The Space Between Stars

Chapter Eight

"Whoa!" I yelled, trying to keep my stomach where it was supposed to be as the sled went whizzing over a bump.
"Didn't I tell you it was cool?" Pinna said, flying along beside me.
"Actually, you didn't, but if you had, I would ouch wholeheartedly disagree. "I retorted. "This thing is the definition of extreme discomfort."

"Well," he said. "At least we got to the bottom." With the most tooth-rattling jolt yet, the front of the sled hit the ground hard and caused me to be flung forwards. After rolling across the ground for a good ten feet, I sat up and spat dirt out of my mouth. "I must admit, it was better then walking down."
"That, I did tell you." Said Pinna. "The entrance to the third outpost of the Rebels of Davnir is that way."
"How far that way?" I asked, squinting into the sun.
Pinna shrugged. "About fifteen minutes."
"Right," I said. "Let's get going."

After close to half an hour of winding along the floor of the ravine, Pinna stopped in front of a solid looking wooden door set into the rock. He raised a claw and knocked on the door, one quick strike, two slow ones, then two fast beats. The door opened immediately, revealing a burly man wearing half-plate armor and accompanied by a grey feathered griffin.

The man nodded to Pinna, then he and the griffin stepped aside, providing me with my first unobstructed view of the room beyond. It wasn't so much a room as a huge cave, with at least two hundred griffins and almost as many people milling around. A wide walkway spiraled around the edges of the room, reaching almost thirty feet into the air. From where I was standing, I could see several corridors branching off from the walkway.

"Pinna!" A commanding voice snapped me out of my temporary trance. I looked around for the source of the noise, which turned out to be a tall man wearing a red cloak and silver shoulder plates, his black hair and beard flecked with grey. A large, regal griffin with chestnut brown feathers approached at his side, matching him step for step.

"Maravel! Rowairee!" Pinna said excitedly. "I found her!"

Maràvel walked up to me and extended his hand. I shook it. "A pleasure to meet you, Mrs Noxe."

"It's Saelem." I said, already disliking the obvious aura of formality that saturated the air around him. Rowairee sauntered up next to him.

"So this is the new talent." Her eyes narrowed. "There's a peculiar aura around her, almost like a drago--"

"Ok, Rowairee, that will be quite enough. Why don't you see if Kirsun has gotten the floors of the artifacts hall properly waxed?" "Wait, but..." "Now." Grumbling, Rowairee flew up to a higher section of boardwalk and disappeared down a corridor. Maravel turned to me and Pinna.

"I think we could get a bit of training in before repast, don't you? I'll take you up to meet your mentor now."

So, me and Maravel marched up the spiraling boardwalk while Pinna flew alongside, until we reached a hall entrance with a label that read 'training room'. This turned out to be a large, wood paneled chamber, the walls decorated with weapons and armor. At the far end, a boy of about my age was practicing with a sword while a white feathered griffin looked on from the sidelines.

"Harola!" Maravel called out. At the sound of his name, the boy looked up. He was tall and slender, with dark hair. His expressive, bright blue eyes lit up when he saw us. He jogged over, boots thumping against the lightly carpeted floor. "Hi! I'm Harola. That's Doeva over there." He gestured behind him, not quite at the griffin, who appeared to have fallen asleep.

"I'll give you two some time to train and get acquainted." Maravel said over his shoulder as he left the room.

This was awkward. The silent was broken first by Pinna trotting over to meet Doeva, then by Harola saying, "I wish he wouldn't do that, just leave and make both of us feel awkward trying to stimulate conversation."

The comment took me by surprise. "He does act very formal."

"So what are your names?"

"I'm Saelem, and that is, er, was, Pinna." "Hmm." said Harola. "So what are you most interested in learning, training wise?"

"Ummm..." I'd never really thought about it before. "Bow and arrow?"

His face immediately split into a huge grin. "Terrific! It is fairly hard, though. You sure?"

"No. What would you recommend?"

"Well," Harola said, "sword is the most versatile, and fairly easy. It depends on what you like. If you want, we could take a look at the armoury and just see what we find."

"Sure." I said. The whole prospect of visiting a room full of weapons was very appealing.

"Right!" He said. "Let's go."

A few minutes later, having woken up Doeva, ducked into the next door over from the training room and wound down a fair amount of stairs, me, Harola, Pinna, and Doeva stood in the armoury. It was larger than I had expected, with grey stone walls, and all sorts of armour, weapons, and taxidermy animal heads covering them.

Harola led me to the middle of the floor and began to walk around me in circles.
"Hmm," he said. "For your build, I think a spear or knife would be best. Something that keeps you light on your feet."

I definitely liked the idea of a knife. After browsing the assortment of knives and daggers laid out on tables, I found one I liked. It had an opaque, silvery blade slightly longer than my forearm, and a warm, black leather grip. After I pointed it out to to Doeva, who helped me drag Harola away from the swords, I managed to attach it to my thigh and get it into the sheath without loosing any fingers. Barely had I done this, than the loudest noise I had ever heard tore through the halls. It sounded like a thousand lions roaring at once. I'm pretty sure I jumped three or four feet in the air.

"What's that?" I yelped.
"That," Harola said calmly. "Is dinner."