“A manticore! That’s what she said.” Rowen was pacing across the grass with his eyes fixed on the ground.
“Actually she said the manticore. Maybe there is just one.” Cade took a mental note of this. Just one manticore. That meant that in future it was impossible to run into another.
“We have to run. While she is in the cave getting that damn creature, we have to run very far away.”
“To where? Like you said before, we aren’t able to fight the bandits so we need to bring some kind of back up with us for when we do find them.” Cade had just reasoned with the gorgon to save their lives but now that he thought about it having a snake monster with them might be helpful.
“I was thinking that we could just go back to the castle and get the king and his guards to come and help to save the princess.” Berty the robin chirped in agreement.
Cade rolled his eyes. “By the time we find our way out of this forest and to the castle, my sister and Freya will be dead or gone.” He felt a bit sick at the thought of finding his sister dead. Worse still, he could only imagine what bandits would do to her before that.
Rowen stopped walking and threw up his hands. “How will we even travel with this gorgon. In case you have forgotten they turn people to stone with a single look!”
“She said she was getting a blindfold.” Cade leaned against the nearest tree and tried to keep his breathing even. He was sure that this plan was the only way to go but he wasn’t very sure that it wouldn’t end with one or both of them becoming statues. The more that Rowen brought it up the more nervous Cade became that the gorgon might just emerge from the cave with her eyes on show.
“I don’t trust snake monsters.” Rowen shook his head.
“What a shame. We are usually quite good about keeping our word.” the voice belonged to the gorgon who was shuffling out the door of the cave.
At the sound of her approach Rowen slammed his eyes shut and threw his hand in front of Berty’s face. Cade watched him, afraid to turn his head in case she was looking at him.
“Are we ready to start the journey?” She asked. she sounded close to him.
He knew that he would need to look at her if they were going to travel together. The muscles in his neck seemed to have locked into place and refused to allow him to turn his head. Come on, he told himself, its now or never. You wanted adventure well this is what it looks like. Repeating in his mind that this was the only way to save his sister and Freya, he forced his head to turn and looked at the gorgon.
She was wearing a blindfold, thank god. He was surprised by how normal she looked. Yes, her hair was made of snakes, but otherwise she had a human body. She wore a silk top that covered her breasts and half her stomach. Her trousers were also silk and she wore no shoes. Looking at her feet, Cade realised he had been right. She had an injured foot and was limping with each step.
“Are we going or not?” She sounded impatient and the last thing Cade wanted to do was annoy her.
“Sure, of course, where is your pet?”
Rowen whimpered.
“I am here.” The voice that came out of the cave was deep and hissing. It sounded like a huge gorgon and for a moment Cade had the impulse to close his eyes. When the creature that had spoken emerged, he wished he didn’t have to look. It was twice the size of a large bull and had a huge man around its cat-like face. its wings were large enough to cast shadows that Cade imagined he could have taken shelter in. they were black and smooth, like stretched leather. It had a long scaled tail with a fat stinger on the end. But the most striking feature was the teeth. When it moved its mouth hung open to let gasps of air out. From where he stood, Cade could see the rows of teeth resting there. There were three rows of teeth that were each as numerous and sharp as the last.
The rank smell of his breath made cade think of the dead cattle who would sometimes be left decaying in the fields.
He felt fear leaping around in his chest but he kept it under control. he wasn’t going to freak out and ruin their chances. Besides, the creature may have been horrific but it was incredible. The more that he watched it, the more he wanted to touch its skin so he could tell others what it had felt like.
“Wow.” He breathed,
The manticore shook his head and hissed.
“What? What is it?” Rowen opened one eye, caught sight of the beast, and closed it again.
Cade held a hand up to the manticore. “One second.” He went to Rowen and stood close enough to speak directly into his ear. “You need to focus.”
“Just give me a minute.” Rowen was sweating enough to stain his shirt but after three breaths he opened his eyes and faced the monsters. “Right, shall we start looking.”
The gorgon nodded and reach towards the two of them. “Someone take my hand and guide me.”
Cade was going to argue until the manticore growled. Without further delay he went to her and took her arm.
She was startled at the contact, taking in a swift breath.
“Did I hurt you?” Cade scanned her arm for any sign of an injury.
“No.” She started to walk so he went with her. The more that they walked the more than he struggled to hide his pain. His rib was throbbing and every time he had to use his arm to stop the gorgon from falling on something, the muscles in his neck roared with pain.
“You are tense.” She said.
“Something like that.” Cade helped her over another branch. Ahead of them, Rowen was sending Berty up into the air in short bursts. He was looking for signs of the bandits.
“I have never travelled this far from the cave before.” She told him.
“Oh?” He stumbled slightly and it send a shockwave to his ribs. He tired to use curiosity to mask the strain in his voice.
“I can’t travel far without turning the world to stone or being attacked.” Her tone was no longer the mocking one that he remembered from earlier. It was almost wary. She turned her face in his direction and he wondered if she was trying to read his intentions without being able to see his face.
“I have never met a gorgon before so it seems we are all trying new things.” Cade offered her a giggle but she didn’t even smile.
“I am putting a lot of trust in you.”
Cade snorted. She was trusting them? They weren’t the ones who could turn someone to stone if they got annoyed. Besides, she had her giant terrifying pet to watch out for her.
She laughed and it startled Cade. “You think it is silly to say that I am trusting you. I understand that. but of the two of us I think you will find that I am in more danger. I don’t even know if you are telling me the truth. For all I know I could be walking with bandits to bandits.”
“Then why bother?” Cade said.
She didn’t speak for a moment and Cade feared he had angered her. He watched her and found that she was tense and rigid. In fact there was no sign of anger at all. She had her head ducked and her breathing was made up of long sighs.
He was about to ask her if she was okay but she spoke over him. “Have you got sight of them yet?”
Rowen jumped at her suddenly raised voice. “I am trying. But it isn’t as easy as some people think to spot a bandit camp in a huge forest.”
Cade couldn’t help but laugh at the sassy tone he used. He wondered briefly if Rowen was ever like that inside the royal walls. He doubted it. If you wanted to live then you were respectful to the royals.
I wonder if Freya is like that? he shook the thought away. He needed to keep his head in the game.
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