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Chapter Seven

    They were all silent for several moments after what they had seen. Shika had apparently decided to follow them even though Koa was gone.

    "So..." said Mallumo, missing the sound of his own voice, "What do we do now?"

    "Well..." said Jillia, "Our next stop was supposed to be the unicorn herd, but...what say we skip that one for now?"

    "Agreed. They clearly have some...political unrest that they need to take care of," Mallumo replied, nodding, "How about the phoenixes? They're pretty closely allied with the dragons."

    Jillia noted Mallumo's wording curiously, as he had said "the dragons" instead of us "us". Did he no longer consider himself part of dragon society? Well, he did say he was rebelling.

    Meanwhile, the conversation went on. Masama started to look nervous. "No, I don't think so. I mean, I guess, but you know...the elder's pretty strict, so, ah, yeah."

    Mallumo turned to her.  "Actually, I've heard that..." he started.

    "Oh hey look a gryphon!" Masama said quickly, flapping towards a shape in the near distance.

    Mallumo and Jillia exchanged glances. They were about to run after her when Shika stepped in front of them.

    "Please do not bring up the phoenixes around Masama. I believe it reminds her of her past, which distresses her." Shika said, in a voice a little louder than a whisper.

    "I suppose," agreed Mallumo, though he seemed to be somewhat irritated. Shika galloped away, and Jillia and Mallumo followed a little slower,  just out of earshot.

    "I do hope that we do not regret this later on," Mallumo said quietly.

    Jillia cocked her head in confusion. "Regret what?"

    Mallumo paused for a moment. "Everything." he said after a few moments. Jillia sighed. She never really had stopped to think of the huge obstacles they faced ahead. Now she felt the weight of the world on her shoulders.

    "Hey Mallumo..." said Jillia, wanting to change the conversation topic.

    "What?" he responded curiously.

    "What's a gryphon?" Jillia asked, feeling embarrassed that she didn't know. She wished that she had had a tutor, like Mallumo, or gone to school, like Masama.

    "A gryphon," started Mallumo, feeling proud that he knew something that Jillia did not, "Is a combination of a large feline and an avian. They've fought with the dragons a few times, but now they have a tentative alliance."

    They soon caught up with Shika and Masama. Jillia could see the gryphon clearly now. It had a reddish-brown furry body and large wings. The wings had orange feathers with red stripes. The gryphon's back was red, along with a ring marking around his eyes. He had a yellow beak, black-tipped and a long feathered tail.

    Masama was talking to him. "And then this strange creature darted up and took it! It's very important that I get it back."

    "We'll get it back." Masama assured him. She turned to the two who had just joined the conversation.

    "This is Sirak, " she said.

    "Why are we helping him? We've got lots of things to do," Jillia questioned.

    "Actually, this does indeed make sense." Mallumo said with a nod, "Maybe by helping this gryphon, we can get an audience with his tribe leader."

    "He says that the creature flew this way." Masama said, gliding ahead. Jillia noticed that she was still avoiding them. Sirak looked like he was unsure whether or not to follow them, but apparently decided to.

    Jillia noted their surroundings. The ground was hard and lifeless. Their thief had apparently run towards a rocky crag. It looked pretty deep and dangerous, probably the thief's ideal fighting ground.

    "Do we even know anything about this thief?" Mallumo asked. Apparently he was thinking the same thing as Jillia.

    Sirak paused to think for a moment. "It was moving so fast that it was like a blur. Really cool. Anyway, I think it was green, with orange stripes."

    "Was it reptilian?" Masama asked.

    Sirak stared at her blankly. "Uh..." he said. Mallumo rolled his eyes.

    "Did it have scales like me? Feathers like Masama? Fur like Shika? Or skin, like Jillia?" he said irritably.

    The gryphon looked to Masama, then Jillia, then back to Mallumo.

"Scales. So...rep...eh...talian?" he said, clearly struggling with the words. Jillia couldn't help but think that this behavior was strange. Then again, she had never met a gryphon before so maybe this was just how they acted.

Masama looked Sirak over. "Close enough." she said.

They walked across the rocky ground for about a half hour. Shika suddenly froze up, terrified.

"What's wrong, Shika?" asked Masama, concerned.

"I-I...there is something bad coming. We must go. Now." Shika said in horror. She motioned towards the horizon. A blue speck was coming towards them, fast.

"That's just a bird." Sirak replied, sounding as if he were stating the obvious. Jillia had no idea what a "bird" was,  but she didn't want to look even stupider to Mallumo by asking.

Shika just shook her head. Jillia noticed that she didn't seem to know what the thing was only, that it was bad. Masama flew a little higher and gasped.

"It's Bianca!" she shouted.  Masama lit on fire, which Jillia noticed only happened when they were running away from something.

    Jillia tried to dig into the ground, her claw barely scratched the surface. She saw a small lump not far away. Even from a distance, she could tell that it led underground.

    "Over there!" she said, running towards it. The others followed, Sirak reluctantly.

    Sure enough, the small hill had a hole in it, which led to a narrow tunnel that got wider as it went down. They watched in fear as Bianca the Cold flew towards the hole, paused briefly, and went on past. Jillia sighed in relief.

    Sirak seemed confused. "How did you know that the mound would be a good hiding place?"

Mallumo looked at him if as if he were an idiot. "She's a walkese. They do that."

Sirak still didn't seem to understand, but he nodded.

"Please excuse me, who is that dragon?" Shika asked.

Jillia, Mallumo, and Masama exchanged glances. They explained to Shika and Sirak what had happened, who Bianca was and why she was chasing them. Mallumo seemed somewhat embarrassed. Jillia guessed that even he didn't want to feel like a burden. She understood the feeling.

"Well, come now, let us get going." Mallumo said, probably trying to get away from the subject. As they walked, Jillia realized something strange regarding their alicorn companion.

"Shika," she said, "How did you know who Bianca is? You hadn't met her."

"Oh," Shika replied, "I just knew that she was bad, and attempting to harm us." She acted as if this were a normal thing. Maybe it was. Jillia didn't know much about the powers of unicorns.

After a while of walking in the hot sun, they neared the edge of the gorge. It read "Come no further. We do not take kindly to trespassers." It was signed the Viporas Astucia.

"Are you sure the bandit went in here, Sirak?" Masama asked nervously, understandably reluctantly to disobey the sign.

"I'm sure." said Sirak.

"The Viporas Astucia?" wondered Shika aloud.

"If I remember correctly..." Masama replied, "They're a gang of very dangerous thieves."

"Come on, let's turn back." Mallumo said, "Sirak, can't you find a new...whatever?"

"No!" Sirak insisted, "I mean...it's just important." He strode forward purposefully.

Yes, this gryphon was acting very strange indeed, Jillia thought, but then again, so were they. Four very different creatures traveling together on a seemingly impossible mission.

They started walking forward and suddenly heard a low rumbling noise.

"Guys, I think the ground here is unsta-"Jillia was interrupted by the cliff crumbling away beneath them.

Mallumo was the first to fall. Jillia rushed forward to grab him, but found herself sliding down. She felt Masama grabbing onto her tail and trying desperately to pull them up, but it was useless.

"I need your help here, Sirak!" she called to the falling gryphon.

Sirak looked at her like her as if she were crazy. "What could I do?" Shika, who had miraculously managed to stay in place just paced the side of the cliff.

"Oh dear oh dear..." she murmured.

"I have an idea!" Jillia said, "Mallumo, hold my tail! Sirak, grab on to Masama!" Everyone did as they were told.

There was a rock that curved up jutting out of the canyon side. Jillia slid down it and launched herself into the air. She grabbed a nearby tree branch in her teeth, halting their descent.

Sirak lost his grip and skidded a few feet forward. He got up and spat a few of Masama's feathers out of his mouth.

"Good thinking." acknowledged Masama.

Shika hopped down the cliff, somehow knowing which ledges were stable.

"Are you all okay?" she asked worriedly. Jillia surveyed the group. They had some cuts and bruises, but other than that they were unharmed.

"Yeah, we're fine. We'll have to be..." she said as Mallumo dropped down from the tree. A huge metal clamp rose up and snapped at him. The young dragon jumped back just in time.

"...careful from now on." Jillia finished with a sigh.

"Guys, I think this place is boobytrapped." Sirak said, helping up the rattled Mallumo.

"Oh really now, King Obvious? You just figuring that out now?" he said irritably. Jillia gave him a silencing glare.

"We need to work out some sort of plan to avoid these traps." Masama said. The others agreed.
    "Well, I'll be able to sense anything strange underground, but I don't know about the others." Jillia replied.

    "Most of them should be underground. There isn't really anything for them to attach to." inferred Masama, noting the barren landscape ahead.

    "What are we even looking for?' Mallumo pondered, surveying the area.

    "Maybe like...a tunnel or something?" suggested Sirak with a shrug.

    "Perchance we do find these Viporas...whatever, we should probably strategize a way to-"

    "Strategize a way to what?" said a low growl from behind them.

All five whipped around to face a bizarre looking creature. He was bright red with orange stripes stood on four legs that seemed to bend in the wrong direction. The feet were large paws. He had a short, stump of a tail jutting out from his torso, and a diamond marking on his chest. His face was the strangest of all. It was completely flat, with triangular tucked-in ears. He had a perpetually angry expression with long, vertical teeth and slits for a nose.

"Name's Ira. I'd say I'm pleased to meet you, but I'm obviously not.  What are you punks doing in Viporas territory?" he snarled.

"Um...we were lost and fell into this gorge. Could you help us?" Masama lied.

Ira chuckled gruffly. "Yeah, not gonna happen. Guess I'll hafta kill you guys now. Ain't nobody gettin' any of our treasure."

Jillia noticed a black pouch around Ira's shoulder. "Is this the guy?" she whispered to Sirak, who shook his head.

"No, like I said, the thief was green and...reptilian." he replied.

Meanwhile, Masama continued to try to convince Ira not to murder them.

"Look...maybe we can make...a deal?" she proposed.

This spiked the interest of the thief. "Oh yeah...what kind a' deal?"

"Um, well...we have something really good. I just need to discuss with my...cohorts whether or not we can afford to give away such an amazing item." Masama fluttered back to them.

"Great, now what do we do?" Mallumo asked.

"I don't know, I just thought that sounded plausible!" the phoenix said.

"Something that is nothing to one may have value to another." said Shika in a half-whisper as she stared blankly off into the distance.

"But we don't have anything, Shika." Mallumo objected.

"Yeah, all we've got is dirt and rocks." Sirak added, "Unless they have some weird value here."

"Dirt and rocks..." Mallumo murmured, looking around. He gasped suddenly. "Dirt and rocks! That's it!"

Sirak glanced at the others. "Um, I don't get it." he said.

"I've got an idea. Play along." Mallumo said.

"This had better be good." muttered Jillia, rolling her eyes.

Jillia scooped up some dirt in her paw and walked over to Ira, shielding the sediment from his view.

"Yes, we've decided we're feeling quite generous today." Mallumo said.

Ira narrowed his eyes. "Oh yeah?"

    "Yup, we've got some nice treasure here. You wouldn't believe how amazing it is! And you won't find it cheap anywhere else."

    "Well, stop beatin' 'round the bush and tell me what it is!" Ira said. His voice was dripping with irritation, but he was clearly very interested. Now for the hard part.

    Mallumo was unsure of what to say. Jillia seemed to get a sense of what she was doing and joined in. "Anyone who looks at it will be instantly left blinded and unable to function. Great for something like, I don't know, burglary." she said with a sly smile.

    "Prove it." growled Ira.

    "But of course." Mallumo said, "No one would be idiotic enough to buy something that could very well by a scam. Then again, something like this is difficult to test."

Ira paused. "What about your 'cohorts'?"

Mallumo stretched her paw out to Masama, who fell to the ground convincingly in a flash of light. Ira was in awe.

"Now then, there's the matter of price." Mallumo said, "All you have to do is lead us to your little hideout and give us part of your treasure."

"Fine." agreed Ira, "Follow me."

I didn't think it would be this easy, Jillia thought suspiciously.

Ira leaped on ahead. He was surprisingly quite and agile for  a creature with such a bulky build. They didn't have to worry about traps since Ira appeared to have memorized their pattern.



After around a mile of travel, Jillia started feeling dizzy and disoriented. It seemed as if they were traveling in circles. She didn't think the hideout would be this far. How big was the gorge, anyway? Surely big enough to fit a city in.

"We can rest here." Ira finally said.  Everyone except for him  immediately dropped to the ground in exhaustion. "I need to check on something." Ira added, walking away.

When he was gone, Sirak spoke up. "Do you hear that?"

    "Hear what? I didn't hear anything." said Masama.

    "It's Ira. He's saying something. '...don't know...taking...wrong direction...instead of west...leave them...steal treasure." Sirak recited, being unable to catch everything.

    Shika gasped. "What do we do?" she asked.

    "How 'bout we use our treasure?" Sirak suggested. They looked at him in confusion.

    "We made that up, though." Masama replied.

    Ira came back, silencing their planning.

    "Hey Ira." said Sirak. "I think it's time for you to sample the goods!" He turned around and kicked out with his clawed, avian back legs, sending a shower of dirt into the air and Ira's eyes, blinding the canine-like creature temporarily.

    "What is this? Traitors!" Ira snarled.

    "Well, I believe we did say the product would leave you blind and unable to function." Shika reminded him.

    Ira stumbled back and they heard a loud snap. He had stumbled into his own trap, and was now trapped under a large, heavy steel cage.

    "You'll pay for this!" he screamed.

    They left Ira there, cursing and spitting. After they were sure they had put plenty of distance between them and the furious beast, they stopped.

    "Let's set up camp." Jillia said, "The sun's setting."

    They got a fire started, and they looked inside the small black pouch, which Ira had dropped. There was some cheese and bread, as well as a map of the gorge and a compass. There were also tools that looked like they would be used for robbery. They figured Ira had been on his way to steal something.

    They nibbled on the food that they had split between them.

    "That was so cool when you blinded Ira." Masama said.

    Shika nodded. "It was very clever." she added.

    Sirak puffed out his chest. "Yeah, I guess I am pretty amazing." he agreed, voice bursting with pride.

    "The whole thing was my idea!" Mallumo objected grumpily.

    Jillia consoled the jealous dragon. "Oh, lighten up Mallumo." she said with a smile.

    All of a sudden, their fire blew out and the air felt cold and foreboding. There was almost no light.

    "Weird wind." Sirak remarked.

    "Nothing to worry about, I'm sure." Masama reassured him, though she seemed somewhat uneasy. Jillia could see her walking towards the smoldering branches to reignite them.

    "Actually." said a mysterious voice from the shadows. "I'd say that you have quite a lot to be concerned about."