Chapter 37 - Riverside

The river rushed by, the water clear and chill as it meandered its way from its mountain tributaries. It crashed over boulders hidden below the surface, its current tract tumultuous and of the rapids before reaching the calm paths downstream. Tiffaniel reached out a hand, standing atop a boulder, waiting for her twin brother to turn. Groyven reached up, assisting her as she dropped to the step below. Her raven hair hung half over her eyes, the moisture from the spray of the rapids making it stick to her face. She looked back at the gryphon with a glare, which was instantly returned. She huffed to herself in frustration, tossing her hood back and shaking her hair out. Reaching into a deep pocket in her robes, she drew out a leather thong. She flicked her hair back and tied it off in a well-practised manner before pointedly glaring back at the gryphon again, earning her the sound of Hendosphyre snapping his beak along with a short shriek.

“Both of you, stop arguing!” said Groyven in an exasperated manner.

Tiffaniel turned and took his offered hand, balancing herself before dropping to the next slick boulder.

“I don’t want to hear it, Tiff.” he said sharply, addressing her irritated expression.

“The feathered beast could have glided us down.”

“Too much risk, Tiff. Flying is not riding.” Groyven explained as he climbed down to the next crag of rock, he looked back up at her, “The feathered beast is protecting us. On the rocks we are harder to track.”

Again the sharp click of the gryphon’s beak, agreeing with his words.

“Something happened last night while we slept, he wants us to be cautious.”

Tiffaniel stood resolute, looking down at him, “Cautious Ven, really? I don’t see a difference in risk, we break our necks climbing wet rocks or falling from his back in flight.”

Again a shriek, louder this time as Hendosphyre climbed down beside them.

Groyven shook his head, looking up at his sister, “Tiff, look, it is not much further.”

“He could have glided us down one at a time, same risk, no tracks at all.”

Another indignant shriek rang out as Groyven shook his head, he looked over to Hendosphyre, “Go, we are almost at the bottom.”

The gryphon clicked his beak again and glared at Tiffaniel once more for good measure before jumping off the rocks, unfurling his wings, catching the air and gliding down to the flat rocks at the rivers edge a little distance off.

She stood watching Hendosphyre, “See, so easy! Why not with us on his back?” she said.

“You know why Tiff, stop complaining.” he offered his hand again, “Even I am concerned, Tiff. The wolves, their calls are getting closer.”

As if to accentuate his point, they could just make out the cry of a wolf echoing down the valley and over the rush and bubble of the river. Groyven looked at Tiffaniel as her eyes widened. She quickly took his hand and jumped down, steadying herself. She looked down to see Hendosphyre standing riverside, his attention on the distant call, he turned his head and looked at them, letting out another shriek.

“I know, we heard it too. We are coming.” Groyven called back to the gryphon as Tiffaniel nodded agreeably.

He met her eyes, “Can we stop the…”

She held up a hand, stopping him, “Let’s keep moving.”

Groyven smiled and shook his head at her sudden change while he dropped down to the next ledge.

Hendosphyre settled himself and watched the children descend the rocky outcropping beside the rapids and small tumbling waterfalls. From here on, it was mostly a mixture of shale and flat sheets of rock along the river. By mid afternoon they should be further into the valley, where the banks would give way to course river sand and pebbles.

He turned his head, the dragon’s wreckage now behind them. They had crossed the path of destruction earlier in the morning as the children rode on his back. Before they had reached the rapids they had made quick progress. But the words of the woman with strange eyes from the night before had deepened his concern. Her words were a warning. He rested his head on his crossed claws as he watched the children near the bottom of the rocks. While he could remain at their side, after midday he intended to retreat to the amulet to recover. It was beyond his understanding, just that within a short time, any hurts were healed, hunger was quelled, and fatigue was banished.

He could feel it in the air, he had been hearing the occasional howl since they arrived in this place. Though, this morning below the ruins where they had slept he had come across the scent of danger. A lone wolf had scouted as far as it dared, silent and wary of the sleeping gryphon in the night. Tonight, under the cover of darkness the children would need his strength and protection.

Groyven held his hand out to Tiffaniel as she leapt down from the last step of rocks. The howl that they had all heard, coupled with Hendosphyre’s caution had shaken her. She looked across the river to the valley they had traversed since yesterday morning with trepidation. Even she had the sensation they were being followed, or at worst, hunted. A cold chill surrounded them, her wet hair was adorned with ice crystals and steam was rising from her and Groyven’s breath.

“Tiff… Tiff! Calm down.” Groyven’s words pulled her back to the present, “I am worried too. But if we can keep moving we can make it to…”

“What if we don’t?” she said, speaking quickly, “Hendosphyre found the remains of a farm, or village, or something on the river that we could shelter in for the night. We can only ride on his back so far, and he has to rest too, Ven.”

Groyven watched her, “At dusk, if we can’t see any walls, I will summon him again.”

Tiffaniel nodded, her eyes sharp as she glanced about nervously.

“Tiff, we will be fine. We have fire, ice and a very loyal and protective gryphon at our command. If wolves try to hunt us, they will have to deal with all three before they can touch us.”

She looked at him, a small smile on her face, “For a moment, I almost forgot. I have my brother, the fire demon here beside me.”

Groyven glanced at her, “And I have the ice witch.”

“I don’t like that name.” Tiffaniel replied quickly, “I am not a witch.”

Groyven smiled as he watched his sister return to a more normal mood, “Then what are you?” he asked as he started walking towards the gryphon.

“Ice sorceress? Maybe, enchantress? I know! Ice seduct…”

Groyven glanced at her, his eyes wide, “No, Tiff, no! Stop! That one has nothing to do with magic.” he exclaimed.

Tiffaniel looked at him, a confused expression on her face, “It sounds like it should work.” she slyly looked at him, “Tell me what it means, Ven.”

He glanced at her sidelong, “When you are older.”

“When I am older? If you know, I should know too. I thought it sounded interesting, I overheard Illias speaking of Sialin with one of the crew, he said she was a ‘fiery seductress’. She commands fire and…”

“No, Tiff. It has nothing to do with being powerful or a magic user.”

Tiffaniel glanced at him again, “You are not going to tell me, are you?”

Groyven shook his head, watching Hendosphyre stand and walk ahead of them along the bank of the river.

“Well, you can act all superior, you can find comfort in your knowledge of words. It won’t help us if we come across someone and find out that they can’t speak or understand common. If the common tongue that we know is even used in this world.” said Tiffaniel.

Groyven looked at Hendosphyre again, noticing that the gryphon was keeping an eye on the far bank of the river.

“Hendosphyre, do you think that the common tongue we know is spoken here?” asked Groyven.

Tiffaniel spoke with a tone of disbelief, “How would he know?”

Her expression changed when the gryphon nodded, “How do you know?”

Hendosphyre did not respond to her question, distractedly tossing his head, his eyes once again on the opposing bank of the river as they walked. The path to mid-morning passed uneventfully, for stretches of time they rode on Hendosphyre’s back, and when the river bank got too rocky or rough they walked at his side. On a calm stretch of the river they took a break from the walking and relaxed for a short while. Groyven sat on a boulder at the river’s edge, observing the surrounds, marking out a makeshift map on some parchment that Tiffaniel had stowed in the bag. He had fashioned a crude writing implement from charcoal he had scavenged from the campfire at the dwarven ruins. Tiffaniel crouched at the water’s edge, absently making ice flowers on the surface of the water while Hendosphyre kept watch with the forest at their backs as the sun drifted toward midday.

Shadow of the Eclipse: Chapter Timeline

(Click to enlarge in new tab)