A Pride of Gryphons

by Kristen S. Walker

  “But one more thing,” she said, before he could help her get up off the couch. “Mage Ameyron told me that your brother has stopped taking his advice about fighting the gryphons. They’re behaving unusually, so the normal strategy isn’t stopping them, but Varranor’s run out of patience with the mage’s ideas. He promised to contact me when he comes up with a new plan, so that I could ask you to convince Varranor to listen to him.”

  Galenos frowned. “The mage’s advice has never been wrong before.” He patted her hand reassuringly. “I’ll talk to them both and get this sorted out. For now, you get some rest. We’ll talk again when you wake up.”

  Korinna grunted as he pulled her to her feet. “Thank you,” she murmured. “And you won’t let me sleep all day again, right? I want to fly a patrol, maybe this afternoon.”

  He nodded. “I’ll tell the servants to check in on you before noon. Let me help you up to bed.”

  She leaned on him as they went up the stairs, her eyes already half-closed. He was grateful that she was safe, but he also knew that he couldn’t risk something like that happening again. He would have guards posted outside the house, both to watch for attacks and to make sure that she didn’t go anywhere unsupervised. He couldn’t imagine what he would do if he lost her now.

  ***

  Galenos sent a message to put off his morning’s meetings and snatched a few hours’ sleep in the chair next to Korinna’s bed. He woke up at every movement she made, fearing for her safety, but she slept soundly.

  Korinna woke around midmorning. She laid a hand across her stomach and smiled. “You’re excited for today, too?” she murmured to the baby. She looked up and beckoned to Galenos. “Come feel your son. You see, he’s fine.”

  He rushed to her side and touched her belly. His eyes widened—for the first time, he could feel a soft fluttering underneath his hand. “That’s our baby,” he said, a smile spreading across his face. “But what about you? Do you feel pain anywhere?”

  She got up out of bed and stretched. “No, actually, I feel better than I have in weeks. Maybe the exercise actually did me some good.”

  He hid a frown of disapproval. “We’ll see what the physick says.” He helped her get dressed and lent her support as she went down the stairs.

  Egina gave them both a hearty breakfast and offered to send one of the children to fetch the physician for a home visit, but Korinna said she wanted to walk. Galenos insisted on accompanying her—he was afraid to let her out of his sight.

  Outside, it was already warming up past comfortable temperatures, promising another hot day. Even in the shade, heat radiated up from the paved street. He bought a chilled drink from a street vendor for Korinna to sip as they walked.

  The physician fussed over Korinna, clearing out his other clients from the office so he could see her right away, and asked many pointed questions about her well-being. She reassured him that she felt fine, but he insisted on another full examination. Once again, he could not find any signs of something wrong with her or the baby, but he lectured her at length about taking care to avoid straining herself. She nodded her head and agreed to everything, but Galenos worried that she was only saying that so he would stop talking.

  By the time they got to City Hall, it was already noon. Neither of them were hungry enough for a full meal so soon, but he arranged for a light snack of fruit and beverages while they caught up with the morning’s messages. It was too stuffy in their office, so they went to sit on the shaded patio in the back, next to the marewing paddock.

  Most of the business he reviewed was more of the same—more refugees in the city, more gryphons attacking, more demands for money and resources. He told her the highlights, trying to hide the worst of the news from her. “At least we have plenty of extra food stockpiled in the city, thanks to you,” he said lightly.

  She nodded absently, staring up at the sky. “I’m glad we can feed everyone.”

  “And a message came for you from Sergeant Navera,” he said, holding up the letter. “A rider is bringing Mage Ameyron here to explain his latest plan. I’ve asked Varranor to join us when he arrives, so we can all discuss the matter together.”

  Korinna sat up straighter. “Did she say anything about what the plan might be?”

  Galenos put his hand on hers. “No. We should see them within the hour to find out. Will you stay, or are you eager to go out on your first patrol?”

  She looked up toward the wall. They’d already spotted other marewings gliding overhead on patrol. “I think they can manage without me for a little longer,” she said with a smile. “I should speak with the others to work out what my shift will be, though.”

  He nodded. “I told them not to expect you too early.” He looked over the letter. “It looks like your friend, Orivan, is the junior officer in charge of the patrol. Give him my greetings when you go.”

  She brightened up with an eager smile. Perhaps if she spent her time talking with Orivan, she wouldn’t want to go up on patrol at all. At the very least, he could hope that her friends would keep her from doing anything too risky.

  They were interrupted by the appearance of a clerk at the door. “Your Graces, Mage Ameyron has arrived to speak with you,” she said with a bow. “Shall I direct him to your office or will you meet with him out here?”

  Galenos stood up and pulled two extra chairs over to their table. “It’s nicer out here, I think,” he said with a nod to the clerk. “Has the commander shown up yet?”

  The clerk pointed up into the sky. “I think that’s him now.” She bowed again and withdrew.

  They both turned to look. A chestnut marewing was dropping out of the sky with alarming speed. At the last moment, she spread her wings and pushed back up into the air, then landed gracefully on the small grass area behind the hall.

  Varranor dismounted and gave Skyfire an affectionate pat. “I’ll be there in a minute,” he called over to the others. Then he turned back to care for the marewing.

  Skyfire was still on heightened alert from the morning’s battle, tossing her head and rolling her red eyes around to look at all corners of the walled-off yard. Galenos kept his distance while his brother calmed her down.

  Meanwhile, Ameyron had just stepped out through the door, looking as haggard as ever in his wrinkled mage’s robe and clutching grubby stacks of papers. “Thank you for seeing me, Your Graces,” he said with the sketchiest of bows.

  Galenos was used to the mage’s lack of protocol, greeting him with a nod. He pushed aside his dishes from lunch to clear the table and waved to one of the empty chairs. “Of course. Please, have a seat.”

  Ameyron wasted no time in dumping his papers all over the table. “I can’t guarantee this will work,” he began in an apologetic tone. “I still don’t fully understand why the gryphons are behaving so strangely. If I had more time, I would search the academy’s library for references to any similar attacks recorded in the past, but since I can’t recall coming across anything in my own reading, I wouldn’t even know where to begin.”

  Varranor had just finished with Skyfire and strode up to the table, dropping his flying gloves carelessly onto one of the maps. “I think you’re overcomplicating things,” he countered the mage. “Monsters have been attacking people in Seirenia for a thousand years. We can either run away from them, like the Empire did, or we can fight back to defend our homes. I’m already making a stand.”

  Galenos held up his hands to interrupt both of the other men. “Let’s just take this one thing at a time, nice and calmly.” He looked at Varranor first. “What is the latest report on the fighting?”

  The Warlord sat down in the last chair and stretched out with his arms behind his head. “We’re holding the line,” he said proudly. “No new settlements have been attacked today, because they can’t get past us. You’ll have fewer refugees showing up here to bother you.”

  The mage pulled a notebook out of his sleeve and scribbled a few notes. Then he delicately removed the gloves from his maps. “
Can you show me the area where you’ve blocked the gryphons?”

  “With pleasure.” Varranor leaned forward and pointed out the perimeter.

  Korinna stared at the so-called perimeter. “You’ve let them take almost all of our farmland in the southern half of the state,” she said with a shake of her head. “If we can’t take it back soon, the people won’t be able to get back to their homes to water their crops before they die in this heat. What will we eat?”

  Varranor’s smile faded. “Hey, I didn’t say I fixed the problem yet, but I’ve stopped it from spreading. One thing at a time.”

  Galenos put a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “You’ve fought hard, no one disputes that. But it’s fair to say now that your strategy has not been successful at eliminating our enemies. Isn’t it worthwhile to look at alternatives that could finally end the conflict?”

  Varranor folded his arms. “If the mage has a well-formed plan that I can follow, I’d love to hear it.” He slumped back into his seat and nodded for Ameyron to go on.

  Ameyron seemed to take no notice of the hostility in the soldier’s tone. He thumbed through his notebook calmly and launched into his explanation of why and how the gryphons’ attack patterns were different from their usual hunting behavior. “They behave as we would expect an invading army,” he concluded at last. “As such, the traditional method of targeting their leader has not yet succeeded, because when one dominant gryphon falls, another takes his place. I believe we should adjust our strategy to treat them like any human army that is trying to conquer our land.”

  Galenos listened patiently to the entire rambling speech without interruption, but at the last, he cleared his throat politely. “What does that mean specifically? There are many ways of defending against a human army. Do you mean for us to fortify ourselves against a siege and merely wait for them to give up?”

  Varranor snorted in disbelief. “They haven’t even come near the city, nor will they get the chance. My soldiers will stop them.”

  Korinna perked up. “If we could find where they’re coming from, could we attack their home base? Put them on the defensive?”

  Ameyron shook his head. “No, no,” he said, dismissing all of their suggestions with a wave of his hand. “As I’ve already stated, there are too many gryphons to come from a single pride. Reports support this by suggesting that they’ve come from several different directions, implying that there is more than one nest site of origin. And known nesting sites are all in remote areas, inaccessible except by air, so it wouldn’t be feasible to attack them there. It might only make them angrier.”

  The mage looked at Galenos. “Nor would I advise hiding behind strong walls and hoping they will leave on their own. Territory that has been taken over by the wyld is very difficult to reclaim for human habitation.”

  Varranor’s mocking expression sobered. “You don’t mean to suggest that this is a large scale wyld annihilation.”

  The whole group went silent at the thought. Monsters made the rural areas dangerous, and humans had to constantly fight back to keep their lands free of wyld magic, but usually the borders between civilization and the wyld shifted only a little back and forth every year. But there had been a few great catastrophes when entire cities had been lost to the wyld. The first was a thousand years ago, when the Kaldonian Empire’s colonies in Seirenia had been destroyed, and the Empire had withdrawn north out of the peninsula. Since then, the Seirenians had rebuilt and learned to protect their lands with the aid of the gods, but twice more, the wyld had struck at them with more strength than they could resist. The lands lost to the wyld were avoided by all but the bravest or most foolhardy adventurers.

  While Varranor, Galenos, and Korinna stared at each other with growing dread, Ameyron checked over his notes. “There’s no evidence of an annihilation-level event,” he said at last. “In those instances, every type of monster was involved in the attack. We only have gryphons, so I think we’re safe.”

  Varranor let out a sigh of relief. “Don’t scare us like that, then.” He steeled his shoulders and nodded at his brother. “We’ve faced the wyld head-on for sixteen years. We’re not about to back down now.”

  Ameyron put down his notebook. “Indeed. As I was saying, it may be useful to think of the gryphons in terms of a human army, but I’m not an expert in military strategy.” He spread his hands over the table. “I provided experienced officers with my best characterization of the attacks, and then deferred to their superior knowledge in this area. This is what they have proposed.”

  He pulled out a new map, this one marked in the economical handwriting of Sergeant Navera, and spread it on top of the others with a flourish. “A multi-pronged assault on the gryphon forces,” he declared, confidence growing in his tone. “To date, you have fought the gryphons on a single front, with a single leader. However, they’ve out-maneuvered you because they have a decentralized command—probably because there are several prides each fighting within their own family structures.” He pulled out a list of the company’s units divided into three separate groups. “If you split up, allowing each segment to act independently, then you can respond faster.”

  Galenos leaned forward and traced the lines suggesting troop movements. “The trident formation,” he identified it, then nodded. “It looks good, but I’d add a smaller fourth, to circle around and surprise them from the rear. Just be sure to leave them a clear path of retreat, because they’ll only fight harder if they think they’re trapped.”

  “I know better than to fully surround the enemy forces,” Varranor snapped automatically, but there wasn’t much anger left in him. He took longer to study the map, but he finally nodded his approval. “This could work. Should I choose Navera to lead the rear strike team?”

  Galenos smiled. “It would be a waste not to have one of your most experienced officers out there. She’s never had a command before, but she’s trained nearly every rider you have. I don’t think it could hurt to let her step up.”

  Korinna said nothing, just leaned back and watched them work out the details with a contented smile.

  He glanced at his wife occasionally during the discussion and saw her satisfaction. Let this be enough for her, he prayed to the gods. Let her stay inside the city, and maybe this plan would be enough to drive away the gryphons for good in another day or two. He could deal with everything else so long as he knew that she was safe.

  Sympaia IV

  Xeros looked back over his shoulder a final time. From this distance, he couldn’t see the fighting anymore, but there was a cloud of dust on the horizon where he knew the mercenaries clashed with the gryphons.

  He’d left behind most of the other priests to keep the attacks going, but the gryphons didn’t need much direction now. They were angered by the deaths of their family members, stoked into a frenzy by the battles.

  Now it was time to execute the next phase of his plan. He had selected only four other priests and one priestess to go with him, but if his theory about the magestone was correct, he wouldn’t need the power of a large group to perform a ritual inside the city. Their wyld magic would be amplified many times over.

  They’d abandoned their caravan of goods and traders’ clothes for the simple outfits of local farmers. Each carried personal belongings stolen from the wreckage of a village destroyed the day before, with small daggers hidden inside. The priestess, Hilaera, cradled an infant taken from a slaughtered family to complete the disguise. Streaked with the dust from the road, they fit in with the other refugees all fleeing toward the capital city.

  Xeros had concocted fake names and a story for them, but they were barely questioned at the city gates. Guards directed them toward the warehouse district for shelter.

  “We can’t go to the temples?” Hilaera asked in a quavering voice. She held up the swaddled infant. “I wanted to pray for my baby.”

  One of the guards shook her head. “Sorry, but the temples are already full. Someone will come by to assist you, but all new refuge
es are sheltering in converted warehouses starting today.”

  Hilaera frowned, but Xeros nudged her towards the warehouses. “We don’t need a temple,” he whispered. “Our plan should work anywhere in the city. Let’s find an open space that’s not too crowded, so others don’t see what we’re doing.”

  The others nodded and followed him.

  Varranor III

  Varranor clung to Skyfire’s back as she dove beneath a gray gryphon’s attack. Once she leveled out, he looked up and fired an arrow at the gryphon’s exposed belly. The arrow only grazed the monster’s side, but it let out a cry of pain and darted away.

  He had earned himself a few moments’ breathing room before the next foe closed in. He nudged Skyfire back up higher in the sky to give him a vantage point over the battle.

  The marewing riders were doing the bulk of the work to block the gryphon onslaught from spreading any farther. Flights flew in defensive formations, staying close together so no single marewing or rider would be an easy target for attack, and when they could, they drove the gryphons lower so the infantry could fire their own bows. When they managed to knock a gryphon out of the sky, the pike-wielding soldiers quickly darted in and dispatched them on the ground.

  From what he could see, the trident formation was proving effective. Each segment moved independently, so when one group of gryphons tried to fly past them toward the city, one of the marewing captains led several flights up to block them. The infantry also kept the gryphons away from the ground, so they weren’t able to attack the nearby villages or the fleeing refugees. The destruction had finally been halted.

  But the gryphons were still relentless in their attacks. Varranor saw the injured gray gryphon wheeling back around for another pass, and felt Skyfire lurch beneath him to dodge the monster’s sharp claws. He fired at close-range and managed to land a solid hit on one of the gryphon’s front legs.