by Caleb Monroe
I gather my courage and make my way across the street. The glow from the street is light enough to keep me concealed until I get to the beautiful door that was clearly hand-carved by the craftsmen from the third ring.
I reach up and give the signal: three rapid, staccato knocks. I hear the heavy, loud locks being turned before the door slowly opens to let me in.
“Hurry, come inside quickly,” a hushed voice tells me in that signature accent all nobles use.
I push past the door and find myself inside of an upscale house. I quickly scan the room and see that there are ten people sitting comfortably on furniture that looks like it came out of the Sears catalog in 1960. They all very calmly stare at me, and I get the feeling they are waiting for me to speak first.
“Thank you all for coming tonight. I know just being here, especially in this ring, is hazardous to your life. I promise to be brief, but I do have some very important things to tell you.”
The environment I find myself in right now is dissonantly different from the other rings. There is a small artificial fireplace with red elemental pearls in a device that ignites them with the push of a button. The warmth from the fireplace and the light from the metal chandelier in the room give off a feeling of comfort. The hunger I saw in the eyes of the people from the lower rings is absent here. It’s obvious the people of this ring have more to lose if they join our resistance, but there is no fear to be found here. A feeling of uneasiness spills over me, when I’m roused by a voice.
“You were saying?” A young woman sitting with her legs crossed on a brown leather chair asks in a snide royal accent.
“Sorry. I got distracted.”
She smiles at me, and says, “We can’t wait to hear what you have to say.” Her voice is filled with sarcasm and maybe a hint of disgust. I know something is off, but I have to continue and take this chance.
“Great, because I have a lot to tell you. Let’s start with how Pontis is ruining this once beautiful kingdom by…”
I’m interrupted by that same snide voice. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to stop you right there, Jacob.” The young, petite woman slowly rises to her feet and all attention in the room shifts to her. “I already know what you are going to say. You want to tell us that with Pontis as our king this world will never prosper. That the inhabitants of this kingdom will never be treated fairly unless Cecilia is placed back on the throne.” As she recites my speech, she moves closer and closer towards me.
In turn, I step back toward the door as I say, “It sounds to me like you memorized my speech already.” I hit the door with my foot and try to find the door handle.
“Did you really think that you could go around from house to house in our prestigious ring and find those wishing to help you?” She almost hisses at me as I try to turn the door handle, but it will not move. “The world as you see it, this flawless world crafted by Pontis, is the only thing keeping us safe. Those below us have no choice but to come to terms with the fact that they are lesser forms of life than we are. They should feel honored that the food they grow, the buildings they provide us, and the soldiers they give us are being used to make sure that we, the elite, survive. It is an honor to be them.” She fully believes every word she said. I see the level of entitlement I’m dealing with in this ring.
“I knew this was too good to be true,” I say as I scan the room for an escape, but I see that, aside from the door, there are no other options for me, other than a small window that I could not possibly fit through and an opening to a hallway.
“You made a grave mistake when you left the safety of the lower rings and dared to cross into this region. Your brashness will be your demise.” I take one step toward the hallway leading out of this room, but before I can get anywhere, five soldiers in full battle armor come charging into the living room, cutting off my only possible escape route.
“Tayus, please apprehend this man,” the woman says, as if she’s asking him to take out the garbage.
“Tayus?” The soldiers part, allowing him to come to the middle of the room and stand directly before me.
Tayus locks eyes with me, saying in the accent that all royals use, “Hello again, Jacob. It’s been too long.”
Chapter 2
Tayus and I lock eyes and stand staring at each other without knowing exactly how to proceed. The entire room is silent, as if everyone has entered our staring contest and is unwilling to break the spell or tip the scales one way or another.
“Enough of this nonsense, Tayus. Apprehend him. Uncle Pontis does not take kindly to being forced to wait for something he wants.” I cannot believe how annoyed I am with her voice. Then I realize what she said.
“Uncle Pontis?” The staring match is over. I turn to the young woman saying, “You’re his niece?”
“My name is Jaia.”
“This is just great. I had a feeling this would be a trap, but I never thought it would be a family affair.” I quickly turn my attention back to the soldiers when I hear their swords being unsheathed.
“This doesn’t have to end with you being hurt, Jacob.” Tayus tells me with his arms held out away from his sword, showing he is willing to make a truce.
“What other options are there? Because I have no desire to be locked away in a cell again.”
Jaia begins laughing, and I turn toward her with murder in my eyes. How can one person’s high-pitched voice have such an effect on me? “Locked in a cell? You really think that Pontis will put you in a cell after you embarrassed him the way you did? He is going to torture you for days while he looks for your griffin. Then after he finds your griffin, he is going to make you watch him cut his wings off and permanently attach him to one of his Gatekeepers, where he will forever be forced to open portals for our great and mighty king. Then, if you’re lucky, he will put you in the courtyard and hold a public beheading.”
I take a step toward Jaia shouting, “I will never let anyone get their hands on Shadow!”
Jaia, visibly shaken by my outburst, escapes to safety behind the soldiers and says with a little less bravado, “Oh, we WILL find your winged friend, and it will be Tayus who does it.”
My shock is visible and I turn to face Tayus with something akin to betrayal in my eyes, and he tells me, “That’s right. Pontis himself assigned me the honor of hunting you and your beast down, and now that I have you, it will make drawing the creature out even easier.” The confidence with which he speaks unnerves me.
“How does a simple prison guard jump up the ranks to become Pontis’ personal henchman?” I ask with genuine intrigue.
“It’s really quite simple.” Jaia comes out from around the armed soldiers, afraid of me no longer, and makes her way to stand next to Tayus. “Tayus is Pontis’ only son.”
“What!?” I am so taken aback that I lose track of where I am standing, and as I try to back away I run into the door behind me. “You’re Pontis’ son? I can’t believe you never told me that.” This comes out as a whisper; my gut no longer holds air.
“My lineage didn’t seem like something that needed to be discussed with a prisoner under my watch.”
Jaia steps in front of Tayus throwing her arms out as if to shield him from some incoming attack. “You should be more respectful to the next king of Liferné. One day Tayus will be king and all will bow to him.”
Tayus pushes her aside as he says, “Unless you want to apprehend him yourself, I suggest you move behind my men.” The sting of this is written all over Jaia’s face, and I cannot help but feel a little joy in her pain. Mustering what little pride she has left, Jaia slowly returns to safety behind the soldiers.
“We don’t have to fight, Tayus. There has to be a better way to resolve this issue.” I take a step to my left, placing myself between the small window and a finely crafted wooden stool.
Jaia, still trying to control this standoff, pokes her head between two soldiers to say, “There is only one outcome for you, Jacob. Your head will be served to my uncle on a silver plat
ter after your griffin becomes his slave.”
With a flick of his wrist, Tayus sends a knife flying in Jaia’s direction. She never moves her head back after the knife soars past, and the blade buries itself into the wall, making it clear that Jaia was never in any real danger. “Are you finished speaking, cousin?” There is no answer, so Tayus says, “I hate to inform you, Jacob, but there is no way out of this without fighting. Unless you have some kind of trump card.”
“You must be a mind reader, Tayus.” I reach down to grab the stool at my feet and fling it over my shoulder sending it crashing through the small window behind me. I spin my head around sending the loudest whistle I can out to the open air.
“Seize him!” Tayus shouts to his men.
I turn around knowing I only need to stall for a minute until my backup arrives. I reach under my robe and grasp on to the cold, metal handle of my blade. Over the last three months I have been training with this Sica, which is shorter than a typical sword, and the end of the blade curves downward. The Sica brings me confidence when I find myself in this type of situation. I’ve been training for this moment and I’m not about to lose.
Tayus charges, trying to catch me off guard. We clash with a flurry of sparks as my shorter Sica slides down his much larger broadsword. I am able to stop him mid swing, and now we are face-to-face. Neither of us can get the upper hand, but Tayus releases one hand from his hilt and starts to throw a punch. I quickly spin to the right and dodge his punch, but in the process, I have now put myself right in front of the rest of his soldiers.
BOOM!!!!!!
I barely get my Sica up to shield my eyes before the door explodes from Shadow’s cry.
“There’s my backup!” I watch as Shadow and the other two griffins storm in the room. The soldiers and Jaia are not sure what to do, but I know exactly what to do. “Cry!” Shadow and the other two griffins create a powerful vacuum as they prepare to fire. Anything not tied down in the room is pulled toward the three of them.
Tayus knows what is coming, so he yells, “Move! Now!” He jumps to the side, but only two of his soldiers are able to get away before the griffins attack. Jaia is sent flying across the room along with the remaining soldiers, and they all are sent crashing into the back wall of the room where they are knocked unconscious.
“Time to go, boys.” I jump on Shadow’s back, and all three of us take off into the night. I look down to see Tayus running out of the destroyed door. He can only helplessly watch as we get away. “Tayus is Pontis’ son, Shadow.” Shadow rears his head back and growls. “I know. I did not see that coming.” I notice that we are going the wrong way, so I ask, “Why are you taking us this way? This never works, and I am not sure I want to be disappointed anymore tonight after the debacle I just escaped.” Shadow chirps at me but keeps heading in the same direction, despite me pulling on his feathers to turn around. “Fine. Do what you want, but remember, I warned you it wouldn’t work. It never does.”
Shadow takes us high into the sky to avoid the watch of the soldiers manning the oversized crossbows defending the castle. “You two stay here. Shadow and I will be right back after we complete this perfectly pointless venture he thinks will… AHHH!” Shadow abruptly dives down at his maximum speed, and I feel as if my stomach just jumped into my throat.
Shadow slows down as we get closer to the castle, pulling up to allow me a chance to look around as he slowly flies in circles. “Was that really necessary?” Shadow gives a small roar. “Fine, but I was just trying not to set myself up for disappointment when we don’t see her, again. We have done this so many times now, and we never get any results.” Shadow starts to chirp repeatedly, and it draws my attention away from the stars and down to the castle. “I don’t believe it. You were right.” Shadow throws his head back and it connects squarely with mine. “Really? Just take us down there, jerk,” I say while rubbing my head.
Shadow silently glides through the night air waiting for the perfect moment to cross over the tall castle wall. We wait, and the moment the soldiers patrolling the top of the wall turn their backs to us, Shadow launches us toward the pyramid that is on the western side of the spherical throne room.
The closer we get, the more she comes into view.
Shadow throws caution to the wind, ignoring my whispers that we are close enough and brings us right up to the only illuminated window. “Think she can hear us from here?” Shadow takes a quick breath and then shoots it like a bullet at the window.
“What was that?” Cecilia pushes the now broken window open leaning her torso out to see what could have caused the damage. The wind originating from Shadow’s wings begin to push her short hair into her eyes, and as she pushes her hair behind her ears, her eyes meet mine. “Jacob? Is it really you?”
“Hey,” is all I can think to say at first. Shadow slaps my leg with his tail prompting me to say, “You look beautiful, Cecilia.” As we change angles, the wind now moves her hair to the left side of her face. “I almost forgot how amazing your eyes look when they glimmer in the star’s light.”
Cecilia’s mocha cheeks turn a slight pink color as she begins to blush. I see her smiling, but when she brushes her hair to the other side of her face, she quickly loses the smile. “You have to get out of here. If Pontis or his soldiers see you, they will kill you.”
“I just defied death and am willing to do it again just to speak with you and to see that you’re alive.” Shadow suddenly darts to the left as a giant arrow goes flying by us, ricocheting off the side of the throne room and turning the spherical building into a giant gong notifying everyone in the castle we are here.
“Go! Get him out of here, Shadow!” Cecilia yells.
“I’m going to get you out of there! I promise!” Shadow does not wait for me to finish what I am saying before he makes his exit. “Go straight; we need them to think that our hideout is in that direction.” Shadow roars as we fly in the wrong direction. After a few minutes, the other two griffins catch up with us, and we fly for at least thirty minutes in the wrong direction before making a giant U-turn in the third ring to make sure that we are not followed.
The flight back to my new home is a silent one filled with only the sound of flapping wings as the griffins fly through the air. They occasionally chirp and play with each other as we soar through the night.
When we get near to the base, I lean close to Shadow’s right ear. “Thanks. You were right.” Shadow does not do anything to tell me he knew he would be; it’s as if he can read my feelings. He just keeps flying and begins his descent as we get close to our base of operations.
From this high up, as I look over our new home, I get a great view of my new family. Everywhere I look, I see griffins sleeping. Some are huddled up together in the multitude of cave openings on the mountainside, while others are just strung out on the field near the base of it.
As we go to land we are joined in the air by the three griffins that Shadow and I left on guard when we left for our meetings. They escort us home, and when we touch ground, they simply return to the air to continue their watch until morning comes.
“I don’t know about you, but I am exhausted. Ready for some sleep?” As I turn to see what Shadow thinks, I find him already lying on the ground. “Couldn’t wait any longer?” Shadow lets out a long breath, and I can see he is exhausted. “You have been working really hard these last couple months, and I really appreciate you helping Captain and his griffins with their task. We are almost there, buddy.”
I lie down next to Shadow and place my head on his stomach. Shadow curls up around me and the heat from his body acts like a natural blanket to keep me warm as the night gets colder.
I fall asleep thinking about Cecilia. I try to get her out of mind, but the image of her looking at me through the window of the castle is replaying over and over in my mind. I hope she can wait a little longer. We are almost ready to break her free.
Chapter 3
ROAR!!!!!!!!!!
“It’s too early for trai
ning, Shadow.” I shout over the expected response of a multitude of roars coming from the nearly forty griffins that we have now. I reach my arms over my head and give them a good stretch before taking my hands to rub the sleep from my eyes. “I guess it’s time to get to work.”
I get to my feet, and I am greeted by that wonderful sweet-tasting air that I am still not accustomed to on this planet. I look around and see that all the griffins are up and doing their jobs. I make my way to Shadow’s side asking him, “How’s this batch of newbies coming along?”
Shadow growls, and it suddenly strikes me how young this new group of recruits is, especially compared to Shadow and the other griffins who guard our home. We found this group of adolescent griffins playing in a universe where there are no sound waves. It was the oddest thing watching Shadow use his cry and only seeing the portal open. The absence of sound was a little unsettling.
“Well, if anyone can teach them what they need to know, it’s you, buddy. Why don’t you work on barrel rolls and our basic flying formations with them today?”
Shadow chirps in agreement and then leaps into the air landing right in the middle of the new batch of griffins, who have been play-fighting. When he lands, they all stop what they are doing and look up at Shadow with a hint of fear and admiration. It is not hard for Shadow to command the respect of other griffins. The first time I realized he had this effect on the other griffins was when we first arrived at this mountain.
When we first realized this mountain would make a good basecamp for our mission, we noticed the griffins that were already hiding here were very untrusting of Shadow and me. A few of the griffins challenged Shadow, but once Shadow roared and stood his ground, those griffins bowed down in submission and awe of Shadow’s might.
After a few more challenges and submissions over the next day or so, the remainder of the griffins realized Shadow was in charge, and they, too, submitted to his rank in the griffin society. We were then able to spend the first month here showing them how to work with us and teaching them the commands with my usual snaps or whistles.
