Windbreak

by Derek Alan Siddoway

  Seppo fell to the ground again as whatever strength he’d found in the Wonder faded. He looked to Eva, helpless and raised a weak arm to block Ogunn’s incoming strike. Bellowing, Ogunn punched Seppo in the head once, twice, with blows that would have shattered an anvil. Pale smoke billowed out of Seppo’s helmet and chest runes.

  Eva looked down and spotted her sword on the ground. She bent over to retrieve it, the weapon suddenly feeling heavier than a forge hammer.

  “Help him, boy!” she yelled at Fury.

  Fury leaped into the air and struck Ogunn in the back with all his might as the golem stood over Seppo. The dark golem spun around, batting at the gryphon but Fury pulled away too fast.

  With Ogunn temporarily distracted, Eva staggered forward as fast as her battered body would move. Ogunn turned his back to her, fending off Fury’s attack and Eva swung her sword back and hurled it toward Seppo. The blade clanged off the ground and Seppo rolled over pulling it into his fist with outstretched fingers.

  “Go, Evelyn!” he shouted.

  Summoning the last of her strength, Eva half ran, half limped toward the forge, willing her broken body to go faster.

  Twenty paces.

  She glanced to her right and saw Fury spin out of the air as Ogunn’s fist gripped his wing and yanked him down. The heat of the forge scorched Eva’s face.

  Ten paces.

  Seppo staggered to his feet, clenching the rune sword. Ogunn spun away from Fury and saw Eva nearing the mouth of the Forge. The intense heat instantly dried the sweat from her body and scorched Eva’s hair. She held up a hand to block the blinding light.

  Five paces.

  Eva’s whole body screamed for respite. Three steps away, her injured leg buckled and she fell to the ground.

  Ogunn roared and sprinted for her. Behind the dark golem, illuminated in the hellish glow of the forge, Eva saw Seppo leap, driving the rune sword through the back of Ogunn's helmet. The blade flared white-hot like the day it had been forged as it pierced through the front of Ogunn’s helmet. The black flames on Ogunn’s body quenched in an instant. Eva crawled forward and pulled herself to her feet.

  She stood at the mouth of the forge now and the flames licked at her, hotter than anything she had ever imagined. She didn’t how she hadn’t been burned to a crisp already.

  “EVA!”

  She heard Tahl’s screams but refused to look at him, afraid she would lose her nerve.

  Closing her eyes, Eva took one last step and fell forward into the mouth of the First Forge.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Tahl watched Eva give herself to the flames and screamed. Screamed like he wouldn’t have thought possible until his throat burned like the fires of the First Forge itself. Eva disappeared in an instant as the flames engulfed her. He twisted in the iron embrace of the Smelterborn holding him until it felt like his arms would tear from his shoulders. It did no good.

  The sky shook again, thunder booming so loud many of the half-standing walls around them crumbled and fell, crushing the Smelterborn beneath them.

  A flash of white light burst from the mouth of the forge, knocking the host of golems around them to the ground. Still wrapped in the Smelterborn’s arms, Tahl fell hard. His head snapped back and collided with the golem’s breastplate. Everything went dark.

  Sometime later, Tahl’s eyes fluttered open. Groaning, he rolled over and realized he was lying next to the Smelterborn who’d been about to crush him. Dazed, Tahl stared at the golem for a moment before coming to his senses and scrambling away. The Smelterborn didn’t move — the orange fires beneath its helmet extinguished.

  The golem’s armor started corroding away before his eyes until it was nothing more than a pile of rusted filings. Everything came rushing back.

  Eva!

  Fighting his pounding head, Tahl clambered to his feet and ran to the First Forge. The domed top was split in half, the runes dull. The hellish heat and flames were gone.

  Eva’s body lay upon a pile of ash.

  Morning sunlight streamed down through the crack in the dome, illuminating her golden hair.

  A wounded cry escaped his lips and Tahl fell to his knees beside his love. He eased his shaking hands beneath Eva and gently turned her over. Somehow, the flames hadn’t consumed her but it made little difference. Her head lolled back, eyes closed, body limp. Aside from a smudge of ash on her face, she could have been sleeping.

  But she was gone.

  Sobs wracking his body, Tahl fell over Eva and clutched her as his tears fell into the ash. Gathering her in his arms, Tahl carried his love out of the ruins of the First Forge and laid her beneath the morning sun on the pale stone of the courtyard.

  Moments later, a heavy hand settled on Tahl’s back. He turned and found Soot, Wynn, Chel, and Ivan standing over him. Each of them stared down at Eva, tears coursing down their smoke-blackened faces.

  A heartbreaking scream cut through the silence and Fury bounded forward to his rider. The red gryphon nudged Eva’s cheek with his beak. When she didn’t respond, he sank down on all fours on the opposite side of Tahl. Fury’s head dipped to the ground and he let out a quiet chirp once, then fell silent.

  “Not her!” Tahl screamed. His heart-wrenching protests echoed throughout the empty city.

  The sky was a clear, bright blue — the same color as Eva’s eyes, Tahl bitterly reflected. The Smelterborn continued to decay around them until all that remained were piles of corroded dust. All was as it should have been, except Eva was gone. Chel and Wynn clutched each other, shaking. Soot just stared, silent tears running down his face. A broken, grief-stricken dirge rose from Ivan as he fought his emotions to honor the Queen of Rhylance.

  A mechanical groan rose behind them and the group turned. It was Seppo.

  The golem crawled toward them, the lower half of his body unmoving as he stretched out and pulled himself forward with one hand, the other dragging behind, clenched. Ivan fell silent when the golem reached Eva’s side.

  “You did this!” Tahl screamed, his face twisted with rage and agony. “She's dead because of you!”

  The glowing blue orbs inside Seppo’s helmet flickered as he looked down at Eva.

  “I…no…”

  His garbled and broken voice fell silent. Tahl shook his head, overcome by grief. He unclenched his shaking fists and brushed away a strand of hair blown across Eva’s face by the gentle breeze stirring around them.

  Seppo groaned and stretched out his closed hand. Slowly, his fingers curled open to reveal the Aithos stone — Eva’s Wonder. Tahl lifted the stone from Seppo’s palm and the white stone gave a weak flicker. He arranged the necklace around Eva’s neck, vision blurred with tears. The light of the stone blinked once more then faded away.

  “Th-thank you,” Seppo gasped, his voice fading. “For being…my…friendsssss…”

  The golem’s head fell forward and his armored body fell still.

  “Seppo?” Soot knelt down beside his longtime companion. He gave the golem’s shoulders a gentle shake. “Come on you old rust bucket, get up.”

  Seppo didn’t respond. All that remained of the friendly golem was an empty suit of armor. Whatever rune magic had once given him life was gone.

  Tahl looked down at Eva again. In death, she looked at peace. He closed his eyes willing it all to go away, to find himself back on their ledge at the Gyr in each other’s arms.

  Someone coughed.

  Wild hope surged through Tahl and he looked down at Eva. The white stone on her breast rose as she took a ragged gasp of air. Woman and Wonder flickered back to life.

  Eva’s eyes opened and she saw Tahl kneeling over her.

  “Eva?” he said in a disbelieving voice. “Eva!”

  Soot, Ivan, Wynn, and Chel crowded around them shouting, laughing and crying. Suddenly a huge feathered head knocked them all away and Fury let out a screech of joy, rubbing his beak against Eva’s neck.

  Eva groaned and Tahl helped her sit up, with the aid of several tr
embling hands. She looked down at her feet and saw Seppo’s still body lying on the courtyard stone.

  “He saved you!” Soot said, tears running down his face. “He brought you back to life!”

  Soot’s words cut through Eva’s confused and foggy mind. “Ogunn!” she yelled, glancing around, eyes wide. “The Smelterborn!”

  “They’re gone, Eva,” Tahl said, wiping the tears from his face and smearing it with ash and charcoal in the process. “You did it. They’re all gone. The First Forge is destroyed.”

  Eva’s heart sank as she looked at Seppo and realized that he too was no more.

  “It’s okay,” Soot said, sniffing and wiping the back of his good hand across his nose. He heaved out a deep breath, shoulders drooping, then looked at Seppo. A small smile crossed the smith’s face. “He’s at peace now. And he gave you back to us.”

  “But…how?” Eva trailed off. “I should be dead!”

  “It was the Wonder.” Ivan pointed to the stone which had fallen into Eva’s lap. “Whatever power Seppo imbued it with, whatever life it held brought you back.”

  Eva stared down at the stone, its surface swirling with a blend of gold, rose and cerulean light. She thought of her father, and his golden gryphon, Sunflash, of their courage and daring. She thought of her uncle Adelar, his love for Rhylance and its people. And she thought of Sigrid and Sven and their loyalty. Last of all, she thought of Seppo. Their sacrifices hadn’t been meaningless. They hadn’t died in vain.

  “What now, your highness?” Tahl asked. He winked a bloodshot eye and Eva saw that familiar, cocky smirk on his face. Smiling, she reached around his neck and pulled him close.

  Soot gave an awkward cough, and Wynn a gagging noise before their lips parted.

  Eva looked at the others and shook her head, laughing. An old smith, an outcast plains warrior, two gryphon riders and…her. A scared, awkward smith’s assistant who had somehow become a queen. Together, they’d done the impossible. They’d stopped the iron storm.

  Eva stood and leaned against Fury, swaying on unsteady feet. The red gryphon gave her another reassuring nudge and Lord Vyr’s pronouncement came to mind as she looked from Fury’s eagle head to his lion’s body.

  “The eagle, the lion and the queen,” she whispered. “How about that?”

  With help, Eva swung onto Fury’s back, Chel climbing up behind her. Mounted on Lucia and Carroc, the others waited for her to take to the sky.

  She smiled. “Let’s go home.”

  Chapter Thirty

  “You sure about this?” Soot asked in his usual, gruff voice. “Doesn’t seem fitting for some lowly smith to crown the Queen of Rhylance.”

  Eva laughed. “Don’t you try to get out of this. You promised!”

  Soot held up his metal hand, newly fitted to replace the one tarnished and battered from their journey. “What if I drop it?”

  Eva rolled her eyes and stood on her tip-toes to kiss him on the cheek. “You’ll be fine.”

  They were in Adelar’s private chambers in the citadel. Eva took a deep breath and examined herself in the long mirror while Wynn fussed with her white dress. It was a thing of beauty, woven with gold and silver so that it shimmered like her Wonder whenever she moved. The white stone hung from her neck, winking and sparkling as a reminder of Seppo, the friendly golem.

  Chel, her hair braided with flowers, held Eva’s rune sword in her hands with its gold-chased scabbard and belt. Soot frowned at it.

  “I still don’t know what kind of queen wears a sword to her coronation and wedding.”

  “A warrior queen,” Chel said with a grin as she buckled it around Eva’s waist.

  Wynn made her last adjustments and stepped back to admire Eva. The young Windsworn cut a dashing figure herself in the royal blue of the gryphon riders combined with a silver cloak, marking her a member of the Queen’s Wing.

  The study door opened and Andor stood before them in his finest uniform, armor polished until it gleamed like a precious gem. “Ready, your highness?” he asked, grinning.

  “I told you not to call me that!” Eva said. But a smile tugged at her lips and she held out her arms for Andor and Soot to escort her. Wynn and Chel took their places behind to carry Eva’s train.

  They walked slowly through the empty hall, Eva’s heart racing as the guards came to attention. The doors opened and a wave of jubilation hit them.

  All of Gryfonesse seemed to be packed into the courtyard and palace grounds. The crowd cheered and laughed as they passed, tossing flower petals to line the path of their new queen. Eva fixed a nervous smile on her face and butterflies fluttered in her stomach from the sheer number of people watching her.

  Farther down the corridor, rows of visitors from Pandion and Maizoro, in addition to Scrawls and even a few Juarag, waited to pay their respects to the Queen of Rhylance. Eva nodded to the Scrawl Elders, Belka, and Arapheem as she passed by. The old Juarag raider inclined his head, a measure of how far they’d come over the previous months.

  Beyond the foreigners, a line of Windsworn, both riders and gryphons, stood at attention. The summer sun glinted off their winged helms and the gryphons joined together in a wild scream when Eva reached them, sending a chill down her back.

  At the front of the line, Eva saw Fury and Ivan. The red gryphon’s copper-colored feathers and fur shone like burnished steel. He ruffled his head and clawed at the stone flagging in anticipation. Ivan shot Eva a reassuring grin and gestured toward the man standing beside him.

  Tahl.

  He looked like a hero straight out of a Scrawl's legend in his shining armor and golden cloak. When he winked at Eva her heart fluttered like the first time she’d seen him all those years before in the market.

  “You’re beautiful,” he said when Soot and Andor stepped back and Eva took his hands.

  The sounds of the crowd and Ivan’s words wedding them together fell way as Eva and Tahl looked into one another’s eyes. She stirred when the Scrawl stopped speaking and they turned to face him.

  “Please kneel.”

  Eva and Tahl dropped to one knee as Soot crowned Eva and Andor did the same for Tahl. When they rose, a thunderous cheer filled the palace grounds, rising into the clear blue sky above. The applause lasted for several long moments until Ivan raised his hands for quiet. When the last shouts and claps faded, Ivan grasped Eva and Tahl’s wrists and lifted their hands overhead.

  “All hail Queen Evelyn Vakarin and her husband, King Tahl! Long may they reign with fair winds under peaceful skies!”

  The end?

  The gryphons will return.

  Author's Note

  Gryphons first captured my attention years ago when, as a young, impressionable kid (well under the suggested age for “Teen” video games) I was introduced to Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness by some irresponsible older cousins. Whenever I got kicked off the computer and had to *gasp* play outside, I often took on the imaginary mantle of said gryphon riders on my many childhood adventures. When it came time to start a new series, the noble gryphon riders resurfaced again and the Windsworn were born.

  Writing the Gryphon Riders Trilogy has been my most rewarding and challenging project to date. My goal from the onset was to create a fresh take on “dragon rider” fantasy books with plenty of new ideas and familiar tropes mixed together. Of course, like everything fantasy I write, I threw in a splash of frontier fantasy and medieval western elements just for flavoring. Altaris, if you hadn’t gathered, has many features similar to North America: the formidable Windswept Mountains much like the Rockies with the Endless Plains and the Juarag taking the place of the Great Plains and its Native American tribes. On top of that, I laid a hodgepodge of other features: Ice Age animals, a shifted equator (if you were wondering why it’s warmer to the north and colder to the south in Altaris) and the shadowed remains of an Atlantean/Grecian empire.

  In short, I had a blast creating this world and I hope you had just as much fun venturing into it with Eva and company. I’ve got m
any more plans for Altaris and I hope you’ll come back and visit many more times.

  If you’re reading this then chances are you’ve stuck with me through all three books. You don’t know how much that means to me. Writing isn’t always some mythical, magical thing: it’s often frustrating and lonely. I’m not saying that to complain — I love being an author. I say that because it’s readers like you that make it all worthwhile. Thank you.

  On that note, if you want to be even more awesome, one of the greatest things you could do is write a review for this book (or any of my books). Or, if reviewing isn’t your thing, just recommend them to a friend! If you feel the inclination to do either of those things, you can find a complete list of all of my books on the next page.

  Until next time, thank you again. Here’s wishing you fair winds and clear skies.

  — DAS (Derek Alan Siddoway)

  Also by the author

  Gryphon Riders Trilogy

  Windsworn (Gryphon Riders Book 1)

  Windswept (Gryphon Riders Book 2)

  Windbreak (Gryphon Riders Book 3)

  Teutevar Saga

  Into Exile (Teutevar Saga Book 0)

  Out of Exile (Teutevar Saga Book 1)

  Return to Shadow (Teutevar Saga Book 2)

  Other works

  Lone Wolf Anthology: A dark and heroic fantasy collection

  Swords for Hire: A Frontier Fantasy and Medieval Western Story Anthology

  Valiant (short story)

  Want more awesome books?

  Now that you’ve finished the Gryphons Riders Trilogy don’t miss out on a free copy Out of Exile, the first book in the Teutevar Saga series, as well as two exclusive Teutevar Saga origin stories, special perks, sneak peeks and more just by joining my newsletter, The Athelon Archives.