by Chrys Cymri
‘Manners,’ said the second arrival. ‘Puffling, my name is Ysbaddaden. You’ve already met my wife, Aingeal.’
Raven eyed them both. ‘She was going to hurt my nose.’
‘You were going to attack my herd,’ Aingeal said with a sniff. ‘Learn this now, puffling. Never pick a fight with a were-cat.’
‘I certainly don’t,’ Ysbaddaden said with a chuckle. ‘And I’m what’s called a gryphon, in case you haven’t seen one of us before. What’s your name, puffling?’
He bit back the first name which came to his tongue. ‘Raven. I am Raven.’
Audrey’s mixed scent of flowers and sweat announced its presence even before it called out, ‘Aingeal, Ysbaddaden! Good day!’
The gryphon bowed and spoke in the words Audrey preferred to use. Raven could only pick up a few phrases. ‘Why,’ he asked the were-cat, ‘doesn’t it speak like we do?’
‘First off,’ Aingeal said, ‘Audrey is female, so she’s a she. A female human, actually. And she’s speaking her own language, English. She doesn’t know that much Welsh. That’s what we’re speaking. Welsh.’
‘Why have more than one language?’ Raven demanded.
‘Different countries.’ The were-cat laughed. ‘Different worlds. She came through an air crossing, her and several other humans. Their flying machine broke when it hit the ground, and they couldn’t leave. Audrey’s the only one left. And she’d leave, if she could.’
Now Raven was even more confused. This was a pleasant place. There was prey, and shelter, and a lake in which to bathe. Why would she want anything else? Aingeal must be mistaken. ‘Why hasn’t she left, if that’s what she wants to do?’
‘The mountains form a natural barrier. There’s no path through.’ The were-cat turned her head towards the herd. ‘Flying is the best way to get in and out.’
Raven realised that feathered wings were tucked up along the bodies of the cattle. One of them, as if aware of his gaze, extended the feathered pinions. Sunlight danced along the black plumage.
Ysbaddaden chuckled at something Audrey had said. He spoke in her language, then, with a glance at Raven, said, ‘But let’s have a look at what we’ve brought this time. Fair prices, as always.’
Set off to one side of the herd, laid out in a neat line, were leather pouches of varying sizes. Raven watched, intrigued, as the were-cat’s body shimmered. A moment later, Aingeal had a body which was similar to Audrey’s, although only half the human’s height. Aingeal drew some blue fabric over her bare body, and then opened the parcels.
Ysbaddaden came to sit beside Raven as the two women worked their way along the row. ‘We’re traders,’ he said. ‘Travel from Llanbedr in the spring, work our way around the country, sometimes even as far as Alba. Then back to the city in time for winter. We pass by here both ways, in and out, so we stop by.’
Raven tried to make sense of his words. ‘Trade? Llanbedr?’
‘Trade is when you have something the other person wants, and she has something you want. So you give each other what they want, and both of you are happy. And Llanbedr, well, it’s a place with thousands of houses. A large town.’
‘Who lives there?’
‘All sorts. Dragons, unicorns, gryphons, weres, vampires. Harpies and dwarves and elves.’
A wistful tone in the gryphon’s voice made Raven cock his head. ‘Why don’t you stay there?’
‘It’s safer for me and Aingeal to be out in the countryside.’ Ysbaddaden whistled a sigh. ‘Lots of people don't think a gryphon and a were-cat should marry. I was thrown out of my clan, and Aingeal had to leave her clowder.’
‘Why? What’s wrong with you being married?’
The gryphon’s cheek feathers fluffed. ‘We’re different species. Cadw ar Wahân had a couple of goes at us. Very nasty.’
Raven felt his horns and ears twist. ‘I don't understand.’
Ysbaddaden chuckled. ‘I like you, kid. By the time we come through again, that wing of yours should be healed. Come flying with us.’
‘Flying,’ Raven echoed. He looked up at the sky. The memory of a dark shape dropping down towards him, claws and teeth outstretched, made him shudder. ‘Walking is good too.’
‘Walking won’t get you out of this valley.’ The gryphon pointed his beak at Audrey. ‘She did try several times before giving up.’
Audrey had chosen several items, which now rested in a small pile. The two women started to argue, and Raven felt his spines stiffen. Then he relaxed as he realised that the debate was good-natured. In the end, Audrey reached into a small pouch on her belt and pulled out several stones. The flash of colour tugged Raven to his feet.
‘Easy, lad,’ Ysbaddaden said with a laugh. ‘Yes, those are gems, and several nuggets of gold. She found them buried in the vegetable patch.’
‘Gems,’ Raven said longingly. ‘Gold.’
‘You’re a dragon, all right. How long ago did you hatch?’
‘He’s a search dragon,’ Aingeal called out. ‘Born, not hatched.’
‘What does that mean?’ Raven asked. ‘Search dragon?’
The were-cat nodded at Audrey, and the human handed over payment before collecting up her goods. ‘That’s what people call you,’ Aingeal said as she wandered over. ‘Probably because a search dragon can find anything he puts his mind to. Goes with the green-black scales and the live birth.’
‘And my mother trying to kill me?’ he asked bitterly, watching as Audrey went into the building.
Aingeal reached up to pat his snout. ‘Matriarchs don’t trust search dragons. You lot know where to find their treasure, and how to find out their secrets. The pufflings who escape their dams have formed a settlement. When you can fly, look for it. It’s a place where you could find a home.’
‘Home,’ Raven echoed. He glanced around the valley, the lake, the building behind him. Wasn’t this his home?
‘It’s a big world out there,’ Ysbaddaden said. ‘Once you’re up and flying, you’ll find out. Wings can take you anywhere.’
‘And usually into trouble,’ Aingeal added. ‘We're staying here a few days, Raven, so our cattle can recover their strength. It’s a long flight over those mountains. You’ll leave them alone, understand?’
‘I understand,’ Raven said reluctantly. ‘But I'm really tired of eating fish.’
Ysbaddaden chuckled. ‘That’s easily rectified. Tomorrow morning, we’ll go hunting together. There’s a herd of deer in the forest. I’ll flush them out, and you stand ready to bring a couple down.’
‘Good idea,’ Aingeal said. ‘And bring back a haunch for me and Audrey.’
<><><><><><>
Raven held his head high as he carried the half deer back to the house. Blood splattered down his snout and legs, still warm, a reminder that he was meant to hunt and eat fresh meat. Fish and carrion were always going to be second best.
Ysbaddaden had flown back and so arrived before him. ‘You’d never have known it was his first hunt,’ the gryphon told Aingeal as Raven lowered the carcass to the ground. ‘A clean dispatch of two does. I brought down the third.’
Raven burped happily. ‘Good to be full.’
‘Now, lad, remember how you saw me do it,’ Ysbaddaden said. ‘It’s the speed as you swoop down which helps to knock the life out of them. Practice on bushes once your wing’s finished healing.’
Audrey emerged from the building, sharpening a knife against a flat stone. Raven pointed at the deer with his horns, and said in her language, ‘For you.’
She responded with words he didn’t understand, then added, ‘Thanks. Good hunter.’
Raven straightened and arched his neck. Suddenly he wanted to gallop back to the forest and return with a dozen deer to lay down before her. His feet shuffled in the grass and he looked back the way he’d come.
‘Easy, lad,’ Ysbaddaden said. ‘A good hunt gets the blood up, I know that well. But your stomach’s full, and Audrey won’t be able to use more than you’ve brought her. Leave the deer f
or another day.’
Audrey had taken the haunch to a rock and was slicing through the flesh. A breeze brought the tang of salt to Raven’s tongue. He watched as the human dumped strips into a small barrel, then hung the meat over a thin piece of rope. ‘Carrion,’ he muttered disapprovingly. Then his ears perked as a new noise came from Audrey’s throat. ‘What’s she doing now?’
‘Singing,’ Aingeal said, looking up from her own haunch. Red blood stained the tan fur around her jaws. ‘It’s called singing. She does that when she’s happy.’
‘I don’t understand the words,’ Raven said, frustrated.
Ysbaddaden cocked his head. ‘I’ll do some teaching for you, puffling. Let’s start with the easy stuff. Deer. Hunt. Prey.’
<><><><><><>
A week later, the traders packed up their wares and prepared to leave. Audrey helped Aingeal lift the sacks onto the cattle, and then tighten the thick cords running under the thick chests. ‘We’ll be back in the autumn,’ Aingeal said, pressing several bags into Audrey’s hands. ‘Try planting these vegetables. They’ll do well here.’ Then she shifted into cat shape and leapt onto a leather pad strapped to Ysbaddaden’s back.
The gryphon trotted down the slight slope towards the lake. The cattle lowed, their cargo rattling as they hurried to follow their owner. Ysbaddaden spread dark brown pinions, and his claws left the ground as he rose into the air. Behind him, the herd followed his lead, their black wings a contrast to their golden-brown fur. They fanned out in two columns, with the gryphon in the lead.
Raven turned at Audrey’s sigh. ‘And there they go,’ she said in the language he was beginning to understand. ‘They’re not much, but it’s better than being alone.’
‘I’m here,’ he protested, hurrying over to her side. To his surprise, he was nearly her height, and they stood eye to eye. ‘I’m with you.’
‘For how long?’ She reached out and touched the bandages on his wing. ‘This is nearly healed, and then you’ll be able to leave as well.’
‘I won’t leave you,’ he promised. All the new words he had learned jammed up in his mind, so that he could only repeat, ‘I won’t leave you.’
But she looked past him, at the mountains which lay beyond the lake. ‘You can only fly in and out,’ she murmured, as if speaking to herself. ‘Flight. I miss flying.’
‘How can you fly?’ Raven asked. ‘You don’t have wings.’
‘Not ones of my own, not now.’ Her mouth quirked. ‘Come with me, Raven. There’s something I’d like to show you.’
Audrey walked away from the lake, past the building, and to the hill beyond. Raven fell in behind her, wondering why her sweat had suddenly soured. As they made their way up the incline, her heart rate increased, and he was certain that this was not from exertion alone. Something was pulling at her shoulders and making her legs stiff.
A half-hour’s walk took them down into another valley. Audrey slowed her pace, and so Raven shortened his own strides. His left foot snagged against something sharp in the long grass, and he snorted in surprise.
‘That’s close enough,’ Audrey said as she halted. ‘We’re in the debris field. You can see the main body of the plane over there.’
Raven looked past her head. Lying across the mixture of meadow and rocks was a twisted skeleton of metal and glass. Most of what he could see was dull green, although one piece flapping in the wind bore a blue circle which surrounded a white star and a red dot.
‘It’s a Flying Fortress,’ Audrey told him. ‘A Boeing B-17. That’s what I was flying when I crashed here.’
‘Flying? How?’
‘Remember how Aingeal flies on Ysbaddaden? It’s a bit like that, except I was inside that front bit over there.’ Audrey brushed blonde hair back from her face. ‘We were transporting the plane to Southampton, five of us altogether. All was going well, we were even joking about coming in on time for a cuppa. Then we hit something, or went through something. We could never decide. One moment we were over farmland, and the next we were here.’
‘A crossing,’ Raven said.
‘I beg your pardon?’
‘I fell through them to come here.’
‘Some of the other pilots talked about these things,’ Audrey mused. ‘Planes and pilots have always gone missing. No one’s been able to find Amelia Earhart, last I heard. We always said planes were just missing in action, that maybe the Luftwaffe had brought them down. But suddenly we were here. And in a storm. I did my best, but the wind shear was just too great. We came down, and as you can see, the plane did her best to keep us alive. But only Beryl, Doreen, and I crawled out in one piece. The others didn’t make it.’
‘Didn’t make what?’ Raven asked, confused.
‘They died.’ She jerked her chin at several piles of stones. ‘We did our best to give them a decent burial. We had no padre or worship book, of course, but I believe that they’re resting in peace.’
‘Peace,’ Raven echoed.
Audrey glanced back at him. ‘You understand what I’ve said?’
‘I think so,’ he said slowly.
‘That’s what Aingeal said. She told me that dragons are born talking.’ Audrey sighed. ‘I joined the Air Transport Auxiliary to do my bit for the war effort. This is where it brought me. And here I still am, five years later, and I don’t know if the war’s still on. Hitler might have won, for all I know. I don't suppose dragons have access to the Overseas Service?’
‘I don’t understand.’
‘No, of course you don’t. What would a dragon know about the BBC?’ She lifted a hand to rub the side of his neck. He leaned into the warm feeling of skin on skin. ‘I don’t think we crashed somewhere on Earth, at any rate. Doreen said that when the first were-fox spoke to us. Then Aingeal and Ysbaddaden came to visit. Not that we saw those flying highland cows until we actually bumped into them. But once we did, we knew we were, as the Yanks put it, “Not in Kansas anymore.” And that even before a gryphon landed with his were-cat wife.’
‘Where are the others? Beryl, Doreen?’
Her hand fell away. ‘The first winter was hard. We’d crashed here in autumn, and scarcely had time to shoot some deer before winter was upon us. Doreen fell into the lake when she tried to cut a hole in the ice for fishing. We’d started to build the house, but we were living in the wreck of the Fortress and there was no way to warm Doreen up again. Hypothermia did her in. Beryl and I had a couple of years together, and we made quite a good go of it. She worked out how to grow the seed stock Aingeal brought us, and some passing vampires helped us to finish the house. The payment was rather unpleasant, it has to be said.’ Audrey’s face pulled into thin lines. ‘Then Beryl had to go and scratch herself on something in the woods. We had no medicines with us, nothing we could use on the infection. It was a bad way to die. She begged me to shoot her, but I couldn’t. I just couldn’t. It would have been murder.’
Her voice had dropped lower and lower as she spoke, strained by the weight of her memories. But Raven heard something else underlying the grief. Strength. This human was as strong and determined as any dragon. He curved his neck and rested his snout on her shoulder.
‘But, God forgive me, I miss that almost as much as I miss them.’ Audrey lifted her free arm to point at the wreck. ‘Flight is the most wondrous thing. As you must know.’
Raven stared at the plane, unsure of how to answer. The memory of a heavy body, plummeting towards his own, made his meal sour in his stomach. For both Audrey and himself, the sky had proven itself a dangerous place to be.
Chapter Three
The days lengthened and became warmer. Raven would have preferred to split his time between hunting and sun bathing. But Audrey had other ideas. She found many uses for his claws, such as raking weeds out of the vegetable plot and digging a new hole when she decided to move the outhouse. He did refuse her request to help spread the contents of the old cesspit over her fields. The stench was far worse than anything his diet produced.
He disc
overed that, by filling his flame chamber, he could float in water. So one of his duties was to enter the cold lake, one end of a net in his jaws, to help Audrey to spread the mesh over a wide area. When the catch was brought to shore, she insisted on hitting the head of each fish with a hammer. ‘We have to kill to eat,’ she told Raven, ‘but it doesn’t mean the animal has to suffer first.’ She gutted the successful catches and placed the fish in barrels of salt.
Once a week, Raven made his way to the forest. Even if he didn’t always bring down a deer, there was plenty of smaller prey. He ate rabbits and larger birds whole. His proudest moment was when he brought down a muscular animal nearly tall as him. The long brown fur reminded him of the cattle, although this animal had long tusks rather than horns. An injured hind leg explained why the calf had been abandoned by her mother.
Raven brought the head back to the house, knowing that Audrey would be interested. ‘A mammoth,’ she told him. ‘Long extinct where I come from. Is there more meat left?’
‘Plenty.’ He burped. ‘But I’m full.’
‘Is there any way you can preserve it?’ She pulled out a knife and started working on extracting the tusks.
‘Why would I need to do that?’
‘The winters here are brutal,’ Audrey said grimly. ‘You’re not growing as quickly as I feared, but there’ll be two of us to feed until spring. You already do so much on instinct. Maybe there’s something dragons do to prepare for lean times?’
‘We hunt,’ he said proudly. ‘We don’t eat carrion.’
‘And if it’s carrion or starve?’
Raven lowered his head to meet her eyes. ‘But I hunt.’
Audrey shook her head, matted hair rolling over her shoulders. ‘Not when the snow’s deep, you won’t. Not unless you start flying.’