Destiny (Volume I: Shur'tugalar)

Chapter Five Part XLII (ED)

"Will wards work against them?" Nicholas asked, his tone worried.

For a while, Malt answered as they gently coasted after the unicorn. Of course, windshields work best on them, which is our only defense against a girœdiań.

"Ah, I remember now!" Nia piped up. "Girœdiańar are griffins, created by Zeus from two of his favorite creatures: the lion and the eagle. They usually dwell on the Grasslands, and only leave to mate and roost on the mountaintops."

We can't hunt those things down, Vindrlíf warned, his voice uncharacteristically serious. They are ruthless predators, and for a large group like us to wander into their den is a death wish.

"Then what do we do?" Nathan asked, stubbornly refusing to give up. "We have to get them all today!"

Gedwëy called out, "Seven hours, forty-three minutes, and twelve seconds counting. We have more than enough time to go on foot, which would be much safer."

"She's right."  Sighing, Niaomi ordered, "Let's fly to the edge of the Grasslands. From there, we'll have to go on foot once more."

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The memory finished playing, and in the present Nia narrated, "True to my word, we all landed near the beginning of the prairies and started walking. I rode on Bramble as the rest followed on their pegasi, and we searched for hours, looking for the dangerous girœdiań."

Another image formed in the mirror, showing the five kids riding on the prairie. Dewdrop followed beside them, frolicking through the grassy plains as the rest scanned the sky anxiously, alert for any sign of a griffin. The weariness was starting to show on their faces. Ruyi was reclining on Bramble's neck, sunbathing, as Ion practiced flying alongside Gedwëy.

As the fairy stopped the bird from tumbling out of the air once more, she said to the group, "Five hours, fifteen minutes, and twenty-two seconds counting."

And still no sign, Vinny grumbled, swatting his tail at some pesky flies.

"I'm so hungry," Rose moaned, laying sprawled across Vissa's back. "Those berries were hours ago."

"When we make it into the forest, we can find some more plants to eat," Niaomi said, trying to put on a cheerful face. But Eragon saw her head starting to sag as they walked on. Cloud, uninhibited by a rider, pranced in front as her sharp eyes roamed the sky.

Ion forgot to flap his wings and pitched towards the ground once again. Gedwëy missed him, and he was falling when Nia reached out and snatched him from the air. She stroked the surprised baby bird gently as she looked at the vast expanse of Grasslands. The mirror shifted to show the view; miles of plains stretched onwards, only part of it ringed by the nearby forest.

Race you guys to the forest! Dew called, wagging his white tail as he darted in between the horses' legs.

You're on! shouted Bramble, and Niaomi reached out to grab Ruyi as the trêuräz shot off. The darksnake woke, hissing in surprise and anger as she slithered into the pouch the girl had made for Dewdrop. Ion peeped in terror while Nia clutched tightly to her unicorn's mane as he finally came to a stop at the edge of the forest. The mistwolf arrived only moments later.

I won, Bramble bragged, prancing around.

Gedwëy, who'd managed to grab his ear before he'd taken off, scolded him fiercely, "Your foolhardy race separated us from the others!"

Looking back, he noticed that they were now several miles in front of the rest, who were a white splotch on the horizon. Bowing his head in shame, the unicorn whispered, Sorry.

Bad hrruww, Ruyi said, voice extremely irritated as she poked her head out. Ruyi was tired. Hrruww woke her up. Before he could apologize again, the sundavrilnú hissed and disappeared back into the pouch, the touch of her mind withdrawing from the others.

Patting Bramble, Niaomi told him, "It's fine, don't worry about it. The rest will catch up." Fastening the pack with Ruyi to the trêuräz's neck, she continued, "I'm going to explore a bit and see if there's any food nearby."

"I will keep an eye on Blakkar and Ruyishewa," Gedwëy said, glancing at the two.

A sulking Dew came up to the girl, muttered, I'll come. With a slight smile, she headed off, Ion perched again on her shoulder and her mistwolf trailing behind her as they dove into the forest.

"I'm glad we decided to wear brown," she said as another clod of dirt managed to maneuver its way onto her shirt. Dewdrop just grunted, still mad at his loss. Shaking her head at the surly wolf, Nia turned to survey the forest's shrubbery. She found a blackberry bush a few feet away, and hurried towards it excitedly. Ion chirruped as well, fluttering his wings.

"Finally, some food." Niaomi began to pick the berries, handing some to Ion as she filled her other pack.

Dew looked on, a bit revolted. How can you eat that?

"Omnivores," came the answer as his bondmate kept picking. Grumbling to himself, the pup wandered away from the group, the mirror keeping track of him as he scurried off. Suddenly, he yipped as he lost his footing on a trench. Dewdrop rolled down, yelling as he tumbled to the bottom and bumped into a log.

Ow… he groaned as he stood on slightly shaky legs.

"Dew!" Nia's voice called from a distance.  "Are you okay?"

Fine! he shouted back. Just fell down a hill - watch out for it! Turning, Dew limped onto the log to survey his surroundings and gasped.

Just a few feet away, a lump of fur and feathers lay on the ground. At first, Eragon thought it was dead, but then he saw the slight movements of breathing. The creature rose to its knees, the large, white eagle head spinning around to focus on the mistwolf. Clacking its sharp yellow beak, the girœdiań flapped its tawny wings, which were as long as the pegasi's. The head feathers darkened into the light brown fur of its body, which was about the size of an adolescent lion, though with longer legs that made the griffin stand about as tall as the pegasi.

Umm, Nia? Dewdrop called quietly. The girœdiań still had its amber eyes fixed on him with a bird of prey's laser intense focus, watching the puppy's every move. I should probably tell you that there's a -

A shout cut him off, and Niaomi skidded into view behind him, her hair now a total mess. Wincing, she reached up to tie it into a semi-decent ponytail, exposing the Dragon's Kiss. The girœdiań hissed at the unexpected arrival, cawing as it tried to flap its gigantic wings.

The girl noticed the beast as it fell back to the earth, panting in pain. Looking carefully, the viewers could see that one of the griffin's wings was bent backwards painfully, most likely broken.

"You poor creature," Nia whispered as she edged forward carefully. The girœdiań shrieked in defiance, forcing the girl and the mistwolf to quickly duck behind the log as the air vibrated, turning the tree to stone. "Eka aí fricai…I am a friend!"

The griffin halted its cries, and its feathers smoothed as she edged closer, still whispering soothing words to it in the ancient language. Gently, she touched its wing, assuring the creature that she was going to heal him (for it was a male). He shuddered as Niaomi began the spell, mending the broken wings and fixing damaged feathers.

Standing, the griffin tried out his wings, and cawed in delight as they worked. Moving to the girl, he bent and touched her mark with his beak. A light shined forth, and Eragon felt the girœdiań's presence in his mind.