And though it seemed things couldn’t get any worse, the foursome was then lifted off the ground by the force of the wind and hovered a few feet in the air. Tashi strained to touch her fingers to the earth. Sam’s leg began to hurt from the weight of Vantana and Chriscanis, and he couldn’t stop himself from wailing in pain.
“Sorry, buddy!” the doctor screamed over the deafening roar.
Tashi finally made contact with the ground. It was just the tip of her finger, but it was enough. A surge of electricity shot through her body and into the staff, sending a shower of sparks soaring upward and arcing across the sky. The snow lions’ roars abruptly stopped. Everyone slammed back to the ground and Chriscanis climbed over the edge to safety. Tashi quickly got to her feet and faced the snow lions.
She growled as she pointed to herself. The snow lions bowed their heads and scurried backward, clearing a path to the doors. Tashi turned to the group.
“Stay close to me and do not look the snow lions in the eye, do you understand?”
“Sure,” Sam responded confidently.
“Not you,” Tashi replied. She pointed to Dr. Vantana and Chriscanis, who didn’t care for being scolded by a child yet again.
“Of course,” Chriscanis responded, annoyed.
Tashi continued forward and the others followed closely. When she reached the door, she twirled her shekchen and touched the tip to the stone surface. The doors rumbled and slowly creaked open. She fired her shekchen as she stepped inside, and the discharge split in several directions. The bolts of energy ignited torches that lined the cavern’s walls and illuminated the space. The cave was massive, a voluminous hall carved out of shimmering rose quartz and packed with gold. Gold cups, gold coins, gold everything. Sam had never seen so much gold, and yet with all the treasure surrounding him, his eyes were immediately drawn to the center of the room. There was a pedestal of rose quartz rising from the gold-covered floor. Atop the pedestal rested a golden object.
“Is that…” Sam stepped closer to get a better look, and glanced at Tashi, who nodded. The golden object was the gryphon’s claw. The magical claw that had cursed humanity for over two thousand years. Sam considered the immense power that sat just a few feet from him. If the claw was somehow destroyed, then mythical creatures who had been hidden from human view would suddenly be visible.
“Well, I’ll be,” Dr. Vantana muttered as he stepped closer. “Take a look at this, Chris.” But Chriscanis was more interested in the copious amounts of gold scattered about.
“I’m assuming that stealing the gryphon’s gold would spell certain doom?” the cynocephalus asked wryly as he examined a golden goblet.
“No,” Tashi replied nonchalantly. She picked up a gold coin and hurled it out of the cave. The instant the coin passed the stone doors, it exploded into dust and vanished. “Only a gryphon can remove the gold from its lair.”
“Hey, the warming bells are off,” Sam observed when he saw the coins pass the entry.
“We’re not seeking the claw anymore,” the doctor reminded him.
“Oh yeah, I guess that’s right,” Sam said.
The doctor moved in closer and studied the relic. “Looks perfectly fine to me,” he concluded.
“As Yeshe foresaw,” Tashi said. She pulled down her jacket collar, revealing her entire face and reminding Sam how young she was.
“Now what?” Chriscanis asked.
The doctor stepped away from the claw and back toward the entrance. He paced on the only ground not carpeted in treasure.
“So why would the gryphon be worried about it if it was sittin’ pretty in his cave?” Vantana asked, puzzled.
Sam’s eyes were on the doctor, but he suddenly spotted something odd behind Vantana. He tried to alert the others but only managed a faint “Um…”
“I don’t know, mate. Doesn’t make a lot of sense to me,” Chriscanis piped up. Sam’s eyes had now grown into saucers. Tashi noticed.
“Um…guys?” Sam tried again to get their attention.
“False alarm, perhaps?” Vantana suggested.
“Dr. Vantana?” Sam said loudly, finally getting the doctor’s attention.
“Yeah, Sam?”
“The warming bells…they’re lighting up,” Sam said as he pointed behind Vantana to the entryway, where the orange glow had returned.
“Not now, Sam,” Vantana replied. “I’m more interested in why—”
“We’re no longer seeking the claw,” Tashi stated, before dropping into an attack stance, her shekchen at the ready.
Dr. Vantana froze and sniffed the air, immediately looking grim. “Oh gre—” He didn’t get a chance to finish. A monstrous white creature leapt through the entryway, smashing into the doctor and sending him careening across the cavern. He slammed into Chriscanis and the two landed in a heap. The creature roared as he stood up. It was about eight feet tall and covered in silver fur, like a bleached version of Carl, but angry. Really angry. It had steel-blue eyes, three-inch claws, and a mouth filled with razor-sharp teeth, which it was currently baring.
“Yeti!” Tashi cried as she wielded her shekchen and prepared for battle. The yeti spotted the pedestal and headed directly for it. Only Sam London stood between the magical gryphon’s claw and one of the fiercest creatures ever to walk the earth.
* * *
SL001-180-70
SUBJ: Tashi of Kustos (SA)
SOURCE: BG
DATE: ********
It was time for Tashi to die. The Guardians called it the Age of Mortality, when young warriors faced their greatest fear—death. The ritual, if it could even be called that, was different for every individual. In fact, no Guardian, not even the elders, knew exactly when a warrior would be tested or what form the test would take. But it was a critical rite of passage for any Guardian seeking to take his or her place among the protectors of the gryphon’s claw. Tashi was still a few years behind the average age when most would face the test, but her skills were already well advanced beyond those of her peers. She had pressed the village elders to permit her to participate in dangerous training missions in an attempt to increase the likelihood she would “find” her test sooner. The elders denied Tashi’s appeal and cautioned her hubris.
* * *
By the time the three strangers entered Kustos, Tashi was deeply frustrated. She had become one of the most skilled fighters in the village, yet everyone still treated her like a child. So it was quite the surprise when the village elder, Yeshe, called on her to step forward. The youngest stranger of the trio had been injured, apparently gravely, and Tashi was to heal him. Tashi immediately recognized that healing the boy would be her test. There was no mistaking it. The Age of Mortality had been reached, and Sam London was Tashi’s ticket to fulfilling her life’s ambition. She would rescue him from the brink of death and risk her own in the process. She was reminded of an old saying Yeshe often repeated: “Be careful what you wish for.”
Fear was an alien concept to the Guardians. Tashi had never been scared, so it was difficult for her to recognize the feeling when it appeared. The sensation was one of overwhelming dread, as though something could—or rather would—go terribly wrong. The boy’s life and Tashi’s future were hanging in the balance, not to mention the fact that the gryphon was depending on her. After all, he had chosen to appear to Sam London above so many others. This had to mean the boy was important to the protection of the claw. And protecting the claw was a Guardian’s sworn duty.
Tashi was also keenly aware that once she undertook this healing, her life and Sam London’s life would never be the same. There was a reason Guardians who reached the Age of Mortality were not tested through healings: they created an unbreakable bond between the healer and the healed, a connection so powerful it became part of the Guardian’s existence from that day forward. When Guardians faced death and beat it protecting the gryphon’s claw, their bond with the creature was complete. Their instincts were instantly altered, and their lives would be forever dedicated to the
claw’s protection.
But this was different. Saving Sam would create an enduring connection with him, as well as with the gryphon. It would mean that in addition to Tashi’s mission to protect the claw, Sam’s life from this point on would fall under her guard. Once the healing had occurred and the link had been established, protecting Sam would become instinct. It would be a part of her life and a part of his, for as long as they lived. Considering he was not a Guardian and did not live in Kustos, she wondered how this would be achieved. But that was a consideration for another time; she first had to save him.
Tashi had never known pain like the kind she experienced when she healed Sam’s injuries. Of course, like many young Guardians, Tashi had been hurt in trainings, but she had never been gravely injured. This feeling was understandably unique. When she absorbed Sam’s wounds, she could feel her life energy being drained from her body. One moment she was staring into his eyes and completing the transfer, and the next her world turned pitch-black.
At its heart, the test the Guardians faced was a mental battle, a war between their perceived reality and their beliefs. It was no secret that the gryphon’s blood pulsed through Guardian veins, and that as long as the claw was under their guard, they were protected from death and disease. That was part of the gryphon’s magic. Unfortunately, the only thing standing in the way of that magic was the Guardians’ all-too-human mind. If they didn’t fully believe or accept the power the gryphon had bestowed upon them centuries earlier, their sense of mortality grew stronger, clouded their thoughts, and put their lives in danger.
Tashi struggled to trust in the gryphon’s power when bleeding from a fatal wound. A voice in the back of her head whispered, What if? Those two simple words were worse than any injury because they meant her faith was fading. At that moment, Tashi’s body was rocked with a wave of excruciating pain. She was instantly overcome by a sense of despair and hopelessness. Her body went numb and her vision clouded like steam on a windowpane. Her ears were bombarded by a piercing ring, which spiraled upward in volume until it abruptly cut out and she was left listening to the loud, steady thump of her heartbeat. But the beat began to weaken. Tashi’s pulse turned softer and slower. The once-powerful drumbeat that marked her life was fading as though the drummer were marching farther and farther away. And then it was heard no more. Tashi of Kustos had succumbed to her injuries.
The darkness that followed was terrifying but brief. In a brilliant flash, the black void turned a gleaming white. As the brightness subsided, Tashi could see she was now standing on a rocky cliff in the middle of a vast desert. She recognized her surroundings as those from a dream she had—the dream of Sam London meeting Phylassos. What surprised her even more than finding herself in this place was the fact the gryphon was standing just a few feet away. Tashi dropped to her knees in reverence to the king of magical creatures.
“Rise, young warrior,” the gryphon said in a low growl. Tashi climbed slowly to her feet, her head still bowed. “Look upon me, Tashi of Kustos.” The warrior finally lifted her head and met Phylassos’s gaze. “Are you fearful?” he asked. Tashi shook her head adamantly. “Yet here you are. Do you not believe in me? In my power?” She shook her head again. “Yet here you are,” the gryphon wryly repeated. Tashi’s face registered a realization.
“Wait…,” she responded, confused. “Am I…?” The gryphon nodded. Tashi became instantly agitated. Her brow furrowed and her body tensed. “No!” she exclaimed. “No, that is not possible!” She pounded a fist against her chest in defiance. “This heart shall beat again,” she declared. “It must.”
“Why must it?” the gryphon inquired.
“Because Guardians cannot die. You have deemed this so.”
“Have I?” the gryphon said coyly. Tashi nodded. “But death is powerful, is it not?”
“Not as powerful as you,” she replied.
“Are you certain? Mustn’t each of us face the King of Terrors? The final enemy of all flesh?” the gryphon posited, a twinkle in his big green eyes.
Tashi stood taller and spoke the words she had grown up reciting every day of her young life: “I am a Guardian of the gryphon’s claw. Since the day of Alexander’s folly, we have sworn to serve the mighty Phylassos, father of all gryphons and protector of magical creatures. The gryphon’s blood flows through our bodies. Pumps our warrior hearts. It grants us power over death. The strength to choose when we fight our last battle. And today is not my day.” Tashi stressed those last six words with a steadfast and steely determination. The gryphon smiled when she was finished, and it was at that instant the young warrior felt a thump in her chest. It was a pounding beat that shook the ground beneath her feet. It was followed by another and another, until her heart was pumping once again.
“I shall live to protect the gryphon’s claw,” Tashi vowed with fearless resolve.
The gryphon leaned in and whispered loudly, “But that, Tashi of Kustos, is not your life’s only purpose.”
Tashi considered Phylassos’s words. “Sam,” she said. “Sam London.”
The gryphon nodded. “There will come a time when you must choose between the safety of the boy and my own.” Tashi’s eyes widened with concern. “When that moment comes, you will know who to choose,” Phylassos added.
“But…” Tashi needed more than that. She was sworn to protect both; how could she ever choose between them? She woke with a start to find herself in the barracks, her anxious parents sitting vigil nearby. They leapt to their feet, overjoyed that their daughter had succeeded. The test was complete. Tashi had overcome death and could take her rightful place as a Guardian of the gryphon’s claw. They brought her her favorite food and drink to celebrate, but Tashi was too distracted by thoughts of her vision and the prophetic words of the gryphon. She wondered about this future choice she would be forced to make and prayed for the wisdom to make it. One thing was certain: she and Sam London were now bound for all eternity—a truth with implications she didn’t yet fully understand.
—
Sam had heard the expression “deer caught in headlights” before. In fact, he had witnessed its inspiration one night when he and his mom were returning from a movie. The road was shrouded in a thick, soupy fog, and they pulled around a corner to find a deer standing in the middle of the street. Ettie slammed on the brakes and brought the car to an abrupt halt just a few feet from the terrified creature. It stared into the light, frozen like a statue. Finally, Ettie honked the horn and the animal scurried off into the woods.
Sam London currently found himself playing the part of the deer in that scenario; the car was a yeti, also known as an abominable snowman. Sam’s muscles clenched and his heart raced. He had slipped into fight-or-flight mode, and it was time to choose. Fortunately, the decision was made for him. A streak of lightning flashed across the cave ceiling. In an instant, Tashi was standing in front of Sam, crouched in a defensive posture. She spun her shekchen and met the yeti’s chest with the weapon’s tip. A charge shot through the staff and into the creature. The yeti vibrated off the ground and was then propelled backward twenty feet. Tashi spun around to face Sam, whose jaw was still in a fully dropped position.
“That was awesome!” Sam exclaimed. He was growing more impressed with Tashi with each passing hour. But she wasn’t fishing for a compliment; she was all business.
“Run!” she commanded.
Sam wasn’t about to argue. He turned to make a getaway, but as he did, he had a sudden realization. Everyone else was doing their part to protect the claw—Dr. Vantana and Chriscanis were in a heated battle with two other yetis near the cave entrance, while Tashi had just rescued him from certain death. But what was Sam contributing to this struggle? The answer was nothing. Whether it was the gargoyles, the redcaps, or the recent yak debacle, Sam London seemed to always need rescuing. It was high time he did something heroic, he thought. Without a moment to lose, Sam reached up and snatched the gryphon’s claw off the crystal podium, then ran for the innermost part of the c
ave.
Sam glanced back toward the others as he leapt over the treasures scattered on the cave floor. He had noticed that things had gotten eerily quiet all of a sudden and was curious to see whether they had won the battle. That wasn’t the case. The yetis had simply ceased fighting, and just stood there, motionless. Tashi, Vantana, and Chriscanis were puzzled.
“Looks like they may have had enough,” the cynocephalus suggested.
The three yetis pivoted toward Sam. Sam peered down at the golden claw in his clutches and had a frightful realization.
“Uh-oh,” he muttered.
The creatures charged him. There was no escape; he had gotten himself cornered, and the yetis were closing quickly with long, leaping strides. Sam spotted the doctor running behind the monsters.
“Throw it, Sam!” the doctor ordered. “Throw it!”
Sam cocked his arm back and launched the claw toward the doctor. It didn’t come close. The claw spun through the air and nailed one of the yetis in the head. Luckily, the blow dazed the beast long enough for Vantana to scoop up the precious relic and toss it to Chriscanis.
“Sorry!” Sam yelled.
“If we live, remind me to teach you how to throw,” the doctor offered as he scrambled away from the yetis.
The creatures spun around and headed for the claw’s new possessor. Chriscanis waited until they were right on him, then threw it to Tashi. She made a leaping catch worthy of the major leagues and dropped back down into her combat stance.
“I’m open!” the doctor announced, waving his hands.
Just as the yetis were about to pounce on the Guardian, she shot the claw to the doctor, then used her shekchen to sweep the legs of the creatures as they headed toward Vantana. They got back to their feet and continued their pursuit. The battle quickly devolved into a high-stakes game of Monkey in the Middle in which the monkey was a bloodthirsty yeti. But it didn’t take long for them to wise up.
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