I knew we had left the Silver kingdom when I saw the highest icy mountains I've ever seen in my life. The place we were driving to was filled with mountains and valeys and waterfalls. The peak of each mountain was covered in snow and the thick icy mist forming above the mountains made it impossible to see what was up there.
And yet, further down each mountain, it was lusciously green and plants and all kinds of animals filled the grounds. Only the top of the mountains seem to to be cold. The rest of the area was filled with warmth and rays of sunlight were shining on all the greenery.
I rubbed my eyes the first time I saw it. I had to be dreaming. It was gryphons. Gryphons were flying all over the place. They all adorned the sky, but none of them were flying high enough to reach the icy peaks of the mountains.
They looked majestic. They each had the head of an eagle, with the body of a lion. They were massive; bigger than any wolf I've ever seen. They had large, angelic wings and four claws where a lion's paws would have been. Their heads were covered in thick feathers while their bodies were covered in thick fur. A long tail covered in feathers portruded from the back of each beast and a strong, sharp beak adorned their faces.
There were so many of them, too many to count. They came in a large variety. There were big ones, smaller ones, and they all had different colours.
The car came to a screeching halt when two gryphons landed infront of it. I looked back and noticed a third gryphon grabbing the back of the car with its claws. I figured that's the gryphon that managed to stop my speeding SUV.
Anha looked at me with determined eyes. She didn't look afraid at all. "Let me do the talking."
Two of the gryphons ripped out the car doors. The doors landed away from the car in a loud thud. The gryphons transformed into three statuesque naked women. They were slightly taller than Anha and looked around my age, but I could tell from their physique that, like Anha, they were also warriors.
These women looked breathtaking and much more attractive than any woman I've ever met. Their long hairs were braided into similar intricate braids, almost like the ones on Anha's hair. Their skins were unblemished and looked like polished marbles. They were glistening in the sunlight.
The woman who was standing on the side of my door, grabbed the top of my shirt and I got out of the car.
"You werewolves can't seem to get enough of us, lately. Did your delicious king send you?" Her voice was sultry and seductive. I felt loose strands of her silky black hair tingle my neck as she sniffed me. Her breasts were pressed up against me and despite there being no space left between us, she kept pushing herself closer to me. She smelled amazing, like the first rains after a long dry season. I knew right there that if I were a lesser man, I would have begged this woman to let me take her and have my way with her.
"He is with me!", Anha said in a roar. "Tell Maxwell I am here. I need to see him."
The three women scoffed and the one who had grabbed my shirt collar let me go.
"Anha, you know you are no longer welcome here. King Maxwell will not see you. Turn back." The girl with the dark brown hair and dark brown eyes was narrowing her eyes at Anha.
Anha gave a sarcastic chuckle. "Tell him it's about Raphael."
This got the three women's attention. They looked scared. The look of fear on their faces looked strange, like it didn't belong there. Like it was foreign to them to fear anything.
One of them shifted into a gryphon with red feathers and fur. She took off and the impact from her wings flapping to take off from the ground almost blew me away.
A few minutes later, the two remaining women's eyes turned all black. I assumed they were talking via mindlink because wolves' eyes turn grey when we mindlink.
"It looks like King Maxwell will see you after all, Anha", one of the women said. "Follow us."
I got back inside the car, which was now missing both doors on the passenger and driver's side.
We soon reached a gargantuan cream white and gold castle with abstruse carvings that seem to be telling a story. Four black marble statutes of gryphons stood infront of the magnificent castle.
I got Liz out of the car. The poison had reached her neck and was obstructing her airway. Her breathing was quick and shallow, like she was constantly grasping for air but couldn't quite get enough.
I ran inside the castle carrying her in my arms. Anha and the two women were infront of me.
We were led into what I presume to be a throne room. The room looked even more immaculate than the rest of the castle and right in the middle, at the very front, was a golden crusted chair with two large wings protruding from the sides. An older looking man with long, thick and wavy red hair sat in the gold chair.
His dark green eyes were staring daggers into Anha. He didn't even seem to notice me. His hand was slowly combing his long red beard, like he was pondering over something.
When Anha and the other two women reached him, they stopped infront of the stairs leading to the chair and bowed. Since I don't know the customs here, I copied what they were doing.
"Anha", the man said in a loud booming voice that could have easily shaken the walls of this castle. "What news do you bring of Raphael?" His tone was cold and emotionless, but the way he looked at Anha displayed some yearning towards her. He couldn't take his eyes off her.
Anha looked up at the man. Her eyes trailed his large muscles. "The centaurs in the North are working with him. They killed everyone...they probably have control over the Silver city as we speak." She didn't sound scared. She sounded angry and filled with regret.
The huge man sitting on the throne looked sad for a split second, but then his demeanour quickly changed to that of a merciless ruler.
"What does this have to do with the gryphons, Anha. Why would we care about lesser beings?"
Anha pursed her lips and balled her fists. "Because I am asking you to, Maxwell."
The man stood up from his chair, and despite his large stature, within seconds he was standing inches from Anha. He tilted her head upwards and furrowed his brows.
"Leave us!", he shouted. The room was filled with his deep threatening voice.
The women we came with were about to grab me, but Anha stopped them.
"Not them, Maxwell. They must stay." Anha was looking and me and Liz and for the first time, I saw worry in her eyes.
Maxwell nodded his head and the women who came with us left the room.
Anha walked to me and Liz. "The girl needs a healer. I am here to ask your help."
The king gave a low chuckle that sounded like vibrations moving through the room. "You forget yourself, woman. This is the gryphon kingdom. We don't just save anyone. We save warriors. Only the strong get to live. I know nothing of that girl."
"Maxwell", Anha said as she held the King's hand. This seems to have affected him because his eyes looked much softer than before. "She is a warrior. I give you my word."
King Maxwell looked conflicted, like he was fighting an internal battle. He stayed quiet, but it was for too long.
"Test her!", Anha suddenly said. "Test her the way you've tested countless of warriors. If she passes, you will see I am telling you the truth. If she fails...I'll stay here...with you." The tension in the room was palpable. Clearly something was going on between these two, but I couldn't be bothered because Liz's life is on the line.
Maxwell held Anha's face in his hand. He looked like he was in pain. "We both know you don't want to stay here, Anha." Anha just looked down.
"I will make you a proposal", Maxwell countered. "I will test her as is our custom, but should she fail, all three of you must die here by selfmoord."
Anha gasped. "No! Not them, Maxwell. I will do it, but not them!"
Maxwell slammed one of the ancient-looking wooden tables with his hand and the thing split in half. The sound of the table breaking was echoing over the whole room.
"My word is final, Anha! Take it or leave it!" His voice sounded like lighting and filled the entire room to the brink.
Anha looked at me with tears glistening in her eyes.
"Anha, what is selfmoord?", I asked her. I knew it had to be bad because it would end in our death, but what other choice did we have? Liz's breathing was so soft now and her chest was barely moving. I would help her with whatever this test is and we would get through this together, like we always do.
"It is death by your own hand." She stared at Maxwell in disgust. "It is a barbaric practice that, like so many other traditions in this kingdom, should have ended a VERY long time ago."
Maxwell was glaring at us.
I looked at Liz's face which was now turning purple. "If that's the only way to save her then we'll do it. I'll do anything, Anha."
Anha gave Maxwell a defiant look. His eyes turned all black and three tall thin men with bald heads and long dark blue and gold gowns walked into the throne room. One of the men gestured for me to put Liz down on a table and I did.
He put both hands over the wound and a blue light started glowing from his hands. All of Liz's wounds started healing. The deep cuts on her legs sustained from the battle were closing up and leaving no traces of ever being there. The cuts on her face and and arms also closed up, but the poison wound was taking longer to heal.
I could see the poison travelling down her arm and up her neck and face. It had left black lines that curved with her veins, showing how the poison was travelling through her body.
The longer the healer held his hand over the wound, the more I saw the poison slowly retreating and travelling back to the original wound in her shoulder. Once all traces of the poison were gone, the healer removed his hand.
Liz's breathing sounded and looked normal, but she wasn't opening her eyes.
"Why isn't she getting up?", I asked the strange man.
He didn't answer me. He just stood up and another man who came in with him placed two viles containing different coloured liquids infront of Liz's limb body.
"I said, why isn't she waking up?" I grabbed the second guy by the collar and he just gave me an emotionless stare and then looked at King Maxwell.
"Let him go, young wolf. Your friend will only wake up after the test." King Maxwell walked back to his golden throne and sat down.
"A warrior embodies Maru, the God of the heavens, in their mind, body and soul. The God of the heavens demands that a warrior prove that they possess these three attributes - a quick and agile mind to defeat the enemy without them even knowing, a strong soul that would abandon love and desire for the greater good, and surviving battle with the land's fiercest and strongest warrior." Maxwell narrowed his eyes at me.
"Your friend must pass all three tasks. If she does, she passes the test. If not..." He trailed off and raised his eyebrows menacingly.
"The first task will test her mind. Your friend will not know that she is being tested, and will also not remember this task." As soon as Maxwell spoke, one of the three bald men held a hand up in the air and one of the bottles started levitating above Liz's head.
"That vile contains a natural concoction that will enable us to look into her mind and determine whether she is quick and agile enough to defeat an enemy without them even knowing."
The vile got crushed mid-air and left a light purple smoke that hovered above Liz. It was blurry at first, but images started appearing in the purple smoke. The images kept changing until one image stopped. I immediately recognised the scene. It was Liz and she was underwater in the image.
She was breathing perfectly fine in the water and I knew with certainty that this was a memory of hers from when she and I were led into the kelpie kingdom by the golden path.