Star Dust

Chapter 8 ~ Gryphon

 The boy, Dylan, is still standing ready in his defensive stance waiting for my movements "we want to know if 'no' is your final decision to our offer". For the first time in a long time I spread my wings to their full extend and start beating them in time to my racing heart, sooner than expected my feet leave the solidity of the ground. 

 Anger boils inside of me and the wind starts to pick up again. This time the tables have turned pushed back by the cold force of wind and earth the boys feet threaten to leave the ground, and then he was tumbling backwards against the force of my gale.

 Mystery, so stubborn, is left unaffected but this, What the hell is up with her? Why won't she just lie still and play dead like a good girl? Her defiance only angers me more why would the wind leave her alone "what do you want from me?" I shout above the howling wind, Mystery swings her arm up quickly and all of the gale becomes a swirling tornado around us. 

 The boy crashes through the swirling mass with a few more scratches and the tornado starts closing in until the three of us are within arms reach. I have only been this angry once, when my mother was taken, but I push that memory away and focus on the destruction of these mere beings before me. 

 The two earthlings are grounded by the force I no longer control completely, yet I'm still flying high overhead watching the duo, Mystery arms spread wide was in deep concentration as her friend Dylan circled the perimeter of the tornado whipping their cloths and hair this way and that.

 The wind I once had control of was ripped away until I was holding on by a dangerously thin thread and then the force of the tornado swipes away my small amount of control taking with it my stomach.

 Wrenched this way and that, everything happening in slow motion as my body is eventually flattened to the ground before the earthlings. The swirling mass stops and I am brought to my feet by a last burst of invisible pressure "sorry for the inconvenience, we did not mean for this to go so far." 

 Snapping back I reply "well it did" 

"we are" he emphasized the 'are'

"sorry" Dylan looking me in the eye, "let's go Mystery".

 Turning he goes for her arm and catching both of us by surprise we see that her eyes have changed, her pupils have become slanted slits, shining with unshed tears of pain, she clutches at her ears pressing them deeper into that small skull. 

 "Look maybe we should get you to a hospital or mental clinic" I half ask in concern, and to my attackers no less. Nobody in this state of health should be out to mug or anything for that matter.

 "No" they screech in unison.

 "The cure to what I am facing lies at the edge of the galaxy in the grasp of a young star" she strangles out, hands still braced to her head as she staggers like a drunkard. Dylan reaches forward and nearly misses her as she sages into his strong arms.

 They start to go so I followed saying "I want to hear everything along the way or if anything goes badly I'll kill you all" I don't know why but... they intrigue me, something about these strange humans radiate a strange power, a kinder power than the cruelty of those from her past...

 The boy starts to protest but Mystery stops him "that is a fair agreement this is your peer and I'm your teacher" inclining her head in his direction and then her head drops, clearly she exerted too much energy, in other words she's spent.

. . .

 Their ship is small compared to the other crafts in the loading dock. The ships beside it are painted but there's, no our ship is a dull chrome. Nothing to mark it besides dents and scratches, shallow in that thick hull designed for heavy duty traveling. 

 We climb aboard "Dylan would you set the coordinates to Androl, then join us in the training room please" Mystery says as she leads me away from the front of the ship and into a large walk way. Eleven doors can be seen from where we are and Mystery declares "pick any room you wish. Besides" she says as an afterthought "these ones" indicating the first two doors closest to us "and the three in the back, when you're done meet me in the very back." 

 She uses the wall and with great effort makes her way to the back of the ship, leaving me alone to decide which room I'd liked. I choose the farthest door from the first two and enter my new living space. Stiff sheets pulled tight over the frame of four beds arranged two on either side of the wall, the room smells sterile and unused. 

 Viewing time over, I leave the quaint room and head in the direction Mystery went in. Along the way I check the last three doors in the hall. On the left side of the hall a single door sat waiting for me to explore, an empty room with a large table centered in it's vastness. The rest of it hidden in shadows, the room a beckoning blackness, a welcoming void as pleasant as death himself.

 Closing the voids door, and silently and opening the door opposite of it I find myself in a sparsely filled kitchen. The next room resembles a doctors office with a desk and table, a chair sits in the farthest corner still wrapped in packaging. 

 The room like all the others are boring so I leave following the hall to the 'training room'. Its massive, most ships wouldn't even have a whisper of a room like this in their blueprints. Mystery is hunched over in the middle of the room spray painting a large circle. When she finally looks up, wiping an arm over her forehead she smiles "time for training already, I honestly thought you'd snoop around the ship longer" my cheeks flush with colour. 

 Walking over to help her up, she starts "walk to the center of the black circle and take a step back" following the directions she gave me I watch as she does the same. "Hit me" she calls smiling, and I'm all too happy to oblige. Claws extended from my fingers and come slashing down towards Mystery's unprotected stomach, but she's no longer there. 

 Behind me with raised arms and spread legs waiting for my next move. "Too much offense try defense" she calls before swinging a foot in my direction, witch I catch and twist. Mystery now faces the ground held up by her arms, but she pushes up and suddenly my back hits hard ground. 

 Fists raised she punches down, aiming for a different spot each time, each blow hard and unforgiving but I catch them, slashing or impaling when possible. I manage to land a solid blow at her face, seconds later Dylan walks in "coordinates are set we should be there soon" his voice falters when he sees the scene before him. 

 Mystery on her back arms folded on her chest her breathing labored, and me I stand over her confused "what's wrong?" I stare at him hoping for answers. 

 "If you're hoping that you beat her the answer is no" he jogs over and helps her up "right before we got to your planet we were attached, she was injected with some serum, and was incapacitated for a while and we both got beat hard. We still won the fight but she's been getting worst." 

 We lift her between us and she mumbles "I can walk" as she shakes us away using the wall for support and disappearing into the ship's hallway. 

 Dylan faces me "we are trying to find a cure for her but she refuses to go to a hospital saying that 'there is no cure'" he looks back at the hall she disappeared into "some thing else is going on with her but she won't tell me." 

 I nod he sounds so concerned for her I can't resist asking "are you two ... and item?" 

His head jerks around to face me face bright red with embarrassment "no, of course not, we've just met!" I laugh "tell me about this little journey, starting from the beginning". He leaves heading for the cockpit, so I follow him "it started yesterday..." he began opening the door to let us out.