Hundreds of griffins filled the sky above the Aerie, returning from their final encounter with the wyverns off the northern coast of Nilvar. Though they’d more than earned a rest, the battered and bloodied animals didn’t take their time coming back.
Using the dive-and-glide method, they sped home and dropped from the sky like a rain of locusts, setting upon the dracats’ mangled livestock leftovers with a frantic hunger, giving their riders no chance to dismount. When those were run through, the griffins moved on to the piles of sheep and goats behind the Aerie, whose blood had been drained into the buckets earlier in the battle. Absolutely nothing went to waste. In fact, about twenty more live animals had to be slaughtered to satisfy the famished warriors.
It was not until the griffins were finished with their wild feasting and their riders were finally able to set their feet on solid ground that Gunu felt it was safe enough to sound the all clear for those who’d been sheltering inside the Aerie.
After a hurried but thorough search, wading through the crowd of riders and griffins, Leslyn finally found Liren. Their family was generally not the physically-affectionate type, but in light of the events they’d just survived, the brothers joyfully clasped hands and embraced, then went to work relieving Yardi of his saddle.
When that was done, Leslyn had to return to his duties, moving on to assist several more riders with their griffins’ gear.
Fast-moving footsteps passing by him abruptly stopped, then started again, getting louder as that person approached with haste. Leslyn barely had time to turn before Erin threw herself into his arms.
“I thought you were dead!” she yelped, shoving her face right into the convenient depression between his neck and shoulder. Her nose dug into the tender space in a most unpleasant manner, something halfway between a tickle and actual pain.
Even so, Leslyn went slack with a wash of relief, and hugged her back. “I couldn’t have died if I wanted to. I was with Wrath.”
“That’s what worried me,” the girl said, the words ending in an incredulous laugh as she leaned back and looked at him. “After what you said about her being so dangerous, I thought she’d eaten you for sure. Desmond, I was really—”
She cut off as the warmth drained from Leslyn’s expression. Instead of snapping at her, however badly he wanted to, he stepped away from her embrace, took hold of her hands, and looked her right in the eye. “Listen to me, Erin. I don’t know who told you that my name was Desmond, but they were wrong, and I’ve had enough. I am not Desmond.”
Erin’s breath caught and her already-pale skin went uncomfortably white. It made him feel suddenly guilty, the way her eyes searched his, saddening deeply when she realized he was, in fact, serious. For crying out loud, he wasn’t asking for that much, was he? He just wanted her to get his name right.
He went on, trying to keep his voice gentle, yet firm. “From now on, I want you to call me by my name: Leslyn. Or Leslie, if you like.”
She stared at him with that scolded-puppy expression until he mentioned the nickname. “I thought only Liren called you that?”
“I’ll make this one exception, if you’ll stop looking at me like that.”
To his relief, she complied with his exasperated request, a pretty little smile of delight bowing her lips. “Leslie. It’s cute. Kind of like—”
“There she is. That’s her.”
Erin and Leslyn both turned. A strange man was coming toward them, and reached for Erin’s arm. Leslyn blocked his grab and placed himself between them, earning a sour frown for his trouble.
“And this one’s definitely involved.”
Behind the unknown man was the heckler from among the recruits, the one who kept mocking Kaleit by calling him his captain. There was a clear family resemblance between the two. They were almost certainly father and son.
With them was the Aeriemaster, and Kaleit standing beside him. They also had Arlis in tow, his shirt collar clutched firmly in Gunu’s gloved hand.
“Leave them be, Rittan. With me, Erin,” the Aeriemaster said, his voice stern. “Leslyn, you too. Koben must be looking for you.”
Here it comes, Leslyn thought. His feet felt as heavy as his stomach did as he took that first step to follow. The prince was the last person he wanted to see just then.
They found Captains Esmor and Tannoran, General Xavara and Prince Koben already gathered. The officials waved the Aeriemaster to come over, too busy to give much attention to the small party he’d brought with him. All of them looked exhausted, shoulders visibly sagging and heaviness in their eyes.
At the sight of his master, Leslyn fought the urge to slip to the rear of the group and hide himself behind Gunu or Kaleit. In the end, he decided that delaying the inevitable would just make it worse, and went to face his doom with his head up and shoulders set.
When they were close enough to hear the conversation, Esmor spoke up. “Gunu, you’re just in time for the casualty report: We lost twenty-three men, including civilians. Two riders left living griffins behind. As for the griffins, there were five found on the roof of the Aerie, eight in the pasture. Two more from Xavara’s unit. Three surviving riders.”
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
“That’s… surprisingly light, considering certain unprecedented events,” said the Aeriemaster.
“Speaking of those events,” Rittan interjected, “I have a grievance to bring forward.”
“Is it really necessary to do it now?” Tannoran snapped. “Can’t we have some time to recover after spending hours in the air, risking our lives to save yours?”
“And perhaps this will all blow over and be forgotten by then? You’d love that, wouldn’t you, Captain?” Clearly, his was the model for the tone his son had used toward Kaleit earlier that day.
Tannoran crossed his arms, fixing the man with a cold look. “I fail to see why I should be concerned in the least about whether or not anything is forgotten.”
Kaleit stepped forward. “You should be concerned because I am the one who led the recruits today.”
The captain’s head whipped toward his son. “Come again?” The two severely-clipped words were not an invitation. They were a warning.
Eyes wide in an antagonizing glare, Kaleit pointed toward the Aerie’s entrance. “I am the one who opened that door over there, and released Wrath. Does that merit concern enough for you?”
Matching his son’s hostile expression, Tannoran took a step toward him. He remembered his company, then, and visibly composed himself. “We will have words later, in private,” he promised through clenched teeth.
“I look forward to it,” was Kaleit’s flippant reply.
“As will we.” That was Koben, his hazel eyes calmly focused on Leslyn. Try as he might, the youth couldn’t read the prince. His apparent tranquility in this volatile situation was kind of terrifying, frankly. There was no way to predict the outcome of the conversation that awaited him later on.
“That isn’t enough. Those two, and these,” Rittan said, turning his attention to Erin and Arlis. “All four of them instigated the release of that psychotic blue griffin to fly wild. She’s already willfully killed a man who did no ill except innocently stand in her way—what possessed them to think setting her loose was a good idea?”
Arlis’ face wrinkled with outrage. “It was a good—”
To her credit, Erin was quick enough to snatch the boy’s hand and shake it, getting his attention enough to give him a judicious shushing before he made things worse.
Drawn by the commotion, a group of volunteers had come over to listen. Some soldiers, too. It was likely that all of them had seen Arlis and Leslyn on Wrath’s back at some point during the battle.
Rittan wasn’t finished, turning to Gunu with a jab of his finger toward Leslyn and the others. “Are these... these renegades the sort of people you are appointing to the Guard now? Do you think we feel safe knowing we will have to put our lives in their hands every time Flood comes?”
“They’ve still got basic training, yet,” the Aeriemaster said, his eyes hard. “They’ll learn the proper way of things before next Flood.”
“What good is learning later when you can’t even control them now, while their griffins are still months from flight?” Rittan looked around at the people who were watching the heated exchange. “These are the sort of fools our leaders are giving honor to by allowing them to be given griffins and join our Guard. I, for one, demand that they correct this egregious mistake.” He appealed to the soldiers with a nod. “What about you? Do you want them to be the ones watching your back in the skies?”
As the growing crowd began to murmur, General Xavara frowned, holding up a palm as if asking everyone to stop. “Just a minute, Rittan—”
The man cut her off with a grand gesture, sweeping his arm as if presenting Leslyn, Erin, Arlis, and Kaleit to his audience. “All of these renegades are closely connected to our esteemed officials, here. A general’s son. A prince’s manservant. Both a son and a ward who belong to a single captain. You can bet they’ll be shunted to leadership positions, regardless of merit. Do you want them in charge when the wyverns are upon us, to continue risking more lives with their stunts?"
“Rittan, enough. We will deal with this,” Xavara said quietly, clearly aware of the suspicious eyes that were now being turned upon her.
Leslyn almost couldn’t hear her over the mutters of the soldiers and volunteers gathered around them, their voices intensifying steadily as Rittan continued to stir them up. He glanced at Erin to see how she was taking it, and found her rapidly looking back and forth between Koben and Xavara, as if expecting them to make it stop. She still held Arlis’ hand, probably more to comfort herself than the boy.
“As handler of tidings and deliveries, responsible for passing along everything newsworthy, I’m going to make sure the whole town knows what happened. If you don’t make things right, publicly, in the open for all to see, you’ll have a big problem on your hands.”
That was when Koben finally came forward, giving Rittan’s shoulder a comradely clap. The sight eased Leslyn considerably, giving him immediate hope that things would be smoothed over very soon.
“I’ll gladly accept those terms,” said Koben.
Leslyn’s stomach dropped. Well, it had been a nice thought.
Brows raised in genuine surprise, Rittan stared at Koben. “You will?”
“Of course I will.” The prince casually transferred his hand to the man’s other shoulder, guiding him along in step as Koben began to pace back and forth within the loose circle of men and women. “I am a firm believer in transparency, especially if it will help to alleviate your concerns. My colleagues and I will meet tonight, and then we’ll announce the outcome during the battle report in the square tomorrow morning.”
Rittan put a halt to the pacing, absently holding up one hand in a vague pointing motion. “Tomorrow morning?”
“Tomorrow morning. I’ll expect to see your smiling face in the crowd, my friend.”
“Doubtful I’ll be smiling,” Rittan said, but he seemed convinced. He gave Leslyn and the others a sharp look before pointing at his own son, then jabbing his thumb over his shoulder toward town. The two hereditary hecklers left the scene, and the others who had been watching trickled off until only the officials and their charges remained.
“With all due respect, Koben,” Esmor said once the area was clear, “what under Crylis did you just promise? Are we going to show for the battle report and find a mob there that could be easily primed to demand blood? We should have talked it over, first.”
Xavara looked unusually small, gazing at her son with tired eyes. “Be that as it may, I am in agreement with Koben.”
A breathy yelp slipped from Arlis as he gaped at his mother, shocked what he no doubt perceived as a betrayal of the highest magnitude.
“Well,” Tannoran sighed, passing a cold stare toward Kaleit, “I suppose we’ll need to come up with something to appease that blusterer Rittan, and whatever riffraff he brings with him.”
“If we’re set on applying appropriate punishments in front of a potentially bloodthirsty mob,” said Koben, “I’ve a feckless plan that still needs a suitable party...”
A broad smile spread across his face as he looked over the four people in question, hazel eyes moving from proud Kaleit to still and quiet Erin, then to wide-eyed Arlis, and finally to Leslyn, who stared back with purest dread.
“…I believe I’ve just found it.”