The Gryphon Chronicles- Book 1: The Corrupt King

Ch. 4: On the Road

The girls traveled the whole night. Halfway through, the feeling of being watched left. As the sun dawned over the trees, They began looking for another place to hide out till nightfall. Zephyr found a cave this time, and it was larger, with a smaller, more discreet exit as well as the large cave mouth opening. They went inside enough that they would be protected from any weather, then set up camp.

They were exhausted. Zephyr had been running all night, and Cyra had walked farther in one day then she ever had before. They rolled out their sleeping mats, and after some dispute (mostly from Zephyr), Cyra took first watch, and Zephyr went to sleep. Cyra tried not to think about it, but Zephyr becoming sick whenever she went away could be really bad.

What if she gets caught and I don't? What about the other way around? She caught herself on the second one

"Zephyr is more likely to pull some hero move before letting me get caught," she mused to herself. "Maybe I should learn to fight so I can rescue her if she gets caught."

She chuckled at the thought.

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Cyra groaned as she sat up. Zephyr was already awake, and she had a bemused smile as her sister rolled off of her bedroll to lay on the dusty ground next to her.

"You're gonna get all dirty if you keep doing that," Zephyr noted. Cyra just grumbled something unintelligible.

The girls planned out how they would use all the supplies and took any extra or spares and put them in a separate bag. The food they had set aside for that afternoon was quickly eaten, and after they had stretched and warmed up, they set off to head to the foot of the mountain. There was a small outpost there, but since they had gotten supplies in Willow-Mill, they were good to go.

Cyra had taken Zephyr's slate-grey woolen cloak during her turn on watch, and now had it wrapped around herself over a white tunic and a pair of dark green pants. She had brought her lace-up leather boots with her, and tucked into the lining of one of them was a small flat pocket knife in a simple leather sheath. It was very discreet, and might come in handy later.

Zephyr, on the other hand, was wearing her tan sheepskin coat over a short-sleeved grey shirt and a pair of jeans. She had boots as well, although they weren't as tall and didn't have a pocket knife stashed away in them. While Cyra's boots came up to almost her knee, Zephyr's hiking boots only reached her ankles. Both girls carried backpacks and messenger bags containing their belongings, and Cyra had decided for some reason to put shiny pins on hers. Zephyr supposed that she shouldn't be surprised, considering that it was Cyra.

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Sigh. Zephyr seemed completely at peace, with Cyra acting much the same. They were making good time, and would probably be able to reach the outpost by tomorrow. The trip so far had been rather uneventful, although Cyra hadn't had much luck in her attempts to make a campfire so far.

That night, when they stopped to rest, Cyra had been trying again to make a fire when...

FWOOSH!

Sparks flared up from the matches in her hands. She dropped them with a yelp, tipping backwards as the flames died down and she realized that the brush in the fire pit was now alight.

Zephyr, who had been dozing in a tree nearby, woke up at the sound of Cyra yelling, falling out of the low branch with a yelp "What? What happened? Are we being attacked?"
M

"N-no. I just- I think I just-" Cyra stuttered, still not taking her eyes off of the fire.

"Oh, you figured it out? How long did it take for you to get the fire going?" Zephyr watched the fire for a moment, before looking to Cyra