and black stockings.
Isabelle took care to avoid looking over at Maddox. The black-haired Guardian-in-training was messing around with the little sailboat that had come with the villa rental, working on practicing sailor’s knots that were almost as tightly wound as he was.
Maddox had one goal for this vacation—besides keeping his promise to Derek to make sure that nobody abducted, killed, maimed, or otherwise mangled Jake.
He had taken one look at Mount Etna and cracked a rare grin. “We’re climbing that,” he had said, glancing at Jake.
Who wasn’t sure that was the best idea.
“You do realize it’s a volcano?” Jake had replied, but Maddox had merely shrugged.
Yes, Mount Etna was said to be mostly dormant. But with his luck?
At night, dining on the terrace under the stars, they could see the orange glow atop Mount Etna. Showers of sparks sometimes flew out, but the little bits of fire and lava oozing casually from the mountain did not seem to alarm the locals.
Life in Sicily went on at its nice, andante pace.
Well , Jake decided, if Maddox wasn’t afraid (and when was he ever, aside from whenever Isabelle actually tried to talk to him?) then he was hardly going to chicken out.
Unfortunately, he could not say the same for his Gryphon, who had been delivered, safe and sound, as promised, by the haughty wood elf Lightrider, Finnderool. Having that Waypoint on the property had proved most convenient, and he’d whooped at his joyous reunion with Red.
But as the lazy days passed, Jake had secretly started getting bored. He was determined to find something to do, so he’d decided it was time to do some training with his pet.
“Oh, stop being a baby!” Jake scolded his large, winged friend, who balked presently on the sand.
While the others pursued their own interests, Jake’s beach activity for the day had been to try to help his fierce mythical beast overcome his one phobia: flying over the sea.
“Caw!” Red protested, planting his lion claws stubbornly in the sand as Jake tried to pull him toward the waterline.
“Come on, Red, you can do this! Are you forgetting your own Welsh name—Claw the Courageous? Red, you’ve fought dragons! This is no different than flying over a lake!”
“Caw?” the Gryphon bleated, begging to be excused.
“Yes, I know you’re half lion and lions can’t swim, but don’t worry! I won’t let you drown, I promise. We’ll just fly out to one of those rock formations sticking up from the water, take it little by little. See those sea rocks there? That’s not too far. We’ll just go to that point, then we’ll come right back. What do you say?”
The Gryphon snorted through his golden beak and shook his head angrily.
“Hmm. All right…you drive a hard bargain, Gryphon. Very well, what if I promised you a whole tuna, all to yourself?”
Red paused and cocked his head. “Tucaw?”
“Oh, you never tried tuna? Well, let me tell you, they’re excellent. We had grilled tuna steaks for supper just last night. Magnifico!” He kissed his fingertips. “You might even like it better than salmon.”
Red seemed to scowl at him for the bribe. He eyed the dolphins around Isabelle rather hungrily, but Jake laid hold of his beak and pulled his pet’s attention back to him. “Don’t even think about it, mate. Look out to sea! There’s all kinds of fish out there, and you could catch them easily if you’d overcome your fear. Come on, Red. You’re no coward. You’re half eagle, too, and eagles catch fish out of the ocean all the time.
“This is just a silly phobia, and I am going to help you overcome it. I owe you that, after all the ways that you’ve helped me. So, what do you say? Let’s give it a go. I’ll be with you all the way. There’s a big, juicy tuna in it for you, if you’ll just try…”
With a harrumph, the Gryphon finally grumbled a low “becaw,” which Jake interpreted as a reluctant, Oh, all right, since you refuse to leave me alone
Isabelle took care to avoid looking over at Maddox. The black-haired Guardian-in-training was messing around with the little sailboat that had come with the villa rental, working on practicing sailor’s knots that were almost as tightly wound as he was.
Maddox had one goal for this vacation—besides keeping his promise to Derek to make sure that nobody abducted, killed, maimed, or otherwise mangled Jake.
He had taken one look at Mount Etna and cracked a rare grin. “We’re climbing that,” he had said, glancing at Jake.
Who wasn’t sure that was the best idea.
“You do realize it’s a volcano?” Jake had replied, but Maddox had merely shrugged.
Yes, Mount Etna was said to be mostly dormant. But with his luck?
At night, dining on the terrace under the stars, they could see the orange glow atop Mount Etna. Showers of sparks sometimes flew out, but the little bits of fire and lava oozing casually from the mountain did not seem to alarm the locals.
Life in Sicily went on at its nice, andante pace.
Well , Jake decided, if Maddox wasn’t afraid (and when was he ever, aside from whenever Isabelle actually tried to talk to him?) then he was hardly going to chicken out.
Unfortunately, he could not say the same for his Gryphon, who had been delivered, safe and sound, as promised, by the haughty wood elf Lightrider, Finnderool. Having that Waypoint on the property had proved most convenient, and he’d whooped at his joyous reunion with Red.
But as the lazy days passed, Jake had secretly started getting bored. He was determined to find something to do, so he’d decided it was time to do some training with his pet.
“Oh, stop being a baby!” Jake scolded his large, winged friend, who balked presently on the sand.
While the others pursued their own interests, Jake’s beach activity for the day had been to try to help his fierce mythical beast overcome his one phobia: flying over the sea.
“Caw!” Red protested, planting his lion claws stubbornly in the sand as Jake tried to pull him toward the waterline.
“Come on, Red, you can do this! Are you forgetting your own Welsh name—Claw the Courageous? Red, you’ve fought dragons! This is no different than flying over a lake!”
“Caw?” the Gryphon bleated, begging to be excused.
“Yes, I know you’re half lion and lions can’t swim, but don’t worry! I won’t let you drown, I promise. We’ll just fly out to one of those rock formations sticking up from the water, take it little by little. See those sea rocks there? That’s not too far. We’ll just go to that point, then we’ll come right back. What do you say?”
The Gryphon snorted through his golden beak and shook his head angrily.
“Hmm. All right…you drive a hard bargain, Gryphon. Very well, what if I promised you a whole tuna, all to yourself?”
Red paused and cocked his head. “Tucaw?”
“Oh, you never tried tuna? Well, let me tell you, they’re excellent. We had grilled tuna steaks for supper just last night. Magnifico!” He kissed his fingertips. “You might even like it better than salmon.”
Red seemed to scowl at him for the bribe. He eyed the dolphins around Isabelle rather hungrily, but Jake laid hold of his beak and pulled his pet’s attention back to him. “Don’t even think about it, mate. Look out to sea! There’s all kinds of fish out there, and you could catch them easily if you’d overcome your fear. Come on, Red. You’re no coward. You’re half eagle, too, and eagles catch fish out of the ocean all the time.
“This is just a silly phobia, and I am going to help you overcome it. I owe you that, after all the ways that you’ve helped me. So, what do you say? Let’s give it a go. I’ll be with you all the way. There’s a big, juicy tuna in it for you, if you’ll just try…”
With a harrumph, the Gryphon finally grumbled a low “becaw,” which Jake interpreted as a reluctant, Oh, all right, since you refuse to leave me alone
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