by Amelia Jade
The shrieking noise continued as both animals clashed, and she saw bits and pieces of feathers and other parts of them begin to fall from the sky as they vied for aerial supremacy.
The gryphon’s beak shot forward and closed around the leg of its opponent. The sound of bone breaking was audible from where she stood, and Quinn shivered in distaste. She was not a fan of violence, and the sound upset her stomach easily. The combatants spun in the air, and suddenly Quinn knew what the other animal was.
A Pegasus. A flying horse, although to her surprise, this one had a giant horn on its head that it was using to try and skewer the gryphon, though it kept dodging the attacks. The entire effort between both parties looked clumsy compared to what she would have expected. There was no serene grace to their movements. It was wobbly, off-balance, and incredibly unrealistic-looking.
Could this be what Asher meant by most fliers not being experts?
That didn’t stop them from inflicting horrific damage on each other as she looked on, but she suspected neither of them had much experience with this sort of combat.
The Pegasus got lucky and its horn gouged a huge wound along the gryphon’s side, though it failed to actually punch into it, as the other beast was moving away from the attack.
Part of her was fascinated by the battle, but her mind kept yelling at her to do something.
What? Do what?
RUN, YOU IDIOT. RUN.
Quinn jolted upright, looked around frantically to get her bearings, and then took off. The gryphon had been following the mountain north and a little to the east as it carried her, so now she ran full-speed to the west, trying to get back in amongst the cover of the trees. They were a long way off, but perhaps the gryphon would lose, or be too injured to pursue her.
It seemed unlikely, but she had nothing better to do than hope.
Her feet carried her swiftly, and the sounds of fighting began to fade from her ears.
Then there was a last, high-pitched shriek that ended abruptly.
Quinn’s curiosity wanted her to turn around, to see what was going on, but fear had a firm grip on her now and she continued to flee, desperate to escape.
At least if they find me now I’m likely to look bedraggled and out of place enough that any of the border guards might believe my story.
A sudden gust of wind was her only warning.
Something came at her from behind, and pain erupted from her left leg. She looked down to see the massive claws of the gryphon rip an ugly gash in her thigh. Blood began to pour from it and she fell to the ground with a cry, the pain slamming into her.
“Oh shut up,” the same voice said a moment later as the gryphon shifted back to human form. “It’s all your fault anyway. If you had just stayed there, I wouldn’t have had to come after you.”
He walked into view, and despite the blazing agony in her leg, Quinn gasped. He looked terrible. A huge cut bled from his side, stretching from his right hip up to his armpit. Another wound trickled blood down his face, and his entire chest and left arm were black and blue, already bruising from hits sustained in the fight.
“It looks worse than it is, but thanks for the concern,” he said with a wink.
He dragged her all the way back to the pile of discarded vines, her blood leaving a trail through the grass, mixing with his as it continued to fall from his side, though it had begun to slow already. Her leg, on the other hand, was still bleeding profusely, and she was beginning to feel light-headed.
The first thing the gryphon did was tie a vine tightly around her leg, and almost immediately the blood drain slowed.
“There, that should keep you alive long enough,” he cackled, trussing her back up with the rest of it.
Quinn was so dizzy by that point that as soon as she was lifted into the air, she passed out.
Chapter Eleven
Asher
Asher paced back and forth outside the Academy building.
He wasn’t due to report until the next morning, so he could easily turn back around if he wanted to and go back to Quinn.
But is that what he wanted?
Angrily he bent down, grabbed a rock the size of his head, and hurled it as far as he could. The stone shot through the air, propelled by his superhuman strength. It arced high and then began to descend until it crashed into the ground some two hundred feet away.
His anger over what she’d done was still there, but it burned cool now, as her final words echoed through him. He’d spent the past ten hours or so thinking them over.
Was it really so bad that she’d come in with one view, and had had it changed by him?
But she had lied to him.
The two sides went to war in his head, and had kept him from making any sort of decision. Until now. He had to go back. To talk it over with her. The experiences of the past two weeks gave him no choice.
If Asher were honest with himself, the Quinn he’d come to know, he’d also fallen for. If her reason for being in Cadia was a lie, then perhaps he could forgive her. But he needed to find out if that was the only lie, or if she’d become whatever was necessary to prevent him from turning her in.
His change came swiftly and again he set himself winging back toward home.
The one upside to all this is I’m going to be in damn good shape between these flights and the Academy training.
The flight back was uneventful.
“Quinn?” he called, opening the door slowly. “It’s me.”
There was no response. Asher didn’t need to wait for an answer before he knew the silent truth.
She was gone. He could sense it. A quick search of the house confirmed it, and he changed back to his dragon once more, using its superior sense of smell to find her trail. He followed it out to the pathway, and along it till the divergence.
His heart sank as he realized she was headed for the border. Enough time had passed that she should have reached it by now.
Still, he had to try.
A clattering of wings forestalled him from taking off. Looking to the sky, he saw a pair of Pegasi descending. They reached the ground and came to a halt perhaps fifty feet away from him.
“What do you want?” he asked, annoyed at their presence.
One of them shivered and shifted back to its human form.
“You are to come with us, Asher,” it said imperiously.
“You’re going to have to do better than that,” the big white-scaled dragon rumbled, unimpressed by the tone.
“You have been charged, by the Office of Immigration.”
He blinked.
“Charged? With what?” This was news to him.
“A report was filed stating that you are harboring an illegal human. As you know, this is grounds for immediate search of the property and detainment of the shifter in question. So, you will go with my comrade please, while I will search the house.”
He shook his head. “Can’t, I’m sorry. I’m in the middle of something urgent. I will, however, promise to report as soon as I settle it up. Fair?” He started to spread his wings wide in preparation for taking off.
The second Pegasus reacted at last and moved in front of him, its wings spread wide in response.
“You can’t be serious?” Asher said, looking at the first shifter.
“Please go with him. Now.”
“No.”
“Very well then, Asher, you leave us no choice.”
The speaker shifted back into his animal form, and the pair of them came at him without any further warning.
Watch the horn.
That was the real weapon of the Pegasus. Their cloven hooves, while painful enough, were not lethal, nor did they have a bite to speak of. But the three-foot horn on their head would pierce his scales with ease if he let them.
He kept the fight on the ground. Doing so allowed him to bring a weapon into the fray that perhaps the flying horses might not be prepared for.
One launched itself at his flank. Asher’s long sinuous dragon neck allow
ed him to curl around and worry the flank of the approaching shifter, sending it skittering back. It was just a feint however, and the real threat came from the other side as the second Pegasus lowered its head and aimed at his chest, just in front of his wing.
Asher smiled and backed away while spinning at the same time. The horn readjusted, aiming at his neck now instead of his body, as it was the only thing it had a chance of hitting. His neck was curved at a near ninety-degree angle, which meant the Pegasus was actually parallel with him.
Until the massive dragon wing flicked out and sent the smaller animal tumbling across the ground. It rolled half a dozen times and landed in a disjointed heap. Only the rise of its lungs told him it was still alive.
Pain lanced his side, and he turned, dislodging the horn from his other opponent. Anger welled up inside the dragon at the wound.
Asher inhaled and felt the familiar tingle in the back of his throat. The Frostfire poured forth from him and hit the Pegasus still on its feet full in the flank. He lost control of it after only a few moments, and it dried up, but the damage was done.
The winged horse was down, squealing in pain as frostbite tracked up its side and across its wing, an ugly black mark with dead flesh at the center of it.
With a shake of his massive head he launched himself into the air. Both of them would heal, but they were not going to bother him for a while. Pain seared up his side as he pushed off the ground, a reminder of the wound he had taken himself. It was deep, and Asher knew it would be some time before the bleeding stopped. He would recover in a few hours, but until then, he would be weakened.
His search took him right to the border of the woods. He hadn’t seen anyone moving along the path. His dragon eyes easily able to see in the dim light. He landed, but didn’t have to shift back. The scents in the air were far too easily identifiable.
Gryphon.
He growled as it intermingled with Quinn’s.
Loran.
There was no doubt of it; he recognized the stench. The gryphon, unable to keep to himself, had somehow followed or tracked Quinn here. Then, he’d taken her.
I am going to kill him.
It wasn’t a vow that Asher took lightly, but it was one he made nonetheless. He would find the gryphon, and the gryphon would die.
First place to check was his house. Conveniently, Asher knew its location, or at least the general area.
As he winged quickly to the northeast, Asher’s eyesight caught something else.
A dead Pegasus.
That was too much of a coincidence. He landed nearby. The body was still warm. A quick search of the perimeter showed him the trail of blood left by Loran.
And then he froze as he scented the metallic tang of blood.
Human blood.
Asher roared and unleashed a blast of Frostfire into the sky as he vented his anger at Loran. The gryphon shifter had hurt his mate!
The furious dragon didn’t even flinch at the use of a term he’d not considered for her before. But now, with her life on the line, he was realizing just how much she meant to him. How intertwined their lives had become, and how he would never rest until she was by his side again.
Thankfully the amount of blood, while large, was not fatal. He launched himself into the air and followed the scent as it led directly to Loran’s house.
He saw a light ahead, which resolved itself into the outline of a house, now visible in the dark.
Asher landed outside of the stone circle, uncaring of any damage he did to the property as he shifted back into his human form. It wouldn’t matter soon when its owner ceased to exist.
I’m going to kill him.
A booted foot blew the door inward with such force it went twirling across the room, barely missing a startled-looking Loran.
Then his gaze fixed on Quinn, and his eyes burned bright with insane rage. The gryphon shifter picked up a knife with a wickedly curved edge and came at Asher without hesitation.
Asher let him approach. His eyes surveyed the room quickly, and he saw off to the right a limp form tied to a chair, long brown hair draped over her face.
It was Quinn. He was absolutely positive of it.
“Damn meddling dragon!” Loran roared. “You should have known better. You should have stayed out of this!”
Asher shook his head and dodged the first slash, delivering a palm to Loran’s chest in return. The other shifter grunted and stumbled back several steps.
“Stayed out? You came and kidnapped her, bringing her back here to do who knows what!” he growled. “Why would any good person stay uninvolved? You should have just left her alone.”
Loran hissed. “Can’t do that. Humans aren’t allowed in Cadia. Breaking the laws. She’s mine now. Mine to do with. You shouldn’t have interfered. Now you’ll die.”
Asher was astonished at the rage in Loran. It was as if he were possessed. The gryphon shifter had always been uncontrollable, but he’d never completely flown off the deep end before.
The knife blurred and Asher jumped back, but not fast enough to avoid a cut appearing on his abdomen.
“Enough of this,” he snarled. “Lay the weapon down, or I will kill you,” he said, his voice as hard as steel.
Loran just laughed. “If I do, the elders will kill me themselves for embarrassing them by fighting you. I need her to prove I’m innocent,” he said with a crazed gleam in his eyes. “Can’t let her go.”
Asher grimaced. He was going to have to kill the other man. Loran had nothing to lose anymore. He would never stop.
A stony expression settled over his face as for the first time, Asher went on the attack.
Loran stabbed down from high, but he blasted the attack aside with a sweep of his left arm before whirling around to his right and delivering an elbow to the man’s head. The gryphon shifter cried out in pain and brought his arm back in a quick upward slashing motion.
Asher caught it, but not without sustaining a cut to his wrist. It was a better outcome than the knife burying itself deep in his side, however, and now he was struggling to prevent that from happening. Asher had strength, but Loran had the angle as the knife came up and around, aimed at the dragon shifter’s chest.
Kicking up, he hit Loran in the groin once, then twice in quick succession. His arms stopped pressing for just a moment and Asher grabbed his wrist, snapped it around, breaking bone to point the knife in the opposite direction. He drove it deep into Loran’s chest with such force that he picked the other man up and carried him forward into the wall behind him with the blow.
The light in Loran’s eyes went out as the tip of the blade pierced his heart, killing him instantly. The hilt snapped from the blade, and without anything holding him up any longer, Loran fell to the floor, a look of surprise permanently etched upon his face.
Asher was stepping over the body before it stopped moving.
“Quinn!”
Chapter Twelve
Quinn
“Quinn!”
It sounded like her name, though it came fuzzily through the fog clouding her brain. Was that her name? What was her name? No thoughts seemed to make it to conclusion in her brain as she hung forward in the chair, supported only by the restraints keeping her upright.
Sleep. I need to sleep.
“Stay with me Quinn! Don’t you close your eyes!”
“Tired,” she mumbled, wanting nothing more than to lie down in bed. The bright, comfortable covers appeared in her mind. So close. All she had to do was reach out and grab them, wrap them around her, and she would be able to sleep for as long as she wanted. The pain would be gone.
Something cold and wet splashed all over her face and Quinn sat up with a shriek at the icy sensation.
“Quinn, it’s me. It’s Asher. I’m here. You’re safe now,” a blurry face said in front of her.
It sounded like Asher. But how was he here?
Where was here?
She blinked rapidly and the room dizzily swam in and out of focus, threat
ening to make her stomach sick.
“I don’t feel so good,” she said aloud.
“I’m going to get you to some help. I need to get you out of the house first though. Can you stand?”
He ripped the restraints off her and Quinn almost pitched forward onto the floor.
“Shit,” the male voice said, an arm snaking around her upper body to keep her from falling over.
“I can’t. Leg. Stand up. Hurts.” The words just sort of tumbled from her in a jumble. She was probably not making any sense.
Strong arms hoisted her to her feet, careful to avoid touching her wounded leg.
“Where?” she asked, wanting to know where they were going as she stumbled forward, unable to keep herself balanced.
Quinn knew she was likely going to die. That thought was crystal clear in her mind. The wound in her leg was deep and now it was infected with something Loran had poured over it, something that had made her scream in agony, worse than when he had first ripped it open.
“I need to get you help,” he said firmly. “I don’t know of anywhere else to go.”
Through the haze, she suddenly understood where he meant.
“No,” she protested, her voice feeble and weak, but loud enough for him to hear. “No, you can’t, she said, her fear for him breaking through the cloud surrounding her. “You can’t do that, Asher!”
“I have no choice,” he growled.
“You’ll get expelled from the Academy if you do. Probably worse, you’ll get put up on charges. They might even kill you as well!”
She heard him laugh, despite the situation. “They won’t kill me. Anything else will be worth it if you survive.”
Quinn let her other leg collapse under her. “No. I won’t let you.” She looked up, the night sky swimming into crystal clarity for a brief moment before it blurred out again.
Asher set her down and then moved away. Why was he moving away from her?
“I’m sorry,” she said.
He paused. “For what?”
Tears streamed down her face. “For everything. For lying to you. For putting you through everything I did.” A sob racked her body, shooting lances of pain up from her leg. “For treating you and the others like nothing when I first came here, as no more than animals for a photoshoot.”