5.
"Where are you keeping Lucas?"
"Who?" Lucius laughed, flicking his long hair over his shoulder and flashing his teeth.
I punched him straight in the nose. It broke under my fist. He roared as blood gushed down his chin and onto his white cape. He lunged for me, but his movements were obvious and I was well trained. I shifted my body to the side at the last minute, shoving his back so he landed face first into the dirt. My shin struck his side, perfectly placed to nudge his kidney, where I knew it would hurt. I drew back my leg, only to be enveloped in a tight embrace from behind, restraining me.
Alvar held me tightly as I attempted to escape from his arms, but to no avail. His arms were as solid as cement, encasing me in a position of weakness. His breath hot on my ear, soothing sounds emanated from his mouth, calming my wild heart.
"Lucas," I breathed out, my lips trembling. "Lucas Young. The boy you kidnapped from my school exactly a year ago." I licked my lips and scanned Lucius' eyes, which were still writhing in anger, and saw no sign of recognition. "Where are you keeping him?"
Alvar seemed to believe I would not attack again as his arms fell to his sides. He turned me around to face him, his head cocked to the side as if he was curious about my behaviour.
"Lyra, neither I nor Lucius know of the man you speak of. There are new talent rangers each year so we would not know of any taken for our use. Even so, if it were we that took him, he would have been returned to you no later than three months following a celebration." He explained, keeping his eyes trained on mine. "I am sorry for your loss, but do not hold us accountable."
I nodded, but my eyes remained critical. Our circumstances were too similar, even to the exact day, and I had yet to hear Lucius' side to things. But the men before me were not the ones I was after. I just wanted Lucas to come home, for everything to go back to the way it was.
"Except if the King killed the kid," Lucius spoke harshly, knowing he would evoke more than a physical flinch out of his words, "then you can hold the King accountable."
He laughed, a deep thundering sound that vibrated through the surrounding forest. I lunged for his throat, not caring about the consequence of my actions. But before I could find sweet satisfaction in the life draining from his ghastly face, the arms of Alvar held me back.
"Lucius, enough." Alvar's voice was stern, his arms tightening around my small frame. "I'd like the rest of the trip to be relatively peaceful, if you can manage that."
Lucius rolled his eyes and sighed dramatically. He pranced into the trees; no doubly happy with the discord he had sewed into the seams of my mind. I began to wonder if there was any truth in his words. Ever since I had grasped the possibility of Lucas' survival, I did not want to believe there was any chance of his death.
"Is it true?" I asked Alvar, hoping he would shake his head and tell me there was no chance it was really true. But this was my reality, not a fantasy world catering to my every need.
Alvar stared at the ground for a moment, biting his lip as he debated with himself. After a few moments of silence, he nodded and raked his hand through his long curls.
"There is a chance that this boy may be dead if he displeased the king when he stayed with us. But if he was talented, and made no mistakes, he would have been sent home."
So I would never truly know what exactly happened to Lucas Young. There was nothing in that moment which seemed more disastrous. Focused on nothing except the fate of my beloved friend, for a moment I was fearless. It was as if nothing else truly mattered, like nothing ever would matter again. I did not fear my death, the inevitability of the passing of time that followed me through every step of life. I did not fear the nothingness that awaited me when buried six feet under in an old cemetery on the side of a washed up road. I had forgotten my old fears in the face of new ones.
"Look when we get to the palace, I'll ask around about your friend, okay?" Alvar pulled me from my thoughts with a comforting hand on my shoulder. He words massaged the line from between my brows and I found myself giving him a small smile; no teeth, but just enough to show my appreciation.
"Come on, we shouldn't let Lucius wander off alone in these parts of the woods." He flashed his teeth, not realising he caused a spike of fear to strike my heart. If there was something in these woods worse than Lucius, I stood no chance of survival if I strayed from Alvar's side even slightly. I shifted closer to him as we followed behind Lucius' disappearing form.
"What's in these woods?" I asked nervously, my hand coming to my necklace.
"Gryphons, nasty beasts. Offspring of eagles and lions."
"They're real?" I shook my head in a crazed disbelief.
Accepting that there were humanoid life forms different to my own was couched by my upbringing of 'aliens are real!' and 'don't go into the woods! You'll be abducted!'. The transfer was as easy as switching the wire of my brain from 'aliens' to 'fae'. I knew there was some good and some bad, just like humans, and that they had advanced knowledge outside my knowledge. But the beasts of fairy tales? How did that fit into the puzzle?
"Of course they are. Their a subspecies of fae." He was serious, too serious to be lying.
"Subspecies?"
"Yes. There are about as many fae subspecies as there are animals in your world."
"So you're telling me there's a fae bee or a fae spider?" I laughed at my own sarcasm.
"Yes. They have fae counterparts. But they are much more... well just more."
"Right. Well I'll believe it when I see it." I tried to keep my voice confident, cocky even, but Alvar saw right through my tough girl act. I was quite terrified.
"You will be seeing all of it. Very soon." He was serious as he cut through the growth, a sliver of his scar peaking through his hair as he huffed. "We're close to the border now."
"So will these Gryphons attack us?" I asked after a moment, rolling my necklace between my fingers.
"Not unless provoked. It seeks to punish the greedy," he explained as we caught up to Lucius, who was still prancing through the undergrowth, "specifically the love of riches. It lays gemstones in these paths and any mortal or fey who takes it for themselves... they are punished with death. It actually proves quite useful for us. Any true fae knows not to pick up stray gemstones, so those who do are likely those who would not be welcome in the kingdom." He spoke quietly, as if the beasts were listening to us while we walked, eyes peering through the trees.
"So you have a King and a Kingdom?" I asked, sounding naïve and stupid.
"No little lady, we live in a spaceship and hover around in your atmosphere waiting to abduct little children or pregnant women." Lucius mocked. "You would sooner believe that than the fact we have a civilised working kingdom with a hierarchy much like your kind?"
I sneered at him, but he was right. I would sooner believe the clichés of aliens than the facts that stared me in the face. It was a defence mechanism, the brain attempts to rationalise what we see with what we know and the two mesh together sometimes to create something more confusing and confronting that what we were already faced with; the truth. If I was going to survive and return to my family, I had to open my mind to the uncanny and the irrational.
Lucius' giggle was sickly. Sounding like a diseased, sneezing rat, he scuttled over to a perfectly round rock blocking our path. Atop the stone was a glimmering gem, casting rainbow glitters on the surrounding trees and on the rock itself. Something within me was compelled to take it, but I clenched my necklace tightly and leaned into Alvar, not wanting to know the wrath of a Gryphon.
I couldn't say the same for Lucius. He pranced around the rock, staring at the stone with glee before sweeping his gaze across the treetops.
"Ready for a fight, Alvar?" Lucius grinned, hand poised over the gem.
"Don't!" Alvar warned, pushing me behind him as he stared down at Lucius.
"But I'm bored." Lucius shrugged, a mischievous grin pulling his lips and gums upwards. And then, with a forefinger and thumb, he plucked the diamond from the rock and slid it into a pocket within his pants.
As the stone sunk deep into his pocket, the trees began to tremble with an almighty roar. Any doubts I harboured about these 'Fae' dissipated as a large monstrous form leapt from the treetops and crashed to the ground in front of me.
As tall as two grown men, the beast was hideously magnificent. With the hind legs and tail of a lion, orange fur stained with blotches of dirt and blood covered its lower half. Crimson feathers covered the rest of its body, front legs scaled with claws that could rip and man in two. A long neck stretched up from strong shoulders and formed into a large eagles head, a golden and powerful beak for a mouth. But most beautiful were the large crimson wings, which stretched almost as wide as a small plane.
Its large head scanned over our bodies, searching for the one who had taken the gem. Its nails clawed into the ground, digging giant holes in the ground, before crouching into a fighting stance.
"Yoho! Looking for this?" Lucius jumped in front of the creature and flaunted the stone before its eyes. "I just couldn't help myself! It was just... ugh! It's so pretty!" He slipped into a Valley girl accent and flicked his long hair over his shoulder.
I was beginning to believe he was insane.
The beast roared and leapt atop Lucius, its claws reaching for his throat. But Lucius was smart, well trained, and brought his sword upwards to stop the talons from ripping him apart. He dragged his sword across the flesh of its feet, making it roar it pain and outrage. As it swiped at his head, ducked beneath it and laughed. Soon the two were locked in a dance like battle, the blade becoming an extension of Lucius as he jumped and leapt over the creature with an equal balance of elegance and maliciousness.
But Lucius was too arrogant to recognise the importance of the battle scars on the beast that told of his experience and age. As he paused to laugh at the creature, it leapt into the air and swept its wings in one powerful motion that knocked the fey off his feet and sent him soaring into a large tree. Alvar swore under his breath, as I stood frozen watching the scene with a strange mix of fascination and terror.
"Stay here." Alvar spoke, but I could barely hear him. I was too busy gazing at the form of the beast that approached its prey calmly, like he already knew he had won.
Alvar walked blindly into battle. Although a seasoned warrior, even I could tell he had too much heart to truly win a fight. As the creature crouched before Lucius, about to take the killing strike, Alvar jumped atop the creature and slashed its wing with his sword. Its scream was piercing, like nails on a chalkboard. It bucked its hind legs and threw him off its back. Alvar rolled and stood once more to face the beast. But when he saw its back was turned as it cradled its wound, he ran to Lucius' side and pulled the fae to the side of the clearing.
My eyes were still locked onto the creature, who whimpered as it drew its wing closer to its body.
"Here! Take it." Alvar yelled, throwing the gem on the ground before the creature. "He wanted a fight, he got one. You can tell those who are greedy from those who are idiots. I apologise on his behalf, we meant no true harm. If you could please let us pass without any trouble, I shall see to it that the king rewards you."
The creature lifted its head to stare at Alvar. It blinked and nodded its head, picking up the stone with its beak and swallowing it. I did not know how it could understand Alvar, but I also did not know how such a creature could even exist.
My feet moved on their own, closer to the creature who sat on the ground to lick its wounds. Its head lifted as I approached, its large golden eyes staring into my own with an equal measure of curiosity. My fingers twitched as my arm rose towards the creature, so close to touching it. It didn't move or flinch at my hovering arm; instead it closed its eyes and awaited my touch. I pressed my fingers into its feathers, awed at their softness even after battle. It was as if someone electrocuted me, some strange sensation flowed through my body as I pressed myself against the beast's neck.
"Lyra! Get back!" Alvar shouted from where he stood huddled over Lucius.
The Gryphon grumbled in annoyance, voicing my own opinion. Something drew me to this creature; I wanted to protect him, to keep him by my side. He meant me no harm; I could read it on him.
"Thank you. I am forever in your debt." The creature spoke, much to my surprise, and lifted from his position as if totally healed and flew back up into the trees. With Alvar running to my side, I stared in wonder at the animals retreating form with a renewed appreciation of this new world as I knew he would not be the only fantastical wonder I encountered.
"Do you believe me now?" Alvar laughed, out of breath, and stood beside me as the Gryphon completely disappeared from sight.
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what would you do in Lyra's situation?
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xx Charli