by Ivy Asher
My body vibrates with emotion, and Loa mistakes it for crying.
“Save your tears for someone who doesn’t dream of your death.”
I roll on to my back and stare up at her, laughter spilling out of my mouth. She looks at me cautiously, clearly concerned by my abnormal reaction.
“Thank you, Loa,” I tell her, and her eyes dart from me to the trainees who are all silently watching the exchange. I laugh harder and grab at my throbbing side.
“For what?” she finally snaps at me, her eyes bouncing around, puzzled and concerned.
“For waking her up,” I reply, and then as easy as breathing, Pigeon surges forward and snaps at Loa’s face.
Loa squeals a very non-warrior like squeal of surprise and rears back, just avoiding Pigeon’s hooked beak. We scramble to our feet and wait patiently for Loa to shift. We could pounce on her early, give her a taste of her own medicine, but we don’t need to peck at the weak and stand on their corpses to feel better about ourselves.
I expect Loa’s gryphon to be black like her hair, or maybe it’s her shit-stained soul I’m expecting to be reflected in her fur and feathers. So I’m surprised when she shifts and her body is fawn-colored, and her barn owl looking head is the only thing that’s black. She opens her maw to screech at us, but we’re on her before she can make a peep. I slam into Loa with such force I feel it vibrate through the ground. We’re two feral, deadly animals doing our best to tear the other apart, and we growl and snarl as we claw, bat, and snap at each other.
Loa and I separate at the same time, neither of us getting the advantage over the other. We circle each other, assessing and watching for an opening. Or at least that’s what Loa’s doing. Pigeon seems less analytical about it all and more balls to the wall. She puts our head down and goes full rhino and charges. Loa’s beak digs into the base of one of our wings, but she lets go when we ram her into the trunk of one of the surrounding trees.
Loa rears up and swipes at us with a talon-tipped hand. She gets our cheek, but it doesn’t stop us from sinking the talons of one hand into her armpit and snapping at her throat simultaneously. She screams and pummels us with her wings and her other free hand. Pigeon is doing her best to rip off her other arm by shredding up through her armpit. Loa tries to drop her body weight on top of us as she’s realized that rearing up to challenge us didn’t go so well for her.
We pull the talons out of her armpit to keep her from getting us on our back, and immediately charge her again, hoping we can get her on her side. Pigeon is fucking pissed. She doesn’t give a fuck what kind of damage Loa is doing to us this close with her talons and clawed back paws. She knows she has the upper hand over Loa, that she’s more dominant and ruthless in her efforts to protect and claim what is rightfully hers.
I choose not to take this time to point out that Ryn is a big boy and can easily protect himself, and he by no means belongs to us, because the last thing I need is a pissed of Pigeon who feels the need to teach me another lesson and ghost me. I’d hate to know first-hand what it feels like to have my head ripped off, which is exactly what Loa would do if Pigeon receded right now and left me here to deal with this on my own. Fuck knows none of these asshole trainees have done anything to intervene at this point, so I’m pretty sure their help would be nonexistent if Pigeon abandoned me.
“That’s right, Pidge, he’s fucking ours, and no hulk-assed bitch is going to take him away from us!” I scream internally, feeling no shame about egging Pigeon on. Whatever shuts this Loa bitch down once and for all is okay in my book. And I’d be down to ride Ryn’s face before we leave as a thank you to Pigeon for beating this shit talking worm of a woman beyond all recognition. With that thought, I stand back and take a long hard look at my own brutal ruthlessness. I shrug and decide it is what it is, and check back into the fight.
Loa has a new gash where her hind leg meets her torso. Blood is pouring out of it just like the nice wound we gave her in the armpit, and Loa is obviously tiring. We have gashes on our face, shoulders and chest but nothing as deep and debilitating as Loa’s injuries. Loa growls at us as we circle her again, but even she sees it for the empty threat that it is. Her fawn eyes are filled with fear and desperation as her body grows weaker with each drop of blood that splatters to the dirt and grass beneath her feet.
Loa shifts back into her other form, but if she thinks that will stop us from ripping her apart, then she’s the queen of all dumbasses. She just made this a thousand times easier. Pigeon leaps for her, mouth open and ready to rip Loa in half. Just as we’re about to close in on her, someone slams into us, and it throws us off our lethal trajectory. Pigeon manages to get a swipe of our talons into Loa as we’re shoved away from her, and it throws Loa spinning out into the surrounding trees.
Pigeon roars a challenge to whoever intervened, and we scramble to face off with the asshole that just stole our kill. Our gaze lands on honey-colored irises surrounded by black feathers and a gray and black beak. I expect Pigeon to go all demure, like she normally does around Zeph, but apparently, by protecting Loa, he’s crossed some kind of line with Pigeon, and she’s beyond enraged.
About fucking time she saw past all the muscles and hotness.
Images flash through our mind faster than I can make out. I can’t be sure, but I get the distinct impression they aren’t coming from Pigeon. She does this weird growl chuff thing, and then I can see the speedy images that she’s suddenly projecting.
Are Pigeon and Zeph talking to each other?
Pigeon steps in the direction that Loa’s body disappeared in, and Zeph once again moves to get in our way. I wait for Pigeon to tell him off via the image share they seem to be doing, but instead she charges Zeph and swipes at him.
Well, this just fucking escalated!
Shock bleeds into me, and it slams up against Pigeon’s fury. I don’t know what Zeph just did, but it seems the rose-colored glasses that Pigeon always has on when it comes to Zeph just got smashed into a million pieces.
We’re all claws, talons, and pissed off rage as Pigeon attacks Zeph. He bellows at us, and I can hear the stop in it. I’m with Pigeon on this though, Loa started it. She came for us. We have every right to deal with her exactly how we want to. If we had been losing, does Zeph really think Loa would have had mercy on us? Would Zeph have stepped in if it were Loa leaping to rip our head off? Yeah, not fucking likely.
Zeph uses his brute strength to push us away. Pigeon and I go skidding back, but as soon as we get our footing underneath us, we’re rounding on him again. Gryphons move in front of Zeph, protecting him, and I recognize some of them as the kids I’ve been training with. Sarai’s distinct diamond like markings on her face stand out to me as I face off with Zeph’s new protectors. I scoff, irritated by their intervention.
What kind of leader hides behind children? He should be protecting them at all costs, not the other way around. I shake my head, my thoughts filled with disgust. Even Pigeon is judging all the shit that just went down. Well, fuck Zeph, and fuck these Gryphon eyas’ too. Little shits were quick to step in to protect Zeph, but who stepped in to protect me and Pigeon when Loa started shit?
I shoot Zeph one last scathing glare before Pigeon and I spread our wings and fly the fuck away. I’m done with this shit and with these people, and for once, Pigeon completely agrees.
19
“That weak bitch owes us some fucking clothes!” I seethe to Pigeon as I get dressed.
I ignore the eyeroll I can feel Pigeon giving me and the distinct impression she’s telling me, “Fat chance.” Angrily, I pull my shirt over my head and curse the fact that I once again don’t have any fucking shoes. My ribs give a twinge of protest at my movements, and I take a second to breathe through the flash of pain. Stupid fucking Loa and her bully bullshit, I grumble to myself as I trudge out of my room and head down in the direction of the kitchens. I get about half way there and veer off toward the hallway that leads down into the Ouphe-haunted level of the cliff castle. This time, the
re’s no creepy little kid to coax me down here, and when I step off the bottom stair into the hallway, Nadi doesn’t appear out of nowhere and guide me to where I need to go.
The sound of my bare feet on the stone floor echoes around me with each assertive stride I make down the hall in search of the entryway into Vedan. I find the large sealed stone doors and hammer my fist on them. There’s no booming knock or really even much noise other than the impotent sound of my skin slapping against the rock, so I start to shout for Nadi instead. Nothing happens. There’s no darkening of the hallway or dramatic green glowing effect, and for some reason, that makes me feel a little panicked. This was the only plan that I came up with in my efforts to say fuck you and get the hell out of the Eyrie of the Hidden.
“Nadi!” I shout at the sealed doors again, my desperation clinging to the symbols etched into stone. “Your fucking essence is required!”
I step back to look around and see if there’s any other way to get in. Some of the symbols on the door are familiar. Maybe if I can just recall some of what my dad taught me before he died…
“Welcome, Daughter of the Shadows,” Nadi greets me, interrupting my thought.
Her ghostly mouth and face appear inches away from me, and I jump, releasing a surprised squeak. I grab my chest and simultaneously glare at her as I recover from the shock she just gave me.
“You did that on purpose, didn't you?” I accuse, and Nadi shrugs.
“This job gets pretty boring,” she admits casually, and I can’t help the exasperated chuckle that escapes me at the unexpected sign of her sense of humor.
The stone doors scrape open, and Nadi gestures for me to follow her in. Once again as she steps over the threshold, she loses the translucent thing she’s rocking and looks more solid. We make our way back to the overgrown gazebo, and I find myself taking in the ruins around me.
“Have you made a decision about what we talked about previously, Daughter of the Shadows?” she asks me serenely.
I pull my fascinated focus from my surroundings and sober, remembering why I sought her out.
“This whole vow breaking thing, how do I do that?” I ask.
“You have to speak it into existence,” she answers vaguely.
“Yeah, you said that before, but how does that work?” I press. “I’m assuming I can’t just announce the vow is now broken and it will be, right?”
“The words that shatter are lost to the Ouphe people now. You will have to find them and then speak them into existence.”
I nod in understanding. “Okay, I’ll break the vow,” I tell her. “But I think in order to do that, I need to get home. I need to get through the gate so I can look through my gran’s house. I’m positive there’s stuff there that will help me make sense of all of this,” I explain.
I see a hint of doubt in her features. Shit. My plan isn’t working.
“I had a dream this morning about my dad. I was in trouble for using my ability on some neighborhood animals. I had bonded them to me, and I completely forgot that it ever happened until now,” I divulge, as I stare at my hands and wonder just what I’m capable of. “My dad was teaching me to read your language as well as speak it, and I know he had to have books and things back at my gran’s place that will help me remember how.”
Nadi observes me silently for several beats. The quiet is borderline uncomfortable, but I bite my tongue and its need to fill the quiet with useless rambling, and wait. The longer she stares at me, the more worried I start to feel. If she can’t help me get to the gate and figure it out, I just might be screwed.
“As I said before, child, the Ouphe will assist and support you in any way possible. As they were the keepers of the gates, they would be the best source of information on how to navigate them.”
Well, shit. I was really hoping Nadi could just tell me. There’s no way I can find the Ouphe in a land I know nothing about, with threats lurking around that I’ll probably never see coming. That feels like a solid plan if my goal is getting murdered, but since I really just want to get home, this suddenly feels like a hard pass. I rub my hands over my face and heave an exasperated sigh.
“Nadi, I get lost in this castle; there is no way I will be able to just wander out into this world and hope to stumble upon the Ouphe,” I explain and immediately start thinking through what my other options might be. Maybe Tysa can help me.
“You wouldn’t need to go all the way to the Ouphe, child. I can send my essence to let them know to meet you at a rendezvous point. I would also supply you with a map so you would know exactly where you’re going.”
My head snaps up on the word map. I’m a fucking idiot. How the hell did I not think of a map?
“That could work,” I admit, my voice reflecting the shock I’m feeling.
A cream-colored cloth appears in Nadi’s grasp. “It will take half a moon cycle to get there, but when you do, a guide will be waiting for you.”
“Just like that?” I ask, suspicion bubbling up inside of me. This feels too easy.
“I can offer no guarantees about the gate and how it works, but our people will help you to acquire all that you need to be successful. Our existence depends on it,” Nadi explains.
It’s not exactly the answer I was looking for, but at this point, it’s probably my best bet. Fuck knows Zeph isn’t keeping his promise to take me home, and I’d be stupid to think he ever will. Something is going on with him and the Hidden that he’s not telling me about, and I’m just sitting here like a dodo bird, pretending I’m safe and not surrounded by self-serving assholes. It’s time to pull my head out of the sand and start making shit happen for myself.
I take the cloth from Nadi’s outstretched hand, and with that, Nadi disappears. I twirl around just to be sure she’s not behind me or something, ready to freak me out again, but she’s nowhere to be seen. Wind wraps around me like a cyclone, and I’m once again thrown out of Vedan’s doors. I crash to the floor as the stone entrance seals itself, and I go full grumpy old man and shake a closed fist at the now closed archway.
“That’s not funny, Nadi,” I shout into the empty hallway, and my anger bounces all around me, ricocheting off the stone walls.
I hear the faintest tinkling giggle, and I glare at the air all around me. I push up onto my feet and dust myself off, grumbling about hiring the Ghostbusters and how Nadi will be sorry. I unfold the thin, very delicate feeling cloth in my hands and run my gaze over the images that are printed there. My eyes hone in on the Quietus mountain range. There is a purple spot on the map a few inches away from where the foothills start. I also notice the demarcation on the map for the Amaranthine Mountains. There is a green you are here dot, and I know that’s exactly what it is as it’s nestled on a cliff that has a big lake on the other side of it.
The Amaranthine Mountain range is surprisingly not far from where I am now. They’re in the opposite direction that the purple dot is telling me I need to go. Why am I such a bird brain? Why did I think the Amaranthine Mountains were so far away? Zeph flew here with me after he attacked me. He wouldn’t have been far from safety; wouldn’t have risked his precious life and the lives of his pride by doing something reckless like fly where it’s dangerous.
I fold up the map and lean against the stone wall. I could go to the Ouphe and see if they have any suggestions on how to get the gate to work. But if they don’t, I could just end up in a similar or worse situation than I’m in now. Yeah, Nadi said they’re my people, but who is she kidding; I have no people here. I’m too highblood for the gryphons and will probably be too gryphon for the Ouphe. I stare at the stone doors, lost in thought.
Or, I think to myself, I could just go to the gate on my own. Zeph and Nadi made it seem like I need some kind of ancient instruction manual to get it to work, but I sure as fuck didn’t have anything like that when I was pulled into this world. I didn’t do anything to get through the gate other than get electrocuted and knocked unconscious, maybe just my presence will unlock it? Or maybe when I
get there, the on switch will be super obvious. Warmth fills me with that thought, and I decide that just going to the gate is the plan that makes the most sense. I mean, worst case scenario, if I can’t get the gate to work, I can always go meet up with the Ouphe. No harm, no foul, and none the wiser.
Determination sweeps through me, and I fist the map in my hand and head for the stairs. First stop, the kitchen, to steal as much food as possible without getting caught.
“Where the fuck have you been?” snarls at me as I walk into my room, and I jump at the sound of it. If he hadn’t just scared the shit out of me, I’d walk over and high five his use of the word fuck. He’s getting good with it.
“What the fuck are you doing in here?” I demand as my eyes land on where Zeph is perched on my bed.
“I’m waiting for you,” he rumbles, and the sound sends a fluttering of all kinds of yummy sensations through my stomach. He makes a similar noise right before he’s about to come, and my body lights up with a fond remembrance of that fact. “We need to talk about what happened.”
“No. You need to get the fuck out of my room!” I snap as I step all the way inside and shut the door behind me. I debate the best way to deal with the bag full of food I have my arm slung through. If I set it down, it will draw attention to it, but if I keep talking to him with it slung over my shoulder, he’s bound to notice that too. Shit.
“It’s not what you’re thinking it is!” he defends, and I round on him like a boa constrictor does its prey.
“Oh it’s not?” I ask with faux confusion and wide eyes. “You didn’t step in and protect the weaker half in a dominance challenge?”
“No, I stepped in and stopped a training exercise gone wrong,” he argues.
“Ahhhh, a training exercise. Is that what that was? Funny, I’ve never seen Sutton start beating on a trainee with no warning before,” I point out, my voice dripping with imitation sugar.