Laval gave Cragger a final look of confused anger (which was not returned), and stalked off to the drone fighters, the others soon following. I stepped forwards and held out my claws to Cragger.
    He took them, and, as I helped him up from where he now sat, I said, "So you and Laval were the best of friends, once?" Cragger shook his head, but not in answer.
    "Laval doesn't seem himself," he said. I made for the drone fighters as well, gesturing for Cragger to follow. As I mounted one of the fighters, I noticed that Worriz was sniffing the air.
    I was about to ask him what was wrong when he burst out, "I can smell crocs coming this way!"
    "Everybody up!" said Gorzan, jumping into the seat behind Eris. We lifted off the ground and into the moonlit night, soaring far away from the crocodiles' lodging.     "What do we do now?" asked Ewar.
    "Well," said Eris, "We'll have to get to where the map starts. Once we get there, we can land and continue on foot."
    "D'you know where the map starts?" asked Laval.
    Eris looked at the controls. "Um..."
    "You don't even know where yer going?!" said Worriz. "Pfff! Gimme that map!" Eris took the scroll from her belt, moved her drone fighter alongside Ewar's, and passed it to Worriz (who sat behind Ewar). He unrolled the map and stared at it for several moments.
    Then he said, "I think it starts at th' Gorge of Eternal death, but on this map, it's called..." He squinted. "'Bottomless Canyon.'"
    "That makes sense," said I as we altered our course. "All those star cycles ago, Loradus disposed of his Chi by casting it into such a 'Bottomless Canyon'. That must be what we call the Gorge of Eternal Death today." Worriz passed the scroll back to Eris.
    "When we land," said she, "let's try to get some rest for tomorrow." When our journey would begin.

    I opened my eye to find that the sun was starting to rise. I had fallen asleep after taking Ewar's place, and I quickly looked over to the others. They were still sound asleep; Laval and Razar snoring loudly. Assessing the position of the sun, I considered when the others would want to wake up, added a few figures mentally, and, having made up my mind, I strode back.
    "Awake, one and all!" I shouted, marching around them. Worriz growled and swiped at me from where he lay (missing by a narrow margin) and Laval complained to himself, but everyone else slowly prepared themselves for the day. Once the sun had gotten higher and everyone was fully awake and ready, I nodded to Eris, who unrolled the map and set it on the ground. I gathered up and placed four stones, one on each corner of the map, to weigh it down, then Eris began speaking.     "As you can probably see, this path to the gatekeeper's hut is quite long. At first I thought it would be easier just to fly up to Mount Cavora, but then I read part of this." She removed the stones from the corners temporarily to flip the map over. The backside was completely covered by minuscule, loopy handwritten notes (which I had previously skimmed over). Eris indicated a certain passage, and I tilted my head to read it: This ground route . . . only way . . . barrier . . . repel . . .?
    "Wait, wait, wait," said Razar. "Can't you just read it to us? So much easier. And can we start off now? I charge by the hour, and we need to be traveling... I mean, we have to start sometime." I looked up, annoyed. Could he not read? And as for starting off, well, that didn't seem a bad idea....
    "I--I guess I can read it while we walk," said Eris, though not looking entirely happy about it. She sighed. "Come on."

    As we began to walk faster, Razar fell into step beside me. I cast a suspicious eye over him, for I knew he no longer entirely respected me, and therefore was most definitely not trying to make conversation. Or so I thought.
    "Do you think there will be treasure inside Mount Cavora?" he asked.
    I shook my head. "That matters not." Razar, as if expecting this answer of me, shrugged and allowed himself to fall back again. Had he only wanted to ask that? Perhaps there was some deeper meaning to the question. Or perhaps.... My claws darted to my currency pouches--or, more accurately, pouch. Of course one was missing. I glanced back at Razar, who was counting through it and smiling. Mopping my forehead, I looked at the position of the sun. It was still quite low in the sky. And I was just about to turn my focus back to the path ahead when I walked straight into Laval with such force that I fell back, onto the rocky, unforgiving ground. Heaving myself into a sitting position, I saw Laval standing as stiff as a tree.
    "Laval?" I said tentatively. "Are you quite alright?" Those behind me had stopped as well, looking at Laval rather uncertainly. Eris then turned about to see what was halting our progress, and her eyes grew very wide.
    "Oh," she said, "This is not good..." Laval slowly turned to face us, red-eyed and grinning savagely.
    Then he jumped onto us, shouting, "Stop! You'll never make it to Emerot!" The others scattered, leaving me helpless on the ground. I stared up at Laval, attempting to edge away, when Cragger ran past, and Laval turned his eyes to him.
    "Cragger!" he called. "Come to me! Help me to wipe this scum from the face of our world!" His wicked grin widened and his eyes fell back to me.
    "No," I breathed, slithering on my back, unable to break his terrifying stare. Then, mercifully, the stare faded in its intensity as Laval's eyes crossed and he collapsed to the ground.

    Thus began our journey to Mount Cavora and the Chi Fountain. Little did we talk in the following days, for we had to walk from dawn until dusk, keeping up a quick pace, and had little energy to spare. During the nights, Laval would always call on either Ewar or me to take watch. Apparently I was the only one who thought this unfair, as no one protested; then again, perhaps (like myself) the others did deem it unfair, and simply kept it to themselves. Eventually, after days and days of walking (twenty, to be precise) near to the edge of the Bottomless Canyon, over the stony ground I had become all too familiar with, we arrived at the location on the map labeled "bridge". We had planned to arrive there three days earlier, however, my artificial leg had slowed us down slightly (of course, Laval's frequent Anti-Chi fits hadn't exactly helped).
    At that time, Eris looked at the map and quietly said, "We're here." There was a silence as everyone turned their heads back and forth, searching for anything significant, or even remotely bridge-like.
    "Remind me again where 'here' is?" said Razar, clearly unhappy that we had spent so much time getting apparently nowhere. Eris held up the map again, hiding her face.
    "It shows a bridge running across the Gorge here," she said simply. "We should be able to see it...."
    "Well," said Ewar, "If this map is from Loradus's time, there could've been a bridge here that got...destroyed."
    "That is true," I said, limping onward.
    "But?" said Ewar, who seemed to sense one coming. I merely smiled and continued on, having seen something none of the others had.

    As one, we turned to look to the south. Cupping my claws around my eye, I could see several small vehicles with...were those...? Yes, lion markings. Quite possibly speedorz.
    "Lions," said Ewar, lowering his spyglass. "Which means..."
    "There'll be trouble," Cragger finished. Almost carelessly, I glanced back at the log bridge to find that Laval was nowhere to be seen. Starting to panic, I rushed over to the canyon and crawled as close to the edge as I dared. And as soon as I got a glimpse of the bottom of the bridge, I found my worst suspicions had been confirmed. Numerous branches protruded from the bottom, one of which Laval was clinging to. He wouldn't be able to hold on for much longer, though; that I knew, for the downward pull of the canyon would prove stronger than his grip. I edged back backwards and stood up, then called for the others. Eris was the first to respond, running over to look.
    "Laval!" she shouted. I raised my hands to calm her.
    "Shush! Calling him does more harm than good!"
    "It doesn't matter now," said Cragger, tapping my shoulder. "We have to get across the bridge. Those lions look really angry...." He pulled out a nasty-looking mace-and-chain weapon. I stared.
    "Surely you aren't going to use that?" I whispered. Cragger looked as if he was about to answer, but at that moment Ewar stepped up.
    "They're advancing on us," said he. "Get across that bridge! Hurry!" My head spun in the chaos and confusion of the moment. And with the sound of weapons beginning to clash behind me and the knowledge that Laval was struggling somewhere below, I took my first step onto the bridge.

    I fell and I fell, at the same time trying (and failing) to convince myself that I would somehow find Laval and return to the others. Pulling out a Chi orb, I briefly considered using it to escape. Then the opportunity was taken from me as I accidentally crushed the orb. But, rather than falling completely from my grasp, the shards and fluid seemed to dissolve into energy, which kept its form in my hand. Then, with a flash, it traveled up my arm and into my wings. No strengthened Chi form expanded upward, but my mind was strangely clear. Folding my wings and closing my eye, I was soon falling at an incredible speed--if one could call it falling. It was more a dive, for I felt I was in control of my velocity somewhat; Still, If the canyon had not been pulling me down as well, I might never have caught sight of Laval. He wasn't falling nearly as rapidly as I, and so I spread my wings, slowing down.
    "Laval!" I shouted, my voice all but lost in the sound of rushing winds. When I drew up alongside him, I tapped his shoulder. He did nothing. Straining, I grabbed hold of Laval with one hand and attempted to reach one of the canyon walls with the other. Finally, after stretching every pitiful muscle in my arms to their fullest extent, my claws brushed a wall. I then drew Laval's Valious (slicing his cloak off in the process) and plunged it into the rock face. The sudden halt wrenched my arm terribly, but I would not--could not--let go. Beak clenched with pain, I watched Laval's cloak fall--then it stopped in midair. I stared in confusion. That was when the cloak appeared to explode into shreds, and the air where it had rested a moment before shimmered, as if marking a barrier. Then Laval grunted and looked up at me.

    As Laval scaled the rock face, I struggled to keep a hold on his back. If we didn't rejoin the others soon, my pale fingers would lose their purchase on his back, and I would fall end over end into the blackness and-- Stars floated into my vision for a moment, and I involuntarily leaned backwards....
    "Hang--on!" Laval grunted, bits and pebbles dropping from the rock face. I leaned further back, waved my arms and swept my wings; until, with an enormous effort, I pulled myself upright, my head spinning. Shortly after, the sounds of the battle above began to drift down to us, causing Laval to move faster. When we finally crawled onto flat ground, we lay there, despite the battle raging around us. Laval panted and raised his head.
    "I've never thought... I mean...." He trailed off, looking worried and confused. I said nothing, and merely patted him on the shoulder. That was when a lion broke through to us and raced for Laval. I stood shakily and barred his path, but he snarled and pulled a knife, pressing it to my throat and thrusting his face near to mine. I tightened my beak. A few oily strands of his mane were plastered to his forehead, and the stink of his breath made me gag. Trying hard not to gulp, I closed my eye and waited for my end to come about. But (thankfully) it never came. I felt the knife move away, and opened my eye to find that Laval had pushed the lion to the ground, and was now tying his hands behind his back with a strip of fabric.
    "Laval," I said nervously, massaging my throat. But just then, what wall of defenders there was broke, and the attacking lions swarmed us. I shouldered my way through to Laval, who seemed to be the target of the lions' assault. Looking around, I could see the others doing the same; and soon, we had formed a tight ring around Laval and his lion captive.
    "We have to get to that bridge!" shouted Cragger. "They can't surround us as easily there!" Thus we began to march over to the bridge, holding the lions back.