The dark forest blurs past her, the wind whizzing by at speeds that Emily has only ever reached on horseback. And that one time that she was flung through the canopy by all of those monkeys. If it wasn’t for the fact that he was taking them ever deeper into the forest, with no signs of stopping, Emily might have found the experience rather exhilarating. His soft, downy feathers provided the perfect cushion for her backside, and his rapid gait made the ride a lot smoother than Emily expected. All in all, she would rank it higher on the comfort and excitement scale than horse riding.

  It was just too bad that she knew that the moment she let go of his beak, he’d swing his rubbery neck around and peck chunks of flesh out of her. That kind of ruined the fun of it, just a little bit.

  Emily peels open her eyes and takes in the forest blurring past her. She pulls herself closer to Blue’s neck, squeezing his body with her thighs in an attempt to get him to stop.

  “Blue, stop! We need to get back to the river!”

  But Blue did not stop. On the contrary, it seems like Blue is actually speeding up, in defiance of what the pesky thing clinging to his back wanted.

  Emily hesitates for a moment, not wanting to hurt the poor, frightened baby, but ultimately decides that she’s had quite enough of this and she would like to get off of Mr. Blue’s Wild ride.

  “Sorry, boy. I hope this doesn’t hurt…”

  Emily tugs on Blue’s beak one handed, trying to pull his neck back like reins on a horse. His head moves to the side instead, and Blue suddenly swerves to the right, almost flinging Emily off as his body follows the direction of his head. Emily shrieks in terror as she almost feels her legs unravel from Blue’s body, her thighs unable to take the strain. She feels her hand slipping from his beak and redoubles her efforts to keep holding on, her hand pulling his beak to the other side and causing Blue to swerve suddenly in that direction.

  The sudden change in direction pulls Emily securely back onto Blue’s back, and she wraps her legs around the base of his neck, taking a moment to breathe deeply and control her beating heart. Realization dawns like a light spell activating in her mind, and Emily grasps onto Blue’s head with both hands, relying on her thighs to keep her on him.

  She slowly but surely turns Blue’s head to the right, and Blue follows it, his gait slowly easing them towards the right until they’ve completed a long, wide loop around the trees. Emily puts his head centered once again, and he keeps running straight. A little turn to the left, and he goes left.

  Bracing herself, she sharply tugs his head to the right, and he skids hard in that direction in an attempt to follow where his head is going.

  Unfortunately for Blue, who normally has impeccable agility, the fat ass of his Caretaker has thrown off his balance entirely, causing his legs to crumple underneath him and the two of them to fall hard onto the unyielding, loamy ground.

  Emily skids hard onto her backside, the impact of the ground hitting her tailbone sending a shooting pain up her spine. She lets out a pained hiss as Blue comes to a stop nearby, panting for breath and clearly exhausted from the run that he did. The poor ostrich’s chest rises and falls like a bellows, as he lays there, refusing to move.

  Emily sits up and rubs her pained butt, taking a painful step towards her little guy. She takes a deep breath and steps once again, the shooting pain up her spine a little less from the last step.

  “Hey, it’s okay. It’s done now. I’m sorry that I scared you like that.” Emily coos to Blue, feeling guilt well up in her chest at the sight of him. “Just take a bit of a break, catch your breath, and we’ll start moving when you’re ready. There’s no rush.”

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  Emily stretches her back, feeling it pulse with pain. She lets out a loud groan, then slumps forwards, feeling her back pinch. Blue kicks out his legs weakly, his claws scratching against the dirt in obvious fatigue.

  “No no, don’t try to get up. It’s okay.” Emily tells Blue in a soothing voice. “You need to rest. I’ll watch over you, and make sure nothing tries to –”

  Something large drops from the canopy with an eagle’s screech, knocking over Emily and landing heavily onto the still-prone form of Blue. Emily sees a flash of an eagle’s head and a lion’s furry body, before the massive wings on the creature’s back blocks her sight. The thing grasps Blue in eagle-like front talons, and Blue lets out a screech of surprise and pain, his head lifting up as fast as lightning and biting down on the thing’s foot ineffectually, lacking the energy to put some significant force to the act.

  Blue’s cry of pain pierces through the shock of what just happened in Emily’s mind, adrenaline and rage pumping through her system at the sight of this thing taking its chance to pounce on her poor, defenceless baby while she’s there. She sees the thing savaging Blue on the ground, swiping at him with those vicious front claws, and for the first time in her life, she sees red.

  Not holding back at all, she floods her arms with mana, guiding them through the correct pathways in a torrent that leaves her arms burning with the force of a thousand suns. She takes aim at the thing that dares to try and turn her ostrich into a meal, and unleashes the torrent in twin bolts that smacks hard into the thing, knocking it back from Blue and causing Emily’s vision to go white from the searing, all-encompassing pain.

  The griffin turns towards Emily and lets out a screech, lifting its wings in the air threateningly towards the mage and backing up slowly from her. Its feathers are ruffled, and the fur on its back is standing up on edge. The two lock eyes, neither one of them willing to be the first to look away, as Emily takes a deep breath through the pain.

  For a moment, nothing happens. The griffin is wary, now, having once dismissed Emily as not a threat and having been proven wrong. It screeches at her but doesn’t attack, unsure as to what exactly hurt it so badly and unwilling to try and figure it out. Emily waits for the griffin to make a move, her heart racing and the fire of mana being forced through unsaturated channels burning hot in her arms.

  The griffin breaks first, the uncertainty of the threat in front of it making it wary and unwilling to risk another confrontation. With a final, threatening cry towards Emily, it turns around and grabs Blue in its claws, flapping its wings in an attempt to make an escape with its prize in tow. It leaps powerfully in the air and manages to flap once, Blue hanging limp in its grasp.

  Emily takes a deep breath, bending the mana to her will once again and forcing it where she requires it to go. She sweeps her hand out in front of her and sends a powerful blade of wind careening right for the baby snatcher. It slices deep into its wing, causing the limb to go limp.

  The griffin drops to the ground, letting go of Blue in order to catch itself before it lands in a painful pile on the floor. Giving up its prey, it sprints off into the forest, deciding that Blue’s too risky for what it’s worth.

  Emily watches it disappear through blurry vision, as tears streak down her face. She’s never cast a spell that quickly before, and her body was not prepared for it. She can feel the toll it took on her channels, forcing them unnaturally wider and more brittle.

  But as she watches Blue get up from the ground, his legs shaky but the not-so-little guy ultimately fine with some minor scratches and bruising, she can’t help but feel like it was all worth it.

  Blue stumbles towards Emily, letting out a tired chirrup before collapsing, curling around her and taking a deep, relieved breath. He cowers underneath her, shivering slightly but slowly recovering once again.

  Emily lets out a relieved sigh, scratching Blue’s feathery head and being pleasantly surprised when for the first time, he doesn’t snap his beak at her.

  “Griffins. In the damn forest.”

  Emily lets out a chuckle, the adrenaline from the fight leaving her a shaking mess. She stops rubbing Blue’s head, thinking deeply to herself. “And Nora didn’t think it was possible. I swear, she brought it upon us. That damn jinx.”

  Deep within the forest, trying to sleep but miserably failing to, Nora sneezes.

  “We’ll have to keep our eyes on the sky from now on, I guess…”

  Blue lets out a deep sigh, cracking open an eye and looking at Emily.

  “Sorry. I’ll keep going. Just rest.”

  She carries on scratching his head once again, and he closes his eyes in satisfaction. Emily feels a well of emotions building up at the sight of it, protectiveness mixed with affection.

  “That’s it. I’ll keep you safe.”

  And for once, even though she can’t make a lick of sense as to what Caretaker is saying, Blue understands them and feels safe and secure once again.

  Emily sighs.

  “Just… Don’t take too long to recover. We have sooo far to walk…”