Vaeludar blow out a thin layer of dragon fire from his throat catching the wood on fire. Vaeludar closed his mouth to stop his dragon fire from engulfing and burning the other logs that may easily burn. Vaeludar took no pride that he had to step in to make a fire.
Flavius released the two men he grabbed and walked towards his foster brother.
“Let me make the fire next time,” said Flavius.
“Ok. Tomorrow night, you’re on your own.”
Suddenly, flapping of feathered wings was heard from a short distance; Flarefur was returning from his scouting.
“Flarefur, you were not gone for very long,” greeted Vaeludar. “How is it? What is ahead of us?”
“It is not going to be easy,” answered Flarefur. “There are many crossings for many days. Mountains that go around for nearly a hundred miles without end. It seems we may not be able to reach our destination within months.”
“What about the lower parts?”
“They are infested with wolves. They are vile wolves that are more evil, ugly-looking than any ordinary wolves. They prowl in the shallow ends of the mountains instead of living in the higher edges.”
“Then our only option is to travel on the higher edges of these paths.”
“There is another pathway through these mountains. I found a river that is a two-day walk from here. I flew high enough to see where it reaches a lake that dispatches into dozens of other rivers. It is where the wolves lie in wait.”
“Then we have two ways: the river or the high peaks. Where should we go? Before any answers, did you find any alternative routes to this river?”
“No,” answered Flarefur. “The only route is to the northwest. Like I said, it is a two-day walk but it would be dangerous. I have spotted many wolves prowling on many mountainsides. It won’t be an easy task to get there on foot.”
Vaeludar turned away and placed some thought into the two routes: take the river where it would take a few days or take the route that stays on high peaks where it would take months to get out of the mountains.
I don’t want to risk these people by going out in the open towards the river, thought Vaeludar. If we try to go to the river, we may encounter wolves we have not seen before. And I certainly don’t want to walk on the mountain tops. It will take us months to get out of here if we travel on the mountaintops. Since we have limited time, I guess we have no choice but to take the river.
Vaeludar flung himself into the air, to have everyone’s attention.
“Everyone,” cried Vaeludar. “I have decided to take the route to the river. We may encounter some wolves or other animals along the way but that won’t stop us. We are fearless beings. I have the indestructible skin and the powers so I will do the fighting while we walk to the river. And I say this: we will to go this Lost Castle, even if we have to cut down a thousand animals to get there. So who is with me?”
There were soft shouts.
“As I thought,” whispered Vaeludar, floating down to the ground.
After dropping, Vaeludar went to a singing Marina. Her voice was soft to the tone and she could sing as a young maiden:
Many animals have live for many a year
Now the end is coming very near
For a Shadow King waits in the night
And waiting for a big fight
But a small gleam of hope was a bright
A hybrid strong as a bear will resist
In the might of a strong fist
The hybrid will be strong in the light
“I hope I am not interrupting,” said Vaeludar.
Marina brought her siren singing to a stop. “You are not,” she said, in her human voice. “My singing was echoing throughout this mountain range. We should be safe, for the time being.”
“Let us join the others by the fire,” said Vaeludar, grabbing Marina’s hand and walking with her to the fire.
Soon enough, the day had dimmed into the night, with dark clouds swirling overhead and no stars or the moon could show some light flickering behind the most dreaded clouds. The fire was blazing its yellow-orange flame big and bright.
Vaeludar saw Galvin sharpening a long axe with a flat rock. Wonomi and Monico were eating fruits and some chicken wings. Flavius was also sharping his sword with a flat rock. Flarefur was pecking meat remnants of a bone like a lion.
Vaeludar seated himself on a bumpy rock. His wings wrapped his skin to keep the coldness. The wing-webs, which happen to be the paper-like skin attached to his wings that would help him maneuver in the air, wrapped around his back and his chest. The wing-webs felt like a warm sun. Since Vaeludar couldn’t find any human clothes to fit on his human body, he used his wings as the suitable type of clothing to keep his body warm. After feeling comfortable, Vaeludar placed the sword on the rocky mountain ground.
Marina sat down next to him. She was placing a quiver arrows and a firm bow down on a pile of rocks.
“Aren’t you cold?” asked Marina.
“No, these wings have fiery blood cells about a hundred a degrees hot,” said Vaeludar. “I managed to keep myself warm in my wings. After all, I—”
Sounds of howling rose from the south. The howling sounded like birds mutated, with a lion’s voice.
This alarmed everyone and the Griffin.
“Were those wolves?” asked Flavius, distressed.
Vaeludar jumped and climbed the mountain walls, to get to a high point to see what was coming. Once he was high enough, he looked towards the south.
The south had smaller mountain ranges as far as his dragon eyes can see, before seeing the plains near the roots of
