Zyreia: The Silver Woods

Prologue

Dedicated to Caroline, the only person who might get why I wrote this.

The boy took a small breath and then exhaled, a large fit of coughing followed. The air in his prison cell was damp and brittle, two of things that made it hard to live in Awander. After the coughing subdued, his Griffin cawed.

He looked behind him and saw his brown and gold Griffin, Skyler, with it's head in it's paws. His amber eyes were large and sad, he cawed softly and then closed his eyes.

The boy leaned his head against the prison bars, how could he have been so stupid? He and Skyler had try-ed to sneak into the castle without being noticed, how he had thought that the most powerful sorceress in the world would not sense an eighteen year old boy and his Griffin sneaking into the castle with just an Invisibility Spell?

Grayson, it isn't that bad... at least we're still together, Skyler's voice said in his head. The boy turned around and smiled weakly at the Griffin, who stared back at him with a smug smile.

"Yeah, we could've been separated. I guess it's a good thing we're still together" the boy said, sadly. The Griffin nodded and unfolded his wings, he flapped them as a sign of affection.

Friends live and die together. A sob caught in Grayson's throat, tomorrow Skyler and Grayson would be executed, for the crime of entering the castle and planning attack upon the Queen.

The soldiers had caught them on the second floor, eight floors below the Queen. They weren't even close enough to use a Stunning Spell.

"Skyler... I'm sorry i got us into this mess, I actually thought this was going to work... how could I have been so stupid?" he yelled.

He stood up and began kicking the prison bars, the toe of his leather boots began to hurt, yet he didn't care. maybe if he kicked hard enough, the prison bars would crumble away, They were old.

Grayson, stop!

Grayson looked at Skyler and then floods of pain shot through his toes, he yelped. He sat down and pulled off his boot. His toes were purple and bloody, he groaned and swallowed.

You're only hurting yourself, you know. These bars are enchanted, I can sense it. Grayson chuckled softly, having a griffin as a Bonded was a great deal of importance to a Mage. Griffins are natural trackers, they can track any type of magic from miles away.

That's how Skyler how found Grayson, the Griffin had been shot by a Dark Arrow in the wing. He had to walk a for days, trying to find Grayson and ask for help.

Grayson always asked Skyler how he knew that Grayson wasn't a Dark Mage, and Skyler always said the same thing. I could sense the pain that you felt in your heart, the revenge you wanted against the Queen, but also the good inside you.

Grayson must've been deep in thought, because the next thing he knew was that someone was running down the stairs.

He and Skyler shot up, both in fighting position, they were both thinking the same thing. had the execution been bumped up to today, was the Queen really that mad? Well, if it had, they weren't going down without a fight.

The solider ran down the stairs and then whispered something. A golden ball of light appeared and followed the solider, the solider rushed towards the cell and began performing spells upon the lock. They looked up at Grayson and smirked, "You're in a lot of trouble, mate, a lot."

Grayson's eyes widened, it wasn't a solider. It was a girl. Her long strawberry blonde hair was in a ponytail and her face was smudged with dirt, but you could tell that she was very pretty.

She wore a black sweater with a hood, black pants, and black leather boots, an outfit that would conceal her in the dark. Around her neck hung a necklace with a large pink and gold jewel on the end, magic flowed through her jewel and it radiated power.

Who is she?, Skyler asked. Grayson opened his mouth to say, I have no idea, when the girl answered. The girl looked at Skyler and smiled. "I'm glad your wondering, Griffin, but right now I've got to get you two out before she gets in" Skyler stepped back, how did she hear his thoughts? Only the Queen was that powerful.

Grayson watched as she played with the lock, and then smiled as the lock came off with a loud crack.

The girl laughed, "Haha! I didn't actually think I could that in this form!" She suddenly realized that Skyler and Grayson heard that.

"Uh... I meant... uh... let's just get you guys out!" She went over to Skyer's cell and began to perform the same spells again, the lock came off much faster.

Skyler screeched loudly, but recoiled as the girl and Grayson shushed him. She opened their cell doors and then grabbed them, she held onto Grayson's hand and Skyler's wing and she began muttering.

"You know, I can teleport me and my Griffin out of here to save you the trouble, because I don't want to be saved by a girl" Grayson said.

The girl glared at Grayson when she finished her spell, a ring of gold and pink magic began to form around them. She jabbed Grayson in the chest with her finger and spoke through gritted teeth.

"I just broke you out of the Queen's prison cell, and you want to teleport yourself because you don't want to be saved by a girl?" she said. Grayson blushed, he hadn't meant to be offensive.

"I've already broken a thousand rules by coming here to break you out, and I'm about to break a thousand by taking you and your Griffin with me!!!" she yelled, her eyes had a strange fire behind that made Grayson back away.

Skyler cocked his head, Where are we going? The girl smiled at Skyler with a mischievous glint in her eyes. "We're going to my world" And then the ring of magic closed in and they disappeared, just as the soldiers were being notified that a Mage had broken into the castle.