Chapter 7

Tama woke up a little later than was her normal. When she moved to get out of bed, she stopped as every muscle and joint in her body screamed in agony, causing her to cry out. Willow heard her and quickly rushed to her daughter's room and went in.

"What's wrong Tama? Why did you cry out like that."

"I hurt mama. I hurt all over mama. I can hardly move it hurts so bad. Make the hurt stop mama, make the hurting stop."

"Oh my dear Tama, this must be what Elder meant by serious side effects from the Totem. It will last several days Tama. Now, you need to get up and make yourself move around, otherwise you will stiffen even further and it will take longer to heal."

"Ok mama. I will try to get up. I must get up. I must learn to work through pain now, while I'm safe. I must fight the pain, must overcome the pain and go forwards"

Tama slowly rolled herself to the edge of her bed then worked up into an upright sitting position.

After getting in to a sitting position, Tama began a slow stretching of her arms and back. She gradually worked her way down and twisted at her waist to get her back to loosen up a bit. Every move hurt and made her want to cry out. How could this be so bad from just a second of the power from that wolf totem. She worked her hips and legs and soon was loose enough to stand.

The act of walking hurt even worse. Her knees both had liquid fire pouring into them and her hips did not want to support her weight. The muscles all felt limp and tired, as if she had just run the hill all the way to the top and back down, twice. Her arms were sore, not to the same degree as her legs though. Those totems are dangerously bad she thought. If they did this to me in such a short space of time, what would happen with a longer run.

There was a quiet knocking at the front door so Willow went to see who it could be at such an early hour. It was Whittles, patiently standing outside hoping somebody was up. Willow invited her in. "How is Tama this morning. The master had heard about what had happened and is worried that she may be badly hurt from the effects of that killer totem."

That caused both Willow and Axeman to stop and look at her. "Killer?" asked Axeman.

"Yes, as of dawn there have been three local confirmed deaths that are directly attributed to those totems." Glancing at Tama, "you are lucky to be alive at all little girl. It may be your small size and lesser strength that saved you from splashing all over the classroom wall. Now, how are you feeling this morning?"

Tama decided that the truth was the better route rather than what she had planned to say. "I hurt all over right now. Especially my legs, they are very sore, tired and weak."

"That is settled then." Said Whittles. "By order of Master Greenheart, Tama is to remain home until fully recovered from the events of yesterday. No appeals will be accepted in this case. Rest child, you need it to recover from the damage it did to you."

Tama looked at Whittles in disbelief. "You're kidding right. Please tell me you're not serious."

"Hey kiddo, don't blame me, I am just the messenger. If you are not up to full strength and control, you have no business being in the wood shop. It is for your own safety Tama."

Tama looked at her mother with the look all children get when being denied what it is they want most. She started to tear up. Willow picked her up and rocked her gently.

Axeman told Whittles, "Thank you for stopping by and giving her this bad news. I agree though, she needs to rest and recover from her ordeal."

"I will let the master know how she is feeling. Take care Axeman." Whittles turned and headed back to town and to her work at the wood workers shop.

After a troubled nights sleep, Elder awoke and found that he had received several messages from the portal network. He was being recalled at the earliest possible time to Kelethin concerning the black wolf totems. He quickly wrote a note with his regrets to guild master Grendle and headed to the Mages tower to obtain a new set of transport amulets.

Once that piece of business was completed, he headed to the cities south gate and exited the city from there. He was stopped and questioned twice by the city guard as to what his business in the city was, but showing them the identifier amulet put an end to any trouble they may have wanted to cause him. From the gate it would be a half hour walk to the Griffon transport tower. He was never liked this mode of travel, but this was the only way fast enough to get to the Ulteran Spires to get him home in a day. The Griffons are tamed and well trained but he was never sure if it would be a truly safe way to cross a large continent every day.

The Griffon flight master instructed him on the best way to sit. "Once I have you strapped in, lean forwards and stay low. This will reduce the stress on Goldie and prevent your neck from breaking in half during the flight. Once up she will go straight to the Oracle Tower Station, and no amount of steers from you will turn her. The only flight alteration allowed is if you must land early. Just tell her or her sisters to land and they will land fast, no questions asked. Once down, release the tie down straps, and slide over the left side in order to dismount. Get clear of her wings and yell clear to her and she will continue to the destination. Get all that old timer?"

Elder looked at the Griffon Trainer and nodded, not wanting to say what he was thinking about the Trainer. "I must be on my way, how long until Goldie as you called her, will be ready to fly."

"I'd give her about, oh I'd say 20 minutes. She's still preening her main flight feathers, and you do not interrupt a preening if you want to keep the hand."

"Good enough." said Elder.

In slightly less than the estimated 20 minutes, Goldie finished her preening, looked at her trainer and gave a squawk that seemed to say, "Ok, let's get this over with."

With the Trainers help, Elder mounted the Griffons heavy leather saddle and was strapped in. After making sure the saddle and all the tack where secured, the Trainer gave a shrill whistle, then swatted Goldie on the rear quarter. The Griffon gave an Eagles scream and leapt into the air, opening her massive wings and shot upward into the sky. Her heavily muscled lion body swayed smoothly up and down with each flap of her massive wings.

As she lifted into the air, the first heavy flapping of her wings drove the breath from Elders body and he hung on for dear life. She circled around toward Coldwind point and over the lighthouse, found the thermal she was looking for and started gaining altitude at a rapid rate. As she turned to stay in the upward current of warm air, her flapping settled down and the flight smoothed out. The thermal lift lasted about fifteen minutes then Goldie turned out and headed north along the water line and city walls. She flapped her wings to maintain altitude every minute or so, otherwise it was a fairly smooth glide with the breeze at her tail.

Once they cleared the city and the moat area, she turned to the east and started flapping her wings in slow easy strokes, accelerating her flight across the sky. Elder could see in the far distance a tall tower on a high bluff that looked out over the sea. He knew it was much further than it looked from up here. The Tower of the Oracle, not a place he wanted to visit, but the Griffon stop was nearby since it was close to the road. The trip along the road would have taken two days of hard riding. By Griffon flight, it would only be about five hours to cover the same distance.

Goldie knew when it was time to slow down and reduce her altitude. She nosed up a little and shed speed first, then coasted downwards towards the roost. Elder held on tighter because he knew things were about to get very rough. She nosed up harder and flapped in a way that dropped them down even faster. As she circled around to face into the wind, she spread her wings to there fullest extension, her legs dropped down from were she had them pulled up to her body during the flight. Just seconds before arriving at the landing platform, Goldie reared back and flapped hard to stall her forwards motion.

With her legs down, she dropped straight onto the landing pad with a solid thump. She folded in her wings as the towers trainer came up and took her reins to lead her off the pad. Elder released the tie down straps and slid off the left side as instructed. Goldie stopped for a second, turned her head and dipped it in his direction, as if to say well done.

Elder headed to the ramp and descended. He told the Trainer that he needed to stretch his legs for a few minutes to get the kinks out. The Trainer agreed that would be a good idea. Sally would be ready to fly in about an hour as she had just eaten.

Elder looked up at the high bluff at the Tower of the Oracle. It was a massive affair with a central tower that rose over two hundred feet to a needle spire at the top. Three side towers evenly spaced around the central tower provided support to keep it from toppling over in the winds that always blew hard over the cliffs and bluffs from the sea. Elder sipped some of his remaining water and climbed back up the ramp to the launch platform.

He looked at the Trainer and asked, "I need to reach the spires, what would be the best point to have the Griffon set down."