Taken

Chapter 18: ...And into the Fire

I woke up to the delicious smell of a freshly-killed Snowshoe Hare that had been placed right near my head... at least, that's that my instincts were telling me that was what the very crudely skinned and beheaded carcass had been. My stomach growled weakly in response to the smell of fresh, bloody meat. Desperate to eat a decent meal for what felt like the first time in forever but too weak to stand up, I dragged myself closer to the skinned carcass and took a few cautious sniffs to double check that it hadn't been drugged or anything. Thankfully it hadn't, and with a weak, enthusiastic wag of my twin tails, I happily tore into the kill's midsection and began to eagerly swallow mouthful after mouthful of fresh, un-drugged meat. Oh my God. I thought as waves of pleasure began to wash through me immediately after the first bite. It was nowhere near as good as a fresh Tuna steak, but it would have to suffice.

"Careful there." A femenine voice chided. "Eat too fast like that, and you'll end up throwing all of that food back up. It's best to take neat, small bites until your stomach gets used to having food in it again."

I stopped mid-chew and immediately began to scan my surroundings at the sound of the stranger's voice.

"Who are you? Where are you?" I replied, mild annoyance in my voice as I swallowed the food in my mouth.

"Off to your right. See the pair of huge yellow eyes? That's me!"

I looked over to my right and did see a pair of huge, yellow, owl-like eyes that stood out from the shadows like a sore thumb. An owl? I thought at first before I realized that the eyes were too high up off of the ground to belong to a normal owl.

"Show yourself."

My mind voice had taken on a more cautious tone.

"Sure, no problem!"

I watched as a sleek, winged feline form emerged from the inky blackness of the shadows. While the creature's body was cat-like in shape, the head was more avian in shape; bearing a striking resemblance to a Great-Horned Owl's. I realized almost immediately what this creature was as she rocked her body back and extended her feathered wings in a deep stretch. A Griffin! The Griffin was smaller than me; appearing to stand around two and a half feet at the shoulders.

"Did you catch this hare?" I quizzed the stranger as she took a seat a few feet away from me.

"Yep!" The Griffin replied as she puffed out her chest in clear pride before reaching back to preen the feathers on one of her wings. "I literally had to dig that thing out of its warren, too. Let me tell you, while they're efficient weapons, talons make digging very, very difficult. Especially if the soil is rocky and pratically frozen. Shit doesn't thaw until the very middle of Spring."

"I'm sure."

I was only half engaged in the conversation at this point; as I was more focused on the glorious meal in front of me. A month and a half with no food. I recalled as I greedily tore another bite free from the skinned carcass and swallowed.

"Y'know, I skinned that hare, too! With my bare talons! Eloise wasn't lying when she told me that there was a weak, emaciated, strange-looking wolf that the scientists had just brought in to the Biodomes. You don't look like you'd be able to handle digesting fur or scales right now."

At this remark from the stranger, I took my focus away from the half-eaten Snowshoe Hare carcass and fixed the bird-feline with an annoyed stare as I briefly flashed my now bloodied teeth in warning. Is everyone who had been captured by Amri and successfully transformed this chatty? I thought with annoyance. As an introvert, I certainly hoped not.