Page 129 of Griffin Food

Then the outer guard walks away, cutting a brisk path across the courtyard. For a brief moment, I have a clear view of what lies beyond.

Rocklings.

Three of them.

Chained and kneeling in mud.

Their bodies are wrong. Too large. Too heavy. Skin pale and stretched over muscles, as if they had been forced into them. Familiar tusks in a jaw that has been wildly misshapen.

The one in the center lifts his head, and eyes as black as Raba swamp tar latch onto me.

I stumble backward, nearly drop the damn bucket, and fumble to grasp it lest it ring against the cobbles.

The beast snorts, nostrils widening.

Maybe he’s the one who asked me for help.

Or the quiet one.

Or the one who demanded answers.

He could be the one who cursed me and my family, or the one the overseer left with no food.

The gate rattles shut, and he is snatched from my view.

I feed the pigs and go back to the kitchen where I scrub pots. Then Overseer Barnes takes me down to the dungeon, where fresh prisoners are to be fed.

That night, when I lie in bed, the moaning begins again.

I think about the orcs. And about what they become: pets of the dark fae lords and generals, who follow their masters’ orders without question or remorse.

I think about General Adharde with his beautiful blue cloak and highly polished boots. And about Molly, destined to be a different kind of pet.

As the moans turn to screams, and the screams turn blood-curdling, I remember my mother curling her body around me, protecting me from the cold.

“Do you know what Fenix means?” she asked.

“No,” I said.

“It means you won’t stay here forever.”

Lark

Present day…

The bell is ringing. The moment has a certain déjà vu. Only everything is different now. Rafe is no longer chained in a dungeon, awaiting some unknown fate. He is lying upon the floor, his body rupturing as he undergoes an accelerated change.

The stakes were high before. Now I understand that they are impossibly more.

My paws thud against the loamy forest floor as I race through the trees at the side of the soldiers. Overhead, silent shadows beat above us as griffins fly.

I shove down worry and give my entirety over to the wolf.

Violet is with Rafe. She will watch over him. She has already probably got her little nose buried in a book, searching for hope and answers. But there is danger here, and we must do our part.

An ungodly roar comes from ahead, one that stirs ancient memories and makes the fur along my nape bristle.

We break out of the trees onto the shores of a lake. On the opposite side, a quaint township lies nestled among the trees.