By the time the tempest hit, Falco and his group were forced ashore by the winds. Their ship was undamaged, but they would be unable to go anywhere until after the storm. Rubbing the back of his neck, the young monarch looked at the sight before him. The Priesthood of the Storm Falcon said that he was in truth the son of their god, a lot of nonsense of course and there was no greater proof to it being nonsense than finding his group a victim of his proclaimed father's work.
Going below deck, Falco looked to his group. "I am going to see if I can find shelter, perhaps a place safer than this wooden husk that a bolt of lightning might destroy. Who shall come with me?"
Taurus was the first one to raise his hand, an action that filled Falco's heart with dread as the High Priest of the Earth Bull's henchmen Minos and Sarpedon followed after him. Then came the hand of Columba, whom had supported Taurus in the attempted coup the previous twelvemonth. Did they mean to murder him?
To Falco's relief, Old Achilles raised his hand, followed by Frumentius, Alboin, Lysander, Itzcoatl and Buri. Here were people that Falco could trust.
Alas, that was the entirety of their expedition. Someone had to be selected to stay behind to defend the trireme. To decide who should stay behind, lots were drawn and so Buri, ambassador from the Ulgen Khanate, was the one assigned to defend the ship. With that settled, the group then began their search for shelter and they had not long to find, for just around the bend was the Fortress of Yara, a mighty stronghold of the Cambyses Empire and a prison that was not escaped from. Achilles could only stare in horror.
Achilles was a member of Aether's native populace just as Taurus, Minos, Sarpedon, Lysander and Itzcoatl were. As such, he was an olive-skinned individual with wavy white hair that had been black in his youth, high cheekbones and almond-shaped blue eyes. One and sixty twelvemonths of age and five feet and eight and a half inches in height, Achilles was a lean man, as lean as his pupil Falco, and save for a horizontal scar over his right eye, he would have been non-descript in appearance. He was as humbly-dressed as Falco, merely wearing a simple blue tunic.
Frail Lysander asked: "Why so terror-stricken, Master Achilles?"
Before Achilles could even answer, Sarpedon of the Uneven Eyes pointed at the distance and exclaimed: Look!"
Falco and the others followed the pointing figure of the Earth Bull's priest and saw what it was that had claimed his attention. There was a ship upon whose sail was an image of a rearing stallion. It was Acinonyx's ship, they were at the Fortress of Yara.
"It would seem our objective is in sight, my student." Said Achilles, looking to Falco with a smile. "Perhaps we could persuade the warden to hand over Rowena and the other women. A member of Acinonyx's crew may have betrayed him and told the warden of Acinonyx's heinous act."
One could hope that was the case. Falco looked down to Kenneth, his loyal caracal, and wondered if the chase was indeed over so soon. Could it have been true? It seemed too good to be so.
The group walked on, making their ways to the great gates on the sandstone prison. Upon knocking, they found it answered by a hairy porter carrying a chicken under one arm. At this sight, Falco merely looked to his companions with raised eyebrow. When Falco began to explain their situation to the porter, the man seemed to barely be listening, until he set his eyes upon Taurus. Looking upon the golden bull mask, made by an acclaimed artificer who had made the mask look ceremonial and awesome, the porter threw the gate wide open and asked for the group to come in.
The group did indeed come in, but as they entered, Frumentius whispered to Falco: "I don't like how he let us in only after noticing Taurus."
Falco understood what Frumentius meant and wondered if Taurus had any allies on the mainland. That was something very much doubtful as the High Priest of the Earth Bull considered the peoples of the mainland to be barbarians and yet Falco could only wonder whom Taurus had planted amongst the mainland nations.
The porter brought the group to the warden's chamber and there did they found a most brutish-looking individual, very thuggish and muscular, yet he had the look of Aether's native populace about him. He was wearing a pair of baggy white trousers, a wide belt, bracers and leg guards. His hair was grey and he seemed to be six and fifty twelvemonths old. Perched upon his hand was a strange creature, like a monstrous cross of bird and reptile. It was roughly raven-sized, with broad, rounded wings and a tail that was long in comparison to its body. The feathers of the creature were brown with some black as well, with blue tips on the feathers and red eyes.
Seeing the caracal Kenneth by Falco's side, the creature let out an angry squawk. Kenneth responded with a hiss.
"Silence, Inanna!" snapped the warden as he took a few steps forward, took Taurus by the hand and kissed it, after which he said: "Twin and Body of the Earth Bull, I bid you welcome to the Fortress of Yara! I am Astyages, the warden here. No doubt you are visiting the temples dedicated to the Earth Bull here in the Cambyses Empire and I would like to say you, your fellow priests and your servants are welcome here." Turning his gaze to Falco, Astyages glared and barked: "Go to the kitchen, boy, and retrieve some food for your master!"
Falco could only glare at Astyages. Ordinarily a case of mistaken identity would have been amusing, but there was something very off-putting about the Warden.
"I... thank you for your hospitality, Astyages." Uttered Taurus, his coarse and arrogant voice hollow, muffled and booming in the bull mask. "However, we are not here to visit the Earth Bull's temples in the Cambyses Empire and the young man you just ordered to the kitchen is Falco, the Divine Deucalion of Aether."
Astyages stared for a short moment, before saying: "Forgive me, your Majesty. How might I be of service?"
"We are in pursuit of some blackguards from Hyperion who abducted my queen Rowena and sister Eithne, Taurus' sister Pasiphae and other ladies of the court of Aether." Falco explained. "We believe they are here." He quickly looked over to a club leaning against a wall while a whip lay on a table near it. Looking once more to Astyages, he then added: "Due to their ship being in your port."
Astyages took a moment to nod to the porter before returning his attention to Falco. "Indeed, and who is the leader of these blackguards? Acinonyx, the Crown Prince of Hyperion?"
"You know it is." Falco replied. "His ship is in the port and you are granting him shelter here."
Chuckling, Astyages walked over to a small shrine in his quarters. Falco could notice a small effigy of the Earth Bull and a few of other deities such as the Storm Falcon and the Wine Ram. Picking up the effigy of the Wine Ram, Astyages said: "Yes, yes, I am. Hyperion is now a state of the Cambyses Empire and as such Acinonyx and his companions are entitled to my hospitality. Aether, on the other hand, is not. So, you, Deucalion Falco, and your companions will be staying here indefinitely and I shall personally oversee your torture." Then looking to Taurus, he said: "Of course, you and your priests are free to leave, Twin and Body of the Earth Bull. I would never dream of imprisoning clergymen."
Tightly gripping the shaft of his double-bladed stone axe, the High Priest of the Earth Bull uttered: "I will require the return of my sister, Falco's sister and Rowena."
"Your sister and Falco's sister, but not Rowena." Astyages put the effigy of the Storm Falcon down and walked over to a chair. As he sat down, he said: "Acinonyx intends to make her his bride."
"Then my priests and I will not be leaving." Growled Taurus. "Rowena comes from an affluent, socially prominent family with palace connections going back to the beginning of Aether's old dynasty. I will not allow a mainland barbarian to take such a damsel as his bride!"
Sighing, Astyages looked to his reptile-bird. "Inanna..." He turned his gaze to Falco and growled: "Kill!"
The reptile-bird flew forward, screeching as it flapped its wings. Fortunately, it was not fast enough. Kenneth leaped, brought his right paw down onto Inanna's back and watched as the bird went down onto the stone floor. With that taken care of, the caracal bit the reptile-bird on the neck. So died Astyages' pet.
The Warden had made a dash for his club and whip and upon seeing his pet's death, transformed into a snarling beast. Hurling his club, he smiled as it hit Frail Lysander. Brandishing his whip, he struck at Falco, but what the Divine Deucalion did caused the Warden to become confused.
The young man had grabbed the whip with his hands. Why?
The moment that the whip started to grow scaly, Astyages dropped the whip. By the time it had hit the floor, it had completely transformed into a cobra. The Warden was not even given enough time to move before the cobra bit him upon the lower right leg.
Taking the ophidian by the tail, Falco returned it to being a whip once more. The spell was typically used for staffs, any clergyman could do it, but it seemed that anything sufficiently ophidian-like in appearance would work as well. He had been three twelvemonths old when his grandfather Conall had taught him that spell, the simplest of them that even someone using word magic could do, though Falco was aware that Minos struggled with the simplest of spells.
Running over to the Cupbearer, Falco found that Lysander was already dead. He had been seven and thirty, kind, but servile, yet beyond that, Falco had barely known the man. His father Tigris had known him better. Even after a twelvemonth of rule, Falco had learned nothing about Lysander, while he typically knew the members of the court quite well.
Sighing, Falco placed a hand upon his forehead. He had hoped this expedition would have been one with no casualties, that everyone would return home to Aether. It seemed that hoping such a thing had been pointless.
Looking to his mentor, Falco said: "Achilles, take Lysander back to the ship. The rest of us will search this fortress and find Rowena and the others."
The group had only begun to leave the chamber when Astyages cried out: "Don't you dare leave me like this!" The Aethereans all turned to look at the Warden, laying on the floor and clutching the spot on his leg where he had bitten. "Please! I beg of you! I can't die like this! Not from an ophidian bite! If you know magic, then you must heal me!" Achilles shook his head as he continued on his way, carrying Lysander's body. The moment Taurus started to step forward, a look of terror spread across the Warden's thuggish countenance. His eyes were on the High Priest's axe and as the masked man got closer, Astyages began to breakdown, crying: "N-No! No, no, no, no! Heal me! Heal me! Don't kill me! Heal me! Don't kill me!"
When Taurus began to bring his axe down, the Warden closed his eyes. He did not want to die like this, not of an ophidian bite and not because he had been bitten by an ophidian.
Not feeling the stone axe make contact, the Warden opened his eyes. Falco had taken hold of the axe's shaft, preventing Astyages' expiry.
Falco uttered: "If I heal you, I want you to promise that you will aid us in getting Rowena and the other captive ladies back."
"Yes! Yes! As long as Acinonyx and his party are still here at the fortress, I will help you!" Still here? There was a storm raging outside. Where were they going to go? Acknowledging the confusion upon Falco's front, Astyages then explained: "I have orders to the porter that if you were to arrive, he was to inform Acinonyx first and then the guards! We must be quick! Now heal me! Please!"
Falco did indeed heal Astyages. Only having been able to advance as far as hand magic, all it required was for him to take hold of where the ophidian had bitten. Once that was done with, the group proceeded to rescue the captive women.
The adventure could have been ended right there, but alas they are seldom so short. While Acinonyx got away with Rowena and most of the other captive women, they had at least been able to rescue Scholastica, Alboin's sister.
While Falco watched the exiled Prince and Princess of Leto embrace, he found this whole thing to be bittersweet. Acinonyx had gotten away with the rest of the captives and Lysander was dead. Was this pursuit going to take them all the way to Hyperion? What would happen then? Would this whole thing end in tragedy with a small group slain by the guards of a city-state and Rowena forced into marriage with her abductor?
It could not! It would not! This adventure would not end in tragedy! Falco would make sure of it! It might end bittersweetly, but it would not end tragically. Lysander might have died, but no one else would and Rowena and the captive women would return home to Aether!