Shadow (26 page)

Pell knew from her voice that she would be devastated by that outcome, but yielding had never been in his nature.
‘No! Of course not!’
he replied immediately.
‘Lower your foreleg again, please. I need to climb back up. I’ve got some rope in my saddlebag. I’m going to tie my left hand to the saddle grip.’

Pell grabbed the lance and made his way over to Shadow’s side. He propped the lance upright in the crook of her foreleg and then climbed up into the saddle. It was awkward, but he managed
it without too much trouble. The saddlebag was easy enough to open with one hand and after a moment or two of rummaging around he found what he was looking for.

The piece of rope was too long, so he wedged a short length under his knee, twisted the desired cut point between the fingers of his left hand and sawed through it with his belt knife. He
inadvertently dropped the longer length. It slid to the ground, but he knew it was no loss. He had what he needed. Carefully sheathing his knife, Pell then tried to secure his left hand to the
saddle grip at the pommel. It was hideously difficult and immensely frustrating. Time and again he twisted the rope into different knots, but no matter how hard he tried, he could not get them
tight enough.

In the distance he saw the griffins begin to rise into the air in a stream. He was running out of time. It was a compromise, but rather than try to tie the knots tightly, he decided to use a
couple of simple self-tightening slipknots instead. A double hitch onto the pommel grip, followed by the same around his wrist was completed just in time.

‘Riders, take up your lances.’

Karrok’s order made Pell jump. He leaned across and grabbed the shaft of his upright lance. With a shuffling sequence of mini throws and catches, he worked his right hand along the shaft
until he had hold of the weapon in the correct place behind the hand-guard. It towered above him like a flagpole. He knew he couldn’t fly with it like this, so he carefully lowered it at an
angle across Shadow’s back until the shaft was resting between two of her ridges. The point was about a span to the left of her head.

‘Don’t turn your head to the left, Shadow,’
he warned.
‘I don’t want to take your eye out with this thing.’

‘It is a little distracting there, Pell,’
she admitted.
‘If you could raise the tip a bit once we’re airborne, I’d appreciate it.’

‘I’ll do my best.’

‘Pell and Shadow, collect the rings from my brothers on the left of the valley,’ Karrok ordered. ‘Dirk and Knifetail, yours are on the right. Make ready.’

Shadow turned around to her right until she was facing down the valley. Alongside her, Knifetail was doing the same.

‘GO!’

Shadow accelerated forwards so fast that Pell rocked back in the saddle. The whiplash effect yanked the slipknot at his left wrist, tightening it painfully as he felt the lashing pass its first
test. With his balance quickly restored, Pell leaned forwards and angled the tip of the lance upwards slightly as Shadow powered up into the air.

Aim to fly slightly below and to the right of the rings as we approach them,’
Pell told her, looking ahead along the line of the valley. The first of the griffins was clearly
visible ahead. He could see the ring below the griffin. It seemed stable enough with its open mouth towards him. As they got closer he could see that it was bouncing up and down with each wingbeat
of the griffin, so timing was crucial.

Pell raised the tip of the lance still further. It was good that he was concentrating to the left of Shadow. If he had been able to see Dirk and Knifetail out of the corner of his eye, the
temptation to watch them would have been strong. The ring was approaching fast.

‘Smooth it out as we approach,’
Pell ordered. Shadow complied, using her momentum to soar the final couple of dragon-lengths without beating her wings in order to give Pell
a stable platform from which to spear the ring. In those final few moments Pell concentrated furiously on the rhythm of the ring’s rise and fall. He could see instantly why the ring was so
stable. There was not one string holding the ring, but two: one from each of the griffin’s taloned feet.

His judgement was perfect, dipping the tip of the lance into the very centre of the hoop. There was a very slight tug on the lance as the strings broke and then Shadow was turning right and
descending towards the next griffin, which was considerably lower than the first. Pell shot a swift glance at Knifetail and Dirk. They were a fraction behind, but Dirk too had secured his first
ring. There was no time to worry about them further. The next ring was approaching.

The angle of approach this time was not so easy. They were descending and Shadow had taken a very slight turn to the left to prepare their exit angle for the next target. Pell fixed his focus on
the ring, but he could not work out the rhythm of its rise and fall. Before he knew it, he had hit the bottom of the ring with the tip of the lance. One of the strings snapped instantly and the
ring flashed past his head, spinning round and round on the one remaining cord.

‘Damn!’ he swore aloud.

‘Don’t worry,’
Shadow told him calmly.
‘We’ll get it on the way back. Keep your focus.’

As they approached the third ring, Pell realised things were not getting any easier. The rings were becoming progressively smaller. When he neatly snagged the third onto his lance he could see
the difference in size immediately.

The fourth ring was approaching fast. It was untidy, but with a dramatic lunge at the last instant, he somehow managed to sneak the point into the inside right edge. The ring lodged on the tip
of the lance, but didn’t slide safely to the hilt. The weight of the lance was increasing all the time, but by heaving the tip upwards and giving it a quick shake, Pell managed to dislodge
the ring and slide it to safety.

Distracted by the need to secure the fourth ring, Pell did not anticipate Shadow’s turn. As she began banking to the right to gain position for her run at the final ring, Pell was taken by
surprise. He instinctively tried to grab the pommel with his left hand and cried out from the intense shock of pain that shot up his arm from his thumb. His grip failed and there was a new shock of
pain as the cord bit deep into his wrist with the sudden load. Hauling his body back into balance, Pell looked up for the final ring. The ring looked tiny. It took the briefest pause for him to
realise this was because it
was
tiny. Then it slotted onto the tip of his lance. He was not quite sure how he did it. Luck? Instinct? He didn’t know. He had it and that was all that
mattered.

‘Well done, Pell! Dirk missed his last one,’
Shadow told him, clearly elated that Pell had managed to secure the final ring.
‘Hang on. I’ll take us back for
the one we missed.’

‘Do we need it?’
Pell asked as Shadow began a hard turn to the right.
‘If Dirk missed one as well, that makes four each. If the last test was anything to go by,
then the first one back now will win.’

‘Karrok was quite specific,’
Shadow insisted.
‘He said, “Once you have the rings . . .” which means we must get them all.’

‘All right, then. Let’s go.’

They rolled out of the turn. Pell’s arm was aching with the effort of holding the lance. It had not seemed heavy to begin with, but now it felt as if it were made of lead. His right wrist
and bicep were burning with the effort of keeping the tip up high enough to prevent the rings from sliding down and off the end.

He looked ahead. There was only one griffin in front of them. The four from whom he had successfully taken rings had flown out of the way. As soon as he saw the ring he knew that he was in
trouble. Not only was it bobbing up and down and swinging back and forth from the impact of his lance, now that it was hanging by a single cord, it was also spinning. It was one of the larger
rings, but Pell knew it could prove the hardest to collect.

Shadow began to slow down, positioning herself for the run.

‘Don’t slow down,’
Pell urged.
‘Go for it. I’ll hit it, or I won’t, but we still need to beat Dirk back to Karrok.’

Shadow did not need to be told twice. Her head stretched forwards and her wings accelerated them towards the ring with every stroke. The griffin began to loom and the ring swung and spun like a
child’s yo-yo on its string. Pell raised the tip of his lance a touch further, his eyes unblinking as they approached. The ring swung towards them and Pell dipped the lance at it even as it
twisted. For the slightest instant he thought he had missed, but the familiar tug on the lance as the final cord snapped sent a shock of elation through him.

‘Got it! Go, go, go!’
he urged.

Already flying fast, Shadow accelerated still further as they tore down the valley to where Karrok was waiting. Shadow swooped down and backwinged to a most dramatic landing just a handful of
paces short of the griffin. Pell tilted his lance, allowing the five rings to spill along its length and fall to ground by Karrok’s talons. The griffin looked down at the small pile of
rings.

A whoosh of air and a whumpf announced Knifetail’s less elegant arrival a few moments later. The griffin looked up.

‘Well done,’ Karrok acknowledged. ‘Both teams showed considerable skill, but Pell and Shadow claim victory in the second task.’

Chapter Twenty-Three

As Shadow landed next to Aurora, Pell was awash with emotion. He could almost taste relief at the back of his tongue. He and Shadow had not disgraced themselves in the first
two challenges, so he could hold his head high in front of the others. At the same time his muscles were taut with nervous tension as he worried about the nature of the final task. He and Dirk had
been sent with their dragons back to their respective parties to rest. Apparently, the griffins had to make preparations for the final test.

‘That was amazing!’ Elian enthused, running to Shadow’s side as Pell dismounted. ‘You and Shadow can really fly! Those challenges looked well dangerous from down here.
Especially that mad dive on the first task. How are you feeling?’

Elian’s right hand was extended in greeting. Pell clasped it in his. A rush of warmth at Elian’s genuine enthusiasm took him by surprise. He knew he made it difficult for others to
get close. It was an inbuilt defence mechanism that he had developed over the years to avoid hurt and disappointment. His experience was that friendships always led to pain. It was his own fault.
His personal ambition and drive inevitably turned people against him. From the beginning of this quest, he had deliberately held his companions at a cold distance, but Elian appeared determined to
ignore the barriers.

‘I’ve felt better,’ Pell admitted.

Kira was not far behind Elian and, to Pell’s surprise, he could see respect in her eyes. Nolita stood some distance away. Her eyes watched Shadow, full of terror. She would come no
closer.

‘That was some pretty fancy flying, Pell,’ Kira said grudgingly. ‘You did well to beat Dirk on that second task. Those lances are so long, they must be a nightmare to
handle.’

‘Thanks,’ he said, not knowing what else to say.

‘Do you know what the final challenge is?’ she added.

He shook his head. ‘We were just told it would take a short while for the griffins to set it up.’

Pell glanced across the base of the valley to where the night dragonriders were huddled around Dirk. Segun was talking very earnestly with them and gesturing. One of the riders – not Dirk
– broke away from the group and walked to his dragon.

‘I wonder what that’s all about?’ Pell mused aloud.

‘I don’t know, but it looks as though Segun is up to something,’ Kira observed, her eyes narrowing as she watched the rider mount.

‘Whatever it is, he’s unlikely to do anything to annoy the griffins, unless he’s either very brave or very stupid,’ Elian said confidently. ‘There are hundreds of
them up there. Who would have ever thought there would be this many?’

‘I wouldn’t put it past Segun to try to slip something past the griffins’ attention,’ Pell said thoughtfully. ‘But you’re right. Karrok doesn’t strike
me as a fool. Come. I need to ask a favour of Nolita.’

Pell strode away from Shadow’s side towards their blond companion. Elian glanced across at Kira, whose eyes had widened with much the sort of surprise that he felt. Until now, Pell had
shown nothing but contempt for Nolita. What favour could he possibly want from her? Whatever it was, it looked as though Pell was about to show a degree of humility they would not have believed
possible. Neither of them wanted to miss what he had to say, so they hurried after him, slipping and sliding across the snow-covered, rocky ground.

‘Pell.’ Nolita acknowledged his approach with a nod. ‘I’m glad this challenge fell to you. I could never have done what you just did.’

Pell smiled at the admission. ‘I have a feeling that the Oracle chose each of us specifically to face the particular challenges that awaited us,’ he replied. ‘You passed your
challenge, Nolita. I’ve got work to do to match your achievement, and I think I’m going to need your help to succeed.’