The big carriage literally raced through the landscape.
Marianne stroked Ascendary's feathers.
Her thoughts went back to the past.
She thought of Athena, of the Aranasera and then of her mission.
The document.
"Why is the document so important? The incident happened so many years ago. Why all this?"
Marianne looks at Duke.
"The Denerias incident was the worst thing this empire has ever experienced. As you know, I read the document in contrast to you. It puts the whole incident in a completely new light. Since I and Ascendary are directly affected, it is very important to me that the document achieves its goal," Duke explained.
Ascendary enjoyed Marianne's caressing.
"I'd be interested in what happened back then," Marianne said thoughtfully.
"There are a wide variety of versions of the incident. The document is authentic and therefore it has to reach its destination."
Duke sharpens his sword.
A jolt went through the carriage as it rolled over stones.
Explosions could be heard in the distance.
The carriage came to a standstill.
Marianne and Duke opened the door and stepped out of the carriage.
Sedalia had left the coachman's box and stepped next to both of them.
"What was that?" Marianne asked as more explosions could be heard in the distance.
"It sounds like a fight between 2 airships. Before the explosions, you can hear the firing of cannons," Sedalia explained.
"One might be the INQUEST, but which is the other ship?" Duke wondered.
"Definitely a big one, the INQUEST is the pride of the Inquisition." Sedalia looked into the distance.
Suddenly, there was a huge explosion and you could see smoke rising in the distance. Also a shadow over it.
"What ... Was that?" Marianne was shocked.
"Ammunition room," Duke said.
Sedalia nodded. "We should move on quickly. No matter who won."
Duke and Marianne got back in and Sedalia got back on the Coachman´s Box.
The carriage started moving again.
"Something tells me that the INQUEST has lost," Duke speculated.
"Why?" Marianne asked.
"The shadow over the smoke, it was significantly larger than the INQUEST. I'm sure it was the WYVERN." Duke sharpened his sword further.
"Then they will hunt me down. Like the LUFTREITER," Marianne said worriedly.
"The air rider was huge, easy to find. We, on the other hand, are small and fast. She won't find us," Duke tried to calm her down.
"And if it does?" asked Marianne.
"Then we might have a guardian angel. Just like last time." Duke sounded convincing.
Marianne nodded.
The carriage raced on.
After a few hours, she slowed down and stopped.
"Stop! In the name of the Inquisition!" shouted someone outside.
Ascendary recovered quite quickly thanks to the cure.
Marianne stroked his feathers.
The griffin enjoyed it.
Duke stood next to both of them and looked around.
There was nothing more to see or hear from the INQUEST.
Slowly, Acendary rose.
He shook himself and gently nudged Marianne.
She smiled.
"We have to move on," Duke urged.
"The horses have fled," Marianne sighed.
"Then we have to continue on foot. Ascendary is too weak to carry us." Duke stroked Ascendary through the feathers.
Ascendary looked at Duke questioningly.
"I know, my friend. We'll get this to an end."
Suddenly, Marianne spun around, a blade flashed in her hand and quickly cold steel cut through the air and stopped at a human neck.
Surprised, Ascendary and Duke also drove around.
"Impressive. A true aranasera," said Lysander, the Librarian at whose neck the blade was stopped.
"How could you sneak up this silently again?" Marianne hissed.
"That, my dear, remains my secret. Who am I to reveal all my secrets." He put a finger on the blade and pushed it away from his neck along with Marianne's hand.
Duke looked at Ascendary and then back at Lysander and remembered the invisibility potion.
Lysander raised his right hand and shook his forefinger in the negative.
"Don't even think about it. You got everything from me."
Duke sighed.
"But I have a solution. Follow me." He turned to leave.
"Just like that?" Marianne asked.
"Just like that," Lysander confirmed. "Unless you are interested in another encounter with the INQUEST."
"No, no." Marianne nodded to Duke and Ascendary, then followed the librarian.
"As the royal librarian of this empire, my profession has its connections." Lysander stepped out onto the street.
Marianne was amazed.
A huge carriage with 4 horses stood in front of her.
It was less a carriage than a large closed cart for transporting goods.
"Asmodis!" shouted Lysander and a small winged demon flew up and sat on his shoulder.
"This is Asmodis, my little friend and helper."
Marianne looked at the little demon in amazement. He looked like a little gargoyle.
"Master Lysander! We should hurry." A woman got off the coach box.
"Thank you, Sedalia." Lysander nodded to Asmodis while Ascendary and Duke also entered the street.
Asmodis flew to the end of the car and opened the doors.
"Get in. You'll be safe there." Lysander pointed to the large interior.
Duke was amazed at the interior, which seemed to be larger than you can see outside.
Lysander saw the look and nodded. "Yes, it's magic, and now it's time for you."
Ascendary looked at Lysander strangely.
Lysander got down on his knees in front of the Gryphon and stroked his head.
"The two of us are more similar than you think. Trust me."
Ascendary nodded and got into the Carriage.
Duke followed.
Marianne approached Lysander. "Where are we going?"
"First of all, away from here. When we're far enough away, we'll discuss everything else." Lysander nodded to Sedalia.
Marianne got in and Sedalia closed the doors.
Then she went up to Lysander and stroked his cheek with her hand.
"I hope you know what you're doing."
Lysander took her hand and kissed it.
"Come on." He pointed to the carriage.
Sedalia nodded and climbed onto the coachman's box.
Then she set the carriage in motion.
Lysander looked after the carriage.
>>And now? << the voice came into Lysander's head.
"We will protect the carriage at all costs!"
>> The carriage? <<
"Marianne!"
>> Marianne.<< The Voice seems to be amused.
"Enough. Now it's up to you."
Lysander spread his arms.
In a matter of seconds, the Librarian transformed into the giant Wyvern.
"Go on!" shouted Duke. "This is our chance to escape!"
Marianne nodded and they continued to force the horses forward.
Ascendary, still invisible, turned around to take a closer look at what was happening.
The INQUEST drifted further away.
Dexter shouted various orders to the crew and in no time the guns were occupied.
Order mages formed a protective shield around the INQUEST while the creature went back into attack flight.
When the creature flew against the protective shield, another jolt went through the ship.
"What the hell is this?" cried the captain of the INQUEST.
"It´s ... a Wyvern!" shouted Danny and ran across the deck.
"So big! This can't be a Nexusswyvern!" The captain called more men to the guns.
"It's not a Nexuswyvern either. It's a real Wyvern!" replied Dexter.
"How is that possible? Wyverns, like griffins, are extinct." Cecile was stunned.
Danny reached his equipment and began to put something together.
The Wyvern flew another turn and went on the attack again.
At that moment, the protective Shields opened and the cannons fired.
The wyvern, who saw the attack coming, skilfully dodged.
The protective Shields closed again and he crashed into them again, which made the Order Mages sweat on their foreheads.
"What the hell is going on here? First the Aranasera with the scroll, then the royal librarian and now the Wyvern." Dexter cursed to himself.
Danny came running up and had a long spear in his hand.
Cecile looked at him in amazement. "What do you want with that? Tickle him?"
At that moment it flashed at the top and Cecile saw that it was not a normal spear.
Danny got into position.
The INQUEST had reloaded the guns and were ready to fire.
The Order mages waited for the right moment to open the shields.
The Wyvern had finished its turn and was flying back towards the INQUEST.
The shields were opened and the cannons fired.
Again the wyvern dodged.
Then Danny threw the spear.
He flew precisely towards the Wyvern, who could not avoid it.
The spear pierced a target, but not the Wyvern.
It was as if the spear suddenly got stuck in the air, flashed and then fell into the depths.
"What just happened?" asked Cecile.
"Something was in between, something invisible," Danny replied.
The Wyvern seemed surprised and flew downwards.
For a moment it seemed as if he stopped, then he flew on again.
And away.
The Inquest sank down and touched down on the ground so that the damage could be assessed.
Danny jumped off the ship and ran towards his spear, which was lying on the ground.
Dexter and Cecile followed him.
He picked up the spear and examined the tip.
There was blood and feathers on it.
"What is that?" Cecile looked at Danny questioningly.
He took a feather and looked at it.
"A griffin feather."
Dexter sighed. "Is Today Extinct Species Day?"
*
Further away, the Wyvern landed. He carefully had Ascendary in a mouth, since wyverns didn't have arms and hands, and put him down gently. The spear had accidentally hit the gryphon when it had curiously flown between the two.
The wyvern had been able to catch him with his mouth before the impact, but the spear fell off.
Marianne and Duke saw the Wyvern Ascendary cast off at a safe distance. They had hidden when they noticed that the Wyvern was getting closer.
When Duke saw him put down the no longer invisible Griffin, he stepped out of the bushes and shouted loud, "Away from him!"
The Wyvern turns its huge head in Duke's direction.
Marianne had followed Duke and held him tight. "Don't! He is superior to us!"
"I don't care! I'll flatten him! He should release Ascendary! Away, you monster!" shouted Duke.
The Wyvern raised an eyebrow, causing Duke to look at him in surprise.
Marianne was also amazed at this gesture.
The wyvern shook his head and rise into the air, releasing Ascendary.
Marianne and Duke hurried to the gryphon.
"He is seriously injured." Marianne stroked his feathers.
"How should we help him," Duke said desperately when something hit him at the Head.
"Ouch!" He held the back of his head and stared at an ampoule. He looked up at the sky and saw the wyvern fly away.
"That's ragweed! But how? All the same. It will help him." Marianne took the ampoule and let the injured Gryphon drink from it.
Danores Nyrosar stood with his arms folded on the battlements of the old castle.
"Danny." An old man approached him.
Danny didn't move.
"What are you thinking about, my friend?" The old man leaned on his stick.
Danny lowered his head, then turned around.
"Master, I don't want to go."
The old man laid his hand on Danny's shoulder.
"I know, but you have to. You are the chosen one!"
Danny got down on his knees in front of his master.
"I won't disappoint you, master."
Now
"Deeper!" shouted Danny.
The INQUEST continued to fly low.
Dexter looked worried. The INQUEST came dangerously close to the trees. Not that the trees could damage the ship, it is rather the moment of surprise when one of the rudders could be torn around by the trees.
Danny grabbed a net and got ready.
Cecile watched him fascinated.
Past
Danny looked at the gryphon's corpse.
The last griffin is dead. His father had won and paid with his lives.
But something was wrong.
Danny turned his father's body around. He still had the crossbow in his right hand.
A long wound. From a longsword.
Someone else had been here.
Danny got up and went back to the gryphon's body and knelt down.
He brushed the limp wing aside with his hand.
A feather, a small feather.
From a young animal.
The griffin had a cub.
So there was still a griffin.
And where the griffin was, there was also his father's murderer.
Now
Cecile looked fascinated at the tattoo on Danny's upper arm.
The tattoo depicted a skull in front of which a crossbow crossed with a dagger and a sword.
Dexter saw it too and he knew the tattoo all too well.
The Mark of the Nerossans, the Assassin Hunter Guild.
Hunters who hunt and catch or kill their prey on order. Depending on the order.
And slowly Dexter realized that Danny's presence could not be a coincidence.
And that there must be a client.
The INQUEST approached the fleeing riders.
A woman and a man with a two-handed sword on their backs.
It had to be, so the griffin cub, which should be fully grown by now, can't be far away.
It embraced the net more firmly. They would not escape.
*
Marianne spurred her horses on, but inside she knew that they could not escape the INQUEST.
Only a miracle could save them.
The INQUEST was getting closer and closer.
Marianne was desperate.
Only a miracle could save them.
But was it a time for miracles?
Suddenly, a jolt went through the INQUEST, as if it had been hit by something heavy.
A roar sounded.
The INQUEST drifted to the side while people ran back and forth on deck.
Orders were shouted and hectic chaos ensued on deck.
*
The blow had hit the INQUEST unexpectedly.
Dexter had been surprised but did not fall.
Cecile had crashed into Dnny, who held her protectively.
But his gaze went to the other side of the ship.
A huge winged creature was just turning in flight to go on another attack.
It looked like a dragon, but it wasn't one.
He had never seen anything like it before and he knew more beings than anyone else.
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