Can I use the Mark on it? The question whirled in his mind, occupying his thoughts. It was a powerful, noble creature. It would make a powerful ally. More powerful than he would have dared hope so far.

  It’s not worth the risk. Unless he could sneak close enough while it was asleep. But then… was risking waking it up worth it? It would be a choice between escaping or using the Mark. We need to get out of here alive. Surviving and getting back to camp before the next objective appeared was their top priority.

  Before anyone died while they weren’t there to protect them.

  It’s not worth the risk.

  He repeated again to himself. Trying to convince himself. Trying to stave off the greed whispering at the back of his mind. It would be such a boon to have a gryphon. It could fly. It was ridiculously powerful. If only he could touch its forehead.

  His gaze lingered on the door as he fought an internal battle.

  “My brother would be over the moon, huh?” Ava sat down next to him. Her voice was low, as to not wake up Clara and Reuban. “Do you think we could pull it off?”

  Maybe. He bit his tongue. “Why haven’t you slept yet?”

  “Why haven’t you?” She showed a wry smile. “I got pretty much the same physical bonuses as you got – way more than those three.” She tilted her head towards Clara and Reuban. “I don’t get tired so easily.”

  “Figures.” Alaric forced a smile.

  “So? Do you think you can pull it off? Tame a Gryphon?” She wasn’t poking fun at him anymore.

  Alaric let out a sigh. “I don’t know. But I know it’s not worth the risk. It’s really not.” Seeing Ava’s eyes narrow he raised his eyebrows. “What?”

  “Are you trying to convince me or yourself?” She folded her arms. “You want it. You’ve been staring at the door for the last hour. We should look for a chance.”

  I want it. Desperately. It scared him a little, made him clench his hand into a fist. “I need to touch its forehead. It’s risky. If I fail…”

  “Then we run downstairs and wait.” Ava shrugged. “We won’t risk anyone’s life. But we can risk waiting here a little longer. Right?” She shot a glance at the stairs leading up.

  “Agreed.” Jason said from the middle of the stairs. He had been sitting there since they decided to wait the creature out. “We can see if there’s an opportunity.”

  “If not, we leave.” Alaric pushed the whispers of greed to the back of his mind and drowned them out with his own thoughts. “We circle to the back of the spire and take a longer path back to camp. Behind the hills and rocks.”

  “Out of the monster’s view. Good idea.” Ava nodded. “It’ll take a while though. Even if we left now, we wouldn’t make it before sundown.” She scowled and fiddled with her hair. “They’ll be worried.”

  Jason shrugged. “Nothing we can do about it. They must have gotten the system notification for the completed mission. They know we made it.”

  He wasn’t wrong.

  “There’s nothing we can do to make things faster. They’ll have to sit tight.” Alaric closed his eyes and leaned his head against the wall. The mural depicting Sophia’s fall was right in front of him, and it haunted him even with his eyes closed.

  I need to stop the same fate from befalling all of us. Had Luna and Sol not been the only two beings he took, maybe they could have fought the gryphon off. Maybe they would have been on their way back to camp already.

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  Sometime later, they heard the beat of wings, and the slam of something heavy on the upper floor balcony. Jason cowered on the stairs, only poking his head out to glance at the balcony once. “It’s resting in its nest now.” He whispered when he came back down to the first floor.

  “Now we wait. We leave when it falls asleep.” Ava glanced at Alaric. “Unless you get a chance to take it.”

  It proved to be somewhat difficult to figure out whether the creature had fallen asleep. It’s eyes were closed, wings folded neatly, and claws dug into the cloth draped over the nest made of straws and sticks. They went up the stairs, and waited, poking their heads out occasionally to listen to its breathing.

  As the sun began to crawl towards the horizon, the creature let out a low sound. It was a soft sound, reminding them of a purring cat. Its hind legs stretched, then curled again. It brushed its head against the cloth. Its beak was half open, and a pink tongue dangled down.

  It almost didn’t look dangerous. Almost.

  “Try it.” Ava mouthed. Her eyes sparkled with a mix of excitement and worry. Her fingers were clenched around the hilt of dagger. She held it so tightly her knuckles had turned white. Her gaze remained focused on the Gryphon.

  Clara nodded, albeit sheepishly. Alaric turned his gaze towards everyone else. Jason and Reuban also nodded, holding their weapons in case the monster woke up.

  It’s too risky. Why are we even considering this? Alarm bells rang in his mind as he took his glove off and slowly climbed up the stairs. He moved as quietly as he could. His elbow brushed against the wall, but the rustle didn’t seem to rouse the beast from its slumber. Holding his breath, he snuck closer.

  If I succeed… It was one damn powerful beast – much more so than Luna and Sol. It was exactly what they needed. But if I fail, we could die. The thought lingered at the forefront of his mind as he closed the last few steps of distance between them.

  He slowly reached out with his open palm. The beating of his heart felt too loud – a part of him feared the gryphon would hear it and wake up. Holding his breath, he summoned what little courage he had and placed his open palm on the forehead of the creature.

  The small feathers on the creature’s head were surprisingly soft to touch. He pressed his palm further.

  It felt as if something drained from him. He felt a tingle in his arm, going down his fingers. The Gryphon’s eyes shot wide open and turned towards him. There was a hunger in those eyes. Before he could even react, his arm went numb. The thing that drained lashed back at him. The world spun around him as the Gryphon reared its head. It’s beak opened, and it lunged at him.

  A hand grabbed his arm, pulling him back. The beast hit the archway separating the balcony from the second floor’s interior. Alaric felt himself being pulled back further. The world had only stopped spinning when the ground disappeared beneath his feet, and he rolled down the stairs.

  Someone shouted his name, but he couldn’t quite make out who. The Gryphon screeched and growled up above, clawing at the ground and slamming itself against the archway’s columns. The whole building shook whenever it slammed its body against the structure.

  “Al!” Clara rushed towards him. “Are you ok?” She quickly grabbed his hand, inspecting it for wounds.

  “I think so…” he grumbled. The world wasn’t spinning anymore, and the numbness was gone.

  “Why didn’t it work?” Ava’s sharp, panicked voice rang. “You touched it, right? What happened?”

  Before Alaric could speak up, Reuban did. “His mana wasn’t enough.” He glanced at Alaric. “Am I right? You looked like you were pretty dizzy and shaken up. The same thing happens to Victoria whenever one of her spells fail because she didn’t have enough mana.”

  “I think so…” He touched the back of his hand.

  Grey spread before him. The deep, calming blue colour was completely gone, replaced with dull grey. The two blobs of crimson floated just above his head.

  “Fuck.” Jason clenched his fist, then flinched as the building shook. “It drained your mana completely?” There was disbelief in his voice. “You had plenty too.”

  Clara sat down with a defeated look on her face, while Reuban leaned against the wall. Jason shook his head, pacing the room.

  “I suppose this is the limiting factor, then.” Ava sighed. “Choosing Enochian was clearly a mistake. You should have picked the increase to your mana. Now we know – we’ll act accordingly from now on.” Her gaze was fixed on the ground. Her calm words and relaxed posture wasn’t enough to hide her disappointment and regret.

  Enochian wasn’t a mistake. He didn’t say that out loud. There was no need to fuel the fire of regret or cause a discussion now. “Let’s rest until it falls asleep again.” Everyone seemed to accept that suggestion. He sat down with his back against the wall, closed his eyes and tried to calm his still racing heart.

  This time it didn’t work. At the very least, no one got badly wounded, and they were all still alive. He repeated that thought over and over again.

  We are still alive. Yet he still felt disappointed.

  I wanted that Gryphon.