In-Between

Chapter 2

The pine needles crunch under Frigg's hooves as I urge her to ride faster through the forest. Frigg seems to gallop faster than the lazy speed at which the world seems to be moving. And Frigg actually is moving faster than the world. She's a rare breed of horse, and the only thing anybody knows about her is that she's as fast as lightning. Only I know that she was found as a foal lying in a ditch at the side of the road. Because I woke up in that filthy hole with her.

Funny how the slow world works, how both her and I started in a grimy ditch and ended up in the King's castle. Frigg was trained by the best horse instructors and I study at the top school for knights, scholars, and wizards in all the kingdoms. We've both been trained for the same thing : help the king hunt relics and trinkets down and to protect the throne at all costs.

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Frigg and I both know the relic we're looking for this time is nearby, so she slows to a trot to let Hunter catch up. I look from side to side, taking in my surroundings, searching for anything suspicious. Tall pine trees with strange scratches shoot straight up into azure sky. Their leafy branches filter the afternoon sunlight that struggles to shine through. The light that does shine through falls on the mossy floor and more scratch marks in the soil.

Frigg suddenly stops. She feels uneasy about something, and I'm starting to feel uneasy too. The fall air is heavy with silence, even though I should hear birds chattering. It's too early for them to migrate; the only other reason for the silence means that they're all dead. I make sure I have all my weapons before I look at the scratches; bow and quiver, check; rapier, check; and daggers, another check.

I try to walk quietly over to the marks, but pine needles aren't ideal for stealth. Each snap of the tiny leaves makes my heart flutter with nervousness. Finally reaching the scratches, I squat to have a better look. Four gashes each eight inches deep mar the earth. I know there aren't many animals around here that have claws that size.

The trees rustle above. I glance towards the sound and see the dim forest light flicker as a shadow flies across. Frigg whinnies and dashes towards me. She doesn't want to be sitting ducks, and I agree with her. I jump on her back, ready to run to safety and wait for Hunter and his winged-horse Freya to catch up.

That's when I see the trinket's sparkle. It's not that far away, lying in a large nest on the ground. I give a soft kick to Frigg in the side and she's off towards the trinket.

I'm four hundred yards away and a strange shriek pierces the air. A creature plummets from the sky between me and sparkling trinket. It shrieks again while spreading out its large feathery wings and showing off its massive paws. Frigg rears up and throws me off her back, running off in the direction we came. Hopefully she will find Hunter and lead him to me. It's up to me to fight this monster until then.

Brushing the dirt from my palms, I stand up and take a good look at my foe.

 I should have brought my heavy weapons.

A massive creature with a catlike body and the wings and head of an eagle stands before me. 

Griffons. And unfortunately, I just stole the trinket from his nest.