Tales of Cubonia

The Golden Hourglass 13 - The Escapee pt III

When Broderick climbed onto Adhemar's back the night Queen Annelise was due to give her speech, he was more than just a little apprehensive about the whole affair. He had donned his best sneaksuit, an outfit woven from fiber that made the wearer virtually invisible and inaudible, but he doubted even that would help him much once he was inside the castle. Sneaksuits worked best in low lighting and there didn't promise to be much of that inside Castle Andora. Still, he was confident he could get the job done, it was just going to be a little more difficult than he would have liked.

"Are we sure about this?" asked Adhemar uncertainly as he eyed Castle Andora awash in light against the dark background of the night.

Broderick ran his fingers through the gryffon's thick tawny fur and grabbed hold tightly to balance himself for takeoff. "I've never been more uncertain of anything in my whole life," he said honestly.

"Perfect," Adhemar said sarcastically. "Up and at 'em."

Adhemar gave his slate gray wings a massive flap and they lurched into the air. Broderick watched as his friend's monstrous lion's paws got further and further away from the roof of The Royal Scepter Inn. He felt suddenly exposed as they moved past the tops of the buildings surrounding them and into the open night sky over Old Andora. All it took was one curious guard to look up at the wrong time and their gooses would be cooked before the oven was even preheated. Once they were at an acceptable height, Adhemar extended his great eagle neck and wings and shot forward toward the castle. Broderick lowered a pair of goggles to keep the wind from hindering his vision.

Below them, the city spread out like a great spider's web of masonry. It would have been a rather beautiful sight had either Broderick or Adhemar taken the time to look. As the castle was fast approaching, neither could be bothered. Adhemar banked to the right and set himself on a wide, sweeping arc around the castle grounds. They had to maintain a distance that was far enough away so as not to attract attention, but close enough to capitalize on the time they had between Queen Annelise's speech and the fireworks display. It was a short window that allowed very little room for error.

Broderick retrieved the spyglass from his satchel and pointed it toward the castle. The Queen and most of her family had already seated themselves on the balcony where the Queen would make her speech. When Princess Alexandra and her father emerged from the corridor behind the rest of their family and took their seats, Broderick knew it was nearly time.

"Close in," he yelled over the roar of the wind, still gazing through the spyglass. "The queen is about to start."

Adhemar obliged and brought them in close enough to hear the proceedings.

"My good people," Queen Annelise began.

The blast that followed shortly after nearly knocked Broderick off of Adhemar's back and sent Adhemar plunging from the sky in fright. The flash of royal blue light was enough to tell Broderick that things had already veered desperately off course.

"What do we do?" Adhemar asked casually.

Broderick took a moment to regain his wits. "There's no choice," he answered. "We have to go in. Just don't get us blown up."

Adhemar sighed heavily and pulled his body in tight, making a beeline for Castle Andora and their entry point. Had they not been smack dab in the middle of it, they would have been able to see what spectacular display of fireworks was going on around them. Truly, Alastair Meyer had outdone himself. Adhemar dodged colorful blast after colorful blast adeptly as if had been navigating through fireworks blistered skies his whole life. Broderick had to hold on much tighter than normal to avoid being knocked off by the concussive blasts.