“I’d say it does a pretty good job of it,” said Arren. He sat back in his chair. “Listen, Dad, there’s no point in trying to hang on to the past, so just let it go. I’m sure the North is a beautiful place, but I’ve never been there and neither have you. This is our home, right here. Forget about the old days. They’re done.”
Cardock sighed. “I suppose you’re right there, Arenadd. But I won’t forget who we are, and I advise you not to forget it, either. Because other people haven’t.”
Arren tried not to think of Craddick the smuggler and his snarling voice. Go back to the North, blackrobe. “I’ve come here to give you some news,” he said.
“Yes, what is it?” said Annir, sounding relieved.
Arren recounted the story of the raid, finishing with “. . . so now I have to go down to the South for a week or so, to earn some money to pay it off.”
“Where in the South?” said Cardock.
“Oh, nowhere in particular. Some village called River-something. Hold on a bit.” Arren fished the scroll out of his pocket; it was badly squashed, and he smoothed it out. “Okay, it says, ‘Cattle went missing every night for months before someone finally saw the creature taking them, an enormous griffin with black feathers, which flies out from the Coppertops to steal from us. It became bolder when we locked the cattle away at night, and broke a hole in the roof of a barn in order to take what it wanted. Then, a few days later, a man went missing from out in the fields. He was never seen again. Others also disappeared. We discovered that the griffin was taking them. We beg you to send some of your people to destroy the beast, before it claims any more victims. We are in fear for our lives.’ ” Arren turned the scroll over and examined the simple map drawn on it. There was a large X over a village by the mountains. “It’s called Rivermeet. Probably because two rivers come together there.”
“So, they want you to kill a wild griffin?” said Cardock.
Arren nodded. “There’s a bounty on its head. If I can capture it alive, I’ll get even more.”
Annir looked aghast. “But they can’t just send you off like that! On your own, when you’ve never done anything like this before!”
“I can fight,” said Arren. “Honestly, Mum, there’s nothing to worry about. All I have to do is get close enough to hit it with an arrow. I’ve got some special poison to coat the barb with. No matter where I hit it, it’ll be knocked out in a heartbeat.”
“You think you can hit a wild griffin in the air?” said Cardock.
“I’ve hit moving targets before. And if the worst comes to the worst, Eluna can defend me. And . . .” He paused. “If it turns out to be more than I can cope with, I’ll just give up and come back and tell someone else to go deal with it. Maybe try again with someone else helping.” In spite of his casual tone, the more he talked about the idea, the less certain he felt about it. But it was too late to back out now.
Cardock, though, looked fairly unconcerned. “I’m sure you can do it. You’ll have Eluna with you, after all.”
“Well, be careful,” said Annir, not quite able to hide her worry. “I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
Arren embraced her briefly. “I’ll be fine, Mum. Really.”
Arren hated to leave his parents, but the sun began to sink and he was forced to get back on Eluna and return to the city. This time the flight went a little more smoothly, and he managed to control his fear better. That gave him some hope. Maybe, some day, he would be able to fly without being afraid.
Once he’d arrived home, he took Eluna’s harness off and packed a box with a selection of things to go to his parents, including everything perishable in the house. Coming back to a cupboard full of rancid cheese and shrivelled oranges was not a pleasing idea. He nailed the box shut and put it by the door. Gern could come and collect it in the morning.
It was dark by now, and Arren put on his cloak before he left. Time to go and meet Gern, Flell and Bran at the Sign of the Red Rat. He found them there waiting