~Sausage~

Gem stumbled up several large, overturned rocks littering the pathway. I leaned down, offering a hand to help her up to the top, already sweating from the climb myself. 

I had suggested that we use magic to move the boulders out of the way, but Gem had insisted that we don't use magic unless it was absolutely necessary, to avoid attracting attention. 

I'm sorry, but does she know me? I'm an attention magnet and proud of it. 

We had been traveling the mountains for three days now. It would have taken less time if we actually knew where we were going— without an overhead view, we were only going off of the general idea of what direction the library was in from Gem and Fwhip's memory. Which meant we had five more days to both find the library, make sure we had all the materials needed, and get back to Rivendale. 

We got that, right? Totally. 

I had been entertaining both Fwhip and Gem the past couple of days with stories of my adventures since the Great Catastrophe. Very enjoyable, true stories, I might add. 

"—and then that's when Joey's soldiers attacked." I said as I hoisted Gem up to the top of the boulder pile next to me and Fwhip. "But before they could arrest me, I brought forth hellfire from the skies and—"

"Sausage," Gem panted, brushing her hands coated in dirt off on her trousers. "Did this really happen or are you exaggerating again?" 

"Of course it really happened! I'm no liar!" I declared, before getting nosed violently in the cheek by Violet's snout. "See! Violet agrees with me—"

"Sure—" Fwhip said, dodging the dragon's whip thin tail to avoid getting tossed off the edge of the mountain. "Let's go with that. What happened next, then?"

"Well, since I was so much of a threat to their little brigade due to my awesomeness—" Fwhip and Gem scoffed in unison as we began to climb down the other side of the boulder. "—they called for backup. I think the whistle call went something like this." I dropped down onto the other side of the pathway, gravel crunching under my feet, as I cupped my hands around my mouth and made a low, but loud, hollow whistle. 

"Sausage what the hell—" Gem's voice was shrill as she lunged towards me, ripping my hands away from my face. "What are you doing?!"

I blinked. "Showing you their backup call—?"

"A backup call that if they hear they'll come running towards?!" Fwhip said, looking at me as if I were insane. 

"Oh, come off it, there's no way Joey has soldiers out here in the middle of nowhere. They avoid the mountains like the plague, they're jungle folk." I insisted as we walked, waving it off. Gem gave me a warning look. "Oh fine, you guys are no fun..." 

We walked in silence, for the next several minutes. It was quite beautiful from up here, browning valleys dipping into the ground miles below us. Winter was coming, but the pine trees around here remained green year long. Especially since there had been no snow to cover them since the winter before the explosion. 

If Violet had been big enough or strong enough, I'm sure the view would have been spectacular nonetheless flying overhead. It was still beautiful though; from the path we were on hugging the side of the mountain.

"Wait— stop—" Gem said, stopping in her tracks, in a hushed voice. "Do you hear that?"

I paused, straining my ears to hear through the breeze whipping along the mountain edge. 

Crunch, crunch, crunch.

"No Lost Empirian soldiers in the mountains, eh?" Fwhip muttered, reaching into his cloak. I heard the near silent metallic vibration of him sliding his sword slightly from its sheathe. 

Gem clutched her amulet, ripping the chain off from around her neck. She shushed Violet as she began to whimper, her legs buckling to crouch down, wings tucking, to try and make herself look smaller.

I slowly backed away from where the noise was coming from, a slit in the mountain from just ahead of us...another pathway, perhaps? My hand wrapped around the handle of my staff fastened to my back, ready in case the enemy turned the corner. 

None of us dared to breathe. 

My heart felt like it was about to jump from my chest as someone turned the corner. Just one someone. 

It was a man, a few inches taller than I. He had a brown cloak, hood up and over his head to hide his face, fastened with a golden pendant at his neck. I wondered for a moment whether or not it was real gold. Based on the tattered look of his clothes, it wasn't. His left arm was outstretched, holding a lit lantern out in front of him, despite it hardly being dusk yet. 

It felt like hours before anyone spoke, anxiety practically visible in the air between us and the stranger. 

Then he lifted his head. "Hello, travelers." He said, his voice warm, brown eyes crinkled into a small smile. "May I join you? This is quite a lonely road." 

I blinked. His voice had the twang of an accent I recognized. Elvish, I think? It had been a very long time since I had heard it... 

I glanced to the side as Gem's breath hitched, her eyes wide as she stared at the elf. None of us answered for several seconds, but after glancing next at Fwhip, I spoke up, "I don't see why not." I said, slowly letting my hand fall away from my staff. 

Both Tays glared at me. I don't see why; the stranger was simply a wandering traveler. Like we were. Plus, it was three (four if we count Violet and her paralyzing breath) against one. What could go wrong?

The stranger's smile widened as he began to walk alongside us, despite everyone else's...hesitancy. Violet took a couple of skip-like steps closer, going to sniff him like a dog would before drawing back again with a high-pitched whine. 

The elf only laughed the slightest. "It's alright," he said, before he brought his gaze up towards the rest of us. "My brother always had a way with dragons. I consider myself more of a people person though." He said calmly, switching the lantern from his left to his right hand to hold out his wrist for Violet to sniff again. "She's a gentle one." 

"Yeah..." Gem replied slowly, walking rigidly on the other side of Fwhip, who was right beside me. 

I got a better look at the stranger's face now that he was closer. His skin was darker, tanned like he had spent many years out in the sun, but not dark enough to hide the small spray of freckles across the bridge of his nose. He looked like he could be in his late twenties, but really you could never tell with elves. He could have been five hundred, who knows. Down his chin was a small, pale marking, lighter than his hair which was brown and tucked behind his ears. I couldn't see the points from beneath his hood, but from what I could see, they were heavily pierced with even more gold. 

"So..." Fwhip began as we turned a corner in the path, leading us into a split in the mountain. A rocky crevice that spanned nearly fifty feet, like someone had taken a ginormous sword and sliced the top of the peak in half. "What brings you around here?"

The stranger brought the lantern back to his left hand as Violet backed away again towards Gem, seemingly more satisfied with this attempt at gathering the elf's scent. It gave off an odd...red glow, more red than orange, at least. The man muttered something at it...something along the lines of "calm down"... Odd. I narrowed my eyes, trying to see the flames within the grimy glass. "Can one not walk around and enjoy the scenery without a goal in mind?" He asked, still wearing a friendly smile as we walked. 

"Not in times like these." Fwhip replied, his expression set rather grimly. 

"I suppose you're correct." The elf set his gaze ahead, towards the other end of the pathway between cliff faces, his brow furrowing the slightest. "Times like these call for action, don't you think?"

I nodded in agreement. "Of course."

"Then that's what I'm doing. Action." He replied simply.

"Action against what?" I asked. 

"Your whistle I believe, Lord Sausage, has brought you more attention than you wish." He said with no further clues.

I paused. "But I never told you my na—"

The elf stopped in his tracks, holding up a hand to shut me up. His expression was twisted slightly, an ear twitching beneath his hood as he lowered it with his free hand, revealing a long plait, braided with several strands of gold. And then, "There they are." 

Flapping. 

Avians. 

At least a dozen iron-clad avians dropped from the sky, blocking the opposite end of the path leading out of the ravine between the split peak. Their pauldrons and breastplates were edged with a ruby-like gem, wings of all different colors flared behind them, swords already drawn. 

"SAUSAGE!" Both Gem and Fwhip snapped in unison.

"I'm sorry!" I replied, panic exploding through my chest. 

"I am Commander Ruiz of the Emperor's army. Stand down and surrender in the name of Emperor Joseph!" One of the avians shouted, as he had said, the commander of the very small unit due to the fancier breastplate and armor he wore.

We were most definitely outnumbered. Violet growled from behind us four, but even I knew the little dragon wouldn't do us much good against well-trained soldiers. I knew the avians to be vicious.

I glanced over at the stranger who...he was holding a sword too. I hadn't heard him draw one. Where had that come from? "How— who are you—?"

The elf's lips twitched into a small smirk, but he wasn't looking at me any longer as he slid the lantern's handle around his left wrist, unclasping his cloak and letting it fall to the ground. The clothes he wore beneath were...very similar to what Scott would have worn. Too similar. He met Gem's eyes, the light reflecting off of his to make them look gold— no wait— they were gold. "I think you know."

Apparently, we had been silent for too long. "CHARGE!" The avian commander screamed, his sword glinting as he pointed it straight for us. 

The soldiers exploded towards us, yelling battle cries in Empirian, murder dancing behind their eyes that I could nearly see the whites of already.

The elf's head snapped forward, his smirk turning into a wide smile before he sprinted. 

The fastest avian dove for the elf, brandishing his weapon like a spear towards his head. Just as I thought that the man would be coming to a very early defeat, he slid on his knees, hardly missing the sword as it flew over his head. The stranger hooked his heel around the avian's ankle, and something silver shredded through the avian's chest. 

The elf was on his feet again by the time the first soldier fell, already swinging his blood-covered sword for the next one's torso. 

Fwhip had drawn his own sword, launching himself into the fight. But I was frozen to the spot. 

I lurched to the side as Gem grabbed my elbow, yanking me towards the cliffside. "Who the hell is that?!" I demanded, flinching into the rocks at the shouting and crashing just feet away from us. 

Gem looked dumbfounded. "That's Aeor you idiot!" She snapped, her amulet forming into her staff. "I knew it from the second he showed up—"

"WHAT—"

"I heard my name?" The elf had popped up beside us, kicking an avian bleeding from the throat to the ground with his heel. He wore a crooked, adrenaline filled smile despite the small flecks of crimson splattered on his cheeks. A smile I had seen the Majors wear many a times. 

"You're—" 

"The one and only." The lantern was still hooked and rattling around his wrist. 

"But you don't have your—" I gestured wildly towards his head, heart pounding in my throat louder than the noise surrounding us. A loud roar exploded within the ravine. Violet. Gem rushed into the fight towards her dragonling, the jewel of her staff beginning to glow.

"Antlers? They can get annoying— plus, you would have known who I was immediately. And we can't have that now, can we?" His newly golden eyes suddenly widened. For a moment, I thought he was driving his sword toward me. But then, he thrusted past, brushing my shoulder with his. It was warm— like electricity. 

My head whipped around just in time to watch Aeor lock hilts with an avian who had snuck up on me. Their sword managed to cut him slightly across the cheek, a couple trickles of gold seeping from the miniature cut. 

Aeor scrunched his nose. "Rude." he exclaimed, knocking the blade out of the way before stabbing him through the stomach, twisting his blade within the flesh to create a horrible squelching sound. With his free hand he swung at the avian's face, something cracking as his fist made contact with the soldier's nose, sending them to the ground. 

"Do you have no survival instincts, or are you trying to die?" Aeor panted as he glanced back over at me, still standing there, frozen. "Because I mean, I could make the latter happen, but I don't think you'd enjoy it very much." 

Did— did Aeor just— was he being funny? That felt very wrong—

"I—" I stammered, struggling to breathe let alone speak.

"You have a brain, I think," Aeor continued. "Use it. That staff of yours might also help a bit." He gave me a small grin, before he had thrown himself back into the mass of fighting. 

I swallowed, before unlatching the straps keeping my staff on my back, and then launching myself into the chaos. 

I swung my staff like a bat at one of the soldier's heads as they tried to sneak up on Fwhip from behind, forcing them to stagger. I clutched at the crumpled leaves in my pocket, hoping they were pyrian. Or else I was screwed. 

AEGNOR, I screamed in my head, launching the dust into the air before fire exploded from my staff, amplified by the crumpled leaves, catching the avian's feather alight. To silence his screams, I jammed the end of my staff into his face. That couldn't have felt good. 

A flash of brilliant yellow and purple light caught my eye. My head snapped around as I heard Gem's shout. She launched a soldier off the edge of the cliff with a spell, followed by another flash of light from Aeor, his hands glowing like mini suns, braid snapping like a whip as he dodged and weaved through the fighting. 

He caught an avian's wrist to avoid getting sliced open by her sword, using his own weapon to stab a second one's thigh. He cut the second's legs out from beneath them, jabbing his sword up to knock the first in the jaw with the hilt, sending her into the rocky mountain face for Violet to snatch up with her talons. 

I had seen this style of fighting before.

Xornoth fought like this. 

There were still four avians left, all battered and sliced but still swarming us. The lantern around Aeor's wrist rattled again, this time by its own accord. "Oh, fine!" Aeor snapped at it. Was he...talking to a light source? He rushed forward, pulling the handle off from around his hand before smashing it down on the rock in front of the avian soldiers.

Red immediately exploded from within the shattered glass, curling tendrils of light shooting from the remains and rushing at the remaining soldiers. A figure seemed to form within it, made from twisted strands of the scarlet. 

A figure with dragon wings. 

A wicked laugh exploded from within the swirling red as it attacked, excited to be released.

Erin's power ripped past the avian's, leaving feathers and tendon missing from their wings to reveal bones. It tossed them into the rock, bashing their skulls against the stone to drip blood across the dirt. 

It was all screams and light and crimson flying like arrows. I tried to stay on my feet, keep myself steady but the world was spinning and upside down and the ground was littered with bodies. 

It was the fall of Black Dawn City all over again. Buildings crumbling, smoke filling the air as thick and black as ink.

I was snapped back to reality as the red seeped into the ground...little flits of light now and nothing more. 

Erin had had her fun. 

"Well," Aeor said breathlessly, straightening. He glanced at me, Fwhip, and Gem, all with sweat and blood dripping down our faces as we stood among the dead and dying avians. Violet landed next to Gem, wings fluttering behind her. "That was eventful." 

I had so many questions.

What had Aeor been doing here in the first place?

Why was he helping us?

Why was Erin helping us? She hated Aeor—

"AEOR LOOK OUT—" Gem shrieked. I had noticed it too, but far too late. Commander Ruez staggering from the rock, blood caking the right side of his face. But even the deep bite mark in his shoulder didn't stop him from stabbing down at the god. 

Aeor turned around just in time for the sword to pierce his chest with a sickening metallic slice, getting driven in hilt-deep. 

Oh my god.

Oh my GOD.

Ruez staggered backwards as Aeor looked down.

Aeor blinked at the sword hilt poking out of his chest. I felt like I was going to be sick, staring at the other end of the blade poking out from between his shoulder blades, dripping in both red and gold. "Are you going to want this back?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

Commander Ruez looked as bewildered as I felt. 

"No?" Aeor asked. "I'm feeling generous today, actually. Here." In one swift motion he ripped the sword from his chest, twisting the hilt and driving the point of the blade through the commander's throat easily. 

My jaw was on the floor sooner than Ruez's body. 

"You're not dead." Fwhip said weakly after several quiet moments, still clutching his sword in both hands.

Aeor glanced down at his chest again. His shirt was soaked in gold, but the wound was already...mending itself? He let out a small laugh. "I won't die as easily as our friend did, Count Fwhip."

"You say our friend, but you let him die. You let them all die." I said quietly. "That doesn't seem like friend behavior to me." 

Aeor paused, the smile fading off of his face. "I tried to bargain," he said after a moment of silence. "But the mistress doesn't like to negotiate her people's destinies. However, lucky for you, you're about to play a key role in his. A role I couldn't." 

"What?" Gem asked, her staff lowered to her side. "What mistress? What role? You just killed all— you're supposed to be the god of—"

"Life?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. "Yes. Which means I can take it." 

Silence.

"Oh, look at that." Aeor said suddenly after a moment, ignoring all of our splutters of our new confusion. His eyes were trained on the ground, but he didn't look like he was seeing it at all. "You have a couple friends coming your way, yes?" 

"We what?" Fwhip started, looking around for who Aeor spoke of. 

The god stepped closer to the edge of the cliff, the other side of the pathway between the sliced mountain peak that we had been trying to cross through. "Remember your goal. We're counting on you. They need you. Scott needs you." 

Why did he have to become mysterious and unresolved as soon as we needed answers?

Two twists of golden light seemed to form above Aeor's head, his hair flashing with a silver sheen for just a moment...before he dropped over the edge of the cliff in a flash of even brighter light before another question could be asked. None of us bothered to go check and see if he had landed. We knew he was gone. Maybe still watching us, but gone.

I rubbed my eyes. "Did—"

"Did that just happen?" Fwhip finished for me. 

"Apparently." Gem said, jaw clenched. 

"He said friends were coming— who do you think—" I began to say, before the sound of footsteps met my ears. Running footsteps. 

I whipped around, only to see someone sprint through the entrance to the pathway that we had originally come through. Her dark hair was cut into a slightly uneven bob at her shoulders, ears pointed the very slightest poking out from beneath. Her billowing cloak covered the wings I knew were there. 

It was Katherine.

And at her heels was... Bubbles? 

***

I

LOVED

WRITING

THIS

CHAPTER

I wrote it all today- I hope y'all like it as much as I do >:D

Hopefully it's not too confusing? Idk, we'll see 

But votes and comments are appreciated! What was y'alls favorite part? :D