Shattered

What's With the Griffin?

A/N: Hi guys and gals! I'm back! With another cliff hanger...... Anyways, I don't have a cover yet, so if you can make one and send it to me, i'll have a cover contest! (I've always wanted to say that for some reason) Also, random fun fact, the national animal of Scotland is the Unicorn! I didn't believe it either. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was dark. Completely dark. Then it wasn't. A sphere of light appeared, getting larger and larger as it approached. It turned into a glowing doorway, and I cautiously stepped through. A scene materialized around me. There was a lake and a few scattered trees. Nearby a girl sat on a rock. She was beautiful, with curly brunette hair, bright blue eyes, and radiant golden skin. She was clad with silver armor and a broadsword. "Who are you?" I tried to say, but my lips didn't work. She looked up at me, as if just noticing I was there, and spoke.

"The war has begun. You must find me, or all you know will end. Do you hear me Michael? Michael!"

Then I woke up. Who was this girl? What does she mean? Questions filled my mind, but I had to get ready. I pushed my dream aside and got ready to go. Today was a big day, and I needed to get my cart ready. I had prepared bread the night before. I walked down the steps of my house with a basket of bread in my arms. I set the basket in the cart and rolled it over to the market.

When I got there, brisk business began. By evening I had sold almost all of my bread and was getting ready to go home. As I was packing up, a girl caught my eye. She was about 18, my age, and pretty. I stared for awhile, wondering why she gave me a funny feeling. Then I shook it off and took my cart home. At night I couldn't stop thinking about her and the girl from my dream. It's not a coincidence. I know there is a connection. The girl in my dream looked exactly same as the one at the market. What does it mean? Soon I was too tired to think, and so I fell into a dreamless sleep.

At the market the next day I kept looking for her. All of a sudden she appeared beside me and whispered,

"We need to talk. Follow-" The girl got cut off by a big rumble.

She never got to finish. At that very moment the street split open and swallowed everything on it. I shook with terror, not because I wasn't used to earthquakes, but because of look on the girl's face.

"Run! And don't look back!" she screamed, already halfway down the line of carts.

I broke out in a full-on sprint towards the castle, struggling to keep up with her. We raced by houses, shops, and stands. Shop owners stared at us as we ran past. No, not at. Through. The shop owners looked like they couldn't even see us. I shivered and stared straight ahead. Pretty soon we reached the castle. I bent over in front of the castle door, panting, while my heart tried to catch up with me.

"What are we doing here?" I wheezed.

She didn't answer. I guess she was too focused on undoing the 15 locks that covered the door. When she was done, she opened the door and beckoned me inside.

"Who are you?" I asked while climbing the steps.

"Ashlyn Markson. Now shut up and get inside, Michael."

I wanted to ask more questions, like how she knows my name, what exactly we are doing here, and what any of this has to do with me, but I didn't want to get punched in the face for asking questions. We snuck down a long hallway and scampered up the stairs. She opened the first door on the right and went inside. I followed close behind.

The room was pitch black until Ashlyn grabbed a candle off of a ledge next to the door. She took a match and lit it.

"Listen carefully. We don't have much time. I am not able to shield us from them for long."

"Shield?" I started to say something, but she clamped a hand over my mouth.

"What was that?" she whispered nervously.

"I don't know. I didn't hear anything." I mumbled through her hand.

"Oh. Sorry." she said, taking her hand off my mouth, "I guess I am just a bit jumpy. Go on."

Before I could answer, a griffin smashed through the castle walls into our room. Someone screamed. It might have been me, but don't judge. The griffin charged straight at us. Ashlyn reacted quickly, jumping out of the way, yanking me with her. I decided not to worry about the fact that there was a griffin standing in front of me so I could focus on staying alive. I slowly backed up. Ashlyn stepped towards the griffin and put her hand on it's head. It started screeching. The screech was high-pitched and loud enough to shatter glass. I started to lose my hearing.

I could barely hear Ashlyn say "It's okay, we are not going to hurt you." She whispered some words I couldn't hear. Then I blacked out. When I woke up the room was spinning. I stumbled over to the wall and leaned against it. I had no idea a what was happening, but I wanted to know about the griffin.

"Why is that griffin here?" I said.

"I have no idea."

I looked over a realized it was just sitting there, almost like it was in a trance.

"What did you do to it?"

Ashlyn grinned. "Oh, just a simple hex." She took on a serious, listening look. Then her face went pale. "We must go. Get on Fireheart."

"Who and what is Fireheart? I want answers before I go anywhere with you!"

"Sorry, I meant the griffin. He told me his name is Fireheart."

"He told you..nevermind. Why do we have to leave?"

Ashlyn sighed. "The enchantress is after you, don't talk, just go! I will answer your questions later."

I grumbled but climbed onto the griffin anyway. Ashlyn hopped on in front of me.

"Hold on!" she exclaimed.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Haha! See, I told you! Cliff hanger! I'm looking for votes and comments people! the more you vote, the more chapters you get. And don't forget about the cover contest!