the humans on one side, those on the opposite side would pull him back. Others had run around behind him and were striking his hindquarters. He lurched forward to get away from their sticks, and the humans holding the chains immediately began pulling him toward the arched entrance. He went, fighting every step of the way, his instincts screaming at him to fight and kill.
They got him through the archway, and the gate was instantly slammed shut behind them. Up ahead there was light, and they headed toward it, bit by bit, hitting him in the sensitive spot under his beak whenever he tried to attack. The gate blocking the end of the tunnel was just large enough for him to fit through. They opened it and lodged him in the opening, which pinned his wings to his sides. There they took the manacles off his forelegs and removed the chains from his collar, and then pushed him forward into the open space beyond. He instantly turned and tried to attack them, but the gate had already clanged back into place.
And then . . .
A roar filled the air. It came from above and from all sides at once, loud and rushing, almost like wind. Darkheart turned, peering around in confusion, and he saw them.
Humans. Hundreds and hundreds of them. They were sitting above him, lining the walls of the strange round cave he was in, and all of them were calling. Their voices had mingled together into one sound, like that of a giant beast.
Darkheart ran around the edges of the pit, looking for a way to get at them. His legs were free now, but there was no way out of the pit. There were more steel cables here, forming a huge net between him and the humans. It was too high for him to reach, and he knew he could not fly. He tried all the same, struggling pointlessly against the chains holding his wings together. It hurt, and he screamed his frustration.
Aeya and Kraee were there already, pacing back and forth expectantly. Darkheart ran to them and sniffed cautiously at Aeya’s feathers. She stopped her pacing and raised her head, looking down on him aggressively. “Do not expect me to help you,” she hissed, her voice suddenly hostile. “I will take what I can, and I will fight you for it.”
Darkheart hissed at her. The presence of the humans had filled him with rage and fighting will, and he suddenly wanted to attack her. “I want human,” he rasped.
She ignored him and loped toward the centre of the pit. Kraee had barely looked at him. The old griffin’s feathers were fluffed up, and he was striking the ground with his tail, over and over again.
Darkheart left him where he was and ran around the edges of the pit again, looking for a way out. There were other gates, but they were all shut, and when he tried to break through them they proved too strong. And overhead the crowd continued to roar. They knew what to expect.
A few moments later one of the gates opened, and a human staggered through. He was followed by several others. Three other gates opened, and more humans entered, many of them carrying long sticks like those wielded by the humans who had taken Darkheart out of his cage. They scattered as soon as they emerged, running away into the pit, keeping close to its walls. Some tried to get back through the gates they had emerged from, but were forced out again.
Kraee acted immediately. He rushed at the nearest group of humans, beak open. They didn’t stand a chance. He killed three of them with one blow and knocked down a fourth. Before it could get up again, he ripped its head off and swallowed it. Aeya, too, was quick to go after them. Some of the humans, overcoming their panic, began to strike at her and Kraee with their spears, but the two griffins paid little attention. The slaughter began.
Darkheart watched for a few moments, bewildered. He had never attacked humans on the ground. But then one passed close to him, and he lashed out at it by instinct, bowling it over. His hunger took over and he pounced on it and tore it open with his beak. Blood spurted into his mouth, hot and sticky and wonderful, and he pulled the limbs off and swallowed them. It tasted delicious. Human meat was not like goat or cow or