The Gryphon Chronicles- Book 1: The Corrupt King

Ch. 9: The Phoenix Gryphon

The next morning, the girls switched places. Cyra went with Zerrin to see what her physical power was like, and Zephyr went with Simon to learn some of the magic. Zerrin gave the small vial that had been around his neck the day before to Simon. When Zephyr asked, Simon refused to answer, as well as Zerrin. The only thing that Zephyr could think of would be to control her if she hurt someone.

Still a danger then, she thought bitterly.

"Right," Simon started. They were in the same field that he and Cyra had been in the day before. Alita had insisted on following, even after Simon tried to discourage her. It seemed Alita was happy to have someone who could understand her at all times.

"Copy what I do, ok?" Simon instructed.

Zephyr nodded. Simon did the same spell as before, and Zephyr copied him.

Unfortunately for the three of them, Zephyr's orb was quite a bit bigger and brighter than Cyra's. And after a few seconds, the orb exploded. No one got hurt, but the ground was a bit scorched, and Zephyr's hand was burned.

Guess it's not a reflex yet.

Simon coughed away the smoke, then looked up. On Zephyr's face, similar marks as Cyra's had appeared. However instead of blue, they were a burning gold, and much more prominent.

"Was that supposed to happen?" Zephyr asked, still wincing from her burned hand as it knit itself back together. Simon shook his head as Zephyr sighed.

"This is what you were talking about when you said I was a danger, weren't you?" She didn't look up at him.

"Wha- where- When did you hear that?" He asked, surprised.

"The first night we were here. You and Zerrin were trying to get Aeon to stay. And I bet that's why you have that thing around your neck, huh? Do I have that right?" She finally looked up.

Simon bowed his head, defeated. Nodding he took out a book from the small pile of spell books they had brought. It was a lore text, with two large gryphons on it. He opened it to a page with the same two gryphons that had been on the cover.

"When we first started seeing gryphon fae, there were a few born that had extraordinary powers. They could lift mountains, level forests, destroy an entire army single handedly.These were the first of what we call Phoenix Gryphons. The fae, along with everyone else, hated this. They hunted down all of the powerful Gryphons they could, and killed them. The few that were left began to hide their power, so much so that it began making them die from excess energy. Then, a few other fae found where they were hiding, and instead of turning them in, they helped them. You see, they were siphoners. They were born with very little, very weak magic. But they found that they could absorb excess magic, which made all of their lives easier. But kings and queens of the human realm found out about it. They began to hunt pairs of these gryphons, a phoenix and a siphoner each." He paused. "My own father partook in the hunting. Most of the gryphons refused to be caught or enslaved. Those that were left came together and made the most powerful spell they could. The spell made it so that Siphoners and Phoenix gryphons were connected. One could not be without the other for extended lengths. The humans didn't know, and continued to hunt them. One by one, they were caught, and when they were, they killed themselves." He flipped the page, revealing ten gryphons with swords through their hearts.

"The humans didn't stop, and the fae, as well as the Walkers, became concerned that they would soon come after them seeking power. So they banned humans from entering their realms." He closed the book.

"My father had been the only one to successfully capture a Phoenix. He soon caught a siphoner as well. I don't know where they got her, but that siphoner was Aeon. As for The Phoenix, I never knew her. All I know was that Aeon and her were extremely close, kinda like you and Cyra."