The image made my heart ache and a sudden wave of homesickness washed over me. I hunched in the saddle, biting the insides of my cheeks to try and stop from crying. I can’t stand the thought of not seeing them again. Please, please let Elena be able to help us out.
Alek felt Cat hunch and leaned sideways to look at her face. She’d flushed red, blinking rapidly, her cheeks sucked in and lips pressed flat. He removed an arm from her waist and gently stroked the hair from her face. 'Cat, what’s wrong?'
The words were spoken so gently that I couldn’t help it. The tears ran down either cheek. 'I miss them.'
Alek leaned over me, drawing my legs to one side of the saddle then tucked me into his arms. It reminded me of my dad doing the same thing when I was little after I’d had a nightmare.
I burst into tears, the stress from the past crazy week ebbing out of me.
Alek hummed the lullaby he’d heard Gredel sing to his niece when she was little, while stroking Cat’s hair. Her tears slowed then stopped. He felt her reach up to wipe her face and looked down at her. 'Okay?'
She gave him a tiny smile and nodded. 'Thanks.'
Her teary, reddened face touched his heart and he didn’t stop to think. Tipping her chin up, he pressed a gentle kiss to her lips. A tingling sensation rushed through him and he pulled away while staring into Cat’s eyes, moving his hand from her chin to cup her cheek. He had the oddest compulsion to say words he’d never said to another but bit them back. Instead, he pressed his forehead to Cat’s as he felt another surge of warmth rush through.
The air between us felt electric, I had to focus on breathing while I stared into his eyes. Whoa and I thought the last kiss was good.
Loushka’s voice interrupted the intense sensations. ‘Okay, I won’t drop you both, though I’m sorely tempted. But, for the last time, would you PLEASE KEEP THOSE THOUGHTS TO YOURSELVES.’
I blushed and Alek sat up straight, laughing.
'Sorry, Loushka,' we chorused.
I repositioned myself to how I’d sat before, attempting to put my thoughts somewhere more appropriate while Alek placed his hands chastely on either side of my seat.
'You need to shimmy down Nesha’s back, then crouch. When you have your balance, leap off with your arms out straight from either side keeping your legs together. Nesha will count to five then go into a dive and swoop under you. You should be able to guide yourself back into the saddle,' Daron explained.
Sian nodded, more than a little daunted by the mental image she had of the dive.
'Have you ever done anything like this before?' Daron asked.
'Kind of.' Sian answered, 'On Earth we have something called sky diving were you jump out of a plane with a parachute.'
‘Get her to explain.’ Nesha urged, ‘What’s a plane? And a parachute?’
That took at least twenty minutes of detailed explanation, though Sian got the distinct impression it all seemed like fantasy to Nesha and Daron. She grumped to herself; it would be so much easier if I could just show you. Another twinge of envy ran through her. Lucky Cat, she thought, I really hope I can hear Nesha soon.
What Sian had explained impressed Daron, but the concepts had him confused. Nesha chatted to Loushka, and Cat gave her images of both things.
Daron gasped at the image that filled his mind, a tiny machine flying in the air. It had such an odd appearance with its pointed nose and wings that stuck straight out from either side. As he watched the images, an opening appeared at the side and a strange creature crouched in the space. It was brightly colored with bulging eyes and a shiny head.
The creature grinned then threw itself out of the metal thing. He watched it free-fall for a decent distance, turning and flipping before it appeared to yank on something. A mass of fabric exploded from the creature’s back, assuming a tent-like shape which filled with air and yanked it up a little. Slow and graceful, the tent glided to the ground; the creature played with the ropes that held it to the tent. When it landed people rushed to it and it surprised him when he recognized Kassie and Loi. The creature pulled at its head, appearing to remove it. He laughed when he saw Sian shake out her long golden hair—it had been a hat. Sian was the brightly colored creature that had tumbled through the sky.
Sian turned when she heard Daron laugh. 'What?'
'Loushka sent Nesha an image from Cat. It was you in bright colors jumping out of a machine and free-falling,' Daron looked impressed. Sian blushed with pride.
'That was my first solo jump.'
'I guess this won’t be too much of a shock then.'
'The falling, no. The landing—well, that’s gonna be new to me.'
'Not to worry, Nesha and I have done this often,' Daron gave her a hug. 'We’ll keep you safe.'
I observed the landscape. It looked a little different from the past couple of days, a little more wild, if that were possible, with denser bush and some high, rugged hills. Looking ahead I saw impressive mountains and leaned back to Alek. 'What’s that mountain range called?'
'The Anguem, it borders the castle on its western and northern sides.'
So beyond that sat the castle; a shudder ran through me, I had a sudden urge to ask Alek to turn around. Not that he would, but the idea of being surrounded (again) by many new people and finding out what Elena wanted of us, daunted me. 'Are you cold?' Alek’s voice made me jump, he chuckled at my reaction.
'No. Just nervous,' I confessed, a little embarrassed.
He rubbed my arms briskly and spoke in my ear. 'Don’t think about it,' he suggested. 'Let me distract you.'
Now that brought some interesting thoughts to mind. I banished them before Loushka could scold me. Alek pointed out some birds flying below us, asking Loushka to swoop down so we could have a closer look. 'Those birds are dahneks. They essentially live just in the canopy of the forest. You only occasionally see them on the forest floor.'
I studied the green birds that he seemed so pleased to see. About the size of a large gull, they had soft looking wings and a large head with a curved beak. 'What’s weird about them?'
'Not weird, interesting. They carry their young on their backs, look, see the one at the far right?'
I craned my neck to try and see but couldn’t quite look around Loushka’s wing. He stood on the saddle and pulled me up, pointing again. 'Right there, see?'
I stared hard and could just make out two small shapes on its back. 'What are they clinging to her with?'
'They’re born with claws that drop off once they can fly.'
Alek suddenly realized she hadn’t stood on the saddle before and sat back down, fast. 'Whoops.' He felt sheepish, 'You’re so much more confident on Loushka now. I forgot you hadn’t done that yet.'
She slid back into her seat and laughed. 'It was the best way to do it, I didn’t even think about it until you mentioned it.'
I remembered the bird we’d seen when we’d first arrived and twisted to look at him. 'We saw a bird when we first arrived. It was the most beautiful bird I’ve ever seen.' I showed Loushka an image.
Alek watched the graceful bird flit around the tree trunk. ‘It is what I think it is, isn’t it Loushka?’
‘Yes, absolutely. I saw one once when I was small,’ the griffon sounded very impressed. ‘It’s supposed to be a good sign, one of the best, next to sighting a unicorn.’
‘These women just keep getting more and more interesting,’ he thought.
It turned out the bird was incredibly rare, to the point of being thought mythical (that amused me), and considered a sign of high magick. Which sounded impressive, but neither of them decided to elaborate. Another one of those things I would learn about at the castle, I guess. Loushka flew back up to join the other griffons.
Sabyn still had his arms around her waist. Loi felt grateful he couldn’t see the massive scowl on her face. Torn between the two, now very annoying, voices in her head that argued as to whether his apparent deceitfulness was fair or not, and if it even mattered. She sighed.
'Are you okay?' Sabyn asked his voice hesitant.
Loi considered her reply, getting a mild sense of vindication from the long, awkward pause. The rational voice in her mind pointed out that she would find out soon, while the grouchy voice said not soon enough.
'When will we reach the castle?' She was careful to keep her voice neutral.
'By this evening.'
‘She’s grouchy with you,’ Tomiar informed him.
‘I’m aware of that,’ he snapped.
‘My, aren’t we snippy. Well, Mr Snippy, I thought you might like to know that Loushka and Alek would like to show them the Wrenok basin.’
Sabyn sighed. ‘I’m sorry. I just don’t like knowing she’s grouchy at me.’
‘I understand,’ Tomiar thought sympathetically. ‘But try to see it from her point of view—it must feel incredibly frustrating. Just try to ignore her mood, she’ll get over it.’
Taking the advice, Sabyn spoke up. 'We’re going to fly through the Wrenok basin. It’s where we practice tricks and maneuvers with the griffons.' The five griffons rose even higher in the air and headed for the mountain range.
Chapter Sixteen
Gredel enjoyed the flight today; Audi had settled into her new spot and appeared to enjoy the view. After he moaned to the other guys about the dog’s antics they’d come up with the idea to convert one of the saddle bags and put her in there. It worked well and she had an even better view now. The dog settled down to watch it all while Gredel could stretch out in the saddle in comfort.
He looked forward to seeing the women's reactions to the basin. The highest peak, Mount Artonay, was where he’d taken Citaan when he’d proposed. He was quite proud of that, people so often proposed at an event where others could witness it but he knew Citaan would like such a special moment to be private and she’d loved it. So much in fact, they’d given serious consideration to getting married there. But in the end the logistics weren’t great, and several older members of Citaan’s family had been upset by the notion of not having a "proper" wedding.
‘I guess in the long run the normal wedding was easier.’ Phroma thought to Gredel.
‘I’d been thinking the same thing. Although our idea would have been far more interesting.’
The mountains grew higher and the griffons climbed with them until they cleared the summits. The view literally stole your breath at this high altitude. It didn’t bother the griffons at all, this was what they were built for, but the humans found the thin cold air harsh on their lungs.
Loi’s jaw dropped at the sight of the cavernous basin, created by four mountains clustered together in a semi-circle, their peaks sheer and bleak. One of the mountain peaks had broken off at some point in time and massive slips of shingle fanned down its sides. Sabyn tightened his arms around her waist a little, leaning forward to point at one of the slips.
'That’s where we surf,' he called.
Forgetting she was mad at him, Loi turned, her eyes wide in surprise. 'You slide down that? Isn’t that dangerous?'
He winked. 'Only if you fall.'
Loi shook her head in disbelief. That must come under the extreme sport category, she thought, continuing to study the area. The griffons dropped lower into the basin and the air stilled in an instant, the high mountains creating a natural wind-break.
'This is our practice space,' Alek smiled at Cat, happy to show off the impressive area after all the fascinating images she’d shown them. She stared around the mountains in open admiration. 'What do you think?' He demanded when she remained silent.
So taken with the view I couldn’t respond at first; hauntingly beautiful with high treacherous peaks that dropped into sheer faces and shingle that extended to the tree line far below.
'Incredible,' I breathed. Alek leaned in close to hear me. 'Absolutely incredible.'
'You can see why we practice here, lots of space and essentially no wind.'
I nodded in agreement, still staring and twisted around in my seat to get a better view.
'Come on.' He seized me around the waist. 'Upsy daisy.'
I clung to his chest like a limpet until we both stood steady then he turned me so I leaned against his chest, pointing out various areas. It astonished me to learn that they slid down the shingle faces for fun. It made me remember the time I’d done it as a kid, with a friend of mine, while on holiday. Dad had nearly had a fit when he caught us. It hadn’t occurred to us that we could have been crushed in it, but kids never do think of those things. I mentioned it to Alek who laughed.
'It’s possible, but the griffs keep close, ready to grab us if necessary.' He helped me back to my seat and casually lowered into his. It felt like watching an acrobat, the way he did it so easily. The heavy beats of Loushka’s massive wings didn’t throw him off balance in the slightest. I sighed, after ten years of jujitsu my balance had improved lots, but things like this made me look as gangly as a newborn calf.
As Daron helped Sian into position Nesha couldn’t help himself, he called out to the other griffons. ‘Guess what. Sian’s about to try free-falling.’
The other griffons got excited, Nesha suddenly thought to add, ‘But don’t mention it to the other women, we want to surprise them.’
‘This should cheer Loi up,’ thought Tomiar. ‘Then she can try it next.’
‘Not a bad idea.’ Sabyn sat up straighter in the saddle and looked around for Nesha. ‘Make sure we’re in a good spot to see her.’
Nesha flew up to a height which would allow Sian a decent dive. Everyone’s eyes followed him, the girls watched curiously while the men grinned in anticipation.
'Ready?' Daron shouted against the wind to Sian, the currents stronger at this height. Sian clung to Nesha’s rump. Not exactly the place you want to be when trying to impress the guy you’re crushing on, but oh well.
'Ready!' she yelled.
'What’s Nesha doing?' Loi twisted to look up at Sabyn. Wow, his eyes are gorgeous, she noticed; a real glacial blue. He started to speak then stopped, staring at something beyond her. Loi turned back just in time to see Sian plummet past them.
I felt the breath whoosh out of my chest. Sian, her arms outstretched, had just hurtled past us at an immense speed and, unlike on Earth, without a parachute attached.
Oh holy Goddess! Terror flooded my limbs making them heavy and useless while everything appeared red to my eyes.
Kassie whimpered in horror at the sight of Sian falling to her certain death. She could feel a strange rushing sensation through her limbs and the outer edge of her vision glowed yellow.
Loi gasped, her body trembled in anxiety and shock while an immense feeling grew within, her eyes seeing things in a green light.
The three women glowed with energy and the effect on the griffons was electric. Tomiar, Loushka, and Kerak all screamed in alarm at the energy swell they felt.
‘MAKE THEM STOP!’ They screeched at the men in unison.
Gredel and Phroma watched in astonishment at the glowing women and the men, who shook the women, shouting at them.
‘Where’s Sian?’ Gredel suddenly thought to Phroma.
‘Daron and Nesha just grabbed her, she’s glowing blue!’
'CATHERINE!' Alek roared at the woman glowing an intense red, she got hotter to the touch with every moment.
‘Hurry Alek. Or I’m going to have to drop her.’
Loushka knew that an energy pulse like the last one Cat had thrown out would knock her unconscious. It’d be better to drop the woman and snatch her back after she’d released. Loushka hoped it wouldn’t come to that.
'I’m sorry, Cat,' Alek hissed through clenched teeth. He gave her a swift slap across the face.
The blow jerked my mind back like I’d been dashed with cold water and I gaped at Alek, one hand to my stinging cheek.
‘It worked!’ exulted Loushka. She let the others know.
A collective sigh of relief rose from the men and griffons when the women returned to their normal colors. Each of them slumped in t
he saddles, exhausted from the sudden, immense swell of energy they’d created. A sudden vibration from the metal cuff he wore made Alek jolt in shock, then Elena’s voice burst into his mind. ‘Alek! What just happened? Are they okay?’
Alek shifted Cat in his arms to look at her face, she appeared to be conscious, with her normal color slowly coming back. ‘Yes, we had a scare which made them react,’ Alek searched for an adequate description. The silence stretched minutes before Elena responded.
‘Get them here as soon as possible, Alek. I’ll meet you on the inner gate with Yakov and the Lieutenants. Make sure they are presentable and have them wearing their weapons. I need them to make the right impression.’
‘We’ll see you in less than an hour,’ Alek thought. Loushka sent the message to the other griffons.
'Cat.'
I blearily registered that Alek shook me, wanting me conscious. I blinked and tried to sit up. 'What?'
'We’ll be arriving soon. We need you looking presentable.'
Good luck with that, I thought and started to drift off to sleep again.
Alek frowned when Cat started to slump in his arms and shook her again.
'Catherine!' He said her name loud enough to make her jump. 'Wake up. We need to get your weapons strapped on and your cloak and your hair sorted.' Alek regarded the mess of hair in front of him thoughtfully.
The Arrival: An Epic Fantasy Romance Page 17