The Lost Heir (The Gryphon Chronicles, Book 1)
Read The Lost Heir (The Gryphon Chronicles, Book 1) Online
Authors: E.G. Foley
E.G. FOLEY
THE GRYPHON CHRONICLES, BOOK ONE:
THE LOST HEIR
By E.G. Foley
The Gryphon Chronicles
Book 1: THE LOST HEIR
Book 2: JAKE & THE GIANT
Credits & Copyright
The Gryphon Chronicles, Book 1: The Lost Heir
Copyright 2012 by E.G. Foley.
Foley Publications.
Cover Illustration by Mike Motz.
Cover Design by Kim Killion.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, recorded, or stored in any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher, except for brief quotations for review purposes.
First edition, 2012
Dedication
This book is dedicated to all the wonderful children in our lives, especially Rebecca, Deidre, Arthur, and Teagan; Samantha, Ashley, and Daniel; Gracie and Alex; and Mackenzie, too, with special thanks to Erin (a grownup) for the encouragement. This book is also warmly dedicated to the many hundreds of E’s “kids” who’ve made teaching a joy. Thanks for listening to my stories—this one’s for you!
Table of Contents
Chapter 2. A Family Resemblance
Chapter 3. A Knight of the Order
Chapter 5. Witness for the Defense
Chapter 7. The Ghosts of Newgate
Chapter 9. A Treacherous Lullaby
Chapter 10. (Bad) Luck of the Irish
Chapter 12. The Enchanted Library
Chapter 13. Secrets of the Past
Chapter 14. The Seashell Summons
Chapter 17. Of Parting Ways & Flying Machines
Chapter 19. Gentleman and Lady
Chapter 20. The Mission of Malwort
Chapter 23. A Visit to Gryphondale
Chapter 25. Jake Gets Consequences
Chapter 26. The Oboedire Spell
Chapter 27. A Secret in the Forest
Chapter 29. The Talk of the Town
Chapter 31. A Familiar Apparition
Chapter 34. Jake Goes To the Ball
Chapter 38. Revenge of the Gryphon
Chapter 41. Her Majesty, the Queen
Blood will tell.
~Old English Proverb
PART I
PROLOGUE
An Urgent Message
Chains clanked in the darkness as the creature paced and prowled its cell, letting out another throaty snarl.
Full eleven years, the beast had been a prisoner in this dungeon, and every day its anger grew—but never before to this ferocious pitch, as it heard what its captors were scheming. Their voices echoed down the stone chute from somewhere above.
The traitor and the witch.
“The boy must die.”
“Don’t be so impatient, Waldrick! Think of his powers! A lad like that is too useful to waste. Just capture him, and we will make him serve us.”
“No, Fionnula! The risk is too great! He could destroy everything we’ve worked for. Don’t you understand that?”
The beast roared in protest.
“Shut up down there!” the hag hollered. “Waldrick, did you forget to feed the monster?”
“Of course not. I threw a goat down to it yesterday—just the way it likes its prey, alive and kicking. Vicious thing.”
“What does it want, then? Sometimes I swear that thing can understand us.”
“Who cares? It’s just a stupid animal,” he said.
“That happens to be about a thousand years old,” the witch muttered with considerably more respect.
The creature’s golden eyes gleamed with intelligence and futile vengeance in the shadows. But the co-conspirators in the stone-carved lair above forgot about the beast once more and returned to the topic at hand.
“If you bring the boy back to me alive, my lord, I might be able to transfer his powers to you.”
“Or to yourself?” he countered suspiciously.
“Don’t be tedious! Why should I need more magic? You know who I am. While you, poor dear, were robbed. It’s only fitting you should take from
him
what was stolen from
you
.”
“Tempting…”
The beast could hear the earl’s boot-heels thumping slowly across the stone floor above as he paced in thought.
“Very tempting, indeed. But still not worth it,” he concluded after a moment. “No matter what happens, the past must stay hidden, and you had better assist me in this, after all I’ve done for you—”
“Calm yourself! And don’t even think about threatening me. There’s no need to get yourself into a snit,” she huffed. “If you want him dead, then dead the boy will be. But we have one small problem.”
“What’s that?”
“Not even my Seeing Bowl will show me where he is. The Kinderveil is still protecting him.”
“Is it? Well, if he is still cloaked by that old spell, at least the others won’t be able to find him, either. Even better, until it fully dissolves, his powers won’t be at full strength yet—and I say, we’d better kill him while we still can. Before long, he may be too powerful, if he’s anything like his father.”
“Well, how are we going to find him, then? Half the magical world is already out looking for the brat!”
“Don’t worry, the only one I need to find is Guardian Derek Stone. Poor, disgraced has-been,” he added with a sneer. “The Order is sure to send a messenger to summon the
great
warrior just as soon as they get a lead on where the boy is. Then Stone will rush to Jacob’s side to protect him. But we’ll beat him to the punch.”
“How?”
“Simple,” he said. “Intercept the message.” With that, the heavy door above creaked shut as the earl marched off to carry out his treacherous plan. The creature threw back its head and roared in useless fury.
As if the boy could hear.
Swift as a shooting star, a tiny shape no larger than a hummingbird zipped across the glowing face of Big Ben, then disappeared into the night sky in a trail of golden sparkles.