by Kris Schnee
"Have you read the Invitation To Arcana? I have a copy that even lets you measure yourself."
"Brum's copy."
Darius dipped his beak. "I've made good use of it."
She let him change the subject to magic itself. It was good to chatter with her about the details of spell-crafting.
In the middle of the conversation he trailed off, lost in sudden insight. Maybe there was a way to push the griffin transformation and the guardian's curse onto someone else, using the techniques Radia had described, without the prop Zara had used on him.
"What?" she asked.
Darius shook his head. That wasn't an option. He didn't know how. Yet.
He said, "If you can learn more, you can help me." Or betray him, but he tried not to think about that when he was so close to having an ally. "I can use the magic node to cast spells and enchant things for you. In fact, wait here." He fetched the set of carved darts he'd spent the last month making.
"These are beautiful," she said, tracing her fingers along the intricate carvings that glittered with green mage-light. Each point was fire-hardened.
"Yours to keep or sell, if you like. I can make more. Do you know how to use them?"
They went back outside to where the brothers were listening, quietly debating whether to go in after her. "I'm fine," she said, and began practicing the spell to levitate the darts and whirl them around her. She laughed in delight. "So that's how it's done! I saw a dancer using something like these, once. No bandits will bother us now."
Trusting her was a gamble, but to take no risks at all meant he'd be forced to kill again and again. Darius said, "Will you bring me spellbooks and other things to trade? The more I know, the more I can do for you. And maybe, someday, you'll become the one to free me."
Radia blushed. "There's something else. If you were able to invent a spell to make that nut fly back to my hometown, you can cast it again."
"But I have no idea where a message will go."
"The nut came back to my town, where it grew. It can't be a coincidence. Maybe it senses the tree it came from."
If he began growing the seeds here and elsewhere, he could give them to travelers and make easier contact with the world. Darius felt that his prison had cracked a little.
* * *
They parted ways on good terms considering that Darius had once torn out the throat of one of their friends. Commerce tended to have that effect. Darius said a prayer of thanks as he planted the nuts the visitors had given him. It might take years to have a proper crop of seeds that could fly back to him bearing messages, but he had time. Meanwhile, Radia's party had gone off in search of things to buy and sell and learn, after sending a letter home with their new spell.
It took a month for Palamon, the less violent brother, to come back alone. He hefted a heavy pack and said, "Radia sent me with these." An iron lock, a wood-carving kit, candles, soap, vegetable seeds, and best of all, a string-bound stack of pages labeled The Enchanter's Fumbles. The text was a bit blurry, copied by magically mirroring the ink of a proper edition, but good enough to spare Darius some fumbles of his own. The man brought Darius a pair of bows as well, saying, "Can you do anything with these?"
"I might learn how." Magic-enhanced bows were a fairly common weapon among nobles with even the minimal magic ability needed to make them curl and flex. "Come back later and see."
Meanwhile, he fetched two more sets of mage darts and a carved disc of amber that could glow on command, and an ordinary deer hide to sell, and some smoked meat. When Darius trundled his wares outside, his guest laughed. "You're a regular merchant now, aren't you?"
"I wish," said Darius, looking to the open sky.
# 3. #
Months later he'd read The Enchanter's Fumbles three times and filled the pages of his journal with magic notes. He'd mapped the whole area, learned how to hunt and fly as a griffin, and found ways to make do without tools he'd once taken for granted. But he needed more knowledge, more ideas, to keep growing! His thoughts were like stale air that would choke him if he stayed alone in one place too long.
His warding spell sparked in the cave again. Darius snapped to attention and went outside.
It was Palamon again with blank paper, flour and baker's yeast, a whetstone, and other trinkets. In return Darius gave him pelts and enchanted bows and darts, and promised to start on more of the same with materials Palamon brought.
The man watched Darius playfully batting his new treasures back and forth on the ground. "And there's this, from Radia." He handed over a scroll.
Darius read the letter. She was studying in Ironleaf with the witch-rats of the Blackthorn clan, making a living for herself with basic enchantments like Darius was doing. "You can do more with the resources available to you. I'm including some notes. The Blackthorns are very interested in the message seeds, and in their inventor. They'd like to send someone to you. I said I'd ask. Maybe they can help you -- or you can wait for me to learn more."
Darius looked up at Palamon. "Are you a follower of Janya?"
"I'm a Mithraist. Are you still thinking about escaping just so you can go back to being homeless?"
The griffin screeched. "How would you like it, being stuck here?"
"With occasional company, and no lord to answer to, and wings? Very much."
Darius fell silent. The man was right to be envious, in a way. "I've loved my years as an explorer."
Palamon said, "Maybe it's time to move on."
Still, Darius dreamed of soaring over distant lands.
* * *
Another season passed. Darius had said yes to the idea of meeting a Blackthorn mage that Radia trusted. He was surprised when Radia returned with another human.
Blackthorn's man wore a robe that glittered with green leaf designs. "The family said you'd be more comfortable around a human, given your history."
Darius said, "I don't much begrudge the... ah, your employers, for taking over. Knowledge is power, and I've had enough time to grow up and see societies change."
Radia said, "Also, the 'rats' were a little afraid of you."
"How much did you tell them?"
The man said, "Griffin, somehow transformed, and a talented mage. The family takes talent wherever it can be found."
Darius took a deep breath, gauging how much to reveal. Leaving out anything -- Zara, Baccata's spellbook, the magic node -- could leave them without a vital clue for rescuing him. "Sir, I'm trapped here..."
The Blackthorn agent heard Darius' explanation, and whistled. "May I examine you?" He stared at Darius from several angles. "That's quite a tale. There's an enormous amount to be learned from studying how Zara became intelligent, how he changed you without formal training -- everything! But where is this ex-griffin?"
There'd been no sign that he'd made it to Ironleaf. Darius said, "If he didn't check in with you, I don't know."
"We might still be able to solve your problem. Though in return, we'd want the magic node."
"I'd be happy never to see it again."
"And the spellbook."
"Don't be ridiculous," Darius snapped. "You just said you can learn a lot from helping me. I might show you some pages if you teach me the copying spell."
Radia elbowed the man. "I warned you the griffin is a merchant."
Instead of negotiating, the three of them spent the day talking about magic and the state of Ironleaf, its trading partners, Radia's village and the lands Darius had seen. The Blackthorn man seemed as interested in the travelers' tales as in what he'd been summoned to see. "You should write about flight," he said. "You have a unique perspective; the birds can't tell us how they do it."
It might be worthwhile to someone else, at least, for inventing some kind of flying spell. Darius imagined wooden wings made to float strongly enough to carry a man. It would take powerful magic to make such things.
Radia said, "Or you could learn to awaken other griffins, and start a family."
Darius gave an anguished squa
wk. They were both right, and he enjoyed days like this when he could swap stories and ideas, but the visitors had drifted from the topic of freeing him toward what he could do while twiddling his talons here.
"I suppose I have time to think about those things," he said, laying flat on the ground.
* * *
They left him with another magic book among other things. They seemed to want him as another Blackthorn mage... and the man Radia had brought didn't seem bothered by the possibility of leaving him as a captive craftsman. He began to wonder if Radia was comfortable with that result too.
He was flipping through his copy of Dance of the Mind: Apprentice Arcana when his ears flicked, catching whispers. Darius frowned; had Radia and the man forgotten something? His ward hadn't been tripped, yet he heard voices. His feathers fluffed and his tail lashed the floor. Darius crept outside and found a place to watch from the shadows like a cat.
Four men with axes and spears marched through the woods, leading a man in a scarlet robe. For once Darius felt like a true guard watching thieves approach.
"I see their campsite," one of the men told the robed figure.
The robed one held up one hand and studied it. Green light dripped from his fingers like blood. "I don't sense it yet, but we must be close given the ward."
One of the other warriors said, "Should we get the beast's attention?" He sounded familiar.
"Not yet. Spread out and keep watch."
"Especially from overhead."
"Yes," the wizard said.
The griffin kept low, more cat than bird, and stalked the group. Three of the fighters kept glancing at the misty sky and stuck near the trees, while the one who'd warned them was scanning the tall grass. That man sighed so that at this distance, only sensitive ears might hear him saying the word, "Zara."
Darius stood upright in shock, then flattened himself again and crept to look from a better angle. The sighing man was Zara, with Darius' old human face! Darius got in front of him and twitched his feathery tail above the grass for a second.
Zara froze. He mimed, "They, here, cut throat, you."
Darius growled faintly. He whispered, "You followed Radia, the woman? Is she all right?"
Zara nodded. So, the wizard's group had stalked her to learn the cave's general location, and unwittingly hired someone who'd been there before. Zara seemed to be on Darius' side.
Darius sneaked back into the cave to fetch his mage darts. He attached their carrying pouch to his fur with a sort of comb. He'd make his stand here, where the intruders would have to come at him down the tunnel.
Muffled voices echoed from outside. "Boss, look. A cave!"
Darius cursed; he'd disturbed the usual screen of brush, and locking the crude gate just past that wouldn't deter men with axes.
"Wait until night?" said Zara outside. There was a mumbled conversation. Darius hoped they took Zara's bad advice, considering his sharp eyes.
He didn't hear the decision; he smelled it. Smoke, wafting into the tunnel. Darius swore. Why couldn't these looters leave him alone? He'd always have to deal with "adventurers" so long as he was stuck here.
Worse, he'd chosen a way to protect himself that left him trapped and alone.
He tried to calm down, but the invaders were building up a bigger fire and blowing the smoke at him. He had bird lungs, already making him cough. He looked desperately toward the shimmering fountain of magic but there was no spell for commanding the air itself, for pushing away everything that could threaten them. There was only one chance, and it was going to hurt.
Darius screeched and leaped out of the tunnel. Fire singed his legs and the wizard's minions jabbed at him with spears. He flung a spell that drove flaming wood and their own weapons back and outward, but pain ripped along his sides and gashed one of his wings, sending him tumbling in a heap. His paws and talons smoked.
A flurry of darts shot out at him. Darius' sessions of play with Radia had taught him not to counter a dart with raw force, but to fling it sideways to miss him. He did that now to the whole swarm, then launched his own darts in a wild flurry that only distracted the enemy.
The wizard said, "Give me control of the node and I'll spare you, beast."
The griffin laughed and coughed. Maybe, if this man was so eager, Darius could have his guest stick around and help him figure out the body-swap spell. But no; he didn't want to know what a killer like this would want with the node's power. Darius said, "I doubt the first guardian would have your back. He's close, you know."
"What?"
Zara lunged at the wizard from behind and drove his spear into the man's back. The other fighters rushed to the wizard's aid, shouting in confusion. Darius rolled to his four feet and made a flying leap at the nearest of them to free Zara from their attacks. He tried to fly higher but someone yanked his tail. Darius let himself whip around and crash onto that man with all his talons and claws, then kicked off of him to dodge an axe.
The wizard screamed as he used his own magic to yank the spear out of his back, creating a glittering trail of blood suspended in the light of the spell that pulled it out. "Kill them!" he said, staggering backward.
Darius flew, dodging a thrown rock. His connection to the magic node chained him here, but it flowed through every spell he cast as well. He squawked and forced all of the loose wood in the area to fly up: burning branches, spears, mage darts. "Zara, run!" All of the men scattered. Darius flung everything down at the wizard in a storm of green.
His enemy raised his hands and staggered as though physically bowed by the weight he was keeping overhead. The many missiles hung like daggers between them. "We can make a deal!"
Darius strained against what felt like a hundred hands trying to slip individual darts and torches loose from their magical wrestling to curve up and strike him. "Strike down the false dealer!"
Zara took it as a command. A rock whizzed through the air and hit the wizard in the back of one leg, hard enough to distract him. Weapons rained and impaled him on the grass. Darius landed at a safe distance and viciously stabbed him again. Then with a roaring, screeching shout he said, "Anyone else?!"
The wizard's loyal men didn't stop running.
* * *
Darius and Zara tended each other's wounds, sitting in the familiar cave tunnel with a small campfire. Darius said, "What brought you back?"
The man who wore Darius' face said, "I couldn't let them. That man, hiring hunters. Not mapmakers like you." He looked down in shame. "Didn't ask Ironleaf men to help you. Afraid to be sent back. Kept thinking, next year."
Darius sighed and inspected his gashed, bandaged wing. "You came, at least. This place is a home for you as much as the spell allows."
Zara startled, tilting his head like a bird. "Home? But I trapped you."
"Yes. But... Trapped is a state of mind. I'm not serving exploration and trade and knowledge by hiding. What if I stopped relying on my own defenses, and brought people to live here? Can you track down Radia, the woman you followed?"
Zara thumped his chest. "I, hunter. Strong. But need rest."
It was strange seeing the "mighty hunter" again, in Darius' body. No; it wasn't Darius' property now, no more than the house his family had abandoned in Ironleaf. They had moved on and adapted. Janya's teachings warned that a clean break or even a quick getaway could be necessary; he just hadn't applied that thought to finding new ways to explore.
He said, "You can follow them tomorrow, then." Darius stood and tested his limbs. It felt like he could still fly. "Excuse me. I'm going to scout for any of the invaders who might still be lurking."
On his way out, Darius spotted a grin on Zara's face. The guardian griffin took to the air, paying less attention to the hunt for enemies than to the feel of the open sky, however limited and foggy, through his wings.
* * *
One year later, Darius toured the new village of Mistwell. The school for mages and the trading post had sprung up literally by magic as the men of House Blackthorn
shaped the living wood of the forest into buildings. Message seeds floated on the breeze, to and from the first planting grounds. Now there were always humans around, yet no one had tried to kill Darius lately. He was too useful.
"Are you ready?" said Radia, flanked by two wizards with chains.
He screeched for attention. A griffin swooped down from a perch on the rocks, enjoying the relatively sunny day. The newcomer rasped, "What?"
Darius ruffled the other griffin's feathers affectionately. It had taken his human friends considerable effort to find more griffins and bring them here. Now, these new guests had begun to awaken. The magic wellspring, and the efforts of some mages fascinated by the project, were creating a new intelligent race.
Darius eyed the chains that were meant for him. He told his companion, "These men will tie me down, and then go into the cave. Make sure they let me go soon."
"Yes," the griffin said, and glared at the visiting mages.
One of the wizards said, "We're pretty sure we can disable the compulsion to attack. We have no reason to betray you once you're temporarily restrained."
Darius spread his wings. "Well then, my taloned friend won't give you any trouble. Go ahead."
Soon, magic surged through him and made him lurch forward, trying to slaughter the men who'd entered the cave a mile away for research and spellcraft. Though his body strained to leap up and chase, he was bound securely enough not to hurt anyone.
Radia kept him company. "How is the pass?"
He was glad for the distraction from his aching muscles and the feel of iron bonds. He struggled to speak, but he said, "It should be clear enough for light loads soon. Supposedly my deed to the area is coming. We're going to be rich, Radia. You'll always have a home here and free access to the wellspring for your enchantments. This will be a town where everyone can afford them." Even the secrets of Baccata's abandoned spellbook would be turned toward helping people instead of the violence and domination that man had seemed to favor. To profit from a curse seemed like the mark of a good merchant.
Radia laughed. "I never expected to be business partners with a mercantile griffin."
