The Arrival: An Epic Fantasy Romance

by Nicole MacDonald

  I laughed, watching the two for a moment longer then spotted Sabyn and headed his way. Breakfast consisted of bacon crisped till nearly black, mounds of shredded potato fried in the bacon fat and fresh but chewy bread rolls with an underlying tang like sourdough, toasted and generously buttered. A far better meal than I would have anticipated and I thanked Sabyn who waved it aside as he piled another mound of potatoes on my plate. He looked both out of place and totally at home; another well muscled man, with longish blond hair tied back in a plait, a frying pan in one hand and a carving knife in the other, as he slid more slices of bacon into the pan with an ease of motion that suggested plenty of practice.

  When I finished eating I took a cup of water and moved a little away from the fire, sitting on a log and sipping at the water. I watched the griffons and the men, mind disbelieving at the enormous creatures. So very beautiful, I thought, feeling my heart speed up when the closest griffon, Loushka—the one Alek had slid down from last night—twisted to stare at me. She was a beautiful deep tan and her thick, luxurious mane glinted with red undertones in the sunlight. The mane covered her neck and shoulders to her wings folded at her sides while she lay in the sun. The long stiff flight feathers stuck up prominently, the feathers a mix of dark tan stripes and red. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from her, feeling a thrill of delight and fear as those deep ochre eyes with slashes of pupils regarded me just as closely.

  A funny sounding whiny squawk broke my focus and I glanced over to see the dark skinned man, Rumal, giving his griffon Kerak a good scratch on the neck. Kerak’s mane looked sparse compared to Loushka’s and I wondered if he was younger than her. The hilariously comical expression of pleasure on the griffon’s face had to be seen to be believed. Rumal glanced up to see me watching and laughed, his white teeth bright against his skin. A striking man, I couldn’t help but stare at his eyes—they looked like molten gold and seemed to swirl. Rumal appeared the shortest of the men but easily still a head taller than Loi. I felt positively tiny in comparison to them all. They looked like guys that could easily take an opponent down, even without their spectacular sidekicks.

  I continued to watch while Gredel and Phroma appeared to communicate and the strawberry blond man fussed over her forepaw. Phroma seemed to talk to him but didn’t make a sound. You just got the idea from the way Gredel would glance at her and she’d cock her head or appear to nod or shake it. It fascinated me and I leaned forward on my knees, watching closely. Gredel turned and noticed me watching so I wished him a good morning. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Rumal and Daron stiffen while Gredel turned a puce color at my greeting. Confused at his expression I went to turn to Sabyn who sat near me when Gredel suddenly belted out, 'I’m married!' and rushed off into the bush.

  I sat in open mouthed astonishment while the three men roared with laughter. 'What on earth was that about?'

  Sabyn, still chuckling explained, 'Gredel is recently married and his father-in-law gave him a hard time about talking to other women. The old man’s incredibly protective of his women, especially Citaan.' Sabyn winked. 'You’re the fourth woman he’s done that to since his wedding.'

  I stared at him for a moment. 'Well I’m glad it’s not just me.' Gathering the pile of stuff I wanted to wash, I queried the direction to the river, Rumal showed me the track. Before I headed down it I asked, 'Are there any water creatures I should watch out for?'

  He shook his head. 'No, not in this area, you’ll be fine.'

  Sabyn and Daron exchanged a glance when Catherine headed off to the river. As their second in command Gredel usually stayed calm and ready. Then he’d met Citaan. It was odd in a way, he’d never appeared to really notice women before, probably the reason Elena had assigned him as Citaan’s bodyguard when the Sorceress sent Citaan into the Scrodian Mountains. After that short, week-long trip, the change in their friend had stunned them. From a man who’d looked to be a life-long bachelor to a man so smitten he’d take every word his father-in-law said as absolute fact.

  Sabyn shook his head; he liked Gredel’s wife and so did the other guys, but he couldn’t understand why Gredel’s brain seemed to stop functioning at the thought of her. Muttering under his breath he followed Daron into the bush after Gredel.

  The track quickly led to the river and I dropped my stuff near the edge. Kneeling, I dunked my top in the water and scrubbed it full of soap, smiling when I heard splashes further out in the water; Audi’s such a water baby and as long as it’s by choice rather than me giving her a bath she’ll swim anywhere. I swished the top under the water, rinsing the soap out. The splashes got closer, I glanced up. Alek stood in the middle of the river the water lapping mid-thigh on him. I froze, heart thudding loudly in my ears as I stared open mouthed; I don’t think I’d ever seen such a fantastic male specimen in real life before. He shoved his hair back, wiping the water from his face with both hands, his muscled arms drawing my gaze in. My eyes traced from his forehead to the shadow of a beard that grazed his jawline to his throat where the water ran in rivulets down that deliciously chiseled body. Drops of water dripped from the dark hair of his chest down his smooth belly, inching closer to the white, almost see-through shorts.

  Alek stared at Catherine in surprise, he’d thought all the women would have slept for a few more hours at least. About to call out a greeting, he stopped when he noticed her slack jawed expression.

  Suddenly I could make out the rational voice in my head, it shrieked at me; STOP STARING! HE’S LOOKING RIGHT AT YOU! My eyes jerked up to dark blue ones that regarded me in amusement, a black eyebrow arched high, lips curved in a cheeky smirk.

  OH MY GOD. And in the manner of any intelligent, attractive, level headed female who’s been caught out… I promptly blushed beetroot, muttered something unintelligent and snatched my things before bolting for the tent. I hurtled past Daron heading toward the river.

  Alek stared after Catherine. She’d turned a rather remarkable shade of red then run off. Not far off the color of her hair, Alek mused in amusement. She’d obviously approved of what she’d seen, he chuckled at the recollection of shock in those wide green eyes when she realized he watched.

  'Alek! What’d you do to Catherine?' Daron arrived at the end of the track, concerned after seeing the flame faced woman sprint past him. Alek smirked. Uh oh, thought Daron; I know that look. He stopped on the track and gave Alek a look of his own. 'Explain. Now.'

  Alek arched an eyebrow at Daron’s tone. 'I did nothing to her,' he struggled to keep a straight face. 'She didn’t notice me swimming here and seemed a bit,' he paused and shot Daron a crooked grin. '…surprised to find me.'

  Daron envisioned the scene and gave a snort of amusement. 'You do know your shorts are see-through when wet, Alek.'

  'You know, I think Catherine noticed that.' Alek grinned then shrugged. 'I thought they’d sleep for a few more hours, didn’t think I’d need to worry about company.'

  I burst into the tent scaring Lucky off my cot and dropped on to it, burying my face in my pillow. Oh God, oh God, fuck—fuck—fuck. I can’t believe I just did that!

  'Cat, what’s wrong?' Loi leaped out of her bed and rushed over to Cat who’d just thrown herself on a bed, her face flushed with what looked like alarm. Cat mumbled into her pillow. 'Cat, we can’t understand you.' Kassie and Sian joined her by Cat’s bed and Sian stroked her trembling back. She sat up, looking as though she might laugh or cry.

  The girls stared at me in concern. 'Are you okay?' Kassie hesitantly asked.

  I nodded my head then shook it. 'Yes…No…Ohh I’m so embarrassed.' I buried my face in my hands for a moment then took a deep breath. 'I went to the river to wash my clothes.' The others nodded, faces intent while they listened. 'And as I washed my top I heard a splash. I thought it was Audi. I looked up and it was Alek. He was basically naked in the water and I stared and he saw and oh my God, I feel like such an idiot.' I didn’t think my face could get any hotter while Sian, Kassie and Loi stared at me.

  'What do you mea
n—practically naked?' Sian asked curiously, her lips trembling with suppressed laughter.

  'White shorts,' I snapped. 'Wet white shorts.' I glared at Loi who silently rocked with laughter, tears running down her cheeks.

  Kassie had a wide smile. 'And he caught you staring?'

  'Yep…'

  All three of them did the silent laughter now. Until their breaths ran out that is. 'Oh—My—Goodness,' gasped Kassie. 'I would have LOVED to have seen that.'

  Sian, wheezing with laughter, nodded. 'Oww it hurts,' she gasped. 'My stomach.' Loi made funny squeaky noises while she fought for breath. I, on the other hand, simply sat there getting hotter and hotter.

  Kassie managed to catch her breath and glanced up to notice Cat’s rather spectacularly red face. 'C’mon, Kitty Cat,' she teased which made Cat’s eyes narrow to green slits. 'Isn’t it just the littlest bit funny?' Cat stared at her for half a second longer then started to laugh. Kassie chuckled and climbed on to the cot beside her. This wasn’t the best idea because it promptly collapsed, causing the hilarity to reach new levels.

  Outside Gredel stared suspiciously at the tent as hysterical laughter wafted out from within it. He felt somewhat stupid after Daron and Sabyn talked to him, he hadn’t realized it until they’d pointed it out. It wasn't like him to act so daft, then to have to have his friends point it out? An embarrassed flush climbed unpleasantly up his neck. He grumbled and sighed then stomped over to Phroma, leaning against the violet winged griffon. Phroma arched her head down toward him. ‘What’s wrong, friend?'

  Gredel gave her a smile. ‘I miss Citaan,’ he sighed again. ‘And I don’t know what the guys are doing and I can’t leave those cackling creatures alone to find out.’ He glowered at the tent.

  Phroma made a soothing noise, ‘We’ll see Citaan soon and I’ll ask Loushka what the others are up to.'

  Gredel waited patiently while Phroma chatted with Loushka. As a griffon rider he’d been linked to Phroma from his birth and from puberty had been able to communicate with her via telepathy. The bonus with telepathy meant you could share images as well as thoughts and Phroma showed Gredel the image of Catherine’s astonished face. Looks like I'm not the only one to make a fool of myself, Gredel thought and he roared with laughter, loud enough to startle those in the tent into silence while he watched the flustered redhead run off down the track.

  When we settled down the others grabbed the things they wanted to wash. The girls had decided to come with me to wash their gear and this time we’d inform the guys we didn’t require any entertainment. Kassie winked at me. 'No matter how attractive huh, Cat?'

  I fought back a smile and growled at her, 'Enough. I’m trying to look normal here instead of resembling a tomato.' The others grinned at that.

  'Ready, Cat?' asked Loi, her eyes dancing in amusement.

  'As ready as I’ll ever be. Let’s get this over with.' We walked out to the breakfast area toward the men who all gave low bows when we approached. When they straightened you could see they tried not to laugh. I fought the urge to blush, failed, and turned to Alek. 'I trust you are done with swimming at the moment?'

  His lips twitched slightly and he gave another bow. 'Indeed, allow me to return the dagger you dropped.' Alek gravely handed over the weapon.

  With my face flaming I accepted the dagger with what little dignity I had left. 'Thank you.'

  Sian watched while the couple exchanged polite chit chat along with Cat’s dagger. I wonder how long it’ll last, she thought. Cat’s awful at holding back laughter, if she chomps on the inside of her cheek any harder she’ll bite through it. Sure enough Cat gave a gasp and doubled up. With a concerned expression Alek reached for her but before he got there she’d sunk to the ground in helpless laughter, causing them all to start again.

  It looks like Gredel got over his own embarrassment, Daron thought, watching him laughing with Kassandra. Sian, the petite blonde, held one hand delicately in front of her mouth while she giggled, tears streaming down her face.

  I grabbed Alek’s outstretched arm and pulled him down beside me while I tried to contain the hiccups I’d developed. 'I’m ‘hic’ so sorry! ‘hic’ I didn’t mean to stare ‘hic’ you do have a rather ‘hic’ good figure by the ‘hic’ way and ‘hic’ hey, I’m only human.' I leaned against him while I hiccupped and laughed, trying to catch my breath.

  Alek stared down at me in astonishment. 'You are a remarkably honest woman.'

  I laughed. 'Yep. And just try shutting me up.'

  He laughed then. 'I seem to have discovered one way to leave you lost for words.'

  I gave him a shove. 'Conceited much! You wait. IF there is a next time I won’t even spare you a glance.'

  Alek looked down at the feisty redhead, her green eyes gleaming with mirth and laughed at her threat. 'I’ll have to try harder then.' He stood and helped her to her feet. The others still chuckled, the formal mood gone. Daron and Rumal chatted to Sian and Kassandra, and Sabyn had appeared with a plate of food for Laura who beamed in delight.

  I accepted another plate from Sabyn and sat down to eat. Afterward Daron and Alek carried our gear to the river so we could wash it. It seemed the chivalrous male was normal here. Nothing wrong with that, I winked at Loi when she arched an eyebrow at me.

  Chapter Nine

  I scrubbed the gunk off the daggers with handfuls of river sand, relieved to see the blades shine again. Even my clothes survived a vigorous wash while I made sure no trace of gragnoll remained. After rinsing everything a last time, we walked back to the campsite and spread our clothes over low bushes in the sunlight. The men waited for us and when we’d finished we all sat on the logs in the dining area.

  Alek cleared his throat then began, 'Have any of you seen griffons before?'

  The women paused, glancing at each other for a moment then Laura said, 'No, never.'

  Alek nodded. 'I thought so.' He indicated the men and griffons. 'As griffon riders we’re linked with our griffons from a young age. Griffons use telepathy. When you link with a griffon you can speak with them via telepathy. It’s useful, because it’d be hard to communicate in the air otherwise. Griffons can roar when challenged but not much challenges a griffon, especially not five of them.'

  Wow, it looks like we've fallen in with the right people—I wonder how? I shifted in my seat, exchanging impressed glances with the others. Telepathy, I guess that explains Gredel and Phroma this morning; I froze when I realized something else. If you use telepathy couldn’t you then exchange images? Such as when Alek viewed my beetroot face when I tore off from the riverside. I smothered the blush that tried to rise at the realization they’d probably seen me fleeing the river… Guess that explains the hilarity. Alek continued so I tuned back in. 'The Griffon Guard is under the command of Elena, the Sorceress of Elion, our acting Regent since our King passed. The heir made a promise to the King before he died and until the promise is fulfilled won’t accept the throne. Elena commanded we find you when she foresaw your arrival.'

  Kassie’s eyes widened at that and she glanced at the others. They wore the same expression of surprise. A happy coincidence or another part of the spell? I hope so, she thought. Maybe that means the Sorceress knows where we came from. Maybe she can help us get back.

  'Elena has asked us to bring you all back to the castle so she may meet you. The journey will take us about a week.'

  'A week?' I interrupted, 'We were told it’d take a month.' Alek smiled at me and a breath caught in my throat for an instant. Whoops, I thought, blinking rapidly, pay attention, he probably has a beautiful wife or girlfriend back at the castle anyway.

  'Griffons can travel quite far in a day.'

  'You traveled a week to find us?' Loi stared at Alek and he turned his attention to her. The pang of jealousy I felt when Alek’s eyes moved from my face to Loi’s astonished me. I swallowed, shaking the bizarre sensation off, and listened to Alek’s response.

  'No, we left the castle at dusk on the evening we found you,' Alek could s
ee the astonishment on their faces. 'Elena told us she had seen your arrival and that you were, or soon would be in grave danger. She wamted us to protect you.'

  Sian spoke up, 'But that’s only a matter of hours? How did you do that?'

  Alek explained, 'It only takes moments for us to travel that far but it took a bit longer to pinpoint where you were.' He took a seat and the other men settled themselves comfortably, they knew the story well.

  I watched when he closed his eyes for a moment, a slight frown on his forehead. A lock of his dark hair fell over one eyebrow and my fingers tingled with the urge to brush it away. I decided to sit on my hands for the moment, it seemed the safest course. Kassie caught the slight movement and smirked. I gave her my best innocent look. Alek cleared his throat and we turned our attention back to him.

  'Were you aware there are dragons in this realm?' Alek stared questioningly at us. Sian nodded enthusiastically making everyone smile. He continued, 'Dragons have the ability to leap through space and time, allowing them to think of a place, then, appear there.' We sat up, intrigued. What a fantastic ability, I thought, can griffons do it too?

  Alek smiled at the sudden change of mood. The women went from polite interest to complete fascination. He continued to explain while he watched Catherine’s green eyes. 'Griffons don’t normally leap, but when the Griffon Guard was formed the late King and Elena decided to see if they could be taught. The five of us came into our abilities within several years of each other and, with the exception of Rumal, have been with our griffons since then. You must understand, Loushka isn’t a pet like your Audrey is.' He spread his hands in a calming gesture when Catherine’s eyes narrowed. 'I mean no offense, Catherine, but Loushka is a citizen in her own right. All griffons of the guard are. The care of griffons in our society is a vital duty. Griffons don’t reproduce often and only have one pup at a time. Anyway, Elena befriended a green dragon named Orion who spent quite a few years training us. Tragically Orion was murdered by Jenviet who didn’t want us to succeed. At first we thought she’d won.'