Legend Warrior

by Liara Woo

  A shrill, piercing cry split the morning air. Katie looked up, remembering the silhouettes of hawks she'd seen before the lightning strike flying above Shrikirlych. The sight brought to her mind a nostalgic image of Drorin, the red tailed hawk she'd befriended in Flagstaff. I wish I was there and not here, she mourned longingly. Not here, with my friends... dead...

  A birdlike figure glided down towards her. He had the curved golden beak, massive brown wings, and scaly forelegs of an eagle, but he had the grayed-orange hindquarters, muscular hind hind legs, and tufted tail of a lion.

  It's a griffin, Katie realized, a gleam of astonishment piercing through the turmoil of confusion, horror, and sadness in her soul. He landed in front of her, amber eyes gleaming, several heads taller than her and yet half of the size of Loriina. "We tried to interfere with the battle," he explained in a lilting masculine voice. "I'm afraid the dragon's reflexes were too good. I apologize for hitting your companion."

  "That was you?" Katie asked, stunned. The griffin nodded, regret shining in his gaze.

  "I am sorry. But what was the battle's cause?"

  Quickly Katie explained that she and her elven friend had accidentally ended up in a dragon's lair. When they escaped, the dragon had followed them and tried to kill them again. Then she changed the subject. "I need to read the Book of Legends. Can you help me with that?"

  "The sages keep that book," the griffin sighed, shaking his head slowly. "It is held there under lock and key until one named Legendheart emerges through the mists, seated upon a dragon's back. Only Legendheart can touch the book without being killed by an ancient spell, according to the prophecy of old."

  Katie's heart sank down to the bottom of her toes. "Legendheart is dead," she choked out, trying to accept the truth. "He was also known as Halthren. He fell off of the cliff, down the waterfall."

  "The pool beneath this fall is deep," mused the griffin, tilting his head. "He may have survived. Allow me to call the rest of my flock." He uttered a shrill cry, and four more griffins flew down to meet them from where they had been circling above. Together, the five creatures gracefully dived off of the cliff, wings spread, circling downwards. Katie closed her eyes, hardly daring to hope. Please find them please find them please find them please... she chanted in her mind, fists clenched. But when she heard the gentle sweeping sound of feathered wing beats and opened her eyes, the returning griffins were alone, and their leader bowed his head. "We found only the body of a massive green dragon. The one you were fighting."

  Katie's mind told her that if Shrikirlych hadn't survived, then her friends were also dead. But in her heart she couldn't accept that. It was too inconceivable to believe. "They're alive," she protested, tears stinging her eyes as she realized how unconfident she sounded.

  The leader of the griffins gazed tenderly at her. "Perhaps an exception can be made regarding the Book of Legends. I will ask Emperor Occupinvi. Come, child."

  Katie hesitated briefly, still clinging to the faint hope that Halthren and Loriina were alright and waiting for her somewhere in this area; then she grabbed hold of his feathers and pulled herself up just behind his wing joint. The griffin half-turned his head to look at her with one of his amber eyes. "By the way, my name is Fendilon." He uttered a shrill cry and the five griffins took flight, gliding north.

  * * *

  Only minutes later, two bedraggled figures washed out of the river miles from the waterfall; the swift-moving current had dragged them along like mere leaves. Loriina was one of them. She'd had a tough time; the water pounding down on her had given her bruises all over her body, battering against her scales. The only reason she lived was because she'd landed on Shrikirlych's side, and he'd cushioned her fall.

  Halthren had already been underwater for several seconds, clutched in the green dragon's paw, and he was mostly dead by the time the pounding water had pushed her down far enough to reach him. She pried him free and kicked out towards the surface, nearly drowned by the current tugging her back down. A series of rapids pushed her downriver and then at last to a calm stretch of water, where she'd wearily swum to shore and collapsed on the coarse gray sand. By then, Halthren was barely hanging on. He wasn't breathing, and his limp body was as cold as a block of ice. Trying to keep him alive, Loriina had pulled him close to her before she lost consciousness, knowing that the heat from her scales should warm him up. With hope, he would live.

  The two of them lay on the shore for several hours before a young golden griffin landed before them. He transformed Loriina back into a human using his own magic, and then he carried them both back to a cave in which he'd built his nest.

  Arian

  Arian

  Halthren cracked his eyes open a few centimeters, taking in his surroundings. All he could make out were various shades of brown blurs. He blinked, and his vision cleared a little bit. He was staring up at a rough-looking ceiling of stone. There were walls around him, but they were certainly not made out of rock. They poked at his sore body, and they were hard. Twigs? Halthren guessed. Walls made of twigs. He blinked again, and this time he could see that it wasn't just twigs. There were fluffy down feathers, too; brownish gray and larger than any feathers he'd seen before. They were soft and comfortable, but the twigs still poked him.

  I'm in…a giant nest. I must be hallucinating. A giant bird's nest… Fear jolted through him. I've been taken by a roc! Again!

  He closed his eyes again, hoping that he was indeed hallucinating. He didn't want to almost be eaten…again. Wait. How many times now have I been almost eaten? Three? There had been the sea serpents in the Ocean of Storms…and now the giant bird keeping him in its nest…but what had the third one been? He was certain there was a third one…what was it? He couldn't remember. How odd. He felt that it had something to do with Loriina and Katie. But they hadn't been trying to eat him, had they? No; they were his friends. They would never do something like that.

  Halthren stopped trying to remember. It made his mind hurt, and he was in enough pain already without a headache. Every inch of his body throbbed; he was covered in bruises, with a broken rib or two. Pain shot constantly up his left arm; his broken arm. His forehead felt as if it had been walloped by a heavy club.

  The tangy scent of herbs filled his nostrils, sharpening his mind and keeping him awake. I wish it would go away. I want to sleep!

  At that moment he noticed a tickling in his throat. Perhaps he'd accidentally swallowed a feather. He coughed weakly, the action shaking his shoulders and making something in his chest throb with pain as he tried to get rid of the tickling sensation. It didn't go away, and then he realized that his mouth was dry. He opened his eyes again, a little bit wider this time. "Where am I?" he croaked, not expecting an answer. He just needed to hear himself say something. He wasn't quite sure why. His mind was wandering from one thing to the next without any real connection.

  "You're safe," someone answered. He could tell that the speaker was male; but whoever it was had a voice as smooth and warm as fresh milk. "I'm glad you're awake. Drink this."

  He heard the flutter of wing beats, and after a few moments he saw a cup being pressed to his lips. A hot, burning liquid that tasted like apples trickled into his mouth, and he swallowed, although his throat ached. He could feel the warm fluid running through his body; it was a nice sensation. But on the outside he was in too much agony to truly relish the feeling. He closed his eyes as confusing images raced through his mind: falling while grasped in a gigantic dragon's paw, flashes of blue and white, and feeling as though all of the warmth had been stolen from his body. He remembered vaguely that Loriina had fallen with him…or maybe she was the one who caused him to fall.

  What happened to Loriina? Halthren wanted to ask, but all he could manage was "Happened…Loriina." He coughed again, the annoying feather still stuck in his throat, and then he grimaced as his chest burned again. It finally occurred to him that he wasn't nearly strong enough to cough out the feather, especially with broken ribs, so he allowed h
imself to go limp, breathing as deeply as he could. His eyelids slowly fluttered closed as he surrendered to fatigue.

  * * *

  When he next awoke, he felt more aware of his surroundings, and it wasn't as difficult to breathe, even though each time he inhaled and exhaled his breath shook from the effort. Leaning on his mostly uninjured right arm, he pushed himself into a sitting position and assessed the damage sustained to his body. He noticed that he'd lost Katie's cloak when he'd fallen, but at least he still had his leggings, even though they were torn and ragged; his legs felt severely bruised. He could hardly feel anything in his left arm because of the tight wrappings covering the broken bone, and there were also bandages on his chest. Something cold and slimy was pressed beneath them…an ointment of some kind. Curious, he slowly unwound the dressings with his good hand and saw a dark red burn spread over his torso. "What happened?" he murmured in shock.

  "You were struck by lightning." There was that silky voice again. Looking around, Halthren saw a massive hawk perched on the edge of the nest. He gasped in surprise, his ribs flaring with pain, and recoiled.

  "Are…you…going…to…eat me?" he asked in a shallow, trembling voice.

  The hawk laughed. "Of course not! I'm trying to heal you, because you were struck by a griffin. I have a feeling it was a mistake and should not have happened, so I am simply trying to make right the wrong."

  Memories of the battle suddenly crowded his mind, and his head spun dizzily. He sank back into the feathers, struggling for breath. The dragon…Shrikirlych…he used me as a shield for the lightning. Strangely enough he couldn't remember much more about getting hit, and everything that happened afterwards was a confusing blur. He swallowed, again noting how dry his mouth was. As if sensing his thoughts, the hawk fluttered into the nest and held out a flask of water. It was then that he realized that half of the hawk wasn't a hawk at all: it was a lion. He was being treated by a griffin.

  "You must be thirsty," he commented. "You haven't had anything to drink for three days."

  Halthren's eyes widened. Three days! What had happened to Katie? Had she found the griffins? Or had the poisonous green creatures gotten her? He shuddered. "I must go to her," he said hoarsely.

  "You're not going anywhere until you can walk on your own," the griffin commanded, holding out the flask. "Drink this water before you get more dehydrated than you already are."

  Leaning on his right side, Halthren pushed himself straighter. When he accidentally bent his left arm, white-hot agony shot through him, and he couldn't suppress a cry of pain as he fell back. Using his right arm instead, cursing himself for his foolishness, he pushed himself against the side of the nest and rested his back on the poking, prodding twigs. Then he took the flask in his good hand, bringing it to his chapped lips and quickly drinking the cool water sloshing within. "I need to leave," he replied when he'd finished. I told Katie I'd protect her. I must get to her.

  The griffin shook his head firmly. "If you hadn't noticed, you're barely alive and I wouldn't be surprised if you died in the next few hours. The burn on your chest and your mangled arm are particularly worrying. Fortunately for you, there is a stream nearby that only I know about, and it can heal any injuries. However, I don't dare leave you now, because… I don't want to come back and find you dead."

  Halthren blinked. "That bad?" he asked hoarsely. He felt terrible pain, of course, but it wasn't unbearable. He'd been through much worse than this before.

  "I gave you a lot of herbal painkillers," the griffin explained. "If I hadn't, you'd probably be moaning and writhing right now."

  Halthren looked at the burns on his chest again. Then he glanced at his upper arm; it was grotesquely misshapen because of the missing chunk of flesh. The bandages tied around it were stained with silvery-red blood. He shuddered, feeling nauseous, and looked away.

  "You're still losing blood from that injury," the griffin informed him. "I had quite a struggle trying to get it to stop gushing like a waterfall."

  Halthren did not at all appreciate the waterfall imagery. With a groan he fell back onto his side, feeling faint, sick, and weak. "But I must get to her," he murmured. It was more of a whimper, actually. Fear gnawed at his insides—fear and a constant painful ache.

  "When you say 'her', are you referring to the dragon? Because she's here, and she's perfectly fine. She's been anxiously waiting for you to recover."

  Halthren shook his head. "No, not Loriina. Another person. She's not from here."

  The griffin shook his head. "Well, neither are you."

  "No—what I mean is, she isn't from Allagandria."

  The griffin's eyes widened. "She is the Earthling, then! The legend of the elves has come true! What is she like?"

  Halthren smiled faintly, feeling that warm fluttering sensation beneath his sternum again. "She's the nicest person I've ever met. She's amazing and talented, and beautiful...she has red hair and bright green eyes. She's brave, and courageous, and noble…"

  The griffin's beak dropped open. "If the elven prophecies are true…then perhaps the words of the Sages of Sky were correct as well! What is your name?"

  "Halthren," he answered hesitantly. The griffin looked disappointed. Then a flicker of hope shone in his eyes.

  "Do you ever go by another name?"

  "I've been called Legendheart because of my fondness for old myths and legends," Halthren responded, resisting the urge to shrug his shoulders. A sharp twig was digging into his side, but he wasn't strong enough to adjust his position.

  "Then you are the one destined to read the Book of Legends," the griffin whispered.

  Halthren blinked. Apparently that's significant. But why? "Yes. My friend and I must read the Book of Legends—"

  "No, no, not you and your companion," the griffin interrupted. "Only you, Legendheart. Only you can read the Book."

  Halthren tried to respond, but his words came out as a strangled cough. He coughed so hard that his entire frame shook, and when at last the coughs subsided he felt even weaker; his ribs were burning unbearably and his aching throat felt raw and sore. Sore. Swore. Sword. My sword! He looked up at the griffin desperately. "Where is my white sword?" he asked in a slurred voice.

  "It's beside the nest," the griffin answered. "O Great Legendheart! I am honored to meet you, O Magnificent and Powerful Elf!" He bowed low.

  Halthren laughed. His laughs turned into coughs, and he had another violent coughing fit before at last he could croak, "There is no need for that. I am no ruler, and I am no one of truly significant importance. You shouldn't bow to me."

  The griffin looked confused. "Then how should I act? For millennia, your name has been spoken and whispered on the wind. The tale of how you will read the Book of Legends has been told to every hatchling in the land. You are Legendheart. Meeting you is similar to meeting a…a…a…a magnificent, immortal ruler of divine power!"

  Halthren gasped and experienced a third coughing fit. "No, you've got it all wrong," he managed through the pain splitting his chest into two. "I'm definitely not He who you speak of, and please don't treat me like I'm Him anymore. Please…I'm just a normal elf. I can live, I can die. I'm not perfect. I don't know what may have been said about me, but I am no more a supreme being than you are." He sighed, feeling even wearier from his words. "But now you know why I must leave."

  "You can, and you will, as soon as I'm able to fetch the healing water from the magical river nearby. The one that cures all injuries and all illnesses." The griffin looked downhearted. "I already told you, though, that if I leave you alone for long enough to fetch the water, you would surely die."

  "No, no I wouldn't," Halthren protested huskily. "I'm speaking to you and everything. I really don't feel good, but I'm certain I'd last long enough for you to return. Or maybe Loriina could carry me there—if she wanted to..."

  "She would," the griffin affirmed. "The problem with that is… you're in no position to travel anywhere. Winter comes early in Fliuviel, and though leaves have o
nly just started to change in other places, Fliuviel is experiencing its first snows of winter. If I brought you to the river you'd get too cold and fall ill…"

  "But if the water is truly as potent as you say, then I wouldn't be cold or ill at all after we reach it. Well... without a tunic I'd still be cold…do you have any warm clothing?"

  The griffin nodded. "Yes, but you don't want to know where I got it."

  "Where?" Halthren asked, his curiosity ignited.

  "In a dragon's abandoned lair, on a skeleton," the griffin answered with a shudder. Halthren grimaced, knowing that he'd almost become a similar discarded skeleton in a dragon's lair.

  The griffin chuckled at his expression. "I told you you didn't want to know. My name is Arian."

  "Arian," Halthren said thoughtfully, testing the name on his tongue. "It sounds nice."

  Arian tilted his head. "Thanks. I'll get the dragon and we can leave in a few minutes."