Summary
It's 2 months since Kiska learned to fly. He and Quickpaw now help spot enemies, and deliver messages between patrols. They set out on a northeasterly flight to the slopes of the Barrier Range. Kiska wonders to Quickpaw when he'll learn his elemental magic, just as Quickpaw has her water magic.
Evening approaches. As the two head back, they see a patrol of 6, a group of loggers 3 miles away, and a lutin squad approaching the loggers. Kiska swoops down to warn the loggers, while Quickpaw alerts the patrol. Only two of the patrol members can understand Quickpaw's telepathy. One of them, Cathal, rides Quickpaw as the others follow.
The lutins attack just as Kiska has alerted them. Despite Kiska's onslaught, he witnesses one of the loggers get fatally stabbed. Kiska is enraged, and swipes his wing at several Lutins at his side; each one bursts into flames. The Lutins panic and flee from the arcs of flame. Kiska begins creating an orb of fire, just as Quickpaw arrives. Quickpaw sends him some energy to save him from exhaustion, and the orb takes out several lutins, and everything 20 paces around them.
Quickpaw summons a short quick rain to put out the fire, and lands to let off Cathal. She keeps sending energy to Kiska as the patrol takes out the rest of the Lutins. She waits with him to recover as the patrol and woodsmen thank them and set off to the Keep. Kiska and Quickpaw fly back to their tower together, where they quickly fall into exhausted sleep.
Characters
Main characters:
- Kiska: A full gryfin morph, Quickpaw's mate. During a Lutin raid on a group of loggers, he releases his elemental magic for the first time.
- Like Quickpaw, his eyesight is naturally good.
- His elemental magic is fire.
- Quickpaw: A natural-born gryfin, Kiska's mate. She alerts a Keeper patrol to intercept and clean up the Lutin raid.
- Her elemental magic is water.
Minor characters:
- Cathal: A rabbit morph, a relatively recent arrival to the Keep. He is one of only two in his patrol who can hear Quickpaw's telepathy. He rides with her to the fight, though it is not a comfortable ride, and he steps off quite terrified.
- His left ear was recently cut in battle. His right ear is adorned with several rings.
- He has already impressed his ferret leader with his speed and swordfighting skills.
- The ferret leader of the patrol. He tells Cathal to be careful, as he values him as a scout.
Cameo:
- Saroth: A dragon morph, the Keep's weather warden. He has shown Kiska and Quickpaw a few secret places around the Valley.
- Michael: A logger, a plaid beaver morph. He seems to be the only logger who can hear Kiska's telepathy.
- A female mink, one of those with Cathal on patrol. She is the only one besides Cathal who can hear Quickpaw's telepathy.
- She cannot be Llyn, as at this time, Llyn is currently deep into the Giantdowns.
- A jackal morph, in Cathal's patrol. Cathal bows to him before leaving with Quickpaw.
- A logger and feline morph. He receives a fatal slash to his chest.
Important mention:
- Morningstar: Quickpaw's mother. She specialized in earth magic, and created the cave where she and her daughter lived.
Ethereal Magic
Gryfins can naturally cast Ethereal Magic, a special kind of elemental magic. Four elements are possible: air, water, fire, and earth.
- Fire magic takes heat from the environment and concentrates it in one place, resulting in a sudden drop in the local temperature.
- Water magic can create water, rain, ice, and steam, no matter what the local temperature is.
- Earth magic can be used to sculpt the earth into caves or structures, or even animated golems, as long as the gryfin maintains concentration.
- Air magic can create powerful tornadoes, and is easy to combine with other elemental magic.
Fire and water magic are more powerful than air and earth, in that fire and water can create each element, whereas air and earth merely manipulate existing material.
In addition to this elemental magic, gryfins are also able to send energy from one to another, like telepathy. Like telepathy, it is probably limited to line-of-sight.
Gryfins can not use their magic right away; they discover it as they mature. At first, it is wild and unpredictable; gryfins must learn to control it over time.
Points of Interest
- There have been unseasonably cold and rain in the last few days.
- Kiska and Quickpaw fly a mile off the ground, out of range of all but the most powerful magic.
- Kiska wonders how the gryfins could have been defeated when they have such powerful Ethereal Magic.
- The loggers and patrol depart with a body in a stretcher. It is not shown whether this was the feline morph, or a different casualty in the fight.