Eagles have really good vision, and I could see the castle for about a half an hour before anyone there could see me. But I saw the guard who first noticed, I saw him start, and then turn to yell, and then look back.
Guards came running out, staring at me, and then they ran to some stone stations built into the wall. It was hard to see inside, but I saw an enormous catapult. And others were coming out with great spears. I even saw one or two Spearmen, who, I knew, didn’t ordinarily stay at the capital and must have been merely visiting.
I wasn’t too worried, thought, as I knew that The Day had been informed of my transformation and, if I needed to, I could always go back to the Schip.
But for the moment I pressed on, moving from one thermal to another. In the end it was the same guard (I kept an eye on him, just for fun) who suddenly turned to another guard, they conferred for a minute or so urgently, and then that guard ran off and everyone seemed to relax.
Then, to my great joy, a new flag ran up the flagpole on the gauche side of the castle… my flag! Since I was born I had had a flag, of course, all of us did, and mine was the ‘Prince Royal Adoptive’ flag, not because I was adoptive, but because my brother Seth had abdicated in my favor (being rather busy taking care of The Day, where he was King under our father).
But, I didn’t remember my flag that well but still, there was something different about it. It was flapping and hard to see, but I did eventually make it out. In one corner, there was a special mark… A mark I had never seen before and, just in the corner past that mark, an eagle rampant. Cool.
And now the collection of people on the ramparts began to change, from being mostly guards to being mostly civilians… all manner of civilians, and all dressed ‘fancy’, so I assumed they were officials. And then it started to become obvious exactly where they wanted me to land, setting up some kind of barriers around an area of the wall, and covering the barriers with all sorts of fancy banners or rugs or something. And then, and I had to laugh, they brought up a lamb… no doubt so I could have a snack on arrival. I guess they couldn’t quite figure out if I was a visiting dignitary or an important (and dangerous) animal.
One thing I couldn’t see, however, no matter how much I scanned the people, was any of my family. I knew I wouldn’t recognize the kids, since they would be grown beyond all measure, but I thought I would still recognize my brother, and I didn’t see anyone at all like him.
I got close and the guards began ligning the barriers, in a ‘guard of honor’ position, and all of the others stood behind them. I took my time coming in (not that they knew that, of course, no one could tell from down there!) and then came up in (what I hoped was) an impressive glide and then swoop and stall, landing perfectly in the center of the area they had marked out for me.
//Your highness?// A Dwarf said, once my wings were folded and I had turned toward the awaiting ‘dignitaries’.
//Yes, I am Jonathon son of Caleb, and Brother of Seth.//
//Welcome to the day, my Lord Prince. We are heartily glad to see you. We can only regret the absence of your brother the King.//
//Oh?// I said, disappointed.
//Yes, my Lord. He and his family are visiting the Dwarf King and the Ghost leader to discuss strategy against the Dragons.//
I continued to greet the various officials but my heart was sick. Here I had steeled myself to fly up here by myself and meet my older brother and he wasn’t here. I let my thoughts wander a bit and then, suddenly, something hit my consciousness…
//… if you would like.//
//What?// I said to the Elf standing in front of me.
//If you would like, you can follow after them. I don’t know what your rate of travel would be, but I imagine you might even be able to catch up with them before they get to the Dwarves.//
//I could?//
//Yes, depending, as I say, on how long it takes you to get there.//
I turned, why, I could see the mountains from here… it wasn’t far at all! I hopped up to the edge of the wall and stared at them. Surely it wouldn’t take me long…
I was in the air and nearly a mile away before I realized that I hadn’t actually said good bye, or anything, to all of those important officials gathered to greet me. Oh, well.
The track was easy to follow: years of caravans following the same trail had left permanent marks on the ground, and dozens of caravans still plied the trails. Two hours later I saw the first fort ahead of me (Forts being a bit smaller than mountains and harder to see from a distance) but I didn’t stop.
It was a beautiful flight, the more so as the night started to set in. I didn’t know how the forts would react to my landing there, so I set down on the top of a taller hill just before it got to dark to fly.
Dawn was chilly… I had forgotten how the morning breezes blew on these plains. I wasted no time in getting in the air, taking large flaps to warm myself up.
I had barely gotten myself into my first thermal when I saw something on the ground… a Beast! I had seen Beasts a few times when I was young, and hadn’t liked them then, but my blood fairly boiled now.
It was a young Beast, and looking past him, I saw his mother and two other young. But I didn’t care about them, the first Beast was my prey!
I swooped down toward the young Beast, who spotted me and darted to the left, bleating and causing me to miss. I flapped up to attack again and circled around. The Beast had gone over to his mother, along with the two others. This was going to be harder. First I would have to drive her away… no, that wouldn’t work, he would merely follow. No, first I would have to disable him.
Which would be hard, given how they were standing, all facing outward. But my dad had taught me well and I circled around, above them, which confused them. The center of my circle was right above them and they kept turning from side to side trying to keep me in view… which wasn’t easy with their forward set eyes. Eventually, after about half an hour, they started to break up, turning in place and then farther away, each of them trying to keep me in view. I let them go through a couple of rotations and then, choosing my time, I dove at the small one, my target, twisting and turning in the air to confuse him.
My strike was off from what I wanted, I caught him high on the haunch instead of lower, toward the hamstrings. But his bleat, and the mother’s angry roar, satisfied me… for that dive. As I climbed up again I noticed that he was, at least, limping a little. And the others wer acting, as prey will, a little disturbed by the scent of blood. They had joined together again, but restlessly. I didn’t circle around as long this time, I didn’t need to, a couple of circles and they were breaking apart again.
My drive struck beter this time, I struck down all his left haunch and leg, feelling something definitely give. After I turned away, and then back, I saw that he was limping, seriously. Now for the second part of the attack… driving the others away. I didn’t even circle this time, but came swooping back, ‘caw’ing at the top of my lungs (I hated ‘cawing’, it seemed so crow-like, but it could be very effective at panicking prey) and flapping in their faces, talons extended.
I concentrated on the mother, as I knew I had to move her in order for the two other young to go as well. My talons, my ‘cawing’, and my flapping, right in her face, made her nervous, but at first she held steady, roaring back at me. But then, after my fourth pass, she began backing up. At first the injured smaller Beasts could keep up, but, after four or so more passes she broke into a trot, the two little ones beside here. I stayed after her, and broke her into a run, and then kept after her for a mile, before turning back to her son.
He was limping after her, bleating, until he saw me coming toward him. Then he stopped, and roared as I approached, in imitation of the Beast that had fathered him. And he kept up the roaring, and the turning, as I struck him again and again, until I succeded in hitting his left foreleg, and he dropped to the ground on his side. After that, despite his struggles to turn toward me, it was just a few seconds before, landing, I dispatched him with a quick blow to the neck.
I had attacked this Beast like nothing I had ever fought before. I had no idea why, but I had been incredibly angry the whole time, as if this Beast was somehow a personal enemy. But then, when I started eating, it was like nothing I had ever eaten in my whole life, like my whole body was on fire to devour the Beast.
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Von