The Shadow's Heart

by K J Taylor

  You lied, his conscience whispered. You lied to her and made her betray her own son.

  Kullervo’s heart ached. But still he did nothing. He obediently took Saeddryn up into the Governor’s Tower, and into the room they had picked out and prepared long ago.

  Once it had been a simple storeroom, but its contents had now been removed. The window had been enlarged, allowing sunlight to shine on a stone block that had been hastily carved with a sunwheel. A bunch of flowers stood on it, and incense brought in especially had been burned there every day. Akhane’s two priest friends had blessed the room from wall to wall, performing all the rituals of purification in the name of the Sun God several times. They had prayed there too, along with Akhane and several of the Southerners staying in the tower. If any room could become a sun temple, this one had.

  When Kullervo took Saeddryn inside, he knew immediately that their efforts had succeeded. The instant he stepped over the threshold, Saeddryn gasped in pain and went limp. He could feel her breathing become fast and shallow, and he knew that the room’s influence must have stripped away her powers. He, too, felt uneasy here, and had done ever since the blessings had been made. That had been proof enough for Senneck, at least.

  Akhane and the two priests came running shortly after Kullervo entered the room. Kraego came with them, and went to crouch by the makeshift altar and watch.

  Heart fluttering, Kullervo took the flowers off the altar and laid Saeddryn down there. The two priests stepped in and tied her down with some ropes that had been put in place long ago. Once she was secured, one of them stood aside and began to chant a prayer, while the other hurried to light a brazier.

  Akhane picked up a long golden knife and looked expectantly at his wife and her brother. ‘Who will do the deed?’

  ‘Not me,’ said Laela. ‘I’m no good with a knife. An’ besides …’ She looked uneasy.

  Akhane turned to Kullervo. ‘You should do it, Sacred One,’ he said. ‘You are the one with the power.’

  Kullervo blanched. ‘No. No, I couldn’t …’

  ‘Very well, then,’ said Akhane. ‘I will do it. I have read many books about the human anatomy.’

  ‘Do not begin until my mother is here,’ Kraego piped up. ‘She wished to see this for herself.’

  ‘She won’t fit in here,’ said Laela, glaring at him.

  ‘She does not need to,’ Senneck interrupted from the window. Her head poked through, haloed with light. ‘Has she told you where her son has hidden himself?’

  ‘Yeah, she has,’ said Laela. ‘We wouldn’t be doin’ this if she hadn’t.’

  ‘We must begin now,’ said Akhane. ‘The sun will not reach this room for much longer.’

  ‘Go on,’ said Laela.

  The two priests took up station at Saeddryn’s head and feet, and recited a verse from their own sacred book. It was in Amorani, but Kullervo had been told that it was to do with the banishment of evil and the protection of life.

  Akhane stood between them, at Saeddryn’s side. She was awake now, moaning softly as the power of the temple burned inside her.

  Using griffish, Akhane began to recite something he had written beforehand, conducting a ritual that had never been performed before — and hopefully never would be again.

  ‘Years ago, a wise griffin of this land gave a message to humankind: “Find the heart of the heartless one, and so destroy the creature the Night God sent.” The one who heard those words tried to follow them, but died for his courage. Today we remember him, and them, and we will carry them out as they were meant to be carried out. We will remove the heart of this abomination, and so destroy it forever. We do it in your name, mighty Xanathus, who is also called Gryphus. We destroy this monster of the shadows, and so protect the life you create and bless. Bring your power to us now, and help us, we pray to you!’ He held up the dagger so it caught the sunlight, making Senneck hiss angrily when it was reflected into her eyes.

  Then Akhane brought the dagger down, into Saeddryn’s chest, and slowly and laboriously hacked out her heart.

  Saeddryn came fully awake then. Her scream was unearthly.

  It would stay with Kullervo for the rest of his life.

  Akhane’s face twisted with revulsion, but he didn’t hesitate. He cut away until he had made a hole, ignoring Saeddryn’s screams and struggles, and forced her ribs apart. He thrust his hand into the gap and pulled out her heart with an almighty wrench.

  The instant it came free, Saeddryn went limp. Her sufferings were over.

  Akhane held up the heart. It was slick with blood, but underneath they could all see what it had become.

  It was withered and shrunken, leathery, crossed with black veins. Anyone who saw it could tell that it had not beaten in a long time. This was the heart of a dead thing.

  Akhane examined it with morbid fascination. ‘It is so cold … Argh!’

  He jerked his hand away, dropping the heart. It landed on the altar, by Saeddryn’s arm.

  Kullervo, stepping closer, saw Saeddryn’s hand twitch. The broken fingers curled inward. He nudged the heart away with his talon, and the movement stopped the moment it lost contact with the skin.

  Akhane was shivering, rubbing his hands. ‘It attacked me!’ he said. ‘I felt it … it felt as if it were trying to take the life out of my body.’

  Kullervo breathed in sharply. ‘Look!’ he said.

  ‘It’s horrible,’ Laela grimaced. ‘Like old boot leather.’

  ‘No, can’t you see it?’ said Kullervo. ‘There’s mist … black mist coming out of it.’

  ‘I can’t see nothin’,’ said Laela. ‘Destroy it, now.’

  Akhane nodded toward Kullervo. ‘This is your task, winged man. Destroy the heart. We cannot allow it to exist.’

  Kullervo picked it up cautiously, using his talon tips to stop it from touching his skin. But he still felt the hideous cold bite into him, before he dropped the heart into the brazier.

  The flames licked around it, making the blood sizzle and dry. For a moment they rose higher, hiding the heart from view. But then they died down again, burning lower and dimmer until they went out.

  The heart sat on the coals, untouched.

  ‘Shit!’ said Laela. ‘What the …?’

  Akhane, frowning, tried to stab the heart with his dagger. The blade bounced off its surface without leaving a mark. He tried again, harder, but the dagger only twisted out of his hand with the impact.

  ‘Indestructible,’ the prince breathed. ‘By Xanathus …’

  ‘All right, then,’ said Laela. ‘If we can’t destroy it, we’ll just get rid of it. Hide it somewhere. An’ we’ll get rid of the body too. We can’t destroy the heart, but we can destroy the body, an’ as long as they’re not put back together, we’re fine.’

  The people in the room all looked at each other, as if daring anyone to step forward.

  ‘You take it, Lord Kullervo,’ said Akhane, still nursing his hand. ‘You should be strong enough to protect yourself from it.’

  ‘What should I do with it?’ asked Kullervo.

  ‘Just keep it safe,’ said Laela. ‘Never tell anyone yeh got it; never let anyone see it.’

  ‘But … me?’ said Kullervo. ‘Isn’t there someone else …?’

  ‘I trust yeh more than anyone else in the world,’ Laela said with a smile. ‘More than enough t’trust yeh with this.’

  ‘Here,’ said Akhane, offering Kullervo a leather pouch. ‘This should be large enough.’

  Very carefully, Kullervo lifted the heart out of the brazier. It was just as icy cold as before. He stuffed it into the pouch and tied it shut, feeling better the moment it was out of sight.

  Laela looked happier as well. ‘Right, then,’ she said. ‘Finished. Whew. Thank gods. You — ’ She turned to Senneck. ‘I got a job for yeh.’

  Senneck put her head on one side. ‘What do you want me to do?’

  Laela pointed at Saeddryn’s corpse. ‘After executions the executioners always give the body
back t’the family. Take care of that, would yeh? An’ take some friends with yeh too. Kullervo can stay here.’

  Senneck’s eyes narrowed. ‘I will do it gladly, Queen Laela.’

  THIRTY-TWO

  THE END OF ALL HOPE

  After the adulthood ceremony, Caedmon and Myfina stayed on with the lost tribe. Now that they had been initiated they had full status, and weren’t forced to go with their teachers. Free to do more as they pleased, they spent most of their time together and used it to gather food and improve their lodgings.

  Both of them felt ready to leave the island, but by now they had become so used to life with the tribe that staying was easier. And Caedmon wanted to wait for Saeddryn to come back.

  ‘She’ll tell us what the situation is, and whether she managed to kill the man-griffin. Besides, if we leave she won’t know where to find us.’

  ‘I don’t know about that,’ said Myfina. ‘She has a way of knowing where people are. Haven’t you noticed?’

  ‘Of course I have,’ said Caedmon. ‘But I told her I’d wait.’

  ‘I suppose.’ Myfina touched her belly. ‘But she’d better come back soon. I don’t want to be travelling with a baby.’

  ‘You already are.’ Caedmon grinned.

  ‘You know what I mean.’ She paused. ‘We should go and see how the griffins are doing.’

  Caedmon nodded thoughtfully. He and Myfina had gone over to the griffin island as planned after the ceremony, but only Garsh had come when they called, and even he had been reluctant.

  ‘Shar will not come,’ Garsh had said briefly. ‘Her young are not ready to be left behind.’

  ‘What young?’ Caedmon had asked.

  ‘She has laid my eggs,’ Garsh had explained. ‘Her chicks are still in the nest. She will not leave them.’

  So the two humans had left, with no idea of when Shar’s eggs had hatched or how long it would take before she was ready to leave.

  ‘I’m not worried about the chicks,’ Caedmon said now. ‘We can just carry them with us if we have to. It’s not unheard of with partnered griffins, if there’s a need for it.’

  ‘Maybe, but you’ll have to do a lot of persuading,’ said Myfina.

  Caedmon shrugged. ‘No time like the present. Will you come with me?’

  ‘Of course.’ Myfina stood up and went to put on an extra layer of furs.

  She and Caedmon crossed the island, following a track they had both come to know very well that headed for the sea.

  ‘I wish she’d come back,’ Caedmon said along the way. ‘She’s been gone too long. I hope something bad hasn’t happened to her.’

  ‘Her?’ said Myfina. ‘Don’t be silly. Bad things happen to other people when she’s about, not the other way around.’

  ‘Yes, but it still bothers me. If something did happen to her, we’d have no way of knowing about it.’ Caedmon frowned. ‘We should leave soon. We’ve stayed here too long.’

  ‘So you keep saying.’ They had reached the coast by now, and Myfina uncovered a bark canoe they had stashed among some rocks. ‘Help me with this, will you?’

  Caedmon helped her drag it to the water, and the two of them climbed aboard and paddled out toward the griffin island. Fortunately, the sea was fairly calm at the moment.

  On the other side, they hauled the canoe out of the water, but left it just barely out of reach of the waves. Staying close to the water themselves, they cautiously scanned the sky. Caedmon had brought his spear and kept it ready in his hand.

  The moment a hostile griffin came near, they would both dive into the sea. It would make them hard to spot, plus griffins hated water and would be unlikely to try very hard to get at them.

  Myfina cupped her hands around her mouth, and screeched her own name like a griffin would. ‘Myfina! Myfina!’

  Caedmon squared his shoulders and added his voice to hers. ‘Caedmon! Caedmon!’

  They called for as long as they could, and rested while they waited for a response.

  Eventually, a faint call came back. It was difficult to make out the name.

  Caedmon and Myfina both watched closely, still on the alert in case of danger.

  Then Caedmon pointed. ‘There!’

  Sure enough, a griffin had appeared in the sky. It circled overhead for a while until it spotted them, and came down toward them. Myfina tensed, but Caedmon nodded and smiled. ‘It’s Shar!’ he said. ‘I’d know her anywhere.’

  The griffin landed on top of a nearby sand dune. It was indeed Shar, and she was not alone. Four youngsters landed more clumsily here and there on the sand, then scurried back to their mother’s flanks. Shar held out her wings to cover them and looked calmly at Caedmon.

  ‘My human has become wild,’ she said.

  ‘So have you, I think,’ said Caedmon.

  Shar didn’t seem much like the griffin who had once lived in Malvern’s Eyrie, with servants to bring her food and clean her nest. Her fur and feathers were grubbier, but managed to look glossier at the same time, even though there were visible scars on her haunches and a row of what had to be talon-scratches on her beak. Her eyes looked brighter and her talons sharper, and she seemed leaner, but in a way that made her seem more powerful than she had ever done before.

  But she was more restless, too, and she soon looked away from Caedmon to check on her chicks and watch out for danger. She didn’t lie down or sit on her haunches, but stayed standing with her talons extended, like a wild animal ready to fight or run the moment she had to.

  ‘I have learned,’ she said shortly. ‘This place has shown me what a griffin truly is.’

  ‘And what’s that?’ asked Caedmon. He was genuinely curious.

  ‘A wild creature,’ said Shar. ‘The most dangerous creature in the world.’ She looked proud, and fierce as well. ‘I have fought as a griffin should, and mated as a griffin should, and here are the young that I have raised.’

  Caedmon eyed them. They were more than old enough for him to spot their genders right away: three females and a male, all showing various shades of brown and russet inherited from their parents. They eyed him back warily. He must have been the first human they had ever seen.

  ‘When will they be ready to leave?’ he asked.

  ‘They are ready to leave now,’ said Shar. ‘They will come with us when we leave this place. Garsh and I have defeated every other griffin on this island; we are the dominant pair now. We have won that challenge, and now we are prepared to battle for supremacy over all the North.’

  ‘Where’s Garsh?’ asked Myfina.

  ‘He is well,’ said Shar. ‘I will tell him that you have been here. He is larger than I am, but I am the more powerful fighter, and my human is superior to his. Therefore I will be the one to fight the Mighty Skandar.’

  Even now, Caedmon shivered at the idea. ‘You really think you can do it?’

  ‘I will fight him and I will defeat him,’ said Shar. ‘The Mighty Skandar has grown old, and life among humans has made him fat and soft. He will be no match for me.’

  It was an impressive boast, and Caedmon had to nod and say, ‘Of course. We’re still waiting for my mother to come back. She’ll have news for us. Once she’s with us again, we can leave.’

  ‘She is not here?’ said Shar.

  ‘No, she left a couple of weeks ago. She said she was going to Warwick to kill the man-griffin.’

  ‘I do not like this,’ said Shar, eyes narrowing. ‘She should have come back by now.’

  Caedmon began to feel uneasy. ‘Maybe you’re right … everything’s so quiet here that I didn’t really think that much about it. What do you think we should do?’

  ‘The time for Kraeaina kran ae to guide us is past,’ said Shar. ‘She is not your leader, and if she cannot be here beside you when she should be, then forget it. We must leave the island now, before winter comes again. She will find us herself.’

  Caedmon shook himself. ‘Maybe you’re right. My training is finished. I’m a man now, and I shouldn’t stil
l be worrying about what my mother thinks.’

  ‘Agreed,’ said Myfina. ‘We should leave. The tribe doesn’t need us around eating their food any more.’

  ‘Yes …’ Caedmon scratched the now-healed tattoos on his face. ‘It’s time to take charge. Let’s go back to the mainland, say … tomorrow. Why not? Is that all right with you, Shar?’

  ‘It is,’ said Shar. ‘I have been prepared to leave for some days now, and was only waiting for you to come and say you were also ready. I will go and find Garsh now, and we will come to the human island and meet you at dawn.’

  ‘Right,’ said Caedmon. ‘We’ll wait on the easternmost beach. There’s enough landing room there, and you’ll be able to see us easily from the sky.’

  ‘Then we are agreed.’ Shar unceremoniously flew off, with her chicks close behind.

  After that there was nothing for Caedmon and Myfina to do but return to the tribe’s island.

  ‘We’d better go and tell Llygad we’re leaving,’ said Caedmon. ‘But first …’

  But first they returned to their hut. There, Caedmon unfolded a large fur that he had been using as a bedspread. Henwas’ griffin-skin robe.

  Caedmon put it on and found that it fitted him quite well. ‘I’m taking this with me when we leave,’ he said. ‘I know it’ll make me look strange to everyone back home, but I’m not leaving it behind.’

  ‘It’s the only thing we have to remember Henwas,’ Myfina agreed. She smiled sadly. ‘It looks good on you.’

  ‘It’s smelly, just like he said.’ Caedmon chuckled. ‘Come on, let’s go.’

  Llygad was out hunting, but they found him that evening when he returned to the village. When Caedmon told him they were leaving, he squinted and rubbed his nose.

  ‘I had thought you would leave sooner.’

  ‘We were waiting for my mother to come back,’ said Caedmon. ‘But we can’t stay here and keep being a burden. We’re both grateful for everything you’ve taught us. When we’ve won our war, I’ll send people out here to bring you food and good weapons. You’ll be a part of my kingdom, and can ask for anything you want.’

  He had already promised this long before, and Llygad nodded curtly by way of reply.