“Look!” he exclaimed. “You can pull your hand all the way through it!” Demonstrating, he dragged his entire right hand through the creature from one side to the other. He had to struggle a bit to do it, but the gryphon just stared at him all the while, apparently not at all disturbed by this new turn of events.
As soon as Sketch’s hand was clear of its body, however, the gryphon cub shivered all over, its fur bristling and its feathers all puffing up slightly before settling back down. Sketch had pulled his hand away at the first sign of movement, but once the gryphon seemed to have relaxed, he tried to drag his hand through it again, only this time it didn’t work.
“Hey,” he said, sounding disappointed. “It’s normal now.”
Rush’s eyebrows furrowed as he reached an experimental hand out toward the gryphon cub.
“No way! He’s right!” Rush exclaimed, sounding a lot more excited than Sketch had. “It feels like you’d expect it to now. With feathers and fur and everything.”
The cub stretched out its neck and rubbed the side of its head against Rush’s hand, purring like a cat. Kaitlyn reached out and scratched the feathers on the side of its face, and the cub twisted its neck until her fingers were scratching under its chin. The cub purred even louder and then sighed happily, making Kaitlyn giggle.
“You guys are crazy,” Mackenzie muttered.
“Sit, boy,” Rush said to it. “Can you sit?” He moved his hand up in the air over the cub’s head and then toward its tail, forcing the gryphon to tilt its head up to follow his movement. Rush expected the gryphon to sit down on its rump eventually, but instead, the gryphon just continued to bend its neck backward until its head was completely upside down, resting along its own back, making them all laugh out loud, even Mackenzie.
“Well, it works with dogs,” Rush said, still chuckling. “Come on, buddy, sit. Sit.” Rush placed one hand against the cub’s chest and the other on its rump, gently pressing down until the cub suddenly sat.
“Good boy!” Rush said, scratching its chin and praising it enthusiastically. “That’s a good boy!”
“It’s not a dog,” Sam commented, but Rush just grinned at her with a wicked gleam in his eye.
“Hey, Sketch,” he said. “Go get me a blank page from that notepad.”
“OK.” Sketch retrieved the pad from the table and tore a page out of it from behind his drawing, handing the yellow sheet to Rush.
Rush took it and wadded it up into a ball, showing it to the gryphon.
“Look, boy! Look what I’ve got! You want it?” Rush waved the ball in front of the gryphon, which followed its movements with its head. Sam just rolled her eyes. “I’m gonna throw it, OK? Are you ready? Go get it!”
Rush tossed the paper lightly, not wanting to throw it so far that the cub wouldn’t chase it, but the gryphon whipped its neck out to the side quick as lightning and snatched it out of the air as it flew by without moving the rest of its body at all.
“Whoa. That was insane,” Mackenzie said, and even Sam managed to look grudgingly impressed.
“Do it again!” Sketch begged him.
“Give it here, buddy,” Rush said, grinning from ear to ear. “Drop it… drop it…”
The gryphon eyed him curiously for a moment but then dropped the paper ball into his hand, apparently figuring out what Rush wanted.
“You’re a smart one, aren’t you,” Rush’s voice was warm and encouraging, and he scratched the cub’s chin again. “OK, boy, I’m going to throw it farther this time. You ready? You wanna get it for me? You wanna get it? Go get it!”
Rush threw the ball well over the gryphon’s head, but instead of running after it, the gryphon leaped into the air, executed a twisting, mid-air somersault and extended its wings to dive after the ball, snatching it up in its beak before it hit the floor and then landing on all fours—only to keep right on going, thanks to the floor’s smooth surface, its paws and talons skidding wildly on the sealed concrete before it finally slid to a halt, making Sketch laugh out loud.
“That was awesome!” Sketch shouted, forgetting in his excitement that they had snuck out of the lodge in the middle of the night and were supposed to be keeping it down.
“Shh,” Rush reminded him, but Rush was chuckling too.
The gryphon cub shook its head for a moment, regaining its composure, and then jumped into the air again, gliding casually back to Rush. It used its wings this time to brake so that it landed gently, if still a bit clumsily, and promptly dropped the wadded up paper back into his hand.
“That,” Daniel said quietly, “was so cool.”
“Hey, guys, I hate to break up the party, but I think we should go,” Mackenzie said. “We said we were just going to try this to figure out why they want us to do it. Now we know we can do it, but we still don’t know why, and I, for one, really don’t want to get caught out here.”
Rush looked at Sam. “Tick-Tock?” he asked. Mackenzie flashed him a look of annoyance but said nothing.
“She’s right,” Sam admitted reluctantly. “We still have time to clean up in here and not get caught, but we need to get going.”
“OK,” Rush acknowledged. Kaitlyn walked back to the sink to retrieve the damp rag while Rush addressed the gryphon cub.
“Come here, buddy,” he said gently. He scratched the cub behind the ears for a moment before finally backing away from it, but the cub only followed him, trying now to climb into his lap.
“No, no,” Rush protested, chuckling again, and the cub looked up at him, cocking its head questioningly. “Time to go, buddy. Time to go home, OK? Go home.” Rush pointed toward the portal, and the cub looked at it obediently and then looked back at Rush.
“That’s right, boy. Go home. Understand? Go home now. We can play again later, OK?” Rush pointed to the portal again, and this time the cub lifted up into the air, surprising him by whistling a quick little tune and then shivering again, its fur and feathers bristling up and settling back down just like before. The shiver had caused it to fall about a foot through the air, but it caught itself easily with a downstroke of its wings and then glided toward the portal, glancing back at Rush over its shoulder to screech a final goodbye, and then thrusting its beak into the darkness, slowly pushing itself back through until it finally disappeared.
“See ya, buddy,” Rush said quietly.
With a sigh, Kaitlyn knelt by the edge of the chalk circle and wiped the rag across one of the runes. Immediately, the portal shuddered, shimmering in the air for just a brief moment and then vanishing without a sound.
36
Instructor Report
“So, what went wrong this time? Where are my results? Do you have any idea how much pressure I’m feeling from above?”
“I believe that I do, yes.”
“Is that supposed to be funny? Because, trust me, you don’t. You have no piss-damn idea how much flak I’m taking. I’ve been doing my best to keep it off you and your little Pollyanna Island of Neverland, but I don’t know how much longer I can hold the shit storm at bay. Hell, I’ve been your piss-damn flak umbrella. What’s coming in from above is a lot worse than what I’ve been dishing out.”