by Bianca D’Arc
Gowan caught himself before he could audibly scoff. “Captain O’Dare is just as angry with Seth as with me.”
“Ah, but Seth works with the Lair’s well-known and well-respected healer. I bet he could ask her to intercede with the captain. Even Captain O’Dare couldn’t deny a simple request from a respected elder like Healer Bronwyn.”
Gowan had to smile. “It is a masterful and devious plan, milady. I like it.”
The very next day, Healer Bronwyn went in a well-sprung wagon down to Dragonscove in person, to visit the market and the trading houses of Captain O’Dare. Crafty lady that she was, she contrived to bump into the captain and have a rather pointed conversation with him about how she was just too worried about the young visiting gryphon.
Between the two of them, they somehow arrived at the idea that a young person such as the captain’s daughter might be a suitable person to meet with the foreign—albeit young—dignitary. She managed to convince the captain that there might be some advantage to be gained in his daughter befriending a gryphon from Gryphon Isle.
After all, the captain ran a fleet of trade ships, and Gryphon Isle had just reappeared after centuries being hidden in magical mists called by the great wizard, Gryffid. The one and only wizard newly discovered to be alive after the wizard wars millennia ago. Who knew what riches could be traded for from and to his isolated home?
Further, it was said Gryffid had a thriving enclave of fair folk living there on the island with him and his gryphons, his greatest magical creations. The fair folk were well known to be craftsmen of the highest caliber. After all, they had very, very long lives during which to perfect their craft. Even an apprentice’s work usually contained all the skill of many human lifetimes. The good captain, no doubt, understood the value in having friends on Gryphon Isle.
Gowan was duly impressed when Seth told him later the way Bronwyn had described the meeting. The elderly healer had enjoyed her mission to the town, and Seth was happy to report it had gone as well as they had hoped. The next day, they would introduce Flurrthith to Hrardorr, and then, Gen and Hrardorr would both accompany the young gryphon down to the town to meet Livia. It was all set up.
Flurrthith was looking much better the next day when Genlitha escorted him to Hrardorr’s chamber. She had arranged that a meal of freshly caught fish should be waiting for the three of them, along with breakfast foods for both Seth and Gowan.
Seth was there before them, seeing to Hrardorr’s ongoing eye treatments, though they seemed to do little good. The magnificent dragon still couldn’t see, even if his pride had been restored slightly by the battle in the water where he’d taken out a good portion of the enemy fleet and sent the rest running.
Flurrthith walked into the chamber cautiously. He’d only been in the Lair a short while, but he’d already been told the story of how Hrardorr had almost single-handedly run off the pirates. Like any youngling, he seemed to be impressed by the tale.
“Greetings, Sir Hrardorr,” Genlitha sent her thoughts formally to all the minds present. Gowan had accompanied her and the gryphlet from their chambers.
“Lady Genlitha, it is good to hear your voice. And who have you brought to my wallow this fine morning?”
Gen preened, glad Hrardorr had agreed to play along with her plans. He could just as easily have growled at them, but she’d talked him around earlier this morning.
“A visitor from Gryphon Isle,” she said, though Hrardorr knew full well who she was bringing to meet him. “And my knight, Gowan, of course,” she added for good measure.
“Sir Gowan.” Hrardorr bowed his great head directly in front of where Gowan was standing. He might be blind, but nothing had affected his other senses.
“Sir Hrardorr,” Gowan replied aloud, in a grave voice, giving the male dragon a courtly bow for the benefit of the gryphlet. Gryphons, they had been told, lived in a very formal society with strict rules for interacting with their two-legged friends. “May I introduce Sir Flurrthith, from Gryphon Isle. He is the messenger who traveled so far and fast to our shore to tell us of the events transpiring on his island.”
“Ah, Sir Flurrthith, I owe you my sincerest apology. Had I known the enemy would turn their remaining ships on your homeland, I would have followed them to hell and back.” Hrardorr faced the smaller creature, though he couldn’t see him, and waited.
This was a moment of truth. A clearing of the air. Flurrthith would either prove his maturity or try to lash out at the dragon who could easily be blamed for the havoc taking place on Gryphon Isle at this moment. Everyone waited to see what the gryphlet would do.
“Iss it true that you are blind, Ssir Hrardorr?” came the gryphlet’s hesitant voice, adding extra s sounds where his beak interfered with conventional speech, as all gryphons seemed to do.
“I am. I was hit full in the face by skith venom a few months ago and have not been able to see since, much to my disappointment.”
Genlitha held her breath. This was the first time Hrardorr had spoken so calmly of his disability in her presence. It was a watershed moment indeed, though what it would mean for the future, she had no idea.
Flurrthith shifted on his front feet as if uncomfortable. “I’m ssorry you were hurt, Ssir. One of my teacherss at home hass only one eye, and it hinderss hiss flight greatly.” Leave it to a child to speak so plainly, Genlitha thought, wondering how the gryphlet’s words were affecting Hrardorr. “Iss it true you torched the pirate sshipss?” The gryphlet moved a slight distance forward, toward Hrardorr.
“I did. I rose from the water behind them and torched their sails. The ones in the harbor were trapped and burned. The rest ran away, though I got a few of them before they left. Had I known…” Hrardorr let his silent voice trail off for a moment before continuing. “Had I known where they would go and what they would do, I would have tried harder to stop them all. I am truly sorry.”
“You didn’t know they would turn on uss, Ssir.” Flurrthith’s little voice piped through the room, and Genlitha breathed again. This might yet turn out well. “I didn’t think ssea dragonss could flame,” he added in a puzzled tone.
“I am only part sea dragon,” Hrardorr admitted. “I can flame and fight on land, in the sky, and now, in the sea. Actually, the sea is all that’s really left to me, now with my eyes the way they are. I do not need them in the water, you see. My other senses help me know where things are when I’m under the waves. It’s only above them where my lack of sight hinders my effectiveness.”
“Really?” The gryphlet moved closer, clearly intrigued. Genlitha knew things would be all right now. At least as far as Flurrthith and Hrardorr were concerned.
Hrardorr opened up a bit about how his senses worked underwater, which was an education to them all. The gryphlet hung on his every word.
“I didn’t know ssea dragonss could do that,” the youngster said several times. Finally, it was Gowan who addressed the question that should have been obvious to them all.
“Have you met many sea dragons, Sir Flurrthith?” Gowan asked.
Flurrthith turned his beak toward the humans, standing off to one side. “There iss a cove on the ssouthern end of the island where they like to come assshore. Ssome of the older gryphonss have made friendss among them, but I’ve only sspoken to one of the dragonss. Her name iss Sshanaraneth, but she said to call her Sshara for sshort. Sshe is older than me, but not too much older, and sshe was badly injured by a sschool of ssharkss a while back. One of our healerss, my older ssisster Lizbet, hass been working with Lady Sshara and letss me tag along ssometimess. Sshe iss very nice, though sshe wass very ssad when sshe wass sstuck on land healing.”
Hrardorr sighed, sending smoke rings up into the vented dome above his head. “It is a sad thing to be out of one’s element. My ancestor was like your friend, a sea dragon injured and unable to swim like she used to, but she found happiness on land with a land dragon and went on to live many happy centuries with him in this Lair. They founded this Lair, in fact.”
“You certainly may, my young friend,” Hrardorr agreed. “Hope is a rare commodity. Your friend sounds like she could use some.”
After that interesting exchange, they all got to know each other better. Genlitha broached the topic of flying down to the town to meet Livia toward the end of their meal. She told Flurrthith about how both Gowan and Seth were courting Lady Livia, seeing no reason to hide such information from the child. Perhaps Flurrthith could help the three humans in some way.
It was agreed that Genlitha would carry Gowan, and Flurrthith surprisingly volunteered to carry Seth on his back down to the town. It would be difficult for Hrardorr to carry anyone, since he planned to land in the water and then walk up onto land. While Gowan and Seth would stay well out of sight of Livia’s father, they were hoping to get a few minutes to at least say hello to Livia. And if not, they each claimed to have errands to run in town anyway.
Genlitha doubted the veracity of those claims, but she wasn’t going to say anything. She still had hopes for the threesome, even if circumstances were against them right now.
Seth couldn’t believe he was riding on the back of a gryphon. Of all the things he’d expected when he’d awakened that morning, his backside being cushioned by a mix of fur and feathers while he glided almost silently down from the top of the Lair to the beach below the town had not been foremost in his mind.
He’d been taken aloft by his dragon parents on occasion, and this experience was similar, but also quite different. Gryphons were just…more comfortable, if he was going to tell the truth. They were soft where dragon scale was hard against human limbs. And their glide—or at least, Flurthith’s immense wingspan—made the trip a dream.
They’d agreed to land on the beach in order to meet up with Hrardorr. The idea was to keep Flurrthith busy while the leadership up at the Lair made their decision. So far, Seth had heard through his fathers, the dithering was winning out over actually getting off their duffs and helping.
They’d sent a messenger to the capital over land, for heavens sake. A lad on a horse, who would take days and days to get there. They’d used the recent attack as an excuse to keep all the dragon messengers here, regardless of the fact that they could have made the flight there and back in half the time.
Seth’s entire family was disgusted, but his fathers were still trying to talk with the leadership, making their case through the proper channels. His parents were too old school to go against the leaders. At least not now, while the situation was still fresh. Perhaps, if nothing had been accomplished by tomorrow, they would actually do something. In the meantime, they’d asked Seth to keep an eye on the gryphon. Nobody wanted the visiting youngster to get the wrong impression of the knights or dragons of Draconia due to the pigheadedness of a couple of old men and even older dragons.
So this outing had been devised. It would keep Flurrthith away from the controversy at the Lair today, while affording Seth and Gowan the slight chance of seeing Livia out from under her father’s watchful eye. Seth thought it was good for Hrardorr to socialize too. He’d been far too solitary since the battle in the harbor.
Flurrthith flew beautifully, and Seth took a moment to just enjoy the sensation of the wind in his hair, the sound of it sifting through the gryphon’s feathers. The sun was shining, and there were no clouds in the sky today. It was a great day to be alive as far as Seth was concerned.
It started with an unexpected and probably once-in-a-lifetime gryphon flight and might result in seeing Livia. Things were looking up.
He’d missed her so much since her father’s edict. The man was a tyrant and ruled his home like he must rule his ships, with an iron hand. The sea captain had a justly deserved reputation as far as Seth was concerned.
Flurrthith spiraled down from the high cliffs on which the Lair was built, flanked by Gowan and Genlitha. Hrardorr had gone on ahead, but they could still see him. In fact, Seth was watching his progress closely, ready to warn him if he should somehow run into danger. But it was clear. Hrardorr dove into the water quite a ways out into the sea, where there were no obstacles to hinder him.
His entry into the water was near perfect, without much of a splash. If Seth hadn’t been watching closely, he wouldn’t have noticed much of anything happening out there. The water truly was Hrardorr’s second home. Seth was glad he had that at least. The dragon’s spirits had been down since the battle, which had confused Seth at first, but he soon realized that the fight had brought back memories of Hrardorr’s glory days. Memories that were hard to live with in his current condition, Seth figured.
As they made their way to the beach, Seth noticed another dragon already there. It was a dark blue. Had to be Xanderanth. He was a relative newcomer to the Lair, blessed with powerful wings. He and his young knight had been sent to the Southern Lair for their first assignment, partly because of Xander’s youth and flying abilities, but also because his knight, Leonhardt—Leo for short—was from this region and still very close to his family. Rumor had it that his parents packed up his siblings and moved to be closer to the Lair once they found out Leo and Xander would be stationed here for a few years while they both learned the business of being a team.
Xander trumpeted a greeting when he saw Genlitha, and Seth felt Flurrthith tremble under him. But when Gen signaled back in a similar way, the gryphon seemed to relax again.
“We are in luck,” Gen said into all their minds as they glided closer to their landing point and the young blue dragon. “Xanderanth is only a little older than you, Flurrthith. His knight’s family lives nearby, and he is visiting them, so Xander is at loose ends for a bit. He’s a very nice dragon.”
There was no time to say more as they came in for the landing. Seth held on tight, expecting to get jostled around a bit because of Flurrthith’s age and relative inexperience. Plus, he’d never been on a gryphon’s back before and had no idea if they landed the same way dragons did. But Seth needn’t have worried. Flurrthith set down with all the grace of the most elegant dragon, and Seth was just as comfortable as he would have been on dragonback—perhaps more so because of the fur, but he’d never tell a dragon that.
When Seth jumped down from Flurrthith’s back, he was sure to go around and face the young gryphon, thanking him formally for the ride. Gryphons were formal. Everyone said so. Seth didn’t want to be the one to mess up the budding relationship between gryphons and Draconia. No, he thought, holding in a grimace, he’d leave that to the idiots up at the Lair who were even now discussing ways to not help, in all likelihood.
“Thank you, Sir Flurrthith. I have never had a more comfortable flight,” Seth said as he bowed, keeping his gaze locked with the gryphon’s out of respect. He figured he could get away with that little bit of truth. The dragons would think he was just being polite.
“You are very welcome, Sseth. You ride well for one who hass no dragon partner of hiss own,” Flurrthith surprised him by saying.
Seth rose from the bow and regarded the gryphon. “I was raised in the Lair. My fathers have dragon partners who raised me as their own. It was a great treat to be taken aloft, so I have flown before, just not very often. Thank you for the kind words. I am glad to have not caused you any difficulties.”
The blue dragon’s head appeared over Seth’s shoulder, ending that avenue of conversation.
“Hello. I’m Xander,” the blue dragon said to them all, not waiting to be introduced. He was still quite young to be in service, but he’d found his partner young, as well, and had been sent here to grow into his duties.
Seth stroked Xander’s neck, already very familiar with the young dragon. He’d treated him for a sore wings after Genlitha put him through his paces a few times.
“Sir Flurrthith of Gryphon Isle, may I present Sir Xanderanth of
the Southern Lair?” Seth said politely, hoping Xander’s eagerness wouldn’t somehow offend the gryphon.
“Hello, Xander. I like your sshiny color. You ssparkle like the ssouthern ocean beyond the Bay of Forgetfulnesss.”
Xander seemed to preen at the gryphon’s words. “Thank you. I don’t know where that is, but I’d like to fly there someday. I want to see everything,” he declared with the enthusiasm of youth.
“That ssounds like fun,” Flurrthith agreed.
Seth ducked out of the way while the two youngsters got acquainted. If he wasn’t much mistaken, he believed he’d just witnessed the start of a friendship.
Hrardorr rose out of the water like a sea creature, stalking forward onto the sand with Genlitha’s gentle—and silent—guidance, Seth knew. Steam rose from his hide, adding to the unearthly appearance. He really was something to behold when he came out of the ocean.
Gen and Hrardorr moved off to one side, talking amongst themselves for a bit when a newcomer joined their group. In fact, it was several newcomers. Xander’s young knight had appeared over the dunes with some of his younger siblings in tow.
Seth knew Sir Leo and liked the lad. Leo had always shown great interest in learning all he could about how to help his dragon, which put him squarely in Seth’s good books.
“Sir Leo, we didn’t expect to find you here,” Seth greeted him with a friendly outstretched hand. Leo was one of the few knights who had always treated Seth with respect, even before Seth had led such an effective defense of the harbor.
Leo came forward with all the enthusiasm of his more youthful age. If he’d seen twenty summers yet, Seth would have been surprised, but he wasn’t rude enough to ask outright how old Leo was.
“Seth! Good to see you.” Leo let his youngest sister off his shoulders and set her down on the sand before reaching out to share a warrior-like handclasp with Seth, a broad smile on his face. He then seemed to catch sight of the other knight.