaches me then, it's sharp talons poised to tear me to shreds.

Defenseless, I reach for some snow and pack a tight snowball which I hurl at it, resisting the urge to laugh at the ridiculousness of it all.

It hits the eagle in the eye, but does nothing but make it angrier. That's when Argas leaps in out of nowhere, leaping on top of the eagle and bringing it down into the snow.

I silently cheer, as Argas runs over to my sword, grips the handle in his teeth, and carries it back to me, just in time for me to grab it and defend myself against the other eagles which have come within striking distance.

Blade blazing with brilliant flames, I lunged at the eagles, slashing at them, leaping to swing my sword into their bellies.

They come at me from all directions, but I swing my sword and they duck and dodge to avoid the flames.

With the sword, I'm able to fight my way through the throng rapidly, and soon I'm surrounded by corpses.

I sheath my sword and wipe my forehead, before noticing that one eagle was still alive. Close to death, yes, but still alive.

"It'll never work," it tells me, breaths shallow and few.

"Wh-what won't?" I ask, startled.

"You'll never kill the Wild, never! You can't even find him!"

"You mean," I say slowly, "He isn't here?"

The eagle scoffs. "If he were, you'd be long dead."

I draw my sword again. "Where is he?" I demand.

"Your chance of finding out dies with me!" It cries savagely, and before I can move any closer, it raises it's leg and thrusts it's sharp talons into it's chest.

"No!" I yell, but by the time I've reached it, it's eyes are vacant and it's chest still.

I pinch the bridge of my nose in stress. If only I could have gotten it out of it...

I drag branches and tiny trees over in the middle of the corpses, until there's a large pile. I then set it alight with my sword, so as to destroy all evidence of my having been here. The wind will blow it out before the day is over.

I climb onto Argas, and turn him west, towards the next location, and I ride away without looking back.