Free Unleashed Fury (BloodRunes: Book 1) by Laura R Cole Page B

commented,
touched by the affection in Gryffon’s voice as he described his
father.
    “He was.”
    Gryffon walked to the edge of the brook and
stood staring down into the water, deep in his own thoughts. Layna
cracked open her book and was soon enthralled by the adventures of
the great magician, Merlin.
    In the back of her consciousness she was
aware of Gryffon setting up a target and every now and then the
quiet din of the forest would be interrupted by a twang, followed
by the dull thunk of an arrow colliding with his target.
    After a while, curiosity overcame her, and
she stole a glance at the target. His arrows clustered together
where he had made a large black dot in the center, and she
commented appreciatively, “Nice aim.”
    “I give all the credit to the bow,” he
answered humbly. “The best damn bow I've ever seen made and the
most eccentric man I've ever met who made it.”
    Layna gave a short laugh. “Oh?”
    “Oh, indeed,” he answered. “He is.”
    Their time was cut short by the setting of
the sun, and the two of them made their way back to the manor.
Gryffon asked her if she would join him again the next day and
Layna surprised herself by accepting. She was light-headed for the
rest of the evening. She knew she should stop now, that she was
lucky she hadn’t gotten in trouble for the time she spent with him
already, and for the familiarity with which she had treated him.
But it was thrilling. Both the thought of him, and - though she
hated to admit it - also the excitement of something so
forbidden.
    The next morning she caught herself taking
extra care in brushing her hair until it shone and putting on her
nicer tunic after rushing through her chores. She chided herself
for her girlishness, but smiled despite herself. Fly isn't the
only gorgeous creature I'm meeting in the stables.
    When she arrived, Gryffon was already there
waiting for her. They rode through the woods where he showed her
how to spot deer sign; from the scrapes on the ground to the
rubbings on the trees from their antlers. They talked about magic -
Layna had been unable to stop thinking about Gryffon's use of it
the day before. They both lamented how unfortunate it was that it
had become so limited and that the law mandated that only
expensively trained individuals could practice it outside the
confines of the Priesthood. The number of people with any notable
amount of talent was fairly small to begin with, and any who had it
were carefully regulated by the priests.
    “You’d be surprised how many people have
latent talent, or a small enough amount of it never to have been
required to do anything about it though,” Gryffon informed her,
much to her surprise. “That’s why there’re so many people that can
activate the old spells if they know how, but very few who can
actually make those spells anymore. And even fewer who are allowed
to do it on their own.”
    Anyone who displayed even the tiniest level
was required to report to the priests to be tested, and if it was
determined that you had any discernable amount you had to enroll
either in the training classes or with the Priesthood. Since the
price of being trained was so outrageous, only nobles could even
dream of affording it, and even then it was hardly worth the money.
Gryffon, though a noble, admitted that it had been a struggle for
his father to come up with the sum, and after having been trained,
Gryffon was not all that impressed with what it had bought him. He
told her that other than the showier spells like those seen at the
temples, the priests couldn't - or wouldn't - teach their pupils
much more. Layna was happy to note that despite being noble,
Gryffon thought that the practice was unfair since the extravagant
cost essentially forced any commoner into the service of the
priests. Not that it's probably much different from serving a
noble household, but at least you would have a choice .
    “I wonder if I have a latent talent,” Layna
speculated fancifully,