Wyntier's Rise (Creatures of the Lands Book 3)

by Natalie Erin

  Keota ducked as Luciana threw her frosting at him, arms over his head. “Oh no you don’t, Luce!” Keota said playfully. He peeled the frosting she threw at him off the house window, tossing it back at her. It smacked her in the face, and Keota laughed, tackling her to the ground. Their clothes were splattered with frosting as they landed. Luciana sat on top of Keota’s hips and said, “You look good, covered in cake.”

  “Thanks,” Keota said. “So do you.”

  Mirabelle dropped a piece of cake onto Ionan’s head, giggling. “Got ya, Papa!” she cried, flying off. Ionan laughed, only to be pelted by an abnormally large piece by Rex. In response, Ionan scooped up half of the cake and smeared it on the panther’s coat. The two Changers began pelting each other relentlessly with cake, though their actions were far from playful.

  “Take this Kennu!” Allie smashed the cake on her Accompany’s head. Kennu took the yellow frosting covering his hair and smeared it all over her feathers. Then, with a nasty smile, he headed over to Reagan.

  “You better not...”

  SPLAT. Reagan’s face was covered in cake. Taking her hand, she smeared it off her chin and said, “Oh no, you didn’t.” She then took her cake and stuffed it down the back of his shirt.

  “Ah! Get it out!” Kennu started jumping up and down frantically, trying to slip the cake out of his shirt.

  The best part about it was that not one speck of the cake was wasted. By the time everyone was clean about forty stuffed animals sat on their backs, rubbing their swollen bellies.

  “Best. Birthday. Ever,” Lyrica said as a hunting hound licked the last remaining dot of frosting off her cheek. “By the way, isn’t it time for presents?”

  Carolinia came forward and gave Kennu a black case lined with velvet. “Open it up, Kennu, and see what’s inside,” she urged.

  The glimmer emitted by what was inside lit up their faces. There were black talon coverings for Allie, sharp as blades and able to cut through the thickest of metal. Next to it lay a double-edged knife with a green hilt. The hilt had inscriptions of the Verinian Forest on it, with an image of the hut embedded in the metal.

  “The talon coverings I had specially made, but the blade was your great-grandfather’s.” Carolinia smiled. “This way, you’ll always be able to remember your homeland.”

  “Thanks, Grandmother.” Kennu picked up the blade and turned it around in his palm, looking at it, while Allie’s eyes glinted greedily at the sight of the talon blades.

  Ionan came forward next. With a swipe of his wing, he revealed suits of glittering gold.

  “Armor!” Allie exclaimed, rushing to thank him with a hug.

  Kennu gazed at the present. The armor was designed to cover his torso, arms and legs, intricately designed with swirls. In the middle of the breast plate was a griffin rearing on its hind legs, wings spread wide. Allie’s armor matched his, and would cover her head, neck and legs, the brim coming down between her eyes melded with the letters K and A woven together.

  Ionan chuckled and said, “It took me a long time to find the gold, and even longer to meld the armor, but it was well worth it.”

  “Oh thank you, thank you,” Allie squealed. “Can I try it on?”

  “Wait for your other gifts first,” Kia called. She opened the door, and Keota came out carrying a small black saddle, with small silver stirrups and a brown sash.

  “In Nesting’s Haven, when an Accompany turns sixteen he receives a saddle,” Keota said. “It’s a rite of passage.”

  The two of them gazed at the saddle in amazement. It would be able to stand up the hardiest of weather and be comfortable in the longest and toughest of rides.

  “Thanks Dad.” Kennu gave his father a stiff hug. “And you too, Mom.”

  Keota set the saddle on the table and Kennu strode into the house to get his gift for Allie. He called out the door, “Close your eyes!” and she obeyed, shutting them tightly.

  “Okay, you can open them.” Once Allie saw what he held in his hands, tears came to her eyes. It was a gorgeous halter, made of white leather and silver beads. Allie looked closer, admiring its handiwork.

  “It took me a year to make it. You can attach reins to make it a bridle, but they’re just for show. I hope you like it.” Kennu unbuckled the bridle and put it on her gently.

  She tossed her head and whispered, “Oh Kennu…this is the best present ever.”

  Allie squeezed into the house and handed him a leather bag, which he opened. Inside was a new drawing kit.

  “It’s nothing compared to what you gave me, but you’re always talking about how you want to travel, so I made you a new bag. I saw that your drawing stuff was getting low, so I…”

  Her words were stifled as he wrapped his arms around her and gave her a great hug. Her wings unfolded and she encased them around her Accompany tightly, embracing him back. In all their years together, they’d never felt so close.

  “Wait, wait! Vixen has not given her present yet!” Vixen strode forward and opened her right hand to reveal yet another present. Suspended from a chain was a pendant made of gold. It was a griffin rearing on its hind legs, talons extended and beak open. The eye of the griffin was a brown stone, glittering in the light. Vixen then opened her left hand to reveal a matching pendant of white gold, with a blue stone for the griffin’s eye.

  Vixen took the gold necklace and fastened it around Allie’s neck, while placing the white pendant around Kennu’s. She then brought the two pendants together. The talons of the griffins clicked and joined as one, making one singular necklace that connected both Allie and Kennu.

  “This is Vixen’s and Dragonstar’s. It is a family heirloom that has been passed down for generations,” Vixen said. “Vixen thinks Kennu and Allie should have it. They need it far more than Vixen and Dragonstar do.”

  “Thanks Vixen,” Kennu said, lifting the white pendant in his hand to look at it. “It’s been a good birthday.”

  “Yes,” Allie said. “A very good birthday indeed.”

  Chapter Eleven

  The Peculiar Sight of Human Cages

  “I can’t believe your mother gave Kennu that knife for his birthday. What does she think he’s going to use it for?”

  “Don’t you insult my mother! Your Changer gave him armor! A knife is one thing. If Wyntier sneaks up on him at least he can use it, but the idea of him going into a battle with his condition…”

  Kennu was red in the face the next day as he escorted Reagan out of the house, his head bowed in embarrassment. For once, Allie’s attention was directly averted away from Reagan. She only listened to the raging fight between Kia and Keota, flattening her owl ears back when she heard Ionan’s gargantuan roar for everyone to be quiet.

  “Sorry about that,” Kennu murmured. “They fight a lot these days.”

  Reagan smiled at him. “Don’t worry about it, Romeo. My parents fought all the time, until my mom left. Maybe one of your parents will leave too, and you’ll be able to get some peace.”

  “That will never happen!” Kennu said suddenly, looking up.

  Reagan smirked, giving him a shrug. “I didn’t think my parents would split up either. But they did. And my life’s completely better for it. You’ll see, when your parents get divorced. It’s better for everybody.”

  Reagan twirled around, to head home. Kennu watched her go, feeling rather forlorn.

  “We need an adult to talk to,” Allie said sadly, and Kennu nodded. At that moment, Ionan came in a fury out of the house, changing from his tomcat form into a dragon, sparks flitting from his nose.

  “Ionan?” Kennu asked cautiously. “Can we talk to you about something?”

  The dragon turned around in confusion, eyes narrowed. He saw that Allie’s body sagged, while Kennu’s wings kept flickering in and out of view as his whole form dragged.

  “Certainly, Kennu. Climb on.” He knelt so Kennu could sit upon his shoulders. Allied changed into a lynx so she could hop next to him.

  After a short flight the
y landed by the seashore, a cluster of pine trees swaying in the distance. Ionan laid down and Kennu and Allie slid off his back, leaning against his large stomach.

  “What weighs on your minds?” Ionan asked curiously.

  Kennu looked away. “I’m tired of all the fighting.”

  “As am I,” Allie put in, staring upwards.

  Kennu crossed his arms tightly around him. “We hate it. I try and try to fix it, but there’s nothing that I do that works. I yell and scream just as loud as they do, but they don’t care to hear me, and I know it’s all my fault. I thought I was a good kid. I mean...I know I was an accident. If I had never been born, they would be a happy couple. But I came along and ruined it.”

  “Kennu, stop saying such things.” Ionan shook his head.

  “It’s true! I was never supposed to happen! I’m sick, really sick, and I’m never going to get better!” Kennu clenched his fists in rage. “Why don’t they just throw me out so they can get back to loving each other like they used to?”

  He had dissolved into furious tears. Allie crawled into his lap and Ionan put his wing around him, drawing the fairy close. Ionan put his head down and looked at him out of his great yellow eye. “Kennu, none of this was or is your fault. Your parents love you.”

  “They have a nice way of showing it. They don’t even listen to me.” he said bitterly. Allie wiped the tears from his eyes with her paw as they continued to flow.

  “Hush now. You are going to give yourself a seizure. Listen to me, Kennu. Your parents choose to fight, and it is their fight to continue, not yours. There is nothing you can do to make it better.”

  “So what, I’m powerless to do anything, just like usual?” he snapped.

  Ionan looked at him sadly. “That is the way of the world, young prince. Even if you are as large and as strong as I, it does no good with affairs of the heart. When it comes to things like these, I’m as little and unable as you are.”

  “You’ve always been able to handle things.”

  Ionan grimaced and shook his head. “Not always, young prince.” He gazed out at the lake and his scales shimmered as he took a deep breath, sighing tiredly.

  “You were never an accident Kennu.” he rumbled. “I became enraged when I discovered your mother was pregnant, but as soon as we laid eyes upon your tiny face, it was love at first sight for all of us. You were meant to be. I promised forever that I would protect you no matter the cost. And what of Allie? What would have become of her if you had never existed?”

  Allie stirred at the idea. “Wyntier would have captured me and killed me for sure, I know it. Nobody would have loved me enough to come chasing after me, and that feather biting...”

  “Allie, watch your language.” Ionan growled lowly, and Allie stared meekly back at him. Kennu turned away.

  Ionan sighed once more. “I haven’t seen anything of Wyntier or Nineva since you were attacked. It makes me concerned.”

  “That witch,” Allie snarled. “When next we meet, I’ll sink my talons into her so quick...”

  “You won’t do anything.” Kennu wrapped his arms around her and held her before Ionan could scold her again. “You’ll stay with me, and I’ll hold you so tight you won’t be able to move.”

  She nipped him playfully on the arm. “Not unless I hold you prisoner first.”

  She squirmed out of his arms and changed into a doe, tagging him and springing away. Kennu ran after her, both of them laughing so loudly the birds flew out of trees. Ionan followed them through their game of tag, until Kennu was out of breath. Ionan saw Reagan’s house in the distance and changed into a stag, towering over Allie with his eight pointed antlers.

  Reagan and her father were fighting just as loudly as Keota and Kia had been. The skies had grown gray, and it began to rain. As Reagan followed her father into the woods, curiosity got the better of the fairy and he strode up to the abode, the Changers following. He’d never been in Reagan’s house before. It looked very different from his small hut. He wondered if it was even more different on the inside.

  “Kennu, be careful,” Allie said, but he didn’t listen.

  When they were by the house, Ionan’s ears perked up and he asked, “What was that?”

  Allie looked in the window, let out a gasp and then reared, her sharp hooves striking the air. “Who has done this? Who has the nerve to imprison the creatures of Mortica this way?”

  Kennu peeked in the window, and what he saw turned his stomach. Animals of all sorts and sizes were imprisoned within small cages inside the house, some of them sickly and appearing injured. Kennu had wondered what Reagan’s father had come here to do, but now he had his answer. The humans were experimenting on the animals, just like Wyntier had experimented on Soran and Zorna with the drugs. But why would they do that? And was Reagan involved?

  Ionan snorted fiercely as he stared at the sight. “Humans are never satisfied!” He stomped his hooves and waved his antlers around in a terrible rage.

  “You knew Reagan was a human?” Kennu gasped.

  “I always knew, but I felt it was only right to give her a chance. Now I know for sure that humans can’t be trusted,” Ionan said.

  Kennu cursed Ionan’s powerful intuition just as Reagan came out of the woods without her father. She headed towards the three, opening her mouth and screaming loudly, “What are you freaks doing around my house? Get out!”

  “This is inexcusable!” Ionan roared. “These creatures are not your playthings, to do what you wish with them when you please!”

  “This isn’t my fault! This is my dad’s! Stop blaming me!” Regan shouted.

  While Reagan and Ionan were caught up in the heat of the moment, Allie pointed to the animals stuck inside their cages. “Kennu, I need your help. Use your telepathy to open the doors and set them free,” she whispered to her Changer.

  “What good will that do?” Kennu asked.

  “Just do as I say.” She stared pointedly at the window and Kennu closed his eyes, squinting them in concentration. After a moment, the locks opened of their own accord and the doors to the cages swung open.

  “Now what?” he asked.

  Without looking at him she said, “Now open up the door around the back.”

  He did that too, and dozens of animals came pouring out of the house. Most of the birds flew right out the door, without looking back, and the rabbits too. But there was a singular doe that shivered inside the doorway, her sides marked with bruises and scars, too afraid to venture outside.

  Allie stepped inside the home, daring to venture closer. “It’s okay, you can leave now. I’ve set you free. You don’t have to be afraid anymore.”

  The doe didn’t say anything. Allie came to her and she asked, “What is your name?”

  “Stream,” the doe said meekly. “My name is Stream. They...they caught me weeks ago. I lost my fawn, because of those monsters.”

  “Follow me, Stream, and we’ll get you out of here.” Allie led her out of the house and the doe followed cautiously behind. When Stream’s hooves touched the sand of the beach, Allie pushed the deer with her head and she fled without another word, sprinting to the safety of the woods.

  When she was out of sight Allie turned back around. Reagan had noticed the animals escaping and had two hands clenching her hair in a panic, eyes huge. “What have you DONE?” she cried. “My dad is going to KILL me! He’ll think I set them free!”

  “It’s what you deserve, for even allowing this to happen in the first place,” Allie said coldly.

  “Allie is right. This is a terrible thing to condone, human,” Ionan raged, shaking his head.

  “You don’t understand what he’s trying to do, because you’re all just a bunch of stupid animals!” she screamed. “Just go away!”

  “We’re sorry, Reagan,” Kennu started, but Allie scooped the fairy onto her back and bounded out of sight before the girl could say anything more, Ionan trailing behind.

  Chapter Twelve

  Magic Crowns and R
omantic Inklings

  A few hours later Reagan sat with a surely expression in her room, where her father had confined her for the rest of the night. He’d been absolutely furious when he’d come back to find his experiments missing. He’d assumed that Reagan had been so mad about their most recent fight that she opened the cages and let them go free. She’d thought about opening those cages multiple times, and now that she was in trouble for it, she wished she had.

  “What am I supposed to believe, that a little fairy came and set them loose?” her father had screamed when he found them all gone. But that was exactly what had happened, though she knew that he had help. It was obvious that Kennu was a follower, not a leader. She knew that Allie was really the one who had let them go.

  She made a nasty noise. It didn’t matter. Her life had been awful ever since she had come to this island, and she wasn’t about to come second to a bird. Kennu was the only person she knew around here, and although she really didn’t like him that much, she didn’t want to end up completely alone with no one to talk to.

  But at the same time, she couldn’t stand Allie. Kennu was going to have to make a decision soon. It was either going to be her, or that animal.

  There was no question to whom he would pick. He’d go with Allie, every time.

  Unless…

  An idea formed in her head, making her smile. She would start a fight between Allie and Kennu, and when they were mad enough at each other, she would ask him to make a choice, and he’d ditch the griffin and pick her. It was the perfect revenge against Allie for getting her into trouble. She’d done it hundreds of times in high school, pit friends against each other. It would be easy to do it with these two.

  She flopped back on her bed happily, trying to think of something bad enough to make the Accompany and Changer fight. They were so close, only something big would cause a rift between them.

  Her smile grew larger. The answer was obvious. She’d make Kennu fall in love with her.