by Chrys Cymri
‘They’re not that difficult to use.’ There was a touch of sadness in Peter’s voice. ‘And if it means saving your life? Take it, just in case.’ He slid the gun into a leather holster and placed it into the backpack.
Ercwiff’s loud voice broke the uneasy silence. ‘James White, are you ready?’
The muscles along James’ jaw tightened for a moment. He slung the backpack across his shoulders, and pushed the tent flaps open.
Raven was standing beside the matriarch, his golden claws digging deep into the carpets. James gave gryphon and dragon a nod before climbing up into Raven’s saddle. I forced myself to stay silent as my brother was carried away from me. Only after Raven had disappeared did I look for Peter, wanting nothing more than to bury my face in his chest. But Peter was deep in conversation with Morey, so I rubbed Clyde’s shell instead.
Two hours later, Ercwiff summoned both us and the gryphon hunters into the square. The desert sun gleamed on the gryphons’ feathers and glossy hides. I tried and failed not to look at the sharp beaks which opened and shut as they panted in the warmth of the desert sun. Opposite them stood the three dragons, who looked much more comfortable in the heat.
‘You’ll be carried by the dragons,’ Ercwiff told us grandly. ‘Peter and Trahaearneifion on the search dragons, Father Penny with the malwen siarc on the other.’
‘No,’ Raven rumbled. ‘I’ll carry Penny and Clyde.’
The matriarch drew herself up to her full height, which was still only half that of the dragon’s. But in a battle between dragon and gryphon, I wasn’t sure I’d put my money on the dragon. ‘You’re in my employ, and you will carry the other human. I’ve seen you with Father Penny, and I don’t trust you to remember where your loyalty lies.’
I felt my cheeks redden as Peter looked over at me. ‘That’s all right,’ I said quickly. ‘I’ll ride Margh.’
‘There.’ Ercwiff clacked her beak. ‘Father Penny knows. You are prevented by your service to me, dragon.’
‘I’m not prevented by you, but by this.’ And Raven whipped his head around to his back. His sharp teeth tore into the straps which dug into his skin, ripping the leather to shreds. The bulky saddle slipped from his neck, sending sand into the air as it hit the ground. I winced at the sight of red-green sores which blotched his neck and chest. ‘I’m no longer in your service, Matriarch, and I’ll carry whomever I wish.’
The gryphon’s ears and feathers rose in anger. ‘Very well, Hrafn. But remember this. I’ll broach no interference with the hunt. You’re not the only dragon willing to accept my gold.’
‘I’m loyal to this clan,’ Arnborg reminded us, arching her neck.
I spoke before Raven could say something further. ‘He understands, Matriarch. And so do I.’
Peter and Morey mounted their dragons. I pushed Clyde’s carry case behind me and marched over to Raven. He held out a foreleg, and I did my best to climb up to his neck without touching any of his wounds. His skin had been rubbed raw around the spine in front of me, and I tried to push myself as far back as possible.
The dragons kicked us away from the camp. Ercwiff was next, then the hunt gryphons and the clan followed. Arnborg dropped back to place herself between the hunters and the rest of the gryphons.
The two search dragons took us through several thin places. Then we were flying in much cooler temperatures. A flat scrubland slid by beneath us, the ocean only a glint on the horizon. ‘This,’ Raven called back to me, ‘is where I left James.’
The indentation of dragon feet marked the place on the soft ground where Raven had landed. The three hunters called out to each other, and swooped low to hover over the spot. The osprey gryphon dropped down, her claws sinking into the turf as she studied the boot prints which led away from the drop off point. She called out to her partners, and they flew off towards the nearby hill.
Morey landed on my shoulder. ‘Good lad,’ he said approvingly. ‘He’s laid down a false trail.’
‘Are you certain?’
‘He did, if he’s keeping to our plan. I told him to do that before heading to the forest.’
‘They won’t be fooled for long,’ Raven warned us. ‘There are too many broken bushes ahead. And he ran out of rocks to hide his steps.’
‘Morey,’ I asked, ‘can you fly up and see if he’s made it to the trees?’
‘If I do, I’ll only show the hunters where he is.’
Raven’s wings pounded as he took us upwards. ‘I can see him. He’s not far from the edge.’
‘Raven,’ Morey warned, ‘turn your head away.’
But he spoke too late. The owl gryphon screeched to her companions. They swerved away from the hill and streaked towards the forest. Raven followed behind, his more powerful wings enabling him to overtake the gryphons and then outpace them. Now even I could see James. My brother was running towards the trees, lifting his feet high to avoid catching his boots on the small rocks and straggling bushes.
The gryphons swooped in low, beaks and foreclaws outstretched. Raven hovered in place so we could watch. I struggled to breathe. But James put on a burst of speed, and reached the woods ahead of them. The trunks were too close together for the hunters to fly in, so they landed at a run to throw themselves into the forest.
‘Morey?’ I managed to say.
‘He needs to go into the thickest part,’ Morey said. ‘Take advantage of his smaller size. That’s what I told him.’
Clyde had stretched his tentacles out of his case. ‘See?’
I moved him closer to my chest. ‘See what, Clyde?’
Greens and reds shimmered through his body. Then he stretched out further, and opened his jaws to sing. ‘“Saviour, lead me up the mountain, where the Lord alone is seen, where we hear the voice from heaven, where the air is pure and clean.’”
‘And that’s supposed to tell me what?’ I asked him.
‘To go up higher,’ Raven answered.
‘But then we won’t know how James is doing,’ I protested.
‘We won’t know, anyway,’ Morey said. ‘Not while he’s tucked away in the forest. So we should use this time to scout out the lay of the land. When he comes back tonight, we can discuss tomorrow’s tactics.’
The gryphon clan was scattered around the area, some flying over the trees, others resting on the ground nearby. Several followed us as Raven carried us up and over the forest. ‘Let them,’ Morey said as I glanced over my other shoulder. ‘It doesn’t matter what they see. They won’t tell the hunters. The clan won’t help them to find James.’
‘There’s still three of them, and only one of James.’
‘But they’ll stay together. Gryphons prefer to hunt as a pack.’
The land on the other side of the forest dipped down, then rose again. Raven landed on the top of the hill. Arnborg dropped down next to him. I looked at Peter, and felt a flush of guilt. I’d forgotten all about him.
‘This is a good spot,’ Peter said, sliding down the side of the dragon to come over to us. ‘We can see quite a distance.’
‘See,’ Clyde agreed triumphantly.
‘Not much cover once he’s through the forest,’ I said, putting a hand up to shield my eyes from the bright sun. ‘And he can’t outrun a gryphon.’
‘His best chance is to lose them in the forest, and make a break for it.’ Morey hopped down to Peter’s shoulder. ‘Do you see that outcropping over there? The rocks?’
‘Just. I think you have better eyesight than I have.’
‘Falcon eyes. Can’t beat them.’
I patted Raven’s shoulder, letting him know that I was going to dismount. He extended a foreleg, and again I tried to avoid his sores as I clambered down. ‘What about the rocks?’
‘This area is volcanic.’ At Raven’s snort, Morey added, ‘A very long time ago. There are lava tubes scattered around. I hid in a couple when I was hunted. One leads to the beach. I managed to find my way through, and James will have the advantage of a torch to help him.’
‘He might just get hopelessly lost underground,’ I said.
‘Positive thinking, Black. Give it a try. Or maybe even prayer.’
‘I’ve been saying quite a few,’ Peter muttered, much to my surprise. ‘Shall we scout ahead, Morey? Penny, I assume you’d rather wait here, just in case James emerges?’
I nodded. Peter remounted the dragon, and Morey found a place on the cantle. The downbeat of the dragon’s wings blew the hair back from my face as I watched them fly east.
Clyde bumped his head against my hand. ‘Dragon. Hurt?’
‘Raven is, yes.’ I held him up to see the sores. ‘From wearing that horrible saddle.’
‘I’ll heal,’ Raven said. ‘You should’ve seen me after I escaped from my mother.’
‘Up,’ Clyde told me.
I frowned at the snail, wondering what he meant. ‘You want me to hold you up?’
‘Up. Dragon. Hurt.’
Raven and I exchanged a glance. Then I pulled Clyde from his case and held him next to a lesion. The snail crawled onto the dragon’s skin, and made his way up the neck. A trail of thick slime oozed behind him.
‘Actually,’ Raven said, ‘that seems to be helping.’ He turned his head to sniff at the sore. The red edges were fading back to pink and green. ‘I didn’t know that malwod siarc could heal wounds.’
‘It might not be common to all snail sharks.’ Clyde had finished his rounds, and I reached up to let him slide back onto my palms. ‘I gave him powdered unicorn horn to drink when he was badly injured. Maybe, in addition to saving his life, it’s left some residual healing powers.’
‘I might change my view of malwod siarc. Or at least of this one.’
I’d kept an eye on the edge of the forest throughout our conversation. Now I looked up at Raven. ‘You helped me save my brother once before. Could you find him, and take him away from here?’
‘I could. But Arnborg would come after us. She would return James to the hunt.’ Raven’s voice took on an apologetic tone. ‘Even I couldn’t hide him forever. Not from a search dragon as talented as Arnborg.’
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Morey and Peter came back a couple of hours later. Peter handed me a bag of nuts and raisins for lunch. I had eaten a few handfuls when an excited roar drew my attention to the hollow near the forest. A solitary sheep was climbing up the incline, her long grey coat catching on the bushes. Four gryphons raced towards her, galloping shoulder to shoulder over the rough ground. The sheep bleated and turned to run. An eagle gryphon reached her first, pouncing onto her back. They rolled down the slope, the gryphon’s claws obviously entangled in the wool.
A small tree halted their tumble. The gryphon brought his hindlegs under him, and threw the sheep free. She landed with a crunch, her bleats now very faint. Another gryphon strutted forward, and jabbed his sharp beak into the sheep’s head. My stomach squelched as the gryphon pulled an eye free, and then swallowed it with obvious relish.
‘Messy eaters, gryphons,’ Peter said beside me. ‘You might want to look away.’
I shook my head. ‘This is what they’ll do to James, isn’t it?’
The first gryphon staggered over, and tore at the exposed stomach. As organs tumbled past the still kicking legs, I decided that I’d seen enough. I took several deep gulps of water from a plastic bottle, and then splashed liquid over my eyes.
Other gryphons flew over, and a heated debate broke out over ownership of the carcass. I watched a small gryphon fly in, tear off a leg, and then fly away with her prize.
Raven suddenly moved, turning his body towards the forest. ‘One of the trees is shaking.’
I squinted. ‘I can’t see anything. I need binoculars.’
‘Climb up,’ Raven urged. ‘I’ll take you there.’
Clyde dropped back down into his case as I hurried up the dragon’s side. The moment I was in place between two spines, he kicked himself away from the hill. Morey left Peter’s shoulder a moment too late to land on me, so he flew alongside us, his wings a purple-black blur as he fought to keep up with the dragon.
We swept over the canopy. The trees were a mixture of species, pine and oaks rubbing up against alders. Raven pulled up into a hover. Morey landed on the cantle, breathing heavily. ‘The oak,’ he gasped. ‘Below.’
I wrapped a hand around Raven’s spine and dared to lean out. The young leaves of spring spread around the oak’s crown. For a moment I saw only brown and green. Then a flash of brown and tan made me focus my gaze. James had straddled his body around one branch near the top. Somehow he’d managed to climb while still wearing his backpack, and it juddered against his back as the tree shook beneath him.
‘The gryphons are trying to climb up the tree,’ Raven said, dropping us closer. ‘So far unsuccessfully.’
‘Oaks hard to climb,’ Morey puffed. ‘Good for James. Needs to hold on. Until sunset.’
‘What good will that do?’ I asked. ‘The gryphons know where he is. They’ll just come back here tomorrow.’
‘Two hours head start,’ Morey said. ‘Every day. The prey is given two hours every morning. It’s to test the hunters’ tracking skills.’
I would have preferred to remain above the tree, but even Raven couldn’t hover that long. Morey dropped down to perch on a top branch, promising to keep an eye on James. Raven returned us to the hill. Peter and Arnborg were still there. ‘It’s only a few more hours until sunset,’ Peter told me, glancing at his watch. ‘Then James will have time to recover.’
My legs felt weak. I took a seat near Raven’s feet. The oak which held my brother was blurred into the general backdrop of green. What to do to pass the time? ‘I spy with my little eye something starting with “T”.’
Peter sighed. ‘Tree. I spy with my little eye something starting with “G”.’
We’d moved on to more difficult things like moss and obsidian by the time Morey flew back over to us. ‘Good news. The hunters have decided to leave the forest. They think they’ll have a better chance attacking James from above.’
I scrambled to my feet. ‘How’s that good news?’
‘They won’t have enough time.’ Morey dropped down to my shoulder. ‘It’ll take them until sundown to work their way out.’
As the last rays of sun sent shadows scurrying across the land, Peter and I mounted our dragons and headed back to the forest. The matriarch reached the oak first, her powerful wings holding her above the crown. ‘He lives to run another day,’ she said. ‘You may take him back to the camp.’
James released his grip on the tree. I held my breath as he climbed up further, until Raven could reach down and wrap forefeet around my brother’s chest. We landed briefly so James could clamber up Arnborg’s neck, taking a seat behind Peter. And then we headed back to the desert.
Slabs of freshly cooked meat were steaming on a plate when we stumbled into our tent. The strong smell made my stomach churn. I sliced off several sections for Clyde, then forced myself to eat a small portion. Several raw carrots and four oranges were lined up by the refilled water pitcher. I was too tired to wonder how Aodh had sourced the fruit.
‘Lava tubes,’ Morey told James when we’d finished eating. ‘Make sure you’re carrying a light. Make sure you mark your path if you take a turning.’
‘Tubes, light, turns, check.’ James yawned. ‘Got it.’
‘And ditch the backpack,’ Morey continued, ‘if it gets in your way.’
‘Not doing that.’ James shared a look with Peter which I didn’t understand. ‘Now, ‘scuse me, but it’s been a long day.’
‘And you did very well,’ Morey said.
‘Thanks.’ James pulled off his clothes, and wearing only underwear, he slid into his sleeping bag. A moment later, he was asleep.
Peter ran a hand through his hair. ‘What I’d give for a shower.’
‘Me too.’ I reached down to remake a bed for Clyde. The snail shark made a low noise, then withdrew into his shell. ‘Oh, well, at least we all smell the same.’
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Morey said sleepily from his own curve of carpet, ‘Speak for yourself.’
‘I think she was.’ Peter disappeared with a toothbrush and mug. When he returned, he gave me a quick smile, then lowered himself into his own sleeping bag.
How could they even think of sleeping? I pulled out my torch, thumbing it on before blowing out the oil lamp. Then I left the tent and picked my way out of the camp.
Something shifted near the tents. I raised my hand. The beam of my light revealed the solid side of a dragon, lying on his belly on the sand. Raven lifted his head as I approached, his eyes glinting in the dark. ‘The Perturbed Penny.’
‘Of course I am,’ I said. ‘James could have been killed today.’
‘He’s never impressed me, your young skrælingjar.’ Sharp teeth glinted in the starlight. ‘Had he been my brother, I would have eaten him long ago. But today he did well. And he might continue to do well.’
‘I can’t let him be killed, Raven.’
The dragon’s sigh was long and deep. ‘Ask it of me, Penny, and I will save him from the gryphons’ claws.’
‘You will?’
‘Yes. But you must first tell me where to take him. As I’ve said, Arnborg wouldn’t be far behind.’
‘London,’ I decided. ‘To the Minister without Portfolio. The government would have to find some way to protect him.’
‘You show a lot of faith in your government.’
“‘Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows.’” Why wasn’t Morey ever around when I came up with a clever quote? ‘I’ll let you know if we have to go that far.’
‘And how will you let me know?’
I found myself smiling. ‘Would “Raven, save him now!” be good enough?’
‘I should think so.’
The tents of the gryphon camp were a dark hulk behind me. Suddenly I didn’t want to be anywhere near them. ‘Do you mind if I stay with you awhile?’
Raven’s voice was soft. ‘I would never mind.’
I made my way to his side, and lowered myself to the sand. His hide was warm against my back. The slow, steady rhythm of his breathing helped me to bring my own under control. I tipped back my head, and admired the stars.