The Conduit The Gryphon Series - By Stacey Rourke Page 0,31

around and galloped off.

Except for the snaps and hisses of the burning homes, there was silence. All the villagers’ turned to the Gryphon. He stared off after Barnabus long after the evil man vanished into the night. Sorrow clouded his eyes. From the cluster of people a young girl stepped forward. She looked about the same age as Kendall. Her slender frame seemed dwarfed by her long, mahogany locks and the new feathered appendages that fanned out behind her as she walked. The other villagers gaped at her courage as she approached the Gryphon and laid her delicate hand on his shoulder.

“Thank you for your aid. And for the gifts you bestowed on us.” With a slight nod she motioned to her wings. The Gryphon craned his head around to see her. She flinched, but didn’t shy away. “May I ask what is troubling you in the wake of our victory?”

With a deep, resonate voice the villagers’ champion spoke. “I can feel the obsession that has formed in that man at the discovery of me. He will hunt me down. Of that, I am sure. A war will follow if I am to fulfill my destiny and protect my charges.”

“And if he captures you?”

The Gryphon’s feathers ruffled, then smoothed. “If the receptacles of divinity that I guard fall into his hands the balance of good and evil would tip in favor of darkness.”

She couldn’t let him fight alone! Not after how he saved them!

As if my thoughts willed her into action, a look of steely determination overcame her dainty features. “You didn’t let us stand alone and I will not let you.”

The Gryphon snapped his beak and shook his enormous head. “No. This war will rage on long after your mortal life has ended. I have foreseen it.”

“Then my heirs shall take up the cause as well!” The girl lifted her soot covered nightgown enough to allow herself the movement needed to go down on one knee. She stretched her wings out behind her and pressed her fist over her heart. “It is my pledge to you that the O’Garren family will join you in this crusade. My people will be your warriors until we find victory or death.”

Goosebumps sprang up on my arms. I knew the name O’Garren. I had uncovered it during a genealogy project at school. A few generations later it had been changed to Garrett.

“The human spirit never ceases to amaze me. You, lass, are a shining example of that.” The Gryphon swung his impressive frame around to face her full on. “My acceptance comes with strict conditions. The first is that I will only call upon your family if all other choices are exhausted. The next—I will choose only three. One will be the Protector, to shield against danger. One will be the Guardian, to fight with raw determination. The third will be my Conduit, the chosen mortal I will channel my powers through. Together they will be warriors on Earth.”

The girl’s hair fell in a curtain around her as she bowed her head in agreement.

The scene faded away, and the fire extinguished itself down to embers.

CHAPTER 14

Gabe prowled the length of the clearing in agitation. “So because of some stupid deal an ancestor of ours, about a million times removed made, we have to fight for this half-bird, half-cat thing?”

“To over simplify a complex matter, yes.” Alaina said with a serene smile.

Gabe stopped in front of her and planted his feet. “Explain to me why this is our problem? I watched your little fire skit.” He waved his arm at the still smoldering embers. “That Gryphon’s a big, scary dude. Why does he need us to fight for him? Why can’t he fend for himself?”

Alaina’s smile vanished. Her head twitched to the side in a bird-like manner. “He is not allowed on this plan of existence. He should not have ventured here to save our town, yet he did. Believe me when I say there were repercussions for that above and beyond this matter with Barnabus. Yet he had hoped to eradicate this issue himself. Unfortunately, that was not to be. Barnabus’ obsession led him to seek help. He sought out a mysterious woman with a vast supply of mystical power. Very little is known about her, but we know she goes by the title of Countess. Rumor has it she once held regal stature until her ties to the dark arts were discovered. Children in her village went missing. It was believed she