The Beast That was Promised ✔

FOUR: Loss

Ignis rammed into his shoulder before he could even see him clearly and he almost fell from Ishin's shoulder. If it weren't for the two fingers that reached up to push him back, he would have slipped and fell. The drake squawked again, a plume of smoke rising from his nostrils and he bumped against Harudan.

"What are you doing here, boy?" he asked, grabbing the drake in an attempt to soothe him.

Ishin made a noise in the back of his throat. "This drake is yours?" he asked and stopped in the middle of the field. The flames may not burn Harudan, but there was a trail of melted snow behind them, leading all the way back to Ishmar.

"His name is Ignis," Harudan said and tried to scratch his pet under the chin, but Ignis dove away, struggling from his arms and squawking at him again.

"What's wrong with him?" Ishin asked.

"I don't know," he replied and reached for Ignis again. The drake ducked away and sent a plume of fire into the sky, screaming in something that sounded like pain. "Something's wrong."

Ignis flew away, heading towards the cliffs for a moment, only to turn back and fly to Harudan again, as if he couldn't make up his mind where he wanted to go. "He wishes for us to follow him," Ishin said. "It will not take much time."

"We can afford to do it?" Harudan asked, trying to ignore the sick feeling in his stomach. Ignis flew to him again but tried to nip his fingers when he reached out to pat him.

"Yes."

"Then follow him."

The first step south sent Ignis into a frenzy. He flapped around them, squawking loudly and throwing short plumes of smoke and flame into the air. Harudan had never seen him act like it before, and it only caused worry to settle like a rock in his stomach. He hadn't even remembered that Ignis had left Ishmar, sent off to give a letter to Jonin.

He gulped, his throat raw, and held on tighter to the flames of Ishin's hair. "I think it's best that we move quickly," he said, a half disguised order. As he had since the pair started their journey, Ishin listened, speeding up until they were jogging through the snow, Harudan bouncing on his shoulder as Ignis swooped ahead of them.

Closer and closer to the cliffs they moved, but Harudan had no idea where they were going. He waited in silence as Ishin ran, trying to ignore the confused thoughts raging in his mind. He didn't want to focus on any of the scenarios his mind was coming up with; thinking about them only made him feel sick.

"Do you know where we're headed?" he asked, whispering into Ishin's ear.

"The Sanctum of Belganine is this way. I remember it well, the crystal falls and pillars were our creation, a joint attempt at making something beautiful that did not go as planned," he said, sounding wistful. He continued talking, but Harudan blocked it out, watching Ignis scream and cry as he flew.

Then over the horizon came a sight he had only heard about in books. The crystal falls seemed almost dull with the dark clouds above them, but it was almost ethereal, frozen in time. Even on the shoulder of Ishin, it towered over them and as they got closer and closer, he caught more details. It flowed like ice, falling into a thick mist between the cliffs.

Ignis dove between the cliffs and Harudan caught sight of a broken bridge dangling off the edge. A sharp hill on one side led up to a mural of something he couldn't quite see and down at the bottom of the cliffs was a town. "That's the Sanctum of Belganine," Ishin told him before he could ask, but Harudan didn't dare tell him that it was actually the Sanctum of Askarune.

From somewhere in the mist, Ignis squawked again. "Follow him down," Harudan said, unable to take his eyes away from the broken bridge. The home of the crystal pillars, the crystal falls. It was where he had sent Jonin to kill the Beast. The bridge was broken, meaning that there had been a fight there and it hadn't ended well.