Dragonsbane

Ralem Goes Griffin Riding

Chapter 20

Arianna’s Escape

        “No!” Ralem screamed, scrambling to his feet. He rushed to the hole, jumping over pillar fragments and dodging the cleaning harpys that were aimlessly trying to clean the place up. Suddenly he was met with a sheer cliff. He took a sharp intake of breath as he looked down to find the ground was a hundred feet down. It sloped at a steep angle, dotted with scraggly trees and bushes. A mountain goat was directly below him, also stunned by the recent events. It was stuck mid-chew on a blade of grass, its wide eyes unblinking. Then it promptly fell over in a dead faint.

        Ralem was not concentrated on the goat, however. His gaze was trapped by the sight of Jaydon arrowing in the sky after the wyvern, which was flapping desperately away. Ralem felt completely hopeless. He couldn’t fly after them. He couldn’t even save himself, let alone his dragon. His shoulders slumped in despair.

      Then he was poked in the back by something sharp. He whirled around to find a harpy looking meaningfully at him, its wings working hard to keep its plump body up. He jumped away, trying to find a weapon to defend himself with. But the only thing he could find was the remnant of a broken pillar. He held it over his head defensively. He knew this creature. It was the same thing that had assaulted him weeks ago over his dragon’s egg. But this harpy’s sharp white eyes belied no malice for him. No emerald gleamed on its chest.

         It gestured at him to follow it. His curiosity aroused he tentatively took a step forward, not letting go of the marble fragment, his gaze locked on the harpy. It crooked a claw impatiently. He did not want to follow this strange creature, but what was he going to do otherwise? Sulk up here, not helping the situation at all. Who knows? The harpy doesn’t have an emerald. Maybe it was trying to help him out. What did he have to lose? Taking a deep breath he started after the harpy who spun around and starting speeding down the hallway. Ralem had to run to catch up as it raced past doors upon doors that veiled who-knows-what. He saw several strange creatures lining the walls. One looked like a small, snake-like dragon with a rooster tail and legs. It had an emerald on its brown-scaled chest and a scarf hiding half of its face including its eyes. Ralem did not want to know why. They passed by several more harpys, most of them freed. But most of the animals were weird combinations of animals. Once he spotted a creature that had a face of a man, with huge fangs and a massive mane framing his face. His body was that of a lions and he had a huge scorpion tail that curled threateningly over its tawny body. Ralem stopped in his tracks, breathing heavily from his run. He did not want to get anywhere near this thing that was glaring daggers at him. The harpy just got behind him and pushed him smartly on the back, a determined expression on its foxlike face.  Then he caught sight of the emerald that was half-hidden under its full mane and cautiously stepped one-foot-in-front-of-the-other, skirting the creature as best as he could. The manticore’s red eyes followed his every move and Ralem could’ve sworn he saw a forked tongue escape from its lips. He did not need any more prodding from the harpy to escape fiery red eyes that were boring holes in his back.  

       Eventually he was met by a plain wooden door, its hinges rusty and its cover undecorated, in stark contrast to the surrounding doors. It was cracked open, revealing pitch blackness. The harpy stopped, gesturing for him to go in. He stopped by the door, feeling as if he were on the brink of an abyss of the unknown. Ralem was not one to be particularly excited about the prospect.  “Hello?” he yelled into the dark. The word echoed eerily.

      He heard pounding, like a herd of horses were galloping over stone, then, “Ralem?” The voice sounded so faint he almost thought he’d imagined it. But he knew who it was. Arianna.

       The sound amplified, the echoes making the noise intensified until it felt like an army was drawing near. Then Ralem remembered the creature that had bit him. I can’t go down there, he thought. I’ll just get eaten by the creature.  He looked around to see if the harpy would lend him any more helpful hints but it had disappeared. Well I guess I’m on my own now, he thought resignedly. The question was how he would get a light to go down there. As he pondered this thought a sudden memory assaulted his mind.