Unicorn Valley 1: Gryphon’s Heart

by Lena Austin

  Out of the corner of her eye, she saw movement. Kella’s household heard his roar. From up the hill, at the entrance to their foster home, several figures boiled out. Such was his rage it seemed to Teema as if it didn’t matter to him if the whole world heard.

  “No, Lionel, I didn’t lie,” Teema cried. She changed back to her human form. “I was afraid!”

  “Afraid you were? Afraid of what?” he demanded.

  “Afraid you wouldn’t love me as I am!” she sobbed. “You mother taught me to become a Gryphon so I could give you kittens.” Yesterday was the most beautiful day of her life. Learning to fly and finally spending time in Lionel’s arms was the fulfillment of lifelong dreams. Now they were hollow victories.

  “Cubs, damn it! Cubs!” he interrupted.

  “I like kittens!” Teema shouted back. “But I was fearful you’d love the Gryphoness and not me! Did you really love me, or was I merely a bad second choice? You proved me wrong, Lionel, or at least I thought so!”

  “Honored my vow, I did!” Lionel roared.

  Tears streaming down her face, Teema looked up as Shadow and Brolly pounded into the meadow. So intent on reaching the scene, they’d not bothered to change from their humanoid forms. Brolly still held the remains of his breakfast in his hand.

  She looked back at Lionel, her face now bitter. She hoped he’d hear the tinkle of her heart breaking. “So it wasn’t love that kept you from the Gryphoness’ temptation, but your stupid honor. You can’t know how sorry that makes me.” She shot a significant look at Brolly, who stood there in open-mouthed shock.

  “You aren’t sorry you deceived me?” Lionel demanded. His talons raked the ground, tearing huge furrows.

  “No, Lionel, I’m not sorry. I might’ve been if we’d not had this little chat,” Teema answered, her lip curling and her voice dripping with sarcasm. “I went to you last night, sure of your devotion, but wanted one last proof -- a night of love with Teema, not a pretty Gryphoness. I would’ve happily shown you my new form when I came back this morning, sure we’d fly to the sun together, and I’d give you kittens.” Another dream shattered. She had so looked forward to being a mother.

  “Cubs,” he muttered.

  “It doesn’t matter now, does it?” Teema tossed her hair. “You’ve proven to me your honor means more to you than love. I hope you enjoy the cold bed honor brings you.” She turned and started to walk away, but stopped and looked over her shoulder. “I became a Gryphon for you, Lionel. I would’ve learned how to live in the sky for you. Would you learn lupine to interest me? Would you learn the passions of the Werefolk? I doubt it.” With that, she transformed into a wolf and ran toward the forest, lost from sight.

  * * *

  Lionel stood as if rooted to the spot, beak hanging open, as a lonely howl sounded. “I am not understanding,” he said softly to the breeze.

  “Would you like an explanation, from a Werewolf point of view?” said Brolly’s voice from behind him.

  “Yes, in simple terms a Gryphon can understand,” sniggered Shadow. Many creatures could not stand up to the look Lionel shot him. Shadow laughed, as always.

  “All this before breakfast,” complained Lionel. A deer appeared out of thin air with a startled look, courtesy of Shadow’s magic, and Lionel got a short chase to relieve his frustrations before settling down to eat with typical Gryphon greed.

  Shadow and Brolly, after years of sharing meals with their foster brother, were not offended. Shadow resumed his normal shape and knelt in the grass of the meadow with the perfect grace of the Unicorns. Between gnawing on his own bone, Brolly settled down with his back comfortably against Shadow’s side like a giant gray pillow. Finally, Brolly tossed his bone into the tall grasses where it made a fine meal for insects and small scavengers. “All right then! We’ve all broken our fast, and I think your temper has cooled a bit by now. What happened? Start at the beginning.”

  With most of the deer now residing in his crop, Lionel was in a much better frame of mind and spoke calmly. “Yesterday, I met a Gryphoness at the lake where I have my sunning rock.” Both brothers nodded, knowing the place well. “She tried hard to seduce me to fly with her, but I chose Teema and resisted. My honor demanded this.”

  Shadow’s horn flashed silver in the sunlight as he nodded again. Brolly was more vocal. “I got that part. That was Teema in disguise. Why didn’t you tell us you’d met a Gryphoness?”

  “It was unimportant. I resisted her temptations. I am for Teema.” Lionel glanced at the forest where Teema fled, with an ache in his chest. “After you left last night, Teema came to me. She was in human form and extremely seductive. This time there was no need to resist. She said she was teaching me to be aggressive, like a Werewolf male was. It was,” he hesitated, “good.” Good was hardly the word, but he didn’t have the words to describe the events of the night. “I thought I achieved the passions of a Werewolf. She seemed pleased.”

  Brolly howled with laughter. “Sex is not all the passions of a Werewolf, dear brother! Go on! This becomes a good comedy of errors.”

  Lionel shot him a baleful look. “It isn’t comedy to me. This morning when I awoke, I saw Teema change into the Gryphoness. I was angry at the deception. I flew down to confront her. I’ll have no deception with my mate.”

  Shadow shuddered to give Brolly warning, then stood up and shimmered back to human. Brolly scrambled out of the way. “Let me see if I understand the situation, Lionel. She has now refused to be your mate twice. If I understand Gryphon conventions, if she refuses you a third time, you’ve no claim upon her, or she on you. Is that correct?”

  This was a side of Shadow Lionel rarely saw. The son of the Herd Stallion spoke now, titular heir to the ruler of the entire Valley. That indefinable cloak of dignity settled on Shadow’s shoulders. Shadow participated in the judgment council presided over by the Herd Stallion, or his designate. Shadow often performed this duty under the watchful eye of the Stallion, Tanne Brae.

  Lionel responded to his brother’s dignity with the respect due him, and bowed his head. It was not often Shadow assumed the mantle, but when he did, it commanded respectful answers. “That’s correct. It isn’t a legal bonding until she has flown in the skies with me.”

  Lionel stirred, reminded that the lovely Gryphoness who tempted him was his beloved Teema. He pictured them in the skies, with her shooting him a “come hither” look from those incredible eyes. What was he angry about? He couldn’t remember.

  “Then, my dear brother, you’ve but one chance left to make Teema fly with you. The fact she can do so should make you want her all the more,” Shadow said, with a purely male look of satisfaction. He raised one eyebrow in a canny imitation of his father. “It should make you as hard as your sunning rock that the bitch you love can also be the mate of your dreams.”

  Brolly stood and joined Shadow. In a voice so full of earnestness and sincerity, it was unlike Brolly, he said, “It all comes down to this question, Lionel. Do you want Teema, and Teema only? Do you love her enough to prove it and erase all her doubts?”

  The intensity of the question startled Lionel into answering in the same vein. “I’d do anything to prove I love Teema. Yet all I do isn’t good enough. I showed honor and devotion. I made love to her as thoroughly and as passionately as I know how. I don’t know how to prove it further.” What was he supposed to do? Turn into some sexual acrobat?

  Brolly laughed, returning to his usual self. “The answer is simple, Lionel. She already gave it to you. You must become a Werewolf and prove your affection in a way a Werewolf understands. Think on it. I’ll be on the edge of pack lands most of the day today. You will be able to spot me from the air easily enough in the red shirt I’m wearing. Shad and I will be gathering herbs. Let us know what you decide, won’t you?”

  With that, Brolly turned and gave Shadow a courtly bow. “And now, Great Prince of the Unicorns, if you’d be so kind as to provide me a ride and my tools, we’ll get to work!”

  “Great Pri
nce, my ass. You try it sometime, Fur Face. Why can’t you be magical enough to fetch your own damn basket of tools, hmm?” With that, Shadow changed, complete with saddle and the disputed basket fastened to the saddle horn.

  Brolly laughed louder and mounted up. “You thought me plenty magical the last time, when you decided you must try making love with a Dragoness who caught your eye. How long did it take me to heal you from that little tryst, hmm?”

  Shadow didn’t bother answering, but bucked a little before turning toward the forest and giving Brolly a jolting ride for a few steps. Brolly’s protests lingered on the breeze long after they were out of sight.

  Lionel flew to the cliffs above his nest. He hoped, with the wind in his face, he’d clear the miasma of churning thoughts and settle things into a logical pattern. There was no need yet to go to the edge, and he needed to pace without the temptation to fly around and accomplish nothing. So he paced among the rocks, even sharpening his claws on a convenient log, just for the sake of tearing into something.

  What was it Teema said that Brolly felt was the clue? Yes, his honor meant a great deal to him. However, so did Teema. This didn’t fit. He tried talking to her. However, the time was long past for conversation. Talk was based on the assumption that you can get somewhere if you keep putting words together. Words had failed. He closed his eyes and forced himself not to keen.

  He’d tried to make love. It wasn’t his first time, or hers, and he personally believed both found pleasure. That too wasn’t enough.

  He sat down to preen, and was a bit too vigorous in his frustration. A wing feather broke, and fell out. Caught by the wind, it floated away and became lodged against a rock. Lionel’s gaze followed the feather, half in irritation he’d lost a perfectly good feather, and half envying the lazy flight. When the wind blew it against the rock, his eye caught a tiny flash of red in the grass surrounding the rock.

  Curious, he saw the red was a small ribbon tied around a withered bundle of catnip. The catnip bundle was wedged into a cleft in the rock along with a tuft of gray fur, now joined by his feather.

  Then it hit him. Teema’s face, glistening with tears, saying, “I became a Gryphon for you, Lionel. I learned how to live in the sky for you. Would you learn lupine to interest me? Would you experience the passions of the Werefolk? I doubt it.”

  She gave up her fur for feathers, all for him. Could he give up his feathers for her? In all honor, he should. There was more than honor at stake here. His half-hearted attempts at Werewolf love failed because he hadn’t believed in, or wanted, the heart of a wolf. He wanted but one Werewolf heart -- Teema’s. To get it he must, not merely in honor but also in love, become a Werewolf. That is what Brolly meant. Form didn’t matter. The heart did. The breeze tossed the tuft of fur on top of his feather, and the meaning was not lost to him.

  That was the logical order he sought. He mustn’t only learn the form of a Werewolf, but also become a Werewolf. The passions would follow. Werewolf males sought their mate out of the pack and made them theirs. Brolly said so. He had a thousand questions for Brolly, now. A glance at the sun told him it was afternoon. He didn’t have long before night fell to learn all he needed to know. He made an undignified scramble for the cliff edge and went soaring.

  Brolly’s red shirt was indeed easy to spot, even if Brolly knelt on the ground, digging. Even as he landed, Brolly brandished some odd looking root in triumph to Shadow.

  Lionel changed to human form. This was no time for misunderstandings. “I understand now,” he said without preamble. “It is time to commit all, like a hawk stoops for prey. I will pull victory from the jaws of defeat and I’ve much to learn. There is but one way to the heart of a wolf, and it isn’t logic and reason. It is more than the form I must possess. I must have all the emotions of the Werewolves to truly understand Teema’s needs and be all she wishes and hopes for, even if it goes against my Gryphon logic. Tell me what I must do to leave my logic behind with my wings.”

  Chapter 5

  Teema was with her pack sisters and trying not to mope when a new wolf appeared in the pack gathering clearing. He was huge, even for a male in his prime, and tawny brown in color. While light-colored Werefolk weren’t rare, they often didn’t survive to adulthood. Compared to dark gray Aahz, he shone in the moonlight, and it wasn’t merely the silky health of his coat.

  It wasn’t unusual for a lone male to come to the packs, but more often than not, they enticed one bitch away without confrontation of the pack leader. Only the bravest and most experienced directly challenged Aahz. Even if he suffered defeat, the stranger would have respect for his bravery.

  Vera, one of the bitches about Teema’s age, wagged her tail before remembering this was a stranger and unwelcome until he proved himself. “Will you look at that? Grrrrr! Wouldn’t I love to have that one cover me!” she whined softly.

  “You can have him,” said Teema dispiritedly. No matter how handsome he was, she didn’t care about males or sex anymore. Her disinterest was such that, after her initial assessment, she didn’t care to even look further.

  “Girlfriend, I don’t know what has gotten into you!” Vera declared with a woof.

  “No one YET,” laughed another bitch Teema didn’t know. “But Aahz will no doubt cover Teema at her next heat.”

  Teema’s ears pinned back, and her tail sank beneath her legs. She couldn’t help it, but all she felt for Aahz was revulsion. He was a nice fellow and a good leader, but about as interesting to her as eating grain. She hung her head and would’ve slunk off to cry alone and in peace, when the words of the stranger penetrated the babbling bitches.

  “Yes, Aahz. I’ve come to claim one of your bitches,” the stranger rumbled.

  “Just one? As well you should try to claim them all, Stranger!” declared Aahz. “You know the Law, Lone One.” Aahz circled, but the stranger stood perfectly still, unmoved by Aahz’ raised hackles and bared teeth.

  The stranger cocked his head to one side, and his tail wagged. “Recite the Law for me, then, Aahz, so I may be sure you know it. I would have things fair and ethical between us.”

  This calm, confident stranger stunned Teema. Aahz made all the threat displays of one determined to defend his entire pack. Was it confidence or ignorance that made The stranger wag his tail and grin?

  “Very well, Stranger. It is the Law that the pack leader must defend his pack from all who would harm it, giving no bitch to another male unless he has earned her in a fair fight.”

  The stranger sighed. “Very well, Aahz. One can’t argue with the Law. However, I’ve a Law of my own. I must ask if you’ll spare yourself harm and yield now.”

  Aahz and the others howled their laughter while the stranger sat on his haunches and waited them out with perfect calm. “What a shame. You’re a good pack leader by all accounts, Aahz. I’ll try not to hurt you too much,” the stranger promised.

  Aahz couldn’t ignore that insult. He lunged for the stranger’s throat, intending to end it all quickly. Instead of leaping out of the way, the stranger pulled the oddest of moves, reaching out and swatted with one forepaw, sending Aahz rolling away. He hadn’t even moved from his seated position.

  Aahz leapt up from the roll and howled in anger. “What fighting is this?” he snarled.

  “My own, of course,” replied the stranger.

  Behind the stranger, and barely in view, Teema spotted Brolly pad in and sit, half-hidden by a bush. Brolly’s tongue lolled out, and his tail fanned the ground, sweeping a small arc behind him. Teema was relieved to see him. No matter who lost, and the question was now in doubt, Brolly was there to patch them up. No member of the Clans need be lost, not even a Lone One.

  This time, Aahz went in more slowly, but with the same ferocity, intending to close with the stranger for a good hard fight. When the pack leader leapt, the stranger rolled onto his back and flipped Aahz away again with a raking motion to Aahz’s belly.

  The stranger now stood, his head low, but his ears pricked forward.
Teema would’ve sworn she heard “Oops!” in an undertone, but she wasn’t sure.

  Teema winced in sympathy for Aahz, as did several other members of the pack. The stranger’s tactics were new and didn’t follow a pattern any of them understood. When Aahz stood back up, his back arched, signifying the stranger’s back claws caused some damage. How much, was anyone’s guess, but the fact that Aahz showed any evidence of injury spoke for itself.

  “He has injured Aahz!” someone shouted.

  The stranger sighed again. “I’m sorry about that, Aahz. I’m trying to be gentle, really I am. Won’t you yield and let me claim my mate?”

  “You’ll die for that insult, Stranger!” Aahz snarled. He paced around again, looking for a weak spot or opening in the stranger’s defenses.

  “Aw, shit. I must be good at insult when I mean otherwise. Oh, well, we can talk about it later,” the stranger said, seemingly as chagrined as his words sounded.

  Why did those words and the way they were used sound so familiar to Teema? She paced back and forth and pondered. “I know you,” she said in an undertone, “but from where?”

  The stranger glanced at her and grinned, showing all his gleaming teeth. “Ah, there you are! I’ll claim you in a minute, okay? I’m a bit…” Aahz took advantage of the distraction, came in low, intending to bite the stranger’s forelegs and break them. It didn’t work. The stranger leapt straight up in the air. “… occupied!”

  The stranger came down hard on Aahz’ back, but Aahz was a wily wolf with a long history of fights to his credit. He flipped onto his back, intending to get under the stranger’s guard, but the stranger was faster than Teema thought possible. In a moment, he had Aahz by the throat. Aahz lay still, beaten. With one simple movement of his jaws, Aahz would die.

  “Do you yield, Aahz, or must I be wasteful and kill you?” the stranger mind-spoke publicly, his jaws being occupied with ruff, skin, and meat.

  “Gaaaah! I yield! You’ve won my pack, Stranger. I submit.”