Excerpt: Lost in Time

Like a cork, Adoxa broke the surface of the water. Gasping briefly - breathing in air was different from breathing under water- she looked around. She was treading water in a pool located in what looked to be a small cave. Adoxa swam to the edge of the pool and climbed out. She could still hear Pyrus, and his glow was brighter now. She was quite relieved now, as clearly he wasn't drowning at the bottom of the lake. Hastily drying herself, Adoxa silently approached the light, finding another tunnel. She crept down the tunnel, making sure to not make a single noise. What she saw horrified her.
Pyrus was bound, paws to feet so that he couldn't scratch his captor. His wing were soaked in oil, preventing him from flying and he was muzzled, effectively preventing him from biting. Adoxa was half blinded by the gryphon's sudden brightness and couldn't see more than a shadowy form standing behind. The shadow had obviously noticed her entering. Standing behind the gryphon so as to keep his identity a secret, the shadow laughed, low and evil. "Harmed your pretty cat bird, have I?" he said, mockingly. "Not so pretty now, is he?" Adoxa clenched her fists in anger. Who was he? She started to summon a Magic to bring Pyrus to her, but the shadow noticed. "Nah, ah, ah! Naughty, naughty. If you do that, he'll get hurt!" Adoxa let go of the summon and curse her position. Just another month and Pere Tempo would have taught her how to summon Magics invisibly!
The shadowy man reached down to his belt and pulled out a knife, the blade glittering and glowing by the light of the gryphon. Adoxa knew that there was only one substance that would shimmer like that. Opal, the firestone. The only thing that could truly and fataly harm a gryphon. "Now you know what this is, I think," the shadow said, cocking his head. "I want you to stay right where you are and neither you nor your precious will get hurt. I'll just step away slowly, and disappear. Don't think of following me! Just take care of the gryphon and he will be alright. A good speciemen he is too!" Adoxa was puzzled. He was going to let her have Pyrus, and he was admiring him too? The figure turned to leave through a tunnel, then spun back around. "Oh, and next time you see the old man? Tell him that," here the shadow hesitated, "Tell him that I remember him, that I know he is still here. Tell him -" here the shadows voice broke, falling to a whisper, "Tell him that I'm sorry, so sorry, that maybe he will understand. Someday." With that, the figure leapt up the tunnel and disappeared.