The two of us slid through the earthy depths of the tunnel while the mother griffin flew silently overhead, pushing off the walls to stay airborne. The ceiling was crusted with obsidian.
All of a sudden, the griffin screeched. I put out a paw to stop the Shield from sliding. The tunnel dropped straight off into a bottomless pit below.
Silven’s mother flapped silently over to the edge and sighed. “It falls down to the main chamber. There’s sure to be lots more lava at the bottom, and you and Silven will never make it. I have seen your pack, Child, and I noticed a lot of magic. Do you have anything that might help?”
I reached into the pack with a sweaty paw and pulled out a long, thin object. The flute! Great, what would a dumb woodwind do to save us? I put my lips to it and blew nonetheless.
OOOWWWWWWCCCCCHHHHHH!
My fur grew a good few inches, and turned muddy brown. A splitting sensation charged along my back; my skin hardened until it was like leather. There was a ripping pain in my mouth as my two front teeth grew and sharpened. I looked down with horror at my back paws, which were twice the size they used to be. I felt like a beast.
Silven nodded in approval.
I gingerly stepped from the shield onto the thin layer of lava. The newly-furred paws basically soaked up the hot liquid and I felt nothing. Now a heavily built, underground machine, I should stop acting dainty. I galloped over to the pit in the ground.
It was a long way down.
The big griffin grabbed her son and before I knew it, they began to fall down the tunnel. I scrunched myself into a tiny ball and jumped.
I hit solid ground with a thump that knocked the wind out of me. Gasping, I heaved myself up. As I scanned what surely must be Hell, my heart felt like it was plowed over by a charging Clydesdale horse.
The cavern was large enough to hold my castle. The walls were thick and black, dented from years of picks chipping away at it. A haze drifted around from the heat. Right in the center of the cavern was a roiling lake of lava. Shells of dried magma floated on its luminous surface. There was an iron pole as thick as a serpent’s body sticking up from it. Attached to the pole were thousands of chains. And attached to the chains were thousands of griffins.
Although they were more like living corpses. Their feathers were burned away, revealing deep, ugly welts. I could count every bone on their bodies. Iron collars cut deep into their necks and steel bands sliced their ankles. When one collapsed, they were whipped mercilessly by the coal-black griffins patrolling the area. If the whipping did no good, the fallen griffin would be tossed into the lava lake. There, the griffins instantly melted along with their anguished screams, and each time there was a bellowing laughter from a far off cave.
Silven whispered, “Daddy.”
I burst into silent tears for the poor little griffin. His father was in there somewhere. In the rainbow of griffins, there he was, either working near the lake or on the walls. Help them, please help them.
A light began to glow steadily. I couldn’t tell where it came from, until I noticed a single silver griffin. I had to shield my eyes against his glow. He tore through a black griffin like a knife through wax. His molten muscles bulged until the band around his neck exploded. His eyes held a mad glow as he ripped through the skin of the enemy griffins. I urged him on in my head, when suddenly the roaring stopped.
The whole world was quiet. All the griffins parted. Orren Nox.
He was three times the size of a normal griffin, and was the color of coal. Black grease dribbled down his flanks. His eyes were burning sockets. I didn’t know him personally, but I could tell that he possessed a power of the greatest evil. He turned to the struggling griffin. “Bentley,” he said.
“Bentley,” whimpered Silven’s mother.
And then I knew who he was.
Silven’s father seemed to swell twice his size. He puffed up his feathers and spat, “You oversized chicken. Coward! Fight me!”
Orren Nox’s beak pulled back in a horrible smug grin and ordered, “Dispose of this creature.”
His minions shrieked and lunged for the silver griffin. They covered him, wrapping around his neck and feet. A pair of them pinned down his wings, while the others tried to fasten a burning steel collar around his neck. Bentley opened his beak and snapped off the foot of one creature. The others backed away in silence.
The silver griffin was panted heavily. I would never have gone near him, since he looked so frightening, but I leaped out from my hiding place and wrapped my arms around his neck. I was clearly out of my mind. Orren Nox snarled, “Out of my way, moon vermin, or I’ll shred you to bits!”
I stubbornly clung to Bentley, whose breathing had eased. He gave me a quick approving look; then he saw his son and wife. His great ruby eyes filled with tears and fell onto my muddy fur. He took a great bound forward, but was cut off with the steel bands that had been chained to his feet. They dragged him back, not even giving in to the powerful wings that were pumping.
The minions laughed maniacally and ripped me from him, tossing me into a lava rock cage. “Let me out!” I cried.
The cage was hot and small, and even my thick paws wouldn’t absorb the heat. Smoke curled from them. I watched in horror as small flames danced on my toes.
Outside was a storm of noise. From what I heard, the griffin family seemed to be fighting together. There was the snap of more chains and the horrid sound of laugher. Lava boiled and griffins shrieked, rock crumbled and steel bands clicked. All the while, my feet were burning away.
A large tail lashed out and knocked my cage. I tumbled a bit and realized I was rocking over the Lava Lake. A minion came smiling up to my cage. “Bye, bye,” he said sweetly and pushed me over.
Liquid fire gushed into the cell, hissing on the walls and making the prison grow heavier. The pain was immense. Lva curled around my body and steam gushed into my nose. I coughed and screamed, hot tears cascading down my face.
Finally, the cage went under.
I was going to be melted like that unicorn. I was going to die. I was going to sink to the bottom of that lake and no one would ever find my skeleton.
But wait. No normal creature could have survived this long. And that’s how the unicorn survived.
Thunderous roars from above filled my ears and I felt a rush of wind over me. There was a sucking noise as the cage was lifted free of the boiling lava. A pair of silver griffin claws was holding me up. My blurred eyes smiled.
They dropped me off on the ground. I couldn’t think or feel; I was just glad to be alive. Unbelievably, my fur and flesh was untouched. I sighed raggedly as the last traces of pain vanished. But I needed to know what was happening. Gasping, I lifted myself up.
Orren Nox was looming over me, his fiery eye sockets burning. He roughly flipped me over and roared with delight at the scratch on my back. “The Skeletal Hand’s mark! You must have great power. Give it to me!” He said.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I moaned.
Then I remembered what Luna had said. “They’ll either worship you to death or try to kill you.”
A burst of strength overcame me and I charged away, soon accompanied by the three griffins. The mother lifted me up and began to fly me higher, towards the rocky, volcano ceiling. She grabbed Silven, too, and gave her husband a quick nuzzle. “Don’t forget me,” she whispered. “If anything happens.”
We soared higher. I noticed that blasts of light were coming from her mouth, shattering the chains of the worker griffins. They flew loose, shouting for joy.
Below, Bentley was battling Orren Nox. The two clashed claws and beaks, circling. The evil griffin raised a claw and sent a blast of black light at Bentley. He recovered quickly, and charged.
In his rage, Orren Nox lifted his wings. I gasped. They were nothing but feathered stumps. He couldn’t fly.
A burst of blinding light then filled the room. It had no particular color, but was more like a pastel version of a rainbow. All the griffins had sent a single blow at Orren Nox at once. He shattered like glass in the explosion of rainbows, his angry war cry still bouncing off the walls of his home.
A victorious cheer rang clear and strong from everyone, even me. We danced and rejoiced, snapping off extra chains and flying out the tunnel into the late evening. Many of these griffins were mauled or starved—or both—and had to be helped.
The three griffins and me were last to get outside. We crawled out, tired and sweaty, me back to my regular form. Bentley ruffled my fur and smiled. Silven cheered. His mother did a circle in the air.
Exhausted, we climbed to the top of a rocky ridge to see a most beautiful sight.
The rainbow of griffins were flying home in the golden sunset, their coats shining like jewels. A sweet singing sound carried in the wind, all the way to us. The four of us stood there sighing, before the griffin family rose into the air and said, “ We must go now, child of the moon.”
I waved them goodbye as the silver blurs faded into the sunset. “ I’ll always remember you,” I cried.
And there was the Skeletal Hand.
:D:D:D:D
So far, there is no relavence to your story, and it hinders progress of your character. We need a sequence of normal events; normal people, normal situations, because so far, it's from one edge of Chaos to the other.
