Griffin Girl

Emira was ten years old when she really noticed Viney for the first time.

It had been a few days since Edric and her had picked their track, and the two had just gone outside for their morning break before they'd have to head to their illusion homeroom when the usual chatter of students commuting to class was interrupted by panicked screams from across the courtyard.

Students were scattering in every direction, some even dropping their belongings in their haste to get away from something that Emira couldn't quite make out.

Like the sensible young girl she was, she snuck a bit closer, her curiosity getting the better of her.

"Emmi, maybe we should not be going towards the thing everyone is running away from?" Edric piped up from behind her.

"I'm not stupid, Ed," she whispered. "We're not getting super close. I just wanna see what's going on."

He sighed, but quietly followed her anyway, ever the reliable tag-along.

Whatever it was that was freaking the other students out... the closer they got, the louder it became.

Emira scanned the ground, noticing a couple of spiders—even for Hexside, that didn't seem like it could be a coincidence.

Edric tugged at her sleeve.

"Emira, I have a really bad feeling about this. Can we please just go back?"

She turned towards her brother. He seemed... scared.

Emira gave him a sympathetic smile.

"You can go back if you want to! I promise I'll only make fun of you for it a little bit later," she offered generously. "But I'm not going back before I found out what-"

Emira shrieked and ate her words, stumbling back several feet as a huge griffin rushed past them, far too close for comfort.

It made sense. 

The beast keeping stables were out back behind the school, too. Emira could even see the fence that was supposed to keep such dangerous animals safely locked away.

It made sense for a griffin to be here. 

Maybe not for it to break free! But that meant someone was close by that would be able to catch it and calm it down!

Emira was definitely not going to die today!

'Right? Right?!'

"Emira, we need to get out of here!" Her brother tugged at her sleeve again, but she remained frozen in place, still in shock after unwillingly coming so close to such a dangerous creature. "Emmi, come on, we need to-"

Emira wanted to run, but her body wouldn't budge. Her eyes remained glued to the beast, her heart hammering in her chest.

The griffin had screeched to a halt not too far from them, and was now chirping aggressively, clawing at the grass with its front paws and lashing out at anything that got too close.

When she still didn't move when he pulled at her arm a third time, Edric fled to the safety of the building they had just emerged from, leaving her frozen in place.

Perhaps Emira should have been glad that her brother had gotten to safety. She was the one who had dragged them into this mess, after all, and just because she was completely frozen in place didn't mean both of them had to be devoured by a rampaging monster!

Emira was also, however, both ten years old and terrified out of her mind, and so her first thought was not one of gratitude, but rather, 'Ed, you traitor!'