Quest for Cydonia

The light from the rising sun slowly filled the cave with its glow, highlighting the signs of life within. Matt’s eyes fluttered open, and he saw that he was not the first one awake. A shadow created a small inkblot of darkness by the mouth of the cave; he sat up to see what it might be. He could almost immediately recognize the silhouette and got to his feet to go speak to his friend.

“Something on your mind, Dom?” asked Matt as he approached. The other man showed no sign that he had heard anything. Before he could speak again, he felt something grab hold of his hair and begin grinding it. He reached one hand up to smack the side of the horse’s cheek, and it let go immediately. “I’m not food, Velvet,” he said with a light laugh. He became increasingly worried when his friend did not so much as smile. Dom was not usually one to excessively care about any horse other than his own, but it never took much to make him laugh.

“They’re hurting her,” the archer said simply. “I’m sure of it.”

“Is that all?” Matt asked with astonishment. Dom stared at him as if he had lost his mind. “Don’t worry about it too much,” he said reassuringly. “We’ll have her back in a day or two and all of this will disappear. We’re heroes!”

“Shut up, Matt,” Dom snapped. “You have no idea what this is like for me.”

“What are you talking about?”

Dom sighed. “I had this dream-”

“Oh, gods, Dom! Not that again!” Matt exclaimed, trying to remember to be quiet enough to let the others sleep. It was difficult. “Don’t pull more of this magic nonsense on me. Please.”

“It’s not nonsense,” Dom muttered, almost sounding hurt. “Don’t you remember what happened to your father?”

“It was a fluke,” Matt answered shortly. “There was no way you could’ve known how that battle was going to go.”

“But I was right. It happened exactly as I saw it,” Dom insisted. Matt sighed heavily at the memory.

“It makes no sense, Dom.”

“Need I even mention your brother?” the archer hissed. Matt’s gaze turned from mourning to cold.

“Paul was a traitor from the beginning,” he answered bitterly. “He means nothing to my family anymore.”

“Regardless,” Dom continued, “I was right. Ignore me if you want, but if Orchid dies because of you, you’ll regret it. Trust me on that.” He stood and walked back into the cave, finding Sedrik and giving the horse a light pat on the neck to wake him.

“Ah, you’re finally awake,” Z called cheerfully. “Good thing, since we’ll be leaving soon.”

“What?” Matt asked in confusion. The girl nodded.

“We have to leave before any Archosians find us. Dangerous people, those ones.”

“Which way to Cydonia?” Dom questioned while Matt busied himself with waking up Chris. Koda decided to answer.

“The country itself is just on the other side of the desert, if you take the direct route. But you won’t be able to get to the castle that way.”

“Why not?” Matt asked. Koda glanced at him as if wondering about his sanity.

“Unless you own one of the king’s horses, you’ll be stuck on the ground.” His face lit up suddenly. “Hey, Z, what about-”

“No, Koda,” she interrupted. “Aronos won’t help them.”

“Who’s that?” asked a now-curious Dom.

“He’s the brother of Cydonia’s royal master of horses and a friend of ours,” answered Koda. “He helped us after we first escaped from prison.”

“That’s enough,” Z hissed at him. “They have spies everywhere. Do you want us to be found?”

Chris finally chose to wake up, and Z refused to say any more on the subject. She approached Velvet and pulled a long, thin piece of glass from one pocket. Its twisted formation almost gave it the appearance of a gnarled tree branch, but it was completely straight and looked as if made of ice.

“And what is that?” Matt questioned sourly.

“A wand, genius,” Z answered. “I’m going to make sure this doesn’t get reinjured.” Matt rolled his eyes and helped Chris to his feet, careful not to hurt his arm.

“Just don’t break my horse. That’s all I ask.”

The knights rode down the narrow trail in a single-file line, Matt in front and followed by Chris. Dom stayed at the end of the line with Koda walking next to Sedrik’s shoulder.

“Tell me about this friend of yours,” Dom asked in a low tone. Koda stepped closer, placing a hand on the horse’s neck.

“He’s really helped us a lot. We were kicked out of Cydonia for attempting to overthrow the monarchy, and we were sentenced to death. But we escaped the prison and found him just outside the stables, talking to his brother.”

“How did you get away?” Dom questioned, now interested in the story.

“We had to steal one of the horses,” Koda answered. “If trying to kill the princes didn’t warrant our arrest, taking one of the horses would.”

“Princes?”

“Yes, they’re brothers. Gerard, the elder, acts as if he were already Cydonia’s king. Tradition says he must marry before he attains that title.”

“Interesting,” Dom mused to himself. “What happened after that?”

“Frank chased us all the way to the ground.”

“Wait…the ground? I’m still confused about this.”

Koda blinked in surprise. “The castle is on a cloud. The only way to get to it is by flying. Their horses have wings.” Dom remained silent, so Koda continued speaking. “We hid in a nearby house that turned out to belong to Aronos. He and his brother have the ability to teleport, unfortunately, so he got there before us. Instead of turning us over, though, he let us hide there for a few days and gave us some supplies to help us escape to Archos.”

A sudden equine shriek interrupted their conversation. Dom tightened the reins in case Sedrik, bolted, but he quickly realized the sound had come from Berry.

“What’s wrong with him, Chris?” he called as he saw the gray begin fidgeting back and forth. The horse’s nose shot straight up into the air as he let out another fear-filled neigh.

“I think he smells something,” Chris answered as he struggled to keep the animal calm. Z suddenly looked nervous, as did Koda.

“Hardly.” The stony voice penetrated the atmosphere with such coldness that it could almost be felt in the air. Dom nocked an arrow to the string of his bow just as Matt drew his sword.

“Haven’t you wondered yet why they’re not attacking you?” asked the voice.

“It’s Mikey,” Z murmured. Dark laughter followed her words.

“I felt I should be the one to assure you of the princess’s safety,” he said. Matt cautiously began guiding Velvet in the direction of the man’s voice. “Besides, there would be no sense in harming her. It would ruin my brother’s plan.”

“That wouldn’t bother you too much, would it, Mikey?” Koda said slyly.

“That is no business of yours,” the man responded in an annoyed tone. “Drop your weapons, knights. They are of no use to you.”

“Ha! Like we’d ever take orders from some pathetic prince!” Matt proclaimed. Dom rolled his eyes. “Why don’t you fight like a man and show yourself before we rip you to shreds?”

A high-pitched screech from nearby caught their attention, and one of the Zan flew out of the trees. The creature plunged its claws into Matt’s shoulders and threw him to the ground. Dom fired an arrow into the creature’s brain, killing it instantly. More of the bats began to appear and quickly overwhelmed the knights. Koda fired icy blasts of magic at the monsters, managing to freeze and kill a few of them, but it became very clear that they were outmatched.

One of the bats gripped his shoulders and pinned him to the ground. Helpless to fight back, he soon became aware of someone standing over him.

“Take them to the castle dungeon,” he heard Mikey say. The creature immediately lifted Koda’s limp form into the air. He knew fighting back would be useless, especially since he was being carried higher and higher into the sky. Glancing down at his feet, he saw the other creatures carrying off his sister and friends as well. The blistering wind ripped a tear from one eye as he realized they were returning to the very place they had worked so hard to escape.