Well at the asking of a faithful reader i have finished this chapter...I would have made it longer but was short of inspiration and didnt really want to finish on a big OMG drama again so that will be coming at the start of the next chapter...have fun!

The wind had long since blown away the tears on her face but Aly was still fighting the emotions that seemed to be finally catching up with her. She was too young! Too young to have to deal with this!

Feeling Star’s tiredness Aly slipped off her back to fly beside her companions, Star had carried her while Aly had fought to take control of herself, they were speeding across the desert and would hit the mountains by nightfall.

Sighing as the calming beat of her wings began to take effect Aly looked back and tried to sort her problems out, one by one.

It had all started, supposedly, when Aly’s mother died and her father was thrown into depression. Aly had been, still was, very young and though she had been devastated when her mother passed children can only mourn for so long. So she had dealt with the death like she did everything else, pushing thoughts of it away.

And so now Aly thought back to her mother and mourned for the woman she had barely known, Sophia had been sick most of Aly’s life and never really got better. Aly understood now that it was because she was so far away from the mountains, where she belonged. Elemental magic suffered if it was not connected. Aly had become wild when her mother was absent, connecting herself to animals which were her own link to Elemental magic.

And this led inevitably onto Aly’s own father, they loved each other but had little in common, Sophia had always been their center point. When Sophia had gone away to get treatment for her illness both Aly and her father had withdrawn from one another, Aly spent those years being taken care of by servants. So when Sophia died and Aly and her father were required to spend a lot of time together in Saduhe for mourning tension grew between them causing arguments and Aly’s eventual escapade.

Aly sighed deeply, other issues were too difficult to sort out, for now she would just do what she had to do and wait to see if it all worked out.

She skimmed lightly over the desert, her wing beats raising little puffs of dust. She still had one Book left, it sat heavy on her thoughts, she wanted - needed – to get home to Diedem as soon as possible but she needed to return the last Book first. But she had no clue of how to find the Sphinxes, the desert was a vast stretch of hopelessly tangled canyons and ever-changing landscapes.

“Cannot the Sphinxes sense their own Book? Why do we have to find them, let them find us.”

Aly glanced over to where Blue had glided in next to her, the young Phoenix had tuned into her thoughts effortlessly, but instead of being annoyed at the intrusion Aly realised that Blue was right. All the Mythicals had reacted when Aly had removed their Book from her magiced bag, why not the Sphinxes?

Slowing down Aly folded in her wings and made a smooth transition in midair, landing softly on the ground with Star clattering down beside her, still clumsy with her new wings. Watcher leapt off Star with a huff, sitting down in Star’s shadow out of the burning sun.

Aly crouched and slid her bag off her back, glancing up once at the shimmering mirage covering the rolling sand dunes, undoing the straps she reached her hand in and immediately found the golden leather of the last Book.

Pulling it out Aly stood, leaving her pack lying on the ground, and stepped forward. A wind picked up causing Aly’s auburn hair to dance, finicky, around her head. The Sphinxes’ book fell open in her hands, a small trail of sand pouring out from between the pages and being picked up by the erratic breezes.

The wind grew stronger till the air was hazy with grains of sand, Aly shaded her eyes and squinted as hard as she could past the sand to the figures slowly emerging. They seemed to grow out of the ground, stepping forward and shaking away the sand, the wind began to slow again.

Aly stepped forward, hesitantly, once more as the last of the sand stopped stinging her skin. The first Sphinx stepped forward to meet her, staring down at Aly with an unreadable expression in its cat-like eyes.

The Sphinx was large, about twice the size of Star, with a lions heavily muscled body and the head and long flowing hair of a human woman. Her face had the golden tan of an Ankar but without any of their harsh features, hers were that of a stunningly beautiful woman, marred only by the strange, alien eyes. Eyes that had no whites and looked extremely out of place in a human face.

The Sphinx sat. Still towering over Aly it bent its head to look closer at her, the Sphinx’s tangled black hair moving in a wind Aly couldn’t feel.

Without saying any other words to Aly the Sphinx began talking in a singsong voice, as if reciting something well known.

“The night begins with child’s pain

A child’s choice, a child’s gain

Two races on the brink of war

Foretold by Books and ancient lore

To clash and fight till all are dead

Till mountains moan and streams run red

Only one can save them all

Or magic Mythics will once more fall

But the choice is hard and pain is nigh

The cost of sacrifice is high

But if the choice to be made it right

Then Dawn shall come both warm and bright

The night shall end and all shall gain

Through child’s choice and child’s pain”

Aly blinked, feeling winded, then with a tight breath she went over the riddle again in her head, memorizing it. Later, she told herself with a mental sigh, I will think about it later.

Opening her mouth and staring up at the silent Sphinx, Aly realised she had nothing to say and closed her mouth again, awkwardly waiting. Nothing made her feel more insignificant than being told of how important she was.

Then, to her shocked surprise, the solemn Sphinx threw back its long, gritted hair and laughed, a long booming laugh. Turning its head to speak to the figures behind it, it chimed out loud in a musical voice.

“Hah! The little one has naught to say on the matter of its own existence. What do we say to this, friends?”

Aly was taken slightly aback when the Sphinx referred to her as ‘it’ but then realised, amused, that she had been doing the same thing. Gathering her wits Aly closed the leather bound book it her hands and cleared her throat.

Talking with both her voice and her mind Aly said. “I have come to return to you the Book of the Sphinxes and Griffins, it was never the rightful possession of the Elementals and as I have done for the other Mythicals I am giving it back to you and asking for a favour in return.” Swallowing once, she continued, “My country, Diedem, is about to go into war with the Ankars, who have been living on the edge of your desert for many years, in return for giving you your Book back I ask for assistance in this war.”

The Sphinx tilted its head, blinking and chuckled. “So Halfling, In return for returning what was never yours and always ours, we give you help in a war not of our making or yours, yet you say is our problem. Tell me…would you associate with the Elementals or the humans?”

Aly sorted out the sentence and replied firmly, determined to keep up with the Sphinx. “I return to you a book which was never mine and always yours, which I never stole but you never managed to keep. In return for returning you a Book I am asking a favour in a war that is neither mine nor your problem and not of our making but certainly of our consequence. I do not associate with the Elementals yet I am not human, I am both yet neither.”

The Sphinx smiled a canine-toothed grin, “Ah, so our Halfling is quick of tongue! Perfect words ‘I am both yet neither…” our Halfling is a riddle in itself. We accept our Book but you have yet to convince me to help you in the war.”

One of the figures behind the Sphinx moved forward and Aly had her first look at a Griffin. The same size as a Sphinx with the muscled back legs of a lion but the head and talons of a Golden Eagle, with large beautiful wings springing from its back. The Griffin came forward and turned its head to inspect Aly with one eye.

Bowing her head to him Aly couldn’t help but notice the sharply curved beak and the alertness in his eyes. Even with the Dragons, who were the most obviously threatening of the Mythicals, Aly hadn’t been as uneasy as she was with these. The Dragons were a mostly peaceful race despite their reputation, but these Mythicals looked at her with contempt and triggered a voice in the back of her head that told her to forget about enlisting their help.

The Griffin flicked his head and looked back at the Sphinx, “I think I agree with you sister, let the foolhardy win or lose their own battles. No human has found us before when we hide ourselves, none ever will.”

Aly nodded slowly, “I accept your decision and will be on my way with the hope that if the war is won you shall emerge to give us your wise counsel.” The Griffin stepped forward and took their Book delicately in his beak, tucking it behind his wings. Aly watched curiously, she knew very little about these Mythicals, did they have male sphinxes? One day. She told herself firmly. One day I shall learn everything about these creatures and all others.

But first, I go to war. Her heart contracted painfully and Aly nodded stiffly to the Sphinx and Griffin. This meeting had been brief and more abrupt than she would have wanted but she felt Diedem calling her and wanted to set off once more.

At a loss for anything else to say Aly just raised a hand in farewell, said a short ‘goodbye’ and changed smoothly, leaping into the air as a hawk, her quiet companions following behind.

They flew swiftly from there, the wind picking up, as if to help them along. Aly felt lighter with the ending of that particular part of her journey but also slightly empty, once the war was finished, if she survived, what would she be then? What did the heroes of prophecies do once they were no longer useful?

They were too big questions for her youthful brain to comprehend, too big for her to want to comprehend. Aly had noticed almost visibly that as she began her journey back towards Diedem that she had been feeling younger and more like a child than ever. It was as if she was shedding the years as she flew till she was no more than little Aly of Toren.

They flew through the dusk and well into the night, Aly would have continued on until morning but Watcher gave her a mental nudge to the fact the Star was tiring. Sighing softly Aly slowed and called a halt. Landing on the ground as a human and shuddering in the cold Aly realised what a silent day it had been, is it a good thing to be left alone to your thoughts? She asked herself morosely.

Star thrust her soft nose into Aly’s face, “We can feel the worry eating away at you, it corrodes your barriers so we try to give you some privacy.” Smiling weakly and sending a wave of gratitude towards her companions Aly shuddered once more. Desert nights chilled you to your very bones. Blue, a brand of bright against the black sky, slowly circled down to perch upon a spur of rock, the cold did not touch her at all.

Changing to a thick coated wolf Aly felt a stab of nostalgia but pushed it away lying down with her back pressed to Star’s, Watcher curled between her paws. One last look showed the mountains to be all but invisible, starless shapes against the star-dusted sky.

What would the dawn bring?