'You don’t think I’m special?' he teased.
'I didn’t mean that.'
'In total there are about eighteen griffon riders. The five of us were selected by Elena for various reasons and trained by the late King. The other griffon riders are just people who have connected with a griffon in the same way some people connect with dragons. They’re in high demand as messengers and guards and in times of war they join forces with us and the General Guard at the Castle.'
'Do all griffons and dragons link with a human?'
'Oh no. Out of say, several hundred creatures, one may link with another being. There is just a ‘normal’ population of dragons and griffons out there.'
I thought about it for a moment.
'What do the ‘normal’ creatures think of those who have linked?'
He smiled against my ear; it sent shivers down my spine.
'It’s seen as an honor.'
Loushka made a loud whistle and Alek was silent for a moment as they spoke.
'Right. We’re going to land, so hold on.' He wrapped his arms around Catherine and this time she locked hers over his. Loushka made a slight sweep upwards so she was correctly aligned then dropped.
There was a bit of a crowd waiting to greet them and the girls kept themselves slightly behind the guys. Audi pressed herself against Cat’s leg while they waited to be introduced. Kassie watched as Rumal called out to someone. A couple pushed through the crowd with huge smiles on their faces as they greeted the men and the griffons.
We were introduced to absolutely everyone in the crowd and all the names went straight over my head.
As long as I remember our hosts’ names I’ll be okay. Brece and Melanite. I kept smiling until my jaw hurt. They were all friendly and accommodating, but I began to feel claustrophobic. Sian bumped into me and I turned to look at her.
'Want out,' she whispered.
'Me too.'
'Me three,' said Kassie softly behind us.
I turned to see Loi bob her head in agreement. I looked around and managed to catch Melanite’s eye.
'Could we see our rooms?' I asked. 'We’d like to change.'
'Oh I'm sorry girls, I should have thought. C'mon this way,' Melanite said with an apologetic smile.
Waving to the guys, we hurried after her. This Inn was far bigger than the Inn at Lothost and appeared more lodge like. It was made of logs and had exceptionally high ceilings and huge doors.
'So the griffons can join their riders if they like,' Melanite explained.
The room she led us to was large and airy with several shuttered windows that were open.
'Will you need anything else?'
'Yes,' I said. 'I’m not sure if you’ll be able to help, but I’d like to go for a run with my dog and I was hoping for maybe some ankle boots as these,' I indicated my thigh high boots. 'Aren’t ideal.'
'No they’re certainly not,' she agreed. 'I’ll find some and bring them to you shortly.'
In the common area of the lodge the men caught up with Brece, his son and several of the town’s committee members. As Alek listened to the conversation he noticed Melanite hover near Brece, who turned and conversed with her.
Brece turned to Alek, 'One of the women in your group wishes to take her dog for a run, will you accompany her? We’ve had sightings of tehnears lately, so I wouldn’t want her to risk it by herself' he paused. 'You do still run?'
'I do, I'll go get changed. Elena will have my head if anything happens to any of them.' Alek pushed his chair back and stood, working at the buckles on his arm greaves as he walked to his room.
A soft knock sounded at our door and Melanite poked her head in.
'Hello?'
She had a pair of boots hanging from one arm and some garments in the other.
'Here are the boots and I also brought the clothing and shoes I used to use when I was a messenger. They're clean, of course. The shorts have a drawstring so they should fit, and the laces on the top pull it in so it can fit a variety of sizes.' She walked to the bed and lay a pair of shorts and a short tunic top down.
'Are you a messenger?' She looked at me curiously.
'No. Why do you ask?'
'Well, why would you run otherwise?' she asked in surprise.
The four of us stared at her for a moment then Loi smiled brightly.
'Oh, Cat hasn’t run any messages for ages. She just runs for fun.'
Melanite nodded then pulled out another garment that she’d concealed under her top. It was a long length of cloth with darts placed along it. I stared at it confused, and the others gathered to stare at it.
'What is that?'
She winked, 'It’s to stop you from bouncing.' And gestured at my chest.
'Ohhhh,' we chorused in unison.
I looked at it closer now.
'How do you put it on?'
She quickly explained how to strap it, then excused herself as she needed to sort out the other rooms.
'Alek is going to meet you out the front?' asked Sian.
'That’s what Melanite said.' I replied while Loi and Kassie, each with one end of the ‘bra’, walked around me.
'Not too tight,' I half gasped. 'I need to be able to breathe.'
Five minutes later and I was bandaged up in the bra while Sian quickly braided my hair.
'Do you think it’ll work?' Kassie studied the bra.
'I hope so,' I grunted. Sian was making the braid nice and tight. 'Bouncing isn’t fun.'
Now ready to go, I did some quick stretches, getting a feel for my "new" jogging gear. The boots were nice and soft. A good fit, even if the soles were thinner than I was used to.
Audi whined at me; she knew all the moves. She raced over to the others and then to the door, back to me, and back around again. I laughed and opened the door, waving to the girls and moved out the way as the dog shot past.
Alek waited at the front of the lodge for Catherine. He was about to go in search of her when Audrey appeared at his feet, whining and crying with excitement. He laughed and bent to pat her.
'She’s super excited,' Catherine called out as she walked in.
Alek looked up to greet her then stopped.
She wore shorts that revealed shapely legs and a fitted tunic. He felt a slight blush graze his cheeks as he gaped at her for a moment.
'Ready to run? Err, I mean go for a run?' He flushed as she gave him a funny look.
'Yep, are you feeling alright?' Her green eyes stared up at him in concern.
Shake it off Alek, he thought to himself. It’s not like you haven’t spent the last two days together.
'I’m fine; it’s just warm in here. What did you do to your hair?' he changed the subject quickly and studied the intricate braid that ran down the back of her head.
I turned to show the plait off, 'Sian did it for me. It’ll keep my hair out of the way.'
'Clever,' he commented and gestured with his head. 'This way.'
We wandered through the village until we reached the north end, meeting a dozen dogs along the way. It made me very relieved that in dog world Audi was submissive, so she only said a brief hello before zooming back to us. Alek had already confirmed with the locals which was the best track and we were stopped several times by people warning us to be careful.
Way to install confidence, I thought and asked, 'What are we to be careful of?'
Alek looked down at Catherine. Her eyes were troubled so he decided to deflect the question a little.
'Do you always go by Catherine? Or is it okay for me to call you Cat?'
She looked surprised.
'Um. Well, my friends and family call me Cat.' Then she grinned at him, 'So you can certainly call me Cat.'
Alek was amused at the bubbly response and explained, 'The reason people told us to be careful is because there have been tehnear sightings.'
Seeing her confusion he continued, 'It’s a large carnivorous animal that can be a threat. I don’t think we’ll have any issues as the arrival of th
e griffons should scare anything like that off.'
He said it nonchalantly so I wasn't bothered. It was strange to think there were such things in the forest though; the scariest thing in New Zealand bush was the pigs.
If Alek isn’t concerned I guess there's no reason for me to be. I followed him past the village entrance.
We turned and began to jog along a track. It was wide enough for us to run side by side which was pleasant, and Audrey ducked from my side to his and back again.
All the stress and tension dissolved as we ran along and I began to feel normal again. I hadn’t realized how ‘off’ I’d felt. Going for a run was such a normal and pleasant thing to do.
We began to race each other down the track, darting through the trees. Okay so I raced and he just ran but it was fun. The path was easy and Audi had a great time darting around and smelling things. It was a while before I noticed she had disappeared from sight and I stopped.
Alek halted abruptly.
'What?' He looked around in confusion.
'Audrey must have scented something, she’s disappeared.' I gestured around us, there was no sign of Audrey.
'I want to make sure she catches up.'
I looked around and listened carefully. I couldn’t hear anything yet, but that was no reason to panic. Audrey had a great nose, and was fascinated with creatures so she probably just got distracted a ways back.
Alek looked up and down the track too; a lock of black hair brushing his eyebrow. My stomach did flip-flops at the sight, especially when he turned that blue gaze on me.
'Should we call for her?'
Too busy mentally swooning; I took a moment to register his words.
'What? Oh right.' I turned.
'AUDDRREEYYY!'
Alek winced.
Cat certainly has a good set of lungs, he thought. The contrast between this attractive woman, and the voice that sounded like a bull roaring was almost comical. He could feel the edges of his lips twitch with laughter and, of course, that was when she looked up. She was obviously aware of how she sounded because she gave him a wide grin.
'I know, I know. Not exactly what you expect from me.'
He laughed.
'I’m learning to expect the unexpected with you.'
I stopped laughing when I heard the snap of twigs behind us and spun around.
'Audrey! Where have you been?' I scolded and peered for her.
I couldn’t quite spot her so I walked a couple of paces into the bush, off the track.
Please don’t let her have caught something. I wasn’t worried that she would have killed it, but most of the creatures Audi’s caught before die of shock rather quickly, and it always devastated her. I think she had it in mind to mother them. Peering short-sightedly into the woods (okay so there's more than one reason Sian’s a better archer than me) I spotted the light glinting of her eyes and would have stepped forward when Alek seized my arm.
'Cat, Audi’s over there.'
He pointed down the track ahead of us.
Sure enough, there she stood waiting for us. I stared at her for a moment.
'But if Audi’s there, then what’s that?'
Alek looked where Cat pointed, not seeing anything at first. Then he spotted it, its dark brown fur and darker stripes nearly rendering it invisible in the undergrowth.
'Shit.'
Cat’s eyes widened in surprise. Alek backed slowly out, grabbed Cat’s arm and began to walk along the track at a brisk pace.
‘What is it?' She hissed, alarm in her eyes.
'A tehnear. Can you get Audrey to walk behind us?'
I looked up at him, far more alarmed now.
'But,' I began.
Alek interrupted me.
'She’ll be fine. Dogs are quicker than tehnears, normally, and she’ll distract it.'
I could feel the fear coil around my stomach. 'Is it going to attack us?'
He gave me a grim look. 'Almost certainly.'
Alek watched as Cat called Audrey and pointed out the tehnear. 'Will she understand?'
Cat glanced at him. 'Yes. Audrey’s very smart.'
They watched as the dog stalked back down the track, she stiffened when she sighted the tehnear and lowered, crouched and ready.
'C’mon,' he snapped. 'Now we run. Fast.'
Gripping Cat’s hand, he took off.
We sprinted flat out down the track, and this time, I had no problem keeping up with Alek. A roar of fury ripped through the trees followed by Audrey, snarling and barking.
Alek risked a glance back.
'She’s okay,' he gasped out. 'It’s working.'
‘LOUSHKA.’ Alek screamed in his mind. ‘HURRY WE NEED YOU.’
Back at the lodge everyone relaxed and the griffons stretched out in the sun. Sian, Kassie and Loi lounged around a large table with the men and Brece and his family. An enormous cry shook the lodge and everyone leapt to their feet.
'What was that?' yelled Loi but the men ignored her, all focused on their griffons.
Kassie felt the ground shudder and looked out the window in time to see Loushka spring into the air. Her mouth dropped at the sight of the griffon in full battle mode. Mane standing stiff, eyes narrowed in fury and her tail lashing the air as the griffon took off at a phenomenal speed.
Sian realized that something must have gone wrong with Cat and Alek and lunged at Daron, gripping his shoulders.
'What’s happening?' she shrieked.
My feet pounded the dirt and my heart was in my mouth at the snarls and barks behind us. Audi’s snarls were further away than the vicious growls that drew closer. I pumped my arms hard and felt my breath burn in my throat.
Alek knew the tehnear gained on them. It’d ignored Audrey but she’d distracted it enough for them to get a little head start. He could feel that Loushka was closer but was too focused on running to call out to her again. He knew the griffon would be able to spot them easily enough. Risking another glance back, he felt his body go cold with horror, the tehnear was within pouncing distance.
Shit, shit, shit.
‘ALEK.’ Loushka’s voice roared in his mind, ‘DUCK.’
I heard a rush of heavy wings and half turned to look when Alek tackled me. We tumbled off the track in a mass of flailing limbs. I felt something heavy with dense fur smack across my side, then it was gone. Struggling, I tried to sit up, but Alek had me pinned to the ground.
'Alek,' I began.
'Hush,' he growled as he held me to the ground, looking around frantically.
Cat ceased to struggle and lay beneath him, eyes wide as he looked around for it.
Where was the damn beast? Loushka had sent it flying, but now she couldn’t spot it and tehnears weren’t that easy to kill. Alek felt Cat shift and glanced at her; she stretched to look down the track. Following her line of sight, he saw Audrey there, unscathed on the path.
The sense of relief released some tension; Cat would have been devastated if anything had happened to the dog.
He looked down at Cat. 'She’s safe.'
I was about to answer when Audrey crouched and let out a snarl.
Oh fuck!
What I’d thought was a tree shadow was the tehnear, getting its breath back.
'Tehnear!' I shrieked.
Alek jerked his head up and hollered for Loushka. The tehnear roared at Audrey who cowered but held her ground and the creature raced toward us. I dimly heard Loushka’s roar, then Alek’s cry of shock as a strange sensation flooded my senses and all I saw was red.
Loushka swooped in as Alek lunged over Cat and just as the griffon snatched the creature, an enormous energy pulse burst out from Cat. Alek was knocked flat on his back, gasping for breath. It felt as though he'd fallen from an extreme height. Struggling to roll over, he crawled to where Cat lay. She was unconscious; eyes rolled back, and face ashen. He sat up and gathered her in his arms; alarmed at the lack of response from the girl.
'Cat, Catherine, can you hear me?' his voice cracked as he
stroked her hair back, desperately willing her to respond.
Audrey appeared at his side, crying, and gave Cat little licks then nudged Alek as he continued to shake the girl and call her name.
There was a tearing noise and he looked up to see Loushka determinedly shred the remains of the tehnear to bits, the griffon's angry thoughts were loud.
‘Horrible cretanous mangratl creature.’
Then Cat moaned and Alek cradled her close, calling to her again.
I could hear someone say my name, but it sounded like it came from far away, a distant, tinny sound in my ringing ears. I tried to speak, but wasn’t able to form the words so I lay still, allowing my senses to come back.
Catherine had seemed to register his voice and then went limp again and Alek began to panic.
‘Loushka, we need to get back to the village, now!’
‘Why?’ Loushka loped over, ‘What’s happened?’
‘She won’t wake up!’ Alek could hear the fear in his mind.
Then Cat opened those beautiful green eyes and looked up at him. The tension and fear dissolved as he beamed down at her.
'Cat! You’re awake.'
She groaned and tried to sit up. He quickly shifted her so her back was against his chest and she was seated between his legs.
'What happened?' She sounded confused and had a hand pressed to her head.
'The tehnear lunged at us and you,' Alek’s mind warned him against mentioning the energy pulse.
'You clipped your head when I pushed you out the way, I’m so sorry.'
I turned to face him, my hands on his knees to hold myself steady and looked into his eyes. They were sincere though guarded.
'Don’t apologize,' I said. 'You saved me.'
Alek stared back at me, an indecipherable expression on his face, then lifted a hand and gently cupped my face. He pulled me close and pressed his lips to mine.
He felt Cat jolt in shock, then relax and sink into his embrace. Alek wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her in and slid his other hand under her braid. He’d never found himself so aroused from such a simple kiss. She sighed against his lips and he deepened the kiss, wanting more.
The Arrival (Birthright Trilogy #1) Page 13