The Curse of the Golden Griffin Glyphs

Chapter One: Daydream

Varian stepped outside the cottage he and his dad owned. The crisp Autumn breeze blew through his raven hair, forcing the single turquoise stripe in it to whip around. He closed his eyes and smiled, recalling a Greek myth he had read recently, entailing the story of a boy who had escaped with his father on pairs of wings crafted from feathers and wax. Of course, the myth did not have a happy ending. The boy, Icarus, flew too close to the sun and the intense heat melted the wax, causing him to plummet into the sea below, where he drowned. Varian had often wondered what it would be like to fly. Sure, hot air balloons and air ships were fine, but to really fly? With no limits, restrictions, or boundaries? It would be a breathtaking experience! His daydream was interrupted by a loud, rude voice.

"Hey look, fellas! It's Bucky, the nerd wonder!" Varian noticed he was biting his lip, a habit he had always attributed to when he was deep in thought. He abruptly stopped doing so and frowned deeply, regarding the older teen in front of him.

"What do you want, Nathaniel?" he asked in annoyance as he crossed his arms.

"Well, to be honest, I was just going about my day and decided to drop by and see my little dorky pal. By the way, maybe you can help me with something."

"Really?" the young alchemist raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I have a question you might know the answer to." the other two teens behind Nathaniel began to snicker. Before Varian could respond, the leader of the trio spoke. "Do you need one or two toothbrushes when cleaning those beaver teeth of yours?" The three burst out laughing, pointing and mocking the teen genius. He quickly covered his mouth with one hand and formed his other into a fist.

"I don't have beaver teeth!" he yelled in a muffled voice. "My central incisors are somewhat larger than average, resulting in a slight overbite." The trio of teens just stared at him and blinked and Varian physically and vocally sighed. "My two front teeth are a little too big for my mouth. Do you understand now, or do I need to dumb it down a bit more?"

"Hey, now! Calling us dumb is pretty brave for someone so small and weak!" the two teens behind Nathaniel cracked their knuckles. The young alchemist knew for a fact that he wasn't the strongest and was perhaps falling behind in one or two growth-spurts. But he also knew that what he lacked in muscle, he more than made up for in intelligence. Usually he could think his way out of situations. Outsmart his opponents. But there were also times where his clumsiness got in the way. He carefully began calculating as the trio closed the gap between them. Varian reached and clutched a smoke bomb attached to his belt. Unfastening it from its place, he pulled down his goggles, held his breath, and threw it at the bullies.

*Poof*

A cloud of magenta smoke erupted from the small orb, causing three of the teens to cough and sputter. When it cleared, the bullies' leader shouted the obvious.

"He's gone!" Nathaniel turned to his two followers. "You two; go find him!"

"Can't we just look for him after lunch? I'm starving!" one of them asked, clutching his round belly and frowning.

"No! Go after him now! Before he gets away!"

"Hey, what about you? Shouldn't you come with us? I mean, what if he went to The Cursed Ruins?" The other asked then shivered in fear.

"I'm staying here until you find him and bring him to me! I'm saving all my energy to pound him into next week! NOW GO!" The two scurried off into the forest, searching for the teen genius. But unfortunately, Varian was long gone. And he was headed directly towards The Cursed Ruins.

O_O

Varian ran and ran. No matter how tired he was getting or how much his legs were starting to burn, he knew he had to keep running. When he finally came upon what seemed to be ancient ruins he stopped to catch his breath. That's when he heard Nathaniel's goons nearby.

"I think he went this way." Varian heard one of them say. Taking that as his cue, he quickly hid in the golden temple. He pressed himself against the wall of the entryway and tried to steady his breathing as he heard their footsteps getting closer then stopping altogether. Curious as to why they stopped, the young alchemist listened carefully to their conversation.

"Do you really think he would go in there?" the more cowardly of the two asked the other who simply replied,

"If he did, it's his funeral."

"Aw man! Nathaniel is not going to like this! He's not going to like this one bit!"

"Forget him. I'm going home to make a grilled cheese. And no one, especially Nathaniel, is going to stop me from enjoying it. Come on; let's get out of here. This place even gives me the creeps." And with that they left. Varian sighed with relief as he sank to the floor. Then something occurred to him. He would probably have to stay here for a while to keep the goons off his trail. So, he decided to go exploring.

The temple was even more amazing on the inside than it was on the outside. Sure, it was a bit decrepit and he could see local vermin had taken up residence in the nooks and crevices, but the intricate and ornate designs decorating the columns, ceiling, and, to his amazement, the floor were absolutely beautiful. The walls, he noticed, were covered with glyphs that seemed to describe the history of the people who once populated the area.

"These predate even Demanitus's time." he said to himself as he reached out a gloved hand and touched the glyphs, trying to decipher them. He noticed that a particular area looked blank, with only a single phrase written in the center. Walking over to that area, Varian noticed some of the designs decorating the temple resembled that of a winged beast. The creature looked to be a griffin, sporting the head, wings, and talons of a great eagle in the front and the paws, tail, and hindquarters of a lion in the back.

"Hmm, that's... interesting." When he came upon the wall, he looked at the glyphs and studied them. The phrase seemed to be some sort of warning, but he couldn't quite place what it said. "Why can't I figure this out!" He grumbled in frustration and kicked at the floor. Glancing up, he noticed a stone griffin sitting atop a pillar looking down at him. The statue seemed to be mocking him, as it was out of his reach. It was almost as if it were staring at him in belittlement. "What are you looking at?!" he demanded, before realizing how stupid it must look talking to an inanimate object. "Pfft, whatever..." Varian returned his attention to the wall and was suddenly struck with inspiration. He went back to the far side of the room and proved his theory.

"There's spaces in between certain glyphs; these people had their own alphabet! Which means, all I have to do is decipher one phrase to figure out others!" The teen genius quickly got to work and within a couple of hours, had translated the entire far wall. When he finally had a glyph for every letter of the alphabet, he went over to the single phrase and read it aloud.

"Those who pass through must honor and pay respect to our guardian; the mighty griffin. Outsiders who choose to disrespect the griffin, shall be truly and rightfully...cursed?" Varian pondered that last word. "Well, good thing I'm a man of science. Curses don't exist. There's no such thing...right?" His confidence was waning. It didn't help that it was getting dark outside and he honestly hadn't paid attention to how much time he had been in the temple. Something else didn't sit right with him, though. And the longer he thought about it, the more it bothered him. He had been disrespectful to the griffin statue. Did that mean he was cursed?