Delivery, Delivery!

Deep winter had gripped the mountains of  High Heart for months now, covering the walkways of  Sähkötuuli in drifting snow and glazing surfaces with slick ice.

It was Zoom’s favourite time of year, even if he had to attach spikes to the soles of his boots to avoid slipping; there was something about looking out across the mountains and seeing nothing but snow and stark black peaks that felt good.

On a normal day, he and Zoomata would have been out hunting or practicing maneuvers.  It was a perfect day for that; the sky clear and a deep, deep blue, but events far from home called for them to spend the next days—or, if he had his way, weeks—doing something very different.  It was a mix of exciting and terrifying.

Last night, news had reached the Perhe that an old friend was in trouble.  That was how Viima had put it to Zoom, anyway; a town in the Land of Rivers had a knight problem.  The mayor had fought for Padwell during their troubles, it was only fair that Ukkonen repaid that debt.

Zoom wasn’t one to argue.  He’d never been out of High Heart, it would be so exciting!  He bounced on his heels as he prepared Zoomata for the flight.  They’d first go north, north, north, ‘till they reached Black Lake.  That was a journey he’d made before, just to see if he could do it, but then they’d keep going and head west, towards the delta.

“Now,” his parents were here to see him off.  Lintu just looked worried, while Tuulta was glaring at him like she thought he was about to cause mischief.  “You are going to fly there, deliver your supplies, and then come straight back.  Do not get involved in the fighting.  There are warriors being sent, and you are not one of them.”

Zoom nodded and grinned, “yes, I know, I’m only being sent with supplies because I’m faster, not smarter.”

“That is not what I said,” she sighed, “this is serious, Kieunta.”

He stuck his tongue out at her and Tuulta rolled her eyes.

“I’ll be safe,” he lied, “I promise I will zoom in and out without any of those very, very rude knights spotting me.”

“You are a terrible liar,” Tuulta said and turned to Zoomata, who was regarding the whole conversation with an impatient stare.  He knew she just wanted to go go go, and really he felt exactly the same way.  It was a beautiful day for flying, and they were wasting it!  “Zoomata, take care of him, you’re far more sensible.”

Well now, that’s not saying much, he packed the last few things in his box and hefted it experimentally.  It was too heavy for the Runes to make it float, but the weight of all the supplies—mostly food and essentials—was significantly lessened.  Zoomata would be able to fly just fine with it.

“Well, looks like I’m ready,” Zoom said once he’d tied it down securely, and grabbed both of his parents in a hug, “wish me luck!  Don’t worry, I’m sure Aurinko will keep me out of trouble.”

“They can try,” Lintu muttered, “but I don’t think it’s possible.”

“I appreciate your honesty.”  Zoom snorted and bowed, “I will do my very best to turn you into a liar.”

Tuulta choked, “you’re still just as bad at lying as you were a minute ago.”

“At least I’m trying,” he said in mock-offence, hefting his bag of personal items and tying it onto the saddle, “oh, well, I should get going before the weather changes!  Never know when a blizzard might blow in.”

He climbed onto Zoomata’s back, clipped his harness onto the different rings set into the saddle, and whistled for her to go.  She let out a delighted purr and darted out of the aviary, her feet leaving deep impressions in the snow as she ran along the wooden platforms.

Viima was waiting for them at the nearest jumping-off point, where the wooden railing on the walkways vanished so a griffon could fall into flight rather than fight their way upwards and off the ground.  His grandfather was scowling—but that was always the case so Zoom wasn’t all that concerned—and holding a small sack.

“Grandpa Viima!”  Zoom shouted, “come to see me off?”

“Yes,” he said, his voice low, “and I can tell by the look on your face exactly what you plan on doing.”

“Why does everyone always think I’m up to no good,” he muttered, “alright, fiiine, I could never lie to my beloved grandfather.  You’d call me out immediately anyway.  I am indeed planning trouble.  For the knights.”

Viima grunted, “yes, I know.  You’ll need this.”

The bag clinked when his grandfather tied it onto Zoomata’s saddle.  An evil grin passed over Zoom’s face, “myrkky.  You want me to cause trouble?”

“I can’t stop you,” the man said, “if you’re going to do it, you need to do it properly.  Listen to orders.  Don’t be reckless.  Set their camp on fire.”

“That last one sounds like something you would do.”

“It is something I would do,” Viima thumped him on the shoulder, “now get out of here before your parents see and accuse me of encouraging you.”

“But you are—”

“Get.”

He rolled his eyes and whistled for Zoomata to jump.  She lunged forward, wings kicking up a whirlwind of snow into Viima’s beard, and then they were falling.  For a few moments they just plummeted, then her wings snapped open, caught the wind, and carried them upwards.

Zoom let out a delighted cry; the feeling of falling and then suddenly ascending make his stomach lurch in the most amazing way.  “You’re wonderful, Zoomata.”

They were alone in the skies, just the two of them; the rest of the griffon-riders Ukkonen was sending were still getting ready.  If everything went well, which hopefully it would, he and Zoomata would arrive in Fallingstar first.  He settled himself into a sitting position that would be comfortable for them both.  This was going to be a long flight; at least two days to cross the lake, and another half to reach the town.

Zoomata’s wings beat steadily, carrying them at a good pace over the mountains.  It would take hours to reach the coast of Black Lake.  He debated being productive and working on some Runes, but decided to just enjoy the wind in his hair and the cold air in his lungs.

Everything about flying was amazing; nothing but open air and the ground far, far below, and empty sky all around.  Whoever thought otherwise was wrong.  Although he hadn’t met anyone who didn’t like flying, from what Zoom had heard from his family, most people spent the majority of their lives stuck on the ground.

He was absolutely certain that he would die immediately if he tried that.

With that delightful thought, they continued on in near-silence.  Zoomata would turn her head to look at him occasionally and Zoom would whistle back encouragement and pat her shoulder.

Then large, thick spires of rock were visible on the horizon.  The Greenway Towers; he’d seen them before.  The grey stone was bare and looked black in contrast to the ice and snow coating it.  Zoom grinned and urged Zoomata onwards.

When they were close enough to see griffons flying around the carved entrances, he leaned forwards and shouted, “ready to show off to Rohkeutta?”

She hissed in excitement, reading his tone, and stooped sharply.  He laughed, leaning forward until his chin almost brushed her neck, and then clicked his tongue for her to twist around into a loop.  Momentum carried them up and around, darting in a circle around a startled griffon rider who had been above them moments before.

When they were perfectly overhead Zoom leaned down towards them and waved, which made the young man turn a shade of pink that almost matched his deep red tattoos.

Then Zoomata dropped again, and they left the griffon rider shouting insults after them.  He snorted; folks from Rohkeutta were so easy to annoy, it was delightful.

Still, as much fun as that was, they didn’t have time to waste.  He had a head start, after all, and if the others from Ukkonen arrived in Fallingstar before him that would be embarrassing.  And of course, he wanted to get there first; that was just how he was.

After that, the rest of the journey to the shore of Black Lake passed uneventfully.  He didn’t want to get too close to the marshes below; he’d only been once, but the closeness of everything had almost been overwhelming, not to mention the heat in the south.

The lake was iced over near the shore, but as they went further out, open water replaced white-and-blue ice underneath them.  It was a deep, deep black; pretty, in a slightly unsettling manner.  It reminded him of the Plunge.

He stuck his tongue out at it and pulled out a few crossbow bolts, leaning forward to carve Runes into the sharp metal ends.  This one was fire, that was light, ooooh, this one would be just an illusion of fire to mix things up, all with sound triggers, of course.  When he finished each he tied coloured strings onto the ends to mark what noises each needed to activate and tucked them away again.

Zoomata purred at him to get his attention some hours later; the sun was going down.  All he could see on the horizons were water, water, and more water.  Creepy!

“Oh, wait, look,” he pointed her attention over to a small island; mostly rocks and a few trees—and she glided down towards it before flying a circle around it so he could see it better.  There’d be enough room for them.  He nodded and whistled for her to land.

That night, they made a small fire and ate the food he’d brought.  It was another day to the other side of Black Lake, but this time there was a city—he could see dragons and humans milling about in its small stone harbour—for them to land in.

Maiestas, the people living there called it.  Zoom stayed the night in one of the old houses there, and in the morning listened to gossip.  Much of the local… ‘militia’, they called it, had gone to Fallingstar already, and the rest were determined to keep knights from using the delta to sneak in and attack the city from the water.  They pointed him in the right direction and he wished them luck.

It was so flat here!  No mountains to be seen.  He hadn’t noticed it the night before, coming in to land, but it felt very odd.  Oh, well, that was a small hill over there, but that was nothing compared to the cliffs and sharp jutting peaks that surrounded Sähkötuuli.

Zoom couldn’t recall a time before now where he could look around and not see mountains.  The river was pretty, though; broad forking branches in all directions.  He went west, following a broad arm of the delta, and caught the scent of smoke on the wind.

In the distance, a dark tendril of smoke snaked its way into the air.  Around it, he could make out other shapes; buildings, he realized.  Well, that had to be Fallingstar.  As they drew closer, he could see a crowd of tents by old, crumbled walls, and called for Zoomata to fly higher, just in case.

For a moment, he thought they had succeeded in escaping notice, but then Zoom spotted a shape take off from the camp below.  He grabbed his crossbow from where he’d tied it down and waited for a few seconds as his follower drew closer; oh, yep, that was definitely a knight.

He grabbed one of the bolts he’d carved earlier and shot it at the air over their head, immediately telling Zoomata to dart to one side as he whistled, and then a blast of intense light flared out.

The knight and their mount—he thought it was a wolfasai—let out an alarmed cry and, blinded, fell back in the air.  Seizing his opportunity, he urged Zoomata to dive towards the small, busy port he’d been advised to land at.

A few startled shouts came when she landed and skidded to a halt with a great spray of snow.

“Oh, sorry, rough landing,” he shouted to the group of people he’d just partially buried, “Kieunta Varislaulu of Ukkonen, I’m here with supplies, and to help!”

Zoom leaped down from his griffon’s back and patted the box, “who do I give this to?”

“Uh,” one of them, a silver-white moonviper, hesitated, “slow down, slow down—just who exactly are you?”

“I just told you!”  He grinned, “Kieunta, from Uk—High Heart.  That’s by Padwell.  You can just call me Zoom, that’s a much better name.  Where do I take these?”

“Right, sure.  Zoom.”  The moonviper glared at him and Zoomata for a moment.  “...you don’t look like knights.”

“I’m not,” he pulled up the thick sleeve of his coat so they could see the Perhe tattoos on his arm, “see?  And Zoomata’s a griffon, griffons can’t be knights, can they?”

The moonviper stared at him.

“Are you alright?”  Zoom shrugged and untied the box, planting it firmly onto the ground, “oh, you’re being paranoid, I see.  Here, you can take it yourself, then.  Just give it back after, it’s got runes in it.”

“Runes?  I don’t see any.”

“Of course not, it’s inside,” he pulled off the lid and shifted some of the things around so that light fell on the flight rune carved into the bottom, “see?”

“Ah,” the moonviper poked the items, “well, they’re not an illusion, then, I guess.  You can take that to Quartermaster Semel, over in Granary—er, I’ll show you the way.”

“Awesome, thank you!”  Zoom put the lid back on and returned the box to its spot on Zoomata.  She purred and nudged his face.  “Yes, very exciting, new place and new people!”

The rest of the day passed in a blur.  Semel was great fun; she had twelve barn griffons.  But she’d also yelled at him when he’d gotten distracted by them and forgotten to give her the box.  Thankfully she hadn’t minded him petting the little critters when she was busy counting what he’d brought.

Zoom considered giving her a few bottles of myrkky to put away as well, but then, she probably wouldn’t know what it was.  He didn’t want anyone to think it was just regular alcohol and try to drink it.

After that, he and Zoomata were handed off to another moonviper, who walked them through the city and showed him where he could sleep, where he could keep his griffon, the cramped tunnels that were very, very incredibly creepy, and the various locations throughout the city.

“You will report here every morning at dawn,” the dragon said when they reached a courtyard, surrounded by crumbled buildings, in ‘the Stronghold’, “that way we’ll know if you’re still alive and you can receive orders.  Understood?”

Zoom nodded.  Normally he didn’t care much for being punctual, but Viima’s advice was still bouncing around in his head.  If he did well here and proved he could be responsible and (icky) serious sometimes, perhaps his grandfather would give him his blessing to attempt the Plunge.

Maybe.  But that wasn’t why he was here, now.  He wanted to help, and the more he saw of the battered city and its battered defenders, the more certain he was that he would be of use.  Not that he liked to hurt people, knights or otherwise… but seeing the smoke rising in the abandoned sections of Fallingstar—and the fact that the vast majority of the place aside from the small, barricaded sections were abandoned—made his own fears of another war at home, this time one he’d experience for himself rather than just grow up at the tail end of and be oblivious to, surface rather strongly.

Zoom’s worst nightmare.  These folks’ daily life.  Wow.  Yeah, he couldn’t leave now; not that he’d planned on listening when being told to head right back to High Heart, but now that he’d seen things for himself, he was certain that if he left now and things went badly he’d regret it his entire life.

The dragon called him over to join a scouting mission, and he climbed onto Zoomata’s back and took off after them.