Flight of the Gryphon

by Ann Durand

  Chapter Eight

  With her heart breaking, Adrella kissed her father on both cheeks and held her mother in a tight embrace before stepping back to look at them. Her mother's face had turned a splotchy red, though the morning was cool and breezy. Adrella drew in a quaking breath that threatened to shatter her frail composure, but at the last moment managed to press her lips together and smile. Mama was wringing her hands and looking strained. Papa cleared his throat and looked at his feet.

  "Maybe it would be easier if…" he mumbled.

  "I should go," Adrella interrupted.

  "Yes," he said, and looked at her. "Go north, Adrella. Katera is not in the southern territories, or she would have heard the horn and come home. Our horn does not reach the northern region of the Tikon Forest." Papa turned to Chilika, Adrella's hoshdel, and stuffed the family horn into a saddlebag draped over the animal's back. "She must be in the north, and if you leave now you'll be able to reach Kiddik Meadow in three and a half hours. You can blow the horn in the place where the woods lead into the meadow. The blast should reach all the territory leading up to the Shirkas. If Katera is anywhere around there, she will hear it."

  Papa cinched up the saddlebag and turned to Adrella. She nodded sadly, hearing his unspoken words. If Katera is anywhere at all, if she is still alive…that's what you mean, isn't it?

  They had spent the last two days sounding the horn with the unique series of blasts devised to summon members of her family from a distance-one long toot, three short, and another long. First Papa, then Mama had blown the instrument for hours. They would not give it to Adrella, who was still weak after losing her baby. Though Askinadon had awarded her one extra day to recover, she had not regained her full strength.

  Katera had not responded to the summons, which could only mean that she was either out of range, lost, or…Adrella did not want to dwell on other possibilities. Katera was out there, and Adrella was going to find her. She had mixed feelings about luring her sister with the horn. She wanted to see Katera and know that she was all right, but it felt like a betrayal. She'd never before displayed disloyalty to any Parallonian, let alone her sister.

  She had explained to Mama and Papa that Askinadon held Rorken hostage, and while they had proffered their understanding and support, the deception she must instigate to find her sister haunted her. Would Katera appreciate her fierce desire, her need, to protect her child as well as Mama and Papa? Would she be willing to aid her nephew, to keep him from peril? Mama had told Adrella that she had no choice-she could not endanger Rorken. Then, naively, she had added that she and Katera would be together on the mountain-and wasn't that a good thing?

  "You can watch each other's children grow up," Mama had said, with a wan smile. "Won't that be nice?"

  Adrella did not tell her mother about the long hours of hard labor forced on the wives. She did not tell her about the bullying Kastaks, or mention the dreadful hours in Askinadon's bed. Nor did she tell about the omnipresent Voice that badgered them much more than anyone in the village could imagine. She did not describe the horrid corral…oh. That awful pole inside the dirty pen of the rocsadons. No, there was no point in inflating the acute anxiety that her parents were already feeling.

  Last night, Askinadon had given the order to leave in the morning and look for Katera. You must find your sister quickly and bring her to me, he commanded. You have two days to accomplish this. For the sake of your son, do not fail in this mission.

  Adrella accepted the reins from Papa and allowed him to hoist her into the saddle that he'd provided. She settled into the comfortable seat and looked at her parents for what might be, she realized with a heavy heart, the last time.

  "Thank you, Mama…Papa. Someday…"

  "Someday we will see you, your sister, and your children, too," Papa said, trying to sound cheerful. He turned to his wife. "Right, Moreesha?"

  Mama smiled, and Adrella nodded, hoping her angst didn't show. Not wishing to prolong the agony any further, she urged Chilika forward. The animal broke into an eager trot before Adrella reined her to a brisk walk. She peered back over her shoulder to see Mama leaning into Papa's shoulder as he placed his arm around her. They looked frightened. Adrella swallowed, waved and turned her attention toward the path ahead.

  She was in no hurry to leave. Not this meadow-this place of happy memories. The meadow was at least seven miles long, and her parent's hosta was located on the southern end. It would take a couple hours before she cleared it. She rode for about a mile and neared the Kala River. As Chilika plodded along, Adrella looked from side to side, greeting her old neighbors as they strolled toward the path to see her off. From their solemn faces, Adrella knew the rumors generated from her cries of the night before last had reached their hostas.

  The morning air was crisp, and the sun sparkled as it climbed into the sky over Kan Mountain. Everywhere, as the dawn emerged, villagers arose and assumed the routines that had sustained them for many generations of fathers and sons, mothers and daughters. She watched an old friend, Mashtun, as he led the family hoshdels to the feeding troughs. His wife, Likera, was hacking at the ground alongside their hosta with a horn-shaped tool, a bag of seed by her side. They both stopped to watch her pass.

  Further down the path she spied Pantera, the youngest child of Mankin and Rokana, as she prepared a Shalpaca for shearing, brushing the long, dense hair of the animal with the spiky bristles of the Chipinet plant. Pantera looked up as she rode by the corral and waved. Adrella waved, struggling to hold back the tears.

  For them, it was a morning like any other; full of the usual chores and animals and gardens. For her, it was like moving through a sweet dream that was slipping away. Soon, too soon, she would leave the peace of the village and return to her hellish life with Askinadon and his many unhappy wives. If it weren't for Rorken…

  Chilika was trotting again, so Adrella pulled back on the reins, but this time the hoshdel struggled against them, thrusting forward and bleating urgently. That was funny. Chilika rarely got nervous, unless…

  Alarmed, she looked around and saw that Mashtun's hoshdels had bolted and were rushing the length of the fence, spinning at the end and charging skittishly back again. As she surveyed the surrounding hostas and their adjoining corrals, she noticed many of the animals appeared highly agitated. Curious, she tried to turn Chilka to investigate, but Chilika refused, stubbornly shaking her head. Strange . She only acts like this if there is a rocsadon around. Her heart quickened as she scanned the horizon.

  There. There it was by Kala Lake… Mericful Lupana.

  She heard the screaming first, and then the rumble of heavy, maddened feet pummeling the ground, like an avalanche of boulders tumbling from a hillside. There was no mistaking that sound. A rocsadon was loose in Parallon. With her heart pounding, Adrella stretched her legs in the stirrups to see better. A cloud of dust led from Tikon Forest to Kala Lake, and it was advancing rapidly along the lakeside trail.

  And then, she saw it. It tore randomly through a group of hostas, toppling walls and trampling contents. This rocsadon was huge, likely a male, and was charging down the path in her direction. She sucked in her breath and gave Chilika free rein. The hoshdel leaped off the path, heading south again in a panic. Adrella felt the tremors in the ground as the rocsadon blew past them on the trail. She knew it had locked onto a target and would stop at nothing, which meant that she was not its intended victim.

  With some measure of relief, she struggled to regain control of Chilika, who was galloping recklessly. Adrella reined her to a trot, then a brisk walk, and turned to look over her shoulder. The rocsadon screeched to a halt in front of Pantera's hosta. It paused, sniffed the air, and lunged into it, throwing its colossal body against the adobe walls.

  The first surge sent a fatal fracture across the length of the front wall. The second one brought it down with a loud crash, as well as most of the two adjoining walls. The roof toppled forward onto the rocsadon's chest, splintering around it. The beast did n
ot budge. The far wall remained standing.

  Pantera's parents, Minken and Rokana, who must have been huddled together inside, dashed out the back door located in the middle of the standing wall. When the rocsadon spied them, it lifted its long neck and howled at the sky. Adrella recognized the frenzied hunting call of the rocsadon, a wretched, piercing wail signaling the advent of a kill. A shiver ran up her spine.

  She watched in horror as Minken and Rokana met Pantera in the corral. The three of them wrapped their arms around each other, shaking while the rocsadon tramped over the broken hosta and crashed through the fence. In desperation, Minken grabbed a gardening tool with a long handle and a sharp end. Holding it aloft, he charged the rocsadon yelling at the top of his lungs. The rocsadon skidded to a stop in front of him, creating a plume of swirling dust. It grabbed Minken's tool in its long teeth, and lifted its enormous head. For a moment, Minken rose with it, then he let go and dropped onto the hard ground on his back. The rocsadon shook his head ferociously and sent the tool flying through the air like a spear. It landed a hundred feet away with its sharp end stuck in the ground.

  Minken lay very still. Adrella could see that his eyes were open. He's resigned to his fate. There's nothing…nothing in this world that he can do.

  The rocsadon snorted, turned, focusing his steely attention back on Minken. Baring its long teeth, it leaned over. Adrella did not hear Minken scream or cry out. She saw his body lifted inside the jaws of the beast, his arms and legs hanging limply on either side, unresisting. The rocsadon bit down and a fount of red poured from its mouth. Rokana sobbed as she held her arms over Pantera's head, shielding her daughter from the grisly scene. Adrella felt nauseas and turned her head away. Within minutes, the rocsadon had finished its meal and was thundering back down the path toward Kan Mountain, its long tail sweeping the ground.

  Clearly, this was not a feral rocsadon. It had not fixed on Minken's scent within sight range as the wild ones did. This one had been baited with a fixing cloth, which meant Askinadon had sent it. And now, it was headed back to its master…to the corral at the summit, lured by yet another scent.

  Neighbors were already rushing toward Rokana and Pantera. Shaking, Adrella guided Chilika back onto the path, heading north again on her own grim mission.

  After living on the mountain for two years, Adrella had almost forgotten about the rocsadon raids that Askinadon orchestrated several times a year. The raids kept the villagers sufficiently cowed to respect the Voice, obey all directives and assume that Askinadon held all the power.

  Askinadon could be listening at this moment, Adrella reminded herself. As soon as she had the thought, the ringing started up in her head. The Voice broke through, and her head crackled with the intrusion. She turned her thoughts to images that pleased Askinadon. She imagined herself dancing before him in her silken spullera, but he did not respond to it. Instead, the Voice hissed in her mind like the hot breath of a rocsadon.

  Did you see it, Adrella? He paused to listen. Ah, I see that you did. Good. Nothing quite like a rocsadon feasting, is there?

  Adrella cringed, but forced herself to answer. The mighty rocsadon has disappeared back into the forest, dear Husband and God of Parallon. You rule with almighty power. May all glory be yours, oh, Great One.

  This phrasing rarely failed to subdue Askinadon, and this was no exception. There was another pause, and he replied in a softer tone.

  Just remember not to fail in your mission. We wouldn't want any rocsadons bearing down on your parents' hosta, now would we?

  Adrella's stomach did a sickening spin, but she forced herself to answer, No, Master. I obey.

  Askinadon's Voice faded into a buzz, which subsided and died out. Adrella spurred her hoshdel into a trot, then a gallop as she responded to a new sense of urgency. I must find Katera…today. I must find her today .

  Chapter Nine

  "That's it!" Mike cried. "I think we've done it." He grinned as he held up the new VisiOrb, which he had modified into a small ear set. "You can receive the Voice and send your own through this device. It fits comfortably in the ear, and no one will see it if your hair is down."

  Katera clapped her hands together and laughed. She'd changed back into her freshly cleaned spullera and panna, and beamed with an earthy femininity. Much easier to work around than the form-fitting ulli, Mike noted with relief.

  "Let's try it," she urged. "See if it works."

  The smile faded from Mike's face as he set the Orb down on his workbench. "No test runs, Katera. As soon as you activate it, Askinadon will know where you are and demand that you come to him…if he doesn't come for you himself. I sure as hell don't need Don Askins poking around these caves, and I don't think you're ready to march up the hill to see him either, right?"

  Katera shook her head. "I'd like to use it soon, though. I want to find out what happened to my sister."

  Mike stared at her. She certainly stayed true to her purpose. He sighed. She deserved to know what probably happened. Maybe it was time to tell her.

  "I think I know where your sister is. I've been up there on the summit many times, always at night and always in secret. I know that Askinadon keeps many wives. Sometimes I hear them at night in their hostas, talking and laughing while Askinadon and most of the Kastaks are sleeping." Mike paused. "I believe your sister is one of those wives."

  Katera gasped. "Adrella's alive? Why didn't you tell me?"

  "I don't know for certain that she is. I've never seen her or the other women. I've only heard them on several occasions when I was slipping by on my way to the lab. They talk about Askinadon, their lives on the mountain…I don't think they're very happy."

  Katera was staring at him wide-eyed. He wanted to reach out, draw her to him, tell her everything would work out, but he didn't know if he could promise that. Even with the modified Orb, Katera's safety was in grave peril if she joined her sister on the summit. If she got caught, Askins would not take lightly to her betrayal.

  "Adrella's alive," she breathed again.

  "Maybe," he reminded her, but she was no longer listening.

  Her face filled with hope, the light in her eyes sparked with enthusiasm. "If we can get her away from Askinadon…didn't you say you could modify another Orb?"

  Mike groaned inwardly. All he wanted to do was get off this world, so why was he getting involved with this woman? He'd saved her life once, and yeah, that'd been all right…okay, nice, very nice, but where had he signed up to do anything else?

  "Listen," he said, but then caught the look in her eyes: trusting, soft. Oh, Lord, don't show me that . Mike drew his hand across his brow. He must not forget his purpose. He was so close. "Listen," he began again.

  She was gnawing on her lower lip. "Mikolen," she interrupted. "If it brings you distress, I will not ask more of you. I will find Adrella on my own. You have saved me from the Falls and the Voice. It is enough, and for this you have all my gratitude." She touched her forehead and chest with two fingers, and then brought her hands back together in a Parallonian gesture of appreciation. She bowed her head and said something in the old language.

  Mike felt his heart sink into his feet like a dead weight. I'm a cad. She doesn't stand a chance in hell without me. Of course, she doesn't stand much of a chance with me, either .

  "Yeah, well, it's just that…" Mike struggled to find words that were not there. "As I told you, I have this project…"

  "Shh!" Katera hissed unexpectedly, pressing one finger to her lips and turning her head. "Do you hear?" Mike strained his ears, but heard nothing. Then the distant sound of something shrill drifted into the chamber…a horn, it sounded like a horn. "One long, three short…" Katera whispered. Another faint blast. "And that's a long! That's my family horn. That blast-one long, three short, one long-they're calling me." She grabbed Mike's hands and bounced on her toes. Her face glowed even in the dim light of the lanadik. "Oh, Mikolen. They're looking for me." She was so close to him that he could smell her honey-sweet breath. Her
hair fell in splashes over her arms as she hopped. Then she stopped. "I must go meet them…I-I need to go." She looked into his eyes and held his gaze. "We must say good-bye."

  She paused, as if considering her next move, then flung her arms around his neck and pressed her lips into his, startling him. He felt a jolt, a current, rip through his body. His arms encircled her as if they had a life of their own. Katera leaned into the kiss, pushing her body against his. Mike struggled to keep his balance and sense of control, but realized he was losing the battle as his tongue, in a disobedient gesture, flicked out of his mouth and darted into hers.

  He heard a soft moan glide from her throat. Then she pulled back, her hands pushing on his chest. She looked into his eyes. Her own were misty, her face flushed. What in the world was she doing to him? He did not want to quit and bowed his head to find her lips again. He kissed her harder this time, revealing his urgency, and pulled her closer, tighter. Ah, it had been so long…so long…

  She was pressing her hands against his chest again. What?

  "Mikolen." She pushed harder. "Mikolen, stop."

  Mike let go, feeling dazed. "Katera…"

  She stepped back with a bewildered look on her face. "Mikolen, I have to go…now." She opened her mouth to say something else, then closed it, looking uncertain. "Good-bye," she blurted, and darted for the chamber opening.

  Mike watched her scurry away into the tunnel, feeling confused. He dropped his head, struggling to quell his raging emotions.