The Gryphon Generation Book 2: A New Era

by Alexander Bizzell

  “Good,” she responded and readjusted her wings.

  Anthony grabbed his clipboard and turned towards the door. “Follow me, please,” he commanded gently, but paused as he reached the door. He turned to look back at her a little more sternly now, making Thyra’s ear tufts slick back with submission. “Remember, do not run off. Stay right behind me.”

  “I will follow,” Thyra said and watched as he pressed the intercom button. Several seconds later, a loud buzzing noise sounded above the door and Anthony opened it, revealing a long white hallway.

  He held the door open for her and began walking down the corridor. She followed him through another set of metal doors that opened up into a room. Many people walked around in the open space, carrying odd-looking tools and instruments. Thyra looked at each one of them, but only saw blank faces that paid her little attention as they continued to their duties.

  “What do they do?” Thyra asked, and paused to look through one glass window. Inside she saw a woman wearing a mask and blue gloves, looking through a device on the countertop.

  Anthony moved next to her and peered through the window. “That is called a microscope, Thyra. People use it to see things that are really small.”

  “Mic…microscope.” Thyra repeated the word and watched as the woman continued to stare through the device.

  “Very good,” Anthony assured her and walked on, turning his head to make sure Thyra followed. He waved at a couple other people in white coats as they passed by, each one seeming to smile at Anthony.

  “Everyone likes Anthony?” Thyra asked.

  He chuckled gently and opened up another set of doors. “Everyone is being extra nice because I just got back from vacation.”

  Thyra walked past him and looked up into his glasses again, head tilted with curiosity. “What is, vacation?” she asked.

  Anthony looked down and ran his hand along her head once again, making Thyra trill gently. “You are stunning. Simply my most perfect creation,” He said under his own breath. He leaned down and she caught a glimpse of his own green eyes. They were kind, and bright with admiration.

  She repeated the word. “Creation.”

  Anthony nodded and walked down the next hallway. It was bare white just like the one in front of her door. He threw open a pair of metal doors and approached the last one at the end of the hall. He stopped and pressed the intercom button on the side.

  “Anfang is very excited to see you today,” Anthony said as the door buzzed loudly. He opened the door and gestured for her to go inside. The room was similar to her own, a couple windows and many paintings decorating the far side of the wall. There was no table or chairs, nor was there a whiteboard and puzzles.

  At the far end of the room, a creature sat on his haunches, staring out the window. His mangy gray tail slowly moved behind him, clearly concentrated on something outside. He had no wings to speak of, simply deformed stubs protruding from his back. Brown feathers and white fur were mixed together randomly through his body, with bare patches of pink skin showing in spots. His one feline ear twitched as Thyra entered and he slowly turned to look at her.

  The gray light from outside shined across his upper gray beak. The deformed lower part of his mouth was a cat-like muzzle. His tired green avian eyes searched Thyra blankly for a minute until she saw them spark with recognition.

  “Thyra!” Anfang chirped and slowly stood up. His body trembled weakly as he stepped forward, balancing on his four avian feet. “Y..you come play?” he asked in a mix of chirps and trills. His mouth was constantly agape as he was unable to close it completely due to the protruding lower teeth scraping across the sides of his beak.

  Thyra smiled and walked to him, running her beak across the top of his head. “Yes. They told me I could come see you,” she responded. The words flowed more fluidly as she carried on. “They told me you are feeling good today.” Thyra sat down before him, looking across his deformed face, concerned for him.

  “Yes, yes. I want to see friend,” Anfang said and roughly nosed his beak portion against her own, a small rumble beginning in his chest. He was happy when she was around.

  “I wanted to see you too,” Thyra said with a smile and nipped at his beak playfully. Her heart ached when she was with him, but that never stopped her from wanting to see him. He laughed and ruffled what feathers he had, sending plumes into the air.

  “They gave me new toy!” Anfang exclaimed and turned to limp to the other side of the room. Thyra followed after him and watched as he dug around the bright blue bins with his claws until pulling out a bright red rubber ball. “See?” Anfang said and held it out for Thyra.

  She picked up the ball and squeezed it gently in her foreclaws as Anfang walked a distance away. He held out his claws and Thyra smiled, knowing what he wanted. She practice tossed the ball a couple times, watching his eyes follow it each time. She underhand tossed it to him, and Anfang caught it with a cheerful squawk.

  He held it happily and tossed it back to Thyra. The ball fell a little short from her foreclaws. “Can you stay forever?”

  Thyra caught the ball on the second bounce and looked at him, trying to keep her smile. “I don’t think they will let me,” Thyra answered before tossing the ball.

  This time, Anfang did not attempt to catch it. The ball bounced past him as his cheerful expression flickered out. His beak frowned and feathers pulled close to his body.

  “W..why?” Anfang asked. Thyra’s eartufts folded back, realizing she accidently upset him. The room started to shrink in her vision, and the lights dimmed. “I don’t know. Maybe..”

  “Why do they keep me here?” He screeched now, making Thyra wince at his sudden outburst. She opened her beak to try to talk him down as she saw tears starting to pool around his eyes. “Why they keep you from me!”

  She felt herself reach out towards him, and her heart ached even harder.

  A door flew open and three men stepped in to grab Anfang. He twisted and swiped at one of them, screeching out. One of the men screamed and fell to the floor, clutching his bleeding arm. “I don’t want to go! Thyra!”

  “Anfang!” Thyra screeched, feeling tears pool from her eyes as well. She tried to rush towards him, but a gigantic pair of talons rose up from the ground and gripped her.

  Every muscle on her clenched, trying to pull away from the strong talons gripping her body, but it was no use. The men began to drag him out an arched exit that suddenly appeared in the background. The large doors creaked open slowly, and Thyra watched helplessly as the men dragged Anfang into the darkness inside.

  “Thyra! Don’t leave me, Thyra!”

  “Thyra!”

  “Thyra!”

  Her eyes jerked open to see Aadhya standing next to her, watching with concern. Thyra’s chest heaved quickly with deep breaths, and her beak was wet with tears.

  “Thyra, you were having a nightmare,” Aadhya calmly said and pulled her white-feathered foreclaw away. Thyra rolled off the couch and stood, glancing outside to watch the rain pitter against the window. Aadhya’s eartufts folded back. “You called out for Anfang.”

  “I had a dream about him. Maybe it was a memory. I-I don’t know.” Thyra glanced over at the clock. It was still really early in the morning. “I’m sorry I woke you up.”

  The vulture shook her head and stood to walk into the kitchen. “It is no matter. Here, let me make you tea to calm the nerves.”

  “Thank you.” Thyra let out a sigh and sat down on a cushion in front of the coffee table.

  “Would it help to talk about it?” Aadhya asked, filling up a teapot with water before turning on the stove.

  Thyra looked down at her foreclaws, remembering how small they had seemed in her dream. “Maybe, but I don’t want to keep you up even more.”

  “If I wanted to sleep, I would not have asked if you wanted to talk,” Aadhya said and selected some tea bags out of the cupboard.

  Thyra’s eartufts pinned back at the comment and she realized that Aadhya was ri
ght. She could have simply stayed in bed and not even come out to check on Thyra, yet here she was, making tea in the middle of the night for her friend.

  “It was about Anfang,” Thyra began. Aadhya perked her long white eartufts and walked out of the kitchen, her attention fully on Thyra now. “I don’t know how much of it was real, but I was dreaming about seeing him again. I the labs. I remember that they used to let me visit him every now and again, but I think this dream was about the last time I saw him.”

  Thyra looked up into Aadhya’s striking yellow and red eyes as she continued, “I was young, maybe around two at the time…I would visit him almost every day by this point, but there was one day he lost control. I don’t know what happened, but I remember him screeching wildly, and people dragging him off. I never saw him again after that. They probably deemed him unfit for visitation.” Thyra looked down at her claws again, trying to remember more.

  “How long did you know this gryphon?” Aadhya questioned.

  “I don’t really know. Everything is just so fuzzy. I could have known him for a couple months, or maybe even a year. I was too young to really remember.” The teapot on the stove slowly began to whistle.

  Aadhya walked into the kitchen to turn off the stove. “You said you received a letter about Anfang’s passing recently. That must indicate someone took care of him all these years,” Aadhya pointed out and stepped out of the kitchen, clutching the pot in her beak and walked on three legs to carry the cups.

  “Yeah. Somebody had to take him in. And I want to find out who they are.” Thyra took the cups from Aadhya to set them on the table.

  The vulture sat before her and poured the tea with ease into the cups using her foreclaw now. “I am sure you will be able to find them.”

  Thyra nodded in response and took the cup, gently blowing over the surface of the hot beverage. The earthy herbal aroma filled her nares and lungs, calming her slightly. “That wasn’t all I dreamt,” Thyra continued, staring down in her cup. “I had a dream about a caretaker that was there. His name was Anthony.”

  Aadhya sipped from her cup and placed it back down on the table. “You remember a name? That is a breakthrough. Most of us do not recall much from the labs, and remembering a name is quite rare. Is that the first human you remember the name of?”

  “So far, yeah. His face was the most clear too. And I remember he had bright green eyes, like mine. Usually people I dream about have a blurry face,” Thyra said and sipped from her own cup. Her face scrunched at the bitterness of the tea, causing Aadhya to chuckle gently.

  “I forgot the sugar, let me get you some.” The vulture went to stand, but Thyra stopped her.

  “No. It’s alright. I should cut back on the sugar anyways. Plus, I think I’ll start to like it more if I don’t always load it down with sugar.”

  Aadhya nodded and sat back down, relaxing again. “Was there anything else you remember?”

  Thyra thought for a minute, and took another sip. “Actually, there was a lot more. He was teaching me the names of different things in the labs. He was really pleased with how quickly I was learning and called me his perfect creation.”

  Aadhya stopped and put down her cup, now looking intently at Thyra. “He called you his creation and he had the same eyes as you. Thyra, that was not a caretaker. He had to be the lead scientist and perhaps your human donor.” Thyra’s eyes widened at the discovery they both just made. She put down the cup and stared back, crest feathers rousing up.

  “You mean, I dreamed about my fath…” Thyra stopped and thought. “My creator…”

  “I believe you have. Also, you now have a name. It may not be much, but it is better than nothing. Many of us never found out who created us. Much of the documentation was lost in the early years,” Aadhya added in. She drained the rest of the cup into her beak and swallowed. “Maybe we can find him. I am sure there are not many scientists named Anthony in the field of Genome Editing.” She looked to the digital clock on the counter before standing up onto all fours once more. “But for now, we must rest.”

  Thyra nodded her head in agreement. They did not have much time until daylight and they needed the energy. “Yeah. It’s my first real game tomorrow and even though I’m on the bench, I still need to be prepared. Thanks, Addy.”

  Aadhya smiled and flipped off the kitchen light. “I hope you sleep well. Goodnight.”

  “Goodnight.” Thyra watched as Aadhya walked down the hallway and shut the door behind her. Thyra climbed back onto the couch. She lay on her back and stared up at the ceiling once again. Her mind was still racing with questions from her dream. It all felt so real but distant at the same time, like a mix of memories, and made up fantasy in her head. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath through her nares, trying to replay the images in her head again, but came up blank.

  Thyra laid still for a minute more, and then sighed in defeat. She rolled over to her side and pulled the blanket over her body. Maybe the memories would come back to her in time. With that final thought, she drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

  Chapter 9 Opening Act

  Thyra and Aadhya landed gently on the soft grass patch next to the side entrance of the stadium. Thyra folded in her wings and looked at the vast parking lot covered with cars, her eyes searching the parking lot for Johnathen’s Volvo. She spotted it towards the front of the lot and grinned. She was so excited for him to see her play.

  “Looks like we’re going to have a crowd,” Thyra pointed out. There was already a long line of people in front of the main entrance waiting to go through security checks.

  “Yes. Typically, the first game of the season brings a good crowd. They want to see how we do.” Aadhya approached the door and typed in a code on the keypad mounted on the wall. The door unlocked with a loud click and Aadhya pulled it open, letting Thyra go first. She followed Thyra inside and they walked down the long corridor.

  “I bet it’s because of all those fantasy leagues they have online. I wonder if I’m even on one of them.” Thyra chuckled to herself and turned a corner that led to the locker room. She remembered playing in a fantasy league or two over the years. The first games of the season were important for trading players around and guessing the outcome as well as making bets on who would make it to the finals.

  Thyra opened one of the double doors that lead into the locker room. There were a couple of gryphons putting on their uniforms, but it looked mainly empty. Thyra wing-waved at the corvid twins who were conversing between themselves and walked to her locker.

  “Where is everyone else?” Thyra asked Aadhya.

  “We all have routines before a game,” Aadhya began while opening up her locker. “Many warm up by working out in the gym, and others enjoy long relaxing flights.” The bearded vulture took her uniform off of its hanger and looked it over carefully.

  Thyra pulled her locker door open and saw her freshly-cleaned game uniform hanging up as well. She took it down and held it in her talons, looking over her name on the back. Thyra watched Aadhya pull the spandex uniform over her head, working her gargantuan wings through the openings in the back. Thyra did the same, but with less grace.

  She struggled with pulling her wings through the openings, and felt the helping talons of Aadhya assist the wings through the slots. “You will get a hold of it with time. This elastic material can be tricky, as it is designed to conform tightly to our bodies,” Aadhya said and pulled the rest of it down to Thyra’s rear.

  “Yeah, you should have seen me the first time I tried to put it on! I looked like a flailing catfish on land,” Thyra admitted.

  Aadhya let out a soft chuckle and nodded. “You can imagine I did the same. I lost my balance and fell over a bench in front of my new team.” The large gryphoness took her gloves from the locker. She slowly pulled the modified gloves over her foretalons and tugged the Velcro strap tight with her beak.

  The door opened behind them and gryphons began to pour into the locker room. Thyra turned to see Rachel and Antonio in
the midst of the ruffled group. Many made their way towards the showers while Rachel and Antonio approached her.

  “You didn’t want to join us for the pregame workout?” Rachel asked, ruffling her coat of feathers. Her nares dripped and her beak was wet with saliva.

  Thyra shook her head and closed her locker. “Not after all the exercise I’ve had the past couple of days! If Coach has me play today, I’ll need all the energy that I can get,” Thyra admitted.

  “That is alright. Eventually you will have energy to spare,” Antonio said and grabbed a towel from the clean pile before slinging it over his back. He looked over his wingshoulder to watch coach Victor walk into the locker room.

  “Redtail! Corvid! Front and center,” Victor commanded. Thyra felt her feathers fall flat from the harpy eagle’s boisterous voice. She left the group and walked over to Victor, Braden walking next to her. Victors tall gray crest feathers rose up as he looked between the two.

  “Yes, coach?” Thyra asked.

  “As you know, you two will start on the bench along with two others. Depending on the performance of your teammates, I might substitute you in. I want you to be prepared nonetheless,” Victor said and looked to the rest of the gryphons putting on their uniforms or getting out of the shower. “I want you to have game time experience, as that is the only way for you to get better, but only if we are clear for a win.”

  “I understand, Sir. Whatever’s best for the team,” Braden chirped. Thyra nodded in agreement.

  “Good.” Victor looked up to the other gryphons again and screeched loudly for all to hear. All the eartufts in the room perked to attention and everyone turned to look to Victor. “Meeting in five minutes. Get a move on!” Victor walked over to the showers. “Caracara! Finish up and get dried off! This isn’t a beauty pageant!”

  Thyra could not help but laugh at the comment and watched as the team quickly scattered to their lockers to put on their uniforms. The locker room doors opened again and Thyra saw a brunet-haired woman peek her head in. She was wearing a headset and carrying a clipboard.