Renewed Tribute to Daius: Chapter 1

Brinjal had met Dracostryx before; the vayron distinctly remembered the golden one that was there when he first encountered Raoul. These, though? They lacked the grace of the first one he met. One was large with brown wings and stained feathers at their tips. It resembled a hawk, albeit far too large and toothy. The other was much wilder in nature--a fellow runner, ground-bound--but looked like it could cause even more trouble with its fanged bite. It definitely lived up to the ‘draco’ part of dracostryx. Brinjal puffed his chest out in pride, even in the presence of these much bigger creatures--after all, Raoul had chosen to saddle him and ride him all the way to Fullcaster. They traveled through the warm parts of Warrenfall, with the summer sun shining high in the sky, making good progress on the first leg of Brinjal’s journey trial. They started at Azrester and aimed for Bullmar, with only one pitstop set aside at Fullcaster for the Dracostryx to attend to their own rituals.

Veronika, the larger of the stryx, was soaring above with her feathers clinging tightly to her to reduce heat. Despite her elevation, she looked huge in the sky, and Brinjal couldn’t help but shudder whenever her shadow floated by. Vino trotted beside the blue vayron, his feathers similarly slimmed, and his chest rising and falling as he panted. Brinjal once again felt a sense of pride. Runners like him were perfectly suited for long-distance travel. He wasn’t even breaking a sweat. On top of that, this flimsy Dracostryx was growing hot even under the lush shade of Warrenfall’s forests. Granted, it had a little companion of its own--a small, parrot-like creature a little smaller than the vayron, that darted in and out of the forest as if it was being chased by its own shadow. Vino shepherded it like a lost sheep any time they hit a clearing. Lucian is what Raoul called it; Brinjal was satisfied to just call it Menace after it nearly plucked out some of his ear fur on the journey.

They followed the east river bank until they saw Fullcaster looming in the distance. It was a small city, but the skyline was recognizable enough that Brinjal felt nostalgic looking at it. He probably grew up around here, though he would never know for sure. As if sensing his strange emotion, Raoul gave him a pat on the neck. “We’ll rest soon, Brinjal.” Rest? As if he needed rest. Brinjal picked up the pace. Vino groaned beside him and did his best to meet the runner’s stride while Veronika’s shadow flapped a few times to ensure she traveled at the same speed. The blue vayron raced ahead of them and the city approached in no time at all. He slowed to a trot as the streets turned to cobblestone and the raptor beside him started gasping for breath.

Raoul dismounted and held the reins in his hand, leading Brinjal through the town on foot. “Do you think there’s a stable here for dragons, too?” he mused. The townsfolk watched the group of oddballs travel through the city. Every now and then, Brinjal saw them mouth the words ‘tyrian’ as they pointed at the dracostryx. Did these giant birds really look like those flying bats? He scoffed. Reosians were much more graceful than the rest of the bunch.

Vino hissed at him, bringing him back to reality and reminding them of their purpose there. Sure, Brinjal needed to lead them through Warrenfall to show his strength, but the two Dracostryx had their own priorities. A wild stryx had found its own way here and was more than willing to help with their tributes. A race was required, and a race would be had, with the sun bearing witness. Brinjal sighed and wondered why they couldn’t just show their endurance with a journey like a normal creature. It must be a bird thing.

They met the wild stryx on the east side of the city, where the buildings grew scarce and the roads turned back into rolling fields. Fullcaster was truly a small place. The creature resembled Vino in every way except color. It was the same raptor-type body, with blotches of yellow and brown covering its back and a wide white collar ringing its neck. It looked completely natural compared to Vino’s bright yellow plumage. Veronika landed to inspect their newfound companion. She dwarfed all of them in size, though her brown plumage matched closely with the raptor-type stryx. She looked the raptor up and down, then motioned for Raoul to come closer. When the wizard stepped forward, she plucked him up with her beak and placed him on her back.

Brinjal growled. “Don’t think just anyone can carry him, you giant chicken.” He felt his hackles rising.

Veronika simply chittered at him. Raoul ran his hand through her feathers and reassured them both. “It’s okay. I’m just going to help them race for a bit, then it’s back to the normal way of things.”

The birds all watched the sun with full attention, waiting for it to pass its zenith. For a brief moment, the world was without shadow; The sun spread its light thin and flat across the ground. Then, the moment the first shadow appeared, the race was on. Blondie--the wild one--was quickly in the lead. He had done these races plenty of times and knew exactly how to ride the wind, grounded as he was. Vino followed behind in his slipstream, doing his best to keep pace with the older dragon. Veronika started by running, though she was clearly not suited to ground races, and carrying Raoul wasn’t helping her.

Brinjal scoffed at the sight. This was supposed to be a race? The vayron shook off some dirt from the journey and made his own vie for victory. He quickly surpassed little Lucian, who was flapping frantically to try and keep up with his favorite raptor, and then went neck-in-neck with Vino himself.

When it became clear that she was in last, Veronika huffed and unfurled her wings in frustration. She leapt up for a running start and beat her wings against the wind. She fought for first and found herself ahead of them in no time at all. She made a crow of happiness, but knew not to be content with just that. She easily cleared the first obstacle--a cliff--and left the others in the dust.

Vino, Blondie, and Brinjal all scrambled up the side of the cliff, doing their best to dig into the rock with their claws and talons. A flier like Veronika had a clear advantage when it came to obstacles like this. Blondie was the first to reach the top and scramble forward, followed by Brinjal, and then finally Vino. Lucian simply mewled at the bottom of the cliff, sad that he couldn’t climb up in the same fashion as the raptor, and a bit too dull to remember that he could fly if he wanted to.

They finished the race in the place they had started--first was Veronika, naturally. She crooned with happiness as Raoul pat her and Brinjal and Blondie caught up to her. Did Raoul use magic so she could have the lead? Brinjal pouted as Vino and Lucian finally returned to the starting line. Brinjal squinted upwards at the sun, which had barely moved during the whole ordeal. Would this satisfy whatever deity the birds wanted to impress? Whatever. He laid down and panted to regulate his warmth. The others were similarly exhausted, laying down in the shade of nearby trees and gasping for air. They all gave it their all. Brinjal smiled. It was at least a bit fun.

Vino made an exasperated growl and his feathers flared up. He was on full display towards Blondie, the raptor that had beat him. Blondie met his display with one of his own, letting his feathers ruffle so much that he looked like a completely different creature. The two hissed at each other, jaws gaping wide, each ready to take a bite out of the other. Brinjal looked up in confusion. Just before Vino made a leap for the other raptor, Raoul moved in and snapped his mouth shut with his hands. “Come on, Vino, don’t be silly,” he cooed at the dragon. Blondie settled down once Vino was ‘restrained,’ though the yellow stryx was still clearly upset. Raoul reached into his bottomless pockets and pulled out a piece of jerky.

Brinjal barked. That was his snack. He was giving it to that giant chicken?

Raoul motioned for the vayron to shush, then urged the stryx to have a bite. He nibbled at it, then begrudgingly took the offering. His anger was quelled, for now.

Blondie and Veronika chittered nervously, trying to lift the mood with a bit of bird song.

“What was that about?” Brinjal grumbled. “And why did you need to use my jerky for it?”

The wizard pet his head. “Vino is working for a lot more than the approval of a god, Brinjal. He’s a bit upset about losing.”

Brinjal looked between Vino and Veronika nervously. “Those two...Vino wants to be her mate?”

“No, no, no,” laughed Raoul. “But he has something to prove. Just let him sulk for now. He deserves a little bit of your jerky, since he’s still going far out of his way to complete your journey trial on top of his own tributes.”

Brinjal nearly complained again, but found Raoul had a tasty bit of jerky held out in front of his nose. He took it and angrily munched on it. Well, he would allow the injustice to pass, for now.