Midnight Frost

lunged forward, hooked his beak through Ran’s net, and pulled Logan away from me. One moment, I had my arm around the Spartan’s waist. The next, the entire net was dangling from the gryphon’s beak, with Logan swinging back and forth like he was relaxing in a summer hammock.
    The gryphon gave me a long, almost pointed look, then darted off the trail and into the trees.
    I was so stunned that I stood there for a moment. Then, the reality of the situation hit me.
    “Hey!” I shouted. “Come back here with him!”
    But the gryphon ignored me and moved deeper into the forest, taking Logan with him. I drew Vic out of my scabbard and plunged into the trees after them.
     
    I’d thought the gryphon might spread his wings wide and soar up into the sky, but instead, the creature loped through the forest at a slow, steady pace, like a lion running through the plains of Africa, despite the fallen trees, rocks, and other obstacles that littered the forest floor. I followed as fast as I could, not caring that my boots slipped in the snow with every step and that I was in danger of falling and breaking a leg. All I could think about was Logan and how I couldn’t let him get eaten by the gryphons.
    Apparently, the baby gryphon thought this was some sort of game because the creature hopped through the snow right beside me, occasionally letting out little screeches of excitement. Well, I was glad someone was having a good time because I certainly wasn’t.
    I don’t know how far back into the trees we’d gone when the adult gryphon finally stopped. The creature stared at me another second before plunging into a dark opening that led into some sort of cave. The baby gryphon let out another happy screech and followed the older creature into the darkness.
    I sucked down a breath and raced after them. Yeah, maybe running blindly into a cave wasn’t the smartest thing to do, but I couldn’t leave Logan to the gryphons’ mercy—or lack thereof.
    So I ran forward and found myself in an enormous cavern. The walls were made out of some shiny, reflective, phosphorescent rock that gave the interior a soft, golden glow, almost as if there were lanterns flickering in the stone. The ceiling rose a hundred feet above my head, while piles of pine needles and dried summer grasses lined the floor inside, stretching from one side to the other like the flowers in the courtyard ruins. It was also surprisingly warm in the cavern—much warmer than it should have been—and I sighed in relief as the higher temperature chased away the chill that had sunk into my bones.
    Too bad the gryphons were waiting for me.
    There must have been a dozen of the creatures in the cavern, and before I realized what they were doing, they all crowded around me, forming an unbreakable ring and cutting me off from the exit. My steps slowed, then stopped, and I looked from one creature to the next, expecting them to leap forward and tear into me, the crazy Gypsy girl who’d been stupid enough to run right into the middle of their nest.
    “Um, Gwen?” Vic asked. “You know how not good this is, right?”
    “You just better hope they don’t like to eat shiny things too,” I muttered.
    But instead of chomping down on me, the baby gryphon skipped over and put his head against the back of my leg, nudging me forward. I swallowed again, but all I could do was go where he wanted me to.
    The baby kept pushing at me until I was near the back of the cavern. The adult gryphon who had grabbed Logan was there, standing next to a series of shallow pools. The surface of the water gleamed like a coin under the golden glow from the rocks, adding to the airy, enchanted feel of the cavern.
    The gryphon had laid Logan down next to one of the pools of water. A bit of steam rose from the surface, and I cautiously stepped forward, pulled off my glove, leaned down, and dipped my hand into it. To my surprise, the water was warm, and I realized that the cavern must house some sort of natural hot springs—and that maybe the gryphons didn’t plan on eating us after all.
    “You didn’t bring us here to hurt us, did you?” I asked the adult gryphon as I straightened back up. “You brought us here to keep us warm . . . to save us from freezing to death in the storm.”
    The gryphon nodded, agreeing with my words. I hesitated, then slid Vic back into his scabbard, pulled off my other glove, and slid them both into a pocket on my snowsuit. Slowly, I walked toward the gryphon and