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// Chapter 6 Kiltran 
// Story: Carpe Diem: Rise of the Sun 
// by BluePhoenyx 
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The Darkened Forest was true to it’s name; Below the canopy of trees the forest was nearly pitch black. Freyr had to land on top of the trees and almost dig his way through them just to get to the ground. Once they were on the ground, Freyr tucked in his wings as Diem slid off his back.
“Where now?” Freyr asked.
“I’m not sure, The note never said where to go to retrieve her.” Diem answered. He clenched his eyes shut until a small orb of light appeared on his horn, offering a gentle glow that cut through the darkness. “The note said to arrive at dawn in two days, we need to find the kidnappers first.”
“If I were going to kidnap someone, I’d take them somewhere I could hold them.” Freyr said. “Like a cave”
“Right, good idea.” Diem said. “Let’s try and find a cave or something.”
Diem began walking deeper into the forest, using his light to guide him. He winced and stopped for a moment to check his injuries.
“Why are you risking your life for these Minotaurs?” Freyr asked.
“They helped me when I needed it.” Diem said simply.
“They also forced you into battle” Freyr said. “You nearly died”
Diem paused and sighed. “I killed so many in that arena Freyr.. I want to save lives, not take them.”
Freyr smiled at him. “You’re a very kind hearted little pony.” He said. Diem blushed a little.
“We’ve got to find Myra, let’s keep going.” Diem said.
“Aren’t you afraid?” Freyr asked.
Diem laughed. “What do I have to be scared of? You’re a giant fire breathing lizard that can fly.”
“Fair enough.” Freyr laughed. He ducked his head under some branches, looking through the darkness with Diem’s lightspell.
Diem shivered as they delved deeper into the forest. “I swear we’re going in circles.” Diem complained. “I haven’t seen any sign of a cave or anywhere you could hide a minotaur”
Freyr nodded at the remark then stopped suddenly. “Diem!” He said quickly and shot his tail out, wrapping it around the pony to stop him.
“Ow!, what was that for?” Diem asked.
“Ahead, there’s a cliff” Freyr said quickly. Diem paused, then concentrated a little harder to brighten his light spell. It almost fizzled out for a moment then came back even brighter. He looked down and saw the jagged end of the path, and even further down into the chasm below. The cliff was deep, with darkness covering the bottom like a pool of dark clouds.
“How did you see that?” Diem asked.
“Night vision eyes.” Freyr chuckled and stretched his neck out to look across the cliff. “Looks like the other edge isn’t far off” He added.
“For you.” Diem grumbled and shone his light spell around to see if there was a decent path to get around.
Freyr chuckled and spread his large wings. He managed to catch a large enough air current and raised up into the air. He grabbed Diem in his claws, then glided across the crevasse. He gently dropped Diem down on the other side then landed behind him. Diem grunted as he landed, somehow managing to land on all four hooves.
“You want to give me some warning next time?” Diem asked, laughing a little.
“Where would the fun in that be?” Freyr asked and grinned, showing his large fangs as he did.
Diem shook off the dust and continued on through another path They walked for another hour deeper into the forest. Diem felt the magic of his light spell starting to fizzle He sighed to himself and glanced up at the very tip of his horn. The light was flickering, making him frown in concern. He snorted and stomped a little as he walked, forcing his magic to pulse. He looked down the path from his horn, and saw the face of a rock wall in front of them. As they approached, the outline of a cave formed. Diem stopped and smirked.
“There, let’s try there.” He said, pointing with a hoof. Freyr looked up and peered through the darkness.
“Good a place as any.” Freyr said. “That cliff would make it impossible minotaurs to come after them.”
“Exactly, so that must mean our foalnappers must be able to fly” Diem said.
“They are probably very strong as well, even a young female minotaur isn’t easy to keep somewhere they don’t want to be.” Freyr said.
Diem nodded and looked up at Freyr. “Ready my friend?” he asked, grinning. Freyr smiled and spread his wings slightly.
“After you my friend.” He said.
Diem straightened himself, puffed his chest out, then scratched at the ground with his front hoof. He snorted, then began a sturdy and determined march towards the cave entrance. As they reached the mouth of the cave, Diem paused to listen. He could hear voices deep inside. He snuffed out his light and turned to where Freyr was standing.
“Be my eyes? We should try and take them by surprise” Diem asked quietly. Freyr growled softly in agreement. He wrapped his tail around Diem’s midsection then began leading the way,

The cave was a straight tunnel forward with a slight bend towards the end where it opened into a large room that had several large cubbies, obviously where other tunnels had once been but filled in. Freyr stopped just around the bend and looked inside the room. It was light fairly well, but the light didn’t extend beyond the entrance of the room, and inside were several gryphons sitting around and laughing with each other. Behind them, one of the cubbies had thick heavy bars that glowed in a sickly yellow glow. Behind the bars, Myra was sitting on the floor, her hooves and horns were chipped and scuffed from trying to kick and head butt the bars open. A large creature stepped in front of the bars, blocking Freyr’s view of Myra. The creature was bigger than the gryphons and looked similar to them but off at the same time. Instead of it’s back half being a lion’s body, it was a horse’s body with a lion’s tail. It’s front legs and shoulders were eagle talons, and it had a long neck with a horse like face covered in feathers. A long spiraling horn was protruding from it’s forehead as well as two fangs sticking out of its muzzle.The creature had a dapple gray color to it’s fur and feathers, with its talons standing out as a bright silver. The mane, which was cut short and feathered, had streaks of silver and white in it. In other circumstances, he would have been a beautiful and wondrous creature to see, but watching him hold another innocent creature captive took away any of his beauty.
“That must be Kiltrin” Diem whispered to freyr
“There are many gryphons in there Diem, I may not be much use with my size, and your magic isn’t strong. What do you have planned?” Freyr asked. Diem huffed.
“No idea.” He said. “Stay here and wait for my call.” He added, then stepped into the light, catching the attention of the entire room. The gryphons stood up quickly from their talks and growled at the pony. Kiltran stepped between them and looked down at Diem
“A pony?” He laughed. “He sent a pony to save his daughter?”
“I demand you release Myra” Diem said.
Kiltran laughed even harder and lifted a large claw, pressing it against Diem’s face. “A little pony like you?” he asked, and turned Diem’s head to look down his flank. “You’re a full grown pony without a cutie mark? How pathetic are you?”
Diem snorted and ripped himself away from Kiltran’s claws. “Cutie mark or not i’m plenty strong enough to take you on.”
“Hey, that’s the pony from the arena in Eagle Rest” One of the gryphons said. “He took down a manticore by himself.”
“I saw him take on three gryphons with weapons, he didn’t even use magic” Another said. Kiltran snarled and stomped a back hoof.
“Quiet!” He yelled, then turned back to Diem. “Fight me then, if you can win I will release the minotaur”
“Fine.” Diem said, glancing back at the entrance to the cave. He couldn’t see Freyr, but he knew he was still there.
He looked back to see the gryphons standing in a circle on the edge of the room. Myra had stood up and come to the bars to watch.  Kiltran stood in the middle of the room and Diem walked into the center as well.
He snorted, standing firm. Kiltran grinned and his horn began to glow. A yellow aura enveloped Diem and lifted him up rapidly, slamming the unicorn into the roof of the cave. Diem grunted in pain but before he could register where he was, Kiltran’s magic ripped him down and slammed him into the floor, then a wall. Kiltran finally dropped Diem and let him roll onto the floor. The gryphons laughed and Kiltran walked over to Diem as he struggled to stand up. Diem grunted as Kiltran put a sharp claw on his neck to pin him down.
“You should have stayed in the city little pony. You might have lived longer.” Kiltran hissed. He raised his second claw, ready to swipe at Diem’s throat to end it.
Diem clenched his eyes shut to brace himself from the pain. He felt a sudden surge of energy, his eyes snapped open, his eyes glowing brightly as if the sun itself was captured inside. His horn glowed and a bubble of magic wrapped around him, then exploded outward, the energy forcing Kiltran and the rest of the gryphons back into the walls of the cave. Diem floated in the air, as magic swirled around the cave. Tendrils of magic whipped around the room, transforming every gryphon into a perfect statues. Kiltran stepped back in fear. He created a protection bubble to block himself from Diem’s uncontrollable magic. Diem cried out as the magic became too much for him to handle. He writhed in pain, feeling the magic slowly drain him. The magic’s energy bounced through his body. Kiltran growled as stepped towards Diem.
“This ends now” Kiltran growled. He began another spell, aiming his horn at Diem.
A deafening roar stopped Kiltran as Freyr stormed into the room. Kiltran stared in shock of the wyvern, then looked at Diem again. He cursed to himself and prepared a second spell. Freyr stormed over, then opened his jaws sending a torrent of fire over the creature. Kiltran’s protection spell saved him from a fiery death, but it wasn’t going to hold much longer.
“I’ll be back for you little pony” Kiltran snarled bitterly
Magic enveloped Kiltran again and in a flash he disappeared. Fire spilled onto the floor where he had been, scorching the ground. Freyr stopped his flames then turned to Diem, who was still spasming in mid air. Magic hit Freyr but it didn’t affect him as he powered through the magic then wrapped his wings around Diem, pulling him in close and blocking out the light.
“Calm down Diem, it’s going to be okay.” Freyr said softly. He sat back on his haunches, then wrapped his tail around Diem as well. “Deep breaths my friend.”
Diem panted and struggled against the magic bursting from him. Freyr’s words hit him and he tried to force himself to calm down. Slowly, the magic around him began to spark and fizzle out. Slowly the magic died and Diem fell limp in Freyr’s wings.
Diem groaned as he slowly opened his eyes. The room was blurry, until slowly Freyr came into focus.
“What happened?” he asked.
“I think your magic finally surfaced.” Freyr said, setting Diem back down on all four hooves.
Diem shook his head then rubbed it with a hoof. Freyr folded his wings back then turned to Myra behind the bars.
“Don’t fret miss Myra, we’ll get you out of here.” Freyr said.
“Thanks for coming to save me.” Myra smiled. “They used magic to block me in otherwise I could have broken these doors no problem.”
“Can you break them?” Diem asked. He stumbled over, still exhausted from his magic exploits.
“I can try.” Freyr replied and tried to snap his jaws around one of the bars. The magic around them sparked and fizzled, but freyr ignored it. He snapped his neck back, ripping the bar free and breaking the magic. Myra charged the rest of the bars, breaking them easier without the magic. She burst free of her cage, then came to a stop. She cried out happily and bounced up and down.
“Let’s get you back home.” Diem smiled and started back for the entrance to the cave, but collapsed. He was still exhausted and bruised badly from the fight with Kiltran.
“It’s alright little pony, I’ve got you” Myra said and lifted Diem up.
“Not very heroic to be carried by the rescue.” Diem chuckled weakly. Myra grinned.
“Don’t worry, I won’t say anything, and I’ll set you down before we get back.” Myra grinned.
“Stay close to me miss Myra.” Freyr said, letting her hold on to his tail again as they made their way back.