“What new horror is this?” Aleron’s voice was tired and low. Even the three gryphons seemed cowed by the same sense of dread filling Eva, the same sense of hopelessness that had dogged them the past weeks now threatened to overwhelm the group. Another piercing scream split the sky and Eva covered her ears, squinting her eyes shut and gritting her teeth. The sound was terrible, not only to the ears but deafening to her courage as well. With every beat of its wings, the thing grew larger.
“The time has come.”
Aleron sheathed his sword and reached beneath his furs to withdraw the Wonder on its pitted chain from around his neck. The runes on the black stone glowed likes coals in a forge even though Aleron held it without wincing. Eva stretched out a shaking hand and winced when the stone touched her palm. The weight of the Wonder seemed to rest upon her entire body, far heavier than the stone itself. Eva felt a strange pulsing sensation between her mother’s Wonder and the corrupted one, like a current running through her.
“No!” Eva yelled. “We’re in this together!”
Aleron ignored her and looked at Ivan. The Scrawl nodded. He drew in a deep breath and, for a moment, Eva thought he would collapse. Instead, Ivan began chanting, twisting and spinning his hands around each other. Each kenning he spoke grew louder and louder. Eva felt the wind shift and a curtain of dust and snow whirled around them.
Soon, the howling wind drowned out Ivan’s voice. The gale rose about them, pulling first at their hair and clothes then their entire bodies. Eva braced herself as the summoned tempest threatened to lift her from the ground.
“Ivan!”
Eva could barely hear herself scream. She shielded her face with her hand, but could only see dirty air spinning around them. Then the violent winds began to take shape, forming a giant twisting funnel that lifted off the butte and spun toward the dark flying thing.
The air cleared just in time for Eva to see Ivan collapse to the ground. She ran to his side and tore her eyes away from the wind funnel to examine her friend. Blood ran from Ivan’s nose and he stared into the sky with unfocused eyes.
“Lost…control of it,” the Scrawl managed in a thin voice.
“You did it, kid!” Aleron shouted, pointing in the direction of the tornado to the east. “Look!”
The twisting pillar of wind grew larger and larger, sucking up dirt, mud, snow and other debris as it crossed between them and the dark shape in the sky. Eva watched breathless, concerned for Ivan but unable to take her eyes from the monstrous spinning winds as they struck the creature flying toward them.
Eva yelled in triumph, but the celebration died on her lips moments later when the thing burst through the storm. She saw it was no creature of flesh and blood but a flying automaton fashioned from dark black metal. It resembled the dragon they fought in the Mother of Cities, except its body was smaller and had a beak, as long as a spear with a single horn coming out the back of his head. A golden-plated Smelterborn flew on its back pointing a sword at them as it steered its machinated mount toward the top of the butte.
Aleron undid his belt and pressed his rune-inscribed sword into Eva’s hands.
“No!” Eva screamed, reaching out for her father. “No, don’t do this!” She grabbed his arm and held on, desperate to keep him from flying away.
“Eva!” Aleron tore his arm free and placed both hands on her shoulders in a vice-like grip. “Eva, listen to me! The Wonder must make it back to Rhylance. No matter what happens, you must get it to safety!”
Eva shook her head tears running down her face as she clutched her father’s arms. “No, please…” she said in a broken voice, barely audible over the howling wind. “Please, don’t leave me.”
“We’re not going to make it, Eva,” Aleron said. “Sun and I — these wounds are killing us. I have to do this or you won’t stand a chance.”
Unable to speak, Eva reached for her sword and offered it to her father. She felt Aleron’s gaze as he took the weapon. He was smiling that crooked smile she’d come to love, cold blue eyes shining and determined.
“I’m proud of you, Eva.” She saw tears spilling down the wrinkles in the corners of his eyes before he pulled her into a tight hug “Finding you made it all worth it.”
Another grating shriek pierced the sky and Eva knew the flying golem would soon be upon them. Aleron beckoned to Chel and embraced her as well. “You two have to look out for one another, you hear me?”
Chel nodded through her own tears, but Eva screamed and lunged for her father when he stepped away. Ivan and Sigrid’s hands wrapped around her and pulled her back. Unable to break their grip, Eva continued to struggle as Aleron climbed onto Sunflash’s back.
“Tell my brothers I forgive them!” Aleron shouted. “Tell them I tried to make them proud in the end!”
Sunflash reared up on his back paws and Aleron drew Eva’s sword and raised it over his head. For a moment, they seemed frozen in place, like one of the stained glass heroes of the Windsworn memorialized in the palace at Gryfonesse. Eva knew she would never forget the sight.
Sunflash let loose a wild, untamed scream. The golden gryphon’s powerful lion legs propelled him and his rider into the storm.
Eva hardly noticed Ivan, Sigrid, and Chel pulling her toward Fury. She watched Aleron and Sunflash cut through the dark gray sky like a ray of sunlight, winging toward the giant black bat-like automation with the golden Smelterborn on its back.
The flying golem pivoted toward the gryphon and rider. Sunflash ducked under the wings of the thing and swooped up from behind in a half roll, latching itself on the back of the creature. In the background, the wind funnel twisted and bucked toward the combatants. Even as the distance, Eva could see her father struggling against the golden captain, trying to fend off the blows the golem rained down on Sunflash to free the gryphon from his metal mount.
Fury leaped into the battering wind and pumped with all his might to break free of the wind funnnel’s grasp. Twisting around in the saddle, Eva and Chel watched as the black-winged automaton spun out of control in the air, Aleron, and Sunflash still clinging to its back as the golden Smelteborn rained blow after blow upon them. A moment later, the tornado swallowed them up.
The wind whipped the tears from Eva’s face. As Fury flew away, she craned her neck, hoping against all odds to see Sunflash and Aleron flying out of the tempest. But neither her father or the golden Smelterborn and his flying mount appeared. It wasn’t until the tornado and the butte disappeared behind them that, Eva finally turned around and slumped over Fury’s neck.
The agonizing truth pierced her like a blade: her father was gone forever.
Chapter Twenty-Three
“That’s everything,” Eva said.
She stood a little straighter and wiped the tears from her face, trying to look like a Windsworn, still trying to make her father proud. “After the golden Smelterborn and his mount were destroyed in the storm, the rest gave up. We flew until we ran into the patrols.”
Three days. Just three days away from help. Aleron had misjudged how far they’d made it across the Endless. If only they’d known how close they were, they wouldn’t have had to make a stand.
If they had pushed on, would Aleron still be alive? The thought had tormented Eva ever since, widening the empty, bleak hole gnawing inside her heart ever since Aleron and Sunflash flew into the wind storm.
Eva’s uncles studied her, dry-eyed, with the same cold, intense blue eyes as their brother. The same piercing facial features, the same graying blond hair. She looked away, unable to bear the reminder of the loss.
“What about Juarag?” King Adelar asked. “Did you see any camps or war parties?”
They’d been told that the Juarag, seemingly driven before the armies of Smelterborn had all but overrun the frontier, halting their westward expansion only because the winter storms prevented them from crossing the Windswepts. Whoever the Windsworn could find still alive had been escorted to the capital. Gryfonesse and the surrounding lands teemed w
ith refugees ill-prepared for winter.
“A couple, in the distance,” Sigrid said. Eva was grateful her friend had answered — in her grief, she had no desire to talk to anyone anymore that day. “Two large camps to the north. Once or twice we passed over some hunting parties on sabercats, but it looks like they’ve settled down for the winter.”
Andor pressed his forefingers together in front of his lips. “Perhaps, perhaps not,” he said. “The Smelterborn are unaffected by the cold and we have reported sightings of individual scout golems on the edge of the frontier. Even deep snows might not stop them from pushing westward. If that happens, the Juarag will get desperate, they’ll be forced to move again or be massacred.”
Eva wanted more than anything to say “I told you so.” Wanted to scream it. Even worse, they’d glossed over Aleron’s death to discuss matters of state like it was a mere side note in some report.
As if sensing her distress, King Adelar raised a hand to the circle of men and women in the court. “I believe we have enough to think on for the remainder of the day,” he said, eyes resting on Eva. “Let us adjourn until tomorrow afternoon. I am sure my niece and her friends would appreciate some rest.”
In the shuffle of seats and worried murmurs, Soot and Seppo made their way to Eva’s side. She’d been surprised but grateful to see her foster father and his golem at the council — a venerable pillar of support after the harrowing months. Although he’d already fussed over her like a mother hen a dozen times he started in again. “Damn fool thing you did, girl. You’re lucky you made it back alive.”
“But wasn't it worth it?” Eva asked, snapping more than intended. “If we hadn’t done something, where would we be now?”
“I believe mistress Evelyn is upset at the topic of this conversation,” Seppo said in his level, clipped tone. Eva looked up at him and flinched. After facing so many hostile Smelterborn, the presence of a golem up close — even the gentle giant Seppo — unnerved her her.
“I didn’t say it was wrong,” Soot continued after an annoyed look at Seppo. “Just that it was damn foolish. Like I said before you left, it’s the same thing your father would have done.”
That was all it took. Eva buried herself in Soot’s chest, shuddering as his burly arms wrapped around her and held her tight.
“Hey now,” the old smith whispered in her ear. “I know it hurts but that’s the way he would have wanted to go out. Ha! The tales they’ll tell of him! If he was here now he wouldn’t want you crying, missy.”
Eva swallowed hard and heaved out a deep, calming breath. She wiped the tears away, grateful that most of the room was too busy conversing about Juarag raiders and Smelterborn to pay her any attention. Soot gave her another reassuring squeeze on the shoulder then clapped her on the back.
“There you are, strong as steel!” He seemed to want to say more but glanced at something behind Eva and excused himself. Eva turned around and found her Uncle Andor standing there.
“What a pleasure it is to see you again, lord commander,” Seppo began. “I hope —”
Andor raised a hand to cut the golem off. “Seppo, I would like a few moments alone with my niece, if you please.” He motioned Eva to follow then led them into the king’s private study. Eva could see Adelar headed there as well, separating himself from one of his nobles with a nod.
Eva followed, stomach twisting like snakes. In the flurry of their return, no one had brought up the fact that both Eva, Sigrid, and technically, Ivan too, were criminals, deserters who’d freed a prisoner of war and disobeyed direct orders. Before Eva couldn’t dwell on it too long, the doors shut, leaving Eva alone with the only living blood kin she had left.
“I understand,” Andor began with a disapproving glance toward the king he could only get away with in a private setting such as the one they were in, “That you and your friends were not the only conspirators in this foolish quest. Be that as it may, do you realize you’ve broken a half dozen different oaths you took when you became Windsworn?”
Eva knew she should probably look down at the ground and mutter some kind of apology. It was what she would have done months ago, before the journey. Instead, she met Andor’s stern look.
“I did the right thing. If we hadn’t gone, we would have no idea how powerful the Smelterborn have become, and the knowledge of how to defeat them would have died with —”
As she tried to spit out the words, a vision of Aleron and his jaunty smile flashed through Eva’s mind and she could only shake her head, unable to speak. Adelar rose and put his arm around her. Andor let out a long sigh and ran his hands through his hair, shaking his head. Eva got the impression he’d been in this same situation a hundred different times with her father back in the day.
“We’ve already discussed it,” the king said, arms still wrapped around her. “You and your friends will be pardoned of your crimes. If nothing else, Eva, you made up for my mistake all those years ago.”
Andor shook his head. “Huh, I never thought you’d be the one condoning rule breaking.”
Adelar shrugged, a thin smile spreading across his stern face. “Times change. People change.”
“So help me, if you ever do anything like that again,” Andor said, pointing a stern finger at Eva. “You’ll spend the rest of your days grounded, cleaning out the nests.”
Eva nodded and Andor let out a wry laugh. “If I had a gold piece for every time I said the same thing to your father…”
He trailed off and the three of them drew together in a tight embrace. At first, Eva thought she was the only one shaking with emotion, but then she felt the wet, warm tears splashing on her neck from above. For the longest time, niece and uncles stood in silence, arms intertwined, channeling their grief.
“He told me,” Eva said, through a tight and stuffed nose. “He told me to tell you he forgave you. I-I tried so hard to get him h-h-home.”
She choked on a sob again but found comfort in the strong embrace of her remaining family. When they finally pulled away, all three of them had swollen red eyes.
“I will have a statue of him commissioned,” Adelar said. “And his name put back in all the records. Aleron’s memory will live on forever among our people.”
“And we’ll have an honor pyre for him,” Andor said to Eva. “To recognize his sacrifice. He may have been storming mad at times, but your father was one of the greatest Windsworn who ever flew and Sunflash one of the mightiest gryphons.”
Eva nodded, finding some small satisfaction knowing her father’s heroics would be remembered. She knew, too, that the pain would fade in time, even if it never truly went away. Thinking back on the few precious days they’d spent together brought a measure of peace as well.
“Go on,” Andor said reaching for the doors. “You need some rest before tomorrow. Your rooms are in order at the Gyr.”
After a last hug, Eva’s uncle fell into a discussion in earnest of recent events. The guards opened the doors and Eva stepped back into the court. The hall had partly cleared, although Sigrid, Ivan, and Chel remained amidst the nobles and war leaders. Together, they walked outside where Fury and Sven waited. Eva paused to look at them all, human and gryphon alike and knew she couldn’t find better friends in all of Altaris.
“You’re looking at us like we’ve started growing feathers,” Sigrid said, giving her a troubled look. She waved a hand in front of Eva’s face. “You uh…okay, Eva?”
Eva laughed. It felt good after the tears and sorrow. The simple act helped her realize that the storm hanging over her heart couldn’t last forever. The winds of life had swept them up and done its best to break them each in turn. But although they were battered and broken, they’d made it out, stronger and harder than before. Eva found comfort and hope at the thought.
“Come on,” she said, swinging onto Fury’s saddle. “Let’s go home.”
The flight to the Roost seemed shorter than Eva remembered. When they reached their destination, a hundred different students and riders awaited t
hem, Wynn in the forefront. The young woman demanded to know why Eva hadn’t taken her with them and told her and Sigrid in loud tones that she’d never forgive them. Then she pulled them both into a crushing hug.
“By the tempest, I’m glad you’re not rotting out in the middle of nowhere!”
Before the throng could press in closer, Roost Master Cassandra shooed them all way, threatening several students with excess cleaning duties if they didn’t disperse. Eventually, Eva and Sigrid were left alone to tend to their gryphons. Ivan escorted Chel to their quarters, making sure none of the Windsworn gave her a hard time on the way. Since they’d left, the fighting with the Juarag had come to a head and several riders and gryphons had paid the ultimate price to protect Rhylance. As such, many in the Gyr didn’t take kindly to what looked to be a Juarag warrior in their midst.
Eva pulled her cracked, weather-worn saddle from Fury’s back and hung it on its old stand. Aside from the wear and tear, once everything was stowed away it looked like they’d never left. On the other hand, part of her felt like it would never come back. She cupped the end of Fury’s beak in her hands, looking into the gryphon’s vibrant yellow eyes.
“I couldn’t have done it without you,” she said in a soft voice before kissing his beak. Fury nuzzled against her shoulder in an uncharacteristic show of affection before stepping back and giving himself a long shake from head to tail, just like he did every time Eva brushed him down. As the gryphon shook, Eva winced at his lean frame and the many half-healed cuts and fresh scars running through his copper-red hindquarters.
“Go on you big idiot,” Eva said, laughing and shooing the gryphon away. “Go get something to eat and take a rest — I guess you’ve earned it.”
Letting out a long, jubilant screech, Fury leaped into the air, wheeling in a circle before disappearing out sight. Eva turned around with a smile on her face — right into Tahl.
Windswept: Gryphon Riders Book Two (Gryphon Riders Trilogy 2) Page 19
