Magic Triumphed

by Andi Van

  Zaree turned to look at Kelwin, widening her eyes and giving him her most pathetic expression. “Can I keep them?”

  “Pretty sure that’s up to them, not me. And why are you asking me, anyway?”

  “So I can blame it on you when Tasis wakes up and asks me why there are gryphons on the isle, of course.”

  Kelwin gave her a long look before letting out a heavy sigh. “Of course,” he said. “Well, the gate’s big enough for her, so it shouldn’t be a problem getting her to the isle. We’ll have to send her over before we go to Archai. Assuming Yldost can restore Falcon’s sanity and we can talk her into helping, anyway. I’m not sure what we’re going to do if she says no.”

  “If that’s how things turn out, we’ll improvise,” Jorget said with a shrug as he slowly inched closer to them, his eyes on the fluffy bundle of fur and feathers currently lounging in Emlynn’s arms. “That’s what we seem to do best, after all.”

  “He’s got a point,” Zaree told Kelwin. “If Falcon won’t help us, we can go talk to Arin, maybe. It’s possible he knows of someone or something that can help us.”

  Jorget, who’d made his way close enough to lean toward Emlynn and reach the hatchling, offered the baby gryphon his hand to sniff as though he was offering it to a cat. Which he sort of was, Zaree guessed, but not quite. It was like comparing dragons to geckos.

  “I’ve never gotten a straight answer about him, you know,” he said as the hatchling checked him out. “Arin doesn’t really strike me as a magic user, but he’s got a magic mirror. Why? For the magic users Tasis sends his way?”

  “No, that’s his,” Zaree said, frowning at Kelwin. “Nobody told him?”

  “Tas felt it wasn’t our place,” Kelwin admitted. “If Arin wants people to know, he’ll tell them.”

  “Arin already told us he trusts us to tell the right people,” she said with a huff. “He doesn’t care if we’re the ones who tell the story.” She shook her head and looked at Jorget. “Did he tell you about his family at all?”

  Jorget shook his head. “No, we were too busy talking about other things. Why?”

  “His village of birth is… unwelcoming of those who aren’t human,” Kelwin admitted. “His own mother helped drive him out of town when it was discovered that he’d protected an elf from a group of humans from his village. He acts like it was no big deal and like he’d wanted to get as far away from his mother as possible anyway, but I have a feeling it cut him deeply. That’s one of the reasons he hesitates to tell people about himself.”

  “He’d never known his father,” Zaree said, picking up the story. “So when he was forced to leave, he went searching. He didn’t find his father, but he found people that knew him. Come to find out that for all his mother’s posturing and her horrible attitude toward other species, she’d fallen in love with a man whose father’s grandfather had been a brownie.”

  “So when I say that Arin’s sweet rolls are magical, I’m not kidding,” Kelwin added. “He inherited brownie magic from his father’s side of the family. It’s a little different from the magic you use, from what he’s told us. There are some spells he can do, like activating the mirror, but for the most part his skills revolve around housekeeping. Being able to use his magic at the bakery gives him a bit of a cover story. No one’s going to suspect him of anything but being very skilled at what he does.”

  “Which also makes him the perfect person to help us find magic users and get them to safety,” Zaree concluded. “Luckily for us, he really liked the idea when Tas originally proposed it. If we’re forced to evacuate Denekk with the other magic users in the castle, the bulk of the responsibility is going to be on him, though.”

  Jorget gaped at them, his hand still on the hatchling’s back. “You know,” he finally said as he began to stroke the gryphon’s child again, “I used to envy people who had parents and a family. This kind of thing makes me glad I didn’t, because knowing my luck I would have ended up with a mother exactly like Arin’s.”

  “You have a parental figure, though,” Emlynn said, yanking Jorget’s hand away as the hatchling made a valiant effort toward chomping down on Jorget’s fingers. “You have Denekk.”

  “Denekk’s more the guy who took me in because he needed a new apprentice and I fit the bill. I mean, I’m not saying he hates me or anything, but our relationship has always been based more on a teacher-and-student structure than anything remotely like family. That’s just how it worked out.” He shrugged, then gave them a grin. It had far less cheer in it than it usually did, but it was still a fairly genuine smile. “Now I have the family I wanted. Even if some of the members of said family have no blood ties to me.”

  “We are what we are,” Kelwin agreed. He looked up at the sky and squinted, and Zaree recognized it as his effort to try to figure out how much time had passed. “We should probably start heading back. I don’t want Yldost to have to come searching for us. Or for a bunch of violent elves to randomly make it foggy and attack us.”

  “They had an odd coloring,” Emlynn mentioned. “I’d never seen anything like them before.”

  “Gray Forest elves,” Zaree said. “I’ve met some. Tasis’s grandmother, for one. But Kelwin’s got the right of it, they’re not particularly known for being friendly.”

  “That was a Gray Forest elf?” Kelwin asked. “I’ve never actually seen one. I wouldn’t have thought the ‘gray’ was such a literal thing.”

  “Evina once told us it has to do with their particular way of blending in. You’d think if it’s camouflage, gray would stand out, but it apparently works for them. I don’t really understand it myself.” Zaree set the hatchling she’d been holding on the ground in front of its mother and stood. “Let’s go find Yldost.”

  “Wait,” Jorget said, frowning at the ground like he did whenever he was deep in thought. “Ulminara mentioned a guild.”

  Zaree nodded. “I was surprised by that too. But given how private they are as a whole, I suppose I shouldn’t have been. Anything could be possible.” She grinned and gave a little shrug. “Keep an open mind, remember?”

  Jorget looked up at her and gave a short laugh. “You’d think I’d remember that lesson.”

  “For now, let’s focus on our immediate needs,” Kelwin suggested. “We need to get Reikos and his men out of the dungeon, start moving people out of the castle, and proceed to Gray Forest elf territory. At least we know Tasis and assumedly Rin are safe, so there’s that. The rest is details, and we can worry about those later.”

  “Agreed,” Zaree said. “Let’s go.”

  They made an odder than usual procession, what with a full-grown gryphon mother insisting on following directly behind Zaree, her two fluffy offspring chasing each other around the group. But they made their way back to the entrance, albeit a little slower than usual. When they came out from the other end of the small forest, they were surprised to find Yldost, now in their humanlike form, seated on the ground and leaning back against a tree.

  “You’re done, then?” Zaree asked when they approached. “Where’s Falcon?” She paused, narrowed her eyes, and leaned in closer. Yldost was developing a rather nice bruise on one cheek. “And what happened to your face?”

  The dragon pointed up, and they all looked to see a winged figure soaring about in lazy circles. “Is that Falcon?” Jorget asked.

  “Yes,” Yldost confirmed. “She’s never been free to fly like that.”

  Zaree thought about that for a moment, then smiled. Of course Yldost would have sympathy toward someone who’d been imprisoned, even if Falcon had been confined to a much larger prison than a wooden box. “And the bruise you’re sporting?”

  “It’s almost healed,” Yldost said. “It was much darker before. I told you, we heal quickly.”

  So not a developing bruise, then. Zaree tended to forget there were things about the dragon that were a far cry from what she had experienced. “How did it happen?”

  “I told her how she came to be a harpy,” the drago
n admitted, looking chagrined. “She was displeased. She understands now that it was an accident, however.”

  “So you couldn’t fix her body?” Kelwin asked.

  “She didn’t want me to.”

  Zaree looked up at Falcon as she continued to loop around above them. “That would have been a lot of freedom to lose.”

  “What do you mean?” Jorget asked.

  “If you had been able to fly, even in a diminished capacity, for hundreds of years, how do you think you’d feel to suddenly be grounded?” Emlynn asked.

  Zaree nodded as Jorget let out a soft sound of understanding. “I envy her. I wouldn’t mind being able to just fly away sometimes.”

  She nearly fell over when the gryphon behind her let out a shriek. In one smooth motion, she crouched in front of Zaree and looked up expectantly. Zaree blinked. “Really?”

  The gryphon shrieked again, and Zaree couldn’t have stopped her grin if she’d wanted to. She hauled herself onto the gryphon’s back and settled in. There was barely a pause before the large creature launched herself over the side of the mountain, spread her wings, and soared.

  I’m somehow both impressed and disappointed, Zaree heard Bahz say, and she looked over to discover that Emlynn’s familiar had followed them into the air. I expected you to scream once she jumped, but you look perfectly at home up here.

  “She won’t let me fall,” Zaree said, patting the gryphon’s neck. The gryphon warbled in response. “I really have to name you, unless you’ve already got a name. I can’t just keep calling you ‘the gryphon.’”

  There was the sound of a different set of wings beating next to her, and she looked to find Falcon staring at her. She was so close that Zaree was nearly startled her from her perch. “You are with the dragon?” Falcon asked.

  She had that odd, clipped sound to her words that Yldost often did, and Zaree wondered if it was common among anyone who’d been away from people for a long period of time, or if it was just the result of not hearing how language had changed over time. “I am,” Zaree responded.

  “I am Falcon,” Falcon said. “The dragon said you need my help.”

  “We do,” Zaree confirmed with a nod. “Are you willing to help us, despite what happened to you?”

  It was Falcon’s turn to nod this time, and for some reason she looked embarrassed. “The dragon—”

  “Yldost,” Zaree interrupted. “Their name is Yldost.”

  Falcon smiled in thanks and continued. “Yldost has given me a general idea of what has happened while I have been… unavailable. I apologize for the pain my father and all who have come after him have caused. I would like to help end it.” She sighed and her eyes unfocused a little, as if she were seeing things not visible to Zaree. Probably memories. “My father was a good man once. The man I knew would have been horrified by the man he became.” She blinked, then looked directly at Zaree. “I wish to set things right.”

  Zaree let go of the gryphon’s feathered neck with one hand and held it out. It was only then that she realized the matted hair and filthy feathers were now clean and silky. Instead of a ravaging beast, Falcon was now simply a very pretty woman who happened to have feathered wings on her back. She was also naked as the day she was born, but they could do something about that once they’d landed. “We’d love for you to join our fight,” she said. “Let’s land and talk to the others, shall we?”

  Falcon smiled again, and they turned to head for the ground where Zaree’s family waited.

  Chapter 10

  “HOW DO you feel about enclosed spaces?”

  That wasn’t a question Zaree—or anyone else, going by the looks on their faces—had expected Falcon to ask. “I imagine we’ll do what we need to do,” she replied, looking at the others. She was concerned when her gaze fell on Jorget and she saw he was nearly ghost-white at the thought. “Though maybe we should have someone stay behind to help on this end.”

  Jorget shook his head, his expression firming. “No. I want to help.”

  “Not on this end,” Falcon corrected, pointing at the ground. Once she and Zaree had landed, she had wistfully asked if they could have their discussion outside, because she’d missed the sun. No one had the heart to tell her no, so they’d taken seats on the ground under the trees, letting the sun reach them through the filter of leaves. “This is my home now, and I do not want strangers in it.”

  And that, Zaree supposed, was understandable. But maybe sometime in the future, once Falcon trusted them fully, they’d be able to make this a proper guild again. They needed more than just the isle and, apparently, whatever guild was still maintained by the Gray Forest elves. There was safety in numbers, and safety was something they sorely needed for the foreseeable future. Even if the king was stopped, they still had centuries of prejudice against magic users to work through. People would still hate what they didn’t understand and others who had what they wanted. She made a mental note to talk to Tasis about it when he woke. When, not if. She had to believe that. The Maker was watching over his soul, so all they had to do was watch over his body.

  “You wouldn’t want to go back to the isle?” Emlynn asked, her brow creasing in confusion. “Many of your friends are there.”

  Falcon physically recoiled at the words, shaking her head fervently. “No,” she said loudly. “That is not my home. I do not wish to revisit the source of my pain.” She wrapped her wings around herself protectively and shook her head. “I do not belong there anymore. I am glad that it still stands. Or stands again. But I do not wish to see it.”

  She looked like she might cry, and Zaree’s heart cracked a little. Whether Falcon still had feelings for Triv or not, clearly the experience had affected her deeply. She cleared her throat and attempted to change the subject before they made things worse. “Why do you ask about enclosed spaces?”

  Falcon shot her a look of gratitude and settled herself, folding her wings against her back again. “There is a tunnel that leads from Chadar Castle to Archai Castle. It was dug when the two kingdoms were founded, in order to give the royalty of each kingdom an escape route, should it be needed. Only the king and his family were to know it existed. I cannot guarantee it’s still intact, but it was when I visited the abandoned castle in Chadar after leaving the isle.”

  “You snuck to Archai after you left?” Jorget asked. “But why? You were the princess. They would have welcomed you back.”

  “They would have forced me into ruling Chadar.” Falcon gave them a look of disgust, her nose wrinkling at the thought. “I would have been a puppet ruler, dancing to my father’s tune.” She sighed mournfully and shook her head. “My father was a good man once,” she said softly. “But he had changed, and I did not like the changes I saw. He was becoming something other than the man I knew. I wanted to see my brother, though. So I went via tunnel, arriving well after dark, and met with him for what turned out to be the last time.” She gave them all a fierce look before turning her gaze to the ground. “He was a good man too. I don’t understand what happened, but he would never have condoned what our father did, would never have blamed the magic users for defending themselves.”

  “We believe you,” Emlynn assured her, reaching out to take her hand in a gesture of kindness that had Falcon looking up in surprise. “We don’t know what happened, but I for one believe it has something to do with Gisik.”

  “Gisik is not allowed to influence people directly,” Yldost said, the same as he’d told Zaree when she’d brought it up.

  “There’s a lot Gisik isn’t allowed to do that he’s done anyway,” Zaree noted. “And I still feel like he’s behind this, whether it’s a direct influence or not. Who better than the god of chaos to set half the world against a group of people who’ve never harmed them? I’ve been thinking on it ever since you told me it couldn’t be him, but how easy would it be for him to set up a chain of events leading to this?”

  Yldost considered her words, then nodded. “Not easy, but possible, I suppose. It should not be com
pletely discounted.”

  “We’re getting off the subject again,” Jorget said. “Falcon, where exactly does the tunnel end in the castle at Archai? There are places that might be different from when you lived there, and I’d really hate to end up in the king’s study or something. I kind of enjoy, you know, being alive.”

  Falcon chuckled. It was a throaty grunt, and reminded Zaree of some of the noises Bahz made when he was particularly amused. She wondered if Falcon had always sounded like that, or if it was a result of her transformation. Not that it mattered either way, but she was curious. “I don’t believe the dungeons will have moved,” Falcon said. “They tend to be underground out of necessity.”

  “The dungeon?” Zaree asked, glad that for once things seemed to be working in their favor. Having the tunnel in the dungeon would certainly make it easier to get those who’d been captured out, assuming the tunnel was still a viable option. A lot changed in ten years, let alone a thousand. It was possible tree roots could have grown into the tunnel and made it impassable, or it could have caved in. It could have been walled off on Archai’s side. But they had to try. “Where exactly in the dungeon?”

  Falcon narrowed her eyes in thought, then looked over at Bahz. “Southernmost wall?” she asked him. “It’s been so long….”

  I believe so, Bahz agreed. Near where it meets the eastern wall. It’s been quite some time for me as well, keep in mind. For all I know, I may be remembering things completely backward.

  “Please,” Falcon said with a snort. “You’ve never been wrong a day in your life, old bird. Emlynn, my condolences.”

  “You… are okay with him no longer being your familiar?” Emlynn asked hesitantly. Zaree had wondered the same thing, but Falcon had shown no concern over it.