The air in Wrath's apartment crackled with anticipation that evening, a curious mix of danger and excitement. The great blue griffin was widely known and adored throughout Nilvar, yet her audience was shockingly sparing. The bulk of that audience were her customers, and even their number was a sorry one. Only seventeen daring souls harbored the desire strong enough to face her for the chance to become griffin riders, standing in a line before the Aerie’s most feared matron and her twelve newly-hatched keets.

In the forgotten emptiness beyond the bars of her lair, the remaining attendees seated upon the straw bales were a select group comprising city dignitaries, Aerie staff, and passionate griffin enthusiasts. These were the audacious few unswayed by the memories of the first clutch's bloody and chaotic unveiling.

Among those select attendees were Erin, Leslyn, Arlis, and Kaleit, who’d been thrown together for training or punishments so often over the last six months that they naturally found themselves sitting in a row right up front.

During the first few minutes, Wrath was on her best behavior. Only one prospective rider had faced expulsion, a consequence delivered not through physical force, but merely a stern gaze and a menacing growl. Erin was pretty impressed by her newfound restraint.

Mirroring Wrath’s delicately-bobbing beak from a distance, Erin’s gaze sorted through the keets. As she’d known there would be from experimenting with her tablet, there was zero gray fluff that might indicate a blue among the twelve. No pink-skinned babies that would mean white like their father Sythe, either. There wasn’t even a sniff of red-tint in the browns or of the yellow fluff that usually meant tan, now that she was thinking about it.

Some of them were a bit more saturated in color than others, but every round, fuzzy form that waddled around and over Wrath’s deadly talons was either black or an earthy shade so dark that it was definitely going to feather out brown. Without snapping a photo, it would be impossible to tell what markings any of them would have until their feathers sprouted. Even so, neither parent had super exciting markings to pass on.

Overall the color palette was a bit of a letdown, in Erin’s oh-so-humble opinion. Maybe something to do with Wrath’s advanced age?

“It’s a very different experience, watching on the sidelines instead of participating,” Leslyn remarked as Wrath finally selected a brown keet, the young man reclining comfortably with crossed legs and hands resting on his straw bale. “I like it.”

Drawn back from her observations, Erin chuckled. “That’s because you don’t have a big blue mom staring you down. Our assigning was intense.” Oh, yes, she remembered well what it was like to be on the other side of those bars. Kind of like the trembling man whom Wrath was now sizing up, her beak carelessly brushing against him as she sniffed away at his clothes.

“You’ve got that right. Glad we only had to do it once.”

“Cowards. I would be in front of that nest right now, were I permitted,” Kaleit declared from his seat, casting a disdainful gaze toward the now-glaring pair.

“Only one griffin each,” Arlis yelped, turning a startled-deer stare on the older male. “That’s the rule. You know that.”

“What would you want with another griffin anyway?” Leslyn asked, barely waiting until Arlis had finished. “You can barely control Zabor as it is.”

Kaleit crossed his arms and glared at Leslyn as if he were a complete dunce. “A Captain with two griffins could be in the air for an entire battle, if he alternated them with each shift.”

“You don’t honestly think no one else has ever thought of that before?” Leslyn snorted, his tone becoming clipped and distinctly preachy in a way that made Erin wince with second-hand embarrassment. “The rules would have been changed by now if they were ever going to be. In any case, you’re not going to be a captain at all if you keep flouting them. Not even Aeriemaster Gunu takes advantage of his burden of caring for multiple griffins. He keeps to the same rules the rest of us have to follow, and never switches Sythe out during an attack.”

The dark-haired youth turned a slow, meaningful point of his finger toward the hulking blue griffin on the other side of the metal bars. “Thanks to her, there is no question that switching wouldn’t even be necessary, if you’ve a squad of animals trained to obey audible commands without a rider at all.”

There were decidedly few in the audience that evening, but those who were closest were sending disturbed glances toward the owners of the two steadily rising voices. Erin averted her eyes and kept them focused on the keets, pretending for the moment that she didn’t know either of the arguing boys. Wrath was still deliberating over the man she’d been eyeing before, her chosen keet wriggling under the careful grasp of her talons.

By now, the shorter boy’s ears were quite pink as he continued, "Perhaps you should suggest it to Gunu, then—although he'll be miles ahead of you by now. He and I and just about everyone else in Nilvar saw Wrath pull off those same crazy stunts that you did." With that, he turned up his nose at Kaleit.

Any response Kaleit would have given was cut off as Wrath broke from her flock of keets to thump the bars just a few feet in front of them, and everyone went stock-still. Erin immediately noticed that the griffin’s breath had become distinctly less fishy from months of consuming Nilvaran livestock instead of the seafood she’d hunted herself when she was living wild on Wrath Island. Still, the smell was not pleasant, nor was the look in her bright green eyes as she began to scan the four Renegades with an intense focus that set off warning bells in Erin's mind. Behind and beyond the blue, Aeriemaster Gunu, Prince Koben, and the captains were all tensed for whatever potential escapade she might attempt.

"Don't you dare," Arlis said to the mother, getting up from his straw bale to stand in front of the others. "You've broken enough rules for two lifetimes already."

The griffin let out an ugly, multi-syllable squawk that sounded uncannily like a series of human curse words, then poked her beak through the bars and snapped it as close to Arlis as she could manage. The force of the clack sent visible ripples through his dark hair, but the boy remained where he was, frowning and holding their eye contact.

Wrath certainly could have pushed her own will in any way she wished, having a plethora of potential hostages inside the cage with her if she'd thought to make use of them, but she chose to concede to Arlis when her attention was divided by one of her keets letting out a startled squeal. She grudgingly returned to her children, snarling and muttering as she went. With a disgusted scowl, she stretched out her foot and pushed the keet she’d previously singled out, sliding it in front of the man she’d thoroughly scared out of his wits.

"What was that all about?" Erin snapped, lifting both arms in an exasperated gesture. "Is Her Highness mad that we're not paying enough attention to her on her special day?"

"She's been listening to us," Arlis replied as he sat down again. "Had one ear focused on us the whole time."

Eyes narrowed, Kaleit was still watching Wrath. "She was going to offer one of us a second keet?"

"I don't think she was actually going to follow through on it.” The boy shrugged. “She just wanted to get us upset."

Leslyn’s sharp eyes rolled, and he shook his head. “As if we should have expected anything else.”

The griffin’s interruption seemed to have calmed their bickering, and they settled down to watch the rest of the event in relative peace.

When the last keet was finally presented to one of the lucky future riders, the injury count was very light, only two. Miraculously, those were accidental. Just as Phoebe’d accidentally raked Erin’s leg with a wing talon during their first meeting, both of the casualties that evening were merely minor mishaps between bonding pairs.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Frankly, Erin was a little bored, cheek long since mushed against her knuckles by the time she and her companions rose from their seats. They briefly separated just long enough to fetch their juvenile griffins for some exercise, eyes bright and paces quick.

Erin's grin widened as she entered Phoebe's private room. A significant upgrade from the communal space shared with her clutchmates up until just a few days ago, the apartment, though spartan, still managed to exude a sense of newfound luxury. Bars enclosed three-fourths of the area, creating a secure living space for the griffin, while the remaining quarter was dedicated to storage—cabinets and chests neatly organized. Erin was free to make use of the space and its containers however she saw fit. That included slapping down a cot in the corner for the occasional days when she could get Captain Tannoran to let her stay at the Aerie overnight. That scenario had happened exactly once, the day of the keets’ big move. Certainly that meant it could happen again… eventually.

Her royal blue griffin’s designated living area was surprisingly spacious and would provide ample room for the young griffin to spread her wings and pace in large circles even when she reached her future adult size. Erin marveled at the prospect of the keet she once easily held in her arms, now tall enough to stand eye to eye with her and weighing about the same as she did, growing into a magnificent creature capable of filling the generous space.

The metal-bar door, robust and imposing as the one that sealed Wrath in her own lair, stood as a tangible testament to the strength Phoebe would develop over the coming year. Erin delighted in the satisfying heft of the door as she slid it open.

A moment later, she stumbled back a few steps as Phoebe barreled through the open door and thrust her steel grey beak into the girl’s armpit, attempting to instigate a hug. Quickly, Erin extricated herself and held a palm up in front of the blue’s beak. The griffin’s response was instinctive now, obediently following her master’s hand as Erin gently eased her back by pushing the air a few inches from the end of her maw. Once Phoebe was fully inside her cage again, Erin’s hand shifted down to press on her shoulder. The griffin dropped her wings to the floor and lowered herself down until she lay comfortably on her chest, the vestigial clawed "hands" at the corners of her wings crossed over each other like a cat crossing its front paws. This would be the position she’d take many times while preparing for battle, making it much easier to get a saddle or other gear onto her back when she was full grown.

“Good girl,” Erin said, and bent to put her arms around the griffin’s neck. She was still pretty excitable at that age, but it wouldn’t be long before she developed enough self control to remember to ask for a hug, and let Erin come to her. That way, no one would accidentally get hurt buy her innocent but overly-exuberant acts.

Safety was always at the fore of a young griffin rider’s mind once the babies got big enough. While it was exhaustively repeated by Aeriemaster Gunu and General Xavara at every opportunity even now, all it really took was one or two incidents among the new recruits to permanently pound it in. Their group of fifteen had suffered a few scars and broken fingers, but thankfully nothing worse than that.

As Erin and Phoebe made their way into the corridor, Kaleit and black Zabor just happened to be stalking by. The black rudely stretched his neck out to snap at his blue sister as he passed. The female's mane feathers stood on end as she flinched with a squawk, her tufted ears pinning back and her features contorting into the griffin version of a hateful scowl.

"Keep your griffin out of Zabor’s space," Kaleit said to Erin, not even bothering to glance her way as he did so. Erin's lower lip jutted dangerously, but she held her tongue and sourly watched the pair continue on toward the exit. It wasn't worth the waste of breath.

Happily, Leslyn and Arlis appeared with the tiny fawn-feathered Valiant and the very large red Larx, both of the boys smiling brightly. Phoebe and her brothers greeted each other with the same peppy chirp and full-body puffing that they had when they were just little balls of fuzz. It was almost funnier now that they resembled small adults, their manes poofed out to a ridiculous circumference before they shook in tandem, smoothing their feathers and fur back down.

The trio of humans couldn’t help but laugh at their antics, especially when Phoebe bent to bump her forehead against Val’s in a very catlike manner and nearly knocked him over. Valiant took it in stride, fluffing up his iridescent golden fur and feathers and playfully buffeting his much bigger sister with his chest and wings.

The friendly sibling play continued until they were outdoors, the wide-open field and sky spreading out as far as the eye could see. The clear expanse above was dotted with longtime riders upon their griffins, wings spread in leisurely flight on this rare day off. The three young griffins ran off toward the rest of their clutchmates as fast as their legs could carry them, flapping their wings with frenetic glee.

Erin, Leslyn and Arlis knew better than to try and keep up with them at this age, keeping their paces to a barely-restrained walk. Arlis pointed and let out a yelp of excitement as their sprinting keets took running leaps into the air, Larx’s muscular legs taking him the highest, but Phoebe gliding the farthest distance on her long wings. Though his feathers were still sparse compared to the others, Val managed a short but surprisingly steady glide. He stumbled awkwardly upon landing and Larx went back for him, circling around behind his fawn-feathered little brother and nudging him into another all-out sprint.

That was when Arlis reached the limit of his restraint and ran ahead of his friends, eager to go play with the young griffins.

The older two made their way over to sit in the grass, enjoying the show the maturing keets were all too happy to put on for them. It wasn’t long before more familiar faces joined them—redheaded Queen Katharesa and her golden-haired wereling companion Teryn.

Before it even occurred to Erin to say a polite hello, her eyes naturally shifted over to the rectangular moonstone that hung from the golden chain around the Queen’s neck. She glanced up to see the other girl’s gaze lifting away from the heart-shaped stone Erin herself wore. When their eyes met, both girls had a wary look, searching each other’s faces. Leslyn and Teryn noticed immediately and watched them with apprehension, clearly expecting some sort of drama.

A moment later, the tension shattered as the girls simultaneously broke into laughter. Ignoring the utter confusion of their male companions, they pointed at each other’s stones with tears beginning to form in their eyes. The two young men looked at each other, then Leslyn shook his head and Teryn shrugged, flicking a catlike ear.

This went on for some time, the girls’ laughter dying down into giggles and occasional silly gestures, as though they were bizarrely pantomiming an actual conversation. All of a sudden, something set them off again, and they were cackling like barnyard hens and slapping at each others’ arms.

“Right?” Erin blurted, startling the boys out of their skins. “Of all people, I never thought he would actually try to rescue me!”

You said that out loud, you know, Katharesa giggled in her head.

“Shoot—“ Erin clamped her hands over her own mouth. I mean, shoot!

On either side of the girls, their male companions stared at them with wide eyes.

Katharesa could barely contain her laughter at the sight of them, desperately pressing her lips together. “I guess this answers your question, Erin.”

“Yeah, it’s pretty clear that these moonstones are bonded.” Katharesa's stone and hers had to be very closely connected, for it appeared that they didn't need an interpreter like Imyra in order to talk.

Are you disappointed that it wasn’t a bond between you and Coyrifan after all?

“Nah,” Erin said, again forgetting to respond in her head, “we learned the hard way that I’m not cut out to live underwater for any length of time. Besides, I’m pretty sure he and Zeriva were made for each other.”

“They’re using the stones,” Leslyn deadpanned to Teryn. “Just like Erin and the merling.”

“Wonderful,” the wereling muttered, his ears pinned back as he frowned in Katharesa’s direction. “As if I don’t have enough trouble understanding half of what she says as it is, now I’m only going to get half of the actual conversation at all.”

“I know the feeling,” Leslyn sighed.

Impishly, Erin stuck out her tongue at him, and was delighted to see Katharesa doing the same to her own companion.

Leslyn rolled his eyes and got up to go check on Valiant, trotting away toward where the juvenile griffins were romping about. Katharesa watched him go, a fraction of sobriety returning to her face. “I heard he’ll be held back from completing basic training because of the little one?” she said to Erin.

“Yeah, but don’t worry. He’ll have plenty of company. Arlis is too young to graduate this round, and I’m being held back too.”

“You?” the redhead fixed her with a confused stare. “Whatever for?”

Instead of answering right away, Erin made a theatrical flourish with her hand and finished it off by clasping her heart-shaped moonstone between her finger and thumb. “This little baby goes where you go. If you’re going off on an adventure, I guess that means I am too. Can’t really participate in basic if I’m not there for it, right?”

Katharesa’s face fell. “Wait—you mean it’s my fault?”

“Well…” A small smirk crossed the girl’s lips. “I may have gotten myself in trouble a couple of times, too. You know, sneaking off to see Coyrifan and all. They’ve gotta punish me somehow.”

“Between you and me?” Katharesa glanced back and forth, then switched back to using their newfound telepathic connection through the paired moonstones, a sneaky smile on her face. I would have done the same thing...

Their laughter was cut off abruptly as a large black bulk thundered past on all fours, an outstretched wing knocking both girls into a backwards somersault. The sound of boots thumped by seconds later, and Erin righted herself in time to see Kaleit’s back as he ran off after his awful griffin Zabor.

Zabor skidded to a stop, his talons shredding the long grass and digging into the dirt below. Kaleit went up to him with arms raised, firmly commanding him to settle down. The griffin let out an indignant screech, raising angry feathers all along the length of his spine. Someone shouted a warning—an older rider—just before the black griffin tore off in the same direction he’d come from, purposely slamming his master aside as he went. Kaleit hit the ground hard.

Zabor was out of control.