WingSpan (Taken on the Wing Book 1) (31 page)

Then she crashed into him from above, head first and grabbing his ankles. He flipped on his back and into a tumbling dive so quickly by the time he was in position again she was in hers like nothing had happened. At least after that she’d kept quiet, paying attention to his instructions.

Then bless her, she made it until midnight.

When she wandered into him for the third time Talon got no complaint as he folded her up in his arms and she quickly fell asleep. Even with the magic granted by the sapphire ring she doesn’t have the stamina of a ranger who would race another across the country for fun. Now the eastern sky glows a shade brighter than the west so dawn approaches and daylight will offer them a little more safety.

“Talon, where do we come from? Don’t start with when a daddy gryphon and a mommy gryphon love each other very much. I’ve heard that part.”

Talon laughs and so do Firn and Rapid on either side as Soar orders them higher. Talon’s come to appreciate his guard; Firn in particular. She isn’t shy about her love for Lev and his eyrie and Talon suspects the two have found companionship with each other since losing their beloved mates. Rapid is rebellious and pushy and Dove is trimmed from her dame’s gentle feathers. Gentle only when she feels like it however; more than once Firn broke ranks to answer a challenge from one of Lev’s guard, usually proving herself to be the better ranger. Typical pass the time stuff.

“Should I put you in school with the children once we get to the eyrie?” Talon answers.

“Not if you tell me.”

“Even if I tell you,” he insists but she’s pleased with the idea. They settle into their new elevation far above the cloud lined valleys they passed over all night, each deeper and thicker than the next.

A low whistle from above gets Talon’s attention and he pulls Shadow in tighter. Two short chirps from Soar tell him there’s trouble behind; the long pause between the sounds is an indication of distance. On the bare edge of the horizon, low enough to have remained hidden without their change in altitude.

The group picks up the pace in response. As far away as the following gryphons are it’s still too close.

“Our legends say we were once the pets of the gods, Greek, Norse, whatever,” Talon starts. “It’s so long ago we don’t really know. The story is one of us bravely defended her master. The cleverness of her actions led him to believe she could be sentient which is saying a lot because the gods found none other than themselves to be sentient. He whispered to her in the old words and she became partly human, retaining her wings and her tail and he fell in love with her because she was more beautiful than any goddess he had ever seen.

“She seduced him and as he slept she went to her sisters and brothers, changing them as she’d been changed. When she returned he tried to make her a gryphon again but she remained part human. Because she was pregnant she kept her new form. Mist could tell you this, you know.”

“Mist wouldn’t say seduced,” Shadow retorts.

“She will when she’s older,” Talon answers as Soar chirps again; more gryphons, far but flanking their right and keeping their distance. They turn left and Talon shifts his eyes as black as they will go, scanning the horizon ahead. They can’t be more than thirty minutes from the final food cache. If it’s anything like the last one, a small tunnel, he can focus on defense while Shadow is safe in the rear. Soar will have to decide if they confront them there or if they push on to the eyrie.

“But she’d fallen in love with him and together they gathered the gryphons she’d changed and hid on Earth.

“By the time her children were born, a son and a daughter, she had been found out and the remaining gryphons were cast to Earth with her. As punishment, the selfish god who made her part human was stripped of his godhood and together they ruled the first eyrie. It’s said all royal females are descended from her and blessed with the magic of the gods inherited from their sire.

“We’ve been bound between the Earth and the sky ever since.”

“But not everyone believes this,” she counters.

“Stretch your wings,” Talon says and lets her go. Shadow has to be ready to fly on her own if he’s the last thing between her and a challenger. Within seconds she glides to his left and takes her place between him and Firn. The pace punishes her and after a moment of lagging behind she loosens up and holds position at his left wing.

A final signal from Soar says he can’t keep their problem from Shadow any longer. A third group appears over the high ridge ahead.

“Here Shadow, now,” he barks, instantly regretting his tone but on some level she’s relieved like she’s glad the waiting is over. As Talon lifts his left wing and pulls her in she rolls, hooking her right leg around his waist. Without taking her eyes from his, she holds on silent and ready for his instruction.

Talon snaps the crossbow from his thigh and pushes it into Shadow’s hands.

“We’re surrounded,
Arlette
,” he whispers.

Take the group to the left,
Soar whistles and like two large birds they make a graceful turn.

Talon knows what’s coming; they’ll take on the group back to the left. It’s not the one to which they were being herded. The ridge under the third group could be hiding anything. So could the thick valley cloud below for that matter and with the rising sun lighting the surface it will be much harder to detect danger hidden below. If they’re quick enough about eliminating the first group then they’ll still have a lead on the other two. If they try to get between two groups they’d just wind up caught by both with the third coming in fast from behind.

“Fasten the thong around your wrist so you don’t drop it—”

“It slides,” she notices the figure eight of leather that slides along the loop already around her wrist. “Got it.”

“If they get too close we’ll run for it, the guard will get in the way and we make for the eyrie like our tails are on fire.”

“Okay,” she breathes but a little sob slips out as her thighs dig in.

“You have five shots, a last resort while we run. If I have to fight I’ll drop you and fight and you keep going. I’ll catch up.”

“How do I reload it?” her voice shakes.

“You don’t,” Talon’s hand finds the back of her neck as he whispers, soothing her. “It’s just like a gun, looks like a crossbow.”

It’s true that’s all it is. The bolts it fires are a combination of bullet and arrow, about six inches long and launched by an explosion of black powder. No need to reload, just a bitch to replace if he loses it.

“What about my father?”

“Right now he’s just another ranger and a damn good one,” Talon looks ahead at their targets. They look big like he has double vision and he blinks to clear it. He makes out eight coming in fast as they drive to shorten the gap. Then fifteen or sixteen. Shit, each had a passenger like he does and now it’s too late to change course.

Climb,
Soar whistles. The tactic is sound. Climb then dive at the last minute, crossing under their opponents and forcing them to turn and follow while Soar drives them on ahead.

In theory.

“Talon—”

“The eyrie will survive without him, not without you.”

“Talon—”

“We’re going to do everything we can to make sure it doesn’t come to that, okay?”

Ahead of them, the approaching gryphons climb at the same rate, silhouetted by the lightening eastern sky. Their opponents want to time their dive to collide with the Vancouver Island gryphons and engage them in close. If they wait too long or go too soon then they’re playing catch-up while Soar drives them on.

Soar’s goal is to dive first, cutting under the rogues’ descent path as well as if they waited too long.

“We’re going to dive, keep your wings in as tight as you can. If we drop too slowly we’re in trouble.”

“Okay, I’m ready.”

“That’s my girl,
Arlette
,” he encourages as he silently ticks off the same seconds Soar counts. The pressure in his lungs from their upward sprint burns as he drives still higher, guiding the lower wing in behind the upper.

“Brave, brave,
Arlette
.”

Soar’s click is so faint the oncoming gryphons could never hear and Talon’s response is automatic. They drop like a silent torpedo; heads down. Shadow releases the hold her legs have on him and tucks her pointed toes in between his shins, removing even more drag. Coupled with the bit of draft from the upper wing just in front the fall is dizzying.

For a split second they’re tugged backwards as the attacking gryphons pass inches from Talon’s feet then there’s the deafening clap of wings catching air. They take off before they fully arrest their fall to convert some of their downward momentum into a burst of speed.

Once they’re back in formation, Soar drops down to the lower wing and Dove moves aside to make room at Talon’s left.

“Screw the last cache, my friend. We make for the eyrie.”

“Agreed, Soar. Even if we have to go the long way.”

For a moment there’s only the quiet swish of wings in the frozen air as they push, growing their lead by a small amount. Then Soar laughs. The long way means around the Earth. Right now they’re headed east and turning around will only invite one of the following groups to join in. With all the gryphons on their tail the coming fight looks worse and worse.

“No,” Soar announces. “The guard will turn and deal with this bunch.”

“Master Soar?” Shadow calls.

Talon feels her fear. The adrenaline echo through his veins must be nothing compared to what rampages through hers. He swears silently for letting himself be worked up by her and decides the first chance he gets he’ll make Shadow something to give him the ability to tune her out. That is if he ever has the heart to leave her long enough to do it.

“Dame Shadow,” Soar nods, the closest thing to a bow a gryphon can manage on the wing.

“When we get there tell me about Condor.”

“Of course,” he bows again. “Three minutes, my friend.”

Shadow doesn’t feel much better and neither does Talon but he understands why she did it. She promises they’ll meet up safely at the eyrie. Even scared shitless she’s trying to lead with confidence however she can.

Talon gives her neck affection as Soar returns to his station. It seems to help but Talon grinds his teeth as he realizes he squeezes too hard. She’s become limp in his arms and he backs off before he makes her too weak to fly.

“Kiss me,” Shadow says as she tries to hide a shudder. At first Talon thinks it’s due to fear but when their lips meet they’re cold.

“Eat something,” he orders. He’s seen it before; stress in a younger gryphon depleting their reserves. It has to be twenty or thirty below freezing which isn’t helping. And he feels her worry as a knot in his belly that won’t go away. “Relax,
Arlette
. Think about when we get to the eyrie. Condor and Soar were good friends and he can tell you a lot about the gryphon Terry was.”

“Okay,” she whispers as her teeth chatter. There’s nothing but jerky in her pockets and she gets a piece out.

Fuck, it’s started.

The sounds of battle reach him through the frozen thin air and fighting gryphons tumble away in twos and threes. A single gryphon falls, wings limp, rolling as he or she picks up speed toward the mountainside below but Talon can’t spare a longer look. Two have broken away from the main fight, one on the tail of the other, and he can’t tell if they’re both taking chase or if one is trying to stop the other.

“Eat,” he orders again, digging a chunk of jerky from his own pocket for her.

“Yeah,” she chews, working the frozen jerky between her teeth. “What about you?”

“I’m a long way from needing it, Shadow. I can fly all the way to the eyrie if I have to.”

Through the sound of his own wings Talon hears the two gryphons behind him. A final glance tells him it’s three. Shadow sees them and after a moment frozen in his arms she digs her thighs into his hips and steadies the crossbow on his shoulder.

“Eat,” he tries again. In minutes he’ll order her to run for it and she’ll need every bit of energy she can get.

“No, glide,” she shouts.

Talon knows why. She wants a steady platform to be sure of her aim and she’s right. He can keep two busy, one between him and the other, but a third will always find a way to flank him. As much as he hates to let them any closer it’s the only play that makes sense.

“Let them get closer,” he insists to make the rounds count but the idea scares her and he’s starting to think of plain old fleeing. Not a ranger-like tactic at all but if Shadow can keep her head in the face of such fear he’ll have to as well.

“Okay,” her arm relaxes and she eats another piece of meat. Shadow’s shivering has stopped but she doesn’t feel any warmer. Her next piece comes from his pockets and she eats it as she takes the rest. “Where are we?”

“Between Lytton and Hope,” Talon answers. “When I let you go, fly to the sun. It’ll help hide you and I’ll know where to look.”

The smell of jerky makes his stomach rumble. Talon is a lot closer to needing it than he let on but he can at least hunt the first animal he sees. Shadow can barely land.