Questing Sucks! Book II (13 page)

The gryphon showed no sign of slowing down, but Cah’lia remained strong, unwilling to show weakness to this creature. For whatever reason, it seemed more interested in killing Sehn than in killing her. Yet she knew that if she could prove her worth, it would become subservient to her, at least until it felt confident enough to challenge her again. Of course, this was assuming the old tales of gryphon-taming were true. She squeezed tightly around its neck so that the beast wouldn’t attempt to fly away. Gryphons, at least according to rumor, refused to take flight without a full breath of air in their lungs, so Cah’lia pressed with all her strength, hoping to cut off at least a little of its oxygen.

The creature ran out of the forested area and down a wide, ice-covered slope. Due to the traction given by its sharp talons, it was able to charge without sliding. But with each step, Cah’lia could sense the beast weakening. It must’ve realized that, no matter how hard it bucked and struggled, Cah’lia wouldn’t remove her arms, which she tightened even more around its neck.

Finally, the gryphon began to give. She could hear its breathing rapidly increase—it was panting! In another few moments, Cah’lia prayed it would stop completely, and then she’d be recognized as its master.

The charge turned into a jog, then a skip, until finally, it moved at just faster than a walk—before falling flat on its face with Cah’lia still on top of it. She grunted and slammed into the
creature’s
back as the two landed with a thud on the icy ground. This was odd. Why had it fallen? Cah’lia took her face out of its fur and looked around. Sure enough, Sehn stood a few feet away with his foot extended. He had tripped the beast.

“Hah! I won! I defeated it!” he shouted in victory. “I have bested this animal.”

Now it was Cah’lia who released a growl. “Nonsense! I just spent the last ten minutes fighting this thing. There is no way you’re taking the credit for this, Sehn.”

The creature rudely jumped back to its feet, shoving Cah’lia off and causing her to roll over and onto her back. Then it walked up to Sehn and sniffed his fingers, purring. “Mooph,” it whispered affectionately. “
Mooooooph
.
Mooooooph
.”

“Good, good,” Sehn said. “Come to me, my minion. Obey your new master.”

“Why isn’t he moophing for
me
?” Cah’lia whined. “This is…how can this…?”

Sehn looked down at Cah’lia and rubbed his chin, as if in imitation of a battered, yet victorious warrior returning home to his wife and children after a long, bloody campaign.

“Someday you will be as strong as I, Cah’lia. And on that day, perhaps you may tame your own gryphon. This, Cah’lia, is the path upon which a warrior treads. The path that the Great Sehn was destined to follow. The path of overcoming hardships and embracing one’s heart!”

Sehn turned around and walked away, the gryphon following. Cah’lia stared dumbfounded as the thing nuzzled against Sehn’s leg, acknowledging its defeat. She knew she should be happy that they’d acquired one of the
animals, that
they now had a means of travel to Magia, and that her homeland might yet be saved…yet her blood turned cold and her mouth filled with venom at the sight of Sehn leading away his new “pet.”

“Mooph!” she shouted, lacking any other word to adequately express her fury.

I can’t believe I’m thinking this
,
but I think Sehn just challenged me to a war of some kind
.

The screams were louder this time. Shina hugged her knees to her chest, shivering against the back wall of the damp enclosure. There was a single window, wider than expected of a prison cell. It was cruel, really. During the day, inmates could see the blue sky they’d never again fly in, or the nighttime stars, which offered a glimpse of freedom, such as those that now lit the horizon.

The cell was small with just six beds and a single toilet. Thick metal bars kept Shina, Mistress Orellia, Kellar, and two other mages who’d accompanied them to Hahl from leaving. There were several dozen such cells in the narrow hallway leading to her new home—
her
cage
.

Mages banged their fists against the bars. They shouted threats at their captors, who roamed the hallways with keys jangling from their belts. All the inmates held in what Shina had come to learn was called “Block K” were part of the group that had saved Hahl, the group led by Mistress Orellia.

For the second time, Shina twitched as the sound of Kellar’s voice filled the narrow hallway. How much were they hurting him? Shina felt hands rub her cheeks, and she looked up into the face of her mistress.

“It’ll be okay, Shina. I promise.”

“How can you say that, Mistress Orellia?” she asked. “We’ve been branded heretics and condemned to life in prison. And for what? Because we performed good deeds and saved thousands of lives on both sides of a horrible conflict?”

Mistress Orellia released Shina and stood up to her feet. She walked to the end of the cell and grabbed the metallic bars, peering through them and out into nothing.

“I understand your sadness. I know something is wrong here, Shina. Something is very, very wrong. Yet, we can’t lose faith now.”

“You got that right,” one of the two mages said. Shina recognized the woman’s face, but she didn’t know her name. “We should not be treated like this. Since when can a single Archmage imprison dozens of mages without a trial? This is preposterous! You are most certainly correct, Mistress Orellia. It is far too soon to give in to our wrongful imprisonment.”

Orellia nodded. “Where there’s a will, there’s a way—we just need to find it.”

A man coughed into his hand. Their fourth cellmate, a scrawny, bald, and elderly mage, offered an apologetic raise of the eyebrow to Shina and the other female mages.

“Ladies,” he began, “I’m afraid I must use the…facilities. Please, turn away if you will.”

Shina growled and faced away from the man, though her anger wasn’t directed at the poor old guy. No, it was for the audacity of locking men and women away together with no privacy and offering but a single toilet. Such cruelty was undeserving of Shina, the Lightning Goddess! She breathed a silent prayer and hoped the man wouldn’t make too great a stench.

Her thoughts quickly turned back to Kellar, as his agonized cries filled the hall yet again. Why wouldn’t he just cooperate? Shina decided to have it out with him again as soon as he returned, which wouldn’t be long now. Guards would come by the cell each night and take Kellar away for an hour or two before bringing him back. He’d return looking haggard, but more or less unharmed.

As expected, she heard uneven steps down the hallway. Kellar limped into her view, a wicked grin on his face. Orellia backed away, and Kellar waved to Shina while the guards fumbled for their keys and opened the cell door. One guard shoved him inside, while the other spat on the floor. Then the two guards walked away, mumbling amongst themselves.

Shina ran forward and wrapped her arms around him. “Kellar! You’re okay. Thank the Gods, you’re okay.”

Kellar sighed weakly. “Of course I’m okay.”

Shina placed her hands on his shoulders and pushed him back a little, forcing him to meet her eyes. “Why do you keep allowing this?”

“What do you mean? It’s not like I’m asking to be tortured.”

His eyes, nose, and lips were all bruised and swollen. A bit of blood leaked from his forehead, and his arms had similar-looking bruises. Though the damage wasn’t fatal and the injuries were unlikely to be permanent or leave any scars, they all looked quite painful.

“That’s not what I mean!” Shina snapped. “All you have to do is tell them what they want to know. Nothing we’ve done was ever meant to be kept secret, and everyone here’s talked except for you, which is why you’re the only one they keep questioning. I mean, there’s nothing you can possibly tell them they don’t already know. Kellar, the more you refuse to talk, the more they’re gonna think you’re keeping secrets from them.”

Kellar grunted. “Oh yeah? Well, too bad, then, because I’m not telling them anything.”

“But why? You’ve got nothing they don’t already know.”

“Because,” he said, “I refuse to break. They can torture me all they want, but I’m not saying zip.”

Shina gave him a sour look and crossed her arms. “You and your stubborn Drashian pride. You’re gonna get really hurt one of these days.”

Kellar chuckled. “Maybe I like pain.”

Orellia took a seat on the bottommost bunk bed in the west corner of the room. Shina diverted her attention from Kellar to her mistress. There was a deep sadness in Orellia’s eyes, and Shina took a moment to contemplate her mistress’s situation. Orellia had given her life to the Order, and what did she get for it in return? She and all her friends locked away in the cells, that’s what. Orellia lowered her eyes to the floor and released an exhausted sigh.

She must be suffering
,
Shina thought.
Everything she believed in has been taken from her
.

“I just wish I knew why,” Orellia mumbled to herself. “Sure, what we did might’ve been against the law, but we acted for a good reason. Even at the most severe, we should’ve gotten no worse than a whipping and a few missed meals. Instead, we’re being treated like murderers. Why?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Kellar asked.

Orellia lifted her eyes and looked at Kellar. “Hmm?”

“Think about it,” Kellar continued. “We defended a bunch of people from an army of murdering lunatics, and all without losing a single mage in the process. I think I know what’s going on here.”

“And what would that be?” asked the old man, still relieving himself in public view—not that he had a choice.

“It’s simple. Whoever this Hawk guy is, he’s made a deal with our Archmages. It’s the only thing that makes sense. Think about it for a second.”

Orellia winced. “As unwelcome a thought as that may be, I’m starting to wonder if there’s some truth to it.”

“There is,” Kellar said confidently. “It’s the only reason that makes any sense at all. We stepped on his army’s toes, and now he’s stepping on ours.”

“Stepping? I think not,” the old mage said. “More like he’s cutting our feet off. Who knows if we’ll ever get out of this place?”

Shina trembled at the thought of spending the rest of her life in this small, uncomfortable place while forced to smell old men take hour-long craps on the toilet near where she slept. It was true that she wanted to spend an eternity with Kellar, but
alone
in a large mansion on the surface of the earth, not cramped with a whole bunch of grumpy mages.

“Gods, please,” Shina chanted aloud. “If you exist, then please send someone to save us. Or send us a sign so we know you care.” Shina wanted to chuckle at her own stupidity; as if simply praying could get them out of this situation.

“Shina, look,” Kellar said. He walked over to the window and pointed. “It’s a shooting star. Maybe someone out there is answering your prayers after all.”

Shina inhaled at the beautiful sight of the white ball streaking across the night sky. Maybe it was a sign after all. Quickly, she added, “Please, Gods! While I’ve still got your attention, umm, if you do in fact send someone, please, please, please, don’t let it be my brother.”

To Shina’s horror, the shooting star flew out of sight, and there was no second miracle.

I’m sure it’ll be fine
,
she thought.
The Gods aren’t that cruel
.

“Sehn!” Cah’lia shouted. Filled with a terrible anger, she picked up a handful of snow and threw it at him. “You told me you needed some alone time to train your new minion, and this is what you’ve been doing? Why, Sehn? Why!”

Sehn grumbled something and turned over. His face was buried into the gryphon’s back. The two were cuddled up together near a campfire. By Cah’lia’s estimation, they’d slept through the entire day and night, getting absolutely nothing done. To make matters worse, the gryphon’s belly was bloated. How much had Sehn fed the creature? It snored, loudly and lazily. As the morning sun filled the sky, Cah’lia wanted some answers.

Sehn shook the snow out of his head. He sat up and rubbed his eyes, yawning. “Relax yourself, Cah’lia. I was taming the beast through dreams. It is a special Sehn-power that only I know, so quit worrying.”

“Through…dreams?”

Sehn nodded. “It already knows everything it needs to know. I sleep-taught it.”

Cah’lia crossed her arms and lifted her chin. “Oh yeah? Show me, then.”

“Show you?” Sehn asked. “How dare you question me? I demand that you take my word and believe me without question at once! I have taught this beast three things so far.”

Cah’lia narrowed her eyes and repeated, “Show me. Now.”

Sehn rose to his feet and scratched his belly. He yawned as he looked down at the gryphon. He showed no signs of hesitance or worry. Perhaps he really had managed to do something as insane-sounding as taming an animal through dreams. As ridiculous as it seemed, if Sehn had really failed to teach the beast anything, Cah’lia would be able to see it on his face. But all she saw was his usual haughty pride.

Sehn cleared his throat. “Sehn Two, wake up. I said wake up!”

“Hold on a minute,” Cah’lia said. “You named him…‘Sehn Two’?”

“Of course I did. It is the only name befitting my noble steed. Now, hush yourself while I show you the tricks I have taught this thing.”

“I’m waiting.”

Sehn snapped his fingers and the gryphon refused to stir. He threatened its mother, and it snored even louder. Finally, Sehn reached behind and pulled its tail. The gryphon’s eyes shot open and lifted its head off the snow-covered ground. “M-Mooph!” it cried in surprise. It looked around and, seeing its master, relaxed and purred. “
Moooooph
.”

Sehn’s posture stiffened and he glanced over his shoulder at Cah’lia, arrogance in his eyes. “Make sure you watch this.” He looked back at his gryphon. “Sehn Two, I want you to show Cah’lia some of the Godly things your master has shown you.”

The gryphon nodded. “Mooph!”

Sehn snapped his fingers dramatically. “Trick number one—activate!” The gryphon sprang up on all fours, expanding the wings attached to its shoulders.

“Oh, what’s this?” Cah’lia asked, watching with genuine interest.

The gryphon took off at great speed. Cah’lia watched in fascination as it flapped its wings and gained distance until it hovered above the tree line. She cupped her hands to her eyes, filtering out the bright sunlight that threatened to obscure her vision.

I can’t believe it
,
Cah’lia thought.
Sehn taught it how to fly on command
.
He must’ve had an easier time training it than I thought
,
which explains why he spent the rest of the day and night asleep
.
He probably had this thing ready to go in an hour
!

Sehn shouted up, “Tricks two and three activate—target the tree below you.” He lowered his voice and grinned at Cah’lia. “This is the best part.”

The gryphon rotated midair until it was in an upright position. Then it paused. Even Cah’lia couldn’t deny the excitement she felt while waiting for whatever amazing trick Sehn had taught it. For once, he’d come through on something.

Then her hopes were dashed, as a stream of yellow liquid fell from the sky, splashing on top of a tree and dripping down the side of the bark. Cah’lia felt like an idiot; she should’ve known better. Sehn laughed like the fool he was and pointed to the sky.

“Look at what I have accomplished, Cah’lia! I now have my own personal piss-bomber! I can’t wait to use this against Patrick the next time he refuses to surrender one of his cities to me. I call it, ‘watering the garden.’” Sehn clapped. “Excellent work, Sehn Two!”