side, her throat pulsating with each desperate breath, eyes half-closed. “Arren,” she whispered.
Arren looked up, toward the black griffin. It lay still, eyes closed, the arrow sticking out of its chest. Its front claws were outstretched toward him, and he saw the blood on them. It was only then that he realised what had happened. Eluna had flung herself in the way.
People were coming already. He was vaguely aware of them running toward him over the field, calling out to him.
Arren sat down beside Eluna, lifting her head. “Eluna, please, Eluna, just breathe, just—”
Eluna’s eyelid twitched, but she said nothing.
Arren looked up as people ran past him. They were making for the black griffin. Many of them had knives and sticks.
“Stop!” Arren yelled.
They paused and looked back at him. “What is it, sir?” said one. Renn, he realised. He saw Eluna and came to Arren. “Oh my gods, your griffin—”
“Don’t kill it!” Arren shouted at the people. “Leave it alone! I said leave it alone! That’s an order, godsdamnit!”
They withdrew, confused and sullen. “Why, sir?” said Renn. “It’s killed people. It’s hurt your griffin, it—”
“Go and get some ropes,” Arren snarled in a voice that didn’t sound like his own at all. “I want you to tie its legs together. And its wings. As many ropes as possible. Don’t let it escape.”
“But sir—”
“Now!”
They ran away, stung by the rage in his voice. Arren didn’t watch them go. He stroked Eluna’s face. “Eluna? Eluna, can you hear me?” The wound wasn’t bleeding any more, and hope rose inside him. She would be all right. She would survive, she would—
Eluna’s beak opened slightly, and she whispered something.
“Eluna?” said Arren. “Eluna, please, just stay awake. Say something.”
The white griffin’s eyes closed. “Arren,” she said, her voice barely audible.
“Open your eyes! Eluna, just—”
Eluna’s tail twitched. Her head moved, ever so slightly, and then fell back. Her beak was open, and a little blood trickled out of it. Then, a few moments later, her entire body stilled. She let out a low, soft sigh, and then she didn’t move any more.
Arren patted her neck. “Eluna! Eluna!”
Nothing. No response. Nothing but silence. Arren felt for a pulse. There wasn’t one.
“Eluna!”
Something wet splattered onto his face. He touched it and realised it was a drop of rain. More of it started to fall. It brought a fresh, green smell with it.
The people had returned. They had brought ropes, and they swarmed over the black griffin, tying its legs and wings and binding up its beak. It lay there, motionless except for the heaving of its sides, not knowing that its freedom was being taken away from it forever.
Arren watched without seeing. He was vaguely aware that there was blood running down his chest, but he felt no pain. He stayed where he was, cradling Eluna’s head in his arms, and when people came to him and asked him if he was all right he didn’t answer.
8
Taken Sky
The rain helped to wake the black griffin. He opened his eyes—slowly and with a great deal of effort—and found he was lying on his side. He was cold; his feathers were soaked. There was a pain in his chest, and his forelegs hurt. He tried to get up, but found that he couldn’t. His legs were tied together, and his wings as well. Thick, strong ropes were holding him down; more ropes bound his beak shut.
Terror shot through him, icy cold and smothering. He began to struggle wildly, pulling on the ropes with all his might, but they would not break. A strange weakness and lassitude filled him and he slumped back onto the ground, gasping for breath. He couldn’t breathe properly with his beak tied shut, and the air whistled painfully through his nostrils.
He lay still for a while, taking in his surroundings. He was lying in a field, very close to the human village. There were humans there, standing not far away and watching him. Many were holding sharp objects in their paws. The black griffin hissed warningly at them, and some of them drew back slightly, but they did not run. They knew he was helpless.
The black griffin began to struggle again, trying to move toward them. His legs were still pinioned together, and he began to jerk his entire body, trying to drag himself over the ground. But his hind legs had been tied to his forelegs, and to his wings, and more ropes were attached to stakes driven into the ground. He could not move