5. The Mskltn's Geas

Since the dawn of time, the giant Eoeai had dwelled above the sun, feeding it birds that strayed too close. He would grab entire flocks of them and toss them into a well that led directly to the Sun Spirit's unquenchable maw. Though small meals, they were enough.

It had been so long since the Mskltn was first charged with this duty that he had become a little weak in his thoughts and tired with his duties.

Weak enough to allow another's will to enter his mind and focus his attentions on a griffin. A mere sorcerer imposed this will, but Eoeai took to it immediately. To him, the griffin appeared far larger and meatier than it truly was. He grinned widely at this potential feast and plucked the wilde right out of the sky.

Eoeai set the griffin down before him, laughing as it tried to struggle free. That was when he saw the four beasts astride it. He brushed them off the wilde's back.

Oh, he clapped with glee and declared, Sun Spirit will be very pleased by this meal, far greater than mere birds!

We work to save the World below, you must release us or all will be lost! Briole called up at him.

What, beasts? No matter, I care only for Sun Spirit.

If the World dies, so will the sun! Please, release us! added Lanyur.

Release you, and deprive the Sun Spirit of his meal? Of course not! He reached for the stunned griffin and brought him over to the well.

Wait! We can prove it! shouted Litam.

I'd like to see food do that.

Litam's nose quivered. What could he tell the giant? It hit him immediately. Out of his boot came the Unholy Stone, and he held it up. This is magical; if you feed it to the sun instead —

But it is so tiny and not filling at all! You look far tastier, Eoeai said and picked up Lanyur, who struck at his hand with all the strength she could muster.

He giggled, not a happy giggle but a haunting one, the laugh of a maniac. Hit me? Have you lost your senses? I'll see you don't do that again; into the maw you go!

Put her down! Briole shouted as loud as he could, following up with a battle cry in the old tongue. He grabbed Koshos' sword and ran forward, dodging Eoeai's open palm. The Mskltn moved to crush Briole under his foot, and the squirrel seized the opportunity, plunging the relatively tiny blade into the giant's heel.

Partly by chance, and partly due to a split-second spell from Lanyur, his sword (no more of a threat to Eoeai than a sharp mote of dust) hit just the right place. There was a sickening snap, and enormous tendons tore apart.

Eoeai screamed loud enough to shake the building. He tumbled backward, Lanyur still in his hand, and collided with one of the great stone pillars that held the well above the sun. It crumbled and he fell out into the open air, straight into the Sun Spirit's awaiting mouth.

Lanyur! Briole cried out, rushing to the spot from where the giant had fallen. The mouse was holding onto the ledge with her tail, dangling upside down over a maw that could have swallowed all of Mitaria whole without a second thought.

With Koshos' help, Briole pulled the mouse back up just as the platform began to crumble. The dissolution spread outward, stone shattering like glass and sending more and more boulder-sized grains of dust toward the Sun Spirit's hungry mouth.

Litam risked a look down. The mouth was in fact nothing more than a large gash of darkness, an enormous gaping hole in the top of the brilliant white ball; that was the extent of it. As the complex shuddered, he stood back up.

The griffin was squawking and growling and dancing around. The roof of the building started to crumble over the spot where the pillar had stood, and almost half of the floor was gone.

Quickly, we don't have much time! Onto the griffin! shouted Litam, and they climbed aboard and took off just before a pebble the size of a mountain crashed down where they had been.

The griffin headed for the ground quickly, but was struck by falling debris and spiraled downward with passengers in tow. As they watched in dumbstruck awe, the entire platform collapsed in on itself and into the Sun Spirit. A rumbling groan passed over them, shaking the griffin up further, and then it was quiet. They kept falling.

The poor wilde landed hard, the rear half of its feline body limp and unfeeling. He wasn't bleeding visibly, but his back was broken and he was paralyzed.

Lanyur leapt from his back and cradled his head in her arms, cooing softly. She was distressed, and closed her eyes as if to summon some sort of spell, but none was made. She pet the griffin's mane quickly, shaking her head and speaking to him aloud.

You're okay, fiyas. You'll be fine, I promise. Then the griffin roared as loud as he could, and he died.

Lanyur looked away from the body and stood up slowly.

Litam became painfully aware of the cold enveloping him. They had landed high up, at the peak of a mountain, for the griffin could not easily descend without falling. Convulsing in shivers (having moved from the warm air near the sun into a pocket of frigid cold), the mouse looked about for a source of heat. He wandered off absently toward what looked warm.

Litam! he heard Koshos shouting after him. He looked up, coming out of his daze, and realized what he was doing. He stopped and replied.

I'm alright, he chattered, J— j— just a little cold. I'll be fine.

Any idea where we've landed? Briole asked. He saw on Lanyur's face the pain of the griffin's death, and he walked over to her, taking her paws in his to comfort her. His eyes seemed unable to leave her.

A place that we can leave alive. That's a blessing in itself, Litam replied, curling his tail about himself.

But vhere is this place? If ve stay, ve vill surely freeze, Koshos said, looking about sullenly.

Litam got his first good look at the mouse that wasn't being taken while under attack. She was older than him by several years. She had red-brown fur, long hair of a darker shade, and warm hazel eyes.

Her clothes, only a little better than rags, looked as though they had started off as a deep blue or purple gown. The time she had spent in that stinking mire of a dungeon had destroyed her clothes.

The cut on her head was gone—she had used her magic to heal it before they landed, but apparently the griffin's wounds were too great for her to undo. The thought of spells gave Litam an idea.

He rubbed his paws together and breathed on them to warm them. Lanyur, he said, Can you conjure up a map or something? Maybe just magic us out of here?

She furrowed her brow, twitching her nose in frustration. If I cast us out of here, where would we go? Not only did we damage the royal castle and kill some of the king's knights and soldiers, but we stole a royal griffin. It takes decades to tame one enough to make it fit for riding—I used to play with this one when I was still a kit! Where can we head when the kingdom itself has turned against us? she half admitted and half conjectured.

Let's assume that we're on a mountain range, as would seem to be the case. We should probably head to the bottom, Briole mused aloud. Once we're away from the summit, we can look at the shape of the mountains and figure out where they are.

Besides, what can we do from up here, other than wait for our feet to fall off from chill?

But once we are on level ground, what happens? Lanyur countered, looking up at the squirrel.

Vhy don't ve find out? Koshos asked, deciding it for them. Down the mountains, and then ve vill know our options.

Litam was beginning to lose the feeling in his shins. In the interests of keeping warm, I'm inclined to agree. I say we go down.

Both Briole and Lanyur nodded. As the beasts set off, Litam decided that, compared to this, pretario bean picking had definite perks.

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