SkyFall (Taken on the Wing Book 2) (58 page)

“
It has been my deep honour to serve all
three.

“
I believe it is time for another to fill
the beautiful gold seat in the room behind me since my continued service as
Your Generous Lady Tempest will only serve as reminder of the blood, both
gryphon and dragonkin, let upon the very stone at our feet. There are those out
there who believe my kin will never have a place among the gryphons and I
expect they will not go quietly.

“
Sire
Lev,
”
Tempest takes his hand. With
her other she draws a small knife. The solid gold handle cradles a clear blade.
Soar saw it last when Tempest claimed her rule of the Council.

In near silence, the gryphon and
dragonkin guests move to the fringes of the chamber. The attending members of
the Council form a circle around Tempest and Lev as they make their way down
the stairs to the center of the Council chamber. Shoulder to shoulder, they
form a solid wall of red robes, feathers and leather to seclude the pair. None
could stand closer to Lev so they show both equality with each other and mutual
support for his appointment.

For nearly a minute only the breath of
Tempest
’
s whisper as she instructs Lev
can be heard. Soar jumps with the sharp drag of the blade across Lev
’
s palm, spilling a small amount of his
blood on the stone floor.

Before the raw splats of the heavy red
drops even start to slow, Lev raises his hand enough that the gathered
witnesses can see and his clear voice fills the room.

“
My
gryphons, my dragonkin
”
he calls, including the
dragonkin as Tempest had.
“
My blood, my love, my service.
”

Soar tugs at Talon
’
s elbow, urging him down to one knee. The
other guests follow suit and almost in unison they raise their hands, wrist up.
Then, with a step back, the Council members do the same. The hushed whisper of
their robes drowns out the last falling drops of Lev
’
s blood.

Finally, Tempest takes Lev
’
s bloody hand and gently folds his
fingers over the wound. She kisses his knuckles and holds tight to his elbow as
she too, makes her way to the floor.

“
My Generous Sire Lev,
”
she yells as her wrists come up. Then
again louder as the rest of the room joins her repeating the words.

“
My Generous Sire Lev!
”

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Agony
- Heir to the rule of Ochre's
Honour.

Arden
- Dame Arden is the mate of
Sire Sher and together they serve the Jasper Eyrie. She is the figurative dame
to all who reside in the eyrie.

Aledaar
- The Generous Sire Aledaar
is the leader of the gryphon Grand Council.

Bolshevik
Island
- Located in Northern Russia, Bolshevik Island is the location of the gryphon
Grand Council.

Cherry
Cooper
- The
human name Cloud adopts.

Cloud
- Is an orphan and the only
gryphon to survive the massacre at the Welch Peak Eyrie fifteen years earlier.

Common gryphon
- A common gryphon is not descended from the first royal
gryphons.

Condor
- Sibling of Shadow and son
of Sire Lev and Dame Treasure.

Conflagration
- Con is the son of Lord Fury
and sibling of Lady Tempest.

Cooper's
- Cooper's bar is located on the street level floor of the same Calgary office tower that houses Daniel Cooper's eyrie.

Council's Will
- The Council's Will are the enforcers of the Grand
Council. They wear red leather armour and answer to Aledaar and the Grand
Council.

Dame
- Gryphon word for mother

Daniel
Cooper
-
Leads the Calgary Eyrie, based in an office tower in downtown Calgary.

Den
- A family living chamber
within an eyrie. Generally a single chamber, it can vary in size and the number
of rooms depending on the number of gryphons in the family.

Dove
- A royal gryphon, daughter
of Firn and sibling of Tundra. Her magic is in healing.

dragon
- Dragons are extremely rare
and have not been seen for many years.

dragonkin
- The mixed breed descendants
of gryphons and dragons. They take their feathered form around the age of
seven, the same as gryphons. In their teens, their sire will force them to
release their dragons usually through threat against the young dragonkin. The
sire must then survive their offspring's dragon until he or she gets it under
control.

Eviscerate
- Lady Eviscerate is the
green dragonkin mate of Daniel Cooper and dame to Flay and Fire.

Eyrie
- The system of stone
chambers and tunnels that is home to a social group of gryphons usually located
within a mountain. The eyrie is ruled by a Sire and Dame.

Feather
- Talon
’
s twin sister.

Fire
- The son of Daniel Cooper
and Lady Eviscerate. He cares for young dragonkin who are kept hidden from
Aledaar.

Firn
- Dame of Dove and Tundra.
She has also become Lev
’
s life companion since both
lost their mates in the rogue raids decades earlier.

Flay
- Lady Flay is the green
dragonkin daughter of Daniel Cooper and Lady Eviscerate. She is mated to
Conflagration.

Fury
- Lord Fury is the Master of
the Council's Will. He is the sire of Conflagration and Lady Tempest.

George
Noble
-
Soar's human name.

Grand Council
- The governing body guiding all of gryphon society.

Grand-Dame
- Grandmother gryphon.

Gryphon
- Gryphons are part eagle and
part lion and rightfully proud since they are kings of both the land and the
sky. The females are communal and prefer the companionship and shelter of an
eyrie. Males are generally loners. They are attuned with the earth and spend
many months of the year listening for her to show them where to find gold which
they store in a secret place known only to them.

Jasper
Eyrie
- The
Jasper Eyrie is located in eastern British Columbia and is ruled by Sire Sher
and Dame Arden.

Jenn
Klein
- Jenn
is Shadow
’
s human persona. She was
raised as human and does not learn she is a gryphon until she is nearly thirty
years old.

Lawrence
- Lawrence is the longtime
friend of Daniel Cooper and the Master of Cooper's Guard.

Lev
- Sire Lev rules the
Vancouver Island Eyrie alone since the death of his mate, Dame Treasure. He is
the sire of Condor and Shadow.

Mark
Williams
- Mark is Talon
’
s human name. As Mark, Talon is a
trucker.

M
oonwater
- Moonwater is used by
gryphons for a number of magic purposes. It can aid in healing and cleansing items.
Females also use it in the Ritual of Blessing.

Ochre's Honour
- The green dragonkin city.

portal
- Dragonkin travel by
portalling. A portal is an electric hole in the sky. Dragonkin create a portal
using the magic of the earth and can travel to any location.

Rabid
- A gossip and troublemaker
known for drugging gryphons for sex or secrets.

Rapid
- Rapid is a young gryphon in
Dame Shadow
’
s guard.

Render
- Lord Render is the green
dragonkin sibling of the leader of Ochre's Honour.

Ritual of Exchange
- The Ritual of Exchange is the gryphon
mating ritual. The male bites the female and if she accepts him, she returns
the bite. Then she offers her tears. If he accepts her then he licks them from
her cheeks.

Ritual of Blessing
- The Ritual of Blessing is a secret
ceremony performed only by females. Since gryphons are masters of the land and
the sky, the females cleanse and bless the deceased
’
s spirit, freeing it to return to the sky
then the body is returned to the earth.

Royal
gryphon
- A
royal gryphon is a direct descendent from the first pair of gryphons. Gryphons
believe they were once pets of the Gods who were cast out because one was
turned into human form by a God and that gryphon did the same to the others.
Royal gryphons are descended from that God and his female.

Seth
- Seth is the gryphon bartender at Cooper's.

Sher
- Sire Sher serves the Jasper
Eyrie as its male ruler.

Shadow
- Shadow is a gryphon who was
raised as Jenn Klein by the human foster parent system.

Sire
- The gryphon word for
father.

Sky
- Master Sky is a legendary
blacksmith and combat trainer. Sky is grand-dame to Soar and her son is mated
to Sire Lev
’
s sibling.

Skyblade
- Any weapon made by Master
Sky. The ceremony includes the blade
’
s
new owner so

the
weapon will only be light, balanced and usable by him or her.

Skyfall
- The gold dragonkin city.

Soar
- Master Soar is Talon
’
s best friend and Sire Lev
’
s guard master.

Swift
- Swift is Talon
’
s ex-girlfriend and friend to Feather.

Shadow
- Shadow is Jenn Klein
’
s gryphon persona.

Talon
- Talon is Mark Williams
’
gryphon persona. His home
eyrie is in Jasper until he meets Shadow.

Tawny
- Tawny is Dame Arden
’
s dame, a royal, who ruled the Jasper
Eyrie until the passing of her mate. For the past fifteen years she raised
Cloud.

Tempest
- The gold dragonkin name
Cloud was born with.

Torch
- A teenage gold dragonkin.
She serves Aledaar as a page or errand runner.

Torrent
- Torrent is the son of Sire Sher and Dame Arden of the Jasper Eyrie. He is in
line for the eyrie
’
s leadership since his sibling
is deceased.

Treasure
- Treasure is Dame Shadow
’
s dame. She died as a result
of her injuries from the rogue raid on the Vancouver Island Eyrie, shortly
after giving birth to Shadow and Condor.

Tundra
- Tundra is the sibling of
Dove and son of Firn.

Terry
Klein
- Terry
is the human name of Jenn/Shadow
’
s brother, Condor.

Vancouver
Island Eyrie
- The Vancouver Island Eyrie is located north of Tofino, British Columbia on
Vancouver Island. It is the ancestral home of Sire Lev. The eyrie was decimated
twice by the same rogues that attacked Welch Peak.

Welch
Peak Eyrie
-
The Welch Peak Eyrie is located on Welch Peak near Chilliwack, British
Columbia. All but a single infant gryphon were massacred by rogue gryphons.