Monday, September 12, 2005

   Chapter 5: The Eyes of a Hero (part 2)
Pen pinched himself. Neither of them were trained enough to use airlift. They would have to go all the way to the south side of the city in order to use the stairs that led up the cliffs. They didn’t have time for that!
He closed his eyes. If only they could call Keion the way Panda had, if only he answered to someone other than his master…
Wing beats sounded overhead. Pen tore his eyes open and wouldn’t believe what he saw: Keion. The griffon circled down to them, his orange eyes shining in the light of the moon.
Tory gasped and grabbed Pen’s hand. “What is that?” she gasped.
“Shh.”
The griffon landed in the sand before them. Pen carefully approached him. “Will you give us a ride to the top of the cliff?”
He snorted and sank to his knees, allowing the boy to get on his back. After a moment of hesitation, Tory also came to Keion’s side and allowed herself to be helped up. She wrapped her hands around Pen’s middle tightly.
Keion slowly got to his feet, giving them time to find their balance, before he jumped to the winds. Up the cliffs he flew. Pen heard Tory gasp as they spiraled higher and higher, until the griffon settled down on the trail that would take them home.
“Thank you,” Pen told him gratefully as he slid off his back. The griffon bowed his head, and then took to the skies again.
Tory did not say anything as they hurried along the dark path. Sounds of the nightlife of the forest met their ears; Tory inched closer and closer to Pen’s back in fear, until she was almost touching him.
After several minutes, Pen got the feeling that they were being watched. Acting on instinct, he stopped, putting out a hand to make sure that Tory stopped, too.
Two eyes shone at them out of the darkness in the path front of them. A moment later, Pen could make out its whole body.
It was a female griffin—a wild griffon. Being a night griffin, she was bigger than Keion, and more powerful. Tory’s breath became fast and tense behind Pen. For a moment, the griffin and the kids stared at one another. Then, she charged.
Quick as lightning, Pen shoved Tory off of the path, where she fell roughly against a tree. Having her out of the way, he drew Lucaya and struck at the griffin, cutting her diagonally across her feather-covered head. She howled in agony, blood dripping from the gaping wound.
Thoroughly angered, she turned to face Pen again, growling. The next time she attacked, she pounced. Her heavy paws wrestled him to the ground and her beaked snapped wildly. Pen was drowned between the path and her fur. He slashed madly with his sword, cutting everything in front of him.
It was a split second where the wild creature snarled with rage when Pen found her neck. Gathering all of his strength, he freed himself from the paw holding him down.
“Die!” he cried as he drove Lucaya into the griffin’s neck above him. It went all the way through, to the hilt; as she thrashed against it, a flood of warm blood poured down on him, covering every last inch of his body.
The griffin’s howl was cut short. Her body twitched one last time before it became limp above Pen. He kicked the creature's lifeless head away while he pulled his sword out. Her entire body fell to the ground with a dull thud.
Pen stood by the carcass of the slain creature, surveying his work, before he turned back to Tory.
She had been watching his courageous fight from behind a tree. She had been admiring him… but what she saw now was the most horrible thing.
When he turned to look at her, blood dripping from every part of his body, sword in hand, silhouetted against the ghostly light of the moon… When he turned to look at her, his triumphant gaze meeting her’s, those black eyes were like hell itself.
Tory screamed and ran the rest of the way home.
Comments (0)