Chapter 30
Spike huffed as he hiked diligently up yet another hill, short legs tired but far too determined to quit. Amy had offered more than once to carry him, but these were not mountains and he was a dragon of pride who refused to be a burden. His sister was still hesitant about letting him see this adventure to its conclusion without sending him home, and while it may very well turn out that she will have to let him tag along to the end, he’d rather it be because she had faith in him instead of necessity.
“So today's the day, huh?” the smaller dragon huffed, trying to cover his heavy breathing with idle chitchat. It was actually just making him lose his breath faster, but oh well. “We gonnna get there soon, or…?”
“Pretty soon, I’d say,” answered Amy, pointing aimlessly to her left. “I remember those hills from the last time I went to Peregrine. Nice place for a cloud watching.”
Following her claw, Spike saw hills not at all distinguishable from the several they had already hiked over and raised a brow. “Right… Well, hopefully you're right, I’m really looking forward to that gryphon cuisine you’ve been talking up. Had a light breakfast just to save room.”
“Heh, yeah, while I still think that wasn’t a good idea, I’m actually craving this sausage they make, Lukániko, if I remember correctly. Good stuff.” While the dragoness spoke, she shielded her eyes and looked towards the sky for what must have been the twentieth time that morning.
“Are you looking for something? You seem kinda distracted,” Spike finally asked.
“Hmm, oh, not really. I guess I’m just expecting to spot a gryphon overhead soon as a sign that we’re close. They dominate the airspace around the city, after all.”
“Really? Oomph!”
“Yep, like that.” A claw reached down to steady Spike after he bumped into the previously unseen leg before gently pushing him forward.
"Oh, wow…” the young dragon breathed, only a hint of exhaustion tingeing the awe in his voice. From atop their comparatively small hill a city equal parts grand and strange could be seen sitting atop what could nearly be called a mountain.
Winding its way from somewhere unseen in the distance to one side of the city, a large, cobblestone road curved up the none too gentle incline of the giant hill. The far side of the hill meanwhile was a sheer cliff sporting both plunging caverns and scattered structures built from the rock face. Atop it all were many more buildings resting at ground level and surrounding several towers that stretched towards the heavens, the largest of which having three branch-like extensions stretching out and bearing extravagant homes.
The mere sight of this had Spike hesitant to proceed as the image of the stone protrusions breaking off and plummeting onto the city below filled his mind, but he shook the thought off with the reassurance that they must be supported in some way similar to the magic keeping Canterlot steady on the side of its mountain. Looking away from the towers to the skies instead, the little dragon could indeed see them filled with the gryphons Amy had mentioned.
“The gryphons certainly know how to make an impression, don’t they?” Amy commented with a restrained smile. She’d never get used to the priceless look of wonder that played across her little brother's adorable features every time he saw something like this. “And to think, this isn’t even the capital. That’s way up there.”
Moving his gaze up to where his sister pointed, Spike saw that the hills ahead of them became gradually larger as if the earth was bunched up fabric leading to a tall mountain range atop which he could just barely make out the unnatural silhouette of buildings. “Wow, how far away are we? And why build a city so close to the capital?”
“In order, a whole lot farther than we look, and because a city on top of a mountain may sound cool, but it doesn’t exactly work well for business. Most people don’t have wings to get up there after all,” Amy informed him. “On the opposite side of that mountain is another city which, combined with this one, make up the center of commerce for this kingdom. The capital is more for the kings and nobles to live in for strategic purposes.”
Nodding, Spike could see the logic in that explanation. “Huh, makes sense…”
“Yeah, but it certainly doesn’t do us land-bound folk any favors. All these hills make everything seem a lot closer than they actually are when you’re walking, so we’ve still got an hour or so to go.”
“Great,” Spike grumbled before taking the first step down from their hill, thankful for gravity’s assistance while dreading his fight against it in the ascent of the next of many ridges. Maybe Amy wouldn’t think too lowly of him if he finally took her up on the offered piggyback ride now that their destination was finally in sight.
Amy had to admit, even after visiting the city before and many other amazing places, she still felt some wonderment as they reached the outskirts of Peregrine. The castle town bore all the extravagance one would expect from a race as proud as the gryphons as it was resplendent with pristine architecture and artistry.
The faces of the denizens were not as pleasant. Though the gryphons here were more open to strangers than other settlements what with the city being a place of trade and thus a destination for many a peddler and business person, dragons were not a common sight and tended to frowned at due to the stereotypes associated with them.
As a matter of fact, being viewed as greedy hoarders made them even less welcome in such a city of wealth when treasures were abound and ripe for swiping. Still, Amy ignored the glares and the suspicious gaze of the guards as she guided her little brother down the center street and towards the restaurant district.
“Ugh, not more of this…” whispered Spike as he hunched forward. “Are we going to be chased out of here too?”
“Hopefully not,” Amy said as she stared forward. “It’s our lot in life, being dragons, that we’ll always be under some sort of scrutiny wherever we go. Whenever you feel like an outcast though, just think back on your friends, then what strangers think won’t matter anymore.” Reaching down, she gave his shoulder a squeeze and smiled gently. “That’s what I do, anyway.”
Smiling some himself, the little dragon straightened and adjusted the straps of his backpack. She was right of course, there was no reason to care what these gryphons thought as long as he had his sisters and his friends to be there for him. And if they did run into trouble here, well, they’d get out of just like they always did because they were dragons, and that was worth being proud over.
As the two continued, the stalls began to change and the glares became less pronounced. Instead, there were gryphons standing outside of various restaurants trying to sway potential customers into their place of employment, including them. “You got to love restaurant workers,” Amy commented with a smirk. “Doesn’t matter what you are, all they care about is the size of your stomach and wallet.”
“The bigger, the better, right?” Spike added grinning up at his sister for a moment before his nose began to twitch. “Oh… That smells…”
“Good?”
“Meaty,” he finished, tongue flicking out as if to sample the aromatic cuisine. “You think we can skip finding a room tonight and look for a restaurant that’ll just let us sleep off our food comas in a booth?”
Amy put a claw on her chin contemplatively. “Hmm… Don’t know if we could find one, but tell you what, we’ll ask them wherever we eat before we pass out. Sound good?”
“Sounds very good,” he answered with a chuckle, licking his lips in anticipation. After the light breakfast, he didn’t think he’d have the resolve to stop eating before his belly got too big for him to walk. ““It’ll help save on bits too if we don’t have to pay for a bed!”
“Okay then. Guess that means we better find a place that has big portions for cheap too.”
Suddenly giving Amy a very serious look, Spike said, “You better only use those mind reading powers for good, sis.”
Amy lost it right there and the two dragons continued on, letting their noses guide them to the best fare for hungry stomachs to fill themselves with.
The pair of siblings eventually found a small place sticking out the side of a squat building that catered to anyone who sat under its awning and met both requirements of their search, serving heaping portions of delicious food at reasonable prices. Sadly, it wasn’t perfect as the grizzled owner didn’t like the idea of two round-bellied dragons loitering at his business overnight.
And so it was that the two took swaying steps down the street, scanning with tired eyes for a place to rest for the night. As much as he didn’t want to be moving right now, Spike had to admit the idea of a proper bed had him once again excited and maybe just the little bit afraid that they would run into trouble before he got to lay his head on the pillow.
He’d be lucky if he didn’t develop some sort of fear of beds after this trip, what with how getting near one seemed to lure trouble their way at every stop. It was a ridiculous correlation, but hard not to make.
As fortune would have it however, Peregrine had a fair number of inns to stay at, which Amy assured him meant they’d be far harder to find while they slept. Though it took longer than he would have liked, his sister settled on a very low-cost quaint little inn. 'Quaint' was how she described it at least. He’d have settled on grungy, but it would do. Plus Amy said it reminded her of home for some reason.
“You sure there’s not, like, lice in this?” Spike asked from atop the cramped room's single bed, peeling the cover away from the mattress and cringing at the sight of a large, brown stain of something.
“Nope,” was the blasé response as Amy set their things down and triple checked that the door was locked. Maybe she should push something in front of it as well, just in case? That shady receptionist probably had an extra key. “It’s probably littered with bedbugs, too.”
“W-what? Then why are we staying here!?”
“Because what are they going to do?” Amy turned around, claw on her hip. “It’s not like we have to worry about getting lice in our non-existent hair or bugs biting through our scales. Besides, we’ve been sleeping outdoors for weeks now, we’ve been covered in so many bugs that I wouldn’t be surprised if we’ve both swallowed a pound of the little critters looking for a warm place to stay.”
“Augh, really? Why would you even say that?” moaned the little dragon, cheeks green and full-stomach quivering.
“Hey, it's good protein, I’m sure. Now come on, lie down.” Walking over to the bed, Amy moved the clean-enough sheet back to hide the stain and pulled the blanket aside so that she could slide in. “Since we’re turning in kind of early and still have a lot of stuff to do, that means we’ll have to get up early to get it all done, so just ignore the thought of bed bugs and sleep. Besides, it’s not like they’re magmites or something.”
“Magmites? What’s a magmite?”
“Hmm? Oh, bugs of sorts that live in lava. Usually they’re content to feed on regular sediment, but they have a real appetite for dragon scales. Jump in a pool infested with the buggers and you’ll be itching for days as they get under your scales and start munching away. I remember getting them once when I was a teen. Ended up ripping out nearly half my scales before Lore could find me some strong enough delousing agents. Stuff was practically acid and left me covered in blisters, but at least it got rid of the magmites.”
“…I’m sorry I asked. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight to you too, Spike… Don’t let the magmites bite.” Amy chuckled at the punch to her shoulder before rolling over and shutting her eyes.
><
“You think they’ll be there?”
The doctor looked up from his plate, swallowing a mouthful of fried wild greens, taking a moment to savor the perfect seasoning courtesy of Miss Spritz before responding. “Most likely. There are very few places left to restock supplies before the final trek to Heaven’s Break.”
“And if she is there, what’ll we do?”
“Well, I suppose we’ll decide that when we get there,” Zariba responded, putting his plate down to think. “We of course can’t know the conditions under which we’ll engage the two, though it’ll be for the best if we avoid open conflict. Being this close to the gryphon’s capital means the authorities are far less forgiving, and we certainly can’t afford any delays this close to our goals.
“In the end, we need both the tablets and a translator to reach our treasure, but for now, the latter should be our focus. Without the tablet, Miss Thistle will be unable to proceed and will have to come to us to retrieve it, creating an ideal opportunity for her capture.”
“You think we’ll be able to hold onto the beast this time?” Phantom asked incredulously. “Thistle’s a slippery one.”
“Oh, I’m sure we’ll be able to. You see, last time we were containing her under the impression that we’d be doing so for the entirety of our long journey, and so had to ensure she did not expire before its conclusion. Now, however, we are on the final stretch, so she does not need to last nearly as long. I’d say she should be able to survive a couple of broken limbs long enough for us to get what we need out of her.”
Phantom couldn’t help but feel a twinge of discomfort at the casual way his boss discussed something so ruthless and violent, but nodded anyway. “Suppose that’ll work well enough. What about the little one?”
“What about him? He’s no doubt useless on his own, and if he turns out to be a nuisance, well, I’m sure I have some poisons that can neutralize him…”
“… You know, Doc, you can be real creepy sometimes.”
“If that’s what you want to call it, then so be it. Though, I prefer 'efficient'. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be turning in for the night. If all goes well tomorrow, we’ll be arriving at Peregrine by midday, and I want to be well-rested for when we do. Perhaps you should do the same?”
“Yeah, sure, I’ll just be checking on the lookouts, make sure the rotations are set up, then I’ll be hitting the clouds. Night, Doc.”
“And goodnight to you, Phantom.” With that, the red eyes flashed one last time in the firelight before the zebracorn left his feathered companion to ruminate on their conversation. With a sigh, the pegasus shook his head before collecting his and his employer’s plate to be cleaned. Tomorrow was going to be some sort of day, and he could only hope it ended favorably.
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8167431
Tis the baited breath before the billowing bluster of the storm! Alas, I could not get a good alliteration going.
I suspect Phantoms loyalties to his boss won't survive the revelation of who else calls Spike family.
As always it's awesome to see this update.
8167915 Tis tried and trying to tell tales of twisted texts at times.
8169868
Guess I was basing her behavior on how she refused to leave Gilda and Dash alone when Dash said she wanted to hang out with her old friend for a while. Or when she wouldn't leave Cranky Doodle alone either when he told her to go away.
Looks like something didn't get decided on in editing. Can't wait for more!
Well, we now know there is a bug far worse than bedbugs...oh boy. Heh, man, talk about a pest. And talk about a horrible place to sleep at, but it can't be help I suppose.
C&Cs will be PM.