Free Lokant by Charlotte E. English

the house. One was smaller than the
other, its hide ghost-grey and pale. The larger beast wore scales
of green-touched blue. They were impossibly big, impossibly winged
and clawed. Aysun stared, briefly mesmerised by their grace and
vivid colour.
    ‘ Aysun!’
    He jumped, shook
himself. There was emotion of some kind in his father’s shouts,
which was more than he had shown since Aysun had arrived. He
descended to the ground floor, taking his time. Rheas and Mags were
both standing at the door, blocking Aysun’s view of the
outdoors.
    ‘Is this some trick of
yours, old man?’
    Without turning, Rheas
barked a laugh. ‘Your suspicion blinds you. If you want your
daughter, I suggest you put that aside.’
    ‘Llan? What’s this got
to do with her?’
    Rheas didn’t reply. He
hobbled slowly out of the door, leaning on Mags’ arm. One hand
gestured impatiently to Aysun. Follow me, it said.
    Mystified and annoyed,
Aysun followed.
    The two beasts had
reached the house. As Aysun watched, they spiralled to the ground,
one playfully nipping at the other’s flanks as they descended.
Behind him, Aysun heard Nyra’s quick female step approaching, but
he couldn’t turn his attention to her. The sight of this strange,
magnificent, outlandish pair of beasts utterly absorbed him.
    ‘Aysun,’ muttered Nyra,
coming to a stop next to him. ‘What’s going on?’
    ‘No idea.’
    On the ground, the
creatures were ungainly but nonetheless marvellous. Their hides
were minutely scaled as though they were covered in a million beads
of glass. They were four-legged, with pearly-silver talons and
tails of immense length. Their wings reminded Aysun of his wife’s
in their construction, though these bore considerable differences
in size and shape.
    He wanted to go closer,
despite their size, and examine the flashing trails of silver that
outlined each tiny scale. But just as he formulated this wish, the
air rippled - in the same way it did when a gate was opened between
the realms - and the two beasts vanished.
    In their place stood
two human figures. They were not yet close, but in one of those
figures Aysun could detect a familiar short stature and lithe form,
black hair and lofty grey wings...
    ‘Now do you
understand?’ came Rheas’s soft whisper from behind him.
    ‘No,’ said Aysun. ‘Not
at all.’
    The two figures didn’t
seem to notice that they had an audience. They were arguing; as
they approached Aysun was able to discern their words.
    ‘... why say you are
not Minchu? To your mother, you say that!’
    ‘I’m glad you’ve
consented to use that word at last. I said it because it is not
true!’
    ‘But I say that it is
true. But why must we speak with our lips and our tongues, Minchu,
when we are alone? It is so clumsy.’
    ‘Because you must
practice your Glinnish before you meet my father.’
    ‘Father?’
    ‘Sire. We will come
upon him any- oh.’ Llandry looked up at last and saw Aysun standing
before her, flanked by Nyra, Rheas and Mags.
    Llandry’s face filled
immediately with relief. ‘Pa! I was afraid you might have been hurt
or worse but when I sensed you I felt you were well, only now I’m
so glad to be able to see for myself that you are...’ She threw her
arms around him and continued to babble into his chest, but her
words were too muffled to be discerned.
    Aysun instinctively
tightened his arms around his daughter, though his attention was
distracted by her companion. He was a study in contrasts, stark
white and deep black, vivid blue. Aysun was alarmed to realise that
he viewed both Llandry and her friend with more than just his eyes;
he sensed something different about them, a quality that they both
shared. He had never noticed such a thing in his daughter
before.
    ‘Were those... was that
you?’ He spoke to Llandry, his voice emerging as a dry croak.
    She drew back from him.
‘Can you not know? Oh, Papa, this is a terrible surprise for you.
I’ll tell you everything, I promise. I see that you