The Portal
And maybe, just maybe, inspection of the portal might offer more than just a chance to get rid of his own feelings of needing repay anything. Perhaps it might give answers. If they existed Calhoun Ryder was determined to find them. So it was this that had him making his way through the odd little piece of the forsaken place. All too familiar were the echoes and whispers. Haunting sounds and the snarls of ravenous creatures seeking more than just simple sustenance. They were starved. And their oddly hued eyes danced in the shadows as Ryder placed one solid hoof in front of the other.
Behind the blue pools a fierce gale burned. A storm brewing. But the anger that had been there the day he arrived was not in existence. At least not in the form Ricochet and Roscorro had known it. There was a stubborn determination and a fierce confidence. Pride and intimidation. But the anger was dull despite the ire of the squall that raged in those depths. Muscles worked in sync, coling and releasing as every stride carried the towering brute forward. At his side his cutlass shifted just slightly as he carried himself forward, a familiar feeling he was adapting to.
All of it was becoming more and more something he was used to and accepted rather than something he was just learning to live with. However something he had yet to get used to was the strange sounds of the portal. But there was one that he knew. One that he was coming to learn to enjoy. The sound of massive wings beating in a steady hum. But Arronax had not followed him here. He had agreed to stay and guard their new little parcel of land they desired to call a home of their own. Which meant this was someone else. For a moment he considered it might be the tribred beast he met on his arrival but there should have been more weight to them.
This was someone new.
Scents did not matter in this place. The sensation of dread and the overwhelming fog and shadows drowned out your senses all too easily. Often it was only what lay right in front of you that was visible. Not something Ryder was uncertain with. Being who he was he had learned to work with such things. Especially when you were capable of summoning brute force storms on a whim. Though he had found in recent days what he was once used to using to summon those did not call to him the winds and howling rain he was known for.
Instead it was when he felt little if nothing that he was capable of bringing the fury he once only knew when his emotions were out of control. And because of habit the second he summoned a storm it was now all to easy to lose it. He would have to consider his options on gaining these powers back. But the Ranger was his first concern. They had found her damaged on the Key. She needed severe work. But he would worry about that later. Instead he lifted his head to peer into the pitch darkness, turning it just enough to starboard that he could see what was moving in the distance.
It was indeed another horse.
A pegasus to be exact. Her hide a rich brown with strips dancing across her frame in a rather bright blue. The shone just slightly, glittering and shimmering in what little light there was. And very shortly after sighting the mare she offered a wordless cry. Ryder sighed slowly and stamped one massive foot. “Yeh know it’s aweful fuckin’ hard to answer yeh when yerh up there and I’m fuckin’ down here.”
He growled the words with a lack any amusement as he snapped his tail sharply, waiting to see just what this mare would do or if she would keep coming and carrying on. If she did so be it. He had answers to seek. Answers that might not come unless he actively sought them. Life was not handed to you after all. The scars that littered the pirate’s body stated that without doubt or any uncertainty.
