And in the chaos, I heard both the voices of gryphonsandwolves.
Chapter 20
Oh, no.
I ran. Fast.
With Neil trailing behind, I bolted outside. I skidded to a halt behind the marble gryphon statues that flanked the main entrance and pressed myself low to the ground. A group of gryphons--almost the whole pride--stood gathered on the steps, watching the commotion on the huge marble platform below. Panicked, I tried to see over the crowd.
Then something large and golden shot into the air, beating his huge wings and let out a shrieking cry.
Noro!
I was relieved to see him just for a split second. But then I saw that he wasn’t alone. Clutched in between Noro’s front talons was something black, something smaller. A nauseating wave of dread hit me when I realized it was a wolf.
It was Eric.
My heart leapt into my throat and I nearly choked on it. Why was Noro lifting Eric into the air like that? Was he trying to protect him from the mob of gryphons down below? That thought gave me a brief moment of relief before I realized in horror that my hopeful idea wasn’t the case at all. Noro’s grip was tight, digging into Eric’s fur. Eric’s teeth were bared as he scrabbled his claws against Noro’s legs.
Whatever was going on, it didn’t look like friendly. I let out a soft, keening whimper despite myself.
Why would they be fighting?I thought desperately.They should be happy to see each other! We had a plan!
I paced back and forth before inching closer. My mind ran a mile a minute, trying to think of any possible reason they would be doing this. Maybe they had to act like enemies for some reason. Maybe Noro had to prove to Blaze he was loyal. That made sense, especially since Eric would agree to something like that, right?
But it quickly became clear that the scene I was witnessing wasn’t some kind of prank or trick to fool the rest of the gryphons. Eric and Noro were truly fighting.
Eric snarled, snapping his jaws at Noro, but missing and hitting air instead. Noro shrieked a loud cry as he grappled with the wolf in his talons.
I sensed bloodlust in the air. All the gryphons watched intently, waiting for Noro to win this fight.
What the hell is he doing? Why are they attacking each other?
Standing on a raised platform higher than the rest was Blaze. He seemed to be watching intently, his tail flicking back and forth in amusement.
I scowled and turned to Neil, then mentally ordered him to go find out what was going on. He moved sluggishly into the crowd. I pressed myself lower and dug my claws into the ground impatiently.
I just barely saw Neil talking to Blaze, and if Blaze noticed something wasoffabout Neil, he didn’t do anything about it. He and the rest of the gryphons seemed more interested in the fight. My blood quickened with panic as it continued. If Noro dropped Eric from this height, he might break something.
Neil returned, his eyes still glazed over.
“Tell me what he said,” I ordered in a hiss.
“Asked me if you were locked up,” Neil said dumbly.
I growled and pushed aside the urge to throttle him. “Not that, about Noro!”
“Noro told Blaze about wolves coming.” He blinked. “To rescue you.”
My eyes widened. “No, he wouldn’t do that,” I said angrily. But Neil didn’t have the capacity to lie right now, so that meant Blaze would have fed him the wrong information.
Unless…
I gasped as a horrible realization dawned on me. I locked eyes with Neil, seeing that glassy expression of his.
Did Blaze brainwash Noro the same way he did to me?
“No,” I muttered in horror, staring up at the two beasts--my twomates--locked in aerial combat.
