The Gryphon Chronicles- Book 1: The Corrupt King

Ch. 1: The Gryphon Children

Fourteen years ago, five gryphon changelings were born into the world. All of them were immediately taken to the nearest human kingdom, and left on random doorsteps for those humans to take care of. Four of the families were just fine with having a changeling baby, but one family was not, and they intended to throw theirs down the well. Before they could, though, one family who had taken a changeling already offered to take a second. Everyone agreed that this was the best solution, and so all five changelings grew up in the kingdom of Eldrum.

Fourteen years later, two of these gryphon children were about to be very, very late to supper.

Cyra and Zephyr were heading back to their cozy house after a day out at the park climbing trees. Their mother had told them to be back by sundown for supper, and the sun had sank almost completely behind the horizon. The two girls were running down the street, trying to make it back in time.

Just as the last rays dipped below the skyline, Cyra and Zephyr burst into their house, both breathing hard.

"Made it!" Zephyr cried. "See, I told you we wouldn't be late."

Cyra shook her head. "No, you said we would and that we'd miss supper."

"Eh, close enough."

In the kitchen, their mother Dana was setting the stew on the table and humming to herself.

"Ah, good. You're just in time," she said. "Cyra, go and get the silverware. Zephyr, could you go tell your father that supper is ready?"

Cyra slid over to the silverware drawer while Zephyr headed into the living room to get their father, Frederick. Once everyone was at the table and had started eating, their mother asked how everyone's day had been.

"We went to the park and climbed trees," said Zephyr.

"Mama, can we go back to the park tomorrow? I wanna try and climb from one tree to the other without touching the ground." Cyra took a sip of her jasmine tea. Her sleeves were big enough to cover her hands and act as a mitt so she didn't burn her hands on the hot cup, although she burnt her tongue anyways.

"Well, I don't see why not." Dana turned to her husband. "Frederick, do you see any problems with them heading back to the park tomorrow?"

He shook his head. The girls' papa didn't like to say much, but he almost never denied them something fun unless he had a very good reason. He had a scrubby mustache and a pipe, and one of his favorite things to do was sit in his armchair with his pipe and read while he listened to his wife sing as she cooked.

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The next day, Cyra and Zephyr were at the park early in the morning before anyone else. They wanted to be the first ones there so that they could get first pick of all the climbing trees and benches and swings.

Zephyr and Cyra were both very different, in looks and in personality. Zephyr was tall and strong, with dirty blonde hair and grey-blue eyes. She liked to wear jeans and her old sheepskin coat, and she loved to run and play and make jokes. Cyra, on the other hand, had thick black hair that she kept in a braid and bright blue eyes, and was very small and slim. She wore big comfy clothes like cloaks and oversized coats and dresses, and wouldn't be caught dead in a pair of jeans. Cyra was a bit more mischievous, and loved to fill her pockets with shiny things and snacks that she shared with her sister.

It would seem strange to any passerby that these two were siblings, and yet that is exactly what they were. Dana had raised them well, making sure that they both understood how important it was to be kind. She had tried to send them to school, but apparently the teacher didn't like it when they sat on the desks or the floor or the back counters, and he had sent them home for disrupting class. Dana had resolved to teach them herself instead, which involved a lot of time to play outdoors and more life lessons and skills than math and history.