"My Ritter is in trouble!"
Farsinger was exhausted from flying all night, and the heavy fog near the outpost only added to her confusion and anxiety.
When she finally found her landmarks in the mist, she winged through the village to Flint's cottage. He was the only one who knew Ravenspeech, and he could carry her urgent message to his flock.
He wasn't there.
"Fek, fek, fek," she burst out in dismay, using her mispronunciation of Ritter's favorite swearing word. "What shall I do?"
"What ails you, sister blackbird?" The voice came from a nearby branch. It was Suncatcher!
"Ah, sister bluebird, I must find your Flint. My errand is urgent. My Ritter is in trouble!"
"Follow me."
Suncatcher sped through the narrow lanes between cottages with Farsinger close behind. Soon, they emerged over farmland showing early spring growth. But Suncatcher kept going back into the misty forest.
She landed near a fox.
"Hello brother fox," Suncatcher said. "We must find my Flint. I know he is going this way today. Have you smelled him?"
"Indeed I have," the fox said. Then he sat and started cleaning his lustrous coat.
"Our quest is frightfully urgent," Farsinger said. "Where is he?"
The fox regarded her, eyes half-closed. "And what do you have for trade?"
Farsinger's exhaustion and worry finally coalesced into blind fury. "I will trade you a promise not to rip out your eyeballs for your insolence."
The fox's tail jerked once, but then he controlled himself. "I see. Then by all means, let me take you to him." He rose, stretched luxuriously and trotted downhill without hurry. The birds followed, flitting from branch to branch with great impatience.
"There. I have led you truly." Through the thick fog, Farsinger saw a man dressed in red and black. Yes, it was Flint. He was picking mushrooms.
"My thanks. You may keep your eyeballs," Farsinger growled and sped away. Suncatcher was already ahead of her.
"My Flint! My Flint!" She landed on his shoulder and started bluebirding faster than even Farsinger could understand. The raven caught bits of "...I could not find you..." and "...we flew quickly but then the fox found you..."
Flint rubbed her gently on the back. "All is well, my sweet. All is well."
Farsinger had had enough of all this scatterbrained squawking. "My Ritter is in danger. You must tell your flock to rescue him."
Still caressing Suncatcher's back, Flint regarded Farsinger. "Tell me all you know, sister blackbird."
Farsinger quickly recounted their adventure at the abandoned castle. But it was not really abandoned. "And dragons were coming! Maybe a hundred dragons!" She launched off the tree branch and landed on Flint's hand. "Do something! Now! My Ritter is all alone against dragons!"
"I will tell my flock." He said, showing her the Jirrah coat of arms on his belt. "But your Ritter is smart enough to avoid a hundred dragons. He could probably only kill fifty by himself." Flint smiled.
It took an hour to gather his flock after they had returned to the outpost and blown a loud horn. It still amazed Farsinger how Flint's flock contained all different sizes and shapes. Some were not even man-kin. Even Elvenari were part of his flock.
But, best of all, they were all armed. Just like her Ritter.
It took another hour to pack some food and load up even more weapons and armor. It was almost midday when they left. Twenty answered the call. Twenty left to rescue her Ritter.
If there was anything left to rescue.
///
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