The Conduit (Gryphon Series) (11 page)

“How far did you push it?” Kendall asked.

Gabe hesitated. “All the way down field, from end zone to end zone.”

I called him on his loaded pause. “And..?”

“And more and more guys kept jumping on.”

“Exactly how many were on it, Gabe?”

He tried to sound sheepish, but couldn’t conceal his beaming, macho pride. “The entire team.”

“
The entire team
!” Kendall and I chorused.

“Yep.”

“Were they freaked out by it?” Kendall asked, ever the compassionate one.

“No
,” he snickered. “But I don’t have to tell them things twice during practice anymore.”

“Maybe we all play it a litt
le bit more low key from now on,” I suggested.

“Easy for you to say. You’re used to living in the shadows.” Gabe’s statement was rude, but he had a point.

“Even so.”

He shrugged off my words and turned to Kendall with a wry smile. “I have a question, Keni.”

She eyed him warily. “What?”

“Keith was your first kiss. That right?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“You kissed a guy and then floated? Geez, can you imagine what would happen if you let him get a little boobage?” His eyes widened in mock alarm. “Lasers might shoot out of your eyeballs. You could completely eviscerate the guy.”

Gabe let out a loud guffaw while Kendall spun on me. “Could that actually happen, Cee? Did your little birdie friend say anything about laser vision?”

I whipped a pine cone at my brother’s head. “I didn’t really talk to her as much as run screaming from her. But, no, she didn’t mention laser vision. Ignore him.”

Keni latched on to the sleeve of my sweatshirt. “With all the other strange stuff going on, it could happen! You can’t say for one hundred percent sure that it won’t!”

“No. You’re right. I can’t.” I peeled her grip off my sleeve and patted her hand. “For the time being you should probably stick strictly to hand holding.”

“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea.” She enthusiastically agreed.

I was internally patting myself on the back for simultaneously calming
my sister down and talking her out of any ill-timed kanoodling when a light appeared from within the mass of trees in front of us. I sprang to my feet, my heart rate in overdrive.

“She’s here.”

Gabe and Kendall rose, and the three of us walked to the edge of the clearing. The illumination drew closer. We instinctively backed up. The vegetation in front of us parted and out she stepped. Six wide, unblinking eyes gaped at her. Her form had changed from the last time I saw her. She looked…angelic. Glowing ivory wings fanned out behind her. Her ankle length gown was comprised of golden feathers. Dainty white feet poked out from under it as she stepped onto the grass. The feathers on her head had been replaced by waist length, auburn waves that cascaded down her back. Her skin and features were that of porcelain doll, yet the irises of her eyes were still the yellow of the eagle.

“You’re beautiful.” Gabe marveled and blushed bright red.

“Thank you.” Her voice and grammar were practiced perfection. She extended one arm, sleeved to the wrist with flaxen feathers, to hand me my satchel that I had dropped at our first “encounter.”

“I believe this belongs to you. Your drawing is quite good. I hope you are not bothered that I looked at it.”

“No, it’s cool,” I squeaked. My hand shook as I accepted my satchel. “What…or, uh…who are you?”

“My name is Alaina. I am here to guide you.”

“You know what’s happening to us?” Gabe asked.

Alaina lowered her head in a regal nod. “I have the answers you seek. It is my job to prepare you for what is to come.”

“And what is that?”

A dark shadow seeped into Alaina’s avian eyes and creased her otherw
ise unblemished forehead. “War…against an evil man and the army he has created.”

Gabe gave a flippant snort. “Lady, I hope you’re packing an Uzi under those wings if you think we stand a chance against an entire army.”

The smile she graced him with caused my big brother to omit an audible sigh. “When the time comes, you will have all you need to fight and to win.”

I was cold, tired, confused, scared, overwhelmed, and I kind of had to pee. My patience was wearing thin. I crammed my hands into
my pockets  and tried to keep the snarkiness out of my voice as I asked, “How about a little less cryptic and a little more information?”

Those golden eyes locked on me. “You are absolutely right. Too much time has been wasted. It is time for each of you to embrace your destiny.”

CHAPTER 13

“To know what is to come, you must first know what has been.”

Alaina pulled a small, black velvet drawstring sack out from within the folds of her feathered gown. Gabe, Kendall, and I were seated around the campfire while she stood. “That story takes us to the green, sprawling hills of Ireland in the 17th century—the bloodiest time in the history of Ireland. Civil wars tore the country apart and ended lives. An evil ex-soldier by the name of Barnabus chose to take advantage of the chaotic carnage by assembling his own army to challenge the governing power, the English Commonwealth. He was able to recruit roughly two dozen men, yet that was nowhere near enough to accomplish their goal.”

She poured what looked like silver sand onto her palm and sprinkled it into the campfire in small
, circular motions. The flames rose up in response, licking high up into the night sky. “They targeted small, insignificant villages, stormed tiny settlements, and demanded that the males of all ages join their army. When any man refused, he was forced to watch as his family was brutally killed. If men dared band together in refusal, their entire village was torched and the remaining residents slaughtered. Whispers of these massacres reached my own village.” At the mention of her village, the silhouette of it appeared within the red and orange flames. Gabe, Kendall, and I leaned in and stared in astonishment at the small, plank-board-sided homes that could clearly be seen against the backdrop of the fire. “At word of the potential threat, our men made makeshift stands on the four corners of our town and kept watch at all hours. What happened next you need to see for yourself.”

A loud trump blast came from the scene within the flames. Men, women
, and children, all clad in sleepwear, scrambled out of the tiny homes.

“Cool! It’s like a little movie
,” Kendall chirped.

I elbowed her in the ribs. “Shhh. Is th
at you?” I pointed to an auburn-haired girl of about fourteen that had stepped out from the most modest of the homes.

“It is
,” Alaina said sadly. The Alaina from the fire movie held a beautiful, cherub-faced boy of no more than six in her arms. A raven-haired woman stepped up behind her and hurried them both out of the house. “That is my brother and my mother.”

Before I could ask what happened to them, a fully dressed man with a sheathed sword slung beneath his big ole Santa belly began to hush the townsfolk. He had a mass of curly
, auburn hair that blended right into his bushy beard.

When the people quieted, he spoke in a thick Irish brogue. “There are roughly two hundred soldiers on horseback headed straight for us. They’re armed with broad swords, axes, and arrows. The few weapons we have will be no match against their armor.”

An old, grey-haired woman with a long braid down her back and a face that could scare children squeezed her way through the crowd. “What do we do? Can we run?”

“We’ll ne’er get out of the gorge in time
,” the man beside her answered, shaking his head. “They have us cornered.”

“Adara! Cadence!”
The curly-haired man boomed. “Hitch four horses up to the wagon in my barn. Now! Move!”

Two young women in long, flowing nightgowns darted off. The man then walked over to young Alaina, squeezed her shoulder
, and stroked the cheek of her brother.

Alaina answered the unspoken question. “My father.”

His strong voice quaked as he laid out his plan. “We will load the children into the wagon and hold off the army so they can escape.”

With somber resolve the villagers hitched up the horses and began their tearful goodbyes. Heartbroken parents loaded their sobbing and confused children into the wagon, unsure if they would ever see them again. The last child to be loaded was Alaina’s own brother.

Tears streamed down his pink cheeks as he called out for his mama. His small hands clung to her clothing. Alaina had to pry his hands free and then held her mother tightly to prevent her from scooping him out of the wagon. Her mother collapsed on the ground wailing as the wagon pulled away.

A lone tear streaked down our Alaina’s face. “That was the last time I saw my brother. Or any of the children for that matter.”

“This is so awful!” Keni hiccupped and wiped her nose on her sleeve. “It’s worse than watching
Titanic
!”

The village men grabbed their swords and positioned themselves at the edge of town as t
he echo of thundering hoofbeats drew near. The women clung to each other trembling and openly praying. Together they prayed for their loved ones to be spared. For the children to reach safety. For mercy. For…a miracle.

A flurry of chaotic activity erupted within the village. Fabric ripped. Women shrieked. A burst of feathers. Men crumbling to the ground. The roar of a lion, followed by another, and another.

“Uh…what the heck just happened?” Gabe asked.

“Just watch.” Alaina
’s eyes were intently fixed on the scene.

The incoming horde of soldiers trembled in their metal boots when they saw what awaited them within the village—a pride of lions and a flock of winged women. In spite of their fear, the soldiers attacked.
Arrows sliced through the air. One hit an ivory wing and bounced right off.

“That’s the moment we figured out our feathers were impenetrable
,” Alaina commented. “We became the lions’ shields.”

Lions sprang at the soldiers, their monstrous paws knocking them from their horses. An elaborately armored soldier shouted to burn the village. He had to be Barnabus. Torches were cast onto the rooftops, setting the homes ablaze. Busy battling the army, the villagers could do nothing to prevent it. The younger Alaina snatched a soldier right off his horse, flew him high off the ground, and dropped him.

I looked up at Alaina. “Nice move.”

She lived through the battle, but still couldn’t tear her eyes off of it. “He did not die. At least not that day or by my hands.”

Even with their new gifts, the villagers were losing ground. Dozens of soldiers would team up against one lion. They closed in on them in tight circles and blocked any protection the feathered women could offer. I squeezed my eyes shut as one of the mighty cats howled in pain, then crumpled to the ground in a bloody heap.

A deafening screech pierced through the night. My eyes snapped open. After a brief moment of panic
, I realized the sound came from within the flames. Soldiers and villagers alike froze as a menacing-looking creature flew over the burning town and landed in the heart of the battle. His enormous wings arced up behind him as he glared down his beak at the soldiers. That pull I felt when I touched the statue in the garage returned with a vengeance. I leaned closer to the flames. I wanted to know every nuance and color change of his feathers, the consistency of his fur, the shade of his eyes, whether his scent was feline or avian, everything. However, unless I wanted to stick my head directly into the fire, these precise details would elude me.

Beside me, Keni crinkled her nose. “What the heck is that thing?”

Alaina opened her mouth to answer, but I beat her to it. “That’s the Gryphon. The Protector of the Divine.”

“He’s a badass.” I had to agree with Gabe as the Gryphon tossed soldiers around like ragdolls.

He towered over the soldiers’ horses. As he stalked toward them the spooked equine reared up and bolted, whether their riders stayed on or not. With his help the villagers finally began to overpower the army. Some of the once indentured soldiers took advantage of a weaker Barnabus and turned on their captors with unexpected vigor.