A Pride of Gryphons

by Kristen S. Walker

  A heavy wing slammed into him. Varranor tightened his legs around Skyfire, but for a dizzying moment, he felt himself start to slide off to one side. She shifted to stay under him and the force of her upward movement pushed him back into the saddle.

  Skyfire cried out. He whirled and saw the gryphon’s claws raking one of her wings. With no time to get another arrow, he lashed out with the bow itself. He caught the gryphon directly on the beak and it fell away from him in a daze.

  He dimly saw the gryphon plummeting toward the ground, where the infantry would take care of it, but he had no time to celebrate the victory. Rubbing her neck soothingly, he turned Skyfire back toward the main camp where the healers waited.

  She resisted the command at first, looking around wildly for her next target, but he saw blood streaming from her wing with each flap. “Shh, dear heart, we have to take care of you first,” he called to her over the wind. At last, she turned around.

  He signaled for another officer to take over temporarily and sent Skyfire gliding gently down to the camp. Healers approached at a wary distance, but Skyfire screamed out a warning.

  Varranor slid to the ground, muttering reassurances all the while, and ran over to the nearest healer. “Bandages, for her wing. I’ll have to do it myself.”

  A woman in green healer’s robes calmly held out an herbal poultice, a bottle of alcohol, and a mage-spelled bandage. “Cleanse it first, then use the herbs to slow the bleeding.” She looked over the wounded wing from a distance. “It doesn’t look too bad from here, but I would ground her for at least an hour to be sure.”

  He shook his head. “Thanks, but I don’t have the time.” He glanced toward the rest of the camp. “Can I get a report while I work?”

  The healer signaled to a camp aide, who ran off to the command tent.

  He looked back at Skyfire, who had finally lowered her wings but still looked around nervously, her ears clamped back flat against her head. “Easy, girl,” he cooed, approaching her slowly. He maneuvered the healing supplies into one arm, then reached into his pocket with his free hand and held out a pickled cloudfruit toward the anxious marewing.

  She snatched the fruit out of his grasp, then reared back. Her head weaved back and forth, following his movements like a snake.

  “Easy, girl, it’s alright,” he repeated. He held up his empty hand and slowly reached for her head.

  She bared her teeth, and for a moment, he feared she would strike. But she stilled when he closed the distance between them and he put his hand on her head.

  “Good girl,” he murmured, stroking her forelock. “So good, I’ll spoil you with another treat, hmm?” He pulled out a second cloudfruit.

  Skyfire took the fruit more gently this time, and chewed it over slowly. Her glowing red eyes rolled toward him but no longer seemed to burn with murderous intent. He kept up the gentle litany of reassurances as he walked around to her injured wing.

  A young woman in a scout’s uniform came running from the command tent. “Reporting, sir!”

  He lunged for Skyfire’s bridle just in time. She startled for a moment, but the scout jumped back, and he was able to pet her back into a calmer state. He glanced back over his shoulder with a glare at the careless rookie.

  The healer put her arm out to block the scout from getting within striking range. “Give your report calmly and quietly,” she warned the other woman. “And don’t look at the commander or his marewing. Just act as if you and I are having a normal conversation.”

  Varranor nodded once in acknowledgement, then turned back to Skyfire. He kept one hand on her side as he went back to examine the injured wing.

  The scout took a shaky breath. “Well, um, the report is that we’re holding the line.” Her voice rose in pitch as she spoke, but at least she wasn’t yelling anymore. “No gryphons have been able to attack civilians or get past us to the city.”

  Varranor coaxed Skyfire to extend her wing and examined the wound. The bleeding was starting to slow, but he saw a few nasty gashes. Keeping his tone in a gentle, sing-song manner, he said, “That’s very good, isn’t it, girl?” She flinched as he poured the alcohol over the wound, but his words kept her calm as he continued to dress it. “We’re so happy to keep those nasty gryphons away from our people, yes, we are. But what we’d really like to know is if there’s any sign that we’re pushing them back or thinning their numbers. I’m sure you’d love to get back to your nice, familiar fort tonight, but we can’t do that unless we get rid of all the monsters.”

  “No?” the scout gasped out. “At least, not that we can see right now. I’m sorry.”

  “That’s alright, and you’re dismissed,” Varranor said without missing a beat. The fewer people hanging around near Skyfire, the calmer she would stay. He heard the scout running off again but didn’t turn to see her leave. He murmured a few more empty words as he pressed the bandage over the entire injured area. A spell rune flared to life on the cloth, activated by the blood, that would keep it sealed over the wound. The spelled bandages were more expensive, but an ordinary one would fly off the moment she flapped the wing again.

  He backed away from Skyfire with a final praise for her good behavior, then handed the supplies back to the healer. “I think she’ll be fine to fly again. If I see any trouble, we’ll come back.” He looked around the camp. “How many other injuries have you seen today?”

  “Only a handful, all minor, sir,” the healer said with a smile. She pulled a flask out of her pocket and passed it to him. “A little something for you, too?”

  He grinned. “Just what the healer ordered.” He took a swig, feeling the familiar burn of brandy, then handed it back with a wink.

  The healer brushed his hand as she took the flask from him. The warmth of her touch jolted him as much as the brandy. “I’ll check on you again, tonight, if you’d like.”

  He brightened at the invitation. “I might do that. Thank you very much for your assistance.”

  But as he mounted Skyfire and signaled for her to fly again, Orivan’s face flashed into his mind. He’d barely spoken to the young man since his rejection last month, but the memory kept bothering him. When he thought about pursuing someone else, something about Orivan would come back to him—the sound of his laugh or the way his hair smelled. That rejection seemed to sting more than any had before.

  He couldn’t afford to be distracted, right now of all times, so he’d actually left Orivan behind at the fort. At least he knew that the young man would be safe there. But even without him nearby, Varranor was thinking about him.

  Perhaps he could go back and apologize once the fighting was over. There was still a chance that they could start over fresh, take things slower so he didn’t scare the other man away. He promised himself that he would try again before pushing Orivan out of his mind once more.

  He looked up into the sky, spotting his next target, and reached for an arrow. “Let’s send these gryphons back where they came from,” he told Skyfire. She tossed her head in agreement and spiraled up into the sky, ready to fight again. It would take more than a few scratches to slow her down.

  Tatiana V

  Tatiana and Lilywhite circled over the city in a lazy spiral. The first time she’d come to the capital, she’d been excited at the chance to see everything, not to mention delivering an important message to the duke and duchess. But coming back a few days later for a routine patrol, when all of the fighting was somewhere else, felt almost like a punishment. She didn’t think she’d done anything wrong, but she’d been sent here along with Philagros and another rider named Orivan to guard the city when no one expected any gryphons to come anywhere near them.

  Fighting gryphons had been thrilling. Well, her flight commander hadn’t given her many opportunities to actually go near the monsters, but she’d flown backup for her formation and got a few good shots in. It was more action than another routine patrol.

  They had the sky to themselves, except for the seagulls circling low near the water. She
sent Lilywhite on one pass over the city to enjoy the view. From above, Kyratia almost looked like two cities: the inner, older buildings surrounded by the first curtain wall, full of core districts like the government buildings, the marketplace full of traders, and the temples to all of the major gods. Outside, in the newer part of the city, were lower-income housing and the warehouse district near the docks. Beyond the outer wall, the mouth of the river split and flowed around the city, forming a natural moat before joining the sea.

  The city rested against the bay. The docks were bustling with trade, bringing goods from far-off lands that supported most of Kyratia’s income. Out in the bay, ships lay at anchor between their journeys, bobbing on the waves. Kyratia faced south at the inner curve of the bay, but the bay opened out to the ocean in the west. The sky was clear in all directions, so she would easily see any enemy approaching from miles away.

  The most awkward part of the assignment to the city was that Philagros had been sent with her. They were friends from training and she liked to hang out with him in her free time at the fort, but just the other day, her roommate told her there was a rumor that the two of them were romantically involved. Ever since then, she’d been too embarrassed to talk to him at all. What if he heard the same rumor and thought she started it? What if he was uncomfortable with other people thinking that they were in a relationship, and he wanted to stop being friends? Or worst of all—what if he thought that they should be together?

  She’d thought, when she joined the Storm Petrels, that the law against marrying would also keep her from ever having to worry about love. But she’d learned that many of the soldiers, and the marewing riders in particular, tended to form unofficial partnerships.

  It wasn’t that she wanted to be alone for the rest of her life—although, with Lilywhite, she wasn’t lonely. But she was still getting used to being a fighter, being a rider, and she wasn’t ready to think about love.

  Besides, she doubted that Philagros thought of her that way. If he’d cared about her, he would have said something back in Helyma before they’d ever left. They were friendlier now, but that was just because they came from the same village. He was her rival in friendly competition, nothing more.

  Bells rang out in the city below her, signaling the end of her patrol. The city’s method of marking time made it easy for her to keep track of the hours. She signaled for Lilywhite to land in the marewings’ paddock at the military compound and held on while she did the rest.

  They were gliding down when she saw another figure standing at the fence to the marewings’ paddock. Philagros and Orivan both looked up and waved at her, but the third person was much shorter. It wasn’t until she was almost to the ground that she realized the tiny woman, dressed in a rider’s leather uniform like the rest of them, was Duchess Korinna.

  Lilywhite landed nearest to Northstar, who turned and touched noses with her in greeting. Tatiana blushed and hoped that no one else noticed how friendly the two marewings were. It was mostly because the two had trained together. Then she realized that Korinna’s Sungold and Orivan’s Moonshadow were also grazing near each other, since they’d graduated from the previous year’s class. The duke’s black marewing, Nightshade, was the loner at the far end of the paddock.

  Tatiana crossed the paddock and bowed deeply to the duchess. “It’s an honor to fly with you, Your Grace. We weren’t certain if you would actually come.” When Sergeant Navera had given them the assignment and said the duchess would be taking her own turn on patrol, she hadn’t believed it would really happen, especially since the duchess was pregnant.

  The duchess giggled like a girl. Her small stature made her look too young to be a rider. “Please, call me Korinna. We’re all riders here. You’re Tatiana, right?”

  Tatiana blushed and looked at the ground. She couldn’t believe that her hero actually remembered her name. “Yes, Your—um, Korinna,” she corrected herself. She gestured back to her mount. “My marewing is Lilywhite.”

  Korinna nodded to Philagros. “Yes, your friend was just telling me about you and Lilywhite.” She glanced at the pure white marewing. “Your marewing’s coloring matches yours. You make a very striking pair.”

  Tatiana glanced up at Philagros without meaning to and saw him smiling at her. She looked away again. Could this conversation get any more uncomfortable? “Thank you,” she mumbled, not sure how to respond.

  Korinna turned to Orivan. “So, is it my turn to fly now?”

  Orivan straightened up. “Oh, yes, so long as it’s safe.” He shot a look at Tatiana. “Do you have anything to report?”

  She belatedly remembered that Orivan was supposed to be in charge of the patrol. “Oh, no, sir,” she said, adding a hasty salute to the junior officer. “The sky is clear.”

  Orivan nodded. “Very good. You may saddle up Sungold,” he said to Korinna. “Do you know the patrol route?”

  Korinna pointed to the outer wall of the city, towering over the whole military compound. “Just along the wall, right?”

  Orivan nodded. “Around the landward side of the city. No more than half a mile away. If you spot anything suspicious, signal to the guards on the wall—not that you’re likely to see anything,” he added quickly. “And if you get tired, just come back, and one of us will take your place. We’re well-rested, so we’re ready to go at any time. The duke was very clear that you’re not to push yourself.”

  Korinna let out a sigh at the mention of her husband. “I promise to take it easy. Anything else I need to know?”

  Orivan looked over at Philagros, and then they both shook their heads. “Have a good flight,” the junior officer said with a smile.

  “I will.” Korinna saluted to him, then broke into another smile. “By the way, I’d love to catch up with you tonight when the patrols are finished, if you’re free. Why don’t all three of you come to my house for supper?”

  Tatiana blinked in surprise. An invitation to the duchess’s house? This just became the best day since she’d captured Lilywhite!

  Orivan smiled back easily as if he visited the duchess all the time—and if they were old friends, maybe he did. “We’d love to, so long as the food is better than the mess hall here. There’s so few soldiers in the city right now that we’ve ended up having to cook for ourselves.”

  Korinna giggled again. “Hey, I know you’re a good cook.” She beckoned to a clerk who hovered nervously near the paddock, obviously not used to following the duchess to such an unusual location. “Send a message to my housekeeper, Egina, and let her know that we’ll be having three extra guests for supper. I’m sure with time to prepare, she’ll come up with something quite delicious.”

  “It—it’s an honor,” stammered out Philagros, the first thing he’d said since Tatiana landed.

  She flashed him a sympathetic smile, grateful that she wasn’t the only one who was awkward around the duchess.

  Korinna grinned. “I don’t get to spend enough time with other riders. It’s a pleasure to have you.” With a farewell wave, she climbed over the fence and went to prepare Sungold for flying.

  Tatiana stared at the duchess as she left. “She isn’t really what I expected,” she said in a low tone to the other riders.

  Philagros nodded. “No disrespect meant, but is she always like that?” he asked Orivan.

  Orivan laughed. “Yeah, she’s not a stuck-up noble, if that’s what you mean. She’s friendly to most people, especially if you’re nice back to her.” He leaned against the fence. “Now, the duke, he’s a much sterner fellow, but don’t let that intimidate you. He respects those who work hard.”

  Tatiana gulped nervously. Of course, if they were going to the duchess’s house that night, she’d see the duke, too. She couldn’t imagine how she’d get through a meal with the two most powerful people in Kyratia.

  Philagros glanced at her with his own frightened look as if the same thoughts were going through his mind. “Um, do you have any advice for how we should behave tonight? Are we supposed
to dress up? I don’t have a change of clothes besides my other uniform.”

  Korinna VII

  Sungold ran the length of the paddock to pick up speed, then launched easily into the air. Korinna closed her eyes for a moment to savor the rush of the wind in her face and through her hair. As many times as she flew, she never quite got over the thrill of being aloft, free of the ground and all the responsibilities of her normal life. Nothing but pure joy.

  She opened her eyes and took a look around. As Tatiana had reported, the sky was clear in all directions—except one. From the south, thick fog was rolling in over the water, obscuring her view. Korinna smiled, grateful that the clouds would cool down the warm summer evening. She slept better when the air wasn’t so hot and stifling.

  Sungold turned north to the outer wall. They glided out past the moat—still well within the half-mile limit of their patrol—and angled to follow the curve of the city.

  It was no major strain to take a leisurely glide on the marewing’s back, and Korinna felt like she was doing fine. Perhaps she’d just stay up until the sun set in a few hours. She looked forward to talking to the other marewing riders, but she could wait until supper when they could all be comfortable in her home. Briefly, she wondered if she should have asked Galenos’s opinion before she invited them over, but she didn’t think he’d mind. He already knew Orivan and he was more comfortable around other riders than he was with politicians.

  She shifted a little in her saddle to keep her muscles from getting too stiff. She used to spend every day astride Sungold’s back, but things had changed so much in the last few months. Her center of gravity was off and her muscles were no longer toned for long flights, so she found herself having to adjust her posture as she flew. Fortunately, Sungold adjusted to all of her movements, keeping steady underneath without breaking her glide. Even with the time apart, Sungold was so bonded to her that she seemed to anticipate her commands almost before she signaled.