Heirs of Prophecy - Lisa Smedman [84]
"Only four?" she asked. "Lord Ulath is stingy."
Lord Kierin gave her a look that made Leifander quail, even though he was not the recipient of it.
"Lord Ulath has a city to protect, Valatta," Lord Kierin reprimanded. "He has been most generous. Four rings will suit our purposes admirably. When the humans drop their disguise and open their wagons, we can attack from four directions at once. The humans won't know which way to turn. Once the first four have revealed themselves, the rest can join in the fray."
Valatta gave a curt nod, in deference to her commander, but her eyes were blazing. "By virtue of my loss, I demand the right to be among the first four."
Leifander, seeing the ache that lay deep within her fierce glare, felt an echoing pang in his own heart. Just as he had, Valatta had lost someone dear to her.
Lord Kierin laid a hand upon the shorter elf's shoulder.
"Valatta," he said, "I know you yearn to be the first to feather the enemy with your arrows, but we will let the beasts decide the question. Whichever of them most calmly accepts the ring will be among the first four."
He pulled one of the larger rings from the box, and turned toward the spot where the griffons crouched, unhaltered and waiting with perfect obedience for their masters.
"We'll test your mount first, Valatta."
Without another glance at Leifander-by elven standards he was a mere youth, not even as old as one of their squires-the windriders followed Valatta to her griffon. Only Lord Kierin remained where Leifander stood, arms folded as he watched his riders.
Valatta greeted her mount, gentling the griffon by working her fingers into its feathers to give its neck a good scratch. She took its reins in one hand and kneeled beside it, uttering a sharp command. Obediently, the griffon placed a taloned foot on her leg.
Valatta opened the golden ring and fastened it around
the griffon's ankle. As it closed, the griffon disappeared from sight. Leifander, despite having known what was going to happen, blinked in surprise at the suddenness of the transformation. One moment the griffon was there, the next it was not. He could see right through the spot v here it must be to the tall slab of granite that a moment before had been blocked by the griffon's body. But the griffon was still there; under it was a flattened spot in the breeze-blown grass.
Valatta nodded, a satisfied smile on her lips. "That was easy enough," she said. "She seems to-"
Suddenly the hand that held the reins was wrenched upward. Her eyes widened in pain and three slashes of red sprang into being on her thigh. A loud cry-like the scree of an eagle but somehow also containing the snarl of a roaring lion-pealed across the hilltop. Hearing its cry, two of the other griffons responded in kind, fur rising in a line along their backs.
Jerked to her feet, Valatta staggered this way and that as she fought to control her invisible mount. Leifander heard the rushing beat of its powerful wings and saw Valatta's arm jerk back and forth as the griffon shook its head. Blood streamed down her leg, soaking her trousers above the spot where the griffon's talons had raked her flesh.
"Elsanna, no!" she cried, bracing her feet and gripping the invisible reins with both hands in an effort to prevent her mount from launching itself into the air. "Drop, Elsanna! Drop!"
One of the elves closest to Valatta grabbed at an invisible wing but was shaken loose a moment later. Another added his voice to Valatta's, also shouting for the griffon to drop to the ground. Others scrambled for their own mounts, grabbing their reins and yanking the creatures' heads down to the ground to keep them submissive.
Leifander glanced nervously at Lord Kierin. The Gold elf remained calm, save for a slight deepening of his frown. He raised his hands and briefly touched his
fingertips to his eyes, then flicked his hands forward and spoke