Flight Quest

This is a first draft, and I think will have a lot of changes in the future.

My last normal memory was of being on the bus, on my way to university. Rain pattered against the greasy windows as I watched the grey concrete landscape zip by. I was thinking about the coming day, and how woefully unprepared I was for my geology exam. I yawned, wishing that I didn’t have to work evenings at the call centre to supplement my meagre student loan. I could see my tired face as a pale reflection against the dullness of the landscape; as indeterminate as it was in real life. Mousey straight hair, large eyes just a little too pale to be pretty, small nose and mouth making my eyes even more prominent.

After that all I remember is a roar of sound and white light and then a period of confusion, tumbling over and over while pain swamped my senses. The bright light and whooshing sound continued as the pain faded, and I realised I was falling, with the wind rushing past me. It was freezing cold, and I trembled as I blinked my eyes open. My hair whipped my face with the force of the wind, making my eyes tear up. All I could see was the pale blue of the sky. It was at this moment that the sense of dreamlike apathy left me, and I began to panic and struggle pointlessly against the air. I’d been falling for long enough now to be scared that the impact would kill me. I was so panicked that when hands grabbed at me I struck out with a yell, my fist connecting with what felt like someone’s head.

“Owww! Stop that!” I heard a man’s voice, deep but on the younger side.

One hand tightened its grip on me and I was pressed against the hard cold surface of armor. My head still tilted upwards towards the sky, and I saw the strangest thing; the sun shining through great wings, golden with black bars. For a moment I thought I’d been grabbed by an angel, but as I found my bearings I realised that the hands and armor belonged to a rider of some large flying mount. My face was pressed against a chestplate, but if I looked out of the very corner of my eye, I could see a golden feathered head and back below me. Far below that I could see the green forest, the trees like tiny dots, we were so high.

Terrified, I panicked again and tried to push myself away from the man holding me, ignoring the fact that if I succeeded I would be falling to my death. With a curse, he gripped me tighter with one arm, while the winged beast he rode weaved and bobbed with a speed that left me breathless.

Suddenly a searing bolt of black energy flashed close to my head, followed by another only slightly further away, and my limited perspective changed. With a shock I realised I was in the middle of an air battle of some kind.

“Stop squirming you little idiot, do you want to fall?!” the man yelled at me, causing me to instantly freeze. Still trying to process what was going on, my bewildered mind changed tactics, and I clung to his waist, burying my face in his armored shoulder. It was so cold I shivered uncontrollably, and it was this sensation which finally woke me up to the fact that I was naked and rapidly losing feeling in my extremities.

My savior/captor became aware of this - he could hardly not as by this time my teeth were chattering so loud I could hear nothing else - and released his grip on me momentarily in order to wrap one side of a thick coarse woolen cloak of deep blue around us both. It wasn’t perfect coverage, but it blocked the majority of the wind. A particularly violent dip in our flight pattern made me cry out and force my frozen fingers into claws gripping the man’s waist between his breastplate and his wide belt. He grunted, and shifted in his saddle.

By smearing my face across the breastplate and turning to the limit of my neck, I could see that the hand which wasn’t wrapped across my back held a long lance-type weapon. If I looked up, I could see this stranger’s face, but the perspective was so extreme that all I saw was a nostril, a high cheekbone reddened by the cold wind, and strands of dark hair peeking out from under a helmet.

“Hold on!” He suddenly shouted very loud in my ear, and his hand moved from my back to grip the edge of the saddle. I couldn’t feel my fingers anymore but I tried to exert as much pressure as possible while the world rolled, leaving the forest suddenly above us. There was a sickening sense of weightlessness before our mount righted itself, and then rolled again, dodging another black blast of energy, like a rift of darkness in the sky.

This time the man raised his lance arm, and from it sprang an answering flash of blue white. He bent forward, looking over his shoulder, and then shouted to his mount.

“Karsh, get us out of here! Hurry!”

The beast turned its head, and I saw with a sense of shocked unreality that it was the giant head of an eagle, larger than a draft horse’s. Bright intelligence was in its dark brown eye as it nodded and beat its towering wings around us. I felt the push of air sweeping past as the animal leapt forward, a missile of fur and feathers. Yet even though its speed was great, the ride was a lot smoother than the aerial battle before, and I allowed myself to relax the tiniest amount.

The man also seemed to relax a little, after a quick check behind him. He leaned sideways to stow his lance against the saddle and then used both hands to wrap me tighter in his cloak, allowing me a more detailed look at his face. What I saw scared me; even though he didn’t look older than 25, it was a hard face, sculpted by anger and resolve, with only a shadow of boyishness. I had an overwhelming impression of dark frowning brows over flint blue eyes, accompanied by a straight nose and a stern, thin lipped mouth. He frowned deeper as he looked me over, ending with my feet, bare and now turning a shade of light purple. Swiftly he picked me up under the knees and rearranged me so that my legs were bent up in front of me, feet plunged into the warm feathers of the beast’s neck.

“Hopefully this will prevent any frostbite.” he commented casually. I gulped and pressed my feet further down into the warm puffy cloud of feathers. I suppressed a squeak as the neck moved and the eagle’s head turned to look at us again.

“Base ahead, Hakken.” It said with a deep throaty voice that I could feel through my feet.

Funnily enough, that was the final straw for me, and I started to tremble violently again, this time from shock rather than cold. Hakken tensed and gripped me tighter.

“Still cold?” He asked, and then went on without waiting for an answer. “First human to come through the rift, and it’s a naked girl, what are the odds?” He chuckled softly and then his face hardened again as he looked past me to the tower we were fast approaching.

We were much lower now, but the tower was still frighteningly tall, a stone needle flared at the top and bottom, perched on the edge of a high cliff overlooking a dark boiling sea. From the way Hakken was dressed, I’d expected something vaguely Medieval, but it was as sleek and futuristic as any Qatar folly. We descended in a circular pattern to a wide open platform near the top. As I looked down, I saw other eagle heads lifted towards us, and realised I was seeing a gryphon roost in military fashion.

Before I was aware of it, the gryphon called Karsh had landed gently, folding its wings around it. Barely missing a beat, Hakken stood in the stirrups, swung his leg behind him and dismounted with easy grace. All this was accomplished while holding me firmly wrapped in his cloak. He nodded his head up at the gryphon and said solemnly, “See you later.”

Karsh bent his golden head and as Hakken walked away carrying me, I could see over his shoulder attendants rushing to take off the saddle and offer the impressive creature large gobbets of raw meat.

“What’s this?” a man’s voice asked, and I felt Hakken’s hands tense again.

“Apparently the rift’s sending us humans now,” he answered. “Can’t stop, gotta report to the captain; later.”

“How’d the battle go?” asked another voice. Hakken shook his head, and I heard an uneasy mumble of voices around me, as he stalked through the crowd. It was unsettling to be carried like a bag of potatoes, and I was glad that he put me down as soon as we were inside a corridor entrance. Unfortunately, my feet were still too numb to properly support me, and he had to hold me up with a hand pressing my shoulder against the wall while he undid his cloak and reattached it around me so that it draped like a strange toga, open on one side.

“Dammit, they can’t question you like this. Hey, you!” Hakken shouted to someone behind me. “Take this woman to my room and then get her food and clothes. Here.” he said, pushing me forward towards an adolescent youth with a dirty face and tired eyes.

“I’m Arek, what’s your name?” asked the youth as he helped me along the corridor.

It took me a moment for the words to sink in, since it was taking all my strength just to continue walking.

“Ro, name’s Ro.” I muttered finally. It wasn’t a name I was proud of, but my parents had loved it.

“Ah, such a strange name; where are you from, Ro?” asked Arek innocently.

Something about the way Hakken had talked about the rift made me cautious of answering, so I just let my head fall forward until my hair hid my face and shrugged. I had to hide my shock as I did so; the locks of hair falling in front of my eyes were translucent white instead of brown. I’d heard stories of that happening with extreme shock, and pushed the problem away as not currently important. Luckily Arek seemed disinclined to press the issue about the rift, and before the silence grew awkward, we’d arrived at a metallic door which slid open as he pressed his hand against its surface.

“Scout Hakken’s room.” he announced with a wave of his hand and ushered me inside. “I’ll be off then.” He waved again cheerfully and trotted down the corridor.

As the door closed and I was alone for the first time, I found my shoulders slumping with relieved tension. It was a small room, and filled with bachelor chaos. Clothes were strewn on the bed, chair and floor with equal abandon. A thin tall window looked out over the cliff straight down to the sea. Trying to wrap my head around the situation I found myself in, I sat on the bed in my cloak toga, wondering what the hell was going to happen next. Hakken had mentioned questioning, and that didn’t sound like fun. I still had no real idea how I’d got here, although I assumed it had something to do with the rift he’d talked about. And I seemed to have been dropped into the middle of a war, even though I still hadn’t seen the other side. Were Hakken and his people defenders or aggressors? Was I a prisoner or a guest? Most of all, how the hell was I going to get home?

A hidden ceiling light came on automatically as the day darkened towards afternoon. Almost immediately afterwards Arek returned, bearing a pile of clothes with soft brown boots.

“Sorry, I’ll be back with food in a sec!” he shouted as he left the room again.

The boots captured my attention before the rest of the clothes. They had fleece on the inside and were roomy and warm. It was very comforting to be able to wiggle my toes in their fuzzy interior, and I started to feel less like a block of ice and more like a human being again. The clothes were pretty boring; silk boy’s boxer underwear and tank top, with heavy wool trousers and tunic, topped by an even heavier felt vest and thick woolen cloak with a hood. Whatever else was going on in this world, these people dressed for arctic weather. The colours were neutral creams and browns, with little or no decoration; nothing to get excited about.

I’d just finished trying on the vest and deciding it made me too hot, when Arek returned with a tray. The food was very basic too; thick meat and potato stew, a small coarse loaf, and a hot drink which tasted weirdly like someone had boiled tea with vegetable broth. The tray and food containers and implements were all seasoned and lacquered wood. The primitiveness of this and the clothes seemed strangely at odds with the futuristic surroundings.

“I saw Hakken, he’s just getting something to eat and then he’ll be here.” Arek told me conversationally as he leaned against the doorpost watching me eat.

“Thanks.” I mumbled, trying to avoid his eyes. His evident interest made me feel uneasy, being a little too intense for someone so young.

“There’s a rumour going round you came through the rift.” Arek said finally. “Is it true?”

I shrugged and kept on eating. “Dunno.” I answered noncommittally.

“Fine, keep your secrets.” Arek teased, his boyish face splitting in a wide grin. He brushed one hand through his sandy hair and regarded me with a frankness which made me blush, and wonder if he was older than he seemed.

“Anyway, no rest for the wicked, I’m on dishwashing duty this evening.” he sighed theatrically. “See you later.” With that, he straightened up and tapped the door to open it, then waved goodbye and set off at his usual trot.

After the freezing excitement of earlier, hot food and warm clothes made me extremely sleepy, in spite of all the unknowns of my situation. After what seemed like hours of waiting tensely for Hakken to return, I found myself curling up on top of the unmade bed, still with my boots on. The overhead light was annoying, but putting a pillow over my head solved that. In a pleasant fug of warm darkness, I dropped off to sleep.

*

I was woken by a hand pushing my boots to one side. Dazed and unsure at first where I was, I scrambled up and off the bed, holding the pillow in front of me defensively. The lighting had been dimmed but was still only coming from the ceiling, which made the shadows harsh and lifeless. Hakken was lying stretched out on the bed in the same style of boxers I’d been given, with his feet hanging off the edge and his arms crossed behind his head as a pillow. Embarrassed but unable to look away I found myself staring at his lean wiry frame, a body covered in scars of various ages. So many for someone so young. Obviously aware of my gaze, his stern face softened with salacious amusement, and suddenly looked much younger.

“Like what you see?” he teased, and then spoilt the effect by yawning wide. “Don’t worry, I won’t bite.” He rubbed his eyes and stifled another yawn. “Are you going to lie down or not? I need sleep.”

Clutching the pillow tighter I glanced around the room, but the only chair was straight backed and hard, and there was no way I was willing to sleep on his dirty floor. Gingerly I sat down on the edge of the bed and cleared my throat.

“Where am I?” I asked cautiously.

Hakken opened his eyes sleepily and gave me a curious look, then waved his hand dismissively. “You’re on the Arghan border in the southernmost watchtower, N9. No, no more questions til tomorrow, I’ve been up for more than 24 hours and just lost a battle. I need sleep, need it now.” He closed his eyes and then reopened one, glanced at me still sitting tensely on the edge of the bed, and clicked his teeth. “I said, don’t worry. I won’t touch you. Sleep while you can.” He pulled the covers over him and then sighed. “And take your bloody boots off.”

It pained me to take those boots off, but he did have a point, so I kicked them off and crawled under the covers fully clothed.

Hakken laughed and shook his head. “I admire your modesty girl, but you’ll just feel colder on the journey to Central tomorrow.”

Gritting my teeth with frustration at his condescension, I wriggled out of the tunic and trousers, folding them carefully under my pillow. Hakken still had his eyes closed, but I got the sense that he was extremely aware of me. Both he and Arek displayed an intensity of attention which I found unnerving. Hakken had his eyes closed while I tossed and turned to find a comfortable sleeping position, but after a few minutes of this, he finally lost patience and put his hand on my shoulder. “Enough.” He said. I froze in a foetal ball facing him, and so saw him open one eye again and look at me sidelong.

“Sorry.” I mumbled. Hakken didn’t answer, but his hand patted my shoulder and then returned to rest on his chest. His breathing slowed, and after a little while he started to snore quietly. It took me a lot longer to relax enough to fall back to sleep next to him.

…