The Desert Prince

by Sparky Brony

Chapter 6.

The look on Irfan’s face says it all -- the somber expression, his head low. I can feel my own ears starting to droop and flatten, soundlessly I repeat, “Ghaliya has been taken?” No, it can’t be, I think and shake my head slowly as I step back. “I stopped them, didn’t I? the last mare had a musket ball in her. That should have done it.” As I look down I see Hadi asleep. Slowly, I touch my muzzle to the foal to check on him. I am feeling somewhat protective of him. “You said the entire camp was affected by the sleep spell, how were some guards able to respond then?”

Irfan glances back at the entrance to the tent, two guards are visible, standing stiffly. Their own curved swords scabbarded on their bodies within easy reach. Each has no fewer than three pistols on their chest. After the two that are easily visible, there are at least a dozen close by, and likely another dozen or so, the remainder of the guards for the entire caravan, within shouting distance. One in magnificent turban and a green and purple coat has a long-barreled jezail. Irfan says, “The spell seemed to be cast near the center of the camp, a few guards on the periphery were not as heavily affected, and when they heard the explosion of Sayyadina Ghaliya’s tent, they rushed to help. One of them was killed in the fight.”

I sit there, still in shock. “I remember Guerina in the fight. Is she okay?”

He nods. “She is well, and is working to search for Ghaliya, but they teleported away from the camp, so there are no tracks to follow.”

I frown. “There was only one magic user, she couldn’t have teleported them all, could she? Not after she took a beating and a musket ball.”

Irfan sighs, “She did, but she did have help in that respect. Someone planted a focusing crystal.”

I struggle to my hooves. “Show me.”

Irfan looks at me for several second, blinking slowly. Movement at the tent flaps gains my attention as Farris steps through. I don’t know who seems more shattered at the moment, the tall stallion's eyes are red, and he doesn’t seem all that steady in his hooves. He stands straighter. He has a spear hanging at the ready. “The griffon has returned from her search, though it doesn’t seem to have been fruitful.” Though to my surprise, he doesn’t seem to be giving the report to Irfan, but to me. I nod and he snorts softly before turning to leave.

“Farris, we’ll find her.”

"We will, Ki. On her father's seed and mother's blood, we will." He nods curtly before exiting. I glance at Irfan as he gains his own hooves. I follow him from the tent. I can see the guards. Irfan stops, looking at me expectantly. I glance around at the guards. Every single one of them standing stiffly. I find my ears flicking back and forth as I think, my tail is still lashing in anger. Finally, I can see, they are looking to me for leadership after all of this.

I clear my throat. “We’ve suffered a terrible loss with Mistress Ghaliya being taken. “I will get her back, no matter what it takes, but for now, that little colt in the tent needs to be taken care of. This caravan needs to complete its mission. Farris will take charge in Ghaliya’s absence.” Out of the corner of my eye, I see the stallion stiffen slightly. “I am going to find out everything I can, and Mistress Ghaliya will be found. Everyhorse here need keep doing their job, finish what you started and I will bring her back when I can.”

Farris asks, “What if you can’t find her?”

“I will never stop looking. I will continue searching for her, for information about what happened, for the cause of this. I will not return to traveling with this caravan until I am done.”

As I stalk through the camp, I notice a form has joined me as I walk. I look down. “No luck?”

Guerina shakes her head as she limps beside me, her eyes narrowed. “I’m not certain the range on the crystal, it could have been ten miles, a hundred miles. I've seen one used to jump a messenger between cities, straight from Griffendale back to Equestria. I did a circle ten miles out, then fifty. I even checked along our trail to the oasis. Nothing.” Her tail lashes as she growls low, her talons digging into the sand as she flexes them.

As we follow the scholarly horse, I finally lean over. “Thanks for saving me last night. That griffon could have killed me.”

"We can just call it a you owe me. They were bandits, maybe mercenaries. They could have been hired by another caravan company to disrupt this one.”

I frown. “I don’t see that. Ghaliya has said competition can get intense, but disrupting a caravan on the move doesn't seem right.”

She shrugs. "Gold is weightier than souls.”

Irfan has lead us to the very edge of the camp. He stops and points. “There it is.”

My horn lights and I yank the staff with the red crystal out of the ground. Irfan frowns, “This may have had a pretty good range. And typically, the last usage would be imprinted within the magic of the crystal. It's cracked and burned out, so even with destination information, we couldn't us it.

The crystal has a fine spider web of cracks throughout it. I’m guessing it was originally translucent, but not anymore, in addition to the cracks throughout, the crystal is also blackened by a sooty discoloration inside the body. I look up at Irfan. “How did they get it here?”

Guerina supplies the answer. “The griffon. He had a second one in his pack, fit the two pieces of the staff together, and a hard tap on the crystal itself to indicate or the unicorn that the crystal is set, and then pop, they are here.”

I look back at her. “What about the first pony you attacked?”

Her strange grin sends a shiver up my back, but her words, “Let’s just say, all his debts are now paid,” Laid such a finality that made me lose my appetite. I never knew that a creature with a beak could be so expressive.

“Did you leave much of him to examine.”

“No.”

I lower my head, apparently griffons play rough. “I’m troubled by one thing. That reminds me of the last thing she said to me. She said she wasn’t paid enough to kill me.”

Irfan snorts, "Oh it was probably much more than that, Ki. Ponies are quite social creatures, most often living in communities with friends and family. While some strike out on their own as traders and mercenaries, they still enjoy social groups, singing, and dancing and such. A pony will kill in self-defense, or kill in combat, but they won't go out of their way to murder.”

Guerina nods once. “We think badly on those who kill the defenseless."

“And from there they lose the social contact they need,” Ifran continues, “Not enough money means she would have to live out her days away from ponies, and from a mercenary’s point of view, she’d have to have enough to live quite comfortably for the rest of her life. In truth, with enough money she might think she could find some place to live where the citizens had not heard about her deeds, but the taint murder leaves on a soul, sometime tells me no amount of money would be enough to hide that." Looking back to me he nods.

"Finding her employer might be your best bet, the critter with the purse strings. Guerina mentioned other caravan owners, other money traders. That might be a logical first place to look."

I glance at Guerina. “We need to get to the city.” In response, her wings spread. I copy the motion and in moments we are in the air. Hard flaps from both of us have the ground receding rapidly. Guerina fits herself close to my right as we streak off.

***

As we descend into the City of Gardens, Guerina directs us near where Ghaliya’s offices are located. Quite a few large caravan outfits are set up around the area. As I fold my wings under my robes, I watch another caravan start to move. I narrow my eyes, I’ve seen those horses before. I remember Ghaliya and those horses seemed to be on cordial grounds.

Guerina leans over to me. “Watch out for that crew, Ghaliya doesn’t trust them.”

I look at her in surprise. “When have you had a chance to talk about the other caravans with Ghaliya?”

“Usually while you are busy exercising or flying.” She looks around, ““I don’t think Adila’s group would be undertaloned like that. He’s greedy but not evil; he's more likely to cuckold a stallion than have him killed. And while his group are rough, they still abide by the laws.” She trots off, gesturing with a wing for me to follow. “Come on, Ki, I have some suspicions. But that horn on your head can be a way to keep them honest.”

Several hours and talking to several caravan owners have yielded nothing. Guerina has done most of the talking, from time to time, she’d gesture back at me, and she had instructed me to glower a bit. The reaction is the same every time, the horse would seem to be offended at the idea that they would disrupt another caravan underway. One came close to drawing a jambiya and several asked if we wore pinned turbans. At first I didn't understand, but Ghaliya made it clear it was an insult. The time for a fight is in town, not out in the sand. As we leave the fifth caravan, Guerina growls, “This isn’t getting anywhere, Ki.”

“Oh, Dearie my,” An older mare says softly as she picks up a pair of small wine kegs and settles them on her back, a shipment from one of the caravans in the staging area. “They were mercenaries, right?”

Guerina and I stop in our tracks blinking slowly, we look at each other then back to the old mare. “That seems to be the case,” I murmur, looking at a dozen horses working hard to get a caravan ready to head out.

“Caravans hire mercs as guards, but the good ones, I mean the ones with special talents like flight, or magic, cost a lot.” The mare says, “More than most caravans can afford and still turn a profit.”

“Good mercs, those are special, those that have decent magic users, and would know where to procure the focusing crystals, are not cheap... we need to ask at the House of the Wind's Lions and the House of Starry Wisdom!"

"What?"

"The Wind's Lions are a wealthy mercenary company run by the patriarch of the Banu As-Sawarim; they own the water rights of a great oasis and use that money to buy a great army, so they strike hard despite being a small clan that just a few years ago scratched a living off rocks in the deep desert. They say magic was used to get them it. Rumor has it Banu Nasheed, who run the magic guild, House of Starry Wisdom, put them in place as vassals with no friends in the city. They're close allies now. Let's look under their tents and see what we can find!"

“Are you sure?”

She grins as she looks up at me. “Of course, griffons don’t turn rogue without the promise of a big payday. Even the merchants around here would have trouble coming up with enough coin for this. And what would it get them? An enraged guard compliment, and the caravan is continuing on to its destination. Farris may not be the negotiator that Ghaliya is, but they are still going to be heading back with an opportunity to bring home plenty of goods for sale. So why spend that kind of gold to take her?”

I stop, using a hoof to tap my chin. “Perhaps we check with moneylenders? The bankers around here would know what is going on when it comes to large amounts of gold?”

Turning the mare starts to trot off, swishing her tail as she does.

“Thank you… miss?” I start.

Looking back the mare laughs, “Oh you can just call me Nelly, young Prince.”

I watch the mare walk off, thinking furiously. Guerina gestures and we start walking, we head towards the royal palace. The city is arranged that the more wealth is closer to the city center, where the palace resides. The outskirts is where most of the horses live, then you have the open air markets that most of the horses in the city spend their coin at. Then there are the mercantile areas, where the caravans and other forms of commerce typically reside. Before we get to the more exclusive markets where the royal horses and others with significant coin to spend reside, we get to what seems like an interface between the horses and the royals resides. Gold is a common color in the buildings, and silver, along with the white stone of the palace itself. A horse wearing a workhorse’s vest is as common as a horse wearing the robes that are common among the more moneyed among the horses. Guerina is well versed in the signs around here. And she again leads me from moneylender to moneychanger in the belt. Living in the palace hasn’t really let me know how much gold flows through the city, but as a trading hub for the entire nation, there is a lot of money moving about. Within my robes is a few gold coins, all minted here in the city. The scales of the moneychangers are a common sight around here.

As we leave the fourth moneychanger, I find myself growling, “I need to do something. This talking to horses who don’t have any clue what is going on is frustrating.”

Guerina leans up against me, patting my withers with a wing. “I know, Ki, but before you can do something, you have to know what to do. That is what we are trying to figure out.” We're in yet another dusty stall. The guest in the office gets me to stop in my tracks. Guerina stops as well, her wings going up in alarm.

A black horse is standing there, what looks like much of what the royal family wears is adorning his body. He turns to look at me.

I don’t know that face. But he seems to recognize me. “You!” He hisses, then he gallops towards me. I spread my wings and brace for an impact. Though it never comes, he somehow turns to mist and flows around me. I whirl around and watch as the black mist flows through the door to the outside. I gallop out the door, Guerina on my heels as I skid to a stop, my wings up and ready to take me into the air.

“What was that?” She growls. The mist has faded away, where would I fly to? I look back at my wings and slowly fold them at my sides.

“I don’t know.” I whirl back to the moneychanger. “But I’m guessing they know in there.” I stalk back into the office. “Who was that?” I shout, glaring at the horse standing at the counter.

He doesn’t respond. Guerina takes to the air, flashing forward and baring her long dagger. The sharp steel ends up at the neck of the horse in the office.

“This is the last time I ask nicely, or my friend will get you more intimately acquainted with her blade. Who was that?”

The horse shivers. “I don’t know. He has been in here a few times, he’s brought some gold, and quite a bit of some very valuable gems in here for conversion.”

I look at Guerina as she glances back at me. “Gems? Gold?”

He nods frantically. “The gold was Equestrian, bits minted with Princess Celestia’s sigil. And the gems, they were quite big, diamonds, sapphires, emeralds, and rubies. They were worth a fortune. He wanted Saddle Arabian Crowns for them.”

“Bits?”

Guerina glances back, “They are smaller and lighter than Crowns here.” She turns to the horse, her free claw grabbing his robes and bringing him closer. “How many bits did he bring in?”

He looks at me, then at the griffon. “I’m sorry, but clients at this level value their privacy. I can’t…” He stumbles to a stop as her blade presses tighter, on the very edge of drawing blood. “I don’t know everything, I know he brought in several hundred bits, and dozens of the gems. That’s all I can tell you.”

I look at Guerina as she glances back at me. Finally, she releases the horse. “If he comes in again, you will send word to the Padishah first thing. He’s likely involved in the horsenapping of his eminence's niece, and a ranking lady of Banu Arsalan.”

The horse’s eyes widen. “I’ll give what information I can to the Padishah, I am limited by my trade in what I can offer. If you have him send a royal guard to talk.” The griffon’s grip tightens. “Hey, hey! I have to stay in business, and my clients will abandon me if I talk just because you are putting a dagger to my throat.” He clears that throat quickly. “But if it’s an investigation by the crown looking for a member of the family, I’m honor bound to assist where possible.”

“Guerina, let him go.” I growl. “We’ve gotten the information we can get from this horse.” She looks a me, then grabs him tighter for a moment, getting him to gulp slightly before she lets him go. She flips off the desk and walks over to me. As we walk from the moneychangers, she clicks her beak a few times. “So, where now?”

“I’ve seen something like that before.” I say softly. “Right before we got into the city when I first got here. I have an idea. But we need to get to the palace and talk to the Padishah before we head out.”

She nods and I take off at a gallop, she unfurls her wings and flies near me as I thunder through the streets of the city. Soon I’m climbing the stairs into the palace itself. Servants throughout the palace stop what they are doing as I rush through the halls with a griffon at my heels. Finally, I’m at the large doors to the audience chamber. I take a few moments to compose myself before nodding to the guards. They look at each other before opening the doors. One of them announces me as I trot into the expansive hall. The padishah’s eyes are wide as I approach.

“This is highly irregular, Ki, What is going on?”

I bow before him. “Padishah Kaspar, I need to tell you of the events that happened a day ago in the caravan.”

He shifts to look at his advisors, then back at me. “Go ahead.”

I tense. “During our stop at the last water before our destination, we were set upon by mercenaries. They tried to take Hadi, and they were successful in taking Mistress Ghaliya. Guerina and I have been trying to figure out where the mercenaries went. And we have very few clues to go on. But I have some suspicions.”

As I’ve been speaking, his face has gone from curious to guarded. Now fury controls. “My niece has been taken?”

I nod. “I will get her back.”

He glowers at me. “See that you do, Ki.” He stops for a moment. “You have suspicions? Who do you think is behind it?”

I lay out the information that we’ve been gathering, including our idea that since Ghaliya herself was the target, we don’t think her competitors would be behind it due to it not being at all effective to stop the caravan itself. When I wind down, leans back. “That is actually quite good deductions right there. Though you presuppose that it’s somehorse from the city that is involved, there are other cities in Saddle Arabia to consider. Each of them with some royalty and other moneyed individuals.”

I nod. “But who among them would be to gain by stealing Ghaliya and leaving the caravan itself relatively unscathed? And some of them died; they knew we had guns and swords and an alicorn.”

He taps his chin with a hoof. “That list is rather short. I will inform Sargon of these developments. He will be beside himself with his fiancé being missing.”

It’s my turn to snort. “If he isn’t behind it himself.”

Kaspar frowns. “I would think it quite unlikely, Ki. While you and him are not on the best of terms. And Ghaliya is resistant to his offers. I have seen him myself, he does love her. He wants her not just to better his station in life, but he truly cares about her.” He shakes his head. “Either way, follow your suspicions and let me know as soon as you find her. Do you need any guards? I can send you few of mine, but wait a few days and Banu Arsalan will lend you however many of its finest you desire."

I shake my head. “Unless they can fly, they’ll only slow us down.”

"You were bested by one of them, saved only by luck and mercy. They will not show it again with you now being a combatant."

I sigh, “I won’t jump into a situation over my head. If I need to come back and lead a group to assist me, I will. But for now, I need to confirm that Ghaliya is where I suspect she is. Then we will figure out if help is needed.” I glance back at Guerina, who nods.

"The martyr elects himself..."

We make our way from the palace, but instead of walking through the city again, I unfurl my wings on the long stairs up to the palace and take to the air. Guerina stays with me as we gain altitude. I steak off. The griffon huffing as she keeps up. In our flying, we’ve found I’m marginally faster than she is, but she has me in endurance. We aren’t going all that far this time. A bit over a day of travel via caravan, but a matter of a few hours as we fly directly. The city fades behind us as we make our way more east than south. We stay fairly quiet as we fly. My thoughts are directed inwards. For a time, I did think that Sargon was behind her abduction. The last few times I’ve interacted with him, he has been focused on getting Ghaliya to abandon her job and marry him. She’s had to get rather forceful in her denials of him. I know he’s mad, his honor has been insulted. I could easily see him doing this, not just to get Ghaliya, but to get me, too. Both Ghaliya and I have discussed his animus towards me. I shake my head, we are getting close. I angle my wings and stop flapping to glide down towards the large wadi that the caravan had travelled not all that long ago. A quick backpedaling of my wings kills my velocity and allows me to simply extend my rear hooves to land on the hard baked ground. The sun is low on the horizon as we both fold our wings. I take a few steps, my head swiveling from side to side.

“What do you think? He’ll just appear out of nowhere?” Guerina snarks.

I shrug my wings. “He did before.”

“It’s a fire djinn, he has to have a shelter around here somewhere. Something he built or dug.” She unfurls her wings and takes off straight up. I keep an eye on her as I look at the ground around us. This isn’t loose sand like some of his trap. I have no idea if anyone has been around here recently.

“Ki!” Comes her voice, getting me to look up. She launches herself forward, and I bring my wings into play so I can keep up with her. As I get to her level, I can see what she’s talking about, in the hills nearby there seems to be some kind of opening in the side of one of the larger hills.

We stop before the entrance. I look around. “This is pretty close to where we were attacked.” I shake my mane out. “We wouldn’t have seen this from our path, but it’s close enough.” I trot towards the cave entrance.

“Ki!” Guerina’s call gets me to skid to a stop. I turn back and look at her. She grins, still a crazy experience on a creature with a beak. “It looks pretty dark in there.”

I look in, then back at her. “So?”

“How are you planning on not running into walls, or stumbling into a hole and breaking a leg. You aren’t invincible, Ki. You may just earn yourself metal in your chest.”

I light my horn, and she leaps forward, tapping the end of it, rather hard. I flinch back, comforting the appendage. “Owwwwww.”

“Are you stupid as well as blind, Ki? You are going into a den of a powerful magical creature, and possibly there is a strong magic user in there as well. Do you really want to advertise your presence?”

I stop, looking at the dark entrance. “Then what should I do?”

She chuckles, “Magic isn’t good in every situation, Ki. When this is done, if Irfan or Faris don't make you, I'm making sure you learn how to fight for real.” She streaks into the sky, and a few minutes later, she’s back with a couple of branches. I know that wood is rather dear around here, I’m surprised she found some so quickly. She dives into her pack and quickly wraps some scrap cloth around the end of each one. She pulls out some lamp oil and pours some onto each bundled cloth. She grabs a flint, and uses the back of her dagger to strike some lively sparks onto the makeshift torches. One sputters to life quickly, and she uses it to light the other. She passes it to me. “I know you can walk three legged, just keep up.” She unfurls her wings and hovers into the cave. I hold the lit torch with my fetlock as I follow her.

Our torches seem to do quite a bit more than I expected as we look around the large chamber. “What is this?” I find myself whispering. There is rock at the entrance of the cavern, but it quickly gives over to crystal. Pink and yellow crystals make up the walls. The ceiling is light blue. “This looks like it’s been made, not natural.”

Guerina has landed, her eyes are wide. “This is amazing.” She looks back at me. “Can you feel anything?”

I frown. “What?”

She points her claw at my forehead. “Magic, you idiot. You feel any magic going on?”

I close my eyes. I haven’t been taught much when it comes to detecting magic around me. I keep my horn dark, but I reach out, feeling. Finally, I snort softly. “Yeah, something going on that way.” I open my eyes and look where my hoof is pointing. A blank yellow crystal wall. I glance around, “Follow me, Guerina. There is magic being used here." Nearly hidden among the crystal is a fissure, big enough for a horse to walk easily through. The multiplication of the light from the torches lights up everything around us pretty well. I walk as softly as I can, though Guerina has it much easier with her paws and claws. As we get through the fissure into another cavern, this one rather small, but the same color crystalline walls, floor and ceiling.

The intensity of the magic I’m feeling gets me to stop. It’s changed. Have they detected us? I shake my head. No, my ears swivel on my head. I can hear something, we are getting close. Then I stop. There is something actually engraved on one of the walls. A crystal heart? I run a hoof over the engraving, the detail of the engraving is beautiful. With the heart is a set of three snowflakes. I lean over to Guerina. “A cutie mark?”

She runs a claw over the marks herself. She whispers back. “Yeah, but pony or alicorn?”

I shake my head. “I have no idea. Let’s go.” We exit the chamber into some kind of tube or hall. Every step has the magic I can feel increasing in intensity. We are going the right way. As we get towards the end, a soft grunt gets me to freeze in place. There is someone there. I step slowly towards an outcrop before a turn in the hallway. Two hulking creatures are standing there. Standing on two feline looking paws, they are each carrying a heavy shield and some kind of lance. They have grey furred bodies, and have some kind of mask on their faces. Guerina’s claw lands on my withers and pulls me back sharply.

She moves close and whispers into my ears. “Those are Raijū guards. They are from southeast. Over the ocean there. You don’t see them very often. I’m shocked to see them here. They rarely visit Griffonstone. They are highly capable, stupid strong, but they aren’t the brightest creatures.”

I lean over to whisper at her. “We need to get by them. I can tie them up with magic. But we will have to move quickly.”

She shakes her head vehemently. “Those shields they are carrying reflect magic. No go right there.”

I narrow my eyes. “Then a frontal assault.” I turn and pull my robes from my body, taking a moment to extinguish my torch. I turn and brace myself.

“What are you doing?” Her voice remains a whisper. “Are you insane?”

I shake my head. “I’m getting Ghaliya back, right now.”

She shrugs out of her pack and straps her scabbarded dagger around her hips. “You are going to get us killed."

I smile and take off. My hooves ring loudly as I get to a full gallop. I slide as I make the turn, using my wings to assist as I streak towards one of the guards. They seem to be well trained as I leap into the air, leading with my forehooves. My target moves his shield in my way, and my hooves sound like a gong as I impact the shield. Though I expected that. I use my rear hooves, supporting my body with my wings as I sweep his paws out from under him.

My wings take me into the air in a short loop, and I come down on the face mask of the guard with all four hooves. His body spasms and then stills. I reach down and check. He’s still breathing. I turn around and Guerina is cleaning her blade on the body of the other guard.

“You couldn’t have left him alive?” I growl softly.

She shrugs her wings. “Ponies and their reluctance to kill, we couldn’t risk him getting up and attacking us from behind, especially not while we are trying to rescue Ghaliya.”

I sigh softly, then nod. She’s right, I just didn’t want to admit it. Moving up to the door I can hear voices, yelling from inside. The fiery anger and hatred. “You just had to leave him alive. Now he’s investigating and asking around the city!”

Flicking my ears, I hear a female voice in defiance, “He’s an Alicorn, if I had killed him, Tartarus would have been the least of my worries. There are some lines I won’t cross.”

I slam my shoulder into the heavy doors. The force causes them to fly open, slamming against the crystal walls. Spreading my wings wide I let out a powerful snort and spread my forelegs as I brace myself.

The entire chamber seems to be made of crystals, almost as if they were grown from the ground itself. A mix of semi translucent spires refract and reflect the light in the room, while darker pink and lavender opaque crystals form the walls. A series of raised steps form a dais in front of a crystal throne. Crystals along the ceiling and on stands throughout the room glow, giving plenty of light for this underground chamber.

Standing from his seat, the creature on the throne backhands a unicorn mare sending her sliding along the floor. “You’ve failed me, and your failure lead him to this place.”

“You!” Guerina snarls.

Standing to his full height the creature pulls a sword leveling it at the unicorn mare, “Time to prove your loyalty, or die here with him.”

Comments

[Zapper Frost]

Fight scene?

[harts fire]

i will keep this simple as you know i love the chapter.

[ClosetBrony]

Good to see Ki is stepping up and that the others are willing to listen. "Follow the money" should have been the first thing they tried. Now we leave our intrepid heroes in a Crystal Cave of Doom facing an unknown adversary. Well, unknown to us but Guerina seems to know who it is. Thanks for the new chapter Sparky et al.

[OBSIDI4N_DR4G0N]

I really hate clifff hangers!!!

[kitsy-chan]

9227930
huh? thats next chapter when Guerina is hanging by her beak and claw for dear life, her wing bound to her side, off the side of a cliff. She's not cliff hanging in this chapter...

[OBSIDI4N_DR4G0N]

9228652
nooo!!! NO spoilers!!!!

[kitsy-chan]

9229083
oh, well you were the one talking about cliff hanging.

[OBSIDI4N_DR4G0N]

9229110
You know what i meant!! lol

[MAD-3R]

9227331
My money's on it being our old pal the djinn. They're sore losers.

[Tesseract417]

Interesting story.
Look forward to seeing more of this one!

[Emperor]

I see the Human tag has been appended to this story. So I would assume that's our own Ki Ren. I have to wonder if his name derives from something Arabic, because the only other possible derivations I can think of would be from Chinese qilin, the Sanskrit name 'Kiran' (meaning ray of light) or the Irish name Kieran (meaning dark/black, funny that it's the opposite of the Indian name).

Anyways, in this chapter...maybe I just somehow skimmed over something by accident, but it feels like Ki just...sort of stumbled into finding out where Ghaliya's captors are, in the cavern? I think I missed Ki's logic and deduction on where to go after leaving the city, besides returning to find the djinn.

Guerina is surprisingly well-spoken for a gryphon. Obviously she's a lot more aggressive than the horses are since she makes two kills in this chapter (including the one from the mercenary attack), but she also shows a decent array of talents. I suppose as a more exotic species to the desert land of the horses, she had to branch out to get work instead of relying on connections.

[PinkDragonJr]

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Inclined to think it is the dragon-horse Qilin since they are related to life and life magic. Also, more obscurely; nightmare, disease and old age depending on the region. The Chinese relate the weirdest things.