by P B Hughes
Jude lowered his staff and glowered at Daniel. “Fine!” he bellowed. “Stay with her; see if I care! Come on Gregory; let’s leave this lunatic with his new pet.”
Daniel sat up, dizzy and livid, his hand holding back the tide of blood.
Gregory looked torn. He turned to Daniel, a pleading look on his face. “Daniel, please, let’s go. Just leave her. She’ll be fine.”
Daniel shook his head. “You go Gregory. I don’t blame you.”
Gregory shook his head and slapped his palm to his face. “This may be the most ridiculous thing you’ve ever done. Are you serious about this?”
Daniel nodded.
Gregory sighed. “All right. Just please don’t get eaten.”
With that, the three of them parted ways. Daniel and the gryphon watched as Gregory followed Jude into the night.
Chapter 9
As soon as Jude and Gregory were out of sight, Daniel took a seat on a stump and healed the gash on his face, gritting his teeth against the pain. He would not cry out. Jude would never know how badly the blow had hurt him. The wound healed quickly enough, though dried blood remained smeared across his face. Daniel extricated a blanket from his pack, wrapped it tightly around him like a cocoon, and propped himself up against a thick tree.
“Jude and Gregory can get lost for all I care,” he said to his furry companion. “I can’t believe they’d leave us like this. So selfish, don’t you think?”
The gryphon clucked and slinked over to Daniel’s side. She turned three times, and flopped down, her head resting in his lap.
“We don’t need them. I’ll get us out of here—don’t you worry.”
She began to purr like distant thunder. She was already asleep.
“Guess you’re not worried,” he said as he leaned his head back.
A lonely owl hooted above Daniel’s head. The moon hid itself behind a mask of thick clouds, making the forest horribly dark. Suddenly, a gust of cool wind rushed through the woods, pushing leaves and twigs across the forest floor. The clouds slid away revealing the moon, a ghostly eye of white gaping down from the black sky. The trees began to lurch, branches beating down at Daniel like angry giants. A feeling of isolation crept over him and his former bravado was replaced with an ever-growing fear. He pulled the blanket more tightly about him and closed his eyes to sleep.
The cool wind changed into an icy blast that bit at Daniel’s face. He opened his weary eyes and cursed as a curtain of rain closed in on them. The gryphon raised her head and blinked sleepily. She let out a squawk as fat chunks of water splashed them from above. The dried creek-bed suddenly swelled into a wild river, threatening to overflow at any second. Lighting streaked across the sky, blistering a tree-trunk with a crash.
The gryphon cowered and backed into Daniel.
“We need to get to higher ground,” he cried, stuffing his blanket in his pouch. “Come on!”
He took her by the collar with one hand and his staff in the other. Daniel sent a wave of energy into his staff; the orb at the top shone blue and a bubble materialized around them, shielding them against the rain. They hurried through the woods and up a slippery incline until it leveled off.
Daniel slipped to his knee; the bubble vanished. “I don’t have the strength,” he told her, blinking away the drops. “I need to conserve my energy. If only I had a mana-crystal now, eh?”
Daniel leaned himself against the gryphon, hand around her collar as they wound through the woods and into a small clearing of stumps. Daniel stopped.
“Here!” he cried as the rain continued to roar. “We have to stay here.”
She tried to pull Daniel back into the cover of the trees.
“No, it’s not safe!” he said, tugging her the other way. “We don’t want to be in there if lightning strikes.”
She stared up at Daniel with her yellow cat eyes, snorted, and flopped to the ground. Daniel removed his pack and placed it next to the stump. He took a place beside her. She squawked and spread her enormous wings, tucking her head beneath one like a nesting bird and shading Daniel with the other.
“Thanks for the umbrella,” he said as he stroked her side. “So what’s that scroll say, huh girl?” he took the scroll out of his pack and examined it. “I’m not sure I should open the seal. It looks pretty official.” Rain began to dot the paper, so he quickly stuffed it back inside.
“I suppose I should come up with a name for you,” he said. “Unless you already have one, that is. But how could you tell me what it is?”
She lay there, motionless.
“Right,” he said thoughtfully. “Well, I always told myself if I ever found a black cat I’d name it Shade. How does that sound?”
She lifted her wing and stared at Daniel for a moment, and then let her wing back down.
“All right then, Shade it is,” said Daniel.
He lay down against Shade, exhausted, and drifted off to sleep.
Daniel let out a startled grunt, suddenly wide-awake. The rain had stopped, and the night was still except for the rhythmic dripping of water from the treetops. The moon gave light to the surrounding area. Fog fell from Daniel’s mouth; his nostrils were too stuffed for breathing, and his throat felt dry with thirst.
There was a click in the shadows.
Daniel froze. He listened intently for another sound of life. Nothing came.
“Calm down,” he said to himself. “It’s a forest. Of course there are going to be noises.”
He stood, body aching with every movement.
“I’ll be right back,” he said to Shade, intending to relieve himself in the cover of the underbrush.
She didn’t move.
After Daniel finished, he sat down on a slimy log nearby, picked up a stick, and began to scrape the mud from his boots. In front of him he noticed one of the large flowers that the fairies had opened. In its middle, water had collected, shining like liquid pearl in the moonlight. He leaned over and took a drink.
The sound of rustling caught Daniel’s ear. He slipped behind the log and peered over toward Shade, shivering with cold and fright.
“Stupid—so stupid,” he whispered to himself. “It was probably just Shade—”
A whir rushed through the woods—a net flew out from the darkness and pinned Shade to the ground. She let out a screech of terror, struggling violently underneath.
“Now I’ve got you, you little demon!” barked a raspy voice.
Daniel stared frantically about to see where the voice came from. He reached behind him for his staff, and then realized it was still beside the stump. Then he saw it—a tall figure hastening toward Shade, a crossbow in one hand pointed at her head. Tribal tattoos swathed his slick head. Piercings hung on his ears, eyebrows, and hooked nose; a black cloak covered him from head to toe. Wrapped around his middle, he sported a thick belt with various pouches.
“Yes, squirm! I hope it hurts, you little piece of filth!” he fumed when she let out another cry. “I’ve had quite the time chasing you all over creation.”
Shade continued to thrash.
“Now, where are your escorts? Abandoned you, did they? Afraid they might bear the same fate as your rider?” He raised his crossbow to fire. “I’m going to enjoy this.”
“NO!”
The man jumped and turned to see Daniel’s eyes glowing bright blue in the darkness.
“Well, well,” he said casually. “There you are. I knew someone else was following her.”
“Stand down. If you hurt her, you’ll regret it.”
The man hesitated. His eyes darted to Shade, and back to Daniel.
“Drop your weapon,” Daniel ordered.
The man’s eyebrows furrowed, but he remained polite. “I’m not looking for trouble. I’m merely a bounty hunter, and this little creature’s got a high price on her head. Now—”
“Drop your weapon or you die!”
The man gritted his teeth. He set the crossbow down and raised his hands. “If this is about my wyvern damaging
your roof, you’ll be reimbursed. I was only trying to flush out my prey.”
“Quiet,” said Daniel, moving out from the shadows. “I’ll take that.” He picked up the crossbow, unloaded it, and threw it into the woods.
A look of surprise flashed across the hunter’s face. “Why, you’re just a boy. And you don’t even have your staff. Ah,” he said, with a grin as he spotted Daniel’s staff lying next to his pack. “There it is.” He lowered his arms and kicked it away into the bushes.
“Don’t try me,” Daniel replied, hoping the man wouldn’t call his bluff. “I don’t need my staff to kill you. Now, untie her.”
The bounty hunter smiled. “I won’t be doing that.” He lunged at Daniel and knocked him to the ground, then raised his fingers to his mouth and blew out a shrill whistle. Some distance away, the treetops shook. Then, out from the shadows rose the wyvern, eyes glowing red, hissing as its tongue flicked out from behind its teeth. Daniel tried to stand, but before he could, a boot pressed on his neck. The bounty hunter snapped his fingers, and the wyvern slinked to his side.
“I do not relish killing children,” he said, reaching into a pack that hung from the wyvern’s side, “especially if I don’t get paid.” He pulled out a rope and tied Daniel’s hands and feet. “But if you interfere,” he bent down and whispered in Daniel’s ear, “I won’t hesitate.”
Shade growled and clawed at the net furiously—then let out a shrill cry that echoed out through the night sky.
“Shut up!” said the hunter. He walked over to Shade and kicked her hard in the gut.
She whimpered and curled into a ball.
“Now, where did you throw my crossbow? Back here—Synstra, no!” he shouted at the wyvern who looked like she was about to take a bite out of Shade. “Idiot lizard—you mustn’t eat our prize! Get back!”
The wyvern complied, sulking away from Shade.
“Maybe I’ll let you eat the boy, how does that sound?” he chuckled as he picked up the bow. “Now, where were we? Ah, yes.” He reached down and removed Shade’s collar. “This is all we need, really,” he said to Daniel. “But black gryphon’s fur catches a fair price at market—I’ll make nearly as much off her carcass as I will off the contents of this.”
He unscrewed the lid. There was nothing inside.
He turned on Daniel. “Where is the scroll?” he bellowed. “You stole it!”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“Give it to me or she dies!” he pointed the cross bow at Shade.
“I’ll give it to you—just don’t hurt her!”
He lowered his bow. “Fine. Tell me where it is and I’ll let you both go.”
“It’s in my pack.”
The bounty hunter grabbed Daniel’s pack and emptied the contents. When he saw the scroll, a smile spread across his face. He picked it up, kissed it, and stuck it inside his cloak.
“Thanks. But I’m afraid I lied. I’m still going to kill her.” He raised the bow at Shade. “Die maggot!”
Before he could release his arrow, he tripped to his knees, sending the bolt into a tree trunk with a thud. A vine was tied around his ankle, and then released.
“What in blazes?” he barked.
A flurry of vines exploded from the trees, slashing at the man like bullwhips.
Jude flew out from the darkness, his eyes glistening green, controlling the vines with a wave of his staff and trill of his fingers. Gregory wasn’t far behind—he spotted Daniel and slid down next to him.
“We’re here to save you, mate—now let’s go!” With two swift motions, Gregory cut Daniel free with a knife. “Jude said you’d need this,” he said, handing him a mana-crystal.
Daniel absorbed the energy, turned and spotted his staff in a tangle of weeds. He snatched it from the ground.
“You children will regret your meddling!” cried the hunter as he mounted his wyvern. “Kill, Synstra! Kill them all!”
The wyvern let out a gargled roar and heaved forward toward Jude. Jude rolled across the ground and sent the vines hurtling at the beast.
CRACK-CRACK-CRACK.
The vines spattered across the wyvern’s belly, sending it into a rage. It lashed at Jude with its jagged tail, missing only by a few inches, and collided with a tree. Again it lashed, and again, and again. Jude dodged and ducked behind a stump.
“Hey, ugly, how do you like this?” Gregory spun his staff around his body, creating a spiral of fire. He pointed the staff at the wyvern and the fire followed, blasting against its neck.
The wyvern blustered in a wild frenzy, beating its wings, spewing yellow liquid poison everywhere.
The hunter grew angrier by the moment. “No, just get the gryphon! Do as I say, you stupid beast!”
“Get the hunter,” shouted Daniel. “He directs the wyvern!”
Jude nodded, raised the staff above his head, and sent another hail of vines toward the beast. This time, he also sent one slithering across the ground like a snake and up the leg of the creature. The wyvern blocked the aerial vines with its wing, while the other wrapped around the arm of the hunter and yanked him to the ground.
“Do your thing, Daniel!” Jude cried.
“Gladly!” Daniel swayed from side to side with his staff. The water on the ground around him swelled. He thrust the staff to the sky and sent a stream splashing on top of the hunter; with a snap of his fingers the water turned to ice. There the hunter laid, his waist frozen to the ground, shouting furious commands at his monster. Daniel darted to the screaming man’s side, retrieved the scroll from his cloak, and tapped him on the head with it triumphantly.
A shower of splinters pelted Daniel’s head as a tree cracked above him. Without its rider, the wyvern was out of control, flinging its tail about with wild sweeps, smashing and snapping through the trees. Its wicked red eyes locked on Gregory as he stumbled for cover. It bore its razor sharp teeth with a snarl. With a mighty beat of its wings, it leapt into the air and came crashing down on Gregory, pinning him to the ground beneath black claws.
Gregory let out a pained cry, his staff barely out of reach. He tried to lay hold of it, but his fingers grasped nothing but dirt and grass.
The creature raised its head in victory and screeched to the stars. Yellow foam gurgled in its throat as it prepared to end Gregory’s life.
A vine swirled around Gregory’s staff and tossed it within reach. Gregory snatched it, clenched his other fist, and shot a fireball into the wyvern’s face. The poison ignited.
An explosion; a horrid scream; fire dripped from the creature’s jowls, nearly dousing Gregory.
Jude scrambled forward, sending a vine spinning around Gregory. He sent another around the ankle of the beast and the opposite end around the chest of the bounty hunter. Gregory slid across the ground to safety. The wyvern beat its wings and crashed into a tree, dragging its master behind.
“If it’s the last thing I ever do, I’ll kill you all!” snarled the bounty hunter. “You’ll die, just like her rider, I can promise you—”
The beast reeled upward, bursting through the treetops, and was airborne, taking the hunter along with it. Up, up they rose until they looked like a speck in the distance.
The three boys stared at one another, panting.
Daniel rushed over to Shade, who lay petrified with fright. “Shh, shh. It’s okay, you’re safe now.”
Daniel slowly pulled the net off her, expecting her to spring into flight and be gone. She didn’t. Instead, she remained still. Daniel collapsed down beside her.
The other boys fell to the ground in exhaustion, holding their staffs tightly, adrenaline refusing to release their muscles and allow them to relax. There the three of them lay for a long while, the wyvern’s shrieks growing ever-distant.
“You guys came back,” Daniel finally said over his shoulder.
“Wouldn’t want you dead,” said Gregory. “Jude and I heard your gryphon’s cries—we knew something was wrong and—”
“Who was that man?” Jude
interrupted “What did he want with that bird?”
“I don’t know—honestly I don’t,” said Daniel, fearful Jude might not accept his answer. Then he remembered. He reached inside his cloak and held up the scroll. “He was after this.”
“All that fuss over a piece of paper?” said Gregory, grasping his side. “I told you we needed to get out of here. But none of you would listen. Now look what—ouch!”
“What’s wrong?” asked Daniel.
“My rib,” Gregory replied. “I think that thing broke my rib. I can hardly breathe.”
Daniel moved beside him. “Hold still. I’ll see what I can do.”
“We need to get out of here,” Gregory replied. “What if he comes back? I can walk—I—”
He let out another moan.
“Both of them should be dead soon enough,” Jude replied. “They won’t be coming back here. Now let him heal you. Daniel, let me see the scroll.”
“It’s sealed,” Daniel replied. “I’ll hang on to it and see what Mordecai says before opening it. Wouldn’t want to be arrested for opening some lord’s mail.”
Daniel expected Jude to argue, but he didn’t. Instead he gave a curt nod, and sat up against a stump. Jude knew the penalty for breaking a royal seal without permission.
Gregory groaned as Daniel knelt beside him, and for the third time that night, Daniel healed an injury.
Afterward, Daniel pulled water out of their clothes and blankets and created a dry patch of grass for them to lie on. Jude made several small plants grow to enormous proportions to provide them with shelter. They crawled underneath and lay down to sleep, the gryphon between them keeping them warm.
“By the way,” Daniel said before drifting off to sleep, “her name is Shade.”
Chapter 10
Despite Jude’s assertion that the bounty hunter and his wyvern were slain, a feeling of acute paranoia pricked the back of his mind. What if they’re still alive? The thought whirred through his brain like a spinning wheel, over and over. Jude cast furtive glances into the shadowed brush and up amidst the treetops as they walked.