“I don’t know.” Timothy sounded strangely tense.
The spot in the sky had become larger. It didn’t quite look like a dragon. The wings looked wrong—and where was its tail?
“That’s not a dragon,” Timothy said a moment later, as if he knew what she’d thought. “That’s a griffin.”
“A griffin?” Liana repeated in amazement.
She’d played enough games to know about griffins—in theory.
Griffins were weird creatures that were half lion, half eagle. But they weren’t real. They were just a myth.
But then, I thought the same about dragons...
“What is he doing here?” Timothy murmured, still sounding tense. “I hope nothing’s wrong...”
“You know him?” she asked.
“His name is Jared. He’s a friend—he works for the council of elements. But there’s no reason for him to be here.” Timothy kept watching the sky.
“Maybe he just wanted to meet us as well?” Liana suggested.
“Maybe,” Timothy said, although he didn’t sound convinced. “He’d have called though. And he’s flying very fast, almost as if—”
He broke off. But even though he hadn’t finished the sentence, Liana found herself watching the sky with renewed worry.
She knew what Timothy hadn’t wanted to say.
Almost as if he’s being pursued.
A heartbeat later, Timothy stiffened.
“Shit,” he said very softly.
When Liana stared at the sky, her heart pounding in terror, she saw that in the distance, further tiny black dots had appeared.
“Your friends?” she said in a small voice.
Silently, Timothy s
hook his head.
It was difficult to make out how many dots were approaching. For all she knew, it could be a group of small birds.
But then, birds wouldn’t have Timothy so tense...
There was a sudden roar in the air, at first soft, then growing louder. The griffin was very close now, his giant eagle’s wings beating the air with powerful strokes.
Instinctively, Liana gasped and pressed closer to Timothy.
Playing with griffins in a game was quite different to the reality of meeting one.
Even though the shifter was smaller than a dragon, he was just as intimidating. He had the head and the wings of an eagle, while the back half of his body was that of a lion, covered with smooth, golden fur.
When he landed, she could feel the wind caused by his wings on her face. A second later, the griffin’s form shimmered and vanished. Instead, a man about Timothy’s age stood in front of them.
And he didn’t waste a minute.
“Hurry,” he gasped. “They’ve been hunting me for half an hour.”