rough sparring with Lawrence and the guard failed to make her do any
more than noticeably warm and occasionally let loose with a fierce growl that
would leave an inexperienced fighter dripping shit down his tail.
His own Lady Eve fondly remembered the
many times her own sire attempted to kill her and force her to take dragon form
for the first time. In the end she shifted, severely wounding her very proud
sire before she reigned her dragon side in.
Forcing a first shift on an oblivious
dragonkin would be cruel and dangerous and frankly, not his job. He has mixed
feelings about doing it for his own children.
Today, Cloud arrives at the gym first and
is well into her workout with Lawrence when Cooper shows up with his laptop and
phone. He plans to mix work with socializing then give Cloud the night off from
the bar and spend the evening with her in his suite.
Lawrence understands why she needs to be
somewhere safer. As much as Cooper ’ s oldest friend likes having
her around, Lawrence is one of a select few who appreciates the powerful nature
of the green relic two floors up. He also knows the danger Cloud faces from the
Council and the risk Calgary takes in harbouring her.
“ Cherry, ” Lawrence breathes. Even after a round of
exercises and nearly an hour sparring he won't get any closer to panting. “ I don ’ t suppose you ’ re tired of hauling cases of beer up to
the bar, are you? ”
“ What do you mean? ” she asks. Cooper listens, eyes on the
computer screen and coffee to his lips. Both Lawrence and Cloud are winged and
dressed in traditional trousers. Cloud also wears a light tunic. The rest of
his guard huddle around the room. Working nights in the bar downstairs makes
the rough males perpetual latecomers. The late nights don ’ t affect Cloud and even Lawrence ’ s easy temper shows signs of wear from
keeping up with Cloud ’ s early mornings.
“ Friends aren ’ t always what they seem, little gryphon, ” he whispers and Cloud grunts a reply as
she slips under his wing, landing an elbow in his kidney. “ Sometimes it ’ s in their best interest for you to do
some damage to someone you care about. ”
“ A good gryphon will always keep another
from getting out of line, ” she paraphrases. The
actual quote she would have learned in childhood is several paragraphs long.
“ Put it into practice, ” Lawrence barks and Cloud takes a step back to
assess Lawrence ’ s change in stance from
defense to challenge. “ Enough dicking around. You
want a shot at the guard you ’ re going to fight me for it. ”
“ How? ”
Cooper ’ s eyes narrow as the gold flashes in
Cloud ’ s eyes. The remainder of the
guard takes notice as well. Although they can ’ t see the change in her eyes their
attention turns to the centre of the chamber where Cloud and Lawrence square
off. The female is fearless. Even face to face with a gryphon nearly twice her
size, she ’ s ready to go before she ’ s even heard the rules.
“ Better
me, Cherry. That ’ s all. I want to feel a bone
break. If it ’ s mine, you ’ re in. If it ’ s yours, you ’ re back to humping empties until I say
you get another chance. ”
She doesn ’ t answer as she brings her hands up. Only
a tiny tremor and a dry swallow suggest a healthy caution. Lawrence ’ s tail twitches, hinting at his coming
attack but Cloud keeps hers still. It might be against her nature to harm
another without cause.
She ’ s headed for a rude awakening, Cooper decides as he moves to
the edge of his seat. He ’ s as caught up in anticipation
as the rest of the room. As much as he avoids senseless violence, the gryphon
in him is easily drawn to the prospect of an honest fight. Maybe that ’ s why he owns a testosterone fueled
gryphon bar.
“ Yes,
Master, ” she replies with a formal
acknowledgement of Lawrence ’ s status as head of the guard.
A good gryphon never refuses her master ’ s
order, trusting he knows her limits better than she
more than noticeably warm and occasionally let loose with a fierce growl that
would leave an inexperienced fighter dripping shit down his tail.
His own Lady Eve fondly remembered the
many times her own sire attempted to kill her and force her to take dragon form
for the first time. In the end she shifted, severely wounding her very proud
sire before she reigned her dragon side in.
Forcing a first shift on an oblivious
dragonkin would be cruel and dangerous and frankly, not his job. He has mixed
feelings about doing it for his own children.
Today, Cloud arrives at the gym first and
is well into her workout with Lawrence when Cooper shows up with his laptop and
phone. He plans to mix work with socializing then give Cloud the night off from
the bar and spend the evening with her in his suite.
Lawrence understands why she needs to be
somewhere safer. As much as Cooper ’ s oldest friend likes having
her around, Lawrence is one of a select few who appreciates the powerful nature
of the green relic two floors up. He also knows the danger Cloud faces from the
Council and the risk Calgary takes in harbouring her.
“ Cherry, ” Lawrence breathes. Even after a round of
exercises and nearly an hour sparring he won't get any closer to panting. “ I don ’ t suppose you ’ re tired of hauling cases of beer up to
the bar, are you? ”
“ What do you mean? ” she asks. Cooper listens, eyes on the
computer screen and coffee to his lips. Both Lawrence and Cloud are winged and
dressed in traditional trousers. Cloud also wears a light tunic. The rest of
his guard huddle around the room. Working nights in the bar downstairs makes
the rough males perpetual latecomers. The late nights don ’ t affect Cloud and even Lawrence ’ s easy temper shows signs of wear from
keeping up with Cloud ’ s early mornings.
“ Friends aren ’ t always what they seem, little gryphon, ” he whispers and Cloud grunts a reply as
she slips under his wing, landing an elbow in his kidney. “ Sometimes it ’ s in their best interest for you to do
some damage to someone you care about. ”
“ A good gryphon will always keep another
from getting out of line, ” she paraphrases. The
actual quote she would have learned in childhood is several paragraphs long.
“ Put it into practice, ” Lawrence barks and Cloud takes a step back to
assess Lawrence ’ s change in stance from
defense to challenge. “ Enough dicking around. You
want a shot at the guard you ’ re going to fight me for it. ”
“ How? ”
Cooper ’ s eyes narrow as the gold flashes in
Cloud ’ s eyes. The remainder of the
guard takes notice as well. Although they can ’ t see the change in her eyes their
attention turns to the centre of the chamber where Cloud and Lawrence square
off. The female is fearless. Even face to face with a gryphon nearly twice her
size, she ’ s ready to go before she ’ s even heard the rules.
“ Better
me, Cherry. That ’ s all. I want to feel a bone
break. If it ’ s mine, you ’ re in. If it ’ s yours, you ’ re back to humping empties until I say
you get another chance. ”
She doesn ’ t answer as she brings her hands up. Only
a tiny tremor and a dry swallow suggest a healthy caution. Lawrence ’ s tail twitches, hinting at his coming
attack but Cloud keeps hers still. It might be against her nature to harm
another without cause.
She ’ s headed for a rude awakening, Cooper decides as he moves to
the edge of his seat. He ’ s as caught up in anticipation
as the rest of the room. As much as he avoids senseless violence, the gryphon
in him is easily drawn to the prospect of an honest fight. Maybe that ’ s why he owns a testosterone fueled
gryphon bar.
“ Yes,
Master, ” she replies with a formal
acknowledgement of Lawrence ’ s status as head of the guard.
A good gryphon never refuses her master ’ s
order, trusting he knows her limits better than she
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