The Starflares
By Kaal'tarn SaamyaraFar out in the desert, way out where civilization was a myth, far back on the border of this world and the next, something moved. A cloaked figure crept across the plain, drawing strange symbols in the sand with a carved staff. The figure traced line upon line, as if the runes were the most important thing in the world to it. Then, just as though it had never been there, the figure vanished, leaving the runes, presumably to be blown away by the wind. But they weren’t. They remained, and if anyone had been out on the desert that day, they would have seen a most amazing sight. The runes began to glow silver and crimson, sparkling in the faint glow cast by the moon. A strange glowing stream of light escaped from the largest and most intricate rune, spreading upwards and outwards over and through other runes. A whisper fled across the desert like the rustling of dry and brittle leaves.
Awaken.
Suddenly, a hand shot out of the sand, grit and dust cascading this way and that as a hulking beast pulled itself free of it’s prison. Red eyes glowed from the human face, but the legs and tail of a lion showed. Claws outstretched, fang bared, the monster gave a strange, bellowing wail. All at once, others of it’s kind burst from the sands, showering the runes with grit and gravel. But it didn’t matter. The spell was complete. For a veritable army of these Sphinxes stood on the desert sands, moonlight reflecting off the decorated chainmail they wore. As one, the reared up awkwardly on two legs and groped at the air. Scimitars appeared in their hands. Then the same voice as heard before echoed throughout the minds of every warrior.
Kill.
The Sphinxes set off across the desert sands, their destination unknown. All that was known was a bloodthirsty craving to kill, to yield blade and fang against any living creature. To rend flesh and break bone. To destroy.
And so the army of evil rampaged across the desert, with no one to stop them…
* * * * * *
“No, thank you! I don’t want another carpet!”
Tathramakan, the black, red and blue AuroraGryph was on vacation in the desert, but she was having a hard time trying to convince her overindulgent hosts that she could take care of herself. The night before, the lady of the house had actually tried to give her a bath! That had left that situation embarrassed, and wet. She had tried to forget the incident, but the friends that were travelling with her made it hard.
“Oh, c’mon, Tath! Ya want another carpet, dontcha?” This query came from Ciatol, a phoenix/gryphon hybrid with the tail of a dragon, painted with all the colors of the rainbow. His golden feathers with silver stripes ruffled in the slight breeze, melding beautifully into his shining golden fur. His soft red eyes sparkled with laughter.
“Yes!” added Lady Sirah, her cat-sized gryphon friend, putting on a humorous deep voice, imitating their host. “We must have another carpet to fan the sunlight from her glossy black feathers! The lady might dissolve and melt away in this fierce heat!”
“Oh…gerroff…” Tath grumbled, her voice growly.
“If anyone needs a fan out here,” spoke up Kietra, the friendly cheetah-gryph. “It’s Ursula!”
All eyes turned to the last of the five, Ursula Aurelia, the fledgling Polargryph. She was curled up in a silver and white ball of gray eagle and polar bear, her fur sticking in clumps, her tufted ears drooping in the picture of absolute misery. Being a Polargryph, she was best suited to life in the arctic, and therefore hated and was intolerant to great deals of heat and fire. She sniffled a little, trying her best not to seem whiney.
“Hey, Urs,” said Tath gently. “What’s the matter, hun?”
“I’m – sniff – too – sniffle – hot!” the young gryphon said. “When you – sniffle – said that we were going – sniff – to the desert, I thought you – sniffle – meant the – sniff – oasis part!”
“There, there!” said Ciatol. “Don’t worry, Urs. We’re only hanging around here until our hosts’ll let Tath go.”
The black AuroraGryph fanned her wings in annoyance, thwapping Ciatol with the blue-tipped one, putting the red-tipped one around Ursula.
“Hey, young ‘un. Keep your chin up. We’ll head out this evening when it gets a bit cooler and you’ll be able to travel a little more easily. ‘Kay?”
Ursula sniffed once more and then tried to smile. “Okay.”
Kietra curled up beside the fledgling and nuzzled her a little. “Since we’re gonna travel tonight, we may as well all get some sleep.”
Sirah nodded and joined the two, and soon they were all snoring gently. Ciatol watched the females in amusement, then turned to Tath.
“We’re gonna hafta get Urs somewhere with water pretty darn soon,” he said.
“I know,” was her reply. “This has taken a lot out of her. But what can we do about it? We aren’t just on vacation, you know.”
“Oh?”
“No.” Tath finally explained what had been a secret until now. “We’re on a mission from the Guild, assigned to us by Lady Tserisa herself.”
At his shocked expression, she went on.
“Y’see, there was this figure sighted out in the desert not to far from here a while back, drawing runes and whatnot in the sands. And something happened, but no one’s quite sure what. I was told to choose my own team and come down here to investigate.”
“B-but why didja choose u-us? Ya coulda taken someone like…like Kaal’tarn, or Crystal, or Aeris, or SilvrMoon, or Jooshie, or Acyd, or Poison, or Sparhawk, or Muse and Aryante…or…or…or…”
He trailed off helplessly. “Why us, Tath?” he asked.
“Because,” she answered. “They may be great warriors and mages, they may be powerful and experienced, but you guys are so much more to me. You’re my friends.” Tath seemed embarrassed by her speech. She turned from Ciatol. “I’ll go and…um…get the…in the…”
He nodded, and she loped off. Ciatol watched her go, touched by her speech. He curled up by Sirah, Kietra and Ursula and promptly fell asleep. Tath reappeared and smiled, seeing her four friends all asleep.
“But it’s true, you know,” she said to herself. “They are my friends.”
* * * * * *
“How much farther?” Ciatol demanded, shouting over the wind.
“Not much,” Tath replied. “A few more miles, I think.”
“It’s the ‘I think’ part that bothers me!” Sirah yelled.
“Hey!” Tath objected. “I know my way around!”
“This coming from the gryph who last night said that she had no idea where we were?” teased Kietra. Being a wind elemental creature, the cheetah-gryph was in high spirits. She was enjoying the flight. Beside her, Ursula glided, somewhat happier then she had been before. Although somewhat slow and awkward on land, the young Polargryph was graceful and agile in the air. She clacked her beak happily.
“I don’t care how much farther it is, as long as I can stay up in the air, I’m happy!”
Sirah laughed, the tinkling sound echoing. “That makes two of us!”
“Three!” put in Kietra.
Ciatol smiled to himself. Being the only male in the party of females, he wasn’t bothered at all. The four were much better companions then many males he knew. Plus they had acute senses of humor. Suddenly Tath, who had taken the lead, swerved to a stop, beating her wings against the wind. The others backwinged sharply, looking at her for an explanation.
“Look!” she cried. “There!”
Across the desert, not to far away, a huge cloud of dust was moving along the plain of sand. Dark shapes were visible too, though what they were exactly couldn’t be determined from this distance.
“That might just be what we’re looking for!” Tath whispered to Ciatol. He nodded, clacking his orange beak in agreement.
Sirah eyed the two curiously. “What’re you two whispering about?” she demanded
“Us? N-nothing!” Tath stammered, Ciatol backing her up.
“Yeah, right,” said Kietra. “You can’t fool us that easily.”
“C’mon!” exclaimed Ursula. “You can tell us!”
Tath looked at Ciatol helplessly. “Look’s like the gig is up, eh?”
He nodded. “We may as well tell ‘em.”
So they did. When Tath had finished, Sirah nodded her head decidedly. “Well,” she said. “If that cloud of dust is what we’re looking for, we may as well go and find out what it is!” So saying, she folded her wings and dove, her dark blue body a whir of feathers and fur. Kietra followed close on her tail. Ursula, eager to show off, did a complex backflip before diving, causing Ciatol and Tath to hold their breath. When she had joined the other two, Ciatol and the AuroraGryph swerved down. The group took up a circling pattern, spiraling down at a slower rate.
* * * * * *
A Sphinx warrior slipped up to the leader, known to the army as First-Born. It’s steps were quick and hurried, as though it was nervous. The sharp, rotten smell of fear radiated from it’s body.
First-Born, it hissed through a small opening, presumably it’s mouth. Five creatures have been sighted coming towards us. Shall we attack them?
The leader rubbed it’s chin with a wrinkled paw, the human equivalent of deliberation. It’s answer was simple.
Kill them. Kill them all.
The warrior nodded and slipped away, obviously relieved that First-Born’s orders had been for the whole army. The leader could be temperamental, and no one wanted to face the power bestowed upon it by the Creator.
* * * * * *
“Ursula! Look out!”
Kietra dove sharply, grabbing the young Polargryph to her, protecting her with her body. A moment later, Kietra went limp, a spear protruding from her back. Ciatol gave a bellow of rage and dove at the thrower, a visible dark spot fleeing across the desert. The phoenix/gryphon’s eyes glowed bright crimson with battle-light as he landed on the creatures back, wrapping his dragon tail around it’s neck. He throttled it viscously, hearing it’s spine snap. Holding it tightly in his white talons, he swerved upwards, back to his friends, dragging the body with him. When he was once again drifting with his friends, Tath was supporting Kietra, while Ursula and Sirah floated beside her, ready to steady her at any moment. Ciatol directed the group to land, which they did willingly. Sirah instantly set about comforting Ursula and making Kietra comfortable, while Ciatol and Tath conversed.
“What is it?” Ciatol asked. Tath inspected the body.
“I’d say some kinda Sphinx warrior, lower class.”
“Ya’ve seen these before?” her friend demanded.
“No. Heard about ‘em, though. Dangerous warrior born o’ the sand. This must be what the runes were for. Raising Sphinx warriors.”
“What’re we gonna do about this?” Ciatol asked.
Tath shrugged. “Fight ‘em, of course!”
Ciatol smiled. “Thass the kinda response that I wanna hear! Let’s go kick butt!”
Plans were made instantly. Kietra, although wounded, insisted on taking part in the battle, arguing that she didn’t have to actually fight. Instead, she could use her powers to do things like whip sand into the Sphinxes ranks and start tornadoes to carry them off, while staying right where she was. This was agreed to, for Kietra’s wind talents were not to be scoffed at.
Ciatol, being an experienced warrior, would worry about talon to paw combat. He would strike from the air and pick off vulnerable soldiers, all the while watching the mages backs.
Sirah would concentrate on shielding the others closer to the battle. Her main talents were in War magic, so she’d also do things like blow up random soldiers when the mood took her.
Ursula would stay with Kietra and help her in any way needed, like fetch her food when she needed it. The youngster was very opposed to this idea, though. She wanted to fly with the others and fight the evil. She wanted to prove herself. But she couldn’t. From the beginning, it had been decided that she was too young to fight in battle, and so she had been assigned to look after the injured Kietra. She sat apart from the others sulking, not allowing anyone to come near and comfort her.
Tath would be flying with Ciatol, although she would be casting more spells. She was an elemental mage, and her powers were immense. Her upbringing had required that she be instructed in all forms of magic, and she was a very talented gryphon. Her two main powers were that of fire and ice. Being an AuroraGryph, her powers centered on the Northern Lights, which was composed of two elements. Light, or fire, and cold, or ice. Together, they were a powerful weapon.
And so the friends were ready to fight the evil, ready to complete their mission.
* * * * * *
Ciatol, Tath and Sirah left to find the Sphinxes, while Ursula sat sulking. It wasn’t fair! Just because they were older, they got to have all the fun! It just…wasn’t fair! She heard Kietra calling her, and, resentfully, she trundled up to her friend.
“Ursula, would you mind getting me a small drink of water from the canteen?”
“No.” she mumbled. She walked to where the haversack rested and pulled out the canteen. She opened it. All of a sudden, her anger welled up into a whole. With a splash, the water leapt out of the canteen and splattered to the ground. Ursula stood in shock. How had it done that? She peered at the pool of water, and it leapt to form a spinning ball in midair. Ursula decided to test this mystery. She extended a claw and pointed to her left. The ball flew left. To her right. The ball flew right. Delighted with her new powers, Ursula was determined to show Kietra. She pranced up to her friend and balanced the ball in midair.
“Kietra, look!”
“Yes, yes, Ursula. Just a minute. Just a – oh my God!” Kietra’s shock was so amusing that Ursula laughed and broke her concentration. The ball splattered on the desert sands. Kietra watched Ursula with a new respect.
“A water mage…c’mon!” She staggered upright. “We have to get you to the others!
* * * * * *
Meanwhile, Tath and Ciatol and Sirah had their talons full. The Sphinxes were difficult opponents, ready to fight to the death. Ciatol swooped to pick off another. Sirah held the shields, all the while blasting powerful lumin bolts at the army. Tath was everywhere, a streak of black, red and blue. She swerved and dove, casting her magic everywhere. No Sphinx escaped her deadly fire, nor her chilling ice. She was invincible.
“Magma Beam!” she cried, an orb of swirling fire raising itself out of her. It flew into the Sphinx ranks, wiping out a good score of warriors.
Tath swerved upwards, noticing, out of the corner of her eye, Kietra and Ursula appear. She, Ciatol and Sirah left the battle to join them.
“What’re you doing here?” Tath demanded.
“Well I-I-I,” Ursula stammered, obviously embarrassed.
“She’s a water mage,” Kietra put in, smiling at the shocked faces around her. “We’ve been practicing for a while. Go on, Ursula. Show them.”
Ursula flew high into the sky and raised her taloned forehands. She opened her beak and roared a spell.
“Cascade Tide!” Waves of swirling water burst from beneath the Sphinx army and engulfed them. Kietra smiled. And so did the others.
“Come on then, young one. Join our ranks!” Ciatol exclaimed.
“Wait! There’s more!” Ursula said. “When I first found my magic, it-it spoke to me. It said, “Child of the Arctic, thou art Starflare. I didn’t understand it, but then I saw us, all five of us. We were all wearing these special medallions with stars on them, and we defeated the army, each using our most powerful spells, and they combined and-”
Tath stopped her. “Starflares? Like a kind of team or something?”
“Must be!” Sirah said.
“And,” Kietra added. “I found these-” She held up five medallions. “-in our haversack once you had left. Put them on.”
Everyone did, and they instantly felt rejuvenated, refreshed, ready to battle.
“Now,” Ciatol said. “We all hafta say our most powerful spells.”
“But Ci!” Tath interjected. “You aren’t a-”
He smiled and raised his talons.
“Ancient Blade!” A shimmering sword emerged from his body and turned into a ball of green light. It hovered above his head. He beat his wings. “Who’s next?”
Sirah raised her paws. “Final Explosion!” An ray of dark red light shot up and hovered around her.
Next it was Kietra’s turn. “Endless Tornado!” A whirl of silver light hovered above her.
“Tsunami Death!” A stream of blue light drifted around Ursula.
Finally, it was Tath’s turn. She spiraled high into the air and felt the ancient song of the Aurora flow through her. She raised her talons to the sky.
“Aurora Flame!” An opening appeared in the dark sky to let a bolt of golden light through. It settled above Tath.
Then all the light came and joined together, creating a many-faceted, many-colored orb. It expanded, glowing and luminescent. Finally it fell down, down, down, to smother the Sphinx army. Those who were not instantly killed were pushed back into the sand from whence they came. The newly appointed Starflares looked at each other and smiled. They had won.