Ch. 44: Gryphon Mountain Climbers

"Thank you, Adrian." Rosy told him, putting her shirt on as she shook him awake. Despite his lack of sleep, Adrian didn't feel too exhausted. Apparently, with the new level that their blood bond had reached, sharing stamina to an extent was possible. He could also feel Rosy's mind a whole lot clearer than before, too. 

"How much time do we have?" Adrian asked, trying to change the subject. Now that they knew that it was their feelings that caused the bond, and not the other way around, there really weren't any firm boundaries between the two of them. 

"It's dawn, so not much. Enough for me to dunk my head in a basin of water, but that's just about it." Rosy rubbed her bloody neck. Since it'd healed completely after she got her vampirism back, flecks of dried blood came off in her hand, but she'd need water to clean it herself. 

"I'll bring up a basin." Adrian offered. 

...

Later that morning, they left the city alongside the gryphons. 

"How long are you staying with us for?" Rosy asked Reese. 

"We'll escort you to the base... but you know that we can't take you any further." He answered her, "You remember the way, right?"

"I don't think I'll ever forget that trip. Don't worry, Adrian and I can make it just fine without you." Rosy assured him.

"Wait... why can't they take us further?" Adrian asked.

"It's mainly tradition. There's a legend that my people tell of a gryphon that once met a woman on the run from evil. In an effort to keep the woman safe, he guided her through the mountains personally. She apparently stayed in Gryvus for a short time, before an unprecedented evil followed her up the mountain, using the paths that the gryphon had shown her. The legend says that Gryvus barely recovered from it. Ever since, my people are forbidden from showing outsiders the way up the mountain." Reese told him.

"Rosy was the first outsider since, to make it up the mountain." Another gryphon added.

"I see." Adrian said, "So is the main difficulty in getting up the mountain just knowing how to do it?" He asked after a moment. If the actual climb itself was so difficult that only a Royal vampire could do it, then it would be nearly impossible for Adrian to do. Rosy seemed to believe in him, though.

Answering him, she simply said, "It's not exactly fun."

Through their mental link, she tried to show him a few of her mountain climbing memories, but he was only able to catch a few glimpses, which told him nothing. He shrugged. Adrian didn't totally believe in his own abilities when compared to Rosy, but she seemed to think that he could do it. He didn't really have a choice anyway.

Noticing his self-doubt, Reese clapped Adrian on the back heartily. "Don't worry about it, prince! Rosy's original trek took only a month, after all! You have that time multiplied by six!"

"Shut up, Reese. Two reasons why. One, we only have two months for the gryphons. Any more, and we won't be capable of fulfilling the rest of our goals. Also, we're coming up on the gate. You guys should get lost before we run into the gatecrashers." Rosy told Reese.

Reese didn't seem very happy about the reminder that Adrian and Rosy had a time limit of six months in all, but he didn't argue with it. The entire point of their collaboration was that it was only temporary, after all. Adrian needed to protect Uriah, and Rosy'd agreed to help him. "You're right, Princess. We'll be taking our leave now, then. I'll meet you at the summit."

"One month. Maximum." She reminded him.

"Alright. It's a bet." He told her. What they were wagering, Adrian wasn't entirely sure, but the two of them made eye contact and nodded before all six of the gryphons turned into birds and disappeared from sight.

"Rosy, it took you a month to get to the top of the mountain the first time... Are you sure that I can make that trip with you in the same amount of time?" Adrian asked her once the gryphons were gone.

"I spent over half of that month scouting the path up. We'll be fine, time-wise." She told him, smirking.

...

"Those gryphon bastards are nothing to us!"

"YEAH!"

"We're gonna march right up this mountain and take everything those birds have!" 

"YEAH!"

"We have the numbers! We have the power!"

"YEAH!"

"We are the Fraeguard Mountain Corps!"

"YEAHHHHHH!!!!"

When Adrian and Rosy got to the base of the mountain range, they were met with an impressive... and incredibly annoying... sight. The beginning of the path up the mountain was marked by a large gate, with a statue of Rosy's princess form in front of it. 

Apparently, when Rosy originally finished the trek up to Gryvus, she'd reported the location that she started at. This meant that everyone knew where the beginning of the real path up was now. According to Rosy, it was nearly impossible to get up the mountain without either having the exact route in mind, or having the ability to fly, so having people know where to start wasn't a big deal for them, but there weren't just the dozen or so people up there that Rosy and Adrian had expected to find.

Instead, they were greeted by an organized army of nearly five hundred people, all wearing Noctian armor of some kind. According to whatever useless pump-up speech their leader was shouting, they were the Fraeguard Mountain Corps from Noctus. 

Rosy's response to hearing that was to pull her hood up as high as it could go, then cursing quietly. Adrian would have to do the speaking from now on, since they couldn't let people see them actually going up the mountain.

'...?' Adrian asked using their mental link. They could trade crude thoughts to some extent now, but exact words weren't flowing very well. She was able to pick out the general idea of it, though, so she pressed her body against him, pretending to be flirting as she whispered into his ear.

"My father must have sent a corps of Fraeguards to the mountain the moment that I left, knowing that I'd end up coming here. He's focusing on Gryvus, since their ability to gather information could be a threat if we succeed. As long as we can slip past them, we can use this to our advantage when we negotiate with the gryphons." She told him.