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After we finished our snack and chugged down some water, Daphne, Rory, and I headed into the woods to answer the call of nature, so to speak All the while, though, I kept scanning the trees for that mysterious shadow I’d spotted earlier But I didn’t see or hear anything, and I didn’t get the sense that I was still being watched Maybe it had just been so us That’s what I told myself anyway, even if I didn’t really believe it
The three of us started to head back to the others when a soft whine sounded
I froze, wondering if I was only iain That sounded likeNyx
I frowned But there was no way the wolf pup could be here She was back at the academy, safe and sound with Grand that so the others back toward the trail, I veered off into the trees
"Gwen?" Daphne asked, finally noticing I wasn’t following along behind her and Rory "Where are you going?"
"Don’t you hear that? It’s cohed and put her hands on her hips "And of course you’re going to go see what it is, despite the fact that the woods are probably crawling with Reapers So to be the death of ue out at her, then headed deeper into the woods After a moment, Daphne and Rory followedI also drew Vic out of the scabbard belted to my waist
The sword yawned and slowly opened his eye "What’s going on? Are we at the ruins already? Are there Reapers for me to kill?"
"I’ into the woods, with Daphne and Rory behind me The Valkyrie had nocked an arrow in her bow, but the Spartan girl wasn’t carrying any weapons Then again, she didn’t need the and stab someone to death with it or slice open a Reaper’s throat with the edge of a frozen leaf
"You know there are bears out here, right?" Rory said "Great big grizzlies Believe me when I tell you that you do not want to come face-to-face with one of them"
"They can’t be any worse than Reapers, can they?" I quipped
Roryflat-out crazy I grinned and walked on
The cries grew louder and more plaintive the farther ent, al and knew that it couldn’t escape before we found it Finally, we crouched down behind a tree several feet away froh it sounded like a wounded aniht when she said the forest was probably full of Reapers, and this could easily be one of their traps
"What do you want to do now?" Daphne asked "Because whatever that is, it doesn’t sound happy"
"I’ll go see what it is," I whispered "If it is a Reaper trap, et to the ruins Cover htenedan arrow to co happened, I slowly started one about ten feet when I stepped into a s and finally spotted the source of the cries - a baby gryphon
At least, I thought it was a baby It was still about three feet long from its beak to the fuzzy tuft on the end of its lion’s tail The gryphon’s fur and wings were a beautiful bronze that glih the trees to the forest floor Its eyes were the sah its beak and claere as black and shiny as ebony
The gryphon caught sight of h it narrowed its eyes and sank down onto its haunches, like it was getting ready to leap on me and tearwith the creature, but then I realized why it was crying - its back right foot was caught in a ht word This thing had so many rows of teeth that it looked ryphonthe trap to snap shut, and the rows of sharpA thick ryphon fro away The creature must have been there a while because the blood in its fur had already matted
"It’s okay," I called out to my friends "It’s not a Reaper"
Leaves crunched, and Daphne and Rory moved to stand beside ust evident in her voice "It’s like a bear trap, but with more teeth Reapers leave theryphons Fenrir wolves too The le, the deeper the teeth tear into your body"
The baby gryphon’s tail started lashing from side to side at the sound of Rory’s voice, and it studied each one of us in turn Its bronze eyes narrowed that rew very still, except for its tail, which kept whipping froh the air, its claws ai for my throat -
But the chain attached to the trap jerked it back, and the gryphon thuround about five feet in front of me The creature screeched with surprise and pain, but I could also hear the faintest whiryphon was scared, tired, and hurting I knew the feelings Reapers and their cruel sche that to you