YCH from the talented  lsheena!

I didn’t fly often. Travel over land was so much more thrilling to me. It let me find little nooks and hidden caverns which were simply invisible from the air. I much preferred keeping a closer eye on the land and all its wonders, mysteries, and dangers.

But the gryphon, after awakening and calming down, had been quite insistent that I fly with him. I couldn’t have any clue why. But he’d kept nudging me with his beak, lowering himself on his forelegs, and squawking at me until I hoisted myself onto his back.

I gripped tight onto the dense feathers that lined the beast’s shoulders as he soared across the clouded sky. I didn’t bother to question where he might have been taking me. He seemed to know, at least. Even blanketed by unnatural snow, he must have known his way around the mountains.

The glaring sun faded upon the horizon by the time the gryphon started to descend. The peak of this mountain was different to the others. The snow that coated the rest of these lands hadn’t touched this place. Like a clean cut from the sheer edge of a sword, the landscape went from blanketed in white to green, bright, and vibrant. And standing upon the plateau, a grand temple stood watching over the landscape below.

The gryphon touched upon the ground, just beside the temple, and lowered himself down once more, allowing me to jump off.
“Thank you friend,” I said, resting a claw upon his shoulder. With a low rumble, he again nudged at me with his beak in gratitude for my part in freeing him from his own icy nightmare. And with that, he was gone.

The temple must have been here for an age or more, judging by the plant life the was twining its way up the walls, but the stone was still smooth and pristine. Stone braziers stood sentinel beside an archway which led into darkness below, but they must have been snuffed long ago. I brushed a claw against the stone, and immediately recoiled. It was cold; far colder than normal stone, it was like the ice itself.

This had to have something to do with the blizzard that was enshrouding the land. There had to be a reason the gryphon brought me here. He may not have known what this was, but he knew it was important. And now, it was up to me to find out why.

The inside of the temple was nothing like the pristine outer. A few steps into the hall, my foot kicked against a pile of rubble and debris. I flared my wings out in surprise as I went tumbling to the cold, hard floor. I raised a hand to break my fall.

“Oof…!” The air was knocked from my lungs as I landed heavily. Growling, I wrapped an arm around my chest and pushed myself back onto one knee. I blew out a small lick of fire to provide some amount of light, and finally saw what was before me.

It must have been a grand place, once. An altar of tarnished brass half-stood near the wall, the other half broken and crumbled to dust long ago. The floor was strewn with stone and shards of metal. Even some cloth, no doubt from the tattered tapestries that hung from the wall, long faded into unrecognizability.

On the ground before me was a red stone which, despite the ruin of everything else, still shone with a fiery light. I dug the rubble from around it and lifted it in my claws. About the size of my own head it was, expertly carved into a flat, round disk. Around the edge of the stone, golden spikes stuck out, all jagged but in consistent angles. In contrast to the freezing cold of the temple, the red stone radiated with warmth. With comfort.

I ran a claw down along the face of the treasure, then turned my eyes upward to the roof of the temple. It was emblazoned with an image very similar to the stone.

The sun.

I recalled what the great serpent on the mountain had told me. That name stuck in my mind – Nightfall, the demonic being of cold and frost.

Was this the cause of the blizzard? A temple like this, devoted to the sun – trashed and ruined. Could that cause such an unnatural storm? And how could it be fixed?

The altar at the wall glowed with a faint amber light. Rising to my feet, I approached it, the sun jewel in hand. As I approached, the red stone grew warmer and warmer still. The glow from the jewel brightened, like a fire trapped in glass. The heat intensified, more and more now, until it was like stepping through a wall of fire, but I pushed through. I closed my eyes and growled, the heat now burning my eyes like staring at the sun.

Even with my eyes closed, I could see the red glow. I could have sworn I heard whispered voices calling to me. Spirits of the temple, perhaps? Such places were often dedicated to such beings.

I couldn’t see anything but the blinding red, but the heat continued to wash over me. An updraft tore at my wings now, blowing me back, but I pushed through. Whatever this was, it had to have something to do with the blizzard – and how to end it. Whatever Nightfall may have been, this had to be one step towards stopping it.

Roaring, I slammed the jewel upon the altar. The sound of shattering glass and stone echoed across the chamber, ringing in my ears. I forced my eyes open, just a crack against the stinging wind. Red light emanated from the stone and filled the room, swirling in a vortex towards the sun emblazoned upon the roof of the great temple.

That was it. The other name I had heard.

Daybreak.

Shielding my eyes with one hand, I drew out my sword with the other and pointed it at the now glowing sun. Day would break the night. Sun would melt the frost.

Red magic swirled down from the temple roof, converging upon my sword. The hilt warmed in my hand, hot like fire, but I held fast. I could feel the energy filling my blade, the metal heating up to a glowing red. It was more than just heat. It was the magic of the sunrise, the glow of day, the light of life.

And with it, I would break the night.