to pay much attention to him. He got through the crowd and ran on. As he went, he heard someone shout after him, “Hey, why is he wearing a—”
Arren did not stop. He left the words behind and fled straight toward his home.
“We’re going,” he muttered as he ran, diving into a side street to avoid a low-flying griffin. “We’re going to leave the city. We’ll hide until they’re gone, and then we’ll—”
He stopped dead. Up ahead was the block where he lived. Griffins were circling above it, but they were not the only thing in the sky.
There was a column of smoke rising from the rooftops.
People were running ahead of him, shouting in panic, and Arren ran after them, his heart pounding so hard he thought it would burst. His street was clogged with people, but he ploughed his way through until he reached the centre of them all. They were standing well back from the source of the smoke, all talking at once, and some were already turning to run away.
Arren broke through the crowd, but he already knew what he would see.
The door and both of the front windows had been broken open, and flames were billowing out. The thatch had already caught and, even as he watched, his house turned into a fiery inferno.
Arren couldn’t move. He stood rooted to the spot, frozen in horror.
Behind him, he could hear people yelling. “Get water!” “Wet next door’s roof, for gods’ sakes, before it catches!” “Someone run and warn the—”
Too late, Arren realised the danger. The burning house was a beacon. The griffins started to gather, and the crowd looked up and began to back away. Several griffins came down to land, scattering them in fright. Arren ran. A griffin swooped down directly in front of him, so he turned and ran back toward the burning house. The heat hit him in the face and he stopped and turned back, looking desperately for somewhere else to flee. He could feel the chick fighting even more fiercely to get away. He glanced down. It had shredded the cloth over its head, and now it freed one front talon and ripped his hand away. The instant it could, it opened its beak and called out to the other griffins.
The crowd had fled, and now the street was virtually deserted. And the griffins began to land. More and more of them, their talons thudding down onto the wooden street. And Arren had nowhere to run. They were advancing on him, hissing and snarling.
He held up a hand. “No! You don’t understand—”
The chick freed its paws and wrenched itself out from beneath his arm. He made a grab for it, and in an instant it twisted around and struck him in the face, just under his right eye. Its beak ripped downward, tearing a deep gash from his eye to his mouth. Arren screamed and dropped the chick, and it ran away from him, toward the nearest of the adult griffins, taking shelter behind its foreleg.
The griffin lowered her head and stalked toward him. “Thief!” she snarled.
Blood was running down Arren’s face like tears. “No! I didn’t mean—”
The griffin leapt. An instant before she struck him, a dark figure darted in and shoved Arren out of the way. He landed in a tangled heap, and as he pulled himself upright he saw his rescuer draw a sword and point it at the enraged griffin. She made a rush at him, but veered away at the last minute, intimidated by the sword. Guards were coming, dodging around the edge of the flock to surround Arren, protecting him with their swords.
The griffins backed away, hissing, and the man who had led the charge pushed through his colleagues and pulled Arren to his feet.
“Bran!”
Bran said nothing. He grabbed Arren by the arm and snapped a pair of manacles on his wrists.
Arren stared dumbly at them. “Bran, no—”
Bran turned away and nodded to two of his colleagues. “Get him out of here.”
They came forward and took Arren by the shoulders. “To the prison district, sir?”
“No. The Eyrie.”
Arren did not try to resist. He walked silently between the guards as they led him away. A group of them went ahead, swords drawn, fending off the griffins that were still trying to get at him. Some of them had taken to the air and were trying to swoop down on him, and the guards suddenly broke into a run. They hustled Arren away from the flock and into