"So," said Jedial, "What brings you upon my hearth?"
"To simply put it, we need to get to Seditio headquarters. I've found us a beast rider."
Jedial lifted the eyebrow over his good eye.
"Simply put, eh? I think your going to need to say a bit more than that. You've simply find us a beast rider?" He said, eyeing Kallistos with his one eye. The eye itself glimmered like bronze. The uncanny eye made Kallistos uneasy. He shifted in his seat.
"Well yes" Lor put even more simply.
"Oh, come on, tell me your tale Lor"
Lor looked at Kallistos. "Go on, Kal, you recite it."
So Kallistos did. Lor provided in bits where he forgot, and added extra where he didn't know. "That man in the forest was me, Kal. I thought you would've figured that one out yourself."
"Oh" said Kallistos. It did seem obvious now he thought of it, who else would. However, Lor didn't say why he was there, and Kallistos didn't push.
Kallistos told the rest of their adventure, Jedial's bronze eye staring him the whole time without interruption.
When he was finished, Jedial stayed in silence for a minute.
"Well," he finally said, "Im sorry for your loss Kallistos," and then to Lor "I'll get your mounts, follow me if you will."
Kallistos and Lor followed the man to the corner of the room. He lifted up the corner of the rug, revealing an old oaken trap door.
"Down here," pointed Jedial, to the staircase revealed. It was made of packed earth, and spiralled down. As the plodded slowly down, the light dimmed and quickly disappeared. The staircase was narrow, Kallistos' shoulders occasionally brushed the wall. The warm, cozy feeling of the library quickly evaporated, leaving Kallistos feeling the moisture in the air. The smell of earth and worms filled his nostrils. Eventually, they came upon a tunnel, Kallistos running into Jedial in front of him from the sudden stop. Light came into view, as Jedial started talking.
"Have you ever ridden a wyvern Kallistos?"
"No, I don't think I have," said Kallistos, wondering what a wyvern was.
"Ah, well brace yourself for a shock." said Jedial as Lor gave a soft chuckle.
Jedial pushed away vines and moss, revealing an open clearing, more than a hundred metres across, surrounded by trees and cliffs. We're in a ravine, realised Kallistos. But that wasn't the most shocking thing. The weirdest creatures Kallistos had ever seen wondered around the clearing. He supposed they were the wyverns Jedial talked about. They looked like the gods had mixed a winter bear, snake and cow together. What resulted was resulted was a white, fluffy monstrosity, the width of a cow but three times the length with a long, snaky tail. It face was square and bear like, but somewhat gentler, with floppy ears and fur covering its small, black eyes. Kallistos let out a gasp when one pushed of its four paws and took to the air, slowly hovering around.
"These are wyverns, " pointed out Lor, somewhat unnecessarily. "They were ridden by many people, before the Age of Riders. They dissappeared, somewhat mysteriously. What we have here is possibly one of the last herds in existance. Around fifty or so."
Jedial walked into the field and brought one over.
"One will fit three or four people. Their back are well suited for riding, and anyone that happens to look upwards will merely see a cloud. Pat it, if you want. It will help the wyvern recognise you. I'll get the saddles."
Jedial walked over to a shack bordering the forest, while Kallistos and Lor patted the wyvern, coming out some minutes later, over-encumbered with a massive saddle.
Jedial arrived to them, red faced and sweating.
"Here," he said, "Help me with this Kallistos, best you learn how."
The saddle was three quarters the length of the wyvern, and consisted of many straps. The complexity took a good half an hour, with straps and stirrups getting entangled and tightened. The saddle was shaped to fit four people, with leg straps and stirrups, along with handles, to hold on to.
"How do you steer it?" asked Kallistos. Their didn't seem to be any bridle or reins.
You ask me where you want to go, said a voice entering his head. It was deep but sooting. "What!" said Kallistos, bewildered, while Lor and Jedial burst out laughing. Obviously they had been waiting for this moment
I said, ask me where you want to go, said the voice, while Jedial and Lor burst out into another laughing fit.
"Who are you?" asked Kallistos.
The wyvern your were scratching the ear of. Please continue, it felt quite nice. You can call me Cloo.
"Woh, you can talk", asked Kallistos, awestruck by this new creature.
Through your mind, yes.
"Okay, Cloo, stop fooling with our young friend."
Cloo kneelt, and Lor mounted first. "Come up, Kallistos, we best get going."
Kallistos climbed up and strapped himself in, holding tight to the hand holds as the air rushed past him, Cloo leaping up into the air.
"Too Seditio, Cloo," commanded Lor
As you will, obeyed the wyvern.
Kallistos lead out a whoop of excitement as spiralled in the air, up and up, the walls of the ravine rushing past them.
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Thanks for reading guys, really, really sorry about the late update, got a bit of righters block.
Don't forget to leave feedback,
Thanks,
Onepto
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