SkyFall (Taken on the Wing Book 2) (32 page)

“
Nobody is nearby,
”
Soar says and goes higher to be sure.
“
Where the hell did he take her?
”

“
Give
me a minute.
”

A minute is all she
’
s going to get. His female is missing, no
scent or sight of her, and it
’
s unlikely for either Flay or
Fury to have messed up their navigation. As the seconds pass, Soar pushes his
gryphon hearing making it as sensitive as possible. There
’
s nothing but the movement of the forest
and the small lives of creatures below, both the night animals seeking safety
or prey in the dark and the others waiting sleepily for daylight.

“
Master Soar,
”
Flay calls.

She
’
s
even higher and several hundred meters away. Her voice carries high above the
crash of heavy, black swells on the rocky tree-lined shore. It softens as she
picks up speed and heads for the open ocean.

“
You will never truly have her,
”
Flay shouts.
“
They won
’
t let you.
”

“
Flay,
”
Soar curses as he turns to follow. No
misguided dragonkin can be blamed for his missing mate. The green dragonkin
helped Fury take her.

“
You know why I don
’
t like you?
”

“
Wait,
”
Soar calls though his
muscles ache for oxygen. Flay is fast and he can
’
t overcome her lead.

“
Because
…
”
her words are taken by
the rupture of the sky and lost to the broken echo of her thunder reflected by
the surface of the Pacific.

“
Flay!
”

There is no hope of catching up. Even if
he had the head start the green dragonkin slices the air with no effort at all
and would already have passed him.

For a moment he loses sight of her
against the black hole that is her portal then it snaps shut, grounding into
the salt of the ocean. When the sound passes the only evidence of her portal is
a glowing green disk of phosphorescence, little creatures glowing with anger in
the wind tossed ocean.

God damn it.

Fury didn
’
t buy Cloud
’
s tale and took her to the council so
Soar can
’
t interfere. Soar has only
been to the Council once in the years he
’
s
served Lev. It
’
s a long haul with little game
or warmth and he has little choice but to make the trip. If what Flay said is
true then Lord Fury isn
’
t going to make life with Cloud
easy.

As the violence of the portal passes, the
intense and bitter cold touches Cloud everywhere Fury
’
s arms don
’
t.

“
Where are we?
”

The aurora borealis lights the sky and
twisting ribbons of green and gold compete with the vast night blackened star
field above. Snow and ice below reflect the colour of the northern lights
instead of the blue-white of the moon.

This isn
’
t the humid summertime warmth of Vancouver Island.

“
Will you fly?
”

“
Where are we?
”
Cloud demands then Fury drops her.
“
Hey!
”

“
Lady
Tempest,
”
Fury says.
“
I
understand it is traditional for a gryphon sire to force his child to take wing
for the first time so I
’
m surprised you protest.
”

She has no choice but to fill her
dragonkin wings with the icy Arctic air.

Fury flies on toward a glacier smoothed
mountain. Several pairs of winged gryphons or dragonkin circle one end. There
is no hint of dawn or sunset in any direction and even if there were she wouldn
’
t know which it is until her internal
compass figures which way is which.

“
Is this a dragonkin place?
”

“
My
Lady Tempest,
”
Fury explains.
“
This place is what the humans call Bolshevik Island.
”

“
You said we were going to Vancouver Island,
”
Cloud calls out. Bolshevik Island, the home of the Grand Council, is far north of continental Russia and as cold and remote as a gryphon can get.

Flay and Soar aren
’
t with them and nothing else of note is
near except for Fury and the Council
’
s
mountain. Fury
’
s sibling, the healer, had
been right. Cloud will go before Aledaar to face something far worse than
turning into a dragon to kill her sire.

“
I only said you would not go before the
Council regarding Cooper, nothing more. Come, Tempest. Lady Flay has arrived
with Master Soar only an hour flight from here. By the time they arrive we will
have finished our business and can take you home.
”

Liar.

 If Fury really meant for their business
to be brief then he should have said something before they left Skyfall. Now
she
’
s alone, pregnant, and knotted
with more homesickness than at any other moment since she moved to Memphis. The healer
’
s exact words to Cloud are
forgotten under the weight of her resolve to get through Aledaar
’
s trial and escape. Her powerful
dragonkin sire must bear a deep humiliation, his pride long spent after taking
Con to Aledaar for the pain that will be Cloud
’
s.

Soar hid his disappointment at their
failed mating well, showing only tenderness and relief that she came through
her injuries and the bee poisoning but he deserves the truth. There has been
too much deception from both of them and now she
’
s the one who will need forgiveness.

She also hasn
’
t had time to get to know her brother,
Conflagration, or his female, Flay. Both seem held back on the opposite side of
a gap in
something
Cloud doesn
’
t understand
,
Lady Flay in particular. She is older
than Cloud and Con but still under the age of sixty and compared to the long
lives of gryphons, and presumably dragonkin, is very young indeed.

“
Our benefactor, My Generous Sire Aledaar,
holds in trust a rare relic of the gold dragons. Once a dragonkin has called
her dragon for the first time she is honoured by Aledaar and allowed to wear
the relic as a symbol of her acceptance into adulthood.
”

“
Fury, I want Soar to be here with me,
”
Cloud tries and gives up on gliding after
him. With a few strong beats of her wings she has to open them wide to brake
before flying past him.

“
Wow.
”

“
Yes,
”
he laughs.
“
My
daughter has found her true wings. Only an hour, Tempest, then you both will
have some time to understand where you have come from and what is ahead.

“
Many years ago our kind was despised by
the gryphons. They called us half breeds and worse things and we were hunted
and killed. Aledaar is our champion and has given us safety. He
’
s restored our honour in exchange for our
loyalty.
”

A pair of red leathered members of the
Will circle and greet Fury before returning to their rounds. Even in gryphon
form their eyes glow like his and hers though she hasn
’
t seen them herself to know for certain.

Most activity around the Council
’
s mountain takes place at one end and
Fury leads her to the other.

“
We have direct access to Aledaar here,
”
Fury explains as they alight on a broad
ledge. Instead of a door, a tunnel leads in at a steep angle to the right so
close to the stone side of the mountain the wall must be paper thin in places.
From anywhere but the opening it would be invisible.

Cloud looks back the way they came and
the sky is empty. Even her shifted dragonkin eyes are unable to spot Soar and
Flay against the green lights on the horizon.

“
It will be dawn soon, Tempest,
”
Fury whispers and takes her elbow. The
only thing that keeps her from pulling away is a numbing acceptance that she
has no choice. Without a map to plan her flight and no knowledge of how to
portal she could be lost for days without food - if she can outrun Fury.

No, this is her chance to be free not
only for herself but also for her children she hasn
’
t had time to think about and for
everyone else she loves.

“
Sire,
”
she murmurs.
“
I am more than proud to stand at your
side and take my place as a dragonkin.
”

Fury
’
s rough beard tickles her nose as he
places a scratchy kiss above her eyes.

“
You are nervous.
”

“
I
’
ve been a dragonkin a whole day,
”
Cloud allows. She can
’
t even identify with her new name. Fury
is a stranger, unwelcome in his touch or his tone.
“
Yesterday I was a gryphon.
”

“
A dying gryphon,
”
he tugs her through the tunnel.
“
A dying gryphon who would be a corpse now
if I hadn
’
t arrived when I did. Your
male has a long way to go to earn any respect from me.
”

“
But
—”

“
You will be silent. You will kneel before
Aledaar and take your place as my daughter.
”

Dark stone walls hurl past and Cloud
doesn
’
t say more. Ahead, there are
raised voices, all male. Could the healer have lied to get her to go along
without a fight? Her second thoughts are stripped away as Fury drags her
forward into a small, well lit chamber. The walls are perfectly flat although
they are porous giving away their composition of cold rock. Too many silver
lights give the illusion of daylight inside.

The backless gold chair before her holds
an old gryphon male. Low arm rests leave room for his large dark brown wings.
Long white hair flows down his back.

Cloud blinks away the sudden brightness
and submits to Fury
’
s hand on her shoulder.

“
My Generous Sire Aledaar,
”
Fury
intones as if uttering the name of the most powerful gryphon on the planet is
its own reward.

“
Ah,
Lord Fury,
”
Aledaar rises. His long red
robes drape round his feet as he turns, their colour only broken up by a heavy
gold chain around his neck. Dangling at its lowest point is a section of a
dragon jaw bone the length of Cloud
’
s
forearm. Several large molars are firmly embedded in the bone itself and the
entire piece glows with a fierceness much brighter than the eyes of the
dragonkin in the room.