I pulled my knife from my boot and inserted it into the crack between it and the next piece. The floor board lifted away delicately, and from the darkness beneath I pulled a journal and a stack of loose papers from where they sat within. I felt blindly for the book, but there was nothing else. I turned to sit on the floor.
“Are they still going at it in the kitchen?”
“Your father is starting to listen, but your mother is…” I could tell she was looking down at me, but I didn’t take my eyes from my discovery. “She’s crying. Are you all right?”
“No.” I scanned the loose pages first, but they didn’t make sense. I began to flip through the journal.
“I know this is sudden. If I’d had even a clue last night I would have told you. I told Ma what we had planned. Then Beth woke early this morning. It all just fell together. We’re not sure why he’d do all of this. That’s what doesn’t make sense.”
I felt sick. I offered her the loose papers, flipping towards the end of the journal. Michael’s tight scrawl crammed the pages. Diagrams and bulleted lists punctuated paragraphs of notes. I held the book close to my face to better read.
Aella murmured to herself as she read what I had given her, and then she stopped short. The hand holding the papers fell to her side. “I can’t be reading this correctly.” She waved the papers at me. “This is lunacy.”
“Yes.” I agreed, my mouth dry. It was. Michael’s notes detailed a procedure. Master Noland had given him a book that listed the methods it took to harness the mind of another creature. Specifically, Michael was altering it to apply to a gryphon. Master Noland had hinted it was possible. Through blood sacrifices and offerings to the intended target, Michael believed he could command one of the great beasts of the mountains. His most recent journal entries alluded to a specific beast, one he called Zehya. She was a female gryphon with the body of a snow leopard and the wings and head of a snowy owl. She was young—malleable, Michael noted. Over the past five months he had lured Zehya down the mountain with the hearts of animals. First with the offerings of wild beasts, then domestic—chickens, then pigs, then cattle and sheep.
I felt gutted. Where had my head been? There had been moments that should have clued me in. The morning the sheep went missing Michael’s boots were already muddy before he went outside for the day. I’d thought how much blood was on him the night Beth was attacked was strange, but I hadn’t wanted to see it. I’d known Michael had been hiding things from me recently. I’d known something was wrong, but I hadn’t followed my instincts. I had been too afraid that if I pushed him too hard I’d lose him.
Aella crouched beside me and put a hand on my shoulder. “We have to give these to my mother and your parents. Your brother is dangerous Taryn.”
“My brother is in danger.” I countered in a harsh whisper. “If the gryphon doesn’t eat him, then the village will burn him. This list…” I pointed at the right side of the journal with a finger that trembled, “It says the gryphon has to consume a human heart and a part of him for the ritual to be completed.”
Sitting amidst the mess in Michael’s room had given my nose time to adjust; I finally placed the coppery scent that permeated everything. Setting the journal down I reach to my left and flipped Michael’s clothing pile over. I choked on my own noise of shock. Aella’s quick intake of breath sounded in a hiss. The lower layer of clothes was caked in the brown of dried blood.
I flipped the pile back over and drew my knees up to my chest, resting my forehead on them for a moment. I breathed slowly, in through my nose and out through my mouth. Like Nai did when she was trying to calm herself. It was hard to breathe. It was hard to think. The warmth of Aella’s hand was like an anchor, keeping me from floating away.
When I looked up, Aella smoothed the hair from my face. “What do you want us to do?”
My heart stalled and then thumped once against my chest, and I searched her face. Her expression was fierce and defiant. She was my friend, and she didn’t share the town’s belief in burning away ill luck. Was it possible she would do what I wanted to ask of her?
“I have to save him. From himself, and from the town. Something is wrong with him.”
“But…” Aella bit her lip, conflicted, “he still did it, Taryn. He has to face justice. It’s the whole reason I’m here.”
“I know that.” I covered her hands quickly with my own. “I think a man who came through town months ago somehow poisoned his mind. The town won’t want to cure him of whatever is afflicting him. They’ll want to burn him. They’d be right to,” I said hastily, “but I can’t just let it happen. If I can get to him first maybe I can get him to see reason. We can take him to the capital to be tried there rather than burned. Maybe we can even set the crown’s justice on the man truly responsible for all of this.”
“Who is the man you believe is responsible for this?”
“One Master Noland,” I said grimly. Aella’s olive skin drained of color. “What?”
“Master Noland?”
“That’s who Michael said had offered him a place. What?”
“Master Noland is one of the old king’s brothers, Taryn.”
“The old king’s brother? I thought he only had the one?” I felt offbalance and confused.
“Master Noland isn’t exactly the sort of relative you brag about. He’s the most dangerous necromancer from the hill lands,” Aella had dropped her voice to barely a whisper, and she glanced around the room as though she expected someone to step from the shadows.
“A necromancer? But Michael asked around about him—he did his research. He wouldn’t align himself with someone like that. He said that Master Noland is a trusted member of the crown’s court.”
“As he well is, and anyone who says differently wakes up dead. He scours the land for promising protégés and has the most impressive backing of mages in the whole of the kingdom besides the mage school itself. If the crown needs magic done, they send for one of his disciples. Everybody knows though,” she swallowed hard, and again her eyes scoured her surroundings. Everybody knows he dips his hands in blood more than any man ought to. And that’s coming from a mercenary.”
“Michael would have told me if the man he wanted to apprentice under was the old king’s brother,” I said, but I knew I was trying to convince myself more than Aella.
“Maybe he didn’t know. Or maybe he lied. People do that.”
An annoying voice in the back of my head reminded me that Michael had said something similar, recently. “Michael is no mage,” I said, frustrated. “If this is the same man, why would Master Noland have chosen him?”
“These notes detail a magical working. How do you know he isn’t one?”
“Because if he is one, wouldn’t I be? I’m his twin.” Admittedly, I wasn’t sure how magic worked, and I’d never had a call to learn. Magic wasn’t the business of a shepherd; I’d had real work to do.
“You’re sure? You never saw anything in a cup of water or moved things without touching them?”
I glared at her. “I’m sure, Aella. I’d tell you if I had. We’re not mages. We’re shepherds!”
Aella shook her head. “Mage or not, Michael believes he can do what Master Noland bade him. For whatever reason Master Noland has encouraged that belief and now Michael is dancing dangerously close to the realest test of if he can.”
“We have to find him, and I think I know where he’ll be.” Aella looked at me expectantly. “The field of bluebells. Michael disappeared after I told him what we found there. His notes mention a main location for big parts of the,” my lips twisted in a grimace, “spell.”
I watched Aella make the same connections I had. Swiftly she stood, offering a hand to me. “If we ride fast, we can be there before noon. We may get to him before the town hears the news and rallies against him.”
“Only if we don’t wait and explain everything all over again to my parents and your mother. They might let you go after him with the rest of your company, but they
’ll keep me on house arrest.”
Aella mulled this over. “Ma might be willing to bring him to the crown.”
“Maybe, but Michael doesn’t trust her. If he does something foolish now, he could be killed.”
She inclined her head. “Agreed. He’ll listen to you?”
I furrowed my brows, and stroked my braid. He was my brother. My twin. Despite everything we believed he had done in the past month, he had always made it clear he wanted me to stay safe. “He won’t hurt me. If nothing else, that much I think I can be certain of.”
She nodded curtly. “Leave the book and notes out and in the open. My mother will know what to make of them. You’ll leave through his window. I’ll tell everyone that you’ve taken to your bed and need some time to calm down.”
“Smart,” I said, impressed with her quick thinking. “All right, and you?”
“I’ll tell my mother that I’m headed back to camp to prepare everyone for a potential pursuit. Or a hasty exit from town, if your guardsmen don’t like that we went around them to get Michael,” she added ruefully.
“Do your people need that warning?” Despite the urgency with which I wanted to get to my brother, Aella and her mercenary crew had been good to our town; they had been good to me. I didn’t want them getting into any unnecessary trouble.
“They’ll all be ready on their own. My mother will think I’m excusing myself from an awkward situation.”
“She’ll be angry with you.”
Aella gave me a little shake. The grin she wore was fierce, and a little frightening. “Only if we don’t bring Michael in, and we’re going to.”
I met her eyes. They glimmered with excitement. My reserve firmed. “Ok.” I nodded briskly. “Let’s get a move on.”
I crept to my room, a step ahead of Aella. The noise of the adults arguing had reduced. Mother was still quietly weeping, but Aedith and Father seemed to be having a proper discussion. I grabbed my cloak and harness, longing for Father’s missing crossbow. I didn’t dare take the spare from the barn and risk leaving them with no defense. In its stead, I grabbed my shepherd’s crook. As my fingers touched the cool wood my thoughts flew back to the night we had dined at The Black Gryphon. Michael had brought his crook that night. I closed the bedroom door firmly behind me. The conversation in the kitchen paused, and I held my breath, but then it resumed once more.
The window in Michael’s bedroom opened to the back of the house. There was a path to the barn from there, just inside the line of trees. It could be traversed without being seen from any part of the house. Some part of me detached from the rest. It recalled that I had known he’d had his window open recently, despite the autumn chill. I just hadn’t made the connection. The trodden earth and bent grass beneath Michael’s window showed that this had been his path many a night. It chilled me worse than the morning air.
The two of us met on the road a few tense minutes later, and without a word, we kicked the mounts into a gallop. If our suspicions were correct, then there was no danger of a mad gryphon leaping from the woods, at least not until we got closer to our destination. The wind whipped my hair backward and lashed it against my face. Hale was all nervous energy, but she was happy to be running and did her best to keep pace with Aella’s mount.
Juniper was an avalanche of a horse, and she seemed to roll over the road without touching it. A glance to the left at Aella showed her as the warrior that had only been hinted at in her time in Nophgrin. Body hunched low over the neck of her mount, her cloak streamed behind her to show her leather jerkin. Her eyes were cold and focused on the road ahead, and her mouth was set in a grim line. Her hair was braided tightly back, and unmoving for the first time since I had met her. Even the wisps I had grown accustomed to were slicked back and contained. A crossbow was strapped to her back, and the hilt of her axe showed over her left hip.
I was uncomfortably aware that my skirt was meant for sitting at home, not even suitable for field work. There hadn’t been time to change, and my legs were cold. I was fiercely grateful for Aella’s presence. I bent to mimic her pose on my own pony.
In record time, we reached the path that led into the woods where only the night before we had been laughing and drinking. Aella signaled for us to slow and dismount.
“I’m going to have your back in there Taryn, but it’s for you to calm your brother down. I’m going to hang back. Seeing me might spook him and cause him to do something stupid. I’ve seen it before.” She noted my wide eyes and hard swallow. “If something seems even slightly off, I’ll come in firing. I swear it.” She reached across the gap between us, her leather gloves wrapped around my forearms and squeezed, comfortingly.
“Ok,” I croaked, and then grinned sheepishly. “Ok, let’s do this.”
I led Hale into the comparable dimness of the woods. True to her word, Aella hung back, fading behind me until I couldn’t even hear her. I was grateful for the strengthening daylight that streamed through the canopy of the trees. Soon though, the dancing shadows of the leaves above had my nerves wrung out, enough that I had to stop and calm Hale who could sense that something foul was happening.
“I know,” I murmured to her, “I don’t know how I got myself into this situation either, but we have to find Michael and Cherub, don’t we?”
At the sound of her companion’s name, Hale steadied, but when the narrow path for the bluebell field came into view she stopped in her tracks and refused to go onward. Back the way I had come the path curved and Aella was nowhere to be seen. I rubbed my face wearily and tied Hale off on the nearest pine tree. Part of me had hoped to keep her with me the whole way, even if I couldn’t ride her. I should have known better. Hale was much too skittish for this type of task.
I hugged her neck gently. “I know you did your best. Be good, and I’ll be right back for you.” Hale whickered at me, and her ears flicked forward and back.
Shaking myself and taking a breath that shuddered coming back out, I pressed on. The debris of fallen pine needles, as well as all matter of assorted bracken crunched under my feet. I used my crook to nudge the bigger pieces out of my way, and I winced each time a particularly loud snap emerged from beneath me when I missed one.
There were no birds to break the otherwise oppressive silence, nor were there any squirrels or rabbits. Either they were afraid of me or there was a bigger predator they had already fled from.
Gradually, and then all at once I was surrounded by bluebells. Where the flowers grew the thickest the trees were dispersed the thinnest, and the ground seemed to glow blue. When I was surrounded by the trembling blue flowers I swore I heard the tinkling of bells from their delicate forms.
I turned in a slow circle. “Michael?” My voice was barely louder than a whisper. I shut my eyes, disgusted with myself. Louder. “Michael? Are you out here? I’ve come to help.” Had that been a noise? I paused, not daring to breathe. Again. “Michael?”
A groan, faint, and weak. “Taryn.”
My feet were already carrying me in the direction of the sound of my brother’s voice. It didn’t matter what he had been accused of. He needed help. It sounded as though he was through the next clutch of trees. “Michael! I’m coming, hold on.” I burst into the next clearing and my feet staggered to a stop.
The next groan came with a horrifying new context. Michael was heaving the body of a second sheep onto a boulder where a first already lay prone. They were alive still, but bound very tightly. Their shallow breaths were evident in the quick rise and fall of their chests, and their dark bright eyes darted about the clearing. By Michael was our cart—I hadn’t even realized it was missing. It was hooked to a trembling Cherub. Within the cart was more rope, a wicked-looking knife as long as my forearm, a heap of canvas, and the book he had been reading for the past few weeks. Slightly behind the cart, almost within the trees was what appeared to be a wet pile of furs. I became aware of a buzzing noise in my ears. Flies. When the sheep was placed to his satisfaction Michael cut the bindings on their m
uzzles, releasing their plaintive cries. My stomach roiled.
He turned to greet me. “I’d hoped you’d be able to find me.” His smile was nothing like his normal soft smile. He had dirt streaked across his face, and his hair, though combed and braided, showed more traces of filth.
“You can’t be out here, Michael. Neither of us should be, especially not with those sheep carrying on. The gryphon will come.”
“Of course the gryphon will come.” He spoke as though I was being tiresome, his smile fading. “You said you’ve come to help. Tell me you found my notes. Did you bring them?”
“Michael,” I spoke slowly, “Beth woke up. She told the mercenaries what you did, and soon the mercenaries will tell the rest of the town. You’re in terrible danger… from more than just the gryphon.”
Michael’s eyes dropped to the right as he considered this new information. “Yes, I thought that was coming. This does rush me considerably. Even more than your little party,” he muttered.
I crept forward tentatively, hands open in a plea. “Michael, please let the sheep go. Come home. Let us all find a way to fix this.”
“Yes, I’ll have to let the sheep go. There’s no time for anything else.” He was still muttering, his eyes trained on the ground, almost as though he wasn’t responding to me at all.
I was close enough to touch him, and I did, as softly as I would a skittish lamb. His gaze swung to me and I almost jerked my hand back. Steeling myself, I rested it more firmly on his shoulder. “It’s going to be ok. You’ve never hurt me, and I know you wouldn’t hurt anyone else if you didn’t feel there was no other option. Master Noland did something to you—threatened or bespelled you, but we’re going to figure it out. Together.”
Michael flicked his eyes between my face and my hand, and little by little his wire tight muscles eased. He turned to face me and put a hand on each shoulder, his expression earnest. “Listen carefully, Taryn, because this is important. Master Noland did nothing to me, and I regret nothing I have done.” A rock sat in my gut. “But it’s true. I could not let harm come to you, sister. You’re a part of me.” Ice shot up my spine; before I could blink he struck me across the face. I went down like a rock, my hands instinctively flying up to catch me. As I moved to roll to my feet he kicked me in the temple. Blackness rushed up to meet me.
Of Gryphons and Other Monsters (Taryn's Journey Book 1) Page 25
