WingSpan (Taken on the Wing Book 1) (21 page)

“Tawny…” Cloud whines, again acting like Shadow isn’t there.

Tawny doesn’t answer as she busies herself tidying. After a moment Cloud stands and takes a seat beside Shadow, fists shoved between her knees and careful not to touch her.

“After the meat I got for dinner I was scared there was nothing here I could eat,” Shadow cuts one of the falafel in two before dipping one end in the yogurt and taking a bite. It’s mouth watering hot and cold, spicy and tangy at the same time.

“We live in a mountain, child, not the desert,” Tawny says. “A balanced meal is as important to a gryphon as to a human. Our caverns are very well stocked.”

“Try it,” Shadow whispers to Cloud.

“Tawny, she’s sharing her food!”

Again Tawny doesn’t answer so Shadow gives the girl a gentle elbow and she jumps.

“Did I do something wrong?”

“A gryphon never shares their food,” Cloud whispers. “Only a dame will feed her young.”

“A human will share something amazing with her companion,” Shadow feigns offense. “It would be considered rude of me not to offer and even ruder of you not to accept.”

Cloud turns, making eye contact for the first time.

“I believe I am about as gryphon as you are human, Cloud, and you have to try this.”

The girl’s mouth opens part way as her eyes narrow but she’s at a loss for words. She stares hard at Shadow, nostrils flaring just slightly and Shadow has to clear her throat. The itch from the previous time Cloud tried to persuade her returns. As Clouds inner indecision carries on, Shadow resists the urge to tell her never mind and finishes the piece of falafel. Then she moves on to a spoonful of tomato salad.

“Oh Jesus, that’s good,” she murmurs. Through the lemon there’s the smoothness of olive oil and the sweetness of the tomato. Black olive and lemon is a combination she would have wrinkled her nose at before but the flavours co-operate completely.

Cloud reaches to take the remaining falafel piece and dips as she saw Shadow do. She sniffs it then takes a nibble before she reaches for the plate again.

“Once you pick it up you have to finish it,” Shadow explains. “You touch it you take it is a human food rule as well.”

Again Cloud appears puzzled but she finishes it.

“Try the tomatoes.”

Shadow is ravenous and keeps going, barely noticing as Cloud samples everything. In the back of her mind though is the girl’s comment about a mother and child sharing food. It’s amusing to think but she wonders if Cloud feels the same closeness of the moment. Well, if not closeness then at least camaraderie.

“I’ll take your things and find you a more suitable den,” Tawny announces.

“Leave my pack, please,” Shadow asks. Cloud’s mouth is full and she stops chewing, concealing her hands under her thighs.

“As you wish.”

Tawny gathers up Shadow’s winter coat, boots, and the wet towels and makes her way from the chamber. Now that their only company is the moving water, it’s definitely closeness Shadow feels with Cloud.

“They don’t trust me,” Cloud reaches with finger and thumb for the last olive.

“Why do you say that?”

“I know.”

“Oh.”

“I mean they always say the right things and I’ve never been without but I’ve heard them talk when they think I can’t. Did Tawny tell you about me? Where I came from?”

“A little,” Shadow allows. “It sounds a lot like my story. Lev put my brother and me with the humans to keep us—”

“They think I’m bad luck,” Cloud interrupts, a trait Shadow is certain she picked up from Tawny to keep the conversation on target. Her target. “I know I scare them. They say the rogues will come for me again and when they do everyone here will die.”

“Oh, Cloud, that’s awful for them to think!”

“I can tell when I’m not trusted. I think it’s my magic and I wish I didn’t have it. They don’t mean to mistrust, I mean they can’t help it, it’s instinct to trust or not to trust and I try and remember that but it still hurts.

“When I become an adult they can’t keep me here and I’m going to make a human home where nobody knows me.”

“Pass me my bag please,” Shadow asks as she puts the empty plate at their feet. What she’s thinking isn’t much but it’s all she can offer Cloud.

She knows you trust her. She wouldn’t tell you that if she didn’t.

“Where I come from there’s a place my brother and I would go whenever we could. We’d rent a cabin… a den on the beach in a place called Tofino where the sky and the ocean could fight all day long even in the summer. My favourite time to go there was the winter and I would watch the clouds all day.

“You never know what a cloud is going to be: sometimes protection from the sun, sometimes thunder, lightning, rain, the most powerful weather or maybe just passing by watching the stars with you and relaxing in the breeze. Some days if you’re really lucky you can stand in the cloud it’s so low and you just know that however it seems to be feeling the other side basks in sunshine shining brilliant white light all over. I saw it from an airplane a few times and there’s always that beautiful part that will surprise you that you never really get to see but it’s there. It’s always there.”

Shadow’s hand finds the half box of chocolates in her bag but she doesn’t pull it out just yet. Pressure on her shoulder brings a smile to her lips. It’s Cloud, leaning closer, her wing around Shadow as her arm sneaks around her waist. She hopes not to spoil the moment and rests her cheek on the tangled red hair, remembering the coarse feel of Terry’s dreadlocks.

“I think they’re taking you home tomorrow, Shadow. I’m going to miss you.”

A bit of food and a compliment brought out the warmth in Cloud’s heart.

And your trust, Shadow.

“Can I give you something?”

“Yes.”

Shadow gives Cloud the box of chocolates.

“They’re half gone but I want you to have the ones that are left.”

“What do they do?”

“They can make you feel better.”

“They have magic?” Her eyes have gone wide.

“Not by themselves. Maybe it’s the person who gave them to you or the people around you when you eat them. Sometimes I eat so many I’m sick to my stomach before I feel any better but maybe I’d feel worse without them.

“Maybe Tawny would let you use the internet to learn how to make them.”

Cloud’s vigorous nod is interrupted by Tawny’s return.

“One day I will bring you some!” she exclaims as she gets to her feet.

“Cloud, child,” Tawny orders. “Please find Talon and let him know Dame Shadow is waiting for him in the main chamber.”

“Okay, Tawny,” Cloud’s attitude seems to have dissolved completely.

“Cloud?” Shadow calls to the girl’s back. “Will you cook for me again?”

Talon has been dreading this for half a decade; speaking to Swift again. It’s been that long since their messy ending. Except for a week ago at his Saskatoon house.

And the half dozen times she tried to kill him; obvious and incompetent as the attempts were she might have succeeded if Talon had never learned to fight and was maybe a third his size. It had been simple to disarm her and walk away.

“Talon,” Swift’s soft voice calls from behind the heavy curtain covering the opening to her den. The last time he’d been here she’d painted the walls white like inside a human house. Even the light of a single silver lantern hurt his eyes. “I’ll behave. I promise.”

She’s dressed at least, standing at the far side of her chamber. Deep golden wings frame her excessively female body; their peaks high over her shoulders and a single large feather seems to caress the side of her calf. Swift looks ready to travel since the clothes she wears are human. Her sleeping mat is covered in the rough dark blankets typical of the eyrie, not the bright human fashions typical of Swift. Otherwise the room is empty with the exception of a single bag. Talon’s muscles tighten with a flash of anger as he hopes his things are still in the smaller second chamber behind her.

“Relax,” she gestures to the small opening. “I think it’s time for me to move on from here. I was going to leave you the den but I don’t suspect your royal mate will find it all that homey.”

“No,” he says, scratching at his thigh. This has to be brief or he’s going to be rude to get it over with.

“I’ve acknowledged my poor behaviour at your home to your mate and I wish to acknowledge the same to you. I’m aware I disrespected you both and your home,” she bows. It’s the closest thing to an apology he’ll ever accept and she knows it.

Swift gathers her bag up and steps over the mat, leaving dusty footprints. Then she glances at Shadow’s bite on his shoulder and the ranger’s mark on his other arm.

“We could have mated, Talon,” she keeps her head down. “I believe there was love. But we never would have been a match. You’re so insufferably
male
and gryphon and
ranger
there would have been too much conflict for us to ever really enjoy each other.

“Silence?” she shakes her head. “I appreciate you’ve stood and listened and I haven’t humiliated myself by speaking to your receding back.

“I am pleased for you, Talon. A life of duty and pride is what you’ve always wanted. As much as I wanted you, I am proud to see you find her.”

She moves quickly, startling him. Her words put him at ease and before he can defend himself her hand is on his throat.

Talon knows better. He remains still until her intentions are clear.

Slowly, oh so slowly, her hand releases then the tips of her fingers move to his chin and push it higher.

“Hold your head high, gryphon,” she whispers. Her wings disappear through the door long before the curtain falls shut.

He does until the sound of her feet is long gone. In the small anti-chamber he finds what he came for. The familiar scents of his leather and oiled metal greet him. The bags themselves are canvas, stained and scuffed, and he loosens the ties holding them closed. Inside is his armour, so dark it’s nearly black. Talon feels around the bag to verify it’s all there. Satisfied, he unrolls the heavier bundle on the mat he and Swift once shared.

He rests his right hand on the hilt of his short sword as his left carefully moves along the heavy leather sheath then he draws the sharp blade. The raw ingredients were iron meteorite fragments from Ontario, similar to those used by Lev for his guard master’s mark. Talon had sought them out in a remote area and lugged the chunks south to Sky’s eyrie. Not only was the surly old woman one of the best rangers he’d ever met, she was also a master swordsmith.

During a ceremony attended only by Sky and Talon, she’d sliced his palm with it, spilling his blood on the virgin blade to make it lighter and stronger. The healed cut still tingles when he takes his skyblade up as if he and the steel are one. Anyone else would find the blade cumbersome, heavy and poorly balanced but to Talon it’s an extension of himself.

Light footsteps betray another gryphon in the hallway and Talon freezes as he decides if the visitor will pass or intrude.

“Master Talon,” a young female voice announces from outside the chamber. He recognizes the voice as Cloud, Tawny’s troubled charge. He’s certain taming Cloud is a fruitless effort but if anyone can keep the disobedient youngster in line it’s Tawny, his favourite elder.

“Enter.”

She does, kneeling to his left and keeping her head down. A gryphon shows pride by raising his chin. He also shows respect the same way by putting his life and his throat in the hands of authority. This little one shows neither. Rather than recognize her disrespect he chooses to ignore it. He’s done enough of it himself over the years.

“Master Talon,” she says quietly. “Dame Shadow waits for you in the main chamber.”

“Acknowledged,” he scans the remainder of his weapons. The crossbow needs to be loaded but everything else: boot and bracer daggers, telescopic baton and several other small blades designed to be concealed are all perfect. The leather harness for his short sword is still in good repair in spite of the years in Swift’s closet.

“A skyblade?” Cloud gasps.

As much as he wants to growl at her for speaking out of turn he’s proud as hell of it.