Child of the Gryphon

by David Lugsden

  After he had finished school the previous year, Shyler had decided to follow in his father’s footsteps, and had left Sanctuary to travel the world soon after his graduation. When Shyler had last written to his family, he informed them that he had reached the South China province of Yúnnán and was residing within the habitat known as Yù Suǒ. Just prior to Shyler’s departure, Seth’s new baby brother, Sidney had been born. Often Seth came to school complaining of his family, from Sidney’s crying to his father droning on about his work, however Gabriel and Tamera both sensed Seth’s grumbles were lackadaisical and without any real conviction.

  Sattan and Tamera on the other hand were much more reticent about their respective families.

  Sattan had grown up living with his uncle but spoke little about him. He had several brothers and sisters, all of varying ages but never gave any mention of his parents. The only time of year when Sattan ever ventured home was at Christmas and over the last few years even this had become rather sporadic. On occasion he would receive a letter from home but never disclosed its contents. This had sparked another curiosity of Gabriel’s: how did the Colony keep in touch with one another?

  Communicating with one another was a very laidback affair as it turned out. Within Sanctuary if someone needed to contact someone else then the most effective way of doing so was to simply go and find that person and speak face-to-face. In terms of contacting other habitats, this was a much more lengthy process. Letters were stored in the Artisan Post Office and once a week they were delivered by airmail. It would then usually be weeks before a reply was received. Gone are the days of email, SMS and instant messaging, thought Gabriel. Gabriel assumed that the Colony’s airmail was delivered by aeroplanes as it was with humans, so did not enquire about it further. It would be quite some time before he discovered how inaccurate his initial assumptions were.

  In regards to Tamera, she had adopted a habit of changing the topic of conversation whenever her family was mentioned. It was Seth that told Gabriel what he knew of them. Tamera had six older sisters who had each taken on the traits of their mother, Venetia, a descendent of the Lynx line. Each of them was tall, beguilingly glamorous and exuding confidence. In contrast, Tamera had followed her father’s Acinonyx line. Although her own beautiful face had been forever imprinted into Gabriel’s mind like some fantastic and entirely painless brand since awakening in Sanctuary, the mesmerising appearance of Tamera’s sisters was undeniable. Boys of all ages would gape in awe as they passed by. Her three eldest sisters had already left home, as was commonplace in Colony society. Darla, the eldest, had emigrated to the Australian habitat of Akora after visiting there on her travels. The following year, Tamera’s second and third eldest sisters, Kyla and Maya had followed in Darla’s footsteps. Her remaining sisters, Layana, Lyla and Lena were identical triplets and in their penultimate year of school at Wingtail Academy. Once at lunch in Wingtail canteen, before Gabriel had arrived in Sanctuary, Seth had nudged Tamera eagerly as they walked by and asked about them. Without looking up, Tamera had grunted in acknowledgment then hurried off to class. For this reason, Seth had only dared point them out to Gabriel when he had been sure that Tamera was nowhere in sight. It was somewhat of a cruel twist of fate that of all her sisters, the one that Tamera had been closest to growing up (Darla) now resided on the opposite side of the planet. Despite the close relationship Gabriel had had with his parents, at times whilst growing up he had felt quite lonely and had longed for a brother or sister. Learning of Tamera’s strained relationship with her siblings, he wondered which situation was worse.

  Personality-wise, Tamera was as different to her mother and sisters, as day was to night. It was for this reason that Seth believed that she barely mentioned them. Conversely, Tamera seemed to have more in common with her father and so was, at times, a little more willing to talk about him. He had grown up in the African habitat of Kimbilio, and as was true of his lineage, the Cheetahs, he had been a top athlete in his youth. However he had sustained an injury during his travels and since settling down in Sanctuary had been working on Flattail’s crew at the reservoir.

  As well as spending time with his new friends, Gabriel also managed to squeeze in time at home with his grandfather (when he wasn’t torn away by Council matters). During these times Gabriel would question Omari relentlessly about all aspects of this secretive world hidden away from the humans. Gabriel still found it astonishing that no one had ever discovered it. He found it remarkable how the Colony had built up such a comfortable lifestyle for themselves, especially considering it was all done so with relatively primitive resources, hundreds of feet beneath the Earth’s surface.

  Despite his already tightly packed schedule, Gabriel also somehow managed to fit in meetings at Wingtail Lake with Marina. The pair of them had become very close friends in a relatively short time and he felt an electrical surge of excitement pulsing through him each time they planned to meet.

  Marina and her brother Finn, she revealed, had been raised singlehandedly by their father since the death of their mother. Proteus balanced his fatherly duties with his responsibilities as Governor of Oceana (pronounced O-see-ah-na, which Gabriel continued to struggle to pronounce correctly). Unlike the fabled Atlantis, a highly developed ancient civilisation that had long ago sunk beneath the waves, Oceana had actually been built underwater. Similarly to the land dwellings of the Colony, there were numerous underwater habitats scattered throughout the world. Oceana was located somewhere off of the coast of Nova Scotia. There were similar cooler water habitats off of the southern coast of Alaska, the eastern coast of New Zealand and south-eastern coast of Argentina. The latter of which, Aquatica, was located close to Cape Horn, in highly turbulent seas and was the birthplace of Marina’s mother, Vesta.

  As a part of his diplomatic obligations, Proteus had made numerous ambassadorial expeditions to these various different habitats and had often taken his children with him. These visits had also included trips to the tropical undersea territories. Within the tropics there were an uncountable number of realms of varying sizes, the largest of which were located in the Caribbean Sea, the Indian Ocean off of the east coast of Africa and in the Java Sea, hidden amongst the vast stretch of Indonesian islands. Whilst Marina admitted to enjoying her trips to the tropical habitats, she found the warmer climate exhausting and much preferred the more familiar cooler waters.

  At school, Gabriel was still plagued by the bullying and prejudicial actions of Grandmaster Bysonn. The Grandmaster did everything in his power to make Gabriel’s life as miserable as possible. From summoning Gabriel to his office on occasion, to patrolling the halls, to making impromptu visits to his classes, Bysonn used every opportunity to berate and punish him. And the punishments had been getting steadily more humiliating. From having Gabriel polish ornaments in his office, to peeling vegetables in the school canteen, to scrubbing toilets with a toothbrush, nothing seemed too harsh.

  The teachers pitied Gabriel but were apprehensive to stand up to the Grandmaster. The only notable exception was Master Tigris. One afternoon during a Survival Studies class Bysonn had barged in and begun to chastise Gabriel for the lack of symmetry in the way he had tied his shoelaces. Tigris had immediately leapt to his student’s aid.

  ‘Give it a rest, Bysonn,’ Tigris had snarled, ‘The boy has done nothing wrong! There is absolutely no reason for you to hound him so. You’re complaining about the boy’s shoelaces for Gaia’s sake!’

  ‘One’s appearance is a reflection of their attitude to everything else in life. You of all should understand that, Tailstripe,’ Bysonn had growled in retaliation.

  ‘Please address me as Master Tigris in front of my students.’

  ‘I’ll address you as whatever I please! This is my school and don’t you forget it!’

  Standing his ground, Master Tigris had responded, ‘You expect the students to live by your strict code of morals, perhaps you should practice what you preach.’

  ‘HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO ME WITH SUCH
A LACK OF RESPECT!’

  ‘Respect needs to be earned, Grandmaster.’

  ‘And you think I don’t warrant it?’

  ‘Do you think you do?’

  ‘By Gaia, I will not stand for such impertinence!’ Bysonn had roared.

  ‘Then I would advise you to leave,’ Tigris had said coolly.

  The Grandmaster had snorted angrily and stormed out, slamming the door violently behind him. The class cheered in response.

  ‘That was amazing!’

  ‘Did you see? He was lost for words! Did you see?’

  ‘Tigris one; Bysonn nothing!’

  ‘Hooray for Master Tigris!’

  ‘Now, now settle down everyone. The excitement is over,’ Master Tigris had said. ‘Now, I believe we were looking at how one can use the stars as a form of astrological compass...’

  ***

  In regards to his new subjects, Gabriel was in most cases beginning to show improvement. In Physical Potential lessons, although he still lagged behind his classmates, Masters Equos and Macropus praised him on his progress. Master Procyon, however, was not as forthcoming with such praise. Despite his best efforts, Gabriel continued to have great difficulties in engaging his enhanced senses. His night vision had not improved at all, and Master Procyon was not a particularly patient individual when it came to students who failed to show satisfactory improvement.

  He was a short, stout man with bristly grey hair and heavy bags under his eyes. His spindly, skeletal hands did not befit such a portly frame, Gabriel thought. His entire demeanour was rather shifty, accentuated further by his small, beady eyes. Going off his appearance alone, Gabriel believed Master Procyon would have been more suited to teaching thievery, burglary or a career as a professional conman.

  Nevertheless, Gabriel continued to excel at Anthropology and had quickly become Master Delphinus’ star student. Because of his time spent living with humans, there were even some things that he taught his teacher! Tamera, in spite of her best efforts however, still had great difficulties with the subject. It was a Thursday’s Anthropology lesson, in late August when this truly came to light.

  Master Delphinus had, for the last few lessons, been teaching the students about the human tribes living in the wild. These, he said, were much more aware of their environment and role in maintaining the natural order of things. After covering the Maasai and Pygmy people of Africa, he had moved on to the Aborigenees of Australia.

  ‘Can anyone tell me what a boomerang is?’ Master Delphinus asked, halfway through the lesson.

  Tamera’s hand shot up.

  ‘Why, Miss Swiftfoot, this is a surprise! Rarely do we get to hear from you. Do you know the answer?’

  ‘Yes I do!’ Tamera said proudly, turning to smile at Seth and Gabriel.

  The two boys gave a nervous glance toward one another. ‘Uh-oh,’ whispered Seth.

  ‘A boomerang,’ Tamera recited, ‘is a person that breaks into the dwellings of others to steal undergarments because they haven’t the means to purchase their own.’

  The class roared with laughter. Victor and Fungus pointed at Tamera and said something clearly derogatory that thankfully could not be heard over the din. Tamera, momentarily confused, looked to her two friends for support before the realisation settled in. Gabriel and Seth, who could not have felt guiltier even if they were convicted in court, expected Tamera’s tirade to engulf them at any moment. Except it never came. She shook her head and looked away. Master Delphinus, who had momentarily been left stunned and open-mouthed by the answer, attempted to re-establish control over his classroom.

  ‘OK, everybody, quiet now please. I SAID QUIET! Thank you. Now, Tamera, no, that is not the correct answer. I can see that you were genuine in your response, and it wasn’t just some silly joke, but I’m afraid you have been grossly misinformed. Is there anyone who can tell me what a boomerang actually is?’

  Tamera promptly shuffled to the end of the row, away from Seth and Gabriel. For the remainder of the lesson she ignored all attempts by the two boys to apologise and would not even look in their direction. After the class ended, she quickly packed up her belongings and marched out of the room.

  Victor and Fungus, now with a new target in their sights weren’t about to let her off so lightly and quickly scurried after her in hot pursuit.

  They began talking loudly enough for everyone in the vicinity to hear their mocking of her, as they followed closely behind her.

  ‘Tell me, Fung. Why is it you said you left the house late this morning?’

  ‘Well it’s the strangest thing, Victor. Me and my family woke up this morning to find the place had been ransacked!’

  ‘Really? That is awful. Was anything taken?’

  ‘You know, it’s the strangest thing. The only things missing were our underpants!’

  ‘Sounds to me like you’ve been well and truly boomeranged!’ The two boys roared with laughter.

  ‘Alright, very funny,’ Seth interrupted, ‘Why don’t you two go and pick on somebody your own size? I think I saw a couple of shoots of cave weed back there that were asking for it.’

  ‘Ooh! Sticking up for your girlfriend are you, Brushtail?’ chimed Victor.

  ‘Maybe,’ added Fungus, ‘Or maybe he’s a closet boomeranger and wants to lull her into a false sense of security!’ The pair roared with laughter once again.

  ‘SHUT UP!’ Gabriel growled. He grabbed the two small creatures by their scruffy robes, picked them both up and slammed them into the wall. ‘Leave her alone. Got it?’ They nodded that they understood.

  ‘NO! Why don’t you two leave me alone!’ ordered Tamera, turning on them, her eyes glistening with tears.

  ‘Yeah!’ said Seth in agreement, glaring at Victor and Fungus.

  ‘NO! NO! NO! Not them. You. This is your fault. You know I struggle with that subject. Just like you two struggle with almost every other one going. But do I ever make jokes about that? No, I help you out as much as I can. I looked like an idiot in there. Are you happy? I hope so. Stay away from me. I want nothing to do with either of you.’

  ‘Tamera, I-’

  ‘LEAVE ME ALONE!’ She stormed off.

  Victor and Fungus wriggled free from Gabriel’s grasp and scampered off, whooping in delight at the scene that had just unfolded. The next lesson was Survival Studies. When Gabriel and Seth got to class, Tamera was already there, seated on the far side of the room with Verbera, who was patting her shoulder and muttering something comforting to her. She glowered at the two boys as they entered.

  Master Tigris had brought along a variety of different materials, from chunks of flint and granite to twigs, leaves and pieces of bark. In groups of two or three, the students’ task was to use any of the materials provided to start a small fire. Ordinarily Gabriel and Seth would have relished such an activity but as it was, they spent the entire lesson trying to get Tamera’s attention so that they could apologise. Master Tigris admonished them about distracting others. Finally after repeated warnings, he put them both in detention. After class he ordered them to clean up the charred mess left by everyone else.

  The next day was no better. Tamera spent the entire day avoiding them, opting to sit with Verbera throughout all of the day’s lessons and at lunch as well. That Saturday, Tamera didn’t meet the two of them at Artisan Plaza as she normally would. In fact, neither Gabriel nor Seth saw her at all for the entire weekend. Monday morning brought about a continuation of the silent treatment.

  By the following week Gabriel and Seth were stricken with misery. Not only did they miss spending time with Tamera, but they also missed her unique idiosyncrasies: her self-righteousness, her know-it-all approach to lessons (except for Anthropology) even her tetchiness. Moreover however, they missed her selflessness, how she would whisper answers to them in lessons and then offer to help them with their homework, even though it meant she would then take three times as long to complete her own. But above it all, they missed her as a friend.

  Hanging out w
ith Sattan did little to improve the situation in lessons either. He was worse at schoolwork than they were.

  Old World Languages was by far the lesson where they suffered the most and fast became as enjoyable as having teeth pulled at the dentist. Although they had improved a little in their understanding of Sumerian (thanks to the extra tutelage they had received from Tamera) the class had, in the last few weeks, moved onto the study of Akkadian which proved to be even more incomprehensible. Each lesson, Gabriel and Seth found themselves staring blankly at the bizarre symbols scrawled across the blackboard by Madame Psittacidae, and utterly bewildered by the unusual sounds and syllables that were supposed to form some sort of coherent language.

  Regardless, one of the lessons that remained interesting was Ancient Creatures. Elderly Master Canis was an unrivalled expert on the attributes and features of animals and creatures of all kinds, extinct or alive, and well-liked by almost all students of Wingtail. Gabriel had been fascinated during his lessons on the Cyclops, the sphinx and the unicorn.

  Cyclops, Gabriel had learned, was the name given to a race of twenty to thirty foot tall giants from thousands of years ago. They were immensely strong and stubborn but lacked intelligence and were distantly related to the earliest humans. Their earliest relatives had been cave dwellers and much shorter in stature. It was because of the darkness of their environment that they had evolved the single large eye on their forehead. They had remained a similar size to other humans until they ventured back out onto the surface, at which point the Cyclops race had grown to its enormous size.