by Chrys Cymri
‘Do you think anyone would call at the table to see a snail shark?’ I shook my head. ‘You’re far more cuddly.’
This description left Morey momentarily speechless. As he muttered dark things under his breath, I joined the traffic leaving Nenehampton. We were half way home before he finally calmed down.
‘I’ve seen Raven since that evening,’ I said. ‘He seemed fine. I still think it’s the drugs. He was in that cavern much longer than the rest of us, and maybe it takes awhile to work out of a dragon’s system.’
‘Or the damage could be permanent.’
I nearly went through a red light. ‘I hope not.’
‘As do I.’ At my glance, Morey added, ‘Oh, yes, there was a time when I worried about you meeting up with that dragon. But you’ve chosen Peter, so I know Raven is nothing more than a friend. By the way, you still haven’t told me why you polished off a bottle of whisky on Thursday night.’
‘Let’s see what’s happening in the world,’ I said as I turned on the radio. Listening to the dulcet tones of BBC Radio 4 presenters was the best distraction I could come up with at short notice.
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On Sunday morning I presided at the usual 10am communion service. Even if no one burst into tears of joy at my return from sabbatical, at least there were no placards held up in protest. I introduced Skylar as the new curate, which led to a soft rustle of wings in the chancel area. But both congregations behaved themselves, human and vampire. James snuck in during the first reading, and I tried to ignore his wide grin.
The service ended, and Skylar led the way to the clergy vestry. As we pulled off our robes, James appeared at the doorway with a mug. ‘Coffee, white, two sugars?’ he asked her as he handed it over.
‘And where’s mine?’ I asked as he sipped from the second cup.
‘Sorry, Sis. Only two hands, you know.’
I left the vestry and followed my nose to the coffee machine gurgling away in a back corner. ‘This is new,’ I commented as I reached for a mug.
‘Rosie brought it in,’ my churchwarden said. ‘It’s transformed the congregation. Most people stay behind to chat, now.’
I used a mouthful of coffee to wash down my words. Never mind that I had suggested a machine months ago.
‘When will we hear Reverend Skylar preach?’ Holly continued. ‘It’d be good to hear a new voice from the pulpit.’
And I swallowed more coffee.
Skylar was talking to a collection of church members, James at her side. I wondered how many of the elderly women were interested in the new curate, and how many were simply pleased to see a young man in St Wulfram’s. James, to my amusement, seemed to remember many of their names, despite not having attended a service in months.
As we left, my brother suggested that we go to a nearby pub for lunch. Only after we had finished pudding did he discover that he’d left his wallet at home. So, with a sigh, I handed my own credit card to the waiter. I waved away James’ insistence that he’d pay me back.
Skylar accepted a lift home in James’ BMW sports car. As I slid into my Ford, my iPhone sang out the Doctor Who theme. For a moment I debated whether to answer. Then I pressed the button. ‘Hi, Peter.’
‘Penny.’ His voice was warm. ‘Sorry I’ve not called earlier. Work’s been very busy. Has Taryn told you? A manticore’s been wandering around Northampton. We keep losing him.’
‘I haven’t seen Taryn for days.’ I bit my lip. ‘I’ve missed you.’
‘And I’ve missed you. Is Thursday still your day off this week? How about I come around 10am and we go to Stratford? We could catch a matinee, and then go visit my sister. They moved into their house a fortnight ago, so they’re now ready for visitors. I know Alice would love to meet you.’
‘I should meet my bridesmaid,’ I agreed. ‘10am sounds great. See you then. And good luck with the manticore.’
No sign of the BMW when I reached the vicarage. As I walked into the house, a small blur of blue and purple flew to my shoulder. ‘Hello, Auntie Penny.’
‘Good afternoon, Jago.’ I draped my coat over the bottom stair post. ‘You decided not to come to church?’
‘James said he wanted to go on his own. He said it’s easier to pray that way. Where’s he now?’
I made a mental note to warn my brother about using God as an excuse. ‘Off somewhere, I should think.’
‘He’s with Father Skylar, isn’t he?’
‘Clever clogs,’ I said affectionately. ‘Would you like a bowl of tea?’
‘I’d rather have an adventure,’ he said. ‘It’s been ages since I’ve had an adventure.’
‘You’re not even two months old yet.’
‘So I’ve spent most of my life not having adventures.’
I walked up the stairs to change. ‘Eyes to the wall,’ I ordered Jago as I put him down on the dresser. ‘You go with James on his business trips, don’t you?’
‘But those are just meetings, meetings, and more meetings.’ Jago whistled a sigh. ‘I’ve tried talking to Uncle Clyde, but he’s too busy with the snail pups. My mam says I’m too young to go on patrol with her and Uncle Peter. And Tad just wants me to be an altar server.’
I exchanged clerical shirt for t-shirt and pulled on a fleece. Jago’s complaints reminded me of James’ childhood laments. ‘Penny, I’m bored!’ But I wasn’t sure whether my standard response, ‘Go outside and play’, would work with a fist-sized gryphon. ‘I’m planning to call for Raven. But I want you to stay in the kitchen until I tell you that it’s safe to come out.’
‘Why wouldn’t it be safe to come out?’
I grabbed my coat as I took us to the kitchen. ‘Can you just do as you’re asked, Jago?’
His muttering reminded me of Morey. But Jago leapt down to the kitchen counter. He stayed behind as I let myself out into the back garden, pulling on my boots before striding across the long grass.
Spring was turning into summer, and the weeds were responding accordingly. My shoes, which I still hadn’t got around to cleaning, disappeared beneath the mixture of green and yellow. After one more glance to ensure that no neighbours were peering over fences, I pulled out the pocket knife and half opened the blade.
A few moments later, Raven emerged from the thin place which Clyde had carved into the air over my house. He circled for a moment, his head jabbing from one side to another, before he backwinged to land in front of me. ‘Penny, you are magnificent. But your garden is not.’
‘Good to see you too,’ I said drily. ‘How are you feeling?’
‘All the better for seeing you.’ His amused snort brushed hair back from my forehead. ‘You’re not still convinced that I’m suffering from some illness? I can assure you, I’m in the prime of health.’
The dragon certainly looked it. His scales shifted between green and black in the sun, and the feathers around his eyes and ears glittered as if lined with emeralds. I was beginning to wonder what had really happened at St George’s. Could he have suffered some form of seizure?
‘Raven! Raven! Raven!’ Jago buzzed happily around the dragon’s muzzle and then settled on the flat spot just above the red-lined nostrils. ‘You don’t look sick at all!’
The dragon went nearly cross-eyed in his attempts to look at the gryphon. ‘So I keep telling Penny.’
‘So you can take me on an adventure!’
‘Living with the remarkable Penny isn’t adventure enough?’
‘No, she does boring things like go to church. I mean a real adventure.’
Raven chuckled and gave me a side-long glance. ‘Certainly, young gryphon. Would you like to meet some merpeople?’
‘Oh, yes!’
‘Then find yourself a more secure perch, and let’s go.’
‘Jago,’ I said sternly, ‘I don’t think this is a good idea. You shouldn’t be going off on your own.’
‘You could always come with us,’ Raven said. The curl in his ears undermined his innocent tone. He stretched out a foreleg.
I hesitated. What if he had another one of fits while we were slipping through a thin place? It would be far safer to stay off his neck until I could be certain that he was indeed fully well. I didn’t want a repeat of our wild ride from Caer-grawnt.
But then what? Did I really want to remain earth-bound, or limit myself to dragons who possessed none of Raven’s skill? I glanced around my overgrown garden, the damp-walled vicarage, the grey clouds hovering over Northampton. The idea of simply going back into my empty house was unbearable. As was the thought that I might never ride Raven again.
So I pulled on my jacket and climbed up to my usual spot on Raven’s neck. Jago was already in place, clutching a spine ahead of me, his tail lashing in excitement. ‘This is all your fault,’ I told him.
Raven’s laughter rumbled against my legs. ‘My dear Penny, if you had no intention of flying with me today, why did you bring your coat?’ And, without waiting for an answer, he kicked us away from the vicarage.
Chapter Thirteen
Raven folded his wings and took us through the nearby thin place. We emerged over Caer-grawnt. I had only a moment to glance at the town before he pounded his wings to carry us away to the nearby hills.
‘Whee!’ Jago had let go of Raven and was flying near my right knee. ‘This is fun!’
I tightened my legs around the dragon’s neck and reached out to grab the gryphon. ‘You have to stick close,’ I said as he complained, writhing in my hands. ‘Raven could duck through another thin place any moment, and you’d be left behind.’
‘But he’d be able to find me again, wouldn’t he? Search dragons can find anything.’
‘You’d lose valuable adventure time.’
‘Or I might have a better adventure while I’m lost.’
‘But I’d lose out.’ I looked down into his eyes and, with a sudden start, realised that the left was blue and the right was brown. When had that happened? ‘I’m tucking you into my jacket.’
Raven twisted to our left, and we were suddenly back to Earth. I choked in thick and yellow air. My eyes streamed as I looked down, but I could see nothing through the thick haze. Raven roared in disapproval. With a burst of speed which slammed my back against a hard spine, he threw us forward.
The crisp night air that met us on the other side of the crossing was a welcome relief. ‘Auntie Penny?’ a small voice piped up from beneath my chin.
‘Yes, Jago?’
‘What was that?’
I wiped the tears away from my cheeks. ‘A very polluted city. I’m going to guess somewhere in China or India.’
‘Are there many places like that on Earth?’
‘Sadly, yes.’
‘Why?’
‘Because we haven’t looked after our planet very well.’ I sighed. ‘I hope your world makes better decisions than ours.’
‘Me too.’
Raven spread his wings and took us into a glide while he coughed and snorted. A lack of moonlight made me wonder where we were. With a flip of wings, the dragon took us down and through a crossing. I had only a brief glimpse of snow-capped mountains before another thin place took us high above an ocean.
Green and brown objects bobbed in the gently rolling sea. As Raven brought us nearer, I realised that I was looking at a floating settlement. Wooden logs had been lashed together with rope to make rafts. A half dozen circled a larger square. A large building, which looked to have been woven from seaweed, filled most of the central platform.
Merpeople rested on raised logs. From the waist up, they looked nearly human, albeit with extra white around their irises and a green tinge to their hair. Waist down was all scale and tail. I tried not to stare at areas which I wished had been kept private.
Our arrival was finally noticed. Merpeople cheered and waved, calling out Raven’s Norse name. ‘Hrafn yma! Hrafn yma!’
‘They like him,’ Jago said, having climbed onto my shoulder for a better look.
‘They saved his life. It seems that obliges them.’
Jago stared at me with his disconcerting eyes. ‘It’s the other way, isn’t it?’
‘It might be with gryphons,’ I said. ‘But not with merpeople.’
Raven’s wings snapped at the air as he lowered us near one of the platforms. For a moment I wondered if he expected me to jump down. But Raven simply stopped flying, and we dropped into the water. Cold waves splashed up against my legs and chest. Jago wisely abandoned ship, leaping upwards before he too could be drenched.
We plunged down to the height of Raven’s neck spines, and my waist, before bobbing back up again. The dragon stretched out his legs and swam us over to the settlement. I forced back the words I wanted to say, and merely observed, ‘You can float.’
‘I can fly,’ he said, as if that answered everything.
Hands reached out to me. Although Raven brought his body alongside the raft, the gentle rocking of dragon and slippery looking logs made me glad for the help. Several merpeople lifted me from Raven’s neck and brought me safely to their side.
One merwoman turned her head to tell the dragon, ‘Mae’i dillad yn wlyb diferu.’
‘More than soaked,’ I grumbled.
‘It’s warm,’ the dragon said in Welsh. ‘She’ll dry.’
My clothes would, but I was already grieving the loss of my iPhone. I touched the wet pocket of my cargo trousers, but forced myself not to pull out the device. There was little I could do for it out here, and it was unlikely that merpeople would possess a bag of rice.
A merwoman emerged from the building on the central platform. Like those around me, she balanced on the middle of her tail to keep herself upright. ‘Hrafn!’ she called out in Welsh, ‘Who have you finally brought to us?’
Many of the merpeople wore necklaces, but hers was a intricate mixture of coral, shells, and jewels, set in gold which glittered in the warm sun. I quickly worked out the Welsh in my head. ‘Penny White, from the country of England. Thank you for welcoming me into your settlement.’
‘And I’m Jago,’ the gryphon announced as he landed on my shoulder. His Welsh was rough, and I made a mental note to tell Morey. His son’s ability to speak the national language of Lloegyr was being hampered by life with English-speaking humans.
‘Croeso,’ the merwoman said. ‘The Pilot of Middle Ocean, Abella of the Deep Seas, welcomes you. Please, Penny White, Jago, transport yourselves to her presence.’
‘Oh, don’t worry about me,’ Raven said at my glance. ‘I’ll join you in a moment.’
I took a seat on one of the raised logs, removed my boots and socks, and tied the laces together so I could hang my shoes around my neck. Then I carefully made my way across the raft, bare toes gripping at the rounded wood. Merpeople on the central structure pulled at ropes and brought the two platforms together. A sudden swell made me drop to my knees and wait until the ocean had calmed again. Then I clambered over.
A selection of short tree trunks, carved into chairs, rested only a short distance away. I concentrated on my footing. It was with a sigh of relief that I selected the nearest seat and lowered myself down.
Abella was at the far edge. At some point, Raven must have dived under the platforms. His head rested on the logs, and the merwoman was rubbing at his eye ridges and murmuring softly into his ears.
Jago’s crest brushed against my ear. ‘Should she be doing that? He’s your dragon.’
‘Raven,’ I said firmly, ‘is no one’s dragon.’ I forced my hands to relax.
The merwoman said something to Raven, and he responded in a low chuckle. Then she turned and moved across the logs, using her arms and thrusts from her tail to propel herself along. Her thick biceps reminded me of female body builders, and I watched, impressed, as she used only one hand to lift herself into a chair. A small silver tattoo, formed of two interlocking circles, gleamed on her left arm.
‘We regret, Penny White and Jago, that you missed our opera.’ Her voice was cultured, and I wondered if she were using the royal ‘we’. T
he way she held her head made me feel as if I were in a throne room. ‘Hrafn says that he made the offer, yet you declined. Why?’
‘Yes, why?’ Jago asked, still speaking in his broken Welsh. ‘That would’ve been quite an adventure.’
‘Aren’t we having an adventure now?’ I asked the gryphon.
‘I don’t know. Nothing exciting has happened yet.’
The merwoman laughed. ‘What would you call “exciting”?’
‘Being with the snail sharks was exciting,’ Jago replied. ‘They had soldiers and wars and stuff.’
Abella tilted her head. ‘You use words we don’t understand.’
‘I know Jago’s Welsh needs some work,’ I said, hoping that my own was acceptable, ‘but do you really not know the word for “war”? Battles between different peoples for land or sea, or resources, or simply because they’re different to each other?’
‘Who can own the sea?’ Abella asked. ‘And if we don’t like another group, whether merpeople or otherwise, we simply swim away. The ocean is vast. There’s more than sufficient for all denizens of the deep.’
I lifted my gaze to look out over the gently rolling sea. This world had yet to invent plastic, or chemicals, or go through an industrial revolution that could raise ocean temperatures. There were no trawlers removing every piece of life from the ocean floor. These waters were still pristine. No wonder the ocean held enough for everyone. ‘Sounds like paradise.’
A merman resting nearby lifted his head. A sound went through me, like a throb from riding a motorcycle. Abella absorbed the message, and I flinched as she flung one back. Made sense, really, that they’d have a method of communication which could be used under water.
‘Not all are happy here,’ the merwoman said to us. ‘One has recently returned from your world.’ She used a Welsh word which I could not interpret.
Raven snorted. ‘Abella’s talking about the one you call “Nessie”.’
‘What about her?’ I asked.
‘She isn’t at home here,’ the merwoman said. ‘She lived for so long in your country that she’s forgotten how to speak the language of the sea.’