That was likely true. Truth be told, if she stood before that council, she’d have a thing or two to say to them. Rindek’s ability to ensnare the Dire packs was entirely due to the council’s restrictive policies. So perhaps it was best that she didn’t attend.
Dani stood naked in the tall grass, taking deep breaths to dispel her nerves. Tyrez wasn’t always going to be around to hold her hand through this. She needed to get a grip, and put this fear to bed.
Aphostra believed the key to being at peace was to embrace and understand your past. Dani didn’t fully agree. Some things were best left buried. The only way through life was to keep your eyes on the goal and move forward.
She closed her eyes and embraced the change. As always, the pain took her breath away, but her session with the Gryphon had revealed how her fear amplified it. Maybe Aphostra had a point. Shifting was, after all, now a familiar thing. Something to be endured in order to run on four legs.
She writhed her way through to beast, panted until the pain ebbed, and launched herself through the grass.
This late in the evening, the phosphorescent color was visible as she brushed against the stems. She leaped and bounded, reveling in the play of muscle over bone, then flattened out to really run.
The dirt seemed softer than usual beneath her claws, they were sinking deep and slowing her down. She vaulted high to snap at an insect and spotted a rock outcropping not far away.
From the topmost stones she could see out over the rippling grasses. Their swaying in the wind was mesmerizing, and she lay down on the cool rock, closing her eyes and turning her face into the evening breeze.
It was so peaceful here. Impossible at this moment to believe that Rindek’s evil was loose across the realms.
But it was.
Dani regarded the mountain range that the Gryphons called home. The mountains also functioned as seed beds for the crystals. Aphostra had explained they grew well in these caves, absorbing the excess life essences not only from the prairies on this side of the mountains, but also from the thick forests between them and the ocean. According to her, these mountains offered one of the most productive crystal nurseries across the realms.
Both the Gryphons and Dragons relied on the crystal dust to live and function. While the Dragons consumed it as a supplement, the Gryphons absorbed the energy directly through contact with the crystals themselves by living in these caves. It enabled the Gryphons to heal others, both mentally and physically.
Something landed on her forepaw, and she gazed down at it. An insect, about two inches long with huge, vividly colored wings. It flew off, but Dani continued to stare at where it had perched.
Her paws weren’t paws. At least, not normal Dire paws. Her toes were long, almost fingerlike. And instead of her usual claws, each ended in a talon.
A Dragon’s talon.
She bolted upright and twisted to look at her hind paws—they were the same as the fronts. No wonder her claws had sunk into the dirt. That wasn’t the only difference from Dire—her paws had little to no fur. Instead, tiny scales, so dark they were almost black, covered her skin. The setting sun caught blue and green reflections sparkling within them.
Her heart accelerated. But before she could properly absorb the anomalies, a shadow passed overhead.
She glanced up to see Tyrez’s gleaming turquoise form soaring past. Someone sat on his neck—the Watcher, Cara.
Her heart twisted. Should she tell him about the partial transformations? Tyrez had enough on his plate without worrying whether she would turn into some kind of hairy flying Dire.
Could Dires fly?
Dani shook her head. She was growing talons, not wings. They would make her a better killing machine if it ever came to that. The thought of Rindek clutched in them lifted her spirits as her gaze followed the Dragon. He headed for the mountain.
After a moment, Dani leaped from the rock ridge and followed him.
* * *
Deep in the Gryphons’ mountain, Ash was trying very hard to think of nothing at all.
He lay on a padded table. It was comfortable and completely unlike what Rindek had strapped him to, and yet his crazed brain did its best to convince him that he lay fastened to cold metal. Every time he raised his hand to prove otherwise, Aphostra ran a clawed forefinger along his arm. As though she understood what he was doing.
Maybe she did. The Gryphon’s soothing song wove around him and helped to ease the chaotic bounding pace of his talent. It gave him something to hold on to.
The Watchers leaned close, their hands hovered a foot off his skin, their focus on the collar he’d worn since birth. Rindek had added sections to it as he grew, but had never removed it. The metal was infused with the Archmage’s power, and as long as it rested against Ash’s throat, it owned him.
Cara had only just arrived. She’d been at the council meeting with Tyrez, and Ash was dying to ask her questions. But as soon as she stepped into the room, Bess said, “I’ve felt the energy change. I think we’re close.”
That was enough to have her join Bess. Now, her lips moved but she uttered no sound, her entire body sheathed in glowing light. Ash blinked. The energy formed a shape, that of an animal with a thick, swirling mane and tail gleaming with crystals. Graceful and beautiful, but not a horse. It had a horn, from which pulsed a beam of pure power.
His eyes moved to Bess, who stood on the other side of him, and he saw the same thing.
