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The Gryffons were falling into the distance. Their cries were getting fainter. Now they looked like a flock of starlings ... now like a cluster of flies ... now like gnats. And then they had faded out of sight, and David and the Phoenix were streaking over the grassland alone. Ten minutes later they reached a shore and landed. They flopped on the sand, panting.
Gryffons are the quick-tempered proud ones. Gryffens ah, well, the most anyone can say for them is that they are harmless. They are very stupid." "I see," said David doubtfully. "What do they look like?" "Each looks like the others, my boy, except that some are bigger and some are smaller. But to continue: Sea Monsters, Leprechauns, Rocs, Gnomes, Elves, Basilisks, Nymphs ah and many others.
The foremost Gryffons, with powerful strokes of their wings, shot up to meet them. The Phoenix swerved sharply. They missed the snapping beak of the first Gryffon by half an inch and dodged the second only to smash into a third. David was stunned by the blow and the fall. When he regained consciousness, he found himself in the tight grip of two Gryffons.
The Gryffons were rising from the ground in pursuit, their legs drawn up under them and their wings beating. "Faster!" he screamed. "You have seen nothing in the way of flying until now, my boy," the Phoenix shouted back. "Watch this!" Its wings were two blurs slicing through the air and roaring like kettledrums. The ground below streamed backwards. David looked back again.
Holding his breath so as not to sneeze again, he scooped up as much dust as he could hold in two hands. Then he took his position on one side of the cave, nodded the Phoenix toward the other, and glanced out to see if the guardian Gryffons were looking. They were not. "Now," he whispered. The cave rocked with their uproar. David screamed at the top of his voice and kicked the walls.
But now you know exactly what they are like: midway in size between the Gryffens and Gryffons, and reddish in color. Most amiable souls, willing to do anything for anyone. It is hard to believe that they are all related. But enough, my boy. Let us go home." As soon as they reached the ledge, the Phoenix put David down and prepared to take off again. "Where are you going, Phoenix?" David asked.
But they had no chance to plead with the Gryffons. Their captors formed two lines, one on each side of them, and at a scream of command from the leader, all began to march. The Gryffon that had been holding the Phoenix winked horribly at David and made a throat-cutting gesture with its wing. "Courage, my boy," the Phoenix whispered. "It is always darkest before dawn."
The lights downstairs were all on when David got home, and as soon as he opened the front door he could tell that they had company. He shouted, "I'm home!" and sneezed. The dust from the Gryffons' cave still clung to him, tickling his nose. "Well, here he is at last," said Dad's voice. "Come on in, David." Then, as David walked into the living room, "Good heavens, Son, what's happened to you?"
And indeed, a number of winged creatures were loping down a hillside toward them. "Good heavens!" the Phoenix shouted. "Those are the ones we do not want to meet! On my back, quick!" "What are they?" David gasped as he threw himself on the bird's back. "Gryffons!" The Phoenix rushed along the ground a few feet and sprang into the air. But it was too late.
Presently they reached a hillside. David and the Phoenix were marched up to a cave and thrown in. Two of the Gryffons sat down at the entrance to guard them while the others went off to consider the best method of carrying out the penalty. David was terribly frightened now, but he did not want to let the Phoenix know it. In a voice which trembled a little he asked, "What are we going to do?"
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