Chapter 13-4

Garkhen gritted his teeth against the fatigue, forcing his ward to stay up through sheer force of will as Zakhin'Dakh flew towards the two men. One was clearly the wizard throwing lightning, while the other fired an arrow. The big griffon flapped a bit harder, rising enough for the arrow to pass underneath just as yet another lightning bolt struck Garkhen's ward. The Warder closed his eyes as he fought back another wave of fatigue.

Then Zakhin'Dakh was upon his foes. They split, running in opposite directions as he neared, but he was far faster on the wing than they were on foot, and so easily caught the caster. The big griffon reached out and grabbed him with his talons, piercing through the wizard, killing him swiftly. Swiftly he turned, dropping the dying man down the side of the mountain as he did so.

The archer desperately fired another arrow, but Garkhen's ward held, though Garkhen himself almost fainted. Then Zakhin'Dakh was there, his beak shearing through flesh and bone, and the archer was dead. Garkhen shut his eyes, simultaneously glad it was over and not wanting to see the carnage, while Zakhin'Dakh looked back over his shoulder and saw Almonihah approaching.

Almonihah! He shrieked, proudly, I kill bad people!

The half-bronze dragon grinned just a bit in relief. “Good job, Zakhin'Dakh!” He shouted back.

The three met in midair, Zakhin'Dakh and Almonihah circling around while Garkhen slumped on the griffon's back. Almonihah noticed this, and shouted, “You hurt, Garkhen?”

The Warder blearily opened one eye. “Not physically,” he replied.

Almonihah growled. “We're making camp. You're not fit t' travel, 'nd I don't think we dare go without you. We're faster 'n them, anyway. Catch up tomorrow.”

Garkhen tried to form an objection, but was simply too tired. Almonihah looked around, and spotted a fairly flat space a little ways up the mountain for them to land. They landed there, and Almonihah looked up at Garkhen to tell him to get off, only to notice he was already asleep. With a snort, the half-bronze dragon jumped up to Zakhin'Dakh's back and undid the straps to his saddle.

“Going t' need some help, here, Zakhin'Dakh. Get over... there.” He pointed at a steeper spot on the mountainside. “Not as much of a drop 'f you go over there and crouch down.”

With some difficulty, they managed to get Garkhen off of Zakhin'Dakh's back, after which Almonihah took Zakhin'Dakh's saddle off. He wanted to get the Warder's armor, off, too, but after seeing the kind of magic it did, he didn't think he could. So he did what he could to make his fellow half-dragon comfortable while Zakhin'Dakh took off again to look for something to eat. 

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No, I'm not going to string this out much longer. Just in case you were wondering.