WingSpan (Taken on the Wing Book 1) (35 page)

“We lost three, including Rapid, Master Talon. The females are in the mountains, presumably near you. I’ll bring those who remain to intercept your path and order the females to join when they are able. Keep me apprised of your progress.”

“Acknowledged,” he answers as Lev disconnects.

Shadow is smart and much tougher than her size suggests and Talon is certain she plans on staying alive. He doesn’t have to walk far to find a clearing sufficient for take off and after a small, stiff legged run he’s airborne. The scent of his lost skyblade guides him deeper into the valley.

Feather excused herself to get more food and water for Shadow then again to empty the chamber pot. She was despondent and weary since her induced good mood faded and Shadow tried to be as small a burden as possible. A stitch developed under her sore ribs so she did her best to find a comfortable position until Torrent took Feather away.

But sleep is hard to come by. She’s unaware how much time has passed since she was separated from Talon. Without Feather to comfort, the minutes fill with worry instead of rest.

The unattended fire burns down until the distant sound of raised voices makes its way to her small den. One voice is female and the male voice is even louder. The female falls silent but not before Shadow is certain the female is Cloud.

Cloud is unceremoniously dropped at the opening then screeches at the two males before crawling on all fours into Shadow’s arms. She’s ice cold; her mismatched armour frozen stiff over her body.

When Shadow can finally get a good look at Cloud, she’s alarmed by her condition. One ear is entirely frozen grayish white, the other only around the edges. Frostbite has also marked Cloud’s nose and hands.

“Gryphons?” Shadow asks the males. She’d prefer to stand but if humble kneeling gets Cloud help she’ll do it as long as needed. “Please bring moonwater, bandages, clothes and food.”

One of them snorts indifferently and the other strides into the room swinging a heavy chain. He grabs Cloud by the elbow and pulls her a few feet away before chaining her to the wall. Cloud’s knees knock and she falls into Shadow’s arms.

“Please,” Shadow tries again, placing a hand on the jailer’s arm.

The big gryphon’s eyes drop to her touch; to the pink skin of her hand and he offers a curt nod before barging out and leaving his companion at the door.

“I d… d…” Cloud stutters, shaking uncontrollably.

“Didn’t come with me,” Shadow finishes and Cloud nods though it’s hard to tell if she has any control over the movement. “I don’t know what I looked like when I got here but your ears look bad.”

The tip of Cloud’s nose is white but her fingers seem flexible in spite of their deep redness. The ties on her armour are too frozen to untie so Shadow makes sure the guard is turned away. She slips the knife from under the mat and cuts all the ties she can before concealing it.

By the time Shadow has undressed her, the male has returned; his arms full of the items she’d requested. She shields Cloud from his eyes with her wings as he puts them nearby.

“What’s your name, gryphon?”

“Tundra,” he says then hesitates, unsure if he should leave.

“My name is Shadow. This is Cloud. Thank you, Tundra.”

Tundra tilts his head to the den opening as if to say he’ll be outside if they need anything. He takes station in the tunnel.

Cloud’s arms are a mottled dark pink in contrast to the bare whiteness of the skin her armour covered and Shadow dresses her before duplicating the makeshift dressings Feather used.

“Shadow—”

“I didn’t notice if you had a helmet or not,” Shadow interrupts her with a spoonful of broth. There’s no argument from Cloud about being fed. Shadow’s long tail comes around and holds Cloud’s shorter brown one, easing the twitching the cold brought on.

“I had one,” Cloud says. “But…

“Yes?”

Cloud gags and keeps the broth down before she continues.

“I saw the fighting in the sky and stayed low and went around after you and Master Talon,” she lowers her eyes. “I saw Talon chasing after you and six of them attacked him. They dislocated his wing and he fell a long way.

“Something caught my eye as I flew after you and when I doubled back it was him.”

“Cloud…” Shadow whispers as she goes numb. Cloud stills Shadow’s shaking hands with her own bandaged ones as broth drips everywhere.

“He passed, Shadow.”

Shadow hears sobbing and reaches for some cloth for Cloud’s eyes before she realizes it’s her own crying. Cloud’s wet bandages touch Shadow’s bruises as the bond between the two grows. Dame and daughter: alone and together.

“I poured moonwater over him to protect his spirit. Then I tied my helmet to the top of the tree above as a marker and came here.”

They stare at each other until Shadow’s tears dry. As honest as Cloud is, she still hopes it isn’t true.

“I know why they’re keeping us here, Cloud,” she mouths.

Shadow and Cloud are survivors of two eyries Torrent and his friends tried to destroy so the terms Torrent gave for their lives don’t make much sense. If he really wanted Shadow’s eyrie dead why keep her alive at all? Or is there far more going on than he said. He only told her enough to make sure she’d comply. Not that she has much choice when chained to the wall. That he cares for Feather is the only thing Shadow understands.

“We’re bait to bring the rest of the guard.”

Cloud swallows and glances at the hidden dagger. “It’s all we’ve got.”

Maybe not, Shadow thinks. Call it denial or whatever. Talon is alive and has to know it’s a trap. He’ll be led to the cave just as Cloud was. Shadow sets off her built-in silent alarm, concentrating on Talon and the only thing she can.

Danger.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

The Welch Peak Eyrie east of Chilliwack should be deserted. Talon’s hidden perch is crowded with gryphons watching the guards in the eyrie entrance. He’s still full from a much needed meal of black-tail deer so he ignores the rangers behind him. Lev and the others quietly fight over two deer they killed as they caught up. If the females were with them the males would have some manners but a group comprised exclusively of males has a feeding hierarchy not necessarily related to rank or status. If Talon was hungry he’d wait. Being a guard master means nothing and as the newcomer he’d have to fight if he wanted to eat first.

Talon tunes them out so he can focus on Shadow. Her mood is confusing and faint and he’s certain distance disguises what should be obvious to him. She’s anxious but not afraid. He rubs his bracer wrapped wrist on a sharp stone and releases a low growl as he tries to welcome her anxiety. It’s illusive and never feels the same way for more than a few minutes.

“Master Talon,” Lev’s voice is barely audible.

“What?” Talon snaps.

The Sire knees him roughly in the thigh as he settles on the ground beside him. Soar prefers to encourage Talon’s impatience by granting him a friendly elbow to the head as he gets down on the other side.

“She’s there,” Talon tries in a more professional tone though he wishes they’d shut up.

“You’re the only gryphon here who’s been inside,” Lev says. It isn’t a statement. It’s an order for intelligence. With two hours until dawn and the females in the guard expected soon there’s a little time to plan.

“At the first fork in the tunnel, the right branch leads up to the great chamber—”

“And the left down to the guest dens,” Soar interrupts with an annoying statement on common eyrie layout. Lev remains thoughtful, his black eyes focused on the eyrie entrance. At his age his eyesight is ten times better than Talon’s; the best it will ever be before the years begin to take it away.

“Yes,” Talon agrees. “There’s a set of larger family dens below the great chamber, down the tunnel to the right once you get in there. Those dens are at the same level as the visitors, only a few feet of stone separate them; they alternate in the stone, side-by-side but separate. The cooking chamber is attached to the main one. Left tunnel is to the baths. Center tunnel goes up and splits again, unmated females to the left and the royal chambers to the right.”

Talon shudders. He searched the females’ chambers for survivors and found nothing but silent, bloody death. It’s sickening to think his Shadow is captive in such a cursed place.

“The royal chambers consist of guard dens to the left and right of a long tunnel, at the end are several connected dens, a private bath and another tunnel to the upper chamber.”

“Unusual,” Lev comments. “No audience chamber?”

Jasper and Welch Peak holds the only royal dens Talon has ever entered. The lack of an audience chamber doesn’t strike him as odd.

“Perhaps one of the guard dens,” Talon sighs. “Maybe I thought they were all guard dens because of all the dead guard.”

“No,” Lev shrugs. “It’s logical given what you described. I suspect Shadow is in those upper chambers. They are designed to be the most defensible.”

“Perhaps, but she’s below either in the guest dens or the family dens. I can’t tell which. It’s a maze down there.”

Enough stupid questions.

“Curious,” Lev mutters. “And her mood?”

“Indecipherable.” Talon grinds his bracer on the rock again. The itch isn’t getting worse but it’s wearing him down. “She’s anxious… angry but she’s holding strong.”

Talon shifts uncomfortably on the stone shelf as he realizes she’s aroused.

“She’s thinking about me,” he says. “Shit.”

“Yeah,” Lev says.

“A warning,” it’s Soar.

“She’s not where we expect,” Lev says. “And she wants you to be worried. They want us to go to the upper chambers.”

“Mm, that’s where their fighters will be.”

“And no trouble getting here,” Soar says.

“I suspected this would be the place,” Talon admits. “Cloud flew over me after I hit the mountain. I figured she was following Shadow.”

“Clever gryphon,” Lev whispers. His voice softens, belying his image of Cloud changing as Talon’s has. If she’s in there then the young gryphon is the only one who stayed on Shadow’s tail.

More of the guard settles close to the ledge as the last few get a turn with the carcasses. Deer blood soaks their rock. The males’ scents begin to merge as one, urging cohesiveness of the group. Two gryphons who had been circling above the entrance dive and enter and two more take their place watching the skies above.

“The guard in the entry has been watching us,” Lev says and Talon is more than impressed with the Sire’s vision. “But they do nothing. They could be aware our forces are incomplete.”

“It’s a trap alright, Sire,” Soar mutters. “That they wait tells me their forces are weak and they rely on surprise and close quarters.”

Then two more gryphons fly out, circling hundreds of feet from the entrance before going higher to join the two already aloft.

“A surprise they’ll get. S… Something’s wrong,” Talon blurts out, startling Soar. In a second he’s on his knees ready to leap from the ledge. Shadow’s mood has abruptly changed to terror and alarm and Talon lashes out at Lev as the bigger gryphon pins him to the ground.

“Speak,” Lev orders.

“We can’t wait,” Talon grunts, ignoring Lev as he tries to roll and get away. He can almost hear her scream, the picture of a dark haired gryphon fighting for her life triggers the hunter in him. Talon fights harder against the weight of both Lev and Soar. “Terrible…”