Ariella and the Blood Curse

by Owen Crane

  Intricate wooden fascias ordained the buildings and brightly coloured pennants

  fluttered in the gentle breeze.

  Indio slowed to halt outside one of the grander looking shops. Valdacor"s

  Amazing Bazaar still had the shutters closed and no lights could be seen

  flickering inside. The scrawl they had seen the other day had faded slightly, as if

  someone had been scrubbing it, but was still visible. „GET OUT KHAN SCUM".

  Jaron stood by his friend and gripped his shoulder. “Come on Indio, let"s go

  get us a griffin.”

  The walls of the Keep loomed high above them, the bright pennants of

  Trevena adding splashes of colour to the grey stone. The massive gates were

  closed and in front of them stood a group of stern faced royal guards.

  “Any ideas?” asked Ariella, “I don"t suppose they"re going to let us wander

  in there and help ourselves to a griffin.”

  “They don"t look the friendly sort do they?” said Jaron, eyeing up the

  guards.

  “Could you go „all princess" on them?” asked Indio.

  Ariella"s eyes narrowed. “Go „all Princess" on them, and what exactly do you

  mean by that?”

  “You know, like a Princess,” smiled Indio. “Fancy pants, diva moments,

  loud tantrums, hand waving, ‘do you not know who I am?’ type of thing. Like a

  princess.”

  Ariella"s voice was icy, “And that"s what you think princesses do?”

  “Of course,” Indio replied, “You know what I mean, don"t you Jaron?”

  Jaron stepped back watching Ariella"s mouth twitch in anger, “Leave me out

  of the this.”

  “What"s up with you?” asked Indio, noticing Ariella"s look.

  Before she got a chance to answer, a gruff voice interrupted them.

  “What are you lot doing?” It was one of the Royal Guards. “We don"t allow

  loitering around the Royal Keep. Be on your way.”

  “I don"t think so mate,” said Indio squaring up to the guard.

  The man bristled and laid his hand on the hilt of his sword. “Mate? Mate?

  You think I"m your mate?”

  Indio sensed danger and back peddled, pointing at Ariella “She"s a

  Princess!” he blurted out.

  The guard turned his attention to Ariella who was giving Indio the filthiest

  of looks and clenching her fists.

  Things were about to unravel when Jaron stepped in front of the guard. “I

  do apologise on behalf of my exuberant friends. I assure you, they mean no

  harm or offence.”

  The Guard raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

  “They saw the griffins flying over head and were desperate to get another

  look. We assumed they would be stabled here, at the Keep.”

  The Guard snorted, “Here? In the Royal Keep? Stabled with the finest horses

  in Trevena? I don"t think so. The griffins are filthy animals. Vile beasts.” The

  guard spat on the ground in disgust and Indio"s face darkened, his jaw

  clenching.

  “If you don"t mind me asking sir,” Jaron continued, “where are they being

  kept?”

  “Outside the city, in one of the fields that"s been harvested. We don"t want

  their Khan stench drifting in here.”

  “Of course not,” smiled Jaron. “Thank you for your time.”

  Before anyone could say anything else he grabbed Ariella and Indio by the

  arm and led them away from the guard.

  Indio was furious. “Vile beasts! He called them filthy! Compared with

  horses, griffins are the cleanest animals on Dawnhaven. Horses crap in their

  own stables; you wouldn"t catch a griffin doing that. What a jerk. I need to get

  Magatha to teach me how he set my hair on fire; I"d like to use that on him.

  Idiot.”

  Ariella ignored him. “Great work Jaron, let"s go see if we can find Thrace.”

  The three retraced their footsteps back through the city, this time toward the

  main gates and the farms beyond. The streets had started to thin as shops were

  closing and people began to think about dinner.

  The city gates were still open and the three friends passed through easily out

  into the roads beyond.

  “Any ideas?” Indio asked scanning the countryside “I can"t see any signs of

  them.”

  Before anyone could answer him, the sound of raised voices drew their

  attention. Off to the side of the road two men were haggling over the price of a

  horse. The man holding the horse"s bridle was a short, squat man, with a heavy

  belly, thick beard and filthy mouth. Every third word was a curse and he was

  getting louder as the haggling continued. The man buying the horse was hooded

  and spoke so softly they couldn’t make out what he was saying.

  “Wait a minute,” said Jaron, walking towards the arguing men.

  “What is it?” Asked Ariella, following him, but Jaron didn"t answer. He kept

  moving towards the men, who were so pre-occupied in their bargaining that

  they didn"t notice him approach.

  He was almost on top of them when he stopped. “Hello Eleazar. Going

  somewhere?”

  The hooded figure"s head dropped and shoulders slumped. The horse seller

  started swearing at Jaron for interrupting them but Jaron blanked him.

  “Ele, what"s happening?” Jaron asked, his voice soft and kind.

  Eleazar turned. His eyes had dark shadows under them, his face was drawn.

  “Heck, Ele, you look rough,” blurted Indio.

  “Indio!” glared Ariella punching his arm.

  “It"s okay,” said Eleazar, cracking a smile. “I"m sure he"s right. I"ve…I"ve not

  been sleeping great recently.”

  “No kidding,” said Indio, rubbing his arm where Ariella had punched him.

  “I"d have trouble sleeping when darkness chucking, butterfly dart throwing nut

  jobs are creeping in to my room trying to turn me into a pincushion.”

  “It"s your room too, genius,” shot Ariella. “Maybe they were after you.”

  Indio shut up as he mulled over that possibility.

  “You were leaving,” said Jaron. It wasn"t a question.

  Eleazar nodded.

  “Why?” asked Ariella, trying to keep the shock out of her voice but failing.

  Eleazar"s voice dropped. “I thought it was best.”

  “You"d rather die alone?” Jaron asked, perhaps a little too bluntly.

  Eleazar"s eyes went wide as he studied Jaron"s face but he didn"t reply.

  “Whoever is after you isn"t after us.” Jaron continued. “They"ve had

  chances to kill us but never taken them. It"s just you they"re after, isn"t it?”

  “Yes,” he whispered.

  “Okay then. That settles it,” said Ariella.

  “Settles what?” suspicion creeping into Eleazar"s voice.

  “You"re coming with us.” smiled Jaron.

  Indio coughed “He is?”

  “Yep,” said Ariella. “He"s one of us. A Guardian. You"re our Knot. You

  don"t get to die alone.”

  Indio sighed, “We"re going to need another griffin.”

  “Really?” Jaron asked.

  “Of course. Thrace is impressive but four of us would be too much for him

  to fly for any long distance. We"ll need another one. That means one of you will

  have to fly them.”

  “I will!” said Ariella, trying to keep the broad grin off her face. “I will.

  Definitely. Me. I"ll do it.”

  “Fine with me.” said Jaron.

 
Eleazar raised his hand in the air. “Excuse me, mildly crazy people. What

  exactly are you lot talking about? Where exactly are you off to, who’s got a

  griffin and does Karlov know about it?”

  “Karlov?” Indio asked innocently “I really like Karlov, great guy.”

  “And?” pressed Eleazar

  “And what?”

  “Does he know, Indio? Does he know you three are out of the city gates and

  planning a trip on someone"s griffin?”

  “Well. How can I put this? Er…no… no, he doesn"t. Not a clue. Totally

  oblivious. We kind of think that"s the best way to keep it. Ignorance is bliss and

  all that.”

  “What about you?” Asked Ariella. “Does Karlov know about you buying

  horses and riding off to who knows where?”

  “As you mention ‘orses,” said the short, swearing man, finding his voice.

  “Me and this freakin’ haired gentleman were spitting on palms over this ‘ere

  ‘orse. So, ever so kindly, sod off so I can get a deal done.”

  “Freakin’ haired,” laughed Indio, “I like that, good description.”

  Jaron ignored him and addressed the horse seller. “Sorry, deal"s off. We"re

  after a griffin. Don’t happened to have one of those anywhere do you?”

  Swearing erupted from the little fellow as he jabbed a finger angrily at Jaron

  and pointed to a distant farm off to the south of the city.

  “I think he means the griffins are over on that farm,” whispered Ariella,

  backing off from the angry horse seller.

  They retreated with a whole host of cursing raining down around them.

  “Every day’s a school day,” said Indio, “I’ve learnt a whole bunch of new swear words from our angry friend. I can’t wait to see Eugenie again so I can try

  them out.”

  The four set off towards the farm that the horse seller had pointed to,

  perhaps a mile outside the city.

  After a few minutes of walking Eleazar spoke up “Now would be a good

  time.”

  “For what?” Asked Indio “Dinner? Good point but we didn’t bring any food with us. That was a little short sighted. Jaron, you"re smart, did you bring any

  food?”

  “That’s not what I meant.”

  “We’re going north,” said Ariella.

  “How far north?”

  “To Khan,” she replied.

  “You’re going where?”

  “Not ‘you’,” smiled Jaron “‘We, it’s a ‘we’ now. You’re coming with us.”

  “Khan was not exactly what I had in mind.” Said Eleazar.

  “And where did you have in mind?” Ariella asked, watching him closely,

  “back to Lightharbour?”

  Eleazar dropped his gaze.

  “No, I didn’t think so,” she continued. “You didn’t have anywhere to go, you just wanted to run. Well now you can run with us.”

  “Fly” interrupted Indio “fly with us. Running gets so boring after a while.

  Flying on griffins is way more fun.”

  “You three are crazy,” muttered Eleazar. “What are we going to Khan for?”

  “To shut up that vicious witch and her psycho father,” snarled Indio.

  Eleazar"s eyes widened.

  “He means Eugenie,” explained Jaron. “She and Indio have a personality

  clash.”

  Indio spluttered, “personality clash! She"s a harpy, a rabid troll.”

  “How is all of us flying off to Khan going to sort that out?”

  “It"s a long story,” Ariella began as she filled Eleazar in on what they had

  seen and heard.

  “You really think we"re going to find anything?” he asked once Ariella had

  finished her story. “Lord Vantor has had all the Guardians in Trevena out

  searching for the source of the curse. What makes you think we stand a chance?”

  “We have to help. We have to do something. We can"t just sit around and

  allow Trevena to starve, Khan to get blamed and the Guardians discredited.

  Eugenie"s father has to be stopped. I"m not sitting around Stonegard on my arse

  when everything I"ve dreamed of gets turned to garbage.” She felt her voice rise

  with the anger stirring in her.

  “Okay, okay,” said Eleazar raising his hands in apology. “I was just asking.

  What"s the plan?”

  “Simple,” said Ariella nonchalantly. “We steal a couple…”

  “Borrow.” interrupted Indio. “We"re not stealing, we"re borrowing.”

  “Without permission?” asked Eleazar.

  “Details,” answered Indio “Everyone always seems so fixated with details.”

  “You finished?” Ariella asked, folding her arms

  Indio nodded.

  “Excellent,” she continued. “We „borrow" a couple of griffins, fly to the

  border of Khan where the Willowbank flows from the mountains. Malum and

  the others think the river is the most likely carrier of the Blood Curse. We should

  be there before daybreak.”

  “Then we just have to find the cause, cure it, exonerate Khan and shut up

  Baron Rexsalve. Simple.” added Indio.

  Eleazar and Jaron exchanged glances and shook their heads.

  “What?” asked Indio “What? It"ll be simple, trust me.”

  “Sure, Indio. What could possibly go wrong?” sighed Jaron.

  “I don"t suppose you three have thought about weapons have you?” Eleazar

  asked. “We seem to have a knack for finding trouble.”

  “That"s a good point,” conceded Ariella “I hadn"t thought of that.”

  “Obviously you guys have never flown with the Griffin Calvary before.”

  smiled Indio. “Weapons won"t be a problem. Griffins are not pets, they’re flying

  balls of fury, trained for combat and ridden by the finest warriors in Khan. Each

  of the griffins will have their own weapon holsters bursting with all the best

  shiny, beautiful axes, bows and spears that our weapon smiths can make. They

  are truly are remarkable creatures.”

  Indio was brimming with pride.

  “Okay then,” said Eleazar, “I guess that it"s then. Let"s go pinch a griffin.”

  “Borrow,” said Indio with a pained expression on his face.

  “Of course,” he replied, “my mistake. Borrow a griffin.”

  “I"m guessing they"ll be guarded?” Ariella asked.

  “Certainly. But only nine flew in. Some of the riders will have gone with the

  Queen, my uncle certainly. I reckon there will only be two or three left behind.

  Griffins don"t need guarding like horses. If a griffin decides it doesn"t want to go

  with you it"ll just tear your head off.”

  “As far as theft deterrents go, I bet that"s pretty effective.” smiled Eleazar

  “So we need to get past a couple of guards and get to Thrace and the other

  griffins without anyone noticing?” said Jaron, mulling over their options.

  “Let"s go check out where they"re staying and we can assess our options

  then,” said Ariella, and she led them on towards the distant farm.

  The evening sun was obscured by thick clouds allowing the four companions

  to pass unseen through the tall wheat fields. The occasional cry from a griffin

  helped them navigate and they easily found the field where they were tethered.

  Even in the low light the nine beasts look majestic. Their orange eagle eyes

  seemed to glow, taking in all that was going on around them. There were three

  tents pitched next to the griffins, striped blue and white in the colours of Khan.

  A small fire had been li
t and they could make out two figures roasting something

  over a spit.

  When they were about a hundred yards from the field Ariella called them to

  a halt, crouching low to the ground.

  “Okay Indio, this is your territory, what do you think?" she whispered.

  “Two guards, that"ll be simple. One of the tents will be for sleeping, one for

  food and the final one will probably be for an baggage including the weapons.”

  Jaron kept his voice low, “what exactly do you mean, two guards, that"ll be

  simple?”

  “I mean, in a moment I"m going to stand up and stroll over to the two

  guards. They"ll almost certainly recognise me. I"m then going to introduce you

  and tell them that I"ve bought my dear friends to meet Thrace. We"ll stand

  around for a while admiring the magnificent beast and they"ll get bored and go

  back to their dinner. Once they do that, we"ll hop on and fly off to Khan.

  Simple.”

  The other three sat for a moment stunned by the plan.

  “Are you serious?” Eleazar asked, his eyes wide

  “That"s the plan?” Jaron chipped in.

  “Actually,” Ariella said, “I think it"s pretty brilliant. The alternative is we

  have to sneak around the guards. If we try that and the griffins hear us…”

  “Which they will,” interjected Indio.

  “Then the guards will come running,” she continued. “Then we"ll have to

  explain what we"re doing sneaking around. They"ll never let us near Thrace so

  we"ll have to knock them out and I"d rather not resort to that.”

  “Hell no,” said Indio.

  Eleazar looked at Jaron who shrugged, “If Ariella"s up for it then I"m in.”

  “Excellent,” said Indio jumping to his feet and making his way through the

  field followed by the others.

  “I can"t believe we"re doing this,” sighed Eleazar, “I must be out of my

  mind.”

  As they got nearer to the griffins and the guards Indio started waving.

  Really Ari, this is the best idea you could come up with? If you get caught Karlov is going to erupt, not to mention dear Auntie Abalyne. I don’t think she’s going to be thrilled about you ‘borrowing’ her griffins.

  “Good evening!” called Indio, “Welcome to Trevena, not like the mountains

  back home is it?”

  Oh heck, no going back now

  The two guards jumped to their feet and each grabbed a tall spear that

  glinted menacingly in the firelight.

  “Halt, who"s there?”