The Curse (Belador #3)(98)

Blank walls echoed his question back at him.

“Well?” Flaevynn said to Cathbad.

“Ya still have our wyverns we altered with Noirre majik?”

“Of course, and they are mine, not ours.”

What man ever owned anythin’ in a marriage? Cathbad let that go. “Call up the one known as Morvack.”

“Why the wimpy one? Some have grown far larger than that one.”

“Morvack is fine for what I have in mind. Just do it, Flaevynn, an’ allow Tristan to use his kinetic powers in the arena.”

She shrugged and twirled the fingers on one hand. An iron door slid up, and one of the winged creatures Cathbad had begun acquirin’ more than three centuries ago came snarlin’ into the room. Unlike most dragons, wyvern had only hindquarters at one end of a black, snakelike body, but four massive orange-and-black wings with razor claws at the tip of each vertebra. The tail whipped back and forth, split at the end into two sharp, red spikes loaded with deadly Noirre venom.

Tristan took one look at the wyvern and began ta shift into a beast, growin’ taller and thicker with twistin’ bones and muscles. His head widened and stretched with jaws that snarled open, a black maw with jagged teeth. Saliva ran from his lips when he roared.

The wyvern flared its wings like an angry vulture, and fire shot from its snout. The black, undulating body twisted and arced back, liftin’ a head with black eyes and red diamonds for pupils. Flames shot past the wyvern’s two deadly fangs. Its head flared wide as a cobra’s and struck with the same speed.

Tristan blocked the strike with his kinetics, then slammed his fist at Morvack, lookin’ surprised his power worked, but he did no more than knock the beast sideways. The wyvern flew at Tristan, drivin’ the Alterant to the floor and stompin’ on his chest.

Flaevynn hissed at Cathbad. “I thought you said we needed Tristan. Why are we letting Morvack kill him?”

“Just watch.”

Morvack an’ Tristan battled across the arena. Tristan finally knocked the wyvern off its legs an’ pinned him with kinetics, then jumped on the wyvern’s neck. The wicked tail whipped ’round to stab Tristan’s chest, but he grabbed the tail, an’ used his power to hold the creature in place. He stomped the wyvern’s head ’til it exploded.

Fire danced up the Alterant’s leg, singeing his hair.

Tristan roared, his rage echoing around the arena.

Flaevynn sighed and doused Tristan with a wash of water. “That was a waste of a wyvern.”

“’Tis no finished yet.”

Tristan’s back arched. He jerked ’round, moaning, an’ fell off the dead beast, rollin’ into the middle of the chamber. The Alterant’s body began changin’ again, elongating as the scales and hair gave way to a smooth gray-blue skin covered with new translucent scales the size of Cathbad’s hand. Tristan’s neck stretched an’ his head shrank, but in proportion to a body that took on a lion’s shape with front an’ hind legs, all the paws tipped with sharp claws. Wings sprouted from each side of the body, then stretched and widened. Blue and black feathers covered the tops of the wings, but they remained smooth underneath. Predator green eyes shone from within a head shaped like an eagle’s, right down to the hooked beak.

When the evolution finished, Flaevynn whispered, “He looks like a … dragon, but more regal.”

Cathbad chuckled. “’Tis a gryphon.”

“I didn’t know any still existed.”

“No for a long time an’ these will soon be ours.”

“Mine.”

Women. Cathbad let it go. “All Alterants can finish evolvin’ ta this state if they battle a wyvern … or a gryphon. But we must capture the five Alterants we need ta breach Treoir and finish their evolution here.”

Flaevynn eyed Cathbad with irritation. “We only have four more wyverns. We have no choice but to use one with Evalle. Then what will we do about the other four Alterants?”

’Twas just like Flaevynn ta think in terms of we when she did no care for the task. Cathbad said, “We need no waste a wyvern on Evalle.”

It took Flaevynn a moment, but she caught up to his thinking. She scoffed at him. “If you think to use Tristan as a sacrificial lamb for Evalle to kill so she can reach gryphon state, you’ll be disappointed. She won’t fight Tristan or his sister. Evalle is nauseating when it comes to caring for others, especially those she calls friends.”

Cathbad would no tell Flaevynn exactly what he ha in mind or the alternative. He’d let her think she knew all there was ta know about the evolution. “I am no concerned. Evalle will fight Tristan in the arena, an’ one will die. I promise you that.” This much he knew to be true. “But ya must be able ta bring Evalle back ta us.”

“If that’s all you need, not a problem. Evalle has this misplaced sense of honor that will force her to come looking for Tristan and his sister. I’ll compel Kizira to lay a trail for Evalle that leads to T?μr Medb.”





THIRTY-FOUR




For the millionth time, I am not going there.” Evalle slapped her hand down on the island counter in her kitchen. Why wouldn’t Lanna let her enjoy a quiet Sunday night after all she’d been through? “Storm doesn’t want to see me. Besides, I have a job to do.”