The Discovery (Cryptogriff Chronicles Pt. 5)

If someone had told me just a few days ago that I, a twelve-year-old Tyrenian fairy, was actually a long-lost griffin princess from Valeron, I would have thought they were turning into a werewolf with how crazy they sounded. (No offense to actual werewolves.) But that was before I met my mother.

Now, I have no idea what I’m supposed to do. For the first time ever, I don’t even know what to say.

I still haven’t gotten used to the fact that I’m the daughter of a griffin. And on top of that, I’ve just found out that griffin is a queen—the leader of the Thunderfeather Clan. Which makes me…yeah.

My life keeps getting more and more unbelievable.

Even the Clan doesn’t seem to know what to do with my sudden appearance. As soon as Astri gathered them all together to introduce me, multiple voices filled my head, so many that it was hard to tell what any of the griffins were saying. But I managed to pick up a few snippets. Words and phrases like lost princess and impossible and legends. And the one that was repeated the most: She’s a fairy.

At least I’m not the only one who notices that there is absolutely nothing griffin-like about me.

That’s why I’m now sitting in a quiet spot away from the others, tossing sticks into the river that flows through this underground forest that is the home of the Clan. I need space to figure out what even is my life.

It’s not long before I hear soft footsteps approaching, and I don’t need to turn around to know who it is. Of course she would know where to find me.

Astri sits beside me, curling her feather-tipped tail around her huge paws. She doesn’t try to fill the silence, which is nice. It allows me to think—and to remember that I still have to tell her about the thing that went down earlier.

“Astri?”

She lowers her head towards me, ears perked. Yes, youngling.

“Remember in the prison when I was surrounded by those guards and you told me to ask Lumenos for help? Well, I did, and…something happened.”

It sounds just as weird saying it out loud as it was when it actually happened, but I tell her everything. About what I said to Lumenos, and the lightning that came afterwards, knocking all of the guards out cold. When I finish, I watch my mother (somehow I have to get used to calling her that), waiting for her reaction.

Griffins don’t seem to be big on expressing a lot of excitement—or maybe that’s just her thing. The only sign of a strong emotion is the way her golden eyes have brightened now as she looks at me. After a moment, she gets up and starts pacing slowly, thoughtfully, her tail swinging back and forth.

“What are you thinking?” I ask.

She pauses mid-step with one front paw hanging in the air. That it is time.

I jump to my feet. “Time for what?” I’m pretty sure she’s allergic to answering questions fully.

Stay here. There is something I need to do. She spreads her wings and flaps off, leaving me alone again.

I will never understand her.

With a huff, I sit down again and use a stick to stir circles in the water.

A moment later, I hear more footsteps—and a low growl.

“Astri…?” I drop the stick in the water and turn around.

Two pairs of eyes are fixed on me, and neither of them are Astri’s. Two griffins, a tawny-colored one and a white one with gray speckles, stalk towards me with their heads lowered, ears forward, and vertical pupils widened.

They’re hunting me.

I instinctively reach for my sword at my side half a second before I remember that I don’t have it—I lost it at some point between forfeiting the Sun Festival battle and escaping prison with my mother.

My mother who is not here to help me.

“Astri? Astri! Where are you?” I send my mental call out to her, but she doesn’t answer. And then I realize that it probably wasn’t a good idea anyway, because the other griffins can hear me.

The tawny one makes a low trilling sound that seems like a chuckle. She cannot help you this time, his voice says in my head. You are alone now.

Before I can do anything, he lunges at me.

What’s that saying humans have about being in near-death situations? You see a flash of your life or something like that? I don’t know how literal that’s supposed to be taken, but in this moment where I’m definitely about to get attacked by a griffin, there is a flash of something: blinding light and a crackling sound, right after the jolt that shoots through my entire body.

When my vision clears, I see that the griffins have jumped out of the way of the something that blasted the ground before any of them could get hurt. They’re staring at me again, but not in the predatory way they had just a moment ago. Now, it’s more like curiosity.

I take a step back from them anyway, clenching my fists and willing myself to stop shaking. It feels like a burning, tingly energy is racing through my arms. These beasts just tried to kill me! Is that why Astri brought me here? To get rid of me with the help of her own kind?

I would never do that, Kora. Her slightly-hurt-sounding voice fills my head as she lands in front of me. She must have been watching the whole thing from one of the ledges above. They would never do that, either. I am sorry for allowing them to frighten you like that, but this was the only way. It was a test.

A disbelieving laugh escapes me before I can stop it. “A test? Of what?”

She glances at the smoldering ground and then back at me. Of your power.

“My…” I trail off as I notice that her eyes aren’t actually on my face; she’s focused on my hands, still clenched at my sides. When I look at them, I see why.

Blue sparks are dancing around my hands like tiny streaks of lightning.

Lightning. Just like in the prison.

I did that?

“That’s…impossible,” I breathe, even as I stare at my hands that very clearly have lightning streaking around them. “I don’t have—I’ve never—”

Used it before? Astri finishes for me, tilting her head like she’s amused. You never had a reason to—until today. When these two had you cornered and Krotos pounced at you, you were frightened, yes?

“Of course.” I shoot a glare at the tawny griffin, who ducks his head sheepishly.

I believe that fear is what brought out your Spark—summoning Lightning, Astri explains. You felt that you were in mortal danger and your instincts took over to protect you. From what you described about your encounter with the prison guards earlier, it happened there as well.

It does make sense. Now that it’s clear that I’m not in danger of being mauled, the blue sparks are fading away the calmer I get.

“So…it wasn’t Lumenos that time, then?” I ask, not sure why I’m disappointed. “It was just me?”

Of course it was him. You asked him for help and he allowed you to use your power for the first time, even though you never knew how to—or that you could—before. He is the source of all power, after all.

Speaking of sources… The white-and-gray-speckled griffin steps closer to Astri and glances at me from the corner of her silver eye. Should we be concerned, my queen? Her power is the same as—the griffin’s mental voice lowers—his.

Astri’s ears lay flat against her head, which I’ve learned by now is a sign that she’s not happy. Do not speak of her that way, Cloudquill, she chides. She is my daughter, and she is not him.

I start to ask, “Who are you talking about?” but only get as far as, “Who are you—” before Astri gives me a look.

“Oh,” I say quietly. I may not be able to see her thoughts the way she can see mine, but that’s when I realize that she must be talking about—or rather, trying not to talk about—my father.

I don’t know who he is or why he’s such a sore subject in the Clan, but one day I will find out. Not today, though. I just got here. Probably not a good idea to stir things up just yet.

Besides, right now there are other things to focus on. Like the fact that I can create lightning from my own body!

I examine my palms. “What did you call my power, again?”

Your Spark, Astri replies. Every fairy has one, and as we have just discovered, yours is Lightning.

I hold my hands out in front of me and try to bring it out again, but I just end up doing a whole lot of straining, so I drop my arms. “Why can’t I do it again?”

From what we know about fairy abilities, controlling a Spark on your own is a learned skill, says the tawny griffin, Krotos. If you want to use it, you will have to be trained.

Which is not something we can do, Astri says before I can ask. Only a fairy, one with the same Spark, can teach you how to use yours. And to do that, you would have to go to school.

“You mean…here? In Valeron?”

She doesn’t answer, but she doesn’t need to. I already see it in her eyes: she wants me to stay here. In a realm that I never imagined I’d end up in, with a clan of griffins that I just met. With her, a mother that I only recently—as in, three days ago—discovered I have.

Somewhat hesitantly, Astri drapes a wing around me. I know it is a lot to take in and there is so much you do not understand yet, but this is where you belong, Kora.

Where I belong.

I’ve been trying to figure that out my whole life. I grew up fending for myself in Tyren. No home, no family. I had to fight—for my survival, and for my place in the world. If I wanted to belong anywhere, I had to force my way in.

And all of that was because of Astri.

I should be angry at her for abandoning me. But since she told me before that my father had something to do with it, maybe it wasn’t completely her fault. Besides, she wants me back. And if I’m being honest, I want her too.

I also want answers, and there’s only one way to get them.

“Then I’m staying.”

My mother rests her head on my shoulder—which I’ve decided must be the griffin version of a hug—and I lean into the warm, thick fur of her neck.

Maybe it’s just because I’m so caught up in the moment, but for the first time, it feels like I’m finally home.