The Gryphon's Lair

by Kelley Armstrong

  “Or hungry.”

  I grin. “Guess you’ll find out which.”

  I jog off with the water. As Alianor washes the wound, I gesture for Dain to enter, my gaze on the nanny gryphon, making sure she sees what we’re doing. She eyes him and then prowls out as Dain shrinks back.

  “She’s going to sniff you,” I say.

  He nods, his face tight, and stands like a warrior at attention, only his eyes betraying his anxiety. When she reaches the bow on his back, she sniffs more, her wings tips fluttering, as if that’s her sign of concern.

  Before I can speak, Dain steps away from the gryphon, removes his bow, looks at her, and lays it on the ground. His fingers tremble as he does that, but he keeps the rest of his body steady.

  “Now may I enter?” he asks, his gaze flicking to me.

  One last snuffle of that massive beak, and then she returns to Alianor and the injured juvenile.

  “I think that’s a yes,” I say.

  As we enter the cave, talons skid over the rock behind us, and we turn as another young gryphon lands.

  Dain goes still, a vein in his neck throbbing as a light-brown juvenile approaches. She gives Dain a quick sniff. Then she sees her nanny in the cave, decides it’s all right, and goes to join Tiera and the young male with the bones.

  “No one’s going to believe this, you know,” Dain murmurs. “They’ll think we’re children making up wild stories.”

  “Are you suggesting we shouldn’t tell anyone?”

  He shakes his head. “No, just…” He looks around the aerie. “It’s like something out of a dream.”

  As I take him further inside, I point out the bones and the rough nests. “The adult barely fits in the cavern, so I’d theorize she’s the only one who stays with the young. Maybe the parents leave them with her once they’re old enough. Like a governess more than a nanny. She’s teaching them as she looks after them. Did you see any sign of other gryphons around?”

  “No. She’s the one we saw flying earlier. I bet the others aren’t far away. Just far enough, I hope, that we won’t run into any.”

  His gaze moves to the pile of feathers, and his eyes gleam.

  I chuckle. “That’s what I was thinking. Imagine gryphon-feather fletchings for all your arrows.”

  He walks across and bends over the pile. He doesn’t touch any of the feathers, and the older juvenile ignores him, though the youngest walks over to watch. He nudges Dain with his beak.

  “Telling me to get away from the feathers?” Dain asks.

  “No, I think he’s just curious. Getting your attention.”

  Dain rises and puts out a hand, like you would with a dog. The young gryphon sniffs it and then rubs against it and Dain tentatively strokes the beast’s cheek.

  “See, there are monsters who like you. You just need to like them back.”

  He snorts.

  I shrug. “Kinda true, Dain. Nobody wants to be around someone who doesn’t want them around.”

  He shifts and looks uncomfortable, and I guess he’s thinking I mean myself, too, which wasn’t what I intended, but it fits. As he pets the young gryphon, I say, “As for Tiera, I can’t explain that. She just doesn’t seem too keen on guys.”

  “Yeah, but I didn’t exactly go out of my way to be nice to her. When she was born…” Another uncomfortable roll of his shoulders. “I wasn’t there.”

  He means I didn’t bring him there. I didn’t wake him up, and he felt the sting of that, and it affected his attitude toward Tiera. It’s only now, seeing his expression, that I realize how much that had hurt.

  “It happened so fast,” I say. “Alianor brought me, and I was afraid of getting caught because I wasn’t supposed to leave my room. I didn’t even wake Rhydd—Jacko brought him. I’m sorry I didn’t think to get you.”

  His gaze dips, and he says gruffly, “No, you’re right. Of course you wouldn’t. I just…” A deep breath, his gaze on the young gryphon as he says quickly, “I took it personally, and I shouldn’t have. I jumped to the wrong conclusion.”

  The adult gryphon walks over to see what we’re doing. She eyes Dain petting the smallest juvenile but doesn’t interfere.

  I point to one pile of feathers. Then I carefully approach it and scoop up a handful, my gaze on hers. I tuck the feathers under my shirt, watching for any sign she disapproves. She stares at me and then nudges an entire pile to my feet.

  Alianor walks over. “I think she’s saying, ‘If you want my garbage, kid, take it all.’ ”

  I chuckle. “They use some to line their beds, but I guess the rest is just trash that doesn’t smell bad enough to haul outside.”

  Watching the gryphon, I give a handful of feathers to Dain. She only heads back to the wounded juvenile.

  “If she honestly doesn’t care, I’m loading up,” Dain says.

  “Take some for me.”

  He arches his brows, and I motion at my now-sleeveless tunic. “I’m a little low on shirt space. You can carry them.”

  “Is that an order, princess?”

  I sigh. “Take all you want, plus a few for Wilmot, and then if you have space, some for me, please.”

  “I was joking. I’ll take plenty for you, and I’ll make arrows to go with them.”

  “If the others managed to rescue my pack, I have those firebird feathers. I’ll give you some.”

  “Aww,” Alianor says. “I love it when you two are getting along. Now give each other a big hug…”

  Dain and I both stiffen.

  She chuckles. “Don’t push it, huh?” She plucks a few choice feathers from the pile. “I am going to have gryphon hair clips, along with the most amazing story ever.”

  “How’s the little guy?” I ask.

  “Stitched, cleaned and salved. He should heal. The cut didn’t do too much damage, but he probably would have died from the infection. We saved a gryphon today, Rowan. So in a few years, when farmers report their livestock being snatched by a gryphon with a scar across his hind leg, we can drink a toast to our success.”

  “Uh…”

  She throws an arm around my shoulders. “Kidding. Next time the kingdom is ravaged by a gryphon, you can just go out and have a talk with it. Persuade it to leave quietly in return for an ox or two.”

  I know she’s still joking, but I do feel as if we’ve made a breakthrough here. Gryphons are fearsome predators and intelligent beasts, and we need to remember that in our dealings with them.

  Even as I’m thinking that, the other young gryphons return to the aerie with food for their sick playmate. For most animals, a wounded comrade is a weak link, best left to die quickly. At most, the adults might feed him. Yet here, the other juveniles bring a hare, tear it up and feed their wounded friend.

  The nanny gryphon is pleased with Alianor’s surgical work, and it’s time for us to go. Time to leave Tiera. I don’t even remember that until I scoop up Jacko, who had wisely taken refuge with Malric as the cavern filled with young gryphons. When we start preparing to go, Tiera grabs her bone and comes after us…and the adult gryphon stops her.

  “I guess that means she’s allowed to stay,” Alianor murmurs.

  I nod, my throat closing.

  “Do you want a minute with her?” she asks.

  I nod again. I take Jacko over, and I pet and scratch Tiera, and Jacko rubs against her cheek, purring raggedly, as if he knows what’s coming. I set him on her back for a moment.

  “I need to leave you here,” I say to Tiera. “This is where you belong. It’s where you should have been, with gryphons who can look after you and teach you and play with you much better than I can.”

  My eyes fill, and I throw my arms around her neck in a fierce hug. “I loved getting to know you, Tiera. You’re a part of my life I will never forget.”

  I bury my face in her neck. Then I take Ja
cko, and I start to go. Tiera tries to follow. The adult gryphon stops her, and she fusses, confused but more annoyed than anything. It isn’t until I’m climbing down from the ledge that she begins to scream, her anger turning to fear as she realizes I’m going and she can’t follow.

  I want to just leave. Leave and not look back. But if I do that, she’ll think I forgot her. That we all left, and this nasty creature wouldn’t let her follow, and we didn’t even realize it, didn’t care. Like my nightmare of Jacko drowning and me ignoring him.

  Before I’ve disappeared below the ledge, I turn, tears streaming down my face as I look at her, now pinned under the gryphon’s taloned paw.

  “Goodbye, Tiera,” I call. “I’ll miss you.” Tears clog my throat. “I don’t think I’ll ever stop missing you.”

  I make eye contact with her, as hard as that is, so she knows she wasn’t left behind, that I’ve done this intentionally. Then I turn and hurry down the mountain, my vision blurred with tears, nearly tripping twice before Alianor takes my arm and insists on helping. When we finally reach the bottom and I’m still crying, I say, “I need a moment. I’m just…I’m just going over there.”

  I point blindly.

  “You can cry in front of us,” Dain says.

  Alianor shushes him and tells me to take as much time as I need, and I stumble into the forest until I’m far enough away to break down in sobs. Jacko hops onto my lap, and I hold him close, promising I’ll never do that to him, hoping he doesn’t think I’m a horrible person for doing it to Tiera.

  Jacko purrs raggedly and rubs against me. When I feel something brush my arm, I look to see Malric. Without thinking, I throw my arms around his neck. He doesn’t back away. Doesn’t even flinch, just leans against me as I bury my face in his ruff and cry until I can’t cry anymore.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  We’re on the move again. It’s late afternoon, and I knew I couldn’t indulge in my grief for long. Wilmot and Kaylein won’t head home without us, which means our primary goal is finding them. I decide we’ll head north and follow the river.

  We’re walking along the bank. Jacko is on my shoulders, Malric behind me, Dain and Alianor taking the lead. I’m quiet but feeling better. I’ve done the right thing. I try to focus on the wonders we saw, the new information we have on gryphons.

  “You should write a paper for the university in Kandos,” Alianor says.

  I frown over at her.

  “That’s where my sister is. She’s studying…” Alianor flutters her hands. “I’m not even sure what she’s studying. Some kind of science.”

  Now I’m staring. “Your sister is studying science in Kandos, and you never mentioned it?”

  She shrugs. “If it’s not medicine, I’m not interested. It’s probably not even practical science. She just likes to learn stuff.”

  “Weird,” I say, my voice heavy with sarcasm.

  She grins at me. “Yep. You guys would get along great. Anyway, she’s studying in Kandos, and she says people who discover new things write papers and present them at the university. You should do that.”

  “Sure,” Dain says. “Except for the fact that Kandos is on the other side of the mountains. In a whole different kingdom.”

  Tamarel doesn’t have a university. We’re a country with a lot of land, but not a lot of people. Jannah has told stories of nations across the mountains, cities of tens of thousands of people. Our biggest town has a thousand.

  We have schools and scholars and libraries, but if you want to learn medicine or law, you apprentice under someone who teaches you. Other studies are mostly done as a hobby.

  “You could still write a paper,” Alianor says.

  “I’ll need to write something,” I say, “and present it formally at court, for anyone who’s interested. That’s what Jannah did. She—”

  Something catches my eye, a motion in the sky, something bigger than a bird. I squint up, but I’m looking straight into the late-day sun, and all I catch is a flash of white wings. My stomach clenches. I can tell by the size it’s not an adult gryphon. Those wings, however, are the same size and color as a young gryphon’s.

  “Oh no,” Alianor says, following my gaze. “Tiera came after you.”

  “No…” Dain says. “That doesn’t look like…”

  A streak of white shoots down, heading straight for Malric, who glowers at it until the last second before he steps to the side, and Sunniva whinnies and skids to a halt. Jacko jumps off my shoulders and chirps in greeting, and Sunniva nudges him. Then she looks at Malric, who backs up with a “Don’t even try it” glare…so of course she tries it, prancing after him until she delivers a playful nip in the butt. Jacko tears off, and they whip along the riverbank as Malric stalks back to me, his look accusing.

  “I didn’t call her,” I say. “I can’t shout across the kingdom.”

  “You don’t need to,” Alianor says. “She sensed her person was upset and came flying to comfort her.”

  “Yeah, she hasn’t even glanced my way yet,” I mutter. Then I call, “Hey, Sunniva.”

  She keeps playing with Jacko. When I call again, her ears twitch, telling me she hears me, but she continues to ignore me.

  “Oh,” Alianor says with a chuckle. “Someone is annoyed with her person. You abandoned—” She clears her throat fast. “Hey, Sunniva! You could have followed at any time, right?

  Since you aren’t confined to a stall. And have wings. You could fly across the entire country if you wanted to.”

  “She didn’t want to,” Dain says. “She was perfectly happy in her pasture…until she realized Rowan wasn’t coming back quickly to brush her and give her apples. Now she’s pouting over a choice she made.”

  “I don’t have an apple or a currycomb,” I call. “So you came all this way for nothing.”

  She keeps running with Jacko. They tear off down the riverbed, and Jacko veers into the forest, Sunniva following.

  “I’ll give them a few moments,” I say. “Then we need to get moving.”

  Malric grunts, as if I’m being far too generous with the youngsters. He starts along the riverside, lumbering slowly, but making his point nonetheless.

  “Maybe we should pause here to fish,” Alianor says. “It seems like a good spot and—”

  Sunniva screams. A bloodcurdling scream that has me racing down the riverbank, shrieking her name. Dain and Alianor race after me, and Malric’s thumping paws follow. I barrel through the forest. Then Malric snarls and tears in front of me. I snarl back at him, but he’s still running, just keeping me in check.

  We burst past a cluster of trees, and there’s Sunniva on the ground, hooves flying, a dark-brown warg on top of her. Jacko is on the beast’s back, ripping into it with his teeth, and that’s the only thing stopping the warg from tearing out Sunniva’s throat.

  I already have my sword in hand, and I’m charging, yelling, “Jacko!” for him to get out of the way. He leaps off the warg at the last moment, and I strike with all my might. The warg falls from Sunniva, yowling in pain. Another blow and the beast races into the forest, blood trailing behind it.

  Alianor and Dain run over, and Alianor gapes at my bloodied sword before returning to Dain. “Apparently she can do more than cuddle monsters, huh?”

  I expect him to grumble, but he’s staring after the warg, still crashing away through the forest. Then he turns to me. My arms are shaking. My entire body is shaking. I want to collapse to the ground, but instead I spin, blade rising.

  “There’s never just one warg,” I say.

  Malric knows that, too, and he’s already scanning the forest. As he does, he sniffs the warg’s blood, and the rumble in his throat tells me what I already guessed.

  “We’ve been tracked,” I say. “That was one of the wargs we encountered this morning.”

  I back up to Sunniva and stroke her neck as s
he rises. She presses against me, shuddering.

  “Oh, now she’s happy to see you,” Alianor says, but she’s surveying the forest, too, her dagger out. “I’m going to check her out, okay?”

  I nod. Alianor circles Sunniva, who’s on her feet, the breath streaming from her nostrils hot against my neck as she presses her head into my shoulder, as if she can hide there.

  “She’s shaken, but there aren’t any wounds,” Alianor says.

  “And Jacko?” I can feel the jackalope at my feet, but I don’t dare tear my gaze from the forest.

  “He’s fine. He’s a good little pegasus buddy. Aren’t you—?”

  Alianor stops. I follow her gaze to see a gray-black muzzle poking through the bushes. Malric growls, and I glance to see he’s looking in a different direction…at a different warg.

  “Princess?” Dain says.

  He’s spotted a third warg, and when I scan the trees, I count a half-dozen of them, including the gray alpha female, leaving no doubt it’s the same pack.

  “There were only four at the stream this morning,” I say. “But you did say they were part of a larger pack.”

  “They brought reinforcements this time.” Alianor tries to keep her tone light, but her voice quavers.

  “How many do you count, princess?” Dain asks.

  “Six. No, wait, seven. Uh…eight.” I keep looking. “Nine. I count nine.”

  Dain curses under his breath. Even that curse comes out shaky.

  “I don’t suppose you can talk to wargs, too,” Alianor says.

  I want to joke back that even Malric ignores me, but the words won’t come. Of all the predator beasts in Tamarel, wargs are the one we know best. Like their wolf cousins, they prey on livestock in harsh weather, and we’re called to deal with them several times a year. They’re smarter than wolves, but that only means they’re harder to deal with, being nearly impossible to trick.

  When Jannah was called to a warg sighting, she would take her entire troop, plus horses. Even driving them back to the forest never comes without injury. Gryphons may strike terror into our hearts, but the beast that has killed the most hunters is the one right in front of us.