Owlflight

Nightwind smiled. “I’m a trondi’im, remember? I’ve served quite a few gryphons in the past. I have no doubt of it.”

In Darian’s opinion, Nightwind herself looked just as formidable as the gryphon; she had a breastplate made much like his, with gauntlets to match, a light helm, and a bow that Darian would never dream of being able to string, much less draw. He couldn’t see the business-end of the arrows she carried in a quiver at her belt, but he had no doubt that they were more of the nasty, man-killing type that the Tayledras were using tonight.

Her hair had been braided back tightly into a no-nonsense knot at the nape of her neck, and there wasn’t a single extraneous bead or feather on her spare, uniformlike costume. Like Kel, her breastplate had a badge embossed on it, and he peered at it curiously.

She noted where his eyes went, and smiled. “This is the badge of the Silver Gryphons,” she told him, the fingers of one hand lightly caressing the edge of the emblem. “Kel and I are both Silvers, the only ones in the group. I don’t think they quite realize yet what that means.”

“Why isn’t anyone else?” he asked.

She chuckled. “Because we are the only two Kaled’a’in here,” she told him. “We aren’t Tayledras at all - or rather, the Tayledras used to be Kaled’a’in, but - “

The gryphon waved a claw, interrupting her. “You arrre confusssing him,” Kel chided. “Darrr’ian, it isss sssimple. Long ago therrre wasss one people, the Kaled’a’in. When the Cataclyssssm wasss overrr, that people wasss sssunderrred. The Kaled’a’in Clan k’Lessshya wasss farrr separrrated frrrom the otherrrsss, and thossse within it did not even know if the rrresst had ssssurrrvived, sssso they went to sssaferrr landsss, wessst and sssouth, and became the allliesss of the Black Kingsss. Forrr the otherrrr Clansss it was differrrent. Theirrr homelandsss werrre dessstrrroyed, ssso they found when they went to look. The otherrrsss quarrrelled overrr the ussse of magic - thossse who wanted to continue the ussse of it became the Tayledrrrasss, and thossse who wissshed to ssshun it became the Sssshin’a’in.”

“But - because your people weren’t fighting over whether or not to use magic, you stayed Kaled’a’in?” Darian asked, scratching his head. “But if your people went so far away, why are you here?”

“Because we decided that the moment was right to come back north and see what time had made of the lands we left,” Nightwind told him, and smiled ruefully. “Little did we guess that we’d end up being here at the beginning of another Cataclysm! At least some of us managed to prevent this one, anyway. Kel’s version is a very abbreviated one, and at some point, you’ll have to hear the whole story.”

“Prrrobably frrrom one of the kyrrree hissstorrry-keep-errrs,” Kel said, meditatively examining his steel-sheathed talons. “Becaussse asss sssoon asss they learrrn you do not know the tale, you will have no choicsse but to hearrr it!”

Nightwind burst out laughing as if Kel had said something terribly funny. Darian couldn’t make out just what the joke was, but laughed politely anyway.

“Well, the point is that only the Kaled’a’in have the Silver Gryphons,” Nightwind continued, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. “They serve a lot of the same functions that your Heralds do; peacekeepers, border guards, and as the Kaled’a’in militia. Some day I’ll tell you why things turned out that way, but the fact is that of all the people on this expedition, Kel and I are the only true warriors. Mind you, some of the others, Snowfire in particular, have seen combat - but we’re the only ones actually trained as warriors.” One corner of her mouth quirked in an ironic smile. “To tell you the truth, I don’t think Snowfire quite realizes that about me. He still thinks I’m just an Empath and Kel’s attendant. We haven’t had to get our battle gear out before this.”

“Not that it matterrrsss,” Kel added. “Thisss isss what we prrrrobably would have volunteerrred forrr if he hadn’t asssked usss. I am a bit larrrge to hide in a waterrrr-courrrse.”

“And we are the best sort of guards he could have on Starfall,” Nightwind finished. “That’s one of the things we’re trained for; there is always a set of gryphons acting as bodyguards to our chief ally among the Black Kings.”

But a new set of dazzling possibilities had opened up to Darian. “Could I be a Silver some day?” he asked breathlessly.

“Now that is an interesting thought,” Nightwind replied, looking at him with surprise. “I never considered that possibility. Yes, I suppose you could; you’re far too young right now, but once you’re at the age where we accept candidates, you could train as a Silver, if you still want to be one.”

“Being a mage would be an advantage,” Kel added, his eartufts pricked forward with interest. “Magessss in the Sssilverrsss learrrn combat-magicsss; verrry ssspecializssed ssstuff. It would mean anotherrr ssseverrral yearrrs of sss-chooling.”

Now that was a daunting thought. More training? But it might be worth it.

“You certainly don’t have to make up your mind right now,” Nightwind said, before he could even begin to consider the ramifications of the offer. “Let’s get through this, then finish up this expedition. By the time we get back to Tayledras territory, you’ll have a better idea of what you want to do. And if that includes joining the Silvers, Kel and I will see that you get a chance to apply and train.”