Of Gryphons and Other Monsters (Taryn's Journey Book 1)

by Shannon McGee

  “Dead!” He was saying. “Five of my best cows slaughtered, and not even eaten. They were clawed at and left to rot.”

  I spun back to Willy, now much more eager to hear what he was going to do about it. Willy caught my eyes. His mouth was tight and he gave me a small nod. I pushed my way to his counter, and around the man yelling, who checked himself in my presence.

  “Willy, what’s happening?”

  “Ah, miss,” Willy’s bushy eyebrows were slanted upwards; his eyes, which had been crinkled with joy not an hour earlier, held none of that light now. “Glenn went this morning to check on his herd. The barn was open, and he found five of them out in the field, dead. The rest was huddled inside the barn, about to die of fright.”

  Horrorstruck, my hand flew to my neck. “Five? But gryphons never kill more than they can eat. That would be a flock of standard gryphons!”

  “Aye, it would be, if any of them had been eaten, but from what Glenn says, they were torn into and left. I’ve got to get myself and my partner and go out and see the state of things myself, which means passage to and from town will be shut down for the afternoon.”

  “Well I’m leaving now. I’ve got to get out there too—that’s where Michael and my father are supposed to be.” I ran agitated fingers down the length of my braid as I spoke. I gazed unfocused at the long road that led back to the farm, and the field even farther away.

  Willy seemed to sense my urgency. “Laura will be here in a few moments miss. I sent the runner after her fifteen minutes ago, and all she needs to do is shut her gate and hop ahorse. You can ride with one of us, and we’ll get you where you need to be.”

  “Seriously?” I asked earnestly. “That would be a godsend!”

  He put a staying hand up at my enthusiasm. “It’d make me feel better, rather than have you walk that road alone.”

  “No one should be walking alone if there’s such a damnable flock of gryphons hunting.” That was Daniel again.

  “Mind your tone Daniel.” Willy bellowed loud enough to gain a momentary lull in the noise. “We are going to see what there is to see, and when that has been determined, we will do what needs to be done. Swearing and carrying on ain’t helping anything, so you’d best all return to what it is you do on an afternoon as fair as this one.”

  The crowd shifted, grumbled, and then slowly dispersed. A few people clapped Glenn on the shoulder or cast distrustful looks towards the trees. By the time Laura had arrived, the group had reduced to Glenn, his oldest son Martin, Willy, and me.

  Laura was a stocky woman with more muscles than anyone I knew, and she kept her dark hair braided tightly away from her face in rows. Younger than Willy by a little under two decades, she had only recently completed her circuit around the kingdom that was mandatory before a guard took up a permanent post. She acknowledged the gathering with a nod and rode her gelding over to Willy, who was finishing the work of shutting down his gate and readying his own mount.

  “The runner says we might have a large flock of standard gryphons causing trouble out in the herding quadrant?” She spoke tensely, but her grip on the reins was loose.

  I saw Willy swallow a pained look, and I wondered if he got any say as to who his partners were. “Yes, out in Glenn’s land close to Raynard’s. This is Raynard’s daughter, Taryn.” Willy spoke with too much patience, and as he gestured towards me, I gave her a conscious smile. She granted me another jerky nod. “You remember Glenn, and that’s his eldest, Martin.”

  “Begging your pardon, but shouldn’t civilians stay out of this matter?”

  “They were my cows, and Martin needs to know about this sort of thing!” Glenn burst out.

  At the same time, I voiced my own protests, “My brother and father are waiting for me to join them!”

  Willy smiled and raised his hands helplessly at her. “You see? It’s best not to argue with them.”

  Laura blinked slowly at the both of us. “Yes, I see.” She turned her horse towards the road. At that clear signal that she was ready to go, Willy helped me mount in front of him on Flicker. Glenn and his son mounted their own ponies at the same time.

  There was little talk as we rode out to the field. The hooves of the horses barely seemed to touch the ground. Laura’s questions on the land we were headed to and about the gryphon attacks of the past were the only sounds that punctuated the whir of the wind as we rode. I was pretty sure she knew all the answers to her questions. Still, I did my best to stave off my irritation. Perhaps she was trying to be thorough.

  Father met us at the beginning of Glenn’s pastures; I guessed Michael was with the sheep in our own fields when I didn’t see him.

  “Any sight of the beasts that did this since Glenn came to fetch us?” Willy asked father, once the pleasantries were out of the way.

  Father shook his head. “None. A few lesser gryphons have been flying in close, but I’ve kept them off the cows.”

  “And how are my cows?” Glenn whined. “The ones that are left alive I mean. I’ll bet they can’t even eat. That’s going to hurt their milk!”

  “They’re spooked,” Father acknowledged. “They’re eating all right though. They’re in the barn.”

  We took the horses in that direction so Glenn could check on them for himself, and the rest of us could tie up the horses. If they got any nearer to the bloodshed we were about to view they would more likely spook and try to bolt. Father’s face was unreadable as he drew beside Willy and me as we were dismounting.

  “Taryn, I want you to take Tess over to Michael. I’ll come when I’m through here, and your brother and I can ride home together. You can take Cherub home when your shift ends.”

  I blinked a couple of times, stung despite myself. “You don’t want me to stay and help here?”

  “There’s nothing you can do for this, and it’s not something you need to see to understand. Michael can fill you in.”

  “Your father’s right.” Willy’s feet thudded to the earth behind me as he dismounted. “I’m sure your brother could use the extra eyes for now, anyway.”

  Father nodded at him over my shoulder and handed me Tess’s reins. “Tell your brother things are going fine over here and that one of us will be going to pick up your mother when she’s through in town.”

  I accepted the reins, and mounted once more. Turning away from them I kneed Tess in an easy trot towards Michael and the sheep. Our land was a scant mile from where the livestock had been slaughtered. We closed the distance in little time.

  When we arrived, Michael was in his usual spot. Today however, he was not reading. His eyes were fixed out on the field. Or maybe it was the trees beyond the sheep that held his attention.

  Cherub was tied to the bush I had used for Hale the day before. She seemed to sulk as she cropped grass. She was rarely confined in such a way, and as though she knew who she ought to resent for it, she had stretched her rope as far as it would go away from my brother.

  Brooks thumped the ground with his tail and woofed softly when he saw me. He rose quickly and ran to meet Tess and me halfway up to the field. He kept pace with us for the remaining distance back, and as he trotted, he kept looking at me, as though he expected me to give him orders.

  Tess didn’t need to be tethered, as she never wandered more than a few feet at any given time. I left her to her own devices once I had ridden to the tree and dismounted. To be frank, I was more worried about Michael than I was Father’s horse, who seemed inclined to join Cherub.

  Michael had looked exhausted this morning. Now he was clammy and his skin was a sickly color on top of that. He acknowledged my appraisal with a tight smile. As he went to stand, I put out a hand to stall that and sank next to him and Brooks instead.

  “Was it bad?”

  “They didn’t let you see?”

  I shrugged. “Father sent me directly here when I rode in from town with Glenn, Martin, Willy, and Laura.”

  He shuddered. “Consider yourself lucky. I’m going to be having nightmares
for the next month.”

  “Was it really that bad?”

  “You really didn’t get to see?” I shook my head in the negative, and Michael sucked at his teeth. “Yeah, it was that bad. I’ve seen animals that have been attacked before, and this was something else entirely. They were split open at the ribcage.” He drew a finger down the center of his chest. “It was nothing like I or Father had ever seen.” He paused, fiddling with the hem of his shirt. “It almost made me sick. I had to walk away.”

  “Then I am extremely grateful to have been spared the sight, I guess.”

  “You guess?”

  I sighed gustily. “It’s not as though I want to see a mangled corpse. I just want to know what’s happening. I was right there. It would have been nothing to walk another thirty feet over the ridge and see what all the fuss is about. Everyone in town is talking. You were allowed to see it.” I added the last part quietly.

  “I probably spoiled the privilege for you with my reaction.” Michael’s nose curled. “If I’d known you were so eager, I could have reminded him you have a stronger stomach than me.”

  I punched his shoulder lightly. “Again, it’s not that I wanted to see it. I just don’t like being forbidden to. As though I couldn’t handle it.”

  “Father knows very well what you can handle. You could have handled this. Trust me when I tell you this is something you don’t want to handle. Take the words ‘chest cracked open and scooped clean like a shellfish at holiday’ and breathe easier knowing all you can perfectly picture is the shellfish.”

  “Yeah,” I muttered, still not convinced.

  Michael made a noise of exasperation. “I’m certain if Father had had any real idea of what we were going to come upon, he wouldn’t have let me get any closer either. Gods above and below, it stank Taryn. Worse than your meat pies!”

  I stuck my tongue out, face contorting in disgust. After a moment of thought, I asked, “What kind of beast does that? Gryphons don’t attack like that. They take their prey away and eat out all the soft bits. They don’t crack ribs open, not like you’re describing. They don’t leave their kills out in the open, and they don’t kill more than two beasts at a time. One, if it’s one gryphon, or the flock is small.”

  Michael shook his head. “All of which are solid points, and things I asked, but we don’t know what else to think. There were tracks all over.”

  I made a noise of understanding. Gryphon tracks were much like those of mountain lions, but unlike true felines, a gryphon could not retract its claws. This meant their tracks came with the enormous talons present in the impression at all times. There was no mistaking them.

  I leaned my head back against the roughness of the tree, taking in the thin clouds that had blown across the sky since the morning. I wondered if we would have rain today or tomorrow.

  “Whatever it was, it did its killing at night,” Michael said after some silence. That sent a shiver of fear down my spine.

  “How do you know that?”

  “Father says that’s how old the kill was. He said based on how cold the cows were and how much the lesser gryphons were already going to work on them, they had to have been there several hours before dawn.”

  “Do you think we have a mad gryphon?” I didn’t want to say it, but it was all I could think.

  One of the sheep bleated exceptionally loudly, and was met with responses from its flock. Michael and I jerked our heads up and looked around in unison.

  When he didn’t answer my question, I went on. “We got lucky this week. I didn’t believe Glenn even in the slightest, and even if I had, we wouldn’t have locked the sheep up tight over a gryphon attack. They don’t hunt at night.”

  Michael gave me a side hug around the shoulders. “We know now. We’ll be more careful now.”

  “Mother is going to need someone to go with her to and from town every time she goes. I also want to start practicing crossbow in earnest. I’ll ask if I can make payments so I can buy my own,” I said firmly, glaring when Michael laughed. “This is serious!”

  He spoke through a condescending smile. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m not happy about this, but I’m also not getting a weapon yet sister. You don’t need to have one either. It’s one attack. The hunters and the guards will go out, no later than the week’s end, probably as early as tomorrow. They’ll find a gryphon and put it down. That’s what happens.”

  I pressed my lips together. For a boy who had almost vomited at the sight of what the beast had done not two hours ago, he showed an irritating amount of nonchalance. “If that’s how you feel then I won’t let you practice with my new crossbow.”

  He rolled his eyes. “I hardly think I’m going to need that skill where I’m going.” A heavy silence followed his declaration, and I pulled at the grass next to me, unwilling to break it. Was this the explanation for Michael’s apparent indifference to the slaughter? He wouldn’t be here come spring, so perhaps he didn’t feel as though it affected him? I felt my cheeks warm in resentment. Before I could spit an angry retort at him he spoke again. “I didn’t mean it like that.” He scooted back on his bottom so he faced me, cross-legged. “I’ll help you buy a crossbow if you’re dead set on it. If Mother and Father are helping me get to the city I won’t need nearly as much coin. You’ll just have to wait until we can both go to town together.”

  “That reminds me!” I exclaimed, irritation not having faded. “You didn’t tell them you already have an offer you want to accept. When are you going to tell them?”

  “I’m not,” he said matter-of-factly, “And I’d prefer it if you didn’t tell them either.”

  “Why?” I turned to mirror his sitting position.

  Michael leaned in, elbows resting on his inner thighs, causing the braids at both of his temples to swing forward. “Taryn, they won’t let me go. It’s as simple as that. They want me to go all the way to the capital to do basically the same thing I’m doing here. What they have set up will give me only the smallest time to see what I want to see, and that’s the way they want it. They don’t know Master Noland, and so they’re not going to trust him.”

  “You don’t know him either.”

  He raised his hands in supplication. “I know enough. What he’s offering me is of infinitely more value than more farm work.”

  I crossed my arms over my chest, and glared. At that moment, the sun peeked out from behind a long thin cloud, causing my twin’s hair to shine golden. His mulish expression won out over my misgivings. He wouldn’t listen to anyone if he felt he was being attacked.

  “I want you to be safe, the same as our parents do,” I reminded him, and found Mother’s words slipping from my lips. “I know you’re terribly smart but there are those out there who are smarter than you, and I can imagine someone like that would be delighted to get ahold of someone with as much potential as you.”

  Michael seemed to think over my warning couched in praise. His eyes slid down and to the left. Finally, he met my gaze with his own unwavering stare. “I’m going to be safe, and I’m going to be smart about this, but I need you to trust me, and not rat me out, because I am going no matter what. You didn’t meet Master Noland, but if you had you wouldn’t feel this way. He’s smart and he’s—he’s the sort of man I want to grow into, and there isn’t anyone like him here for me to learn from. I need this.”

  I got to my feet, jerkily. Too upset to sit and look at him, I walked around the tree to a lower branch and raised both of my arms to grip it. The bark was rough and cold under my fingers, and I held on tightly. If I was in a less foul mood, I might have pulled myself up to dangle.

  “There are good men here too Michael. They may not all care about the ridiculous things you like, but you’re not above them all.”

  “Yeah? And which one are you going to marry if they’re so great? Because I haven’t seen you spending much time with them either.”

  “I’ll marry whichever one tosses you in the river the most before you leave, you ass!” I yelled, final
ly losing my temper. How dare he use what I’d confided in him against me!

  Michael didn’t reply, and I turned to check on him. He had put his back against the tree once more and now stared straight out at the field. Brooks whined, and I peered around the tree trunk at him; his eyes flicking between the two of us and he licked Michael’s hand. Michael scratched him roughly up and down his back, without shifting his gaze.

  Out across the field the tree line shifted in a gust that had yet to reach us. The crowns of the oak, maple, and pine trees swayed like beautifully dressed dancers, and I wanted desperately to find peace in that sight. Instead, I gritted my teeth, determined to wait Michael out. I wasn’t wrong, curse it! I wanted to support him, and I wanted him to be happy, but not if he was determined to make the rest of us out to be uncultured slobs. That wasn’t fair, and it wasn’t nice.

  The sound of footsteps became apparent in our uncomfortable silence, and I turned in the direction of the sound. Father was walking towards us. I couldn’t discern his expression from this distance, but he didn’t seem in too much of a hurry. Michael must have heard him as well as he gave a lazy wave without turning. Father waved back, and the two of us waited in tense silence for him to reach us.

  “What did you all decide upon?” I asked, as soon as he was near enough to answer questions.

  His eyes swept over Michael, who hadn’t risen, and then came back to me. “We’ll hunt tomorrow at dawn. Willy is fairly certain that with an attack of this scale we can get a decent-sized party even on such short notice. We want to beat out the rain that’s coming our way. If we don’t it’ll make tracking the thing more maddening than it’s already going to be.”

  I nodded. Unlike their lesser cousins who tended to travel primarily through flight, standard gryphons normally kept low, and this ought to have meant an easy trail. They were heavy, and there was nothing that left prints quite like a gryphon. However, they were clever beasts, and they had been known on some occasions to fly when they became aware they were being hunted. In such cases hunters were left scrambling to find fur that might have been caught on high branches, and feathers that might have come loose during flight. Rain would wash away those clues, and then we’d have to wait until it ventured close again.