Windswept: Gryphon Riders Book Two (Gryphon Riders Trilogy 2)

by Derek Alan Siddoway

  Sigrid, Ivan, and Chel looked at her like she was insane but Eva shook her head, words tumbling out. “Why didn’t I think of it before? We’ve been wasting all this time wandering around willy-nilly when we should have been following the Smelterborn. They’re obviously searching in some type of pattern and whatever it is they’re looking for hasn’t been found yet, otherwise, they’d be pushing farther west, wouldn’t they? If we just follow the Smelterborn, maybe we’ll come across who or whatever they’re looking for before they do!”

  “You know,” Ivan said tapping his fingers against the rune markings on the back of his other hand. “That’s not a bad idea. On the gryphons, we can fly ahead of them to scout out the surroundings before they get to it, and if there’s anything moving in between them, we’d be able to spot it before they do!”

  Eva looked at Sigrid and Chel. Both looked much less convinced.

  “It might work?” Chel said, shrugging. “But it still does not change the weather from being winter and does not fill our bellies with food.”

  “Three days,” Eva said. “We’ve got enough food stored that we can make it three days, even without hunting before we need to fly north.”

  Chel shrugged, then nodded, a flicker of her old fire burning in her dark eyes. “Three days,” she agreed.

  Eva looked to Sigrid who nodded. “Let’s make them count.”

  It didn’t take long to find a group of Smelterborn: eight altogether, a mixture of the scouts and heavier golems, crashing in a line through the thick brush, leaving a trail of churned mud in their wake. The riders circled overhead, wheeling around to give the group enough time to move after they’d scouted ahead.

  They continued shadowing the golems for two days and Eva became aware of a pattern in what had seemed at first to be reckless, random blundering. The group they followed moved north, while they passed two other parties that were headed in eastern and western directions. Although the Smelterborn carried on throughout the night, once they realized the shape of their searching, the gryphon riders could find a safe place to rest, relatively certain they wouldn’t be bothered. In the morning, they picked up the same trajectory and caught back up with the golems.

  But even with this new discovery they quickly grew disheartened once more. Sure, they had discerned a pattern among the Smelterborn searchers, but that still didn’t make up for the hundreds of miles of country in every direction that could hold whatever the golems searched for.

  “Do you want to keep following them?” Ivan said around noon on the third day. “We’re headed the direction we wanted to go anyway.”

  Eva looked across the group at the dark circles and sallow faces of the exhausted humans and the drooping heads and wings of the once-proud gryphons. As bad as she wanted to, she knew she couldn’t ask anything more from her friends.

  “No.” The decision weighed on Eva heavier than her sleet-soaked clothes. A storm had kicked up that morning, forcing them to fly low and drenching everyone in a thin layer of rain, then ice and snow. They needed to get a fire going and soon, Eva knew. “Let’s make camp. Tomorrow, we’ll head north, back into warmer country.”

  Nobody said a thing. Although she knew how relieved they all must be to give up their pointless journey, Eva knew none of them wanted to admit defeat any more than she did. As they mounted the gryphons and took off again, she felt nothing but guilt for what she’d put her friends through and wondered what she could have done different.

  The storm ceased in the afternoon, leaving them soaked but slightly better off. Looking for a suitable camp, they came across another group of Smelterborn. As always, the golems looked up at them, stared for a long moment and then resumed their trek. Eva didn’t even bother watching them anymore. Her eyes started to flicker shut and she shook her head. If Fury couldn’t sleep, then neither could she. But weariness set in again and this time, Eva couldn’t resist. She didn’t know how long she dozed before Chel tapped on her shoulder.

  “Eva-lyn! Look! Look!”

  Eva looked in the direction Chel pointed at a group of Smelterborn. They’d all stopped on top of an empty, wind blown hill. As if hearing some far off call, they turned as one to the southwest and stared. Eva whistled to get Sigrid’s attention but she and Ivan were already hovering on Sven, watching.

  “What do you think’s going on?” Sigrid asked when Eva directed Fury closer to them.

  “Maybe they found what they were looking for?” Ivan suggested. Although Eva couldn’t say why she hoped that wasn’t the case.

  “Look!” Chel said, pointing west. “Over there!”

  Another party of the golems was stopped a few miles to the west. Eva squinted and saw they were positioned the same direction as the Smelterborn below them. All at once, as if connected by a giant, invisible string, both groups of golems set off in a new direction.

  “Well that can’t be good,” Sigrid said.

  “Of course it’s not good!” Ivan groaned. “They’re all heading south — where it’s colder and there’s nothing to eat! And now we’ve got to follow them!”

  “We don’t —” Eva started to say before the other three cut her off.

  “Of course we’re going to follow them,” Ivan said. “I haven’t spent the last fortnight half-frozen and starved to death to turn away as soon as we come on to something.”

  Eva met each of their eyes and felt her own filling with tears, warm rivulets that ran down her face and thawed her numb, cold-bitten cheeks. She looked to the southwest, across the frozen windswept land and nodded.

  “Let’s see what’s got their attention.”

  The Smelterborn kept their same steady pace throughout the evening. It killed Eva to do it, but she halted them a handful of times before nightfall for a quick nap, something to eat and a meager fire. As much as she wanted to find the source of the Smelterborns’ sudden interest, she knew they didn’t stand a chance in a fight while exhausted and hungry.

  Without the slightest deviation, the iron golems continued west. Emboldened, the gryphon riders pushed on ahead, leapfrogging one group after another, all heading in the same direction. Although the weather grew stormier and more bitter, the wildlife increased when they passed back into the Endless. They gorged themselves on fresh elk meat and half-frozen tubers Chel clawed out of the hard, frost-bitten ground.

  And then on the second day, Eva spotted it: just a dot on the horizon at first, a tiny black shape that looked like it might be an eagle or other large bird. At the distance, however, Eva knew it could only be one thing: a gryphon.

  Chapter Twenty

  “There!” she shouted pointing at the speck. “Look, there’s something flying!”

  “I see it!” Sigrid yelled back.

  A glance downward showed the Smelterborn following at a blistering march, almost as if they were drawn to the flying creature. Needing no further encouragement, Eva urged Fury on. The gryphon let out a tired call, but pumped his wings harder, fighting against a cross breeze to catch up with the flying figure in the distance.

  The black speck grew larger and Eva realized they were gaining on it. But then, just before nightfall, the thing went to earth, disappearing in the evening gloam. Eva called a reluctant halt as well.

  “We’re gaining on it and whatever it is, that’s what the Smelterborn are chasing!” Eva said, excitement overcoming the fatigue of the day’s travel. She looked at Chel. “ Do you think it could be him?”

  The Juarag-Vo girl hesitated before answering. “Perhaps…perhaps not. I cannot say for sure until we draw closer. It also makes no sense that he is flying into Juarag tribal lands. They would be as likely to kill a gryphon rider as the Smelterborn.”

  Eva tried to rein in her blossoming hope and focus on the situation at hand, but her mind kept drifting to the far-off bird — or gryphon — they’d found. To potentially be this close to her father filled her with excitement and anxiety all at the same time, but she knew it would be folly to try to find whatever or whoever it was in the dark
. After a cold meal of meat and dried biscuits, some of the last of their fare from the traders, Eva volunteered for first watch, mind spinning too much to sleep anyway.

  The night grew cold without cloud cover. Eva stared off into the pale stars, watching the frost gather on the plains grass poking through the first few inches of snow. In the west, over the mountains, winter would be working up to full glory by now. Thoughts of roaring fires, mulled cider, and lazy evenings with Tahl drifted through Eva’s mind.

  Shivering, Eva pulled her cloak tighter. Her breath misted in front of her, rising over Fury before wisping away in the darkness. She ran a hand over the gryphon’s head, grateful for his companionship. For not the first time, she reflected on how the journey would have been impossible without gryphons. They’d come a long way since the angry hatchling had first tumbled out of a stolen egg in Soot’s cottage but even more so on this journey. She doubted Fury would ever lose his stubborn streak, but their experiences over the past months had forged a stronger bond than anything else could have.

  Looking over Fury’s wind-whipped feathers and matted fur, Eva felt a pang of guilt. She told herself she was taking the best care of her gryphon given the circumstances — even if those circumstances were her doing. At her touch, Fury cracked open his yellow eyes.

  “Sorry, boy,” Eva began. “I didn’t mean to —”

  The gryphon’s head shot up and swiveled toward the northeast. Eva placed a hand on her sword and stood, looking in the same direction. She didn’t see or hear anything. Even so, she felt a tingling throughout her and her body tightened, ready to spring into action. Fury continued to stare in the same direction, ignoring everything else. The rest of the camp remained asleep.

  But Eva knew better than to doubt her gryphon’s superior sense of hearing, sight and smell. Still, she hesitated before waking the others. It might be nothing more than an animal, winding through the grass. There was no need in pointlessly waking everyone without cause.

  She’d almost decided to settle back down when Fury’s head whipped in the other direction behind them. Eva turned as well, heart hammering. A handful of burning orange orbs smoldered in the distance, marking the presence of —

  “Smelterborn!”

  At the same time, Eva sounded the alarm, a long iron spear the size of a small tree buried itself in the frozen ground beside Fury.

  Camp came to life, everyone scrambling for their weapons and searching for the danger. The Smelterborn scouts broke into long strides, covering the ground twice as fast as a human could. Fury screamed in the opposite direction and Eva saw two more of the golems approaching from behind. They were surrounded.

  Eva cursed herself for a fool — they’d grown lax, thinking the Smelterborn cared only about whatever they were searching for. Apparently, this close to their prize, that wasn’t the case anymore. Three more spears flashed through the air. They struck the ground with a loud whump, so hard Eva felt the impact through her feet.

  Another spear whizzed by and Eva clenched her teeth as it passed between the two gryphons, skittering away into the dark and squashing any thought she had of taking flight. Unless they wanted to end up like pincushions, they were trapped on the ground.

  Ivan summoned a ball of cold blue flame in each hand, feet spread, prepared to attack. Chel and Sigrid grabbed their spears, walking in a slow circle around the gryphons.

  Eva drew her short sword, wishing for her spear, which had been long since lost back in their departure of the Mother of Cities. The Smelterborn closed in, each drawing metal rods as big and long as the lances carried by the king’s knights back in Rhylance.

  “Chel, any advice?” Sigrid shouted over her shoulder.

  “Don’t let them hit you!” Chel yelled back. “Aim for the eyes in the slits of their helmets, it is the only way to bring one down.”

  Eva glanced back at the gryphon’s saddles but she knew it was pointless. The only bow they’d had was Chel’s and it had run out of arrows long before. She swallowed hard and took a deep breath. Strike hard and strike first. Words ingrained through countless hours of training echoed in her mind and she charged forward at the pair of Smelterborn to the north.

  “Ivan, with me!”

  Eva ran full speed, quickly closing the distance between her and the Smelterborn. As she drew within a few paces of the lead golem, a burst of pale blue light struck it in the face and covered its helm in a mask of ice. The golem’s head flipped back and it smacked the layer of ice with a gauntleted hand, trying to break free.

  Eva passed it by and charged at the second golem. The Smelterborn swung at her with its iron rod. Eva ducked and rolled, feeling the air whoosh above her. She barely had time to roll again to the side as the iron rod stabbed the ground where she’d been. Glancing at the golem, she saw its body twisted around in a position that would have broken a human back.

  Eva sprang inside the Smelterborn’s reach and stabbed at its fiery eyes with her sword. The blow missed on the side of the dark helmet and rebounded in her hand. In the next instant the Smelterborn swept its armored arm at her, the impact felt like she’d been struck by a tree, and lifted her into the air.

  Eva hit the frozen ground hard a few paces away and tried to heave in a breath of air. Her vision spun. Her ears rang. She couldn’t move even though she saw the Smelterborn stomping toward her, iron staff raised over its head. Eva groaned, trying to draw breath to move. The staff rose high in the air and Eva winced, preparing to be smashed into a pulp.

  Shrieking, Fury struck. The gryphon’s talons reached out and wrapped around the Smelterborn’s weapon. The golem held tight and instead of the staff being ripped from its grip, it toppled over, crashing to the ground from the force of Fury’s charge. Eva forced herself to her feet, willing her body to move.

  Before she could plunge her sword into the Smelterborn’s helm, however, the golem rolled over onto all fours. Eva mustered her strength and struck again. Yet again, the blow glanced off the iron helmet and the Smelterborn stood as if it hadn’t felt a thing. Fury flew in and struck the golem in the side. Both tangled together, locked in a struggle to the death.

  The Smelterborn wrapped an arm around Fury’s neck, trying to crush the gryphon against its armor. Fury clawed his way free and out of the golem’s grasp. When it reached for the gryphon’s tail, Eva swung her blade down with all her might against the Smelterborn’s arm. It felt like striking an anvil. Her sword rang in her hand and she leaped back just in time as the golem kicked with enough force to snap both of her legs.

  Eva panted next to Fury and glanced at the others. Ivan had managed to down one of the golems and she saw a plume of dark, acrid forge smoke rising from the thing’s empty helmet. The Scrawl launched handful after handful of fire and ice at the remaining golems while Sigrid, Chel, and Sven defended themselves.

  The Smelterborn in front of Eva rose again and shook itself as if nothing had happened. Fury let out a long hiss and crouched low. Eva circled away from the gryphon, hoping to confuse the golem by coming at it from opposite sides. Instead, the Smelterborn charged her.

  It happened so fast, Eva could only leap aside as the iron staff rushed through the air where her head had been a moment before. This time the Smelterborn anticipated the move and dug in its armored boot, twisting its torso around at an inhuman angle. The staff smacked the ground inches from Eva’s face as she came out of her roll.

  But before the golem could crush her, Fury leaped on the Smelterborn’s back, worrying its neck with its beak as if it were a mountain elk back in Rhylance. The gryphon’s razor-sharp beak did nothing against the dull iron armor. Stretching its arms out, the golem scrabbled to grab hold of Fury, dropping the staff at its feet.

  Fury clung tight and the golem could do nothing to remove him. Swaying in the gryphon’s embrace it crashed to its knees.

  With all her might, Eva raised her sword and thrust it into the Smelterborn’s eye openings. It felt like striking a tree, but Eva threw her weight into her sword. The tip
of her blade pierced the Smelterborn’s burning eyes and gave way at last.

  An unearthly shriek cut through the night and a dark shadow burst through the golem’s helmet, knocking Eva aside. When she sat up, the Smelterborn’s grip on Fury went limp and it toppled face first to the frozen ground.

  Eva’s body shook, from the terror of the dark shadow and sheer exhaustion alike. Fury panted beside her, equally spent. Her entire body throbbed and Eva fought the overwhelming urge to lie down and sleep. Instead, she gritted her teeth and struggled to her feet once more.

  She only had time to take a breath before Ivan’s panicked shout drew her attention. He and Sigrid held the remaining Smelterborn at bay while Chel crouched behind them, cradling her arm against her side.

  Sven swooped overhead at the golem’s helmet in an effort to distract them from the riders but the Smelterborn paid no mind, nor did it show any concern for its own fallen companions. The golem stomped forward, a sword as long as a wooden beam held in both its hands.

  “Eva!” Sigrid screamed.

  Summoning the last remnants of her strength Eva rushed to Chel’s side with Fury close behind.

  “Here,” Eva said, reaching her side. “Let me help you onto Fury.”

  “No!” Chel said, “I will not leave you.”

  “You’re no help to us like this,” Eva insisted. “Now go!”

  Half dragging Chel, Eva helped her into Fury’s saddle. The gryphon gave Eva a wild look but held still. She could tell he longed to jump back in the fray, even weary as he was from the fight already.

  “Get her to safety!” Eva only had time to strap one of Chel’s legs in before Sigrid and Ivan called for help again.

  Just as Eva turned, she saw the Smelterborn bury its massive blade between Sigrid and Ivan with a blow that would have split a gryphon in two. Ivan turned to the stuck sword, a flurry of words coming from his mouth faster than Eva could ever have spoken. Ice shot up the weapon, freezing it in place with the Smelterborn’s arm attached to it.