shallow groove in the metal, but it would not break. He tried again, tilting his head to move the chain to the back of his beak where his bite would be more powerful. It tasted cold and unpleasant on his tongue, like a rock, and it was as hard as a rock. The base of his beak started to hurt, and he heard it make an ominous cracking sound. He spat out the chain and began trying to pull the manacles from his ankles. They would not budge.
“They will not break,” said a voice.
The black griffin looked up. The voice had come from somewhere to his left, but he couldn’t see anyone there. He got up and made a lunge in that direction, only to hit the rock wall of his prison. The collar drove into the tender flesh around his neck again, sending fresh waves of pain through his body. He screeched his rage and despair, and slumped down onto his stomach, tail twitching convulsively.
“They will not break, fool,” the voice resumed. “You cannot escape.”
The black griffin looked up. “You . . . griff?” he managed.
There was a weary chirp from the other side of the wall. “You chick?” the voice mocked.
The black griffin didn’t understand. “Where you?” he said.
“I am in the cage beside yours,” said the voice. “My name is Kraee.”
The black griffin listened. “What this place?”
“The Arena,” said Kraee. “We live here.”
“I want . . . fly,” said the black griffin.
Kraee hissed. “You will not fly again, black griffin.”
The black griffin got up suddenly and hurled himself toward the door at an angle. The chain snapped tight again and he fell hard, sending up a cloud of dust. “Want fly!” he screamed, struggling to get up. The chain on his forelegs had tangled itself up in his talons, and he fell again and rolled onto his side, thrashing wildly to get free. His wings jerked clumsily, unable to unfurl properly because of the manacles holding them together. His hind legs, still free, scrabbled at the dirt, the claws scraping on the iron plate beneath. He began to screech, again and again, his rage reverberating out into the enclosure beyond his cage. It roused the other griffins, and they began to screech back at him, their voices high and mocking. They only encouraged the black griffin ; he found his feet and reared up, screaming as loudly as he could. He kept on and on, while the others continued to scream, too, by now half-hysterical with pent-up rage.
There was another screech, barely audible above the cacophony, and Sefer arrived. The red griffin entered the enclosure via the archway, opening the gate that now blocked it by lifting a lever with his beak. It closed behind him and he came to the centre of the enclosure and screeched again. The sound cut across the others, and many of the caged griffins fell silent and sullenly lay back down. Others, though, continued to screech, and many threw themselves at the bars as the black griffin was doing, their chains clanking loudly.
Sefer looked around sharply, and quickly identified the black griffin as the main source of the disturbance. He darted over to the cage and bit him through the bars. The black griffin lashed out, nearly hitting him, but Sefer darted back out of the way. He lowered his head, hackles raised and tail swishing. “Be quiet, or you will suffer,” he warned.
The black griffin only paused a moment before he resumed his struggle. “Kill! Bite! Tear!” he threatened.
Sefer screeched at him. “Idiot humanless beast! I will rip out your eyes!”
“Kill!” the black griffin replied, eyes mad. There was blood all around the edges of his collar, but he didn’t seem to notice.
“He will not listen,” Kraee volunteered. “He does not know griffish.”
Sefer paused, apparently deep in thought, and then opened his beak and breathed a beam of red light. Where it struck, flames erupted. It hit the bars of the black griffin’s cage, turning them red-hot, and burned the feathers on his face. He screeched again, this time in pain and fear, and lurched toward the back of the cage. Sefer closed his beak and the fire disappeared, but the black griffin stayed where he was, hissing to himself and rubbing his beak on the ground, trying to dispel the heat.
The screeching had stopped, and all was quiet in the enclosure. Apparently satisfied, Sefer turned and loped back toward the gate. He poked a foreclaw through a gap in