The Protector and the Peacemaker

Chapter Twenty Four

Chapter Twenty Four

(Glenda)

Glenda had long since given up on walking, and Rayalga had long since given up on trying to make her. At first, the old woman had thought that the gryphon would simply leave her behind to die, but he apparently had other plans.

"Carry the worthless retch," he had ordered the nearest Mythic. Unfortunately, that Mythic had been an ogre with pointy bumps all over its body. Now, days later, Glenda felt as if she had been lying on a bed of rocks in the back of a pickup truck. Her bones ached, and her spine would likely never be completely straight again.

Up ahead, the mad Arch-Mythic called for a halt.

Right here? Glenda thought as her reluctant carrier set her down on the ground. In the middle of the day?

The confused mutterings of Rayalga's troops told her she wasn't the only one thinking this. Still, they didn't complain. They had been marching for hours without a single break, so they would take whatever rest they could get.

Even in madness, that gryphon is cunning, Glenda thought with a scowl. He wouldn't have stopped his army here for no reason.

Sure enough, her suspicions proved right. Five minutes, Commander Doluku came sauntering up to her. Even in her predicament, Glenda had been vocal about her disgust for the manticore. She could tell she wasn't the only one, but the others would never speak out against a commander— especially with the Arch-Mythic in the state he was in. It was no coincidence that he had sent Doluku to fetch her, and not one of the other commanders.

"The Arch-Mythic wants to speak to you," he said, indicating with his barbed tail that she was to walk in front of him.

Glenda considered herself a bold woman, but even she was cowed by the manticore's cold eyes. She obediently got to her feet, groaning as her old bones protested, and began to walk to where Rayalga waited.

What could he want to speak to me about? she wondered as she walked, trying her best to stay a good distance away from Doluku.

She found the Arch-Mythic standing tall and proud at the front of his army. From a distance he appeared to be the very definition of authority and poise, but as Glenda drew nearer the illusion was ruined when she saw the manic look in his eyes. He was a creature on the verge of losing control.

No... he was long past that point already.

"Human," he greeted her, not bothering to hide the disgust in his voice.

"Arch-Mythic," she returned the greeting, bowing her head to try to preserve the illusion of respect.

Rayalga grunted in derision, and then began his agitated pacing again.

"I assume you're wondering why I bothered keeping you alive," he said. "You think that if I had any sense at all, I would have killed you the moment I found you spying on me."

Glenda thought nothing of the sort, but she wisely kept her mouth shut.

The gryphon let out a low, ominous chuckle. "I don't plan on killing you just yet. I have plans for you, human, and those plans require you to be alive."

A pit formed in Glenda's stomach, and she couldn't stop herself from asking, "What plans?"

"The boy," Rayalga said, turning on her. "The one who escaped from the mines."

"Porter," Glenda said, apprehension making her skin crawl.

"You were his foster mother," he went on, a sadistic gleam in his eye. "We will give you to the Slayers in exchange for their complete surrender."