by Bianca D’Arc
“You’re more like your mother than you know, sweetheart.” He reached out, and she came into his arms for a hug, and as he held his daughter, the last of his grief subsided a little more.
“I’m sorry I was so upset about your…mates. I still need a little time to come to terms with that, I think, but I’m learning about dragons and the people who live among them.”
Livia stepped back, looking up into his eyes. “You were pretty awful to them,” she admonished gently.
“I know,” he admitted. “But I would have been just as awful to any man who dared touch my daughter. If you ever have daughters, I expect their papas will be just as difficult when they start bringing boys home.”
She looked at him for a moment as if trying to figure out if he was joking or not, then burst into laughter. Liam felt as if, in time, everything would be all right between them, though he had a lot more apologizing to do. He also wanted to make up lost time with his daughter, if at all possible. He wanted to be part of her life in whatever way he could be now that she was grown. He’d let her set the pace, but he didn’t want to let her down, ever again.
“I brought breakfast,” she said, gesturing toward the table a moment later.
Liam sat down to eat with his daughter, and they talked…openly and honestly…for a good half hour. They couldn’t settle everything between them in just one short talk, but they laid the groundwork for understanding, and future discussions. It was a good start.
They were much easier in each other’s company when Rivka came down the stairs. Livia was startled but hid it well. She offered the other woman what remained of the breakfast she’d brought. Luckily, Livia had provided more than enough for Rivka to eat, as well.
“I’m sorry to intrude,” Rivka told Livia, speaking more tentatively than he’d ever seen her. “We really have to get an early start.”
Livia smiled. “I’ve been back and forth to Gryphon Isle a few times. It’s a long journey, and I understand the need to set off early.” She turned to her father. “Will you be taking your ship? I believe the crew is ready, if that’s your plan.”
“No, uh… We’re flying, actually,” Liam admitted, feeling a bit uncomfortable.
“Flying?” Livia frowned. “Truly?”
“I haven’t been chosen as a knight or anything,” Liam was quick to add. “Not at my age. But I’ve sort of made friends with Lord Skelaroth, and he’s going to guide us in.”
“You’ll be flying on the back of a sea dragon?” Livia looked both impressed and amused. “You too, Rivka?”
“No,” Rivka replied, smiling slyly. “I can fly myself.”
“You can… What?” Livia did a double take. “Wait a minute. I thought I recognized you! We met in that inn when we were chasing the book. Your father was the Jinn minstrel we were sent to find.”
Rivka bowed her head, smiling. “One and the same. I’ve stayed on the trail of the missing page from that book, ever since. Eventually, I crossed paths with your father, and the rest… Well, I suppose you will hear the full story at some point, but it’s too much to go into in the short time we have this morning.” Rivka ate a bite of breakfast. “Thank you for bringing the food. It’s delicious.”
“Just a basket from the Lair kitchen,” Livia said. “They have really good cooks there.”
The window had been opened to allow the fresh morning breeze into the room, and just at that moment, Ella decided to make an appearance. She flew immediately to Liam, taking her favorite perch on his left shoulder. Liam shifted uncomfortably aware of his daughter’s wide eyes. She’d probably never seen a virkin before. Then again, she probably hadn’t ever thought her stiff-necked father would grow so attached to a small creature like Ella, but he had to admit, he was attached. Hook, line and sinker. Ella had him wrapped right around her little talon.
“Hi,” Ella said in her silent way, talking to all of them.
“Hello,” Livia said immediately, her expression delighted. “I’m Livia.”
“‘M Ella,” the virkin replied, looking at Livia quizzically. “You feel like Leem inside.”
“Leem?” Livia repeated aloud, looking around for guidance.
Rivka chuckled while Liam felt his face heat for the first time in years. “That’s what Ella calls me. Her speech skills are coming along, but she’s still very young.” He reached up and stroked the virkin’s head, scratching her long neck the way she liked. “Sweetheart, Livia is my daughter. That’s probably why she feels similar to your senses.”
“Oh! Leem hatchling! Understand, now. Hi, Liva,” Ella said, enchanting them all with her simple speech.
She really was still a baby, though Liam wasn’t sure how quickly, exactly, virkin grew up, or how long they lived, for that matter. He was going to have to do some research, once he had a little free time. After he met the wizard and they were certain the page he was guarding was the right page from the wizard’s blasted book.
“Ella is a virkin from Elderland. She decided to come along on the ship the last time we made port there and has been traveling with me ever since,” Liam felt the need to explain to his daughter. “When Skelaroth made his presence known, and then Rivka…and then, they all wanted to follow Fisk with me over land… Well, Ella said she would come too, and she’s been a great help to all our endeavors.”
“I couldn’t have pierced the mage’s protective shell without her,” Rivka said, smiling at Ella as she preened under their praise. “She was vital to the success of our quest.”
“Yes, she was,” Liam agreed.
“Now, go see wizard,” Ella said, reminding them all of the journey to come.
Livia straightened. “Well, if you’re all flying, you should be able to make Gryphon Isle by nightfall. I’ll get the food I had prepared for your journey, and you can be off as soon as you like. I just left it in the kitchen,” Livia told them, as she went out of the room.
“I think that went well,” Rivka said, amusement clear in her droll tone. “Your daughter is quite a woman. She was right in the thick of things in the search for the book, and she and her mates are very well suited to working together. Their dragon partners, too. I really like Genlitha, and Hrardorr is a hard case, but he’s got a deep core of honor and ability.”
Liam realized Rivka had seen them all in action. Something that gave Liam nightmares when he stopped to think of the danger his daughter had put herself in, confronting Fisk the way she had.
Liam didn’t have any more time to speak to his daughter before they had to get going. Skelaroth was in front of the house, conversing with the other dragons when they went outside. He looked impatient to be on their way, and the others seemed to feel the same. Liam hugged Livia close while the dragons formed a wall of privacy for Rivka to shapeshift, not that anyone could really see much in the secluded setting of Liam’s front court.
He’d built this house with privacy in mind, as well as easy access to the water. He’d built a small courtyard in front of the house for his daughter to play in when she was small, and it also acted as a buffer between his house and the rest of the town. Now, that same space served to accommodate dragons. Liam had never dreamed of such a thing when he’d designed the place.
Rivka took to the air with the two Lair dragons, leaving Liam and Livia…and Skelaroth. Livia had already met the sea dragon lord, and they exchanged greetings. Liam felt a bit self-conscious with Livia watching as he took on the role of the men who had stolen her away from him. Mounting Skelaroth’s back and launching into the sky never got old, but this time, Livia’s smiling face saw him off, which made it even more special.
The flight to Gryphon Isle was long. The Lair dragons went with them part of the way then turned back. Liam had Ella in her little carrying bag strapped across his chest, and Skelaroth flew even smoother than before. All the days of traveling this way had honed his skills…and Liam’s. He knew more about sticking to the top of a dragon now, than any non-knight probably should.
It wasn’t a skill he e
ver expected to be able to use after this journey was over, but he was enjoying the experience while he could. The ocean was calm, and Liam spotted only one trade ship slipping by far below. They were up among the sparse clouds, but his cloak protected him from the cold.
As the sky in the west began to turn orange with the brilliant sunset, Skelaroth told them they were close. Rivka spotted the island, with Skelaroth’s guidance, well before Liam. Human eyesight was nothing compared to a dragon’s. The sun was riding low in the sky when a flight of gryphons came out to meet them.
The challenge was spoken among the dragons and gryphons, with Liam listening in. When the gryphon defenders found out they had what they believed to be the missing page from Gryffid’s book with them, the feathered cats formed an honor guard to guide them in safely to the wizard’s courtyard.
Liam could see the beach and the cliffs that seemed to have caves in them. Gryphons were everywhere. Big gryphons and little gryphons who seemed unsteady on their feet and wings. He hadn’t ever imagined there were so many gryphons, but the island was named for them, after all.
They were escorted over all that and directed to a stone keep on one side of the island. Gryffid’s home. Liam had been there once before. He’d followed Fisk to the island when the pirate had attacked and stolen the wizard’s magical book.
Liam had been too preoccupied at the time to really take note of anything other than the fact that her daughter was there—against his wishes—with those two rascals she had later married, and that Fisk had escaped, yet again, with a priceless and dangerous artifact this time. Liam had set off in pursuit and had been on the trail ever since.
This time, he was arriving at the island by air and with considerably less stress on his nerves. Livia was married to the two knights, whether he liked it or not, and the artifact had been returned but for the single page he now had in his breast pocket. Once it was in Gryffid’s hands and confirmed to be the missing artifact, Liam would be completely free for the first time in years. Free to pursue whatever direction he chose.
If only he could figure out what to choose.
Skelaroth landed smoothly in the wizard’s courtyard. Rivka was duly impressed with everything she’d seen so far of Gryphon Isle. She landed next to Skelaroth and waited. She wasn’t sure if she should change into her human form or wait, in case of unforeseen danger.
The doors to the keep opened, and a group of fair folk emerged, well-armed and warrior-like. Rivka stayed in dragon form. Then, a man in robes came out, a smile on his face that was at odds with the military honor guard.
“Welcome back, Lord Skelaroth and Captain O’Dare. I hear you have brought something for me to look at,” the wizard said in a voice that carried through the courtyard. “And you might as well change, my dear. The keep is large enough for dragons to enter, but I’d rather talk to your human guise, if you don’t mind.”
Rivka felt chastised. The wizard had seen right through her, but she supposed that was to be expected. She shifted shape into her human form quickly, without fuss. She was still armed, even if her armor wasn’t quite as good as her dragon hide for repelling projectiles, should the fair folk get rambunctious.
“Ah, that’s better. Well met, milady. I am Gryffid.” He bowed his head slightly in acknowledgment.
“I’m Rivka of the Black Dragon Clan,” she replied, introducing herself in return.
“Of course you are,” he said, making her scowl.
“Don’t mind him,” Skelaroth said into her mind. “He’s just teasing you a bit.”
By the time they were seated in the great hall, enjoying the dinner they had apparently interrupted, Gryffid was nowhere to be seen. He’d asked Liam to hand over the page and had promptly gone back into the keep and disappeared. The fair folk had ushered them into the great hall and given them seats at one of the many tables laid there.
Rivka was hungry enough from the long flight to eat without much conversation. She noted that Liam was more talkative than she expected, conversing with a bard who was seated to his left. Everyone in the hall was one of the immortal fair folk. It was the first time Rivka had seen such a gathering in her life. Oh, she’d come across a minstrel once or twice that made her think maybe she was dealing with one of these folk in disguise, but she could never be sure. As long as they hid their pointy ears, they looked just like very attractive people in varying shades of blonde.
Perhaps the fact that they had seen her arrive as a dragon put them off, but the fair folk at their table seemed to leave her alone while plying Liam with questions. He talked of his travels and the things he had seen and learned in far off lands until, at some point, a hush descended over the room, and Rivka realized Gryffid had returned.
The wizard strode in through the massive doors to the great hall and walked right up to the table where Liam and Rivka were seated, Ella still in her satchel on the vacant seat next to Liam. The table was not full. Only a handful of fair folk sat at the long table and none too close to Rivka, which suited her at the moment. She was still feeling a little grumpy from the wizard’s earlier teasing, and she was hungry enough to eat a horse.
Gryffid stopped across the table from Liam and smiled. “The page is authentic and now back where it belongs. I thank you, Captain O’Dare, for returning my property to me. I, and all the lands, though they know it not, owe you a great debt.”
Rivka felt relief flood her being. She had believed they’d retrieved the page, but until Gryffid saw it, they couldn’t be absolutely sure. Now, it seemed their efforts have been rewarded. All was right, once again, with the world. Gryffid’s book was, once again, whole, and the dangerous secrets contained within could not be used by those of evil intent.
“Forgive me for asking this,” Liam said, “but what if someone made a copy? Am I correct in thinking that they had to have had the original in order to use the information contained on it?”
“Yes,” Gryffid drew out the word. “Sometimes, magic works that way. The spell itself is not strong enough on its own. It would need all the magic imbued over these many centuries into the page of the book itself in order to work. Therefore, even if they copied the page, sigil by sigil, it will be of little use to them.”
“There was a mage from Elderland traveling with Fisk,” Rivka put in. “If anyone made a copy, it would be him. Fortunately, he and all his possessions were lost to my flame.”
Gryffid looked at her with respect. “That was well done of you, Lady Rivka. While there are no true wizards left in the world but myself, there are those who have learned certain secrets, and if they use that knowledge for evil, they must be eradicated.”
The bag on the empty chair next to Liam moved, and all eyes turned to watch as Ella emerged from her nest.
“And who is this?” Gryffid asked as Ella fought her way out of the carrying sack to fly around Liam’s head twice before landing on his shoulder.
“‘M Ella,” she announced to the wizard.
“Greetings, Mistress Ella.” Gryffid looked at her carefully. “Aren’t you a little young to be gallivanting about on your own?”
Ella shook her head, her long neck making it almost comical. “Mama said could go with Leem. Had to get bad mage.”
“Ah.” Gryffid nodded. “I assume Leem is her way of saying your given name?” One of Gryffid’s bushy eyebrows rose in Liam’s direction, and he nodded.
“Yes, milord. Liam seems to be beyond her abilities at present.” Liam rubbed Ella’s head as she butted it against his hair.
“It all begins to come clear. The mage was from Elderland, and this virkin chose to travel with you. I have no doubt that her goal was always to find that mage that had betrayed the virkins’ trust and end him,” Gryffid surprised them all by stating. “Virkin are highly magical, as you probably know by now. Occasionally, they will adopt a human, and if the man or woman is so inclined, the virkin will show them a thing or two about magic. Ninety-nine times out of a hundred, the virkin judge correctly and give their knowledge onl
y to those with pure hearts. But, every so often, there’s a mistake. People change. Someone who started out on the right side turns to evil for whatever reason. That’s when the virkin go on the hunt. As Ella went with you to hunt the mage who was helping Fisk.”
When Gryffid said it, it all made sense, but the idea was still a bit fantastical to Rivka. How could Ella—or Ella’s mama—know that Liam would be the one to track down not only Fisk, but the mage who was helping him?
“Can they see the future?” Rivka asked as the thought occurred to her.
Gryffid beamed at her deduction. “Yes. Some virkin have been known to have the gift of foresight. Perhaps Ella’s mother was one of these gifted creatures. Or maybe it is Ella herself. Or both. Virkin will not always tell you these things. You will have to discover them on your own as time goes on.”
“We’ve already seen some of that,” Liam said. “Ella seems to have a tremendous capacity to heal. She saved a lot of lives in a town that had been raided by the pirates.”
“How interesting,” Gryffid looked at Ella again, seeming to take her measure. “And she seems devoted to you, Captain.” He smiled at Liam. “And you, to her.”
The tops of Liam’s ears turned red, but he didn’t gainsay the wizard.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
After dinner, the wizard invited Liam to sit with him while musicians started to play and many of the fair folk amused themselves by dancing. It was a party atmosphere, and Liam felt caught up in it to the point that he found his toes tapping along to the music.
It wasn’t long before some of the more daring males came over to ask Rivka to dance. She complied, laughing at the outrageous compliments they were paying her, one after the other. Liam was content to watch the dancing and not participate. Gryffid had made sure to sit right next to him, so it seemed the wizard probably wanted to talk. Liam wouldn’t pass up an opportunity to speak with the only wizard left in existence. Such chances did not happen every day.