//------------------------------// // Chapter 12 // Story: Spear of the Windigos (Daring Do #2) // by BookeCypher //------------------------------// Daring was thankful, for the moment, that her current goal wasn't that moon-banished castle. Which was a strange sentiment to be feeling, given how badly she had wanted to reach the castle when they had departed from Canterlot. Now, just being in the shadow of the thing was annoying her given how many times the place had in some way tried to kill her. She cast another glance skyward as the sound of wing-beats passed overhead, a brief glimpse of brown in the white haze overhead the only other indication of the griffon's pursuing her. “Celestia, I hate walking...” she muttered to herself as she snuck along the ground through the tree's. So far the Raptorian's hadn't tried to run any ground sweeps, and seemed to think that she had beelined for the pass out of the valley. They hadn't thought of her doubling back. “Okay,” Daring muttered to herself as the wing-beats overhead died away, “If I was a villain, where would I set up my main camp?” Inside the castle? Nah – you'd want to get camp ready before you you cleared the ruins. A nearby clearing then? Well, the remains of the last expedition were occupying the best option for that. Which left option two. Option two was, if Daring recalled that map correctly, should have been on the far side of the castle, just past... “Bingo.” Daring pressed herself low against the ground as she crawled her way up the little hill overlooking the site, one eye constantly glancing skyward as she took in the enemy camp. It was nowhere as big as the ruined one, only four or so tents centered around a large fire pit that at the moment looked more like bonfire then something for a camp. A veritable flock of griffons was huddled around it as a few more rushed in and out of the tents. She was about to sneak down there and start nosing around for the spear when it decided to reveal itself. Unfortunately, a now familiar creature was holding it. “What do you mean you 'lost her'?” Ahuizotl growled at a griffon next to him as he walked out of the tent, tapping the spear against one shoulder as he leered at the hybrid. “The pony broad got lucky with a fancy move, Sir,” the griffon replied as he pulled himself up to his full height. “It won't work again. We won't make the same mistake twice.” “For your sake,” Ahuizotl replied as he brought the spear's blunt down into the ground with a heavy thud, “I hope you don't make new ones. Dismissed.” The griffon snapped off a quick salute before taking wing and flying off back toward the castle. Ahuizotl watched him for a moment before turning to the group of griffon's huddled around the fire. “Oh, taking a break from the cold are we?” A small grin was the only warning Ahuizotle gave before hefting the spear high and slamming it into the ground between the legs of the nearest griffon. The other's bolted away, preservation instincts kicking in as their compatriot found himself pinned by a rapidly growing coating of ice that had encased his claws and was already half-way up his legs. “I did not hire you lot to sit around a fire – I hired you to do a job, and part of that job was making sure nopony found us! Now, get of your feathered rumps and go kill that stupid pegasus!” Ahuizotl pulled the spear free before whirling it around and smashing the ice around the griffon's legs in one blow. The griffon scambled backward, quickly checking to make sure he did in fact still have both legs before turning tail and shooting off into the forest to presumably search for the stupid pegasus. His friends followed suit. Daring took solace in the fact that they had all gone in the same wrong direction. Fury apparently spent, Ahuizotl turned and started across the camp before disappearing into another of the tents. With the coast now mostly clear, courtesy of Ahuizotl's outburst, Daring started to slowly sneak her way down the side of the hill. She stayed as low as she could, and kept to as many barren shrugs and tree's as she could, but she was fairly certain that if anyone looked in her direction it would be fairly easy to spot tan fur and feathers against white snow. All she could do was hold her breath, move as carefully as she could and pray to Celestia. At least one of them worked, since Daring managed to reach the bottom of the hill without a horde of angry griffon mercenaries descending on her like the fist of an angry goddess. Which would have put a real damper on her whole 'Save Equestria' plan. She kept hunkered down as she made her way to the nearest cover, her heartbeat pounding in her ears as she slipped behind a stack of crates and carefully watched the camp. She really wanted to jump out there and just do something, but the more rational part of her knew that was a really, really bad idea. Not that her impulsed cared. Survival won out for the moment as Daring took stock of the camp. From her new angle, she had a partial view across the camp and into the tent Ahuizotl had vanished into. The insides seemed to be some sort of planning room, from what she could see. Through the partially opened front flap, she could make out a few griffons all standing around a table, on which what looked like a surprisingly accurate model of the castle ruins sat. At the head of the table, Ahuizotl was glaring down at the model, one paw fiddling idly with the spear as a griffon waved a hand over the model at which point it promptly dissolved and was replaced with a sliced-open view of the altar chamber she had found under the spear room. “Cloud magic?” Daring whispered to herself as she watched. “Since when did Griffons do cloud magic?” She filed the thought away for the moment as the briefing continued. “We've mapped and documented a third of the chamber so far,” the Griffon droned on, “but progress is slow-going – whatever that pegasus triggered not only destroyed the antechamber but it did...something to the main room.” “Define 'something',” Ahuizotl growled, “And I suggest you do it quickly.” “The room is obviously some form of ritual magic,” the griffon quickly explained, “but routing power into it trigger's no response. Nothing it the chamber is obviously broken – its as if something has been removed.” “Even more reason to find that blasted pony,” Ahuizotl replied. “Any word back from your teams?” “None, sir,” The griffon replied. “The blizzard obscures trails on the ground and reduces visual range,” he glanced toward the spear, “if that weapon is as capable as you say it is, perhaps it could help us-” “This is a weapon meant to topple civilizations,” Ahuizotl replied with a grin, “Using it to hunt down a single little pony would be...excessive. So, assuming you would like to leave this mountain alive, leave the spear to me.” “My forces would feel better, sir,” the griffon replied tersely, “if they had some assurance that this weapon was...genuine.” “Have you not noticed it yet?” Ahuizotl replied, his grin growing wider, “The spear is already working for us! Step out of this tent and take a look around – we now stand in the eye of the storm, thanks to this spear.” “An fair claim to make,” the griffon replied with a slow nod, “but the forces are common griffons – more overt examples better sway them.” “Overt, is it?” Ahuizotl replied, his grin slipping off his face to be replaced with a frown as he hefted the spear, “Very well then – gather your troops, and I'll show them what this can do.” The griffon led the way out of the tent, his posture more mechanical and precise compared to Ahuizotl's more fluid gait. A few quick shouts was enough to gather a small flock of griffon's from around the camp. “Good afternoon, my fine feathered friends,” Ahuioztl announced amicably as he gently spun the spear. “It has come to my attention that some of your number...doubt the veracity of this artifact,” A few griffon's that Daring was sure she had seen around the campfire earlier started backing up slowly, their eyes staying trained on the staff as the slowly maid their way to the edge of the group. “Though I'm sure some of you need no further convincing,” Ahuizotl's eyes locked on one particularly nervous-looking griffon and he grinned. That was apparently the last straw, since the griffon turned and bolted. Ahuizotl watched him go for a minute before turning to the rest of the gathered mercenaries. “For many of you, I'm sure this seems like little more then an old spear,” Ahuizotl started pacing as he examined the staff. “That would be a foolish mistake to make – you all know the sort of power that can be found in Equestria, from its ruler to its populous. So why not its artifacts?” Ahuizotl stopped pacing, turning to face the gathered griffons, “But these are all words. Words are easy – what you want are actions. Very well,” He hefted the spear high. “pay close attention!” The spear slammed into the ground not with a thud, but with a crystalline crack as the ground around the spear seemed to turn to ice. The front row of griffon's backpedaled as the field of ice expanded rapidly, spiderweb-like cracks spreading out across it a moment later. “Behold the power of the Widnigos!” Ahuizotl bellowed. “Witness the forces I now bound to my will!” He wrenched the spear from the ice before lofting it skyward. There was a low thrum the echoed out from the spear as, an instant later, the air around the camp cleared entirely of snow as the blizzard beyond seemingly intensified. Overhead, the clouds parted as the surrounding storm seemed to gather itself until between the blizzard and the clouds it was as if the camp was sitting at the bottom of a great hole, and beyond the edge of the camp was solid white. “This is the true power of the Spear!” Ahuizotl announced loudly. “Let none doubt it!” Ahuizotl dropped the spear and the storm's fury seemed to abate, dropping back to its original state. “Now – back to work!” The griffon's shouted back a cacophony of affirmatives before taking off and heading back to their various jobs, leaving Daring alone on her little hill to process what she just saw. Ahuizotl seemed to gotten in a lot of practice with that spear real fast, it seems, and now she was certain she didn't want to get in a fight with him. Not unless she wanted to become a Pony-sicle. Ahuizotl watched them all fly off before giving a curt nod and turning to head back for his tent. Daring waited a moment before slowly inching her way further down and started sneaking her way around to the back of the camp. Approaching the tent from the rear, Daring felt far more certain about her chances of not running into any magic-spear shaped problems prematurely. Overhead, the sky was beginning to rapidly darken as the sun started to set somewhere behind the endless blanket of white. A lantern burst to life inside the tent, a single large shadow casting across the back-lit canvas as Daring froze. She watched the impromptu shadow-play as Ahuizotl stood and stretched before dropping into some sort of chair. In the dancing light Daring could just make out the silhouette of the spear leaning against some sort of dresser or wardrobe. Ahuizotl stretched again before his silhouette leaned down. “It's alright now, darling – all the stupid griffons are gone now... that's right, come on – there we go.” Ahuizotl reached down for a moment before leaning back, one paw reaching out to a side table as the the other remained in his lap, slowly moving, “Thats right – whose a good kitty?” Daring resisted the urge to groan out loud as she dropped her face into the dirt. He was playing with his moon-banished cat. She had the feeling he might be a while, so she decided that if she was going to be stuck waiting, she might as well poke around the rest of the camp. Discreetly. See? She had restraint – Zap would have greatly approved. Actually, she would have stayed on the hill until the camp went to sleep, but that was beside the point. She left Ahuizotl to his inane cat-talk as she continued around the edge of the camp, ears on swivels as she snuck along. They had mentioned patrols, and Daring didn't feel like getting found by one now that she actually had something vaguely resembling a plan. Her slow crawl around the camp eventually brought her to the tent Ahuizotl's meeting had been in, and from the light inside she could make out the silhouette of two griffon's still inside, leaning over the cloud table as they talked. “Ahuizotl is growing reckless,” one of the griffon's growled. “He is a feather away from meeting his goal,” the other griffon replied. Daring recognized him as the one that had been talking to Ahuizotl in the tent earlier. “can you blame him?” “He's reckless,” The first griffon replied tersely. “And pays well,” the second griffon waved a claw at something across the tent, “That gem alone will fetch a ample price once fenced. Then there is the windfall assuming Ahuizotl's plan goes as he hopes...” “You really think he can meet his objectives?” the first griffon asked. The second griffon shrugged. “At the least, it will provide raiding opportunities – inland Equestria is a hard egg to crack in the best of scenarios. Ahuizotl and his stick provide us the best opportunity.” “It still risks bringing the wrath of the sun down on us,” the first griffon growled irritably. “Ahuizotl will provide more then an adequate distraction,” the first griffon replied as he stepped back from the table, patting his fellow hybrid on the back amicably, “The ponies won't have the time to worry about us even is this all goes pear-shaped.” “I'm not worried about pear-shaped,” the first griffon replied, “I'm worried about the pear turning into a snake and biting us in the arse.” “Then we make sure it chokes on us on our way down,” the griffon replied with a dry chuckle before continuing. “Any luck with the search?” “None so far,” the first griffon answered, “we think we might have identified their camp, but if we did it looks unoccupied.” Daring gave a sigh of relief at that. They hadn't found Zap yet. That was good – given what happened when they'd been captured last time, Daring didn't want to know what they might try for round two. “Keep looking,” the second one growled, “those ponies are the only two that know about our operation here. If they escape, Equestria will have prior warning. Our top priority is to stop that leak.” “Yes sir,” the first griffon gave a sharp salute before turning and walking out of the tent. Daring found herself hunkering lower at the back of the tent as the griffon left through the front, taking wing and heading out over the camp before disappearing into the white of the now constant snow storm. Daring continued to watch the other griffon as he paced around inside the tent, working at something at the table. Occasionally, he would wave a claw over it and the cloud formation would change, though given the nature of her view all Daring could make out were the vaguest of shapes as whatever was on the table changed height. It wasn't that interesting, but it was better then watching Ahuizotl play with his cat. Besides, she'd never even heard of a cloud table before! She had to get a look at that – so she watched and waited as the griffon worked at...whatever griffon mercenaries did between fights. Inventory audits or something. Unfortunately, the only thing that seemed to rival a guy playing with his cat for being boring was a griffon doing paperwork. Fortunately for everybody involved, another griffon stepped in before Daring did something stupid out of boredom. “Sir, Ahuizotl has retired for the evening.” “You mean he passed out in his tent again,” the other griffon said with a sigh, “Put a guard at the front and leave him – we're here to secure and clear the site, not egg-sit our employer. Dismissed.” The griffon gave his commander a quick salute before turning and heading off, likely to choose the poor schmuck who was going to be stuck on guard duty. The other griffon – the commander – stayed in the tent a while longer, studying the table before dismissing its display with a wave of a claw. He turned and started across the tent, stopping and leaning over to fiddle with something before heading out the front flap. Daring gave him another minute to clear out before sneaking her way around to the front, and slipping in through the flap. The interior was still dimly lit by a couple of lamps hanging from hooks overhead. The light was just enough to make out a couple of small tables and a safe in one corner, which she guessed was what the griffon checked on his way out. All that she really cared about though was what occupied the center of the tent. It was a piece of slate-gray stone the size of a conference table, its surface engraved with runes and geometric shapes. Some of it looked like a sundial, with curving arc with hash marks along it at regular intervals. Large sections though were completely smooth, polished to an almost mirror-like finish compared to the matte finish of the rest of the piece. Despite the obvious care it had been treated with, it was obviously old – the engravings had lost some of their sharpness, and the stone was pitted, probably from weathering. How hard must it have been to hall this all the way up here? It was the wrong sort of rock to be local, and the glyphs on the surface were the completely wrong style to be from the same origin – Daring would have guessed from further south. Way further south – there were volcanic ranges in the region and this stone looked volcanic. Whatever sort of rock it was, it wasn't from around here. Probably. Sure, it wasn't what she was here for, but it was a a new artifact! Something to study and learn about! She really wanted to see how the cloud-modeling worked. Maybe they'd encoded the magic into gem-stones somewhere inside it and tuned it to- A sound outside the tent drew her out of her awe-inspired gawking and reminded her that she was, in fact, still in the middle of a camp occupied by beings who probably wouldn't hesitate to end her before she could so much as utter a 'parlay'. She quickly ducked back down and started poking around the rest of the tent. She took a moment to take a look at the safe. It looked like...well, a safe. Size of an end table, dark black and made of what Daring had to wager was a few hundred kilo's of iron. The front had a single small key hole dead-center with a turn-handle to its right opposite the hinges. “Yeah,” Daring muttered to herself as she turned away from the safe, “Never getting into that...” Still, had to be something in there. Maybe if she found a key she'd come back. The tent didn't have anything else worth-while, so Daring slipped back out, circling back around and heading back toward Ahuizotl's tent. Sure enough, the strange cat-like creature was snoring away on the other side of the canvas walls, a small lump visible on his shadow where his cat had curled up along with him. Daring took a deep breath, steeling herself before she started tip-toeing around the front of the tent and slipping in through the front flap. She froze as she found herself nose-to-claw with the tip of a over-sized feline paw. Her heart moved into a now worryingly familiar spot in her throat as her breathing stopped. The paw twitched a hair's breath from her nose, and it took a great deal of effort for Daring to pull her eyes off it and toward the face of its owner. Ahuizotl's eyes twitched behind closed lids, a few snorts escaping the nostrils at the end of his oblong head. Daring pulled herself sideways carefully, sidestepping the legs as she put distance between herself and Ahuizotl before she took a deep breath as quietly as she could. “Okay,” she said to herself in a barely audible whisper, “that was way too close.” She was really tired of pushing her luck now, and not even the prospect of more time to look at that table could make her hang around much longer. Daring took another calming breath before taking a quick look around the tent. No spear. Well, so much for being easy. “What the buck?” Daring hissed under her breath as she carefully poked around the tent, “where the hay do you hide a mystical object the size of a shower curtain rod in a tent?” She continued to grumble as she carefully lifted a low table sitting in one corner, checking underneath it on the off chance that the spear had rolled under. Nothing. “I mean, what else could he have done? Sit on-” Daring cut herself off as she glanced at the back of the oversized seat Ahuizotl was asleep on before slowly sliding toward the narrow space under it. In the dim light she could just make out a faint bluish-silver glimmer. “Oh horseapples.” Daring lowered herself to the ground, getting as low as she could until she could get an view under the couch Ahuizotl had passed out on. Sure enough, there was the spear – pointy end pointed toward her and snuggly sitting just out of hoof-reach from any side Daring was even remotely willing to try from. Still, fate of the world and all that. So, Daring slowly started scooting her way under the couch, one eye trained upward as she inched along. She was trying to decide what would be worse – accidentally bumping the couch too hard, or Ahuizotl shifting and pinning her through the blasted couch. At least if she woke him up she could fight him – or it would at least be over fast. What she hadn't expected though, was the soft patter of little paws hitting the ground somewhere behind her, followed by a small 'mew?'. Daring glanced back to see a somewhat familiar white kitten staring at her with the look of confusion only small animals could properly manage. The cat gave another small mew as it cautiously poked one of Daring's legs. The little thing actually looked half-terrified, if Daring was being honest. “Bad kitty!” Daring hissed as she shook a rear hoof in the cat's direction, “shoo!” The kitten did retreat, at least partially, as it curled its tail around itself and stared at Daring with watery eyes. Daring resisted the urge to groan – seeing the fur-ball like that made her feel like... well, like she'd kicked a kitten. Still, not her problem so Daring quickly turned back to trying to reach the spear. The kitten, however, was going to be having none of that. A moment after she turned around, the kitten started mewling pitifully as he tried to regain her attention. And the mewling was worryingly loud. Daring quickly turned around as she tried to shush the annoying feline, but the kitten wouldn't quiet despite Daring's silent pleas. The cat continued its cries for attention and, overhead, she could feel and hear Ahuizotl shifting in his sleep. Daring quickly started pushing herself out from under the couch, spinning around as soon as she was clear of the couch and pinning the kitten with one hoof as she shoved another into its mouth. The kitten was quickly silenced as Daring quickly looked around for a more permanent solution. A quick scan revealed only one option that might actually work, and Daring briefly felt bad for even considering it but, hey – it was her or the cat, and she was more of a dog person anyway. The kitten gave a surprised mewl as Daring pulled her hoof back from its mouth before she scooped it up in one hoof and, with little ceremony, pulled open a end table drawer open and dropped the white furball in before sliding the drawer shot and turning the latch. Daring waited for a moment, listening, but what cries did manage to make it out of the drawer were lost to the winds outside. “Sorry,” Daring whispered at the drawer, “but you're better off in there right now.” Cat problem solved, Daring returned to her attempt to reach the spear. Back under the seat, she slowly inched her way forward until she was finally within hoof's reach of the spear. Unfortunately, the bit within reach was the sharp pointy part. Daring kept one eye aimed overhead as she tried to nudge and pull the spear around so she could get a decent bite on it. The spear, however, wasn't cooperating as it slid and skidded over the compacted dirt floor, sometimes shuffling just out off reach, other times spinning wildly around. One hard nudge was enough to finally spin the spear around, but that wasn't all it did. The blade of the spear bit into one of the couch legs with a crack that, to Daring, sounded like a cannon shot. Daring froze under that couch, waiting for the sign that her own demise was imminent. Instead she got the sound of Ahuizotl snorting, followed by him rolling over. Daring let out a sigh of relief before she stretched forward and grabbed the spear in her teeth. The feeling was almost instantaneous. Biting, bitter cold that made anything she'd run into in the blizzard seem like a warm breeze. It felt like ever nerve in her body was being stabbed with pins, her muscles clenching and forcing her to bite so hard on the spear it felt like something in her jaw would break. Her vision hazed over, the world taking on a blue tinge as the thousand sensations of winter poured into her. The soft feeling of fresh powder under hoof, the chill of the clear air on her coat, the bite of a howling maelstrom, the scent of a evergreen's mingled with the smell of the air after a snowfall. And the cold – the biting, cutting, bone-snapping cold that was so far beyond anything she had ever felt before. And then it was gone. The spear fell out of her jaw as she softly gasped, and Daring was thankful her muscles weren't listening to her properly or she might have bolted upright, couch be damned. Daring took ragged, deep breathes as she stared at the spear. Ahuizotl had grabbed that without flinching? How the hay had he handled that? She didn't want to touch it again. She really, really didn't want to touch it again. But she wanted to leave it here even less so, and she was fairly sure it was her only chance to save the world. So, gingerly, she reached out again and took hold of the spear again in her teeth, bracing herself for the rush of sensation. And then nothing happened. Daring blinked a few times, but she couldn't remain stupefied for long – she was on a time table. Spear obtained, Daring started to back out and was grateful when she was able to actually stand properly again – being crouched under their had been massively uncomfortable. Through the flap of the tent, the light from the other tents poured out into the dark and Daring suddenly realized that she was probably very very visible at the moment. Daring quickly dropped to the ground again before she started slowly sneaking her way back toward the front. Why hadn't she just brought a knife or something? She could have cut her way through the back and been gone, but no she had to sneak out the front bucking door... Then again, it wasn't like she had set out expecting to break into an enemy camp like this. Daring kept close to the various bits of furniture decorating the room, counting on them to keep her hidden as she moved forward, constantly glancing back at the sleeping form of Ahuizotl. He had rolled onto his side, that bizarre tail-paw of his scratching at his side as he pulled a pillow closer to himself, snoring loudly the whole time. Daring was almost out of the tent, which of course meant everything had to go pear-shaped. The first sign of things going south was a heavy crash behind her that drew her attention even as it sent Ahuizotl rolling over and onto the floor. Past the couch, she could see that the end table had fallen over, the drawer that had kept the kitten contained now sitting wide open and slightly askew. Ahuizotl dragged himself to his feet groggily, one paw rubbing at his face as he looked around with bleary eyes. The first thing he saw was his kitten wobbling on its feet dizzily, before he slowly turned around until freezing as his eyes landed on Daring. “Y-you!” “Me,” Daring managed around a mouthful of spear as she gave him a taunting smile. Ahuizotl lunged at her with a snarl, claws outstretched, but Daring vanished out of the tent with a flap of her wings. Ahuizotl face planted into the dirt, pulling himself up with a growl as he looked up and watched the tan pegasus disappear into the blizzard. A burning rage built inside him, rumbling about at the center of his very being before bursting forth up his throat and out his mouth in a roar that shook snow from the tree's and echoed through the remote mountain pass. The widespread griffon's of the Raptorians paused as the sound of their boss's futile roar of rage rang through the air. “Curse you DARING DO!!!”