Last Stand of the Blood Land

by Andrew Carpenter

  Unbeknownst to Sage, Kaizen had moved around the fire to sit next to Ignatius, his great beak sitting next to his rider’s legs. The Cherub was eying her with curiosity.

  “It took me days to get that close and I had to take away their food.”

  “Females understand each other.”

  He shook his head in wonder. “I guess I brought the right Nymph. What will you call her?”

  She looked over his shoulder at the swords on his back. “Katana.”

  “Katana,” he said with a nod. “I think Kaizen and Katana are Nymo’s parent’s. It’s a fitting name.”

  Sequoia was the last to appear out of the darkness, a bundle of logs under his arms as well as a small sack of food. He passed out the meager rations, all of their meat having been used to train the griffins, and then built up the fire. Sage felt the camaraderie of the trail as she looked at the Cherubim and sensed the promise of the griffins. We will build a new clan, something never seen before. She felt awed at the privilege and more excited than daunted by the challenge. They spoke of plans and logistics, how they would utilize the kudzu and how they would train the griffins. Her female instinct revolted at Ignatius’ plans to control the animals by taking their eggs and rewarding them with meat until they forgot how to hunt. In time I will show them a better way. Late in the night, when Sequoia had fallen asleep, his head resting on a leather sack full of books, she worked up the courage to ask Ignatius about the place he had been when he stared into the fire.

  “What will be our place in the war?”

  He looked at her for a moment and she knew he was oscillating between seeing the mate he had dreamed of and the reality of the warrior philosopher he wasn’t ready for.

  “I once asked my father about war. I saw the way two fires burned in his eyes but I couldn’t understand, I couldn’t see what he saw. Now that I’ve seen it I wish we had been born in a different time, before or after this. But we cannot change time, so our part in this war will be what it must.”

  She looked up at the stars, as clear and intriguing as ever but her fascination with them was diminished as she considered his words.

  “What must we do?”

  He followed her eyes up, letting them adjust away from the fire blindness for a moment before answering her question.

  “We must produce Riders, warrior’s who ride the skies of the North, and we must produce as many of them as we can. We must supply them with food, shelter, and weapons so they can focus on the missions that will destroy the South.”

  “What will those missions be?”

  “We will carry messages and supplies to places they are needed faster than our enemies can react. We will strike them where they are weakest, and we will kill their most important leaders. Our mission will be to become the most efficient warriors the world has ever seen.”

  She nodded, understanding the part she was supposed to play in the destruction of the South. There has to be more than efficient killing.

  “What about this place, what about him,” she pointed to Sequoia and his books. “Is there more to our plan, more to you, than being willing to kill with efficiency?”

  He answered without taking his eyes off the stars, their light growing as the fired dimmed to orange coals. “This place, these griffins, they are here to give us a home that the South can never take. We will bring members of each race here and we will breed griffins and kudzu that will let us keep fighting. But there are treasures here, books, ancient creations of the Giants and Dwarves, knowledge, and Sequoia is learning how to unlock it. Our art, our history, a place where we can build a future where our children don’t have to kill, that’s what this place is.”

  She lay back against Katana, understanding the importance of what they would build. She felt the kudzu growing and felt safe knowing the Cherubim were near, that Ignatius was near, and the last thing she saw before drifting into dreams was the stars, stars she dreamed her children would enjoy if the Riders were willing to do what time had tasked them.

  When she awoke Ignatius was gone and she resented his absence even though she knew where he was. That day she alternated her time between familiarizing Katana with her presence, utilizing the playful Nymo to make the big female comfortable, and tending to the kudzu. All her life she had taken her turn guarding the precious root of her family’s life-giving plant, sometimes keeping it warm through cold winters and sometimes tending to the vines and seedpods that grew so miraculously fast. It was forbidden to leave the priceless kudzu pod undefended least some intruder or accident would kill it and so later in the afternoon, when Katana headed further up the valley, she opted to stay with the plants, adding to the latticework of sticks that guided the vines. She had begun to extend the framework from the first level of the pagoda, pausing every few hours to climb down and check the double progress of their two plants below. The work was methodical, and she found it easy to let her body drift through the motions while her mind drifted through the clouds. Archeo hunted while she worked, obediently bringing her a young pheasant and a squirrel that she skinned, cutting off hunks to refill her meat pouch despite the growl in her belly. Patience. If she could get the kudzu producing pods she would have time to hunt, to train Katana, and to follow her mind into the limitless skies that had been opened to her.

  That evening Sequoia took a break from his studies and caring for the castle that would soon house many more of them, to bring her the koona. The little red beetles buzzed angrily in their cage, instinct driving them to endlessly search for kudzu pods. She fed them grass from the meadow, sticking the it through the cracks in the cage, and marveled as they devoured the tender shoots as quickly as she could push them through. The cage was overflowing with the insects making the Cherubim’s ignorance at the prodigious breeding rate of the bugs obvious to the Nymph. She took the time to weave a second and a third cage out of twigs that would take the beetles several days to chew through, remembering why so many of their tribe were required to hunt the koona to keep them from over populating before the winter killed them off. She released four, watching them dart into the vines that now twisted at waist level where she had weaved them into the framework, searching fruitlessly for male kudzu flowers before climbing into female pods to wait out the winter. Now we have food.

  That night Ignatius returned with Rondo followed by Hael, the graceful Angel chasing Kaizen playfully down out of the night sky. It had been years since she had seen an Angel and the white wings and graceful power of this father of the Cherubim made her shake her head in awe. She recognized the smooth confidence exuded by Rondo when he greeted her, the big Cherub’s bravado counteracting the quiet thoughtfulness of Sequoia and the reserved desire of Ignatius. I’m getting out numbered here.

  That night the five of them moved the colorfully translucent griffin’s eggs from the nest the catbirds were constructing further up the meadow. They placed them down next to the kudzu pagoda that was now strong enough to protect the plants from any missteps by the massive creatures. Ignatius guided them as the different tribes and races merged into one pride. She watched the way he worked with each of them, the way he alternated between firm authority and gentle friendship with both griffins and Riders. The overbearing regard he had paid her when they had been alone on the trail months before disappeared when he was focused on his work, too busy to maintain the awe that had driven her to push his desires away. I wonder if he could learn to be himself with me.

  The days fell into a rhythm, each easier than the last as Ignatius returned with more and more recruits. To Hael and Rondo he added Fleuron and Bennu, trusted warriors who Sequoia informed her had fought with Ignatius when they had captured Therucilin. While Ignatius was clearly their leader, he had no choice but to lead through delegation until more of them could ride. Sage was keenly aware that there were only nine griffins in total that were big enough to ride, Nymo and two others being too small. I need to get Katana to carry me so I can fetch another Nymph rider. Ignatius had promised her she could bring mo
re of her people to the castle which would free her up to obtain even more kudzu pods and she wanted her tribe to be well represented among the new force. She was progressing faster than any of the others and was already able to sit on Katana’s back when, having given Kaizen several days to rest, Ignatius brought the last Cherubim rider to the mountain.

  Sage knew she should have been happy to see another female Rider, but she knew instantly from the way Stratera looked at Ignatius that this member of the group would change things. Her dark blue eyes and blue wings were as beautiful as her dark complexion, her skin tanned after months of working with the Plainswatchers to complement the pheasant feathers she kept in her raven hair. While she taught the Cherub female how to build the extensive latticework of the pagoda that now included storerooms and dens for the griffins, stretching in all directions and up over the castle walls, she noticed the smooth beauty with which the female Cherub moved and knew that she hadn’t given Ignatius any reason to turn Stratera down. Watching them talk around the fire at night, a fire where each of the riders ate with the griffins that were becoming their constant companions, she realized she was falling for Ignatius. I’m jealous. She laughed at herself, marveling at how seeing the Cherub lead their strange new pride without giving her undo attention had made her crave him. Don’t make the same mistake he did. She knew she had to convince him to chase her again before the necessities of war got in the way.

  In the magic shadow of the living pagoda, which glowed where koona had been ensconced in kudzu pods, she rose to join him as he left Stratera by the fire to bring in a fresh pile of wood. He nodded at her, happy to have the help, and she knew he was too unaware to notice the glare Stratera fired at Sage.

  They walked in the light of the moon, Kaizen and Katana silhouetted by stars above them as they kept watch in the darkness. They moved along the creek that flowed into the castle and up to the edge of the meadow where they could gather the low, dry branches of the pines that dotted the mountainside. She felt the dew on the grass as her moccasins maneuvered to keep her next to him, his swift moving feet aided by his wings. When he started gathering wood she laughed and heard him stop his labor in surprise at the sound. He actually thinks I came out here to gather firewood.

  “Remember those children we are building this world for?” she said, playfulness thick in her voice.

  She could see his confusion in the moonlight and she reached out to straighten his hair, pushing the feathers over his shoulders and tracing the scars on his cheek before stepping closer and feeling the muscles in his arm.

  “Yes?”

  “Someone has to make them.”

  She saw him smile shyly and felt his muscle flex instinctually as he finally understood her, reaching around her back with his arms and pulling her small frame close. His fingers felt good in the small of her back, gripping her tight through her woven jerkin. She remembered falling back into his arms when they rode Kaizen and looked up into his warrior face. His body smelled like the griffins and the pinesap that was on his calloused hands from gathering wood, but his breath smelled sweet like the kudzu pods that they had eaten for dinner.

  “What would a Cherub Nymph child be like?” he asked in a whisper of smoke.

  “Fast,” she whispered, feeling him grow hard against her. She pushed him back against the trunk of a pine, pressing herself against him and climbing onto her toes so her breasts pushed into his chest. They kissed, and she felt him letting go of the calm nonchalance that he had carried for her since he had returned from the west. His hands moved up her back, strong fingers kneading her muscles and pushing her even more firmly into his embrace. She could hear Kaizen and Katana in the trees nearby and she felt the animal desire she shared with them driving her to kiss him harder, to grab his feathers and pull them around her where they could caress her bare legs.

  He picked her up and spun them, landing with her on top of his chest in the soft needles of the forest floor. She felt her nipples growing hard as his instinct to penetrate her caused his hips to push himself against her. The feeling of his hard shaft pressing against her sent a wave of desire through her body and she pulled open his vest while he ripped off her jerkin with his wings. She pressed her naked breasts into his chiseled stomach, kissing his chest and running her fingers through his hair. She felt him cringing with want and knew she could deliver his fantasy. Her long braid tickled his chest as she sat up, her hand between his legs.

  Wait. The innate female knowledge of desire, her knowledge that he might not want her if he could have her, caused her to pause, bringing her hands up to playfully pin his arms at his sides.

  “Is this what you want?”

  “I want you,” he answered.

  She kissed him, feeling his confusion.

  “If you have me tonight I’m not ready to be yours.”

  He pulled his elbows into his sides where he could get more leverage and bucked his hips to lift her into the air. He had rolled her over in a second and pinned her just as she had pinned him, his weight pressing her hips into the soft bed of pine needles. She felt the fire in him, the animal desire to follow his emotions. She could see it burning and it made her want him more for a moment, but then he fought it into submission and she felt his grip loosening, felt the lust bordering on violence receding, and he slid off her. She nuzzled her head on his shoulder and placed her hand on his racing chest, feeling his wing under her naked back and resting her leg over his so that they melded together looking up through the boughs at the night sky.

  “Its war,” he said.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I can wait for us to be ready, but we might be dead before that happens, before we get a chance to be together.”

  She thought about him, the most famed warrior in the North. If he fears we cannot survive, what hope is there?

  He stroked her hair, pulling it loose from its braid, and she felt the exhaustion in his body, days spent flying, nights spent working with the riders, and she wondered if it was more than jealousy that had driven her to follow him out into the woods. She stroked his hard body and felt his soft touch on her skin. Kaizen and Katana came through the trees to bed down near the pair of young warriors and she felt herself drifting away. Perhaps I wouldn’t have stopped if I knew what he knows of war.

  The morning light woke them together and she realized he had wrapped them in his wings, blanketing them in warmth above while the heat from the sleeping griffins sheltered them from the sides. He squeezed her, his hands exploring the sensual curves and firm muscles that she knew he wanted to remember. That memory will keep him away from Stratera. She stroked his skin, realizing that he didn’t get to feel contact from another being in his violent life as a warrior on the trail. He enjoyed the bliss, cuddled warm against her, for a few minutes before duty roused him from his dream.

  “Promise me we can collect wood again soon?” he said with a grin.

  She plucked one of his feathers painfully and slid it into her braid, nodding shyly in response to his question. She preened a feather from Katana kindlier than she had from the Cherub, wishing she had one of her own to mark him with. She knelt next to him, adding the feather to the assortment he already carried with him. I wonder what the others represent.

  “Now I can carry you with me,” he said happily.

  She nodded again before squeezing his arm and feeling his chest while they kissed in the cool quiet morning. They made their way together back towards the pagoda where the rest of the pride was already up and about the various tasks that were becoming part of routine of the castle. Someone would tend to the eggs, keeping watch on the mothers yet asserting control by maintaining a presence among the young. Others would hunt, chasing down game to use in training the three young griffins and rewarding the older griffins for letting riders climb onto their backs. Normally, Sage would be somewhere working with an assistant to gather kudzu pods and build, separating out the vines that would become harnesses for the griffins from those that would build th
e infrastructure they needed to expand the group. Today, however, she was finally ready to ride. They were heading to pickup another Nymph to join them at the castle.

  She used a saddle of her own design, a saddle that built upon Ignatius’ first crude attempt and incorporated the knowledge of her people. It could carry more weight in the saddlebags and she had built a brace that would enable her to lean forward with her legs resting further back so the wind and strain of holding herself on the catbird didn’t exhaust her. With Ignatius and Kaizen next to her, she felt the burden of being the only Nymph, the only member of the pride without wings, slipping away. I can go anywhere.

  She pulled up on the reigns and sensed her bond with Katana blossoming into trust in the animal’s airborne skills. The ground pulled away and she felt the catbird push off into the misty mountain morning, water droplets pressing against her skin while the familiar sights of their meadow disappeared beneath them. She had dressed warmer this time in preparation for the cold high-altitude air and she felt thankful for the lessons of her first flight that she had incorporated into her saddle. With a whoop that was answered by Archeo and the griffins, she called out to the Cherub rider to get his position.

  “AYYHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”

  They pushed up through the mists, finally breaking above the clouds. The inexperienced griffin fought her for a while until she spotted her mate higher up in the bright sunshine. Ignatius had more experience directing his mount and they coopted that experience to train Katana to follow Sage’s guidance. It was hard, for that second ride, for the earth adapted Nymph to overcome her fears so she could focus on flying. After an hour or so in the air she noticed herself loosening up and she was able to take in the view of the mountain peaks pushing through the cloud layer beneath them. Unbelievable.