The Shadow's Heart

by K J Taylor

  Caedmon stood where his parents had once stood, and felt the weight of history pressing down on him. It was a long way from the magnificent Eyrie in Malvern, but this was still his inheritance. Maybe in its own way it was a more important part of it than Malvern ever would be. After all, Malvern had been built by Southerners, but the Throne was a place for Northerners.

  Myfina joined him. ‘I’ve lit a fire,’ she said. ‘Come on, let’s go and lie low. If you want to pray, we can wait until night.’

  ‘Right, right.’ Caedmon followed her absently back down the slope and into the little hollow in the mountainside where she had begun to set up camp. There they ate a small breakfast from their supplies, and worked together to set up beds for themselves, just as they’d done dozens of times before. After that Caedmon went to gather firewood.

  They had nothing much else to do here but wait and make themselves comfortable until Saeddryn brought news, so once the camp was secure Caedmon left Myfina and went in search of food.

  There wasn’t much to find. He had a bow, but he had never really hunted before, and at this time of year there was very little in the way of edible plants. In the end he found some mushrooms, and climbed laboriously back up the mountainside to where Myfina waited.

  She was kind enough not to comment on the handful of shrivelled brown mushrooms; it was more than they usually got in the places they had camped so far. There was a chance that the griffins might bring them something, of course. But not a good one.

  Sure enough, Garsh eventually returned empty-pawed. He said nothing, but settled down in an irritable kind of way and let Myfina clean his talons.

  Caedmon left them to it, and sat on a rock upslope from the camp, watching out for Shar.

  She arrived a little while later, landing neatly by Caedmon’s side. She shook out her wings and put her head down close to his. ‘There is a griffin coming,’ she said.

  Caedmon stood up sharply. ‘Where? How close?’

  ‘Do not panic,’ Shar advised. ‘It is only one, and smaller than I am. But it is heading this way, from the lowlands. I think it must be coming to the Throne.’

  ‘Right.’ Caedmon leapt down from the rock. His boots hit the ground just beside the campfire, startling Garsh, whose head shot up to hiss at him. Caedmon ignored him. ‘Someone’s coming,’ he said. ‘A griffin.’

  Myfina bit her lip. ‘Just one?’

  ‘Yes,’ Shar put in from overhead. ‘It has a human with it. I saw it as I came back here, but it did not see me.’

  Myfina looked at Caedmon. ‘What should we do?’

  ‘You do not need to do anything,’ Garsh interrupted. He stood up. ‘I will kill the intruder, before he arrives.’

  ‘No,’ said Caedmon. ‘We should let them land. Try to find out who they are — make sure they can’t escape, and talk to them. For all we know they could be looking for us. If not, then maybe we could persuade them to stay with us.’

  ‘And if they do not decide to serve you?’ asked Garsh, tail twitching in annoyance.

  ‘Then we’ll have to kill them,’ Caedmon said reluctantly.

  ‘It is a good plan,’ said Shar. ‘It would be easier to kill him in the air, since he is carrying a human, but his submission to us would be more useful than his death.’

  Garsh made an ugly rasping noise in his throat. ‘We will see, then.’ He was a big griffin, and obviously tired of hiding. He’d always preferred to fight before anything else.

  Caedmon checked that his sickle was still safe in his belt. It was, so he pulled his hood on and headed up the slope toward the stones. If the strange griffin was planning to land around here then the Throne would be the most obvious place for it, since it was the only flat land for a long way.

  Shar followed, sticking to the ground for now. Behind them, Garsh took off and flew to a perch on a mountainside overlooking the Throne. From there he would be able to swoop in and ambush the stranger the moment it looked necessary.

  Myfina came with Caedmon. As they neared the top of the plateau, the strange griffin came into sight. Caedmon’s stomach lurched — it was much closer than he had expected, and it was indeed headed straight for the Throne.

  Keeping calm, he motioned to Myfina to hide behind one of the stones. He chose one for himself, and Shar took another — it was big, but could only hide her if she stood head-on to it. Hopefully the stranger would be too busy concentrating on his landing to notice her.

  Their luck was in. The strange griffin landed by the altar stone, one forepaw catching it by the corner. Caedmon, watching, quickly summed up what he saw.

  The griffin was male and fairly large, but in a lean and sinewy kind of way. His coat was rough and shaggy, and made it obvious that if he had ever lived in a city then it had been a long time ago. He turned his head, yellow eyes sharp, and yawned as his human nimbly dismounted.

  Caedmon stared in bewilderment. The other griffiner looked about as tall as he was, but beyond that not much could be made out. He — if it was a man — wore a huge animal skin that covered almost his entire body. Feathers covered his upper torso, and the hood over his head, and below that a furry tail and legs dangled.

  Holy gods, that’s a griffin hide! Caedmon thought in shock.

  The stranger turned, adjusting the hood, which Caedmon now saw was made from the animal’s head with part of the skullbone and the beak left on to give it some shape. The tip of the beak curved down over the stranger’s nose like the guard on a helmet, but Caedmon saw that he was indeed a man. With most of the rest of his face hidden by a long black beard, it didn’t require much intuition. The forelegs of the griffin hide were mostly gone, but the feathered parts remained and had been sewn back together to serve as sleeves. Under that the man wore an assortment of other furs and skins, which made it impossible to tell what build he had underneath, or whether he was carrying a weapon.

  Caedmon had been staring for so long that he hadn’t even noticed Shar leaving her hiding place. The other griffin did, however, and when he started up aggressively Caedmon came to his senses and emerged as well.

  Moving to stand by Shar, he held up his hand in a sign of peace. ‘There’s no need for fighting,’ he called. ‘Welcome to Taranis Throne. Please, tell us who you are and why you’ve come here.’

  The griffin only hissed angrily, but the man’s reaction was very different. He stood very still, and then took a step forward. ‘Caedmon …?’

  Myfina had come out as well, and she too stared at the stranger. ‘Who are you?’

  The man’s face split into a grin. ‘Myfina! Great gods, it is you. I don’t believe it!’

  Caedmon reached for his sickle. ‘Who in the Night God’s name are you?’

  The man looked surprised. Then he reached up and pushed his hood back. His hair was long and tied into a ragged braid, and his face was scarred and weatherbeaten. He looked forty years old at least. ‘It’s me,’ he said. ‘It’s Heath.’

  Myfina nearly shouted his name. ‘Heath!’

  Caedmon went toward him, disbelieving, but as he got closer he started to see what he had previously missed. Behind the thick beard, behind the scar that went from his eye to his cheek … behind all that it was Heath, grinning at him in the same way he always had.

  Myfina had already seen it. She ran past Caedmon, and hugged Heath so fiercely that the griffin with him almost reared up to attack. But he relaxed again when Heath hugged Myfina back, and when Caedmon burst out laughing and went to hug him as well.

  ‘Heath!’ he exclaimed, slapping his old friend on the back. ‘My gods, I don’t believe it! You were supposed to have died!’

  ‘Oh, I wouldn’t go and do a thing like that,’ Heath said easily. ‘There’s no money in it. But I didn’t think I’d find you alive. After all, you’re the sort of noble person who’d go and die heroically. We criminals aren’t good enough for that!’

  Myfina hadn’t let go of his hand. ‘Heath, I’m so sorry we left you like that. There was no time … I begged Saeddryn
to bring you with us, but she said it would kill you if she did. We couldn’t go back after that. I kept asking her to look for you, but she said she never found you.’

  ‘I think I’d have noticed if she did,’ said Heath. He looked up warily — Shar had approached, and was eyeing his partner.

  Heath’s shaggy griffin kept his distance, but didn’t back down when Shar stood over him, her feathers puffed out aggressively. For a few tense moments the two griffins faced off, until the male relaxed and looked away. ‘I am Eck-hoo,’ he said. ‘This human here is mine, but he is not a threat to yours. I am not here to intrude on your territory; my human and I came to find you so that we could join your cause. We have a common enemy.’

  ‘Which enemy?’ Shar asked, apparently not satisfied by this little speech.

  ‘The Unpartnered, who destroyed Skenfrith, which was my home where I had hatched,’ Eck-hoo said. ‘I could not risk staying there once they had overrun it, so I found this human to help me leave. A griffin cannot travel alone, and this human has been useful to me.’

  ‘I don’t believe it,’ Caedmon murmured to Heath. ‘You, a griffiner.’

  ‘I know,’ Heath said ruefully. ‘The whole world’s gone mad.’

  ‘I didn’t know you spoke griffish,’ said Myfina.

  ‘I don’t,’ said Heath. ‘Echo here’s taught me a few words, though.’

  ‘He cannot say my name,’ said Eck-hoo. ‘But that does not matter. Is there food here? Shelter? We have travelled a long way and we need both.’

  Shar huffed. ‘You may hunt here; this is not yet my territory. But you will need to make peace with Garsh, who is hiding nearby ready to kill you if you are an enemy.’

  ‘I understand,’ said Eck-hoo, ignoring the threat. ‘I will stay until my human is sheltered, then hunt.’

  ‘Yes, come with us,’ said Caedmon. ‘We don’t have much, but there’s a fire.’

  ‘Can’t wait,’ Heath said cheerfully.

  The moment they were at the camp and Heath had made himself comfortable by the fire, Myfina spoke.

  ‘Tell us everything,’ she said. ‘Where have you been? What happened to you? And where did you get that outfit from?’

  Heath huddled closer to the fire, holding his hands out. ‘Haven’t been near a fire in a while,’ he mumbled. ‘It’s good to be warm …’ He coughed on the last word, and for the first time Caedmon and Myfina saw how frail he had become. Myfina moved closer to help him, and he tried to say something, but went into a coughing fit that stopped him speaking for some time before he got his breath back.

  ‘No, no, it’s all right,’ he said as soon as he could. ‘It’s just a bit of a cough; I’ve had it for a while. So, what have you two been up to all this time? You look like a couple of beggars.’

  ‘Thank you.’ Caedmon grinned. ‘Nice try, Heath, but we asked first. Tell us what happened to you and then we’ll answer. We’ll even pay you.’

  ‘In what?’ Heath asked at once.

  ‘A cup of hot wine should do it, I think,’ said Myfina. She brought out a wineskin and squirted some of its contents into a pot. ‘I’ve been saving this for a special occasion, and I think this is it.’

  ‘Definitely,’ said Caedmon. ‘Does that sound like a good deal to you, Heath?’

  Heath chuckled. ‘I’d say you were being robbed, but mine is a very good story. It’s also long, so I’d better start …’

  TWELVE

  IN PAIRS

  Kullervo returned to Malvern as a human again, riding on Senneck’s back. Inva and Skarok flew just behind them, with Vander and Ymazu, but Prince Akhane and Zekh led the way during the last stretch. Before then Skarok and Senneck had led, since they knew the way to Malvern, but once the city had come into sight they fell back and let the superior Zekh go ahead.

  Kullervo was glad to see Malvern’s walls again. It had been a long time since he had left them behind, and now that he was back he realised just how much he had missed the city. It had become his home, he reflected, but it hadn’t really started to feel like one until he had been asked to leave it.

  The Eyrie already knew they were coming — Vander’s little messenger dragon had seen to that, and it had returned with instructions for them to land on top of the Council Tower.

  Sure enough, there was a welcoming committee waiting for them. Zekh landed in the open space provided, with Senneck and the others close behind. Kullervo dismounted, and nearly panicked when he saw the massive creature that came forward to inspect the Amorani griffin.

  A male griffin, bigger than any other griffin he had ever seen. A griffin whose feathers were silver and whose fur was pitch black. A griffin who was horribly familiar.

  Kullervo cringed backward, almost trying to hide behind Senneck’s wing. ‘The Mighty Skandar!’ he hissed.

  Skandar, however, paid no attention to the man he had once tried to kill. He sniffed at Zekh, who sensibly adopted a submissive posture, and once he was satisfied that he had intimidated the newcomer he turned his attention to the others. The griffins who had come with Akhane’s friends all dropped their heads respectfully, and so did Skarok, who was native to Malvern but was still a stranger to Skandar.

  Then it was Senneck and Kullervo’s turn.

  Thinking about it later on, Kullervo was honestly surprised that he hadn’t run away when he saw the dark griffin coming toward him. He moved back, feeling his stomach twist, and nearly fainted with relief when Skandar ignored him completely and instead began to inspect Senneck. She made the proper signs of respect to him, but there was a hint of excitement there as well. Her tail flicked from side to side, feathery fan making a dry brushing sound on the stonework. ‘Mighty Skandar,’ she purred. ‘It is an honour to meet you after so long.’

  He bit the back of her neck. ‘You female. What name?’

  ‘I am Senneck,’ she said. ‘And I come before you as your inferior in every way, glad to do whatever you ask.’ It was traditional for a griffin to say something like this when hoping to be admitted into another’s territory, but the promises weren’t usually so servile.

  It seemed to please Skandar, at least, and he moved away with a rasp of ‘You stay.’

  Kullervo, coming back to Senneck’s side, saw the human Skandar went to stand with, and felt his eyes widen again. Laela! He had almost expected it to be his father, and Laela certainly looked like him. She was wearing one of his finer robes, and the crown as well, and for once her hair was neat and glossy around her shoulders. But it wasn’t just her clothes that made her look like their father; there was something about the way she stood and the steady look on her face that made Kullervo think of Arenadd as he imagined he must once have been. Laela had found authority.

  Behind her there were other griffiners, all Northerners, of course. Kullervo only recognised one or two of them, but he found out later that they were Laela’s new councillors.

  The griffish formalities over with, Laela came forward. ‘Prince Akhane,’ she said in a loud, clear voice. ‘Welcome to Malvern, an’ welcome to the Kingdom of Tara. I’m glad to see yeh here.’ She had been practising her speech, too, Kullervo thought — it sounded much smoother than before, even if she hadn’t quite shed her crude peasant accent.

  Akhane seemed to appreciate the changes as well. He was wearing his own ceremonial clothing, complete with a small gold circlet, all of which made him look even more handsome than before. ‘Queen Laela,’ he said. ‘I am honoured to be here in your beautiful country, and in this Eyrie, which I have longed to see. And I am honoured to see you again.’

  Laela smiled at him, in a sweet way that Kullervo had never seen before. ‘Thank you for comin’ here. An’ you, Vander, it’s good to see you again too. Now,’ she went on, as Vander nodded politely in response, ‘Prince Akhane, I have somethin’ to ask of you.’

  He must have been expecting this, because he only inclined his head pleasantly and said, ‘Ask whatever you wish, Queen Laela.’

  Her smile turned a little shy. ‘I rule Ta
ra, but I can’t rule alone. Prince Akhane, you were my husband in Amoran — will yeh be my husband in the North as well, an’ rule with me?’

  ‘I will,’ he said gravely.

  ‘Good!’ And now Laela did take him by surprise, throwing her arms around him and kissing him. Akhane kissed her back, and several of the nobles there smiled to themselves.

  Kullervo smiled too, mostly with relief. He had always wondered what arranged marriages were like, and he had worried over whether this one would work. But Akhane had sounded affectionate when he talked about Laela during the voyage, and Laela had been the same when she had talked about him, so maybe it wasn’t really arranged at all. After all, arranged marriages in stories were always thought up by parents, but this one had been thought up by Laela and Akhane themselves.

  ‘I’ve arranged for a celebration tonight, here on the tower-top,’ said Laela, once she and Akhane had finished their embrace. ‘If that’s all right with you?’

  ‘Of course,’ he said. ‘Once Zekh and I have rested, we will be glad to come.’

  ‘There’s plenty of time,’ said Laela. ‘Let’s go inside an’ you’ll be shown to yer rooms.’