Part 60: ERIC AND DIGNITARIES

Riding the Ammutherathi through the air made me feel, certain that I had ridden something big before, maybe in a dream. There was nothing to ride on Nilfeheim except Fangsnappers.

While I was standing in the stirrups I received instructions through an ear peace. Where to go and what to do.

The beast was at least thirty meters long and had two enormous set of leathery wings underneath tough looking skin were rock hard muscles worked these huge wings in a fantastic display of raw natural power and grace.

When she told me first what they wanted me to do I silently declared them crazy, especially after Elfi said that the beast was a little cranky from the long voyage in a cargo hold of a Saran ship and the subsequent security scans by Pluribus police.

The beast’s head resembled according to Elfi that of a crocodile and it was this feature that made the Saran believe it was related to the crocodile headed god. A demon like entity that ate those who failed the test of the balance. Elfi tried to explain to me as much as possible.

What a crazy way to travel through the air, even though the princess told me that her people had done that long before their industrial revolution.

Right at the first time as I approached the monster it snapped its massive jaws at me and then hissed, telling me how unhappy it was. I wasn’t much happier about this either and almost pulled the sword, not that I would had much of a chance against that thing.

The handler of the beast was a woman, wild looking, wearing tight leathers apparently made of the hide of one of these monsters.

She was Saran, but belonged to an independent mountain tribe, rejecting modern technology.

At first she was, much to Elfi’s silent amusement quite hostile to me and did not like the idea of a stranger riding her over-sized pet.

Elfi’s Dynasty so I had learned, came from that mountain tribe. The wild tribes woman kept mocking, then the beast snapped his jaws at me again, and close enough to smell its hot breath. I was ready to take a flier and leave this fools job to someone else.

Just then the beast roared high pitched shrill and coarse at me, someow able to jank loose of the restraining straps.

Out of an impulse I roared and screamed back as loud as I could at the beast, drawing the sword and stepping forward instead of evading and slapped the flat side of the blade across its snout. The mountain tribe woman yelled something and I was not proud of my response to the mountain woman in my anger pointing the sword at her and giving her a verbal description what I would do next if she so much as tried to insult me again.

The huge Saran monster lowered his head and wings and the mountain woman told me quite civil and quietly how to use the reins and how to steer the beast without any further insults. The Ammutherathi reacted to slightest pulls of the reins. All this went through my head again as we approached the Crystal Palace. Elfi sat in a basket thing strapped to the beasts back and behind a wind shield.

I began to like the ride, the wind tugged at my cape and I wondered if real warriors flying those beasts in the days of old would have worn stupid capes. I imagined how it would have been when the Saran tribes fought wars sitting on huge birds and these Ammutherathi. I wondered how someone would get the idea to ride something like that in the first place, it was as if a Neo Viking decided to ride a Rock shark or even a Tyranno Fin. I grinned at my own fantasies.

The ride was over faster than I liked and we landed. Elfi got out first and I waited till she had been announced and followed her, taking her outstretched hand and then I saw McElligott with Captain Harris on one of the tables and on another was Admiral Stahl and he was sitting right next to Exa and there was Egill, Elena and Sif. I didn’t know the others. There also were two Narth and while they looked alike I instantly knew who it was that stood there. MNy throat tightened with raw emotions and I thought as loud as I could. “Narth is that you?”

His soundless voice filled my mind like the sweetest music. “Yes Eric, it is I and I do rejoice to see you!”

The Queen arrived behind us sitting on her throne in the outstretched hands of what Elfi said was one of last real RAMA bots, modified thousands of years ago by the legendary Dr. Isah for the Saran queen herself. It was still used. I had no information what a Rama Bot was, but it was huge and looked more alive than a machine.

But I did not care much, about anything else. I felt whole again, as Narth instantly answered my unspoken questions with his encyclopedic knowledge as he had done so many times before.”It is one of the most powerful weapon systems ever created, my dearest friend. The last RAMA bots created by ISAH were considered Tech Level nine, in a time when Earth was Tech four. Much of it is forgotten.”