The DESTINY Exploration

Chapter 14: Deliverance

Starswirl embraced us so quickly, knowing who we were, and how much we watched the King descend into chaos and bloodlust. What shocked me even more was the returning gesture of my life-long friend, Gil; it wasn’t possible for him to change his mind so quickly after all that he had heard from his father about Starswirl. I had to confront him soon to gauge his authenticity, but not now.

After we exchanged our goodbyes, Gent, Gilgamesh and I made haste to the castle before nightfall, to avoid watchful eyes. Being fully armored would shelter our identities, and a good thing, too; Gilgamesh is seen in the same light as King Gilgar is in the eastern territories. Both are hated as vehemently; the King because of his atrocities, and his son, the heir, because he shares his blood. For them to know that the son of the ‘Blood King’ were in their midst would be catastrophic to our common cause.

Gilgamesh approached me as we landed in the throne room.

“Hey, Giefan, can we talk real quick? There’s something I’ve been considering.”

I looked at my friend with concern. “Sure thing, Gil, what’s on your mind?”

Gilgamesh stared at the ground, and dug at it with his paw. “My sister hasn’t returned the courier that the Princess sent. I’m worried that father found out about her treachery in aiding our silent departure to Equestria. We should find her.”

“But it isn’t safe for us to fly into there now! We are marked as traitors by your father. Do you understand what you’re asking me to do?”

He shifted his gaze upward and began to tear up. “Giefan, my sister is in danger if she remains over there. Shouldn’t we at least figure out if she’s okay?”

“Gil…huh?”

The sound of flapping wings interrupted our conversation as a battalion of battered griffons landed adjacent to the council chamber. Bloodied and bruised, they ran up to Gent, who hurried to one griffon’s side.

“Mas-*COUGH*…Master Gent…”

Gent laid the griffon down lower to the ground. “Rest, my brother…Marst, what happened at Grokant?”

“He…the King is DEAD!”

Gilgamesh stood up at the news, dumbstruck by Marst’s proclamation. Every emotion at once contorted on Gil’s face as he began to process the news. He started to shiver and falter in his stance, inciting me to help keep him standing.

The King is dead? That can’t be possible! He has never lost a battle, ever! Who dealt the killing blow?

Marst began to speak again. “The King…was downed by a javelin. He couldn’t dodge it in time…Bren launched it, sir!”

A griffon stood and approached Gent and kneeled. Gent spoke to the griffon.

“Bren, you’ve done well taking down this tyrant. Thank you for besting our former King for the first…and last time.” Gent touched his beak to each of Bren’s shoulders.

Bren replied to the gesture. “You honor me, Commander. It is a privilege to serve.”

“WHY. WHY DID YOU KILL HIM?!” Gilgamesh screeched with rage at the battalion.

Gilgamesh charged at Bren, launching himself on top of his wings, immobilizing the surprised griffon. Bren started to shake his body in an attempt to remove Gil, but Gil’s grip tightened, eliciting a screech from Bren. The both of them continued this struggle for about a minute, with Gilgamesh swiping at Bren’s backside, crippling his victim blow by blow.

After Bren’s legs failed him, Gent leapt and shoved Gil off atop Bren, and pinned him to the floor. The Prince shook violently to free himself from Gent’s iron hold, but failed each time. My friend softened and wept openly for the first time after hearing the bitter news; his father was gone.

“I could have SAVED HIM! I didn’t convince him, I’m sorry, dad! Aaaaah!”

I walked up to the two griffons on the floor, and tried to comfort my friend.

“Gil…it was out of your paws. This could mean your sister is safe after all-“

“Silence, Giefan! I’m your King now, and you will do as I-“

“Actually, you are not the King, sire.” Bren recovered his breathing and addressed the Prince directly.

“You do not speak to me, slave! I answer to nobody in this congregation.”

“The ‘Queen’ now rules over the Kingdom, sire. Queen Gilda is the reigning monarch now!”

Gil went still, eyes open and mouth slightly ajar; his sister is now the Queen of the Griffon Kingdom, and we didn’t know why. She never expressed any interest in the position, and being the oldest sibling, in our land, she is the rightful successor. But her rejection of the crown placed the burden of training and condition on Gilgamesh, the future King. So why did she accept the crown so suddenly?

“I…” Gil slowly rose from the ground, Gent releasing his grip. “I…need to return to Grokant. If my sister really is ruling, then she can convince the Kingdom to forfeit this blunderous purge for good. We can finally end this!”

I placed my paw on Gil’s chest. “Wait. Gil, we have no idea what kind of reception we will receive. She might still be grieving, and they’ll have her well-guarded. We are fugitives.”

Barst approached Gil and bowed. “My lord, you will find little resistance at the See. They drove us far back towards our side of the mountains, and should still be fighting the main front. If you sneak from the southern caps, you’ll reach your sister in one piece.”

Gil sighed and saluted Barst. “I’m glad to have you, Barst. Thank you for your perceptiveness.” Barst returned the salute and tended to his soldiers.

Gilgamesh and I departed southwest to sneak past the main fronts and enter Grokant. We would definitely be spotted by any sentries, but both of us clocked in as among the fastest fliers in the empire. No griffon will catch us today.

After a few hours, the capital made it into view, and a tailwind swept us even closer to our target. The outer sentries took immediate notice to our arrival, and scrambled to knock us down. Our agility out-classed the sentries as we peeled to the left, dodging their talons and bursting forward into the See. Guards lined the hall leading to the throne room, and we made haste past most of the twenty.

One of the final guards threw himself at me, and I crashed into a side wall. I screamed out, feeling my back legs slam into the stone; the guard let out a fury of scratches against my belly. I quickly elbowed the guard in the throat, relieving my stomach of further damage, as Gil took out the remaining guards. The two of us barreled into the doors and slammed them open, collapsing in the middle of the room, out of breath.

My breathing labored intensely, and the feeling of about ten spear tips nudged my body. The feeling quickly left as the royal sentries retreated from their positions surrounding Gil and I. Before us now stood a griffon fully suited in armor, her face immediately recognizable.

Gil cried out to her. “Gilda! It’s Gilgamesh!” Gil removed his helm’s mask.

“Brother! Why in the heck did you come here?! You’re an enemy to the Kingdom!”

Gil was stunned at his sister’s reply. “But…what?! We came back because we heard that father died! Did he truly?”

Gilda shuffled back and stared at the ground. “It’s true. Dad is dead, Gil. But you shouldn’t have come here, you could have died! The whole army sees you both as traitors who started all of this.”

I squawked my protest. “But you know the truth, ‘Queen’! You know we didn’t start anything! Even our closest comrades know the truth! Your father lied to everyone.”

Gilda drew her talons and pointed them at me. “You quit piling blame on my father! He couldn’t control himself, that power…it ate away his soul. That stupid wizard, Starswirl, it’s all his fault-“

“Stop this, sister!” Gilgamesh pressed up in her face. “You know very well that dad knew what he was doing! You dare excuse him of his atrocities so easily, knowing how many griffons have died in the name of this…disastrous crusade?!”

Gilda doubled back and began to cry. “I…I…I don’t know! I don’t know anymore, Gil. He asked me to rule and finish his fight, and I…only wanted to make him happy again.”

Gil knelt and patted Gilda on her back. “Listen…I know it’s really hard to focus right now, but you need to exonerate us before everybody, and end this war. No more fighting, this is what we wanted to prevent, remember? Please…”

Gilda looked up at her brother with remorse. “I don’t want to continue this war, maybe it’s best if I-“

Suddenly, her muscles tensed and she grimaced in pain, gripping her skull. Gilda started screaming, and the room began to darken. The guards surrounding us were frightened and began to step backwards. A dark cloud began to envelop her as Gil and I stood up, watching her transformation. The cloud began to vanish as Gilda reappeared, her eyes closed and face void of any painful expression.

Gilgamesh looked over at me. “Giefan, this is really bad. If that’s what I think it is…”

Gilda opened her eyes, and they seeped black and purple smoke, like King Gilgar’s eyes when he chastised his commanders. She wailed a deafening screech and the room began to quake. Both Gilgamesh and I stood our ground, ready for an attack. Gilda then stopped and squeezed her eyes shut. Then she muttered something under her breath that we couldn’t hear.

“Sister, what is it?!” Gilda opened her eyes, and one of them appeared normal, with the other one glazed over red.

“GO! LEAVE! I don’t know how, but dad’s alive!” Gilda then shook, shutting her eyes, and continuously slammed her paws into the ground. The darkness flared up again, and she bellowed a lion’s roar, scaring everyone to the floor.

“Giefan, let’s leave, we have to get out of here, or we’ll die! Go!”

Gil lifted me off the floor, as I paced away, stunned by the show of power from Gilda. We escaped the Grokant See as the throne area of the fortress glowed and smoke poured out of the windows. Griffons scattered from the See as Gilda’s power began to shake the foundations of the See, causing sentry towers to collapse against the mountainside. We fled southward back the way we entered the capital, still reeling from our experience. I wanted to comfort Gil badly, but I myself was in disbelief by the series of events.

Where did that power come from, and why did she say her father was not dead?

“Giefan, you know what’s happened. Somehow, my father lives through Gilda, and is corrupting her even now. Soon…”

I looked over to my flying partner in distress. “It can’t be that Gilgar is inside of her…that’s just, oh…”

The entire flight back was painful, our thoughts constantly shifting between the prospects of my longtime friend being held captive by evil, and the reality that Gil’s father was beyond reformation of his lustful desire for power. What was going to happen to her and the Kingdom, now that she was in command? Would she still carry out the campaign against the rebellion? What action should we take if we see her in battle?

Gilgamesh wasted no time reaching the throne room, disregarding his appearance in the sky as numerous griffons stared at our arrival at the castle. We touched down in the council chamber once again, and all the councilmen regarded our entrance. They stood and gave slight bows toward us, and we returned the gesture. Gent approached us from his seat, noting our grave and sullen countenances.

“Sirs, what happened? You should be in the capital right now. Did something happen?”

I shakily recounted the events in the See to Gent. “Commander, when we arrived in Queen Gilda’s throne room, she was about to pardon us of our ‘treason’, and then, she started to...the King isn’t dead, Gent. He possessed Gilda, manipulating and controlling her actions. We have no time!"

Gil shook his head and began to punch the air beside him, deeply frustrated at himself. I couldn’t say a word to him in this state, knowing how I felt; I would be doing the very same thing.

“I see…so the King is using a different vessel to win the hearts of his people. That crafty wizard, he even used his own flesh and blood to carry out his crazy schemes. I’m deeply sorry, my Prince.” Gent bowed as low as he could to the ground before Gilgamesh. Gil was not fazed by Gent’s humble show.

Then a thought popped into my head. “Gent, can we see Starswirl now? He might have an answer to how we can save Gilda and end this conflict.”

“Sir Giefan, fly with me, leave the Prince be.”

Without my friend at my side for the first time in three days, Gent and I flew to the cave where Starswirl resided. We saw the entryway into his chambers glowing, and as we entered the room, his mirror stopped glowing, and I caught the silhouette of a pony in the mirror before it shut off. Starswirl turned to us, and frowned deeply.

“I felt that energy from earlier, and its stench remains on you. Gilgar isn’t dead after all. What happened?”

“He possesses the newly crowned Queen Gilda now; she tried fighting him, but by now, he should be in total control…”

Starswirl paced the room for a couple minutes, deep in thought. After a while, he stopped in front of Gent.

“Gent, may I ask you to wait outside the cave until we’re done here?”

Gent was startled by the request, but nodded and left the room.

Why does Starswirl want to speak to me alone?

“Giefan, I just finished speaking with one of my contacts in Equestria. I wanted to ask you to go on a mission for me.”

“A mission, sir?”

Starswirl nodded and channeled his magic, revealing a map of Equestria and the Frozen North.

“My contact told me about three weeks ago, around the same time the meteor containing my magic crashed in the Galloping Gorge, a second meteor fell somewhere in the Crystal Empire. But it is in the mountains, and they don’t have any pegasus who can withstand the frigid climate. That’s why I’m asking you to investigate it.”

“Why do they want to investigate this meteor so badly? What’s special about it?”

Starswirl took off his cap and set it on a table next to him, and then removed his cloak, setting it next to his cap.

“I have no idea. But the request was made by Princess Luna herself. Outside of her, only Princess Celestia, Princess Cadence, and I know of this meteor. The only thing I know about it other than the timing of its fall is that it wasn’t supposed to crash into the planet. Somepony guided the meteor to land in the Crystal Empire.”

Guiding the meteor down? But why? All of these whys, and I don’t know the right question to ask!

“Listen, Giefan, this meteor might be just as dangerous as the one that both Gilgar and I came into contact with centuries ago. Be very cautious when you find it, and don’t do anything that jeopardizes this rebellion. I cannot leave this place until everything is in place.”

“You have my word, Starswirl. I will travel to the Frozen North and figure this out.”

Starswirl sighed with relief, and relaxed on the floor. But I was not finished with him.

“Starswirl, I have a question that’s been lingering in my mind: how did you come back to life?”

Starswirl readied himself for his answer. “That first meteor I described containing all the magic I possessed at the time of my ‘death’. My spirit left my body and traveled with that magic; I never intended to do this at the time. It just happened. I assume after I passed away, Princess Celestia preserved my body somehow. Otherwise, I’d be returning to a skeleton, haha!”

“So you never died at all? You went into a rock and slept there for the past 3 centuries?”

Starswirl grinned. “Pretty much! As soon as I realized what was happening, I black out, and wake up three centuries in the future. Fortunately, nopony evil found my power. This pony, Tom, touched my meteor, and received most of my power. Of course, I have my own magic, but not as much as I once had.”

That Tom guy, Princess Celestia mentioned him and the prophecy. Hmmm…

The past two days have been the most shocking in my life; Gilgar’s immortality is in his ability to possess other griffons and force them to conform to his demands. Gilgamesh abandoning his claim to the throne, and pursuing a righteous, but dangerous path by joining the rebellion, was incredible. As for me? My convictions remain, but now I don’t know if I’m strong enough to handle what is about to come our way.

Gilda is my friend’s sister and a dear friend, and right now, I am powerless to save her.