"What do you want to do now?" Daphne asked. "Because whatever that is, it doesn't sound happy."
"I'll go see what it is," I whispered. "If it is a Reaper trap, maybe we can at least take some of them out before we get to the ruins. Cover me."
She nodded, and so did Rory.
I got to my feet, tightened my grip on Vic, and rounded the tree. I tensed, expecting an arrow to come zooming out of the woods. But when nothing happened, I slowly started moving forward. I'd only gone about ten feet when I stepped into a small clearing and finally spotted the source of the cries - a baby gryphon.
At least, I thought it was a baby. It was still about three feet long from its beak to the fuzzy tuft on the end of its lion's tail. The gryphon's fur and wings were a beautiful bronze that glimmered in what little sunlight slid through the trees to the forest floor. Its eyes were the same mesmerizing shade, although its beak and claws were as black and shiny as ebony.
The gryphon caught sight of me and stopped its struggles, although it narrowed its eyes and sank down onto its haunches, like it was getting ready to leap on me and tear me to pieces.
At first, I wondered what was wrong with the creature, but then I realized why it was crying - its back right foot was caught in a metal trap. Actually, trap wasn't the right word. This thing had so many rows of teeth that it looked more like a torture device. The gryphon must have stepped on the trigger, causing the trap to snap shut, and the rows of sharp metal teeth had dug into the poor thing's leg. A thick metal chain secured the trap to a tree, keeping the gryphon from flying away. The creature must have been there a while because the blood in its fur had already matted.
"It's okay," I called out to my friends. "It's not a Reaper."
Leaves crunched, and Daphne and Rory moved to stand beside me.
"That's a snap-snare," Rory said, disgust evident in her voice. "It's like a bear trap, but with more teeth. Reapers leave them in the forest in hopes of capturing gryphons. Fenrir wolves too. The more you struggle, the deeper the teeth tear into your body."
The baby gryphon's tail started lashing from side to side at the sound of Rory's voice, and it studied each one of us in turn. Its bronze eyes narrowed that much more, and it grew very still, except for its tail, which kept whipping from side to side. Suddenly, the creature leaped through the air, its claws aiming for my throat -
But the chain attached to the trap jerked it back, and the gryphon thumped to the ground about five feet in front of me. The creature screeched with surprise and pain, but I could also hear the faintest whimper in its high cries. Despite its tough façade, the gryphon was scared, tired, and hurting. I knew the feelings. Reapers and their cruel schemes had a way of doing that to you.
"Easy, boy," I said, taking off my gloves, holding out my right hand, and creeping toward the creature. "We're not here to hurt you. We're going to get that nasty thing off your leg."
"What are you doing?" Rory hissed. "That gryphon will bite your hand off if you get too close to it. In case you didn't notice, it would have torn your throat out if that chain hadn't stopped it. Are you out of your mind?"
"Have you met Gwen?" Daphne sniped. "Because crazy is kind of her thing. Believe me, this is mild compared to some of the stunts she's pulled."
I shot her a dirty look, then turned back to the gryphon. "It's just scared and confused," I said. "That's why it tried to attack me. I'm not going to leave it here for the Reapers to find. You know what they did to Nott. You know what they'll do to this little guy too."
"Fine, fine. Be all brave and heroic," Daphne muttered. "But don't blame me if it backfires."
I handed Vic to the Valkyrie. Then, I dropped down on my hands and knees, putting myself on the gryphon's level, and slowly crawled toward it. The creature sat on its back haunches and watched me approach, even more wary than before. Its claws started digging into the snow-covered ground as if it was thinking about springing at me again. I could see the suspicion in the gryphon's eyes, but I wasn't leaving it there - even if it did lash out at me again.
Closer and closer, I crept. By this point, the gryphon could have surged forward and swiped at me with its claws - quite easily. But instead, the creature watched me. Maybe it sensed I wasn't an enemy. Maybe it realized I wanted to help. Or maybe it just wanted me to get as close as possible so it could do the most amount of damage to me. I was about to find out. I was three feet away from it, two, one . . .
I drew in a breath, surged forward, and put my hand on the gryphon's front paw.
Chapter 22
The first thing that filled my mind was the baby gryphon's pain.
Every slight movement, every small shift, every shallow breath it took seemed to twist the trap's teeth a little deeper into the creature's back leg, like rows of needles slowly digging into its skin. I grimaced and pushed the feeling aside, sinking deeper into the gryphon's mind, trying to figure out some way to get the creature to trust me long enough for me, Daphne, and Rory to pry the trap off its - his - leg.
The gryphon tried to pull away from me, but I held on, being as gentle as I could with him. I was dimly aware of his face next to mine, his beak snapping close to my nose in a warning to let go or else, but still, I held on. If I took my hand from the gryphon's paw, I doubted he would let me touch him again, and then, we'd never be able to help him.
So I tightened my grip and reached for my psychometry again. Image after image flooded my mind, like I was watching a high-speed movie of the gryphon's life. Most of the memories involved the gryphon soaring through the clear blue sky, and a sense of wonder and wildness surged through me - along with one of peace. There was nothing he liked better than spreading his wings wide and drifting up and down on the currents that whipped around the mountaintops. But there were other sights and sounds, as well, mostly of adult gryphons doing the same thing, as if they were flying together in some sort of fancy formation. And finally, there was another gryphon, one who looked larger, stronger, and fiercer than all the others. The leader of the group - and the father of the baby before me. More than anything else, the baby gryphon wanted to grow up to be as big, strong, and tough as his dad. The thoughts, the feelings, the images, made me smile.
Slowly, very slowly, I pushed my thoughts at the gryphon, trying to let him know that I was a friend and not a Reaper who wanted to trap him and take him away from his family forever. I showed the creature images of me fighting Reapers in the Library of Antiquities, the Crius Coliseum, and all the other places I'd battled them. But the images seemed to confuse the gryphon, so instead, I concentrated on my memories of Nott and showed those to him.