The Key

by Felicia Rogers

  Then the earth rumbled and the ground beneath them shook. The top of the tower opened and black shapes poured out, swirling in the sky. It looked like a black tornado heading for them. Cold fear solidified in his middle. Desperate, Chase glanced around again. While they’d been distracted, Gregory had escaped from his bonds and wisely had vanished. The empty chain sprawled on broken stalks, gray against purple and green. Serena ignored him, her eyes lifted to the sky as she slithered forward, her great snake’s tail weaving behind her.

  Chase lay on the ground as motionless as possible, still in his beastly form. Without Serena’s constant squeezing, his body would heal. If Maddie touched him, would the healing have been quicker? The tingle when they touched could have been Maddie’s innate eochair power seeping into him. That would explain why Serena had separated them.

  Focusing forward, he groaned. He could no longer see inside the tower. The transparent effect had begun to dissipate after Maddie sat in the chair and disappeared. She had indeed been the key to the lock; now the door was opened, and the key was stuck inside.

  A large black shape floated down from the sky toward a waiting Serena. “Cahal!” she exclaimed excitedly.

  Chase closed his eyes and pretended not to exist. If he didn’t move, maybe they wouldn’t notice him.

  The black gryphon backwinged and then settled with one final stroke. Chase swallowed. It was the biggest gryphon he’d ever seen, making his father and Gregory seem small, dwarfing Dougal and him. As if nearsighted, the gryphon peered at the snake-woman. “Aye, it is I. And who are you?”

  Serena threw out her arms as if inviting the big black gryphon home. “Cahal, how can you say such a thing? It is I, Serena.”

  Insulting laughter escaped his eagle’s beak. “You’re joking, of course. Serena is a beautiful young lass.”

  Her tail whipped from side to side. Chase buried his head in the heather as her tail cracked like a whip over his head.

  “It is I, I tell you. I was transformed when you were imprisoned.”

  “Oh, that is a shame.” Cahal turned his back to her and lifted his hands. The flying black gryphons, turning barrel rolls and looping in the air like freed children, began swarming toward their leader.

  Chase tried not to hyperventilate. There had to be thousands of them.

  Serena narrowed her eyes. “Cahal, I freed you!”

  “Thank you,” he said, without facing her.

  Impulsively, she grabbed his arm and yanked him around. One claw flashed out and sliced through her neck. All the way through — her head sailed through the air and her body crumpled to the heather, crushing more stalks.

  “Hideous beast,” murmured Cahal.

  Chase hid his face and wished he could stick his head in the ground like an ostrich and hide. Swallowing back bile, he waited for Cahal to say something to him, but the black gryphons’ leader ignored him.

  Thousands of dark winged forms amassed in front of Cahal, too many for Chase to distinguish individuals in the throng. He shuddered and eased himself forward, sliding on his belly through the crushed heather like a soldier in no man’s land. Had to get away.

  Or die.

  Cahal held out his arms in greeting. “My brothers!” The black gryphons cheered and he raised his hands, quietening them. “This day we have been freed!” Again the cheers rose, this time to overwhelming volume. And this time Cahal allowed the noise to escalate to a fever pitch before he shushed them.

  “You!” One gryphon held up his hand. “Yes, you and your troop. Fly around and check the area. Set up a perimeter we can defend. And you, establish base camp.” Cahal directed his men like a military leader. Assignments were barked out and black gryphons flew.

  How long would he be ignored? Was it safe to try and reach the tower? He had to rescue Maddie. Might not hurt if he could save himself, as well. Pulling himself along by his weakened arms, Chase was halfway to the tower when a gryphon’s gravelly voice yelled, “Sir, there’s a gray gryphon headed toward the tower. Should we stop him?”

  “I thought he was dead.” Cahal’s voice rose to a shout. “Yes, you fool! The last gray-haired gryphon imprisoned us for one hundred years!”

  His fear vanished, leaving Chase calculating possibilities. He had one chance. He pretended to be more hurt than he was, rising on his legs and shifting as if drunk or about to collapse. Black gryphons closed in on him from all sides. He allowed them to get a bit closer, then he spun on his heel and shot into the sky, breaking free from their encircling wall. Because they were so close, when they tried to follow they ran into each other, wings tangling and voices shouting, and half of them collapsed back to earth.

  Pulling his body in and creating a narrow shape, Chase raced for the tower’s door, no longer misty and magical but once again iron-braced wood. It loomed ahead. Too late to change direction; too late to find another plan. He braced his shoulder on the uninjured side and aimed for the door. The black gryphons yelled behind him, voices rising in anticipated victory. Ignoring them, Chase concentrated on Maddie. He had to rescue her, protect her. He hit the door with his shoulder. Pain smashed through him and radiated to his injured side and neck. The wood splintered and gave way.

  He’d made it. He was on the other side, and a few cautious flaps of his wings settled him on the stone-flagged floor.

  Outside, the black gryphons massed around the door but none of them were willing to walk through. Their victorious yells rose into howls of rage. Well, if he’d been imprisoned for one hundred years, he might not willingly walk back into the tower, either. Turning his back, Chase jogged along the long narrow tunnel, entering the chamber.

  No sign of Maddie. Even the magical green glow was gone. Still in Doran’s beast form, Dougal sat on the lowest step, the one with the red glow, holding his head in his hands.

  Fear twisted in Chase’s gut. He collapsed beside Dougal and tried to decide what to do next.

  ****

  Maddie blinked. The tower room vanished and something else took its place. But no light penetrated and whatever surrounded her remained hidden. All she heard was her own ragged breathing; the scent of heather was gone. She slid off the chair, held her hands before her, and shuffled forward. Striking her knees against stone wouldn’t be fun, but the anticipated pain never came. Was there anything around her? It felt as if she’d walked a long way.

  Suddenly a beacon of light blazed out. Maddie squeezed her eyes closed against the brightness, paused to calm her pounding heart, then edged closer. The light appeared to come from a figure of some kind, like a torch held overhead.

  “Who are you?” Maddie asked, fighting a consuming fear.

  “I am Cian Conn.” The light moved aside, out of her eyes, and she gasped. He was breathtaking. Shaped completely like a man, with no hint of his former gryphon self, he shone gauzily like a rare opal. His eyes glowed amber; one hand, held over his head, blazed with light. When he spoke it was like listening to a legion, with scores of voices underlying his own.

  The shock didn’t dissipate and Maddie wished for something to hold onto. With bravery she didn’t feel, she asked, “Are you the one who helped Arin?”

  “Aye, I am.”

  Sadness pervaded the room like a mist and Maddie shivered. But instead of elaborating, he fell silent. Glancing around, she gnawed her lip. A circular room soared overhead and all around, completely enclosed, with no windows and no doors. However she’d arrived, she could see no way out.

  The silence bothered her. She cleared her throat. “What happened to you?”

  He shrugged. “That depends.” It seemed as if fewer of his vocal legions spoke with him now, more of the underlying echoes falling away with each syllable. Strong and reassuring, his own baritone voice wove a tranquil spell around her drained body, and the light from his hand softened, too.

  “What?”

  “When do you mean?”

  “I— I guess I mean, how did you get here, in the tower.”

  He looked away, as if int
o the distance. “We are not in the tower.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “Of course not.”

  Again she gnawed on her lip. If she wasn’t in the tower, where were they? Had she died when she sat in the chair? Had she given her life to protect Chase? Strangely, the possibility didn’t bother her. If he remained safe and alive, then the trade was worth it.

  With a sigh, Cian settled on the ground, stretching out his legs. The light seeped from his hand into the wall behind him, softening further and giving the stone a gentle glow, and the last of his legion of voices died away with his first words. “Long ago I was a gray gryphon. One day, I decided I wanted to be a great warrior.” His sarcasm made her wince. “My clan was always on the defensive, letting the battle come to us. We always protected others. We never attacked. I decided I wanted more. I wanted to make a name for myself. I wanted glory and honor. So I joined the other side. Only unlike most of my kin who had fallen away, my color never changed. I remained gray.” He frowned. “And I don’t know why. But because of it, I was never completely trusted. I was ostracized by the black clan as well as by my gray brothers and every village in Ireland, until I met Arin. She gave me a new family. A new hope.”

  “Where is Arin now?”

  “Alas, she has gone to the other side.” He lowered his gaze.

  “I don’t understand.”

  “Arin died, my dear.”

  Sadness welled in Maddie’s heart. “When?”

  “A long time ago.” He stared off again, as if looking into the past.

  “Have you been here since then?”

  “Yes.”

  “So when she died you just slipped into this place and started glowing?”

  He laughed under his breath and rubbed a spot between his eyes. “Not exactly. When she passed, my will to live diminished and I allowed myself to perish. When I awoke, I was here.”

  “Where is here?”

  “Here is here.”

  “Oh.” She paused. “Where am I?”

  “You are here.”

  “Why?” There seemed little point in asking about here. Cian obviously wasn’t inclined to share the details, if he even knew them.

  “Because you opened the tower door.”

  Maddie shifted in place, ignoring a vague sense of guilt. “Yes. I did.”

  He shook his head and wrung his hands. His voice hinted of desperation. “Why would you do such a thing? The door has remained closed for over a hundred years. No daughter of Arin has ever opened it.”

  “I had to,” she said, a single tear escaping and rolling down her cheek.

  “Why?”

  “I had to open the door to save Chase.”

  “Who is Chase?”

  “It’s a little hard to explain. He’s a boy, but he’s also a gray gryphon. L-like you.”

  Cian nodded approvingly. “Ah, a brother. A defender. So the pact worked; it held. I always wondered.” He paused. “You did not open the door for him, but to protect him?”

  “Yes.”

  “Who bid you open the door?”

  “Dougal— I mean Doran. And Serena.”

  “Ah, Doran.” Cian grimaced. “Cahal’s son.”

  “Cahal’s son!”

  “Aye. He was born after the black gryphons were imprisoned, and orphaned before he was a man grown. Arin and I tried to help him settle in the village since he was alone, but because he was the only black gryphon remaining, he always thought he was different. I tried to convince him otherwise. When he asked for my daughter’s hand in marriage, I agreed. Perhaps a little too reluctantly.” He paused. “You see, he was no different than my own children, but he refused to be accepted. He believed the color of his fur also determined the color of his heart.”

  Compassion for Dougal consumed her. He’d been bitter, dissatisfied, and alone for his whole life. Her life had only been bad for a handful of months, and that had seemed disastrous enough. How would it feel to think you were all alone for over a hundred years?

  She had to get out of there. She would tell Dougal he wasn’t alone, she was his friend, and she’d convince Chase to befriend him, too. “So what happens now? I sat on that chair back there and then I arrived here. How do I go back to Chase?”

  “I am afraid you cannot.”

  “What? B-but—”

  A hint of the legions returned, strengthening his voice. “The tower must be filled, either with its prisoners or with the key.” It sounded like a prophecy.

  Maddie dropped to the floor, bruising her knees. It was made of some reflective material, something like glass, and felt like it, too. She caught sight of herself and groaned aloud. Heather stems and twigs stuck out at odd angles from her hair. Her clothes were ratty and ripped. Her face and hands were covered in dirt. What a way to meet one of your ancestors!

  “So what happens now? Will Chase survive?”

  “My child, do you not understand what you have done? Because you opened the tower, no one will survive. Cahal will wreak havoc upon the entire world.”

  Tears flowed freely down her cheeks. By rescuing Chase, she’d not only destroyed him, but doomed everyone! Grandma Draoi, the Donovan family, the little brothers who’d treated her like a sister…

  No way could her day get any worse.

  Chapter 38

  “Where is she?” asked Chase. He winced. His voice sounded so defeated.

  Dougal shifted in place. “I don’t know.”

  “What do you mean, you don’t know?”

  “I don’t know, okay? She disappeared before I could get her attention.”

  Chase stretched. No pain; his side had fully healed, yet he remained in his gryphon form. He grabbed Dougal by the scruff of the neck and twisted. Dougal yelped and tried to wriggle free, but Chase twisted harder. “You’re going to get her back! She did this for you. Now your accomplice is lying dead back there and those black flying friends of yours are plotting to take over the world!”

  “I know,” Dougal whispered, staring at Chase’s chest.

  “Then what are you going to do about it?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Furious, Chase shook him. “Dougal, why did you want them freed in the first place? I can’t believe you sacrificed Maddie for power.”

  Dougal quit fighting and his face twisted. “Cahal is my father.”

  Not what he’d expected to hear. Chase released him and fell back against the stairs.

  Dougal rubbed his neck. “My mother was one of the women he kidnapped from the Irish villages. She was physically taken against her will and I was the by-product. She loved me dearly all her life and told me daily I didn’t have to be like him, but the other villagers didn’t see it that way. With a druid’s help I stayed in my human form, but sometimes the beast would arise and I would do something atrocious. Cian claimed he tried to help me. But he imprisoned my father and was the reason for my problem, so why should I listen to him?”

  He sighed, rubbing his furry palms together. “Then I met Serena. She’d been a druid who secretly lived in the next village over. She fell in love with my father while she was his captive. Stockholm syndrome, I believe it’s called today. Anyway, she fell in love with him and offered her soul to remain young and live with him forever. When he was taken from her and imprisoned, she turned into a hideous beast. That’s when she sought me out and convinced me that if we opened the tower, we would both be free.”

  Un-be-liev-able. “So for more than a hundred years you sought the key for this door? You could’ve done all kinds of things. Made money, started a company, met the woman of your dreams and started a family, but this is what you chose to do?”

  Dougal’s laugh sounded hollow. “Seems like a waste, huh?”

  “Yeah, it does.” Too furious to sit any longer, Chase pushed himself to his feet and stalked around the room. “How did you know how to open the door?”

  “Serena knew all that.” Dougal shrugged, his feathers rustling. “Hey, she was the one who knew all
the old legends. She told me we needed a daughter from the line of Arin and she knew the girl had to open the door willingly.”

  Punching the stone wall would hurt, and Chase kept reminding himself of that fact. “She was probably the one who knew how to rescue Maddie, too.”

  “Yeah, probably.” Dougal studied his clasped hands.

  Chase threw out his hands. “So what do we do now?”

  “A better question would be, are we trapped?” Awkwardly, Dougal rose and walked back along the narrow tunnel, his black wings drooping. Chase trailed behind, seething.

  In the entry, the translucent mist still filled the doorway but the wooden door lay splintered across the floor. Chase swallowed, remembering the smashing pain that had telescoped along his back and shoulder. He’d forced his way through that?

  “Hard to get in, was it?”

  “Let’s just say I didn’t have time to think of a way to do it gracefully.”

  Carefully Dougal touched the doorframe. Sparks flew and he yelped, retracting his hand and cradling it to his chest. “I think it’s electrified.”

  “Just great.” Chase paced the tunnel. “How are we going to get out of here?” He snapped his fingers. “I have an idea. Why don’t you just do that cool rewind thing you did in class?”

  Dougal frowned, his snout twitching.

  “Don’t play dumb. Remember when we were in chemistry and you had Stephanie sit down in slow-mo? The room got all fuzzy and…”

  “Yeah, I remember.” Dougal shook his head. “But that took a ton of energy. I’m not sure I have enough left to make it happen and even if I did, I don’t know if it would work.”

  “Great.” Chase stretched his wings and paced with frustration.

  “What are you two doing?”

  Chase jumped. Not Dougal’s voice. He twisted, peering past his pinfeathers. A small, shadowy form stood on the far side of the electrified doorway.