The Gryphon Chronicles- Book 1: The Corrupt King

Ch. 10: The Roc

Zephyr watched in horror as the enormous bird latched on to her sister with its black talons, carrying her off like a rag doll. It turned its path towards the mountains that bridged Andaxia and Eldrum.

No. No, no, no.
No.
NO!

Zephyr began to feel something boil up inside her. She raced to the pillar, and began to climb. Once she was high above the ground, she turned so she was only holding on by one hand and one leg. She scrunched up like a spring, and then launched herself off of the stone surface. As she rushed through the air, she felt a prickling in her muscles, like pins and needles. She glanced down at herself and saw that there was fur and feathers growing out of her limbs as her form melted into that of a gryphon. She had thick white fluff smoothed down into a streamlined shape, a round face with a pale crescent shaped beak, powerful legs with enormous paws and a long whip tail, a fluffed-up ruff around her shoulders, and grey spots over the fur on her back half, like those of a leopard. She couldn't see them very well, but she could feel an enormous set of tawny feathered wings connected to her shoulders and back, large enough to carry her through the air.

She didn't have time to question what had happened. She launched herself off the pillar about half way up. It was almost natural to fly. She pumped her wings at the colossal golden bird. She was smaller, but she was also angrier. She slammed into the beast with her full weight. It swung its head to snap at her. The rider upon its back turned, then grabbed a whip.

Well, now I have its attention. The beast screeched, and the rider turned and swung the whip at Zephyr. The Roc then let go of Cyra with one claw to slash at her. But Zephyr had claws, too. She pumped her wings, pulling herself above the bird, then slammed down on its back. She dug her claws in, both front and back. The rider screamed, her claws in his lower leg.

"Zeph..."

She glanced down at Cyra, who was near lifeless in the bird's claws. There were dark spots on her tunic where the bird's claws had latched on. It had stopped pumping its wings. She must have hit its spinal cord, and it could no longer fly. She let go, then moved under the bird and fell with it. She pried the talons apart, then grabbed Cyra. Kicking the beast away, she flared her wings, gliding on the air currents. As the bird fell, she saw the rider upon its back begin to brace for impact. She watched them fall until they disappeared beyond the trees. A muffled boom echoed soon after.

She began descending back to the clearing, and Zerrin and Simon had just run in with panicked expressions. As soon as she hit the earth, the adrenaline rush started to fade, and she nearly fell on top of Cyra. Laying down, she folded her wings and collected her thoughts and caught her breath. There was blood on her claws and a scratch on her shoulder where the whip had hit true. She hadn't noticed. Zerrin moved to her but she shook him off, and looked to Cyra.

Cyra, on the other hand, wasn't looking too good. The dark blots on her tan shirt seemed to be growing, and she wasn't moving. The only sound she made was a tiny groan as she shivered, too weak to try and sit up. Zephyr felt sick. The shock factor at what her body had just done caused her body to shake. Seeing her sister's barely moving chest made it even worse.

Anger began sweeping through her again, and before Zerrin or Simon could say anything, She launched herself back into the air. Flying over the broken tree tops, she found where the Roc had crashed, and landed.

Both Roc and rider had survived, barely. Being further from Cyra made her magic swell, filling her with even more hot fury. She prowled around the Roc as it screeched in pain. Its wing was completely shattered, and many other bones were fractured. She approached it, seething. She shot forward, biting down on the Roc's throat. As the last breath shuddered out of its body, she dropped the carcass, then turned on the rider.