The Arrival

by Nicole MacDonald

'We’ll discuss your outfit later.'

  'GEEZ IF THEY don’t watch out they’ll be expecting soon,' Gredel muttered to his wife.

  Citaan laughed, murmuring in his ear, 'You know, I’m pretty sure it requires more than kissing.'

  He chuckled and gave her a careful hug. She only just showed and even though he loved having her company, he had pleaded with her to stay at home today. She’d refused of course. She wasn’t going to miss out on the markets and enjoying the girls’ company. The five of them got along well but due to the training schedule, the girls rarely got to spend much time with her. Still, he worried about the baby and his lovely wife exhausting herself with excitement. 'Are you sure you won’t stay back? It’s not that long to wait.'

  She gave him an annoyed look.

  He sighed. Elena did say it would be fine and Phroma promised to take it slow.

  Chapter Thirty One

  THE FIVE GRIFFONS pushed off, then gathered in a circle high above the courtyard and began to hum—a low, rumbling sound. Kassie watched in breathless anticipation as she felt the griffons’ energy rise. A shimmering in the middle of the circle caught her eye and she went to lean forward. Rumal’s arms locked tight around her.

  'Hush,' he breathed. 'Don’t move.' She complied and watched the shimmering grow more pronounced. It developed a spherical shape and grew until an obvious ball of swirling silver and blue energy hung in the air. The intensity of the hum increased and she could feel the energy crackle and twist around them.

  'Hold your breath,' Rumal snapped.

  Kerak gave a strong flap of his wings and dived into the swirling mass. Darkness surrounded them. She lost any sense of up and down, and couldn’t even feel Rumal or Kerak. She felt a sense of panic begin to well in her chest while she continued to hold her breath. Suddenly it grew light again and she could breathe. She blinked rapidly, looking around.

  'Welcome to Rhdanon, Kass,' Rumal smiled.

  Kerak moved so they could watch the others come through; such a strange sight. There was no visible orb on this side but just before a griffon came through, the sound of their energy was suddenly audible. Then the griffon and riders appeared, like stepping through a doorway. It went silent again until the next came through.

  LOI WATCHED THE process, fascinated and turned to smile at Kassie. Loushka came through and Cat stared wide-eyed when they came around to wait with the others. Just Phroma was left. The dark griffon came through smoothly and the gateway closed with a loud chime.

  Citaan beamed at the girls and practically hopped in the saddle. 'C’mon, it’ll be getting busy. Let’s go!'

  Everyone laughed while the girls exchanged questioning looks. They’d soon see what all the fuss was about.

  THE FOREST WAS much sparser here and I could smell salt in the air. I squirmed in the saddle, trying to see more. Alek laughed at me.

  ‘Pull Cat up to standing,’ Loushka thought to us both. ‘It’s a good view.’

  Helping me out of the stiff overcoat, Alek pulled me to my feet. I leaned back against him, looking out. What a spectacular sight. We approached what must be a city. It looked miles bigger than Gartoll and I could just make out a harbor littered with boats. I felt a rush of excitement and twisted to look up at Alek. 'Are we going to the city?'

  'No, we’re going to somewhere even better.'

  We settled back down into the saddle and I stretched my arms out, relieved to be rid of that coat.

  'Would you stop that?'

  'What?' I looked up in surprise as he stared down with a bemused smile.

  'I said we’d discuss your outfit later, arching your back like that isn’t helpful.'

  Whoops. I’d actually forgotten how low the v-neck on my sweater was.

  I laughed at him. 'No-one’s making you look.'

  The griffons flew lower and we could make out houses and people now. All of them looked up to see us. Some waved and shouted while others just gaped. The attention was funny, I frequently forgot the status of the Griffon Guard and Alek. I could see a large, make that huge, clearing coming up. It teemed with people. My jaw dropped, it had to be the largest crowd we’d seen yet. The griffons appeared to know the place well and I got a shock when Loushka dived low over the crowd and let out a screeching roar. The others followed suit and the crowd screamed back in excitement.

  THE GRIFFONS WHEELED around and landed in a smaller, empty clearing, just beyond. 'What is that place?' demanded Sian.

  Daron grinned and motioned for her to slide down from Nesha.

  ‘That’s the Rhdanon Markets,’ Nesha informed her. ‘A favorite place of ours. You'll love it.’

  They waited for everyone to climb down, then set off with the griffons padding along behind. The trees were slender and about half the height of the ones in the forest by the castle. There was a definite seaside feel to the place. Sand was visible underfoot, blown in with the wind. The sound of the crowd grew louder and Sian glanced at Daron, a little nervous. Picking up on it, he reached out to draw her close so they walked side by side with his arm around her.

  THE TRACK WE followed widened out and Citaan, who walked in front with Gredel, gave a little skip and a squeal of excitement. Everyone began to laugh and Alek gave my hand a squeeze. 'If you hadn’t yet noticed, the markets are a favorite of Citaan’s.'

  She spun back to poke her tongue out at him, then winked at me. 'You wait, Alek. Cat and the girls will love it just as much.' As she spoke we walked into the market clearing. It was loud with voices, vocal and telepathic, with a mass of creatures before us; a total shock to the senses. The griffons were vocal and greeted everyone, it seemed strange to hear them out loud.

  CAT AND THE other girls stared about in amazement and it made the men smile. Rhdanon was Elion’s cosmopolitan city and the market was packed. Alek caught sight of a water sprite couple and glanced down to see if Cat had noticed. She had and wore an intent expression while studying them, alternating glances at Citaan comparing the differences. Someone caught his eye and he recognized his friend Ieran. Smiling, he strode forward to clap hands in greeting with him. 'Ieran. It’s good to see you.'

  I STEPPED OUT of the way so Alek and his friend could catch up. His friend looked unusual, a tall slender frame and dark hair pulled back in a ponytail. He had slanted light brown eyes, framed with cursive brows that I would have thought drawn on if I wasn’t standing so close. A long neck and fingers and tan skin with green under tones. I wonder what he is? While I waited for the conversation to finish so I could ask Alek, I heard his friend say. 'I’m surprised we haven’t seen you sooner, Alek. We’d begun to think the rumors true, Rayna’s been rather beside herself.'

  What? I froze and listened but Alek shrugged the remark off. Loushka gave a husky cough of a laugh and I turned to her. ‘Who’s Rayna?’

  ‘A human female who’s been interested in Alek for some time. She has a stall here, I’m sure she’ll be along soon.’

  Hmm.

  ALEK FINISHED TALKING to Ieran and turned to Cat with a smile.

  'Ieran's Elven. We've been friends for years. I met him when we first started practicing leaping.'

  'Uh-huh. Who’s Rayna?'

  ‘Loushka!’

  ‘Wasn’t my fault, she overheard Ieran and asked me.’

  The griffon gave him a serves-you-right look then wandered over to join Tomiar and Nesha.

  'So?'

  Better get this over with. He sighed. 'Rayna’s someone I had… fun with, for a few years.'

  Cat’s face appeared impassive. 'How recently?'

  'Oh, not for a good couple of years,' he assured her, while waiting for her reaction. She seemed to take it well.

  'Okay. Thanks for letting me know.'

  She wandered after the others then paused to glance back when he hadn’t moved. 'You coming?'

  Feeling a little stunned, Alek followed. Well that was easy, he thought, I'm almost disappointed.

  KASSIE AND RUMAL stopped at a stall that sold maps. There were rolls and rolls of
them at the back of the stall. The stall owner eyed them curiously and she stared back. She’d never seen anything like it. It walked on all fours, its lower back dipping down to shorter hind legs and it had skin that reminded her of an elephant, wrinkled and loose looking. Dark green with black eyes, long green lashes and a narrow face with a protruding muzzle. Cat and Alek stopped with them at the stall.

  'Greetings,' the stall owner whispered. 'How may I be of service to you?'

  'Do you have a world map?' enquired Cat. It inclined its head and turned to look.

  'What is it?' Kassie breathed into Rumal’s ear and he smiled down at her.

  'A fenria, traditionally a forest dweller.'

  They looked over the map and she exchanged a look with Cat. Gar'nyse was huge, far bigger than Earth. Elion appeared to be the largest land mass and she could see now how far the griffons had leapt this morning. Impressive, she thought. A large mass at the bottom of the map had forbidden written across it, she looked to Rumal. 'Why does this say forbidden?'

  He glanced down at where her finger rested on the map. 'That’s Jenviet’s territory. Not a place you want to go.'

  'WHAT YOU REALLY want is a disk map,' Alek arched an eyebrow at the stall owner. 'Do you have one?'

  The stall owner shook his head. 'No, your Highness, they are so expensive I don’t find them worthwhile to stock. Other stalls within the market place do though.'

  We continued on, it looked like it would take us most of the day to walk around the market, with so much to see; jewelry, magick, weapons, maps, even exotic animal stalls. Daron and Sian joined us while we made our way around as Citaan and Gredel caught up with friends.

  THEY STOPPED AT a weapons stall next and the men watched in amusement while the girls enthusiastically studied each piece. Cat appeared much taken with a sleeve that held throwing blades, while Sian examined an expanding sword with great interest.

  Daron laughed at her. 'Pixie, I don’t think you need that. You’ve got a sword.'

  Both Kassie and Cat began to laugh as they exclaimed, 'Pixie?'

  Sian ignored the girls and gave him her best innocent eyes. 'But this one I can fit in my pocket. It’s practically an accessory.'

  He gave her an exasperated look and leaned forward to bargain with the stall owner.

  I EXCHANGED AN amused glance with Kass when Daron paid for the sword Sian wanted. She always excelled at getting men to buy things for her, though usually it was drinks not weapons. I looked back at the throwing sleeve in my hands. The stall owner began to run through its attributes, again. 'Extremely durable, the sleeve is made of dragon skin and will last for eons. The edges of the blades have been touched with elendite and will cut through almost anything. And of course, the throwing blades are charmed to return.'

  'Return?' I’d been distracted by his appearance. I knew he was a goblin from the one Daron had pointed out for us before, but being so close was fascinating. He had the now familiar greenish brown skin, large slanted eyes and triangular ears. His ears had dark brown and cyan stripes and the light hair that ran down the back of his head, disappearing under his shirt, was the same.

  The stall owner nodded and seized the sleeve from my hands. 'Observe.'

  Alek pulled me back and everyone paused to watch the demonstration. The stall owner strapped the sleeve to his arm and you could see it wasn’t designed for goblins—the sleeve wasn’t big enough to go around his thick forearm. In a competent move he swept the blades off the sleeve with his free hand and flicked his wrist out. The five blades flew across the market place, high above everyone’s heads and lodged in a tree trunk. Then he raised his forearm as though doing a bicep curl and made a ‘pull’ motion. The sun flickered off the blades when they quivered then jerked out of the tree, flashing back to the sleeve.

  'WOW!' I gaped in astonishment and he laughed.

  'Would you like to try?'

  I grinned at the others in excitement while he removed the sleeve and strapped it to me. As with everything new, I didn’t exactly ace the first attempt. Instead I managed to drop a couple of blades and almost gave Daron a good slice on the leg. Everyone laughed at the poor throw and the stall owner ushered me behind the stall where there was a large open space. 'Why not try a couple more times at the trees over there,' he pointed across the clearing.

  'Go on.' I nodded to Alek and the others. 'I’ll catch you up.' It’s not like it would take long with self-returning blades and I had my purse of coins on me.

  'I’ll take care of the price.' Alek pressed a kiss to my forehead then winked at me. 'Don’t take too long with your new toy.'

  I smiled at him, chuffed; no one had ever bought me a toy like this before. They headed off and I made a couple of small attempts and then readied myself for a full distance throw. A strong flick of the wrist saw the five blades soar across the clearing and lodge into two trees. I did my happy-dance seeing as no-one watched and raised my arm. Three blades whizzed back to my sleeve, but the other two zipped off to the left. 'Shit,' I frowned at the sleeve. 'Better not be a dud.' Then hurried in the direction they’d disappeared. I reached the tent I thought they had hit but couldn’t see anything, so went to slip between the tents to see if they had managed to go around. Hope they haven’t hit anyone, I thought, concerned.

  'So you’re the new bit.'

  When I turned to see who’d snarled that line I found myself thrust backward, pinned against a tree. An angry woman a few inches taller than me held me hard against the trunk, an arm across my neck while the other pinned my arm with the sleeve. Ten guesses who this must be, he could have mentioned she was crazy.

  'Hello, Rayna,' I said coolly, while mentally crossing my fingers that I’d remembered her name right.

  The brunette blinked in surprise, then curled her lip up in a sneer. 'They said you’re an Elemental. You don’t look like an Elemental, more like a cheap maid from Slemnask.' She spat the words out, the inference obvious.

  My rational voice had a field day while I observed her costume; a belt for a skirt and a belt for a top. 'Pot, meet kettle,' I replied in a pleasant tone.

  'What’d you say?'

  Sheesh, she really worked the agro stance. My fingers twitched with the urge to fry her, just a little. That stupid rational voice vetoed the idea, I sighed. 'Not to worry, it’s an Earth expression.'

  'Earth?' her face changed to a cunning look. 'I heard you were fire. Ha. What can Earth do? So you’re pathetic without him, how funny.'

  The finger twitch got stronger. I gave a low laugh. 'Trust me, honey, if I were Earth you’d be six feet under right now.'

  She gaped at my tone and I saw the fear flicker in her eyes as I stared back. 'What’d you say,' she attempted her macho voice again, but failed, her tone pitching higher.

  Screw this. I counted to ten slowly in my head. She didn’t let up her grip but shifted, leaving me pinned by my shoulders instead of my neck. Excellent. 'Ten!' I smiled nastily at her and slammed my head into her nose.

  THEY FELT THE flush of pain radiate through Cat’s energy and froze; the three girls stared at each other.

  'Where the hell is she?'

  'And what’s she doing?'

  A loud scream of pain rang out and a tall brunette staggered out from between a couple of tents, clutching her face while blood dripped down her arms.

  'Rayna!' Alek lunged toward the brunette but stopped short when Cat stepped out. The angry red mark on her forehead and the red stripe across her chest said it all. 'What happened?'

  'Your charming ex thought she’d try accosting me. I wasn’t in the mood.' Cat’s face looked dark, eyebrows low and lips flat.

  Alek stared in astonishment, appearing uncertain as to who to help. Sian felt annoyed, she glanced at the other two and jerked her head toward Cat. They moved to her side. 'You okay?' Sian reached to Cat’s forehead and gently pressed the piece of ice she’d created to the developing bruise.

  'Ouch! Yeah I’m fine, I lost a couple of blades.'

  'Not to worry
, we’ll—'

  The brunette interrupted her. 'ALEK! Look what that horrible woman did to me.'

  EVERYONE CLOSE FLINCHED at the screech and looked to Alek. He glared at Rayna, furious she would spoil the girls’ first visit to the markets. It’d taken a moment for him to realize what had happened. Now that he had, he took great pleasure in ignoring Rayna when he turned to the girls and reached for Cat.

  'She surprised me, Alek, and had me pinned. I figured a head butt was better than frying her.' The annoyance was strong on her face and she frowned at him, appearing to expect some rebuttal.

  Alek laughed. He pulled her close and took the ice from Sian’s hand, keeping it in place against her forehead. 'You were very diplomatic. Are you okay?'

  'I lost two of the blades.'

  Behind them Rayna shrieked louder and louder, insisting on retribution for the attack. He ignored her. 'What do you mean lost?'

  'They zoomed off around the tents. She caught me by surprise when I went looking for them.'

  Ahh. That's how she did it. Alek removed the ice for a moment and gave Cat’s forehead a gentle kiss. 'Better?' he teased with a soft smile. He gave the ice back to Sian and turned to face Rayna. 'Where are the blades?'

  The woman stopped mid shriek to stare at him. 'What?'

  'The blades, Rayna, where are they? I know you pulled them around.'

  Rayna scowled at him. 'She’s broken my nose. I demand justice.'

  'Are you accusing an Elemental of an unprovoked attack? If you are, I’ll summon the Sorceress here to play the reflection for all to see.'

  She flushed red and glared at him. There was a long silence while he stared back unmoved.

  'How could you do this to me?' Seeing that anger hadn’t worked, she tried tears and burst into loud sobs. No-one watching budged, most had witnessed her antics before.

  'Now, Rayna. Hand them over.' He didn’t want to waste anymore time on this.