Family Journey

“You all do know you don’t have to accompany me, don’t you?”

  Neither Cirrhus, Parhelion nor Asfalos answered anything to Aloysius’ question. It wasn’t like it was the first of its kind anyway and they all had got quite tired of saying the same thing over and over again. They knew they didn’t have to accompany Aloysius on his first real job errant as a messenger. They all knew that Aloysius was fast in his movements and had lots of stamina to travel long distances quickly. But what he really, really lacked was strength. What if someone came and attacked him? What if someone was following him and wanted to steal whatever message he was carrying? No, Asfalos wouldn’t let that happen to his brother, and Cirrhus wouldn’t let her younger sibling suffer under such pressure alone. And Parhelion had come to accompany them all since Cirrhus and Asfalos most likely would end up getting hurt when they took guarding too seriously.

  Both Asfalos and Cirrhus had been training to become guards. They had yet to complete their training but they were almost done with it. So they had both decided that they would accompany Aloysius on his errand and guard him from all the dangers that might lurk within the cold, harsh mountains of Roenden. Parhelion was already a fully qualified medic. Unlike others in her occupation she didn’t like staying put and being stuck in a city surrounded by walls. She wanted to see the world – or at least Roenden. And this had been a perfect excuse to leave Udreim behind.

  Thus far the journey had been uneventful. There was nothing but snow, tundra and rocky mountainside all around them as far as bare eye could see. The wind was harsh and whipped their faces as the trio made their way towards Zento in the northern part of the continent. Sometimes the wind lifted some loose snow from the ground and blew right to the vayrons’ faces but they kept pushing forward. The days in Roenden weren’t very long and judging from the amount of light the sun was already setting in the cloudy sky.

  “We’ll need to find some kind of shelter for the night”, Cirrhus stated. She had to raise her voice slightly in order to be heard over the howling wind. She was leading the way for her younger half-siblings. Since she was a puller it was easier for her to make way through the snow so Parhelion, Asfalos and Aloysius could follow in her footsteps. Her grape colored fur stood out clearly from the snowy background and it didn’t provide her any kind of camouflage. Her brothers were lucky as their steel colored furs blended well with the surrounding scenery and snow and Parhelion’s charcoal hide wasn’t that far away from blending with rock and cliff either.

  “I’m sure something will come up soon!” Aloysius called against the wind. He had to close his eyes in order to prevent snow from getting in. He felt the wind even under his saddlebag where he was carrying all the messages he was supposed to deliver to Zento. They had about two days’ journey still ahead of them. It felt like it was never going to end, really. He could feel Parhelion’s body heat against his side and he was thankful that the younger sister was right there beside him.

  Asfalos was holding the rear and he often glanced behind them to make sure nobody was following them. The incoming darkness made it harder and harder to be sure but thus far they had been the only ones on the road. They hadn’t taken the main road since there could be bandits hiding in there, ready to attack and take everything they carried with them. Becoming a guard had been somewhat of a challenge to him. He wasn’t as strong as the pullers in the training so he had to work harder. He was faster, of course, and sometimes that gave him the edge he needed. But he was not going to give up. He was going to become a guard and keep his trusting, kind-hearted brother safe in this cold, hard land. They didn’t have human companions and they hadn’t even bonded yet. Until then he’d keep his brother safe.

  “I see something up ahead”, Cirrhus said after a while. There was a dark shadow visible in the mountain’s side even in the constantly diminishing light. As they neared the shadow Cirrhus confirmed what she had been thinking. It was a cave. And judging from the outlook of it it had been used for resting purposes previously as well.

  “All the scents are old. It should be safe”, she said to her younger siblings and waited for them to go inside first. The wind subsided immediately when they were surrounded by walls of stone and ice. The cave wasn’t that big – it could host maybe five vayrons at the same time – but it would do for the night. Parhelion entered first and Aloysius went in right after her. Asfalos hesitated for a moment but went in anyway. Cirrhus stayed by the entrance but still inside the cave to be sheltered from the harsh wind.

  “I wonder if it’s going to become a blizzard”, Parhelion said with a hint of excitement in her voice. Everything slightly dangerous piqued her interest and being stuck in a cave in a blizzard was surely one of them.

  “Hopefully not… Or at least I wish it wouldn’t last long”, Aloysius said and lied down on the hard, snowy floor. Parhelion lied down just beside him and snuggled up close. Normally she would have kept away from other vayrons and kept to herself but these three were family. She could do exception with family.

  “I’ll take the first guard shit. You all go to sleep”, Cirrhus said from the entrance and turned her back to her younger siblings in order to see everything and anything that might move outside. Asfalos was about to protest – Cirrhus had, after all, done most of the job leading them through the banks of snow. He closed his mouth and decided against saying anything however. He knew that when Cirrhus made up her mind there was no turning it. And if she was not tired there was nothing that could deter her from her duty and work.

  One after another the three vayrons fell into slumber. Asfalos slept quite soundly and so did Parhelion but Aloysius had trouble shutting the howling wind out of his mind. Cirrhus just sat at the entrance, alert and observant. Nothing would get past her and into the cave to bother her siblings.

  Night fell and surrounded the mountains in the dark veil. Wind kept howling but it was nothing unusual for this part of the mountains – not a true blizzard at least. After several hours had passed Asfalos woke up and relieved Cirrhus of the guarding duty. It took a while to convince her to go to rest – but after Asfalos pointed out that being tired would possibly put them all in danger later on the grape colored female retired into the cave to rest.

  Asfalos sat there by the entrance for several hours without moving an inch. He watched as the light started slowly increasing and how the sun even showed itself in the now quite clear sky. The wind had subsided a bit and didn’t howl like a hungry beast anymore which was also a good thing. Today they could possibly keep going for a longer time. If they would be able to keep up the pace, then they might arrive to Zento tomorrow.

  “Rise and shine, everyone”, Asfalos called into the cave to rouse the others. Cirrhus was awake right away and Parhelion got up soon after that – stretching her legs and yawning loudly but she was up anyway. Aloysius took a little longer to wake up but after Parhelion blew some hot air straight into her brother’s ear he was up and about in a few minutes.

  “I’ll go check the road up ahead. I’ll be right back”, Asfalos said and went out from the cave before anyone could do anything to stop him. Cirrhus shook her head. He should have let her go instead. She was, after all, well rested after a good amount of sleep. Aloysius made sure all the messages and small packages were still in his saddlebags before getting up on his feet. The three of them didn’t make it to the cave’s entrance, however, before they heard a loud yell.

  Parhelion, Cirrhus and Aloysius ran out of the cave and looked frantically around for the source of the yell. They didn’t have to search for long – Asfalos was lying on his side on the path with snow falling on him from a ledge a few meters above. He had clearly slipped and fallen from there, it was apparent to any watcher.

  “Are you alright?” Aloysius asked as he trotted to his brother’s side. Asfalos raised his head and shook it a little bit to gain some sense of his surroundings.

  “I think so…” Asfalos said and tried to get back up. A wave of pain hit him right then and there when he tried to put weight on his left foreleg. He let out a hiss of pain and collapsed back down.

  “You’re an idiot”, Parhelion said and circled around her brother in order to take a better look at his injury. She could see that it wasn’t that bad. There probably was a small crack in the bone from the look and feel of it. It was nothing that she couldn’t have handled.

  “Stay put, don’t move. And don’t yell, you don’t want me to lose my concentration”, Parhelion said as she positioned herself right in front of Asfalos’ injured leg. Aloysius and Cirrhus gave them some space and sat back to follow the process. Parhelion closed her eyes and concentrated on the leg. She felt magic flowing through her and she tapped into it, directing it towards the injury that her mind projected in front of her. Asfalos felt a tingling feeling at first when the magic touched him. The tingling intensified and he wanted so to scratch his leg so bad. But the fear of Parhelion’s wrath stopped him from following up with the desire. The tingling turned into sharp jolts of pain as magic repaired the bone. Asfalos tried to keep his breathing even and not let out a sound. Aloysius’ ears twitched nervously as he watched the procedure. Cirrhus on the other hand was keeping an eye on their surroundings again – the last thing they needed right now was someone surprising them for whatever reason.

  Finally Parhelion opened her eyes. Her vision was slightly blurry at first but sharpened quite quickly after the magic subsided and disappeared.

  “It should be good now. Don’t strain it too much. No heroics, no dangerous endeavors”, Parhelion said with a surprisingly tern tone. She sounded much like her older sister and that very tone indicated that her patient didn’t have any say in the matter. Even though Asfalos was older he would not dare to cross the medic.

  “Yes ma’am”, he said as he got back to his feet. The injury wouldn’t stop him from doing his duty as a guard – and perhaps the journey was going to be as uneventful as it had been thus far.

  “We’re wasting daylight. Let’s continue”, Cirrhus said and took the lead once again. Aloysius made sure the saddlebag was well fastened and all the messages were still inside before hurrying after his sister. Parhelion soon joined her and Asfalos came right behind them, alert and on guard like the previous day. The messages would be delivered soon and then they could start heading back home. Maybe little more adventure before that, Parhelion would have liked it. This journey had at least brought the siblings closer together, if nothing else. And all of them knew that this was not going to be their last trip together.          

  That’s what family was for.