Leslie Moore - Griffin's Shadow

A shudder racked her thin frame. “Ai, Goddess!” she murmured. Her fingers relaxed and began stroking Ashinji’s hair.

“Does he still live?” Aruk-cho called out from the doorway.

“Yes, he lives, but it was a very close thing,” Gran rasped in reply. “I’ve never fought so hard to keep a soul from crossing over… He’s still very much in danger; the cord that binds him to his body is almost completely severed. It could snap at any time.”

Without warning, she slumped sideways and would have fallen to the floor had not Fadili lunged to catch her. Gently, the young Eskleipan lifted her up and held onto her until she could sit unaided.

Magnes understood how she felt. He, too, was weary to the point of collapse. “Let’s get him cleaned up and bandaged, Fadili. Seijon, stay where you are awhile longer. I still need the light. Yardmaster, I’m sure the mistress is impatient for news, if you don’t mind.”

“The mistress is…occupied at the moment,” Aruk-cho replied cryptically. “When she is finished with her task, I am certain she will come to the infirmary herself.”

Magnes recalled hearing a man scream. He shuddered, then banished the thought from his mind.

He and Fadili worked quickly to wash, pad, and then bind the freshly sutured wounds. Finally, they laid Ashinji on his uninjured side atop a clean, moss-stuffed mattress and covered him up to his chin with several layers of blankets.

“I’ve done what I can. The rest is up to you and your One Goddess,” Magnes said. His eyes met Gran’s. “I’ll stay the night, of course. Fadili can return to the temple… let them know where I am.”

“I’m staying too,” Seijon piped up.

“As will I,” Gran added.

“Are you certain, Gran?” Magnes asked. “You look completely exhausted.”

“No more than do you, young man! I will stay, and there’ll be no arguments.”

Aruk-cho cleared his throat. “I will take my leave, then. I shall return in the morning. Many thanks to you, Brother.”

“Aruk-cho, wait. I need to speak to you,” Gran called out. “It’s vital that you listen now to what I’m about to say.” She stood up, and some of her weariness seemed to fall away.

The akuta carefully maneuvered his bulk further into the room until he stood before Gran, dwarfing her slender frame beside his massive one.

“I am listening, Grandmother,” he rumbled.

“You and I have been here a long time, have we not?” she began. The akuta inclined his head in reply. “We both made a conscious decision to stay, though we are free to leave whenever we wish. I have always kept my reasons for remaining to myself. I can remain no longer. I must return to my homeland.”

She wavered on her feet and Magnes jumped to catch her as she sagged.

“Gran, please sit down! You’re about to collapse!” he scolded.

Seijon brought a stool over, and Magnes helped the old woman to sit. After taking a moment to catch her breath, she continued. “Something terrible is happening in the north, and I don’t mean the coming war between my people and the Empire. I felt it stirring several years ago… an ancient and terrible evil that has for centuries been kept imprisoned by members of my order. That evil has grown stronger with each passing year.”

“Before, I chose to ignore it. After all, I was no longer a part of the world of high magic. I gave up the practice of sorcery when I went into exile. But when Ashinji arrived, and I learned who he was-no, when I learned who his wife was, I realized that I could no longer remain out of the fight. My skills and strength will be needed by my colleagues, for only by combining all of our power will we have any hope of defeating what is coming.”

“Gran, you told me long ago that you had been a sorceress and that you had given up your powers. The mistress will not stop you from returning home to take them up again if you must, but what part in all of this does Ashinji play?”

“Ashinji’s wife is the key to everything…quite literally. She is an innocent, chosen before her birth by members of my order to be the bearer of a powerful magic. She has no idea what she harbors…no idea at all. But she must be protected at all costs from that which is coming. If the Key inside her is freed prematurely and falls into the wrong hands, it will mean the end of the material world as we know it… for humans, elves, for every living thing.”

“I still do not understand, Grandmother.”

“Ashinji must return with me to Alasiri; that is, if he lives. He has a vital role to play in the securing of the Key. It is his wife, after all, who harbors the magic. Aruk-cho, I am asking for your help. Your people and mine have been allies in the past. If… when Ashinji is well enough, help us to leave this place.”

“You are asking me to abet an escape. Ashinji is legally a slave. I am the yardmaster here. The mistress trusts and relies on me.” Aruk-cho’s liquid black eyes slid from Gran’s face to stare at Ashinji lying in his bed, silent and still. The atmosphere grew tense and heavy. Magnes studied the craggy lines of Aruk-cho’s face, searching in vain for some clue as to what the akuta’s thoughts were, but as usual, he had no luck. Aruk-cho remained a master of inscrutability.

“Aruk-cho,” Gran continued, “I’m not asking you to aid us directly. You are an honorable man. I know where your first loyalty must lie. But Ashinji has to return home with me.” She paused, then added, “I have some money saved. It’s not enough to purchase Ashi’s freedom, but I will gladly give it all to Mistress de Guera as partial compensation when we leave.”

“I have some money also,” Magnes interjected. “If it’ll help buy my friend’s way out of here, then I’ll happily give it up.”

Aruk-cho stood like a black granite mountain, large and motionless, except for the back and forth swing of his tail. At last, he spoke. “The mistress values Ashinji highly, and not just because of his skills as a fighter. She would not wish to lose him. And yet… Gran, I have always known you are a woman of great power and knowledge, power that you keep carefully hidden. If you say there is an evil force that threatens our world, and Ashinji is needed to help defeat it, then I believe you. I will aid you however I can and hope the mistress will forgive me.”

“I swear to you, Aruk-cho. When the time comes, I will protect you,” Gran promised. “Thank you.”

“I shall offer prayers for his life tonight, before I retire,” Aruk-cho said, then as carefully as he had entered, he departed the infirmary.

Magnes waited until the yardmaster had moved out of earshot before he spoke. “You didn’t tell Aruk-cho that you’re taking the boy with you. Why not?” he asked.

Seijon, who had remained silent up til now, responded with a “Yeah, why not?” of his own.

“Because Aruk-cho has already been compromised enough!” Gran snapped. “He has agreed, at the very least, to look the other way while I steal one of his employer’s most valuable pieces of property! If he knew I’m planning to steal the boy as well…The money I will leave behind won’t come near to covering the mistress’s losses for both Ashinji and you, imp!” She wagged her finger at Seijon for added effect. “No, it’s much better that he not be privy to everything.”

“Sensible,” Magnes agreed. “I also think it wise not to let him know I’ll be in on the breakout. Fadili can be trusted to keep quiet.” Fadili nodded for emphasis.

Gran sighed and rubbed her eyes. “Ai, Goddess I’m so tired,” she whispered. She eased her thin body off the stool and down into the chair that Fadili had placed by Ashinji’s bed. Tenderly, she caressed Ashinji’s pale cheek and began fussing with the blankets.