Destinations and Desires Ch. 03

Jareth started his tale. "The king and queen are my parents. There names are Glaucus and Eurynome respectively. My father and mother ruled this land for around 20 years before I left in search of help. My older sister Bellerophon was supposed to be the one to leave, as she was a woman, no offense Cleyandra." He said.

"None taken." shrugged Cleyandra. "Things have changed in 300 years."

"True enough, but she was supposed to go none the less. I went in her place because I am the oldest. What I didn't know was the night I left, the witch was going to attack the castle. As I was flying away on my griffon," he pulls out a feather "I came to realize that I really didn't know where I was going other then west."

"A griffon feather?!?" exclaimed Cleyandra, taking the feather from Jareth's hand. "Oh my gosh, I have only seen this in books."

"Wait, a real griffon feather? Not something made to look the part?" Braxlin was skeptical.

"Yes, a real griffon's feather." Jareth answered. "From a real griffon. Like I said, I could prove it. Now, back to my story; when I finally realized that I had no clue where I was going I stopped for a while to ask around. Everyone told me the same thing, there is no such place. But I knew that it had to be there, it was my only hope. So I left the town and kept going west." He pointed to a trail on the map that headed west from the haunted mountain. "I traveled for a good week, looking and gathering information. There was almost no information available."

"I had finally decided that there was no 'Circle of Stones' to be found. On my last flight around the area," he pointed to the only place on the up-to-date map that was still unexplored, "I found what I was looking for. The circle."

"But that's only about a two day walk from here, why haven't you been there before now?" Cleyandra asked.

"Like I said, I got lost." Jareth stated, like that would explain it all.

"O.K., you said that already, but what about your sense of direction? Where were the suns on your last flight? Was it morning noon or night?" Braxlin pestered.

"Hush!" Cleyandra scolded. "Maybe he knocked his head when he fell?" she suggested as she looked at Jareth.

"You are right, I did knock my head," Jareth mumbled as his eyes started to close from exhaustion "Skad help me I am so tired."

"Who?" Cleyandra asked.

"Skad, my patron God, the God of travel." Jareth yawned while saying.

Cleyandra thought for a moment about the history of her goddess and remembered a story once told to her about the Gods and Goddesses. They were all considered male at one point or another until they came down from their place in heaven and fixed the rumor, mainly by beating all the men who were too big for their breeches. "You know, I really believe Jareth is telling the truth." She muttered to no one in particular.

"What?! Why do you suddenly agree with him now?" Braxlin said in outrage.

"Well, he spoke of Skad, the original name of Skadi, before we knew the Gods were not all male."

"The Gods are not male?!?" Now it was Jareths' turn to look surprised.

"No, some, like my patron Goddess Skadi, are female, they came down from the heavens about 250 years ago and set the record straight, some of the 'Gods' were Goddesses. In essence we worship the same deity". She pointed out.

"O.K. O.K., you have confused me too much, and I am tired, can I get some sleep?" Jareth asked.

"Oh yes, it is time for bed. The moon has passed the midnight hour and we have an early day tomorrow." Cleyandra yawned.

After some rearranging and settling down everyone drifted off to sleep. Morning came too soon for everyone and there was much groaning as they stirred. It was Braxlin's turn for breakfast and he put together a somewhat recognizable meal. It was soon apparent that the food may have been recognizable but certainly not edible. Cleyandra cleared away the dishes since Braxlin cooked. After packing the horses it was soon apparent that someone would walk.

"Oh, um, well, I can walk; I have been doing it for days now." Jareth commented.

"That's not fair though," Cleyandra said "how about we take turns?"

So they set off agreeing to take turns every few miles.

By midday, it was apparent that the current situation was not going to work. Braxlin was loath to share his horse with Jareth forcing Cleyandra to walk more often. After the fourth time of dismounting, she decided enough was enough. "Braxlin, I swear to the Gods if you do not get off your horse and let me ride I will sacrifice you at the next temple!"

"Hey, I have walked once already." Braxlin whined.

"Yeah, you have. And I have walked 4 times. Now get off your high horse and walk!"