Page 75 of Gryphon’s Fire

“I could not have said it better, granddaughter.” Grandmother’s eyes narrowed on Falon. “The challenge is within Keir’s right.”

“I…” A childish whine escaped Falon’s lips as his expression pleaded with Jaakobah to remove the burden of decision from him.

Jaakobah’s jaw tensed enough that I thought he might crack a tooth. Barely tilting his head, Jaakobah turned to my father and asked, “What say you, Hunapo?”

Until he’d been directly spoken to, my father had remained silent, contentedly standing off to the sidelines. Deep into the Wasting, the one I’d once called Father was truly gone. Voice scratchy with apparent disuse, my father answered, “Whatever you decide, Jaakobah.”

Hunapo Montenegro was no more. My father’s body was little more than a shell holding a diseased mind. Grandmother’s vengeance would be a kindness.

“You would deny the claim?” Clement Indera’s voice was one I hadn’t heard in well over three centuries. The Indera’s controlled a prominent flight in the province of Portugal. I’d met him only a handful of occasions and although I didn’t know him well, he’d always struck me as honorable.

Slowly, other voices joined Clement’s until Jaakobah was forced to hold up a silencing hand. “So, you all wish to see bloodshed instead of joy today,” Jaakobah said before unbuttoning his suit jacket and slipping out of it. A nearby gryphon stepped forward to take the jacket. Jaakobah leaned in and whispered something into his ear, and with a quick bow, the gryphon motioned to one other before they left the field. If I knew my grandmother and cousin, Lulabelle would be hot on their heels. I could only hope that Jima had been able to activate the shield charm and was now safely ensconced within its walls, along with Phina.

I buried my worries about Phina and Jima. I needed to trust Jima and Lulabelle. They would keep Phina safe. My battle was with Jaakobah.

“Very well,” Jaakobah finally said, sounding very put upon. “I accept Keir’s challenge, although I doubt it will be much of one.” Jaakobah clucked his tongue. “Really, Keir, you should have accepted the bonding. Is being dead really that preferable?”

“I could never bond with my mother’s murderer.” My declaration immediately silenced the crowd, only for that silence to be broken by a cacophony of mixed denials and cries for vengeance.

Jaakobah stilled. “A volatile accusation.”

“Volatile or not, it is true.”

“And where, pray tell, did you hear this truth?”

“From the only true witness, your prisoner, my brother, Eldon.”

Jaakobah scoffed before throwing his head back and laughing. “You believe the word of the true murderer? Of course Eldon would want to shift the blame from himself to another.”

“I trust the word of my brother,” I answered.

“All the more fool you are,” Jaakobah sneered. He didn’t bother removing all his clothing before beginning his shift. “When you are lying on the ground, torn asunder and the life draining from you, remember, you asked for this.”

With those final, vitriolic words, Jaakobah shifted.

Twenty-Six

Keir

Jaakobah’s gryphon form was massive and intimidating. I wasn’t small, but I’d rarely seen a gryphon as large. Rearing back on his thick, lion haunches, Jaakobah’s wings spread wide, his front, feathered legs reaching for the sky as his heavy black talons clawed the air. Beak open wide, Jaakobah let loose an ear-piercing screech before his front half descended, falling upon the earth and making the ground quake.

Shaking out his feathered head, I swear Jaakobah grinned. The gleam in his bronze eyes held nothing but the promise of death and dismemberment. While I would not revel in Jaakobah’s death, I had no doubt, if given the chance, that he would dance in my blood.

My transformation was just as swift but far less theatrical. My energy would be wasted on such fanciful imagery. Then again, that was Jaakobah’s style. He excelled at showmanship.

Lazarus’s scale stayed with me. The cord was gone, but I felt the scale firmly embedded within my neck. I hadn’t been certain it would stay with me during the transformation. Clothing and accessories typically vanished, reappearing when we regained our humanoid form. Magical all on its own, perhaps Lazarus’s scale remained due to its inherent qualities. Or perhaps it was due to the meaning I imbued into the scale, considering it as much a part of me as my fur and feathers.

My front talons dug into the earth while my rear claws did the same. My lion’s tail thrashed back and forth with anticipation. This was it. The moment I’d been waiting over two centuries for and yet only realized the truth two weeks prior. I wasn’t sure the outcome was predestined or if it could have been somehow avoided. Such reflections would haunt me later. Now was not the time to dwell over past decisions. Just like in the hallway with the guards, I needed to set complex thought aside. I was not mindless. My mind simply needed to take a back seat to my instincts. I needed to trust my gryphon’s physical power as much as its intellect.

Our surroundings went silent. Those who’d come to see a bonding now witness to a fight to the death. They’d moved to the edges of the field, but I doubted any had truly left. Curious eyes encircled us. I knew, without a doubt, that one of those pairs of eyes belonged to the wyvern I deeply loved. Lazarus would never abandon me. That fact was as engrained in me as knowing the sky was blue.

Neck outstretched and beak to the sky, Jaakobah screeched again before launching his massive body toward me. The sun glinted off his outstretched talons and illuminated the razor-sharp edges of his beak.

Jaakobah was big. Size definitely mattered and held weight. Sometimes that weight was more detriment than aid. I might be smaller, but I was also quicker. The key was timing. I dodged, tucking my limbs and wings and rolling to the side. I was up and moving toward Jaakobah before he could recover. His massive weight carried him forward, making it difficult to stop and sharply turn.

Leaping, I landed on Jaakobah’s back, sinking my talons and claws into his body, aiming for the spot where his wings attached. It was one of our most vulnerable locations. Damaging our wing muscles, making flight impossible, was akin to slicing off a limb.

Thrashing from side to side, Jaakobah attempted to throw me off, but I held on, digging in further. And then, Jaakobah did something unexpected. Pushing off the ground, he went over backward, throwing us both to the ground, his heavy body lying on top of me. This position didn’t allow Jaakobah to attack me, but it did hurt. If I hadn’t kept my wings tucked, one of them could have easily broken.