Eyrie by K. Vale Nagle

Author:K. Vale Nagle [Nagle, K. Vale]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781643920016
Publisher: STET Publishing, LLC

Kia and her escort’s investigation turned out to be a short one. When they broke through the canopy line and got a close view of what was going on, they both fled as fast as they could fly.

Until now, she’d forgotten about the fallen opinicus, having been more concerned with his compatriots. She’d heard his cries for help and assumed he’d been eaten by the monitors. Down on the ground there was a long line of blood leading to a small camp, presumably the one the rangers had been using. Next to the tents was the unmoving body of the opinicus, minus a wing. In his foretalons were flint and tinder. The top of a box with a circle on it was on fire, and the flames were spreading and growing.

Kia and the gryphon launched themselves back up through the canopy and put as much distance as they could between them and the camp.

There was a moment where it seemed like the fire might have burnt itself out before reaching the saltpeter. Kia resisted the urge to look back. Her escort’s willpower was not as strong, and he looked back just in time to see the explosion.

Both were rendered deaf and dumb by the concussive blast. The gryphon was also struck blind by the light.

The fire’s effect was less like a typical forest fire and more like liquid. It was as though a giant flaming opinicus had crashed into the water, and the flames went up and then landed like droplets across the forest. As her brain recovered, Kia saw the flames dispersing and thought of the oil used in the braziers across the eyrie. Drops of liquid fire clung to the branches, incinerating the redwood foliage until they finally surrendered and burst into flames.

The gryphon’s brain restarted first, but without his vision, he had trouble stabilizing. Kia’s mind kicked in a moment later, and she called to him. Her own voice echoed in her head like it’d been shouted from the bottom of the Snowfeather Dam. She flew up to the gryphon and helped steady him. She stayed close enough to keep him going in the same direction they’d been headed originally, but she didn’t know how they’d find the caves without his help.

As the shockwave’s effects lessened, she felt a burning sensation across her body. She looked down at her forearm and saw small, smoking marks where the oil had splattered against them. Thankfully, she hadn’t been looking at the explosion. Most of the oil was on her flank and back. None of what hit them had caught fire, but they were both smoldering with oil.

Her wings began to shake when a white shape flying from the direction of the mountains caught her eye. The explosion must have caught its attention. It rushed towards her and came into focus. Its head was like a gyrfalcon. No longer all white, she could now make out black bars that became black rosettes as they traveled onto his latter half. He

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