Flight of the Gryphon

by Ann Durand

  Then he saw it. The Orb sat in the middle of his workbench. The Orb…she'd forgotten it.

  "Katera! Wait!" he called, snatching it off the bench. And then, he said the strangest thing. He hadn't planned to say it, but when he did, he knew that he meant it. "I'm coming with you," he shouted, dashing into the tunnel after her.

  Chapter Ten

  Katera stumbled through the cave in her haste to find the exit. Warm, moist drafts of air from the hot springs blew into her face as she fumbled past the entrance to it. She groped the rock walls with her hands. Every so often, she passed a lanadik-lit chamber adjacent to the tunnel and used the light inside to guide her more swiftly, until her path dissolved into the blackness again, forcing her to return her hands to the tunnel wall. Her pounding heart felt large and disembodied in the blackness, as though she were inside it listening to its thumping sounds echo back at her. Here in the dark, everything seemed hidden, except for her thoughts and feelings.

  Why ? She felt like crying. Why must I feel this way? He is leaving Parallon, and I will never see him again. Why do I care?

  A shaft of light fell on the wall ahead, and she raced to it. She followed it around a corner and into an antechamber that led outdoors. Two hoshdels were tied to a post in the antechamber, their noses stuffed into bags on the ground that were filled with the delicate shafts of the Kilpantra plant. One lifted its nose out of the bag and snorted at Katera. Working swiftly, she hoisted the saddle off the horizontal bar constructed over the posts and tossed it up onto the hoshdel's broad back. It straightened its woolly head, bleating and stamping its feet. Struggling against a deluge of tears, Katera fumbled with the cinch under the animal's round belly.

  Why? she wondered again, in a state of disbelief. Why now?

  Before she'd run into Miloken, she had been prepared to die…prepared to sacrifice herself in an effort to undermine the will of Askinadon. Merely a day later, she wanted to live forever. She wanted to live and love and laugh-she wanted to turn into a withered old lady some day, in the company of a withered old man.

  But this cannot be, she admonished herself sternly. She did not live a life given to such freedom. Love? She'd abandoned all hope for it after Askinadon had arrived and ordered all the virgin maidens to guard their status until he either forced them to marry or Summoned them to the altar.

  Her feelings for this man, Mikolen, she must crush them. Love-the romantic kind-was not one of her options. She would resist its impulse. That had to be all it was anyway, an impulse. Besides, she had much to accomplish. She needed to find her sister, cut out her Orb, and give her the new one; the one Mikolen had built.

  Katera's fingers froze on the cinch. The Orb? I don't have the Orb. She'd been so flustered with that kiss that she'd left it behind. She stood up and looked back toward the tunnel.

  Mikolen was standing there watching her. He wore a smile, and in his open hand, he was holding the Orb for her to see.

  "Mikolen, I…thank you. I just realized that I forgot it."

  "Yes, but I'm not giving it to you."

  "What?"

  Mikolen crossed the floor, watching her intently. He stopped when he stood facing her with the hoshdel between them.

  "I'm going to keep it," he said, a soft look in his eyes.

  "What do you mean?" she asked, surprised.

  "If you want it, you're going to have to bring me along. That's what I mean."

  Katera's heart fluttered. All her suppressed hopes resurfaced, like a buoy refusing to sink.

  "Mikolen, this is not your problem. You have done enough. I…"

  Mikolen reached across Chilika's back to press a finger to her lips. "Shh," he whispered. "I'm coming." He removed his finger, and when she opened her mouth to object, the finger raced back to her lips. "I'm coming," he said, more forcefully.

  This time, as he lifted his finger, Katera smiled at him. She knew he meant it. She also recognized a longing in his eyes…a longing that matched her own. Her heart soared. Oh, if only things could be different. If only she had the freedom to choose her destiny…if only Mikolen were not leaving Parallon, for she was sure that he intended to do just that.

  At that moment, she understood that her heart had leapt far ahead of her better sense. It amazed her that she could feel this strongly about someone who was, essentially, a stranger. Without a rational reason, her morning dream threaded back into her conscious mind: once again, she was gliding over the ground on a hoshdel with… Merciful Lupana. The man sitting behind her in the dream was Mikolen . He shared the saddle with her. The words returned: Ne Kamana Ya. I could love you. Her Lan Ma Ke rumbled in her chest, and she remembered that it sometimes delivered its gifts inside dreams. Could this be one of those times? She was still locked into his eyes when the sound of a horn blared again, jarring them both. One short, two long, one short…

  "My family…"

  "Let's go," Mikolen urged, swiping the second saddle from the bar and swinging it onto his hoshdel.

  He secured the saddle and walked to the exit, shoving aside the brush that hid the opening to the cave. They led the hoshdels into the sunlight. Katera held both reins as Mikolen replaced the brush, working the branches so that they reached over the cave mouth entirely. There was nothing left to do but wait for the next horn blast. They stood, stroking the hoshdels, who were blinking lazily in the warm sun. They didn't have to wait long. Another series of blasts resounded from the nearest ridge. Katera jumped.

  "That's close," she cried, thrusting her foot into the stirrup and swinging up into the saddle. "It came from over there."

  She pointed to the ridge, but Mikolen had already mounted and was riding toward it. She

  gave her hoshdel a kick and it lunged ahead, falling into step behind Mikolen's hoshdel. They rode swiftly into the trees and climbed the hill. The forest felt cool as the hoshdels pressed forward, crunching twigs and leaves beneath their hooves. Mikolen and Katera crested the ridge and reined in the hoshdels, peering into Kiddik Meadow below them.

  It stretched six miles from end to end. Toward the west, Hapal Lake gleamed in the sun, a half mile away. At first, only the lime greens of the meadow grasses dotted with yellow wildflowers greeted them. A herd of kiddiks grazed near the lake. A sudden breeze drifted up from the meadow, presenting the sweet scent of the blossoms. The hoshdels answered with soft lows. Katera sighed.

  The screech of the horn startled them both as it pierced the air from close range. Katera whipped her head to the right. She spotted Adrella at the bottom of the hill, just five hundred yards away. Katera gasped in surprise.

  "It's Adrella. She's alive!" Impulsively, she kicked her hoshdel to spur her down the hill, but Mikolen's hand streaked to her reins. He caught them and pulled her hoshdel back. "What?"

  "Katera, wait….think. She's got a VisiOrb in her head. Askinadon may be listening." He backed away from the ridge, pulling Katera's hoshdel with him. He reduced his voice to a whisper. "He'll find out that you and I are here. He'll tap into Adrella's thoughts…then, in a very short period of time, we'll have all kinds of company."

  Katera stared at Mikolen as she imagined Kastaks, takataks, and even rocsadons swarming into their midst. She turned to look back at Adrella, who was raising the horn to her lips again. The blasts punched into the quiet air, sounding both harsh and forlorn. Then she lowered the horn, lifted her chin, and called out Katera's name. Her cry held the same desperation as the horn, only more muted.

  A cold spot opened up inside Katera's chest, as if an icicle had formed there. She clutched at it. Why did her Lan Ma Ke freeze up this way? She shivered as the chilly feeling spread throughout her upper body. Mikolen looked at her, but she could only shake her head. How would she explain it? She did not understand it herself. This was her sister, her identical twin. Adrella would never harm her…would she?

  She motioned for Mikolen to follow her into the trees, and he let go of her reins. They ducked back into the dark forest and turned the hosdels around to watch Adrella,
who was sitting with the horn poised at her lips, her neck stretched forward, listening intently. Katera felt an overwhelming sadness. Something was terribly wrong. Her Lan Ma Ke had glowed in warmth all of her life around Adrella, and this abrupt change could only mean one thing. Adrella was in some kind of distress…and she was deeply frightened. She…they were in danger. Katera turned to Mikolen.

  "Can you get the Voice out of her here…right now?"

  Mikolen shifted on his hoshdel. "Yes, but it won't be easy. Askinadon is listening to her as much as possible. Whatever she's doing, he put her up to this, and if she sees you and transmits the thought to Askinadon before I can get the Orb out, it'll be the end for all of us. He knows where she is. The VisiOrb transmits her location with directional coordinates."

  Katera wrinkled her brow. She didn't know what directional coordinates were, but she understood the problem.

  "What do you think we should do?" she asked. Mikolen glanced at Adrella, then reached around to his saddlebag and drew out a blanket. "Why did you pack a blanket?"

  "You have one in yours as well," he answered. Katera stole a glance at the bags looped over her hoshdel's haunches. They looked stuffed. "I had plans for us to trek over the northern Shirkas and out of Parallon." Mikolen sighed, as if he wished they had stuck to the plan. "There's also a good supply of dried food and water should you get hungry or thirsty."

  Katera cocked her head to study Mikolen. She'd already been a whole lot of trouble for him, but he hadn't complained. "Thank you, Mikolen…for everything."

  She watched his eyes soften. "It's okay, Katera."

  The way he said her name made her blush, and she turned away. "What should we do?" she asked again, gazing at Adrella.

  "Sooner or later, she'll leave this area, and then we can follow her. This is too close to the caves, and Askinadon will come to the last place the VisiOrb transmits its signals. We don't want to attract him to this spot. Once she's far enough away, we'll toss the blanket over her head. Then, I'll administer a shot of sleeping medication that I use to drop a kiddik now and then. That'll put her out for awhile."

  "Sleeping medication?"

  "Yeah. It will put her to sleep for a short time. Enough for me to remove the Orb and get her back to the caves."

  Katera considered it. It was a good plan…and it could work, if only Adrella would leave Kiddik Meadow. As it turned out, she took another two hours meandering around below them, puffing into her horn every few minutes. Finally, she headed out to the far end of the meadow and the northeastern edge of the Tikon Forest. Mikolen and Katera followed her progress from the top of the ridge, staying just out of sight. As soon as Adrella disappeared into the forest, they snaked down from the hill and into the forest after her.

  "She's heading for Tikesh Fields," Katera observed, as they kicked the hoshdels into a trot. "She's searching for me in the northern territories, which means she's tried calling me in the south."

  Clearly, Adrella had seen their parents. It explained how she had gotten the horn. Katera pictured her with their parents as they blew the horn outside their hosta in Kala Meadow. She wondered how long they had been looking for her.

  They followed Adrella at a safe distance, stopping whenever she did, keeping the forest behind her as quiet as possible. Adrella paused every hundred feet or so to blow the horn, then she'd shoot off again at a brisk trot. She was working her way swiftly through the forest. Why is she in such a hurry? She's fighting against time. Why?

  At last, Adrella cleared the forest and started into Tikesh Fields. She did not blow the horn again, however, riding instead to the Parallonian graveyard on south end. What was she doing? Katera knew that some of their family members were buried there, but this was an odd time for her to visit. Adrella reined her hoshdel in front of a small marker near the headstone of their grandmother. She bowed her head. Whose stone was that? Katera didn't remember it. It had to be very new.

  In the next moment, a sense of sharp sorrow shot across the meadow from Adrella and walloped Katera in her solar plexus like a hard ball. She doubled over in pain, staring at Adrella in surprise. She knew then that Adrella grieved-she knew it as only an identical twin with a shared Lan Ma Ke could know. The person beneath the stone…it was someone with whom Adrella felt an intimate connection. Oh! Unbearable loss. But, who was it?

  After a minute, Adrella turned her hoshdel away and rode out into the meadow. Katera straightened in the saddle, rubbing her stomach. After a few hundred feet, Adrella reined in her hoshdel, blew the horn and waited. Katera looked at Mikolen.

  "We are eight miles from the caves," she whispered. "It is far enough. You can sneak up on her while her back is turned."

  Mikolen nodded. "Stay close to me. Once I get her off the hoshdel I may need your help."

  They waited until Adrella lifted the horn back to her lips, then charged out of the forest. Mikolen held the blanket up with one hand and the reins with the other. So shrill was Adrella's horn that she did not hear them approach. Mikolen managed to toss the blanket over her head from behind as he leaped toward her, snatching her around her middle, mid-flight. They toppled off her hoshdel and onto to the ground. Adrella screamed. Katera wanted to call out and reassure her, but thought better of it and bit her tongue. She hopped off her hoshdel and rushed over to where Mikolen had wrapped his arms and legs around Adrella, who was struggling like a wild boar under the blanket.

  "Here. Take it," he commanded, holding out a tube. "You'll have to give her the shot. I'll hold her down." Katera grabbed it while Mikolen struggled with Adrella. She stared at the long, white tube in her hand. "Open it. Hurry!" She lifted the top off the tube to reveal another tube inside with a silver point jutting out one end. "Stick it in her," he said, huffing against the lurching blanket. "It will dispense the medication."

  Katera felt her throat constrict. He wanted her to stick this long, sharp thing into Adrella?

  "Where? How should I stick it in?" she asked, gripping the tube in her hand.

  The fury under the blanket abruptly ceased. Mikolen's mouth fell open in surprise, then he moved a finger swiftly to his lips, but it was too late.

  "Katera?" Adrella asked. "Is that you?" Mikolen rolled his eyes and grabbed the tube from Katera. In the next moment, Adrella stiffened under the blanket. "Yes, yes, Master. It is Katera. I heard her."

  Before she had a chance to speak again, Mikolen stabbed the long, silver point through the blanket and into Adrella's thigh. Within seconds, her body fell limp. Mikolen untangled the blanket and lifted it away from her body. Katera gazed at the sister she had not seen for two long years, the sister she had presumed dead, who now lay unconscious on the ground. She looked peaceful, and Katera's Lan Ma Ke flushed warmly once again. She bent over Adrella's body and kissed her on the cheek. Mikolen rose and fished the Insertech from his saddlebag.

  "I have to do this now," he said, gently.

  She sat up and leaned back, allowing Mikolen to cradle Adrella's head. With the InserTech, he made a swift incision and revealed a small object that glinted in the sun. Deftly, Mikolen plucked it from her head and held up the VisiOrb for Katera to see. Katera clapped her hands and Mikolen smiled. Then he aimed the Insertech, pressed another icon, and just as swiftly the incision sealed neatly back together. There was no trace of it.

  "Gee," Katera said, fingering the small scab on her forehead, "why couldn't you have used the InserTech on me?"

  Mikolen cast a sidelong glance her way. "Because I did not have the Insertech with me when I found you."

  "Oh," she said, smiling meekly.

  "Okay," he said, stuffing the Insertech back into his saddlebag and Adrella's Orb into his pocket. "Let's go. Askinadon has surely sent a horde of beasts in our direction, and we do not have much time."

  Katera helped him slide Adrella's body, face down, over the withers of Mikolen's hoshdel. He sprang into the saddle behind her and spurred his hoshdel toward the cover of Tikon Forest with Katera not far behind, leading Adrella's riderl
ess hoshdel by the reins. Somewhere, off in the distance, the ear-piercing shrieks from a flock of takataks punctured the quiet morning air.

  Chapter Eleven

  They rode furiously through Tikon Forest, opting for the longer route around Kiddik Meadow in order to stay under cover. The dark-bodied takataks glided over the openings in the tall trees on their way to Tikesh Fields, where the VisiOrb had secured Adrella's last position.

  Thankful there were no rocsadons on their trail, Mike breathed a sigh of relief. He felt confident they could elude the takataks, at least initially given the animals' negligible sense of smell, but they would still need to hurry. Eventually, the large birds would turn their sinister attention to the forest and use their keen sense of sight and sound to detect movement within. When they sensed something, the entire flock would descend into the nearest clearing, one by one, and take off running in frenzied, single-minded pursuit. The towering legs of a takatak could easily outpace a hoshdel. Still, Mike and the women stood a good chance of making it to the caves undetected, but they'd have to push the hoshdels at a steady pace, and these were not high-speed endurance animals. They were already slowing from exhaustion.

  By withholding the rocsadons, Askinadon had revealed his desire to collect both women alive. Greedy asshole, Mike thought, glancing at the unconscious figure of Adrella draped in front of him over the hoshdel. Her soft, shiny black hair almost covered the length of her slender arms, which were swaying over the broad side of the hoshdel. Between struggling with her blanketed body and viewing her backside, Mike hadn't seen much of her face, except for the instant he'd lifted her off the ground in Tikesh Fields. As he'd gripped her under the arms, her head had rolled toward him and landed inches from his nose. It had been like staring into Katera's face-the same luscious, lime-green eyes, dark lips, and porcelain-smooth skin. A perfect double.

  He twisted around in the saddle to check on Katera's progress. She was keeping up the frenetic pace by goading both Adrella's hoshdel and her own with a long whip. Remarkable fortitude. He focused his attention back on the route ahead, keeping to the trees and avoiding all clearings. In several spots, the hoshdel's hooves crunched over dry twigs on the ground, and he slowed their procession to a quieter gait until they'd cleared them. Twice, the takataks passed directly over the canopy above their heads, momentarily blinking the sun away. Each time, they appeared abruptly, gliding in deadly silence. Mike halted the party while they waited with stilled breath for the birds to pass.