Page 48 of Flame and Sparrow

It spat my sleeve out and nuzzled against my arm instead, its purring even more enthusiastic than before.

“Well, you’re a nice change from the monotonous drudgery of this place.”

It agreed with another purr, its tail flicking excitedly; I thought I saw flashes of fire following the more enthusiastic flicks. I watched it more closely, so fully distracted by the intriguing little creature that I briefly forgot about my plans to explore the world beyond my golden-fenced prison.

Then the creature leapt onto the nearby table, snatched a pile of my diagrams up in its talons, and darted for the nearest open window.

“HEY!”

I tore after it, barefoot and furious.

There were definitely flickers of fire dancing off its tail now, which made it easier to follow. I kept my eye on the flames and pushed my legs as hard as I could, my energy draining too quickly for my liking. I felt slower and weaker after so many days in this place; I hadn’t been eating or drinking enough of the things Rieta brought, as I was still suspicious of the ultimate effect it might all have on me.

I ran until stabbing pains in my side became too excruciating to ignore and my legs went wobbly, forcing me to stop for a few breaths or topple over. The brief pause was all it took to fully lose sight of the creature and its fires.

I crouched for a moment to keep my balance, wrapping an arm around my cramping stomach as I huffed out curses.

Finally, I caught my breath, straightened up, and looked around—and only then did I see how far I’d chased the stupid thing without realizing it.

Utter darkness surrounded me, so complete I couldn’t see my hands in front of my face. I must have jumped the fence at some point, though I didn’t remember doing it; I’d been so hellbent on catching that little beast that I’d lost track of everything else. Now the sun over my prison was nowhere to be seen.

Fire flared in the distance. Too far away to see if it belonged to a certain mischievous griffin or not. But I’d followed a trail of flames to my dwelling when I first arrived in this realm; what choice did I have but to follow this trail? I could see nothing else in the darkness.

Another flare of fire went up, as if beckoning.

I started toward it.

I didn’t think I was traveling in the same direction I’d come from, and the feeling proved correct; the flickers of fire eventually led me to an entirely new area that was faintly lit, not by a fake sun, but by a floating orb of energy casting an eerie, whitish-blue glow over everything—more moonlike than sunlike.

The glow revealed a stone tower with a circular base. A wide set of stairs led up to this base floor, and sitting at the top of the steps was the griffin. The creature was busy pawing its way through the papers it had stolen from me, swatting them into the air and batting them about.

“There you are, you little monster,” I said as I stomped up the stairs to it.

It didn’t try to run away. It simply settled back on its haunches, perched in the messy nest of my drawings, looking incredibly pleased with itself.

“Have you had enough fun for the day, I hope?”

It responded by ripping one of the pages in half with its beak—almost mockingly—chewing it up, and swallowing it in one big gulp.

“We’re going to have to work on your manners if we’re going to be friends,” I informed it.

It burped in reply, sending a puff of fire into the air.

“Oh,that’slovely.”

I didn’t bother trying to collect the scattered papers; I would have to redo them all at this point; my mind was finicky that way, sometimes—if one drawing in a set was lost or ruined, I had to start over from the beginning, or else nothing about it would feel right.

Too annoyed to focus on the fallen papers and my lost work, I lifted my gaze instead to what lay behind the purring thief.

The tower was so tall that I had to take several steps away and crane my neck all the way back to see the top of it. There was no lush grass nor golden fencing surrounding it, only cracked ground awash in pale light. As I stopped sweating from my run, I realized how strangely thin and cool the air suddenly felt.

Dark, cold, and foreboding, yet I couldn’t deny the urge I felt to further explore the place.

It didn’t take me long to make up my mind. I was here, now, and likely already in trouble for it; a little exploration couldn’t make things much worse than they already were.

I felt a weight vibrating against my leg and looked down to see the griffin pressing against me, shivering and mewling softly.

“Are you honestly going to cower behind me now? You’re the one whobroughtus here.”

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