by E. G. Foley
The Gryphon tilted its head with a curious “Beh-caw?”
“We’ll have to work on that collar later. For now, just hold still. Brace yourself. I’ll do my best not to singe your feathers—or your fur.”
The Gryphon shook itself, then held motionless, waiting with a slightly worried look while Jake rubbed his hands together.
He didn’t want to hurt the creature, not the least because he wasn’t sure how the Gryphon might react. If the beast got scared or thought Jake was trying to hurt it, it could take his head off with one quick bite of that razor-sharp beak. All of his training with Derek to control his powers had better pay off now.
Jake focused on the cuff around the Gryphon’s back leg; his hands grew warm with the waves of magic tingling down his arms. Please work.
As he concentrated, summoning up all his powers, he recalled what Derek had once told him, how his parents were Lightriders and helped magical creatures in distress.
Surely this was his moment to prove he deserved to be their son. Finally, this was his chance to shine…
Now!
He flung his fingers at the iron manacle with a low cry of effort.
It burst apart. The Gryphon screamed—but not in pain.
In victory!
As the metal cuff and chain fell off the creature’s leg and clattered to the ground, the Gryphon leaped into the air, free to fly. It soared up and up in a spiral.
Jake tilted his head back, watching the animal in awe. Now that the Gryphon was unleashed, he could truly sense its magic, and see the golden shimmer that danced across its wings.
But the mighty beast could only fly so high before the metal grate at the top of the shaft blocked its way and reminded them both that they were still jailed in this stone cage.
The next step in their escape was now upon them.
The Gryphon seemed as ready as Jake was to try, landing gracefully in front of him. Its golden eyes gleamed with pleasure.
Jake smiled as he walked toward it. “Feeling better, I see.” It let out an enormous caw and stretched its wings, showing off. Jake grinned. “See? That wasn’t so bad. Now comes the hard part. You ready to go for a fly, boy?”
The Gryphon snorted and leaned down a bit to help him climb onto its back. Jake grasped the iron collar around its neck. He was going to have to hold onto something when they were airborne. “Easy… Steady, now.”
He wasn’t sure how the beast would react when he climbed aboard. He moved with extreme caution, pulling himself up onto the Gryphon’s back. He straddled it, hooking his knees under the front of the creature’s muscular wing joint. He hugged his legs around its flanks, like riding a horse—though he had only just started learning how to do that at Bradford Park.
As the Gryphon took a few prancing steps, Jake was amazed at the power of the mythical animal beneath him.
“All right, boy, I’m ready if you are.” Gripping the iron collar with both hands, Jake gave the creature a light squeeze with his legs.
At once, the Gryphon flapped its wings and launched into the air; it climbed on a sharp angle. Jake clutched the collar for all he was worth, dizzied as the ground dropped away beneath them.
With each whooshing wing-beat, the Gryphon bounded upward, pushing off from one rock wall to the other, propelling itself higher on a zigzag path, like a great jungle cat climbing a tree.
Jake held on for dear life.
In seconds, the metal bars across the air shaft were before them, thick and heavy. They looked rusted shut.
“Can you get me any closer?” he cried.
The Gryphon concentrated, too, almost hovering midair and slowly rising toward the bars so Jake could get a good shot to zap the blasted thing.
As they came into position, he closed his eyes, calling forth all the magic in his veins. Big Red, as he’d already dubbed the Gryphon, was doing his part; now it was Jake’s turn to do his.
Drawing on every ounce of magic in his bloodlines and trusting his new friend not to drop him, he let go of the collar and threw both of his hands up with a shout.
The metal grate crashed open, nearly ripped right off its hinges.
Jake reached frantically for the collar to catch himself from falling, already sliding down the Gryphon’s back. Red flung his wings open wide to catch the air, then tucked them close to his body and soared through the opening.
Clear!
Jake let out a wild cheer as the Gryphon’s wings began to pump. He felt the mighty rush of air as they rose on the breeze; he let out another wild whoop as they climbed into the night sky, heading straight for the stars.
After a moment, he looked down in wonder as the lights of London twinkled beneath them, far below. His heart swelled with pride in his home city when he saw the moonlight gleam on the famous dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral.
Maybe he’d had a home all along. All he had needed was to open his eyes and see it all around him. This place, with its bustling crowds; its cheeky orphans; its hansom cab drivers; its courtiers and clowns, nobles and beggars and businessmen; its scientists inventing wonders that made life better for people around the world; its pickpockets and pie-makers; and of course, its bobbies like Constable Flanagan. In this moment, Jake felt connected to them all.
It was like Doctor Celestus said. Maybe he had never really been as alone as he had felt.
Meanwhile, Big Ben glowed like a wide, watchful eye. There was Parliament, and farther up the river, the Tower of London—which probably had more ghosts than he wanted to think about.
His hair blowing wildly, Jake gazed down in wonder on garden squares, roofs and rookeries, mansions and museums.
It went on in all directions for so many miles. Parks, markets, theatres. And like a friend’s arm thrown around the city’s shoulders, the River Thames winding by, its endless water gleaming in the starlight.
The Gryphon circled, soaring higher, its lion-paws taking long, running strides, as if it were racing over solid ground instead of wispy clouds.
He could sense the animal’s joy, relishing its freedom at last with another glorious lion roar.
Jake peered down at the faraway ground in wonder, his hair flying, the tails of his tuxedo flapping in the breeze. With the air rushing against his cheeks, an exhilarating chill, he looked at the moon that seemed so close—and laughed, as if he were sharing a joke with the man who supposedly lived there.
But after a dizzying moment or two, he leaned lower over the Gryphon’s neck like a jockey murmuring to his racehorse. “What do you say we go and have a little talk with Uncle Waldrick and Fionnula?”
The Gryphon screeched. Its piercing war-cry filled the night. Jake held on tight to the collar as the Gryphon dove toward his uncle’s house.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
Revenge of the Gryphon
No one else understood why Waldrick and Fionnula were laughing as they waltzed gaily to the loud, bouncing music, round and round, while the rest of Society stood back and admired them. One, two, three. One, two, three…
All their cares were gone. They had triumphed! Jake was dead! The irksome brat was gone!
There was nothing left to stand in their way.
Fionnula’s dainty hand rested on Waldrick’s shoulder; he lightly cupped her waist, enjoying the envy of the world—and the fact that his powerful lady was finally letting him lead the dance.
He had proved his mettle to her for once and for all, when he had told her what he had done with Jake. She had clapped her hands and hugged him.
Waldrick smiled smugly. She seemed to like knowing she was with such a strong man. They whirled on. Fionnula threw her head back and laughed again at their secret triumph, her ebony curls flying, her scarlet skirts whooshing over the floor. One, two, three. One, two, three, turning and turning. Then Waldrick’s gaze chanced to skim past the high, arched windows over the ballroom.
A flash of motion out in the dark sky drew his attention. Dancing on, his brow suddenly furrowed, he stepped into the turn and loo
ked over his shoulder.
His eyes shot open wide.
A shocking wingspan.
The outline of a huge beak.
And his nephew on the creature’s back!
He gasped.
“YAAAAAWWWWP!” The Gryphon’s deafening screech shattered the glass in the tall arched windows, clearing the creature’s path as it attacked.
The guests’ screams drowned out the waltz as they ducked, shielding their heads from the glass that rained down from the exploding window.
In the middle of the dance floor, Fionnula rushed behind Waldrick, but he pushed her aside and dove behind her. “Do something!” he yelled.
Fionnula glared at him. He didn’t care, more afraid of the Gryphon than of her. He knew that beast wanted his blood after all those years of captivity, all those stolen feathers.
Pandemonium broke out in the ballroom.
Peering over his lady’s shoulder, Waldrick trembled at the sight of Jake astride the Gryphon. It was supposed to have eaten the boy, not joined forces with him! The winged beast was circling the chandeliers, terrorizing the guests, who began stampeding by the hundreds for the doors.
Even the musicians were running for their lives, using flutes as clubs and violin bows as prods to shove lords and ladies out of their way. And the debutantes, Society’s little princesses, lost their dancing slippers in the mad scramble for the exits. Some of the fine gentlemen forgot their chivalry altogether.
“It’s a monster! Run for your life!”
Amid the deafening screams, Waldrick chanced another cowering glance up at the Gryphon, while Fionnula turned to him.
“Nincompoop! I thought you said you disposed of him!” She shook bits of broken glass out of her ebony tresses.
“I-I don’t understand how this could—”
“You can’t do anything right, can you?” she snapped, and reaching down the center of her bodice, she pulled out her wand. “Useless human male. Only good for one thing. Dinner!” she hissed at him, baring pearly white teeth at him.
Waldrick scrambled back from her, suddenly reminded in vivid detail of what she really was. In a fleeting moment of clarity, he wondered what the deuce he was doing, conspiring with such a deadly female all these years.
He was no saint, to be sure, but Fionnula Coralbroom, why, the sea-witch had killed more people than he had ever thought about harming, drowning and gobbling up scores of sailors in the sea. Furious as she was with him at this debacle, she might be as much a threat to his life and limb as that flying monster.
Panicking, Waldrick skittered, Malwort-fashion, on all fours, sliding underneath the nearest dessert table.
Behind the drape of the long white tablecloth, he hunkered down, trembling beneath a spread of lavish cakes and lemon biscuits, praying that no one had seen him and that the red-feathered beast would not be able to sniff him out.
Then he stole a peek to see what was happening.
In the center of the ballroom, Fionnula was making a stand, trying again and again to zap the Gryphon and its rider with the blue, crackling energy from her wand.
“Good idea!” he said under his breath. He saw she was trying to trap and immobilize them in the same sort of blue bubble in which she had stopped the fairy when it had tried to escape.
But the Gryphon was too quick and agile for her. With Jake riding low on its neck like a jockey, it dove and climbed and veered from side to side unpredictably.
Fionnula let out a shout of frustration, but then she was inspired to turn her wand toward the crush of guests all trying to squeeze out the exits at once.
“SURRENDER, JACOB!” she thundered at him. “If you and your beast don’t land here before me and give yourselves up, I will turn all these people into sea anemones! They can’t live without saltwater. Do you want them all to die?”
The bewildered guests screamed anew, hearing this odd and horrifying threat. With an even more insistent panic, they shoved for the doors, each trying to get ahead of the others, with the result that no one could get out.
When Fionnula sent a bolt of magic at a shrieking, crying knot of girls, Jake flung an invisible bolt of his telekinesis power to counter the jagged blue line of energy from Fionnula’s wand. The two currents crossed, Jake’s telekinesis pushing Fionnula’s lightning bolt away from the girls.
Unfortunately, when it careened off course, it hit the startled butler, Mr. Flickers. The whop of energy instantly turned him back into a shiny brass candlestick that thumped to the floor.
When Fionnula tried a second time to turn the guests into sea anemones, Jake blocked her again, flying past on the Gryphon. This made her even angrier, so Fionnula took a deep breath and began to sing—and it was not a pleasant song, but a weird, reverberating music from the coldest depths of the sea.
Her power caused dark, swirling storm clouds to gather in the ballroom, revolving around the ceiling and blocking the Gryphon’s view of where it was flying.
The wind inside the ballroom grew, the crystal chandeliers beginning to tinkle and sway like a hurricane was coming. But as her song grew, trying to cast a spell over the Gryphon, the creature threw back its head and let out a long, fiery roar, drowning out the sea-witch’s voice.
Her terrible song broke off; Fionnula flung her hands up to cover her ears and dropped to her knees with a howl of pain. The Gryphon circled like it wanted to tear her apart—with good reason.
But Waldrick didn’t wait to find out what would happen to his lady, darting back under the table, where he held as still as a rat hiding from a falcon. His heart pounded in dread. I’ve got to get out of here.
“I’ve got to get in there!” Derek said, glaring at Everton House.
They had no idea what was going on inside the mansion, but it sounded terrible. For the past few minutes, they could hear screams and roars from across the street, but it was the crackle of lightning and rumble of thunder coming from inside that Dani found most bizarre.
The warrior turned to her. “Quickly, put out your hands, Dani. I need you to take care of Gladwin for me. Here. Careful. Protect her. You keep an eye on the little girl for me, too, Gladwin.”
“But you might need my help!” the fairy protested as she hopped from Derek’s callused palm into Dani’s waiting cupped hands.
“And mine, too!” Dani agreed, amazed that she was holding a fairy, but there were more pressing issues at the moment. “Let us come with you!”
“Too dangerous. Stay put,” he ordered, then he ran.
“Humph!” said Gladwin.
“Humph!” Dani agreed. “And I’m not little,” she declared with a slight pout.
“No, indeed, you’re enormous,” said Gladwin. “To me, you’re a giantess.”
“Thank you—I think. He is so stubborn!”
“It’s his Guardian nature. They can’t stay away from a fight. But he didn’t even give me a chance to tell him about the side door—! How does he mean to get in?”
That question was promptly answered when they saw Derek across the street, jumping up onto the front window-sill and kicking the glass in. He leaped in through the curtains and disappeared.
The fairy folded her arms across her chest. “Subtle.”
Dani eyed her askance. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
Gladwin nodded eagerly. “Let’s go!”
Dani cupped her hands more securely over Gladwin and started out of the park. “I hope we don’t get in trouble for disobeying.”
“Nonsense, I outrank a Guardian. Being a royal garden fairy has its privileges, you know. Go round to the side, Dani! Lord Griffon found a door there.”
It took Dani a second to realize by “Lord Griffon” Gladwin actually meant Jake.
Blimey, she’d never get used to thinking of that blockhead as an earl. Hurrying across the cobbled street, she found the wrought-iron gate into Waldrick’s garden and opened it. Slipping through it, she closed the gate behind her and followed the path along the side of the house.
“There!” Gladwin pointed to the door. “I hope he left it unlocked.”
They were in luck. The side door opened easily.
Nervously, Dani stepped inside. Breaking into houses was more her brothers’ territory, but she shrugged it off and went to find the ballroom.
Carrying Gladwin, she tiptoed down the hallway. When she stepped around the corner, she saw some guests in fancy clothes barreling straight toward her in a panic.
“Run! Run for your life! We’re all going to die!”
She leaped out of the way into a stairwell. More terrorized guests were coming, so she dashed up the stairs instead of trying to squeeze past them.
Well, she soon found the ballroom, all right.
Somehow, she came out at the top of a red-carpeted grand staircase with a gilded railing that overlooked the whole ballroom like a balcony.
Dani and Gladwin both stared in open-mouthed shock at the wild scene spread out before them.
Jake was flying around on a fierce winged beast, while a very angry but beautiful black-haired lady was casting blue lightning bolts at him from her wand.
A witch?! That must be the same woman that turned the servants at Griffon Castle into frogs, Dani thought, remembering what Lady Bradford had reported at their last meal together. The frog people had seen a woman fitting her description.
Meanwhile, hordes of guests were all piling into the exits at the same time, trampling each other, some trying to bribe their way through with their gold, others insisting on being allowed to go first by their rightful rank. Dani laughed at all of them.
Then Derek suddenly appeared in the doorway, lightly running up over the heaving mountain of people, stepping on coiffed heads and tuxedoed shoulders until he reached the top; he hooked his hands under the front of the ornate door lintel and swung from it, vaulting past the crowd into the ballroom, to land in a menacing pose on one knee.
The guests parted, throwing themselves out of his way as he whipped out his knife. Then he charged straight at the witch.
