The Chest of the Lost

Bonus Chapter: Griffin's Capture

POV: Griffin

I stepped out of the cave into the cold, dry air, taking in a deep breath. I swung my ax over my shoulder and ran my hand down the jagged trunk of a thin tree. The bark was rough beneath my finger tips and I pulled my hand away in approval, swinging my ax toward the slim trunk. The metal blade shook the tree as it made contact, creating a thin dent in the dark. Satisfied, I brought my ax back over my shoulder and swung again, deepening the slit till it was about two inches deep. With the ax still wedged in the trunk, I bent down on one knee and examined the crack.

"It's been a long time." The gruff voice came from out of nowhere, echoing ominously through the air. I turned toward the source of the voice, and almost had a heart attack as I saw who it was. Alonzo Hawthorne stood not five feet in front of me, his piercing gaze fixed on me as I stared back at him in horror. "What has it been? A year and a half?" He chuckled. "I saw what happened to you, Griffin. You burned down your apartment, got separated from your family, then got lost in the forest.

"I watched your prophecy, Griffin," he continued, slowly making his way toward me. "Your Crystal is a special one; you would know. But unfortunately, I lost it before I could finish watching." 

"You'll never find it!" I shouted at him with a burst of confidence, which quickly faded as I watched his expression.

"Oh, now that would be a shame, wouldn't it? Your family's not doing very well without you, Griffin. I would know."

The confidence returned, along with a burst of rage. "You stay away from my family!"

He ignored me. "I know where they are. Just hand over your Crystal, and nothing bad will happen, trust me. Just hand over your Crystal and I can bring you to your family."

I stood there, speechless, unsure of what to do.

"Your family needs you, Griffin. I'm sure they'd be very disappointed if you let them down."

"I don't know where it is," I finally said.

"Oh, but surely you do. You can't simply misplace something as valuable as that." His voice hardened. "Where is it, Griffin?"

"I swear, I don't know." I started getting defensive, worrying about whether or not he was going to hurt my family, or if it was just an empty threat. I knew I couldn't take that chance, but what else could I do? My Crystal was gone.

"Don't lie, Griffin. Think of your family," he continued making his way slowly toward me, but I took a step back in anger and frustration.

"Leave my family out of this!" I yelled. I extended my hands toward him and began to push with everything I had.  I felt my arms start to tingle as the force moved through them and into my finger tips. But before it could escape my body, I felt myself being thrown up into the air, hitting branches and leaves that were in the way. Then I was slammed back down to the ground. Pain shot through my body as I made contact with the ground. I rolled over to my back, too disoriented to do anything except watch as Hawthorne and two other men in identical uniforms approached me. 

"Take him out," Hawthorne ordered.

All I felt were the darts, as they made painful contact with my sore body, before everything went black.