Mythology AU: part 1.17
Mist coughs, clearing water from her lungs. She lies trembling on the grass, on blessed solid ground, silently cursing her decisions and foolishness.
Never again will she ask the Sphinxes for hastening her travels.
“She looks alright still!” Mound, the bulkiest and strongest, towers over the two others. His voice much higher than what one would expect from such a large one, something that, Mist finally understands, makes her extremely uneasy.
“Didn’t you explain to her what I would do when I reach the lake?” Little Stream growls like a kitten, almost twice smaller than her eldest sibling, yet her voice sounds much deeper.
“I might have forgotten…” He looks down at her with an undistinguishable smile, before lifting a large paw and letting it fall lightly onto the smallest sphinx’s head. “You are cute when you are angry, Stream!”
His childish giggle makes Mist shudder even more, but she notices that she is not the only one to react like that. Gust, much larger than Little, being male, still is dwarfed by Mound. He too couldn’t stop shaking.
“Don’t make fun of me!” Little sweeps off Mound’s paw and launches at one of his front legs. The bigger one simply stares at her attempts at clawing at his skin with what seems to Mist like loving care. The valkyrie sighs and closes her eyes, the way of the sphinxes always puzzled everyone.
“Miss Mist? You are awake?” A face suddenly appears in front of her, making her jump. Gust managed to somehow stealthily approach her and now stands erect before her.
“I’m alright…” she mumbles, as alright as one could be after almost dying under their hands… or paws.
“I am truly sorry about what happened, Miss Mist. It seems Mound… got carried away and forgot to warn you about that phase of the travel.”
The valkyrie just smiled meekly. Little Stream, with her strange powers, managed to bend the currents to take them through underground tunnels from the Mother Source all the way to the closest to their destination lake fed directly by the sacred water. She took them all the way the Centauri Forest in the far western part of the lands, with just an hour northward and they will arrive to Valhalla, home of the valkyries.
Pained shrieks come from the side, making both of them jump. Little Stream is atop the robust Mound and has started pulling the other’s tail. The sheer difference between their size makes it comical in Mists eyes.
“Don’t let it fool you, Miss Mist” Gust murmurs to the valkyries surprise, his voice grave. “Among us all, Mound is the strongest and most dangerous one. His cruelty knows no bound, as you must have felt upon your own skin, not even with us, his fellow sphinxes… with the exception of those he truly seems to love dearly…”
Mist looks at him, astonished at those words. Few, truly few, know anything about the sphinxes, about their true nature and power. Most would simply think them as siblings who prefer absolutely no companionship, and when they do, only the one of their own kind. But now, looking at Gust, she feels her stomach churn as she peeks into secrets much darker and dangerous.
Mound has rolled over now, letting Little pull at his hair and mane on his belly. Like a tiny lioness playing with a larger fatherly figure, his large paws could easily rip apart limbs and bodies with a single swing. If anything happens to her, Mist knows, the wrath of a dangerous creature would befall the one at fault.
“We should go now, or Ingot will be furious over the fact that we failed to do everything in the designated time.” Little finally jumps down from Mound, her face beaming with joy at him, the reflection of the same happiness on the other. Gust, without showing any signs of doubt or earlier discomfort, walks forward slowly, beckoning Mist to follow.
Soon they are on the last phase of the trip. A much easier one as this time she mounted Gust, whose large wings carries them much faster than the size of Mound’s build could have allowed. Though as they travel, Mist notices a certain fact: Gust’s speed isn’t only related to the size of his wings, but something more, something much less natural and a lot more magical.
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