Close Encounters of the Magical Kind

by Jeffrey M. Poole

  “Yeah. With you so far.”

  “Good. Were the griffin cubs there, too?”

  “Yes, you healed them. I watched you do it.”

  “Gingko. You’re getting gingko for Christmas.”

  “Bite me,” Steve scoffed. “What’s your point?”

  “The babies didn’t arrive until after I did, which means?”

  Steve sobered as his smug smile vanished from his face.

  “Oh. Damn. I forgot about that. I guess that means their nests weren’t around here.”

  “Very good, Einstein.”

  “There’s no need to be rude,” Steve grumped.

  “You were rude to me first,” Sarah pointed out. “For no reason. You owe me an apology.”

  “Fine. You were right, I was wrong. Happy?”

  “And?”

  “And what?”

  “What did we agree would happen when you deliberately act like an ass?”

  Steve sighed, “You’d get a 10 minute back massage.”

  “It was 20. Nice try.”

  “Fine. So where are their nests? Do you remember?”

  Sarah shook her head, “No. They never did say, only that they were nearby.”

  “So how do we get their attention?” Steve asked. “How can we get them to come to us?”

  “I don’t know,” Sarah admitted. “Maybe I could just teleport around a few times and see if I can spot them anywhere.”

  “Don’t waste your jhorun,” Steve told her as he strode by her. “I’ll get their attention.”

  Alarmed, Sarah grabbed her husband’s arm and pulled him to a stop.

  “What are you going to do?”

  “Watch.”

  Her husband ignited both hands and moved at least fifty feet away. A large fireball swirled into existence in his right hand. Steve cupped the fireball with his other hand and began moving his hands apart, as though he was stretching the chaser like pizza dough.

  Sarah watched the fireball grow larger. As soon as it was the size of her inflated exercise ball it was released into the air. It sped straight up and then exploded nearly ten seconds later. The forest fell silent. Kytes retreated to their nests. Insects sought shelter under anything that could provide cover. Sarah was certain she would have been able to hear a hushed conversation from the other side of the clearing.

  “That’s your plan? Scaring the crap out of every living thing around here? Were you planning on making the griffins faint right out of their trees?”

  Steve clasped his hands behind his back and slowly walked back to his wife.

  “Give it a moment. They should be here shortly.”

  “In your dreams, buddy boy. The only thing you just did was drive them away.”

  “I’ll bet you they make contact before I make it back to you,” Steve challenged.

  Sarah smiled, thinking instantly of the massage she would be receiving tonight. Wouldn’t it be nice to make it 40 minutes instead of 20? This was like taking candy from a baby. Perhaps she shouldn’t take advantage of him? Then again, she was in the mood for a little candy.

  “I’ll take that bet. Double or nothing tonight.”

  “For the massage? It’s a bet.”

  “A 40 minute massage,” Sarah breathed, smiling profusely. “That’s going to feel wonderful.”

  “I still have about 15 feet to go before I’m back there,” Steve cautioned. “Don’t get cocky.”

  “I still have some of that lavender scented oil in our cottage back in R’Tal. I think that will do nicely.”

  However, before her husband had finished walking back to her, they both heard the tell-tale squawk of a griffin.

  “Damn,” Sarah softly swore. “You got lucky. Boo. I was totally looking forward to a massage tonight. My back has been aching.”

  Steve approached and squeezed her shoulders. He leaned down to peck her on the cheek.

  “Don’t worry, babe. I’ll give you one anyway.”

  “And that’s why I love you so much. How did you know the griffins were on the way?”

  “Because I saw them in the distance before I detonated that large chaser. There’s no way they didn’t see it.”

  Sarah laughed, “You cheater. No wonder you were so confident. I should have known you had a trick or two up your sleeve.”

  She and her husband spotted the griffin circling high above their heads. Then they noticed a second. And a third. Within moments over a dozen griffins were circling high overhead and from the sounds of their squawks, they weren’t happy.

  One of their number, a griffin that was larger than any they had seen before, tucked its wings and dove straight for them. Sarah dropped straight to the ground while Steve leapt to the right.

  “Oh, hell no,” Steve spat as he rolled to his feet. “We aren’t doing this again. We need to… Look out!”

  A second griffin swooped by dangerously close, causing them to once more dive to the ground.

  “They’re supposed to be our friends,” Steve grumbled. “Why are they attacking?”

  “They’re diving again!” Sarah cried. “What do we do? I don’t want to hurt them.”

  Steve looked up at the diving griffin, ignited his hands once more, and blasted a huge wall of flames straight up. Sarah watched the diving griffin flap its wings in a frantic attempt to avoid the blast of fire. However, there was nowhere for the griffin to go. No matter how it twisted and turned, it would not be able to elude Steve’s flames.

  Just before contact was made the wall of fire poofed out. The griffin that was about to be deep fried scrambled away, squeaking like a frightened mouse the entire time. Sarah breathed a sigh of relief. Her husband hadn’t wanted to hurt the griffins any more than she did, so…

  A large shape fell from the sky and zipped by her, causing her to stumble to the ground and let out an alarmed scream. Steve was by her side in a flash.

  “The dumbasses are still attacking! Even after I snuffed out my flames so I didn’t toast that griffin. Did they hurt you? I swear, if they did then –”

  Sarah held out a hand and waited for her husband to pull her to her feet. She glared angrily up at the circling griffins before she came to a decision.

  “You tried it your way. Now let me try it mine.”

  “What are you gonna do?”

  “Watch and learn, dear.”

  Sarah quickly glanced up at the griffins and watched three of them dive straight for her. All three griffins suddenly squawked with surprise and froze in midair, wings extended. Sarah gave her husband a victorious smile and gently lowered the immobile griffins to the ground.

  They heard a challenging shriek. The rest of the flock was preparing to attack when a loud squawk silenced them all. A new griffin had appeared on the scene and from the looks of it, this newcomer was livid. It flew from griffin to griffin, angrily squawking and trilling the entire time. After a few moments it gently spiraled down to their location and touched down on the grass.

  It was Pheris. The griffin was definitely older, had a few white feathers here and there, but remained sprightly. Pheris turned to the two of them and bowed once.

  “My most humble of apologies. Friend Steve. Friend Sarah. Please tell me no one was hurt.”

  “I didn’t touch ‘em,” Steve began, holding both hands up, palms out. “Sarah will vouch for me.”

  “I’m not talking about them,” Pheris snapped, glancing irritably at the three immobile griffins staring back at him with pleading expressions on their faces. “I’m talking about the two of you. Are you uninjured?”

  “We’re fine, Pheris,” Sarah assured him. “We couldn’t figure out why we were attacked.”

  “There was a large explosion and Brennus, our scout, claimed we were under attack. I should have known better than to take his word for anything.”

  “No harm done, my friend,” Steve companionably told him.

  “Can I let them go?” Sarah asked, pointing at the three frozen griffins.

  “Please. I do believe
I’d like to speak to them privately.”

  Sarah motioned with her hand. The three frozen griffins finally rose to their feet and stretched out their wings. They warily eyed Pheris. One of them let out a tremulous squawk. Pheris, on the other hand, or wing as the case may be, looked up at the griffins circling about overhead and squawked loudly at them. The remaining airborne griffins grudgingly landed.

  For the next five minutes Pheris berated them. Squawks, chirps, trills, and probably every other expletive in the griffin language were used. Every single griffin, aside from Pheris, stared at the ground.

  Sitting on a nearby log, Sarah rose to her feet and pulled Steve up as well. Pheris was moving back towards them.

  “Sounds like you ripped them a new one,” Steve observed.

  “I am not familiar with that phrase,” Pheris returned.

  “It means, uh, it means you scolded them.”

  “Aye. They needed to hear it. So, friend Steve, friend Sarah, what brings you here? Is there something I can do for you?”

  “We need to ask you for a favor,” Steve began. He noticed the disgraced griffins were still within earshot and all of them had cocked their heads. They were listening. Sarah noticed, too.

  “Can we speak privately?” she asked their griffin friend.

  Pheris let off another series of squawks and trills. None of it sounded friendly. There was a mad flapping of wings as their attackers scrambled to put as much distance as possible between themselves and Pheris. Steve glanced up at the receding griffins and noticed a few with red feathers.

  “Out of curiosity, how long do griffins live?”

  “That’s what you wished to speak to me privately about?” Pheris asked, bewildered.

  “No, I was just wondering. Several of those griffins had red feathers on their wings, but not many. Most were adults.”

  “Aye, and they should know better than to act like juveniles,” Pheris angrily agreed. “To answer your question, a lifespan of 150 years is not unheard of.”

  “And how old are you?” Steve inquired. “If you don’t want to say, that’s fine. I was just curious.”

  “I am well past my century mark,” the griffin told them. “Why do you ask all these questions about our lifespans?”

  “We need to ask you about Ranal,” Sarah confided, lowering her voice to a whisper.

  Pheris’ eyes widened with surprise. He hurriedly checked the skies to see if they were alone, which they were. He clucked his tongue disapprovingly.

  “That is a subject considered to be taboo,” Pheris answered, also lowering his voice. “Why do you want to know about it?”

  “Is it a floating island?”

  Pheris’ eyes narrowed suspiciously.

  “Aye. I feel I should warn you that talking about Ranal is considered bad form. I answer now only because the two of you are friends. Everything I hereby tell you about that island is to be held in the strictest sense of confidentiality, is that understood?”

  Sarah automatically nodded, as did her husband.

  “Good. Now, what is it you wish to know? I am uncomfortable with this subject so I will only answer that which you ask and will not volunteer any unrequested information.”

  Sarah smiled, “We understand. Thank you for agreeing to talk to us about this.”

  Pheris nodded and waited quietly.

  “Why is the island considered taboo?” Steve asked in a quiet voice, even though there were no others present in the clearing besides the three of them.

  “Ranal is where griffins go to die,” Pheris hesitantly answered. “I cannot even begin to fathom why you wish to know this.”

  Sarah steeled herself and took a breath.

  “We have to find this island, Pheris.”

  The griffin’s eyes widened with surprise and he squawked with alarm.

  Sarah shrugged and helplessly held up her hands, “I’m sorry, but we have to. Somewhere on that island is an incredibly rare flower. We must find it in the next day or two.”

  Pheris squawked again. Their griffin friend was staring at them as though they had each grown a second head. After a few moments the griffin found his voice. His human voice, that is.

  “This flower,” Pheris tentatively began, “it can only be found on Ranal?”

  Sarah nodded, “Yes. It’s the only place. Is it that hard to find?”

  Pheris began pacing back and forth in front of them.

  “You must understand Ranal. It is not hard to find…”

  “Awesome,” Steve whispered, giving Sarah a smile.

  “…if you feel the Pull. Only griffins can see it…”

  “Figures,” Steve mumbled.

  “Only griffins can find it,” Pheris continued.

  Steve groaned, “Of course. Why wouldn’t they?”

  “And, most importantly, as I’ve already mentioned, only those who feel the Pull will be able to find it.”

  Steve shared a look with Sarah and raised a hand.

  “Pull? What pull?”

  Sarah suddenly groaned. She had just deduced what Pheris meant.

  “He means only those griffins that are dying will be able to find the island.”

  “I ask again, is this your desire?” Pheris said, coming to a stop before Sarah. “You wish to find Ranal?”

  “We don’t have any choice. I’m sorry. We have to.”

  “This puts me in an uncomfortable position,” Pheris admitted.

  “Why?” Steve asked, growing cautious. “Are you going to try and stop us?”

  Pheris shook his head, “No. What it means is that I must find a griffin who is about to die and ask if he or she is ready to make their final journey.”

  “Does that mean they’re making a journey to find the pull?” Steve asked, still confused.

  “No. A griffin will not feel the Pull until they’ve accepted it is their time to die. Only then will they be compelled to begin their last journey.”

  “Oh. So that means…”

  Pheris squawked with disgust.

  “It means I must discreetly inquire within the flock to see if anyone wishes to die.”

  Steve whistled, “That doesn’t sound like fun at all.”

  Pheris leveled a gaze at him.

  “Sarcasm?”

  Steve laughed, “Yes. That was sarcasm.”

  Pheris snorted once, “Good. All those years in the human castle were not wasted in vain after all.”

  “You didn’t enjoy being in the castle?” Sarah asked, appalled.

  Pheris chuckled, “That was sarcasm.”

  “No,” Sarah corrected, “that was a bad joke.”

  “Oh.”

  “Will you help us?” Sarah asked.

  “Aye. This won’t be easy. Follow me.”

  “We can’t fly,” Steve pointed out. “We can’t follow you.”

  “We might not be able to fly,” Sarah said, “but we can follow along the ground. I can keep teleporting to keep you in sight.”

  “That will do. Let us be off.”

  Pheris took to the air and flew off northeast. Sarah took her husband’s hand and teleported them as far as she could see in that direction. They appeared in the midst of huge, towering trees. Thankfully they could still see the sky. Right on cue, Pheris flew over their location. Sarah nodded and prepared for their next jump.

  “Don’t forget I don’t have Mythrin with me,” Steve reminded her, referring to his green-bladed Lentarian broadsword. “No Mythrin means no mimets. No power crystals, no recharges. If we run out of jhorun out here then we’re on our own.”

  Sarah nodded, “Got it. I’ll be careful. Besides, it’s just the two of us. A two person jump is a piece of cake.”

  Thirty minutes later husband and wife materialized in a deeper, darker part of the forest. The trees were still as tall as they were before, but were spaced a little farther apart. There had been some locations where they could barely find the room to navigate between the trees, let alone being able to watch for Pheris to fly overhea
d.

  “Do you see him?” her husband asked, looking up at the bright blue sky up above.

  “Yes. There he is. It looks like he’s descending.”

  “He’s coming down to talk to us?”

  Sarah gently turned Steve’s head until they were both looking in the same direction.

  “He’s right over there. See how he’s slowly coming down? Maybe his nest is over there. It looks like it’s no more than a quarter of a mile away.”

  “Good. That means we’re close.” This time Steve took her hand and started pulling her through the trees. “Come on, let’s go find him.”

  After walking straight ahead for ten minutes they came to another stop. There, directly ahead of them on the forest floor, were half a dozen griffin cubs. They were running circles around each other, leaping, wrestling, and even flapping their tiny wings. One of the small creatures, no bigger than a German Shepard, tripped over an exposed root and fell beak first into the lush grass covering the forest floor. It quickly regained its feet, stared straight at the two of them, and let out a shriek of pure alarm.

  It began raining griffins. Adults, juveniles, and even the females all seemingly appeared out of thin air and advanced angrily on them. One griffin, larger than any of the other adults, and missing a quarter of the feathers from its left wing, dropped out of the sky and squawked angrily at them.

  “Who are you?” the griffin demanded. The high, somewhat nasal tone prevalent in all griffin speech threatened to make Steve laugh but thankfully he kept his face comfortably parked in neutral. “What is the meaning of this intrusion? How did you find us?”

  “I am responsible,” Pheris’ voice called out. Their griffin guide landed nearby and pushed his way through his flockmates to present himself before the griffin who had to be their Prime. “I brought them here.”

  “Why?” the Prime demanded. “I know you’re fond of humans, Pheris, but escorting a pair of humans into our nests is unheard of, even for you. I am not pleased.”

  “Please, sire,” Pheris pleaded. “These aren’t just any humans. Other of their kind refer to them as ‘Nohrin’. I’ve told you about them before. May I present the fire thrower, Steve, and his mate Sarah, the teleporter?”

  The big griffin rounded on Steve.