Shimmer: Journey To Death

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     I woke from dreams of giant silver cats to sunlight in my eyes. I groaned and stood up. The demon had already melted from the pure light of dawn. It was a fatal thing for demons to experience. I gathered my satchel, quiver, knife, and bow from the ground beside me. I poked Marmalade in the side, knowing she was ticklish there. She grumbled in the bird horse combination unique to a hippogriff and stood up. She went to eat the softgrass but I grabbed her head and walked her outside.
     "You know softgrass isn't good for you Marmalade. It gives you stomach aches and makes you see everything as grass. Remember that?" I scolded her. Her sigh told me she knew and remembered, thank you very much. She started on the grass and bugs as I stared at where the demon had stood watch. The black puddle of sludge had started melting a hole in the ground. I had been careful that we didn't touch it when we walked out. I munched some carrots as I waited for Marmalade to finish. She held her head up with one of her golden eyes on me as she waited for me to pour some water in her mouth. Her back hoof stamped in agitation. I had wandered into thought. I unscrewed a canteen of water and poured it carefully into her mouth. She swallowed as I drank some myself, putting away the container when I was done with the water.
     I knew there was a loner settlement called Sstsreir north of the camp and that I would get there if I followed the sun.
     "Come on Marmalade. What do you say to finding some friends to help with our little demon problem?" I asked my oldest friend. She warbled in agreement. She had always liked new people, and I trusted her judgment on anyone we didn't know.
     I walked on, the things of my dreams running through my head as I took in the scenery. The trees were green as emeralds and the sky was cobalt blue. The wildflowers looked like they were made of velvety jewels. I wondered sometimes if having the Shimmer changed the way you saw the world. No one I knew had ever described anything the way I did. I went to my dreams. I was fairly sure the icy serpent treading the sky had been a winter dragon. I wondered if any phoenixes had ever had a winter dragon as a pet. The silver cats seemed to be some sort of sphinx god in their beastia. Although now that I thought about it the cat had been a color close to silver but almost darker or more developed, and it moved like something other than liquid silver. It took a while but then mercury came to my mind. The cats had been the color of mercury. I smiled with triumph. Then frowned. What was the fire breathing lion with the man's head? Nothing like that existed here, yet the word sphinx drifted through my head when I thought of it. But that wasn't what a sphinx looked like. At least it didn't anywhere I had seen. I sighed and let it go, because we had come within sight of Sstsreir.
     It was a small settlement with a wide variety of tents and cave homes and rivers. I walked to the opening in the wooden wall and yelled to the sentry. He nodded and sent a signal to open the gates. I took a deep breath, then let it out and took another. I walked throught the gate.
     I was greeted by a committee made up of mermaids and centaurs and phoenixes and werewolves and minotaurs and a few sphinxes. I shoved the sphinx from my dream down as it tried to resurface. I smiled at them and let them show me around. Along the outside were the tents and caves where everyone lived. As you got closer to the center it changed from residential to mercantile, little stalls selling food and drink, weapons, and trinkets. In the middle was one large deep amber tent. They were explaining that the council in this camp was made up of representatives from all the races who lived here. They said they would let me live here for a while, but I told them that wasn't a good idea. They said they had heard of the demon attacks on my String's camp and knew that I was the most likely cause of them.
     Tears came to my eyes when they said that. They were willing to let me stay here even though I caused so much trouble. I smiled and said it would be safer if I lived outside. They said it would be safer for them but not for me and insisted that I stay in the walls, arguing that my old String had had such a hard time because there were no walls around it. I was still unsure, not wanting to be the cause if their danger. They decided to put it to a vote.
     They led me to a tent I would stay in until the Council met and voted. The meeting was set for that night. I walked around the camp waiting for the vote to start. I walked to the stalls, looking at the bows, swords, brass knuckles, and musical instruments. Mermaids could heal or harm with their music and singing, knitting flesh together and setting bones as well as making you dance until you died. The males used lutes, the arms of them carved in the visage of a fish, and the females used miniature harps, the tops that held the strings in place carved to look like fish. Minotaurs were melee fighters using only their fists and brass knuckles. The brass knuckles were often molded in the shape of bull skulls in between the finger holes, the horns coming off the main body if the weapon to deal more damage. Vampires were swordsmen and werewolves fought with many things like the phoenixes, though werewolves were fantastic long distance runners and very patient. Phoenixes had a knack for surviving the most improbable situations. Sphinxes were most commonly assassins, fighting with knives.
     As I was walking around I saw a flash of mercury in the corner of my eye. I turned around and saw a girl, about my age, with hair that looked like mercury flowing down her back and big, luminous silver eyes. Her long tail was the same mercury as her hair, and almost as long as she was tall. I stared, bewildered. Had I really found another god, or was she just marked with the Shimmer? Her eyes flashed and she turned, motioning for me to follow.
     She led me outside the walls. She turned to me, leaning on the walls. We studied each other gauging body language and the Shimmer we both had. Marmalade was just looking at her, making no major reaction. The girl's slit-pupiled eyes suddenly widened and she whistled. I heard a sudden gust of wind from in side the walls and a blur of mercury was up and over the wall before I could blink.
When it landed, I was astonished to see a mercury colored gryphon with ruby eyes. It had the back end of a lion and the front end and wings of a bird, much like a hippogriff. A look of relief came over the sphinx's face when it landed. Marmalade was warbling at it. Gryphons are the most common companions of sphinxes.
     The sphinx walked over to me. It was only when she got closer that I remembered that sphinxes were tiny. Where I was about 6'3", the sphinx girl looked like she barely made 4'11". She held out her hand. I shook it.
     "I am Athaleyah Diata. Daughter of the Alpha of the Glaring of the Night's Eye. Exiled for being marked as I am. Who are you, Shimmer boy?" she said, blending her words together in the way only a sphinx could.
     "I am Colla Biron, son of the Alpha of the String of the Rippling Mane. Exiled for being the cause of demon attacks for fifteen years." I said in introduction of myself.
     She smiled. "Are you a god, Shimmer boy? Or are you simply marked with false power?" She asked in her restless voice.
     I answered, saying, "I was a god for moments when I was born, but I am not now. All I can do is raise the dead and bind them to me."
     "Interesting indeed, little Shimmer boy. I am a goddess, in case you were wondering. Like many sphinx gods, I can give something to those who answer my riddles, though when I hurt others with my claws in my beastia, their blood turns to mercury. I, of course, enjoy the perks of being a sphinx goddess, such as being over twice your human height in my beastia Shimmer boy." she said this all with a laugh. "Now, I can see that you don't merely wish to live here. There is purpose in your eyes. So, what could you possibly be here for Shimmer boy?"
     I swallowed. I had known sphinxes were a perceptive race. "I came to find others to come with me as I wandered. To help protect myself from the demons. I have no wish to stay in any one place. Just to wander until I figure out what to do next. I can't do that safely on my own. Athaleyah, I can't imagine you wanting to stay here and just live and farm. Your kind wanders in life like mine. Would you like to come with me when I leave?" I said all this to her in the hopes she would come with me, because I could see she was powerful.
     She purred in delight. "I was wondering when you would ask. The people here don't particularly like me. It could be that I have too many of these for their comfort," at this taking out a sliver dagger, showing me then putting it away, continuing, "or that my Shimmer bothers them. Either way, I am willing to leave. If," she said drawing out the word, " you can answer my riddle. Then, you can ask me a reward and I will come with you."
     I stood perplexed. "Why would your Shimmer bother them if mine doesn't?" I inquired.
     She laughed. "Silly little Shimmer boy. I do not talk about my hair. I talk about my gryphon, who appears to like your hippogriff. Surprising really. Shimmer really doesn't like others most of the time. What is your hippogriff's name? You never told me."
     "Oh, her name is Marmalade. She has been with me since I was born. I trust her opinion of anyone new. She trusts you by the way, so I will too." I thought about it. All I had to do was answer a riddle. But I really was horrible at riddles. I bit my lip, not knowing what to do. "What if I can't answer your riddle?" I asked Athaleyah.
     Her eyes lit up. "It is simple really. If you mess up, I get to eat you."

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Hello dear readers! Hope you enjoyed today's chapter. I am personally a big fan of Athaleyah. Remember feel free to ask questions about the story. If you want to know more about me ask and I may answer some personal questions. I understand that my story may be confusing, so again feel free to ask questions and I will try to answer them to your satisfaction. See you next week, I think it is very interesting. Let's see if you can answer the riddle next week when Athaleyah asks Colla! Till next week. :)