CH 22 Summary: The three foxes begin their trek up the hazardous mountains of Myunae nu Eira (Spires of Sky)...
And the dangers there continue with chapter 23 of my first book...
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The Guardians of Life: Justice (Book I)
Chapter Twenty-Three-
Dactylon

“See? I told you would fine! We are almost there! The home stretch! There is no immediate danger before Castla nu Craara. No more ridges that is…” Shade had said to Aerobolt as the foxes crossed what they had hoped to be the final gap in the mountains before their destination. For the last time, Aerobolt collapsed to embrace the solid ground beneath him. There were three more chasms after the initial one, and they essentially went the same way as the first. The all had their share of close calls, but Aerobolt was at least grateful that they weren’t as big as the first. That, and by that time, most of the snow and ice had cleared off the mountain, so it wasn’t nearly as treacherous. He really hoped Shade was right, that there were no more of them.
“Just think. Tomorrow night you will be sleeping in Castla nu Craara! We should be there by tomorrow afternoon!” Shade said brightly.
Aerobolt sighed. “Can’t wait! My paws are way trashed from this blasted terrain!” he exclaimed.
Shade laughed. “Oh don’t worry. The more you walk on stones, the harder your pads will get, and the more bearable it will become!”
Aerobolt couldn’t help but fret. “Harder pads? Have any of you ended up like Stonepaw?!”
“Of course not. That kind of case is so incredibly rare that no recent Guardian has come in contact with such an ailment,” Shade replied.
“I hope you are right. Dealing with stone hard paws sounds really painful. How did he deal with it for fifty years?” Aerobolt asked, impressed by Stonepaw.
“He’s just that tough, Aerobolt. He was… just that tough,” Shade said sadly.
“Shade I am really sorry, but—“ A loud screeching noise sharply cut off Aerobolt. It was quickly followed by the sound of screaming. The eerie sounds echoed for several seconds before fading.
“What was the that!?” Storm exclaimed, wide eyed.
Aerobolt looked around wildly to find the source of the sounds, but saw only more mountains around him.
“Someone is in danger!” Shade answered fretfully. “The lost foxes Aes told us about! They must be ahead, and attacked by the dactylons I mentioned!”
“Dactylons?!” Aerobolt echoed, scared.
“It is those giant predatory birds I told you we should be afraid of! But not now; we must rescue them!” Shade took off. As Aerobolt and Storm followed, the so-called dactylon screeched again. Aerobolt hoped no one was really in danger, but the scream that followed the first screech was so real he knew his hopes would never reign true. As he ran, the sharp stones on the path tore at his already battered paws, but he refused to let it slow him down this time. He was only grateful that he was running downhill at this point. He listened when the screeching sounded again. The victims screamed again. They sounded much closer.
“Th-that’s!” Storm gasped. “That’s Iris and Cloud! My friends from when I was younger!” So the two foxes in danger are Storm’s close friends? That was more than enough reason to help them, Aerobolt thought.
Shade stopped. “Damn it! There is a fork in the road here! Which way!? Left or right!?” The paths split, and each seemed to weave around a mountain ahead of them. It seemed they would lead to the same place, but, what if Cloud and Iris were on one of these paths!? The screeching again. The echoing made it very difficult to discern where it was coming from. A single word cried out from their left.
“Help!”
That was their answer. “Iris! I’m coming!” Storm cried out, dashing carelessly down the left path.
Shade tried and failed to stop him. “Storm wait! Be careful!” And she chased after him. A little on the way down, Storm gasped and veered left again and off the path.
“Storm!” Shade called again. She and Aerobolt saw Storm’s retreating form running along a small ridge on the mountainside. Something very large moved in front of him. Storm must have seen it for he halted and jumped back, screaming. Aerobolt momentarily wondered what it was, and saw it flying seemingly straight out the ground, the massive dark shape. It looked just like a gigantic bat, but it had a face much like a normal bird, but its maw was laden with razor sharp teeth. It was completely without feathers or fur. It was the size of three foxes in width.
“Great merciful Iridescence! What the hell is that thing!?” Aerobolt gasped at it.
Shade growled. “Dactylon. Those things just love the taste of fox cubs. They have been known to attack Castla nu Craara in swarms before. Come on. As long as it is alone, we can fend it off!”
Up ahead, Aerobolt saw the dactylon swoop down, beak open in an ear splitting screech. The screams that resulted included Storm’s this time. A line of lightning went shooting up from where the dactylon swooped, but it missed. It however drove the giant beast skyward once more. Storm began to throw more lightning at it, but they kept missing. The lightning seemed to get weaker and less frequent after a number of them.
“Without his Thunder Gem, Storm won’t be able to keep this up much longer! Aerobolt! We must help them!” Shade shouted. The dactylon dove again when it saw its opportunity.
Aerobolt used his Earth powers to telekinetically lift a fairly large sized boulder off the ground and hurled it at the dactylon. It missed. It landed where the cubs were cornered to his dismay. The cubs all screamed as the boulder landed, kicking up a lot of dust.
Shade was far from calm. “Aerobolt you idiot! If you’ve crushed them-!” The dactylon roared again, cutting her off. It sharply reduced its altitude in an attempt to attack the cubs. Three different screams told Shade that all of them were still alive. But for how long!? When the dactylon reached the ground, it stayed there, flapping its wings to hover. It kicked up even more dust than Aerobolt had.
“Let me go! Shade! Aerobolt! Help! HELP!” it had grabbed a hold of Storm! The dactylon rose into the air again, grasping Storm’s wriggling body by the shoulders in its cruel looking talons. The dactylon’s next screech sounded triumphant as it turned to escape the entire scene.
“No! I won’t lose him! Not now!” Aerobolt was surprised at the ferocity in his own voice. He felt his vision turn darker, as if the sun was dimming. The world around him was suddenly bathed in a dark aura. Hyda nu Craara was emerging in full force. Roaring with fury, Aerobolt conjured up what looked like black lighting. The power of Hyda nu Craara, the Bane of Being, in his handpaws felt overwhelming. His anger, his pain, his very past, and all the emotions he ever felt in his life manifested within the lightning and gave it a distorted glow that made what little conscious Aerobolt had control over afraid. He was determined to fling his emotions right at the dactylon, to show it how he feels, and how he feels about it dragging his best friend away… His powerful emotion had reached its full strength, and with one last roar, Aerobolt launched the lightning straight at the retreating dactylon. He watched as the emotional power flew across the sky. He watched as it soared closer to the damned bird. The dactylon must have seen it in the last second, for it gave one frightened screech of alarm. It could not swerve to dodge in time. It was already on top of it. Hyda nu Craara made direct contact right at the base of its neck. The dactylon was instantly enveloped in a blackish aura as it screeched so loudly, in so much pain, Aerobolt had to flatten his ears against the horrifying sound. All of Aerobolt’s suffering, the dactylon was feeling it, all at once. The dactylon fell out of the sky and onto the ground, hard, still screeching, but even that was beginning to dwindle slightly. Hyda nu Craara was far from down, however. It coursed through every fiber of its being, tearing its soul into innumerable pieces. Aerobolt collapsed to the ground, wishing the terror would all end. The sounds were too horrible. His head was in an explosion of pain. Even when the dactylon’s screeches faded unto nothingness and died, the sounds echoed in his mind for several minutes that stretched to feel like hours. Nobody moved closer to him. Aerobolt kneeled on the ground, clutching his ears, trying to vanquish that awful sound. It took forever it seemed for it to fade enough for him to bear it, and when it did, Aerobolt tried to stand up. He found his legs barely supporting him. His vision was blurred. But he saw four foxes staring at him. Two of them seemed shocked and amazed. Two of them seemed frightened to no end.
Shade was amazed. She was the first to speak. “A-Aerobolt. I never knew. I never knew you held Hyda nu Craara. Never have I seen such apoplectic emotions in my life! And trust me when I say… you don’t want to know how much anger and sadness I endured… but how? How is it that you have come in contact with the Bane of Being!?” she exclaimed breathlessly.
Aerobolt did not respond. He heard Storm saying, “Iris! Cloud! I’m so glad you are both safe! I missed you two so much!” Aerobolt was far from sure how he should tell Shade about his special connection with Arcane.
Shade went on. “Was I right? Was I right to freak out about you when we first met in Hydyraen? Are-are you truly on our side? D-did Arcane put you up to this?”
Aerobolt’s silence, he decided should stop there. “N-no! Of course not! I never meant to have inherited his power! He’s a part of me… He always has, hasn’t he?” he said staring at his handpaws.
Shade didn’t speak this time. A very confused aura radiated around her fur that Aerobolt also took a step back.
“I-I have no idea what is going on here, but… you saved us, yes?” one of the cubs behind Aerobolt asked suddenly. Aerobolt turned around and saw the vixen cub staring back at him with the same golden eyes like Storm.
Aerobolt nodded slowly. “Yes. A-are you a Guardian?” he asked.
“Uh-huh. My name is Iris. I do not know your name, so how can I thank you?” she answered.
“My name is Aerboolt. Ex-Shadow Vulpine,” he said, not sure if she’d even know about the Shadow Vulpines yet.
“Your fur tells me you are different from us. Are you not a part of your kind anymore?” Iris replied curiously.
“Uh, right,” Aerobolt responded awkwardly. He was wondering how he should talk to her, until a tug on his arm got his attention. It was the other cub.
“My name is Cloud. I must express thanks for saving our lives,” he said.
“R-really. It was nothing…” Aerobolt said distantly, unsure at this point if it was true.
Iris wasn’t about to let it go. “Are you nuts? Without you, we would be big bird food, yes?” Cloud nodded in agreement.
Storm looked hurt, however. “They’re my best friends… Aerobolt, how could you say it was nothing…?”
“That power… Tie with Arcane…? Are you…? You are-“ was all Shade was able to say.
Aerobolt could see he was wrong. “Okay. It was something all right. Just the same, though, what are you two doing outside of Castla nu Craara by yourselves anyway?” he asked.
“We come out here all the time!” Cloud said.
“What?” Aerobolt was confused.
“We know we aren’t supposed to, but being cooped up inside Castla nu Craara is so boring! We wanted to see what Myunae nu Eira was like!” Cloud responded.
Aerobolt was even more confused. “But in Thalda, there were reports of missing foxes wandering in these mountains…” he said uncertainly.
Iris tilted her head, “Thalda?”
“So are Cloud and Iris the missing foxes they mentioned, or what?” Storm was equally confused.
Shade was too busy still muttering about Aerobolt, Arcane, and Hyda nu Craara and their connections, to answer.
“Maybe. Maybe not. I don’t know,” Aerobolt answered truthfully. “Wait. We are still a day’s travel away from Castla nu Craara according to Miss Nutcase over there,” he pointed to Shade, “how is it that you came this far then?” he asked skeptically.
“We wanted to go out further than before. Don’t worry, we have food and stuff,” Cloud pointed to some sort of pack that Aerobolt did not notice before, “but I wish we brought camping gear. Sleeping on rocks is really painful,” Cloud responded innocently.
“And cold,” Iris added with a mutter.
“How long have you been out of Castla nu Craara? I am assuming you told no one where you were going?” Aerobolt asked suspiciously.
“Four days!” Cloud said with pride.
Storm and Aerobolt were both shocked. “Four days!?” they exclaimed in unison.
“We did a TON of exploring,” Cloud said, quite oblivious to their shock.
“That report was for these two after all! What were you two thinking!? You know you have scared my Thaldans and Guardians with this little escapade! I may not be Guardian yet, but I really feel for them right about now!” Aerobolt exclaimed incredulously.
“They were worried about us?” Cloud sounded strangely skeptical, still not sounding guilty.
“I would not be surprised! Why?” Aerobolt said.
“No one ever pas any attention to us or the other cubs!” Iris pouted suddenly.
Aerobolt’s confusion renewed itself. “Why? What do you mean?” he asked.
“All the grown ups won’t stop talking about this miracle fox that’s supposed to save all our lives with his divine powers of justice, whatever that is supposed to mean,” Iris said angrily.
Cloud went on, “Because of this, we ventured out into Myunae nu Eira, and we thought they would be too busy talking about that miracle fox, and never know we were gone!”
“Who is this miracle fox anyway? I need to give them a piece of my mind!” Iris growled.
Aerobolt thought in his head that he should not tell them yet. He shrugged. “I don’t know, but it was still wrong to have run off like that! …Shade! Would you cut that out!? You are becoming annoying!” Shade finally did enough numbers on his patience. Shade stopped, but continued staring at him wordlessly.
“Everyone! Let’s just get to Castla nu Craara! These cubs here are in a lot of trouble!” Aerobolt was practically taking charge, and it initially felt awkward to him. He never thought of himself as someone who would take charge, but Shade clearly looks too unfit right now. The thing that bothered Aerobolt the most was why Shade was unfit. She wanted to tell him, he knew she did. But there was something else she isn’t telling him. Something Iridescence left out of the revelation. Aerobolt couldn’t help but feel immense amounts of foreboding at the thought. Something was being hidden from him. Something very drastic. Quite possibly the most important piece of his entire life. But what?
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Wanna start from the beginning? Here is Chapter One! http://www.furaffinity.net/view/11187661/
Here is my series' index! http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/5340298/