The Enchanted Path (Book 1 of the Dreamfarers' tales)

Chapter 23 - A Lift, Please?

"If they wanted to eat us, we would have been supper already," Dianthus pointed out. He gave the example and stepped into the open, immediately catching the attention of the two flying figures, who landed. Those were griffins: one was considerably old and reminded of an albino raven with his white feathers, pink beak, and red eyes; the other was a younger, coalish, well-built figure. They both sported the signs of the recent melee.

"You kids," addressed the younger one. "What are you doin' here?"

"It's what I've been asking myself for a while now," Birch muttered, but hopefully low enough not to be heard. Better leave Dianthus to do the talking.

"We must get to the griffins' kingdom," the unicorn answered in all honesty. The griffins were caught off guard and blinked at him...or at least, that's what Dianthus thought, for the confused look of a griffin was but a deeper frown. Dianthus held their piercing glares and smiled a little.

The coalish-feathered griffin spoke again: "Look, kid, this really ain't the place for ya. Did ya'll see what just happened?"

"Who were those?"

"Harpies," the griffin scowled in disgust. "Always haunting these lands, them filthy buzzards."

"Is he really talking with those griffins?" Birch whispered to Cassidy.

"Griffins are not barbarians," Cassidy said. "You've never met Madame Griselda."

"Oh yeah, the old griffin with razor-sharp metal claws who fended off the dragon with Sir Chrysantos?" Birch snorted. "She's only an old granny."

"The old granny saved your sorry butt!" Cassidy hissed back, wing-poking him in the side.

"Whatever," Birch relented, turning his attention upon the unlikely trio before them. "Why do I have the feeling that they're talking of us?"

"...We cannot leave 'em here, can we? Commander asked for anything suspicious and what's more unusual than a unicorn, a pegasus, and a deer frolicking in the middle of the desert?" the coal one asked his companion.

Dianthus came back to Birch and Cassidy. "They say they can take us there! Isn't that wonderful?"

"How do they plan to do that? We cannot fly," Birch said.

"Oh, they'll carry us," Dianthus replied.

Birch gave him a blank look. "They what now?"

~◊~

"Mark my words, furball: once we land, I'm oh so gonna give you a piece of my mind and my antlers!"

"Come on, Birch, relax and enjoy the flight!" Cassidy tweeted, performing a loop the loop. Ah, it was so good to fly again at full speed!

Birch couldn't quite say the same. The air slapped his face furiously, and his hides ached a little where the griffin's claws had their grip.

"I would enjoy it better if I didn't have someone's claws digging in my ribs!"

"Quit the struggling, young'un, lest you try and fly by yourself," the albino griffin admonished him, renewing his grip around the squirming deer. "I'm barely holding you."

Dianthus was indeed enjoying the flight. He had always wondered how it would be to defy gravity like that, and what he was experiencing couldn't be too far from the truth. The coalish griffin's flight was steady, his grip around Dianthus' barrel secure, and the griffin was careful not to pierce his skin with his needle-sharp claws. Dianthus watched amusedly their huge shadows running over the ground below them, skimming hundreds of deer leaps in mere minutes.

Who would have thought I'd fly with a griffin?

The coalish griffin looked down at him. "You okay down here, kid?"

"Yessir," Dianthus confirmed. "Are we almost there?"

"Indeed we are. You gal, there!" the griffin called out to Cassidy, who turned. "The currents here are gonna get wild soon. Get behind us and follow our trail. We're about to descend!"

Cassidy obeyed and slowed her wing beats, taking her place behind the two greater avians.

Soon after, the griffins began to dive toward the maze of rock that was their domain. Dianthus wondered who else could ever live down there and as they descended, he could already spot other griffins here and there with their beaks stuck up to watch their arrival.

Dianthus was gently placed down on all four hooves while Birch escaped the older griffin's grip too soon and fell face-first to the ground. Cassidy landed nearby.

"Wait here," the griffins instructed and flew deeper into the canyons.

Cassidy ruffled the reddish dust off her wings and noticed her collapsed deer friend. "Is he alright? He looks sick," she asked, sending the fawn a look that flickered between concerned and amused by the scene. Birch remained stubbornly there for several moments, growling into the dust with his legs splayed in every direction.

"I'll try," Dianthus offered. "Birch, you okay?"

"Grrrr..."

Dianthus turned to Cassidy. "The stag lives."

Birch somehow found the strength to lift his face from the ground only to glare at the unicorn.

"What are you complaining about, Birch?" Dianthus said with a teasing smile. "We saved at least two more days of travel!"

Birch just growled again.

The two griffins returned.

"Our commander will receive you immediately, kids," the albino one announced. "We have a few questions for you."

Dianthus nodded. "So do we."

"Fair enough. Now, please follow us."