It didn’t take long for me to spot “it”.

I could barely believe my eyes as I gazed up at the snow-speckled sky. A giant monster with the head, wings and sharp talons of a fearsome bird; the body, tail and hind legs of a lion. It was holding a hunter in its deadly grasp.

I must be hallucinating.

Maybe I’m still lying beneath that SUV.

Maybe this is what happens to a person dying of cold.

And yet, by now, I’d seen enough strange things in the world. I had no idea where on earth it had come from, but why shouldn’t I believe my eyes? Why shouldn’t I believe in a half-lion, half-bird creature, when I myself was half-vampire, half-human? Now it occurred to me that its characteristics were identical to that of a griffin— a supernatural creature I’d read about when studying mythology at school.

A piercing screech emanated from the griffin’s mouth, snapping me out of my daze.

What am I doing?

The hunters are distracted.

There’s nobody guarding the exit.

Once again trying to keep my head down low beneath the vehicles in case any of the hunters decided to chase me even in the midst of this beast’s presence, I hurtled once again toward the exit.

This time, I reached it. Heck, I even leaped over the barrier and landed on the other side. Before me was a long, snow-covered road that appeared to wind down through the mountains. I had to force myself to run fast again, even though my bones ached and creaked. Not only did I have to lose sight of the hunters, I also had to maintain what little energy I had left in me.

Leaving the road—for that was far too obvious a place to run—I began racing toward the cluster of nearby rocks at the foot of one of the mountain slopes. I figured that I ought to go off track as far as possible, even if I did end up getting lost—being lost was better than falling back into the hands of the hunters. Anything felt better than that. Even running barefoot in sodden pajamas through a snowstorm.

I had just reached the start of the slope when I heard another round of gunshots, followed by more shouting, the crunching of footsteps through snow… and then the heavy beating of wings, close to me. Too close.

I whirled around to the terrifying sight of the griffin hurtling directly toward me. It soared over the barrier with supernatural speed and caught up with me within a matter of seconds. I barely even had a chance to recover from the shock and attempt to run for shelter before it had reached me.

Now that it was so close, I realized just how large it was. Not quite the size of a dragon, but not that far off, either.

Its talons extended and closed around my shoulders. I cried out, certain it was on the verge of taking a bite out of me. Instead, the griffin’s wings beat hard and I found myself being hoisted into the air. It ascended quickly in the sky, so quickly that I barely even had a chance to consider whether I ought to attempt to wriggle free and leap back down to the ground, before the jump became too scary for me to even consider it.

Casting my eyes down on the parking lot, I took in the number of hunters down there for the first time. There must’ve been at least fifty of them—most of them now close to the gate where they had no doubt run after me—their guns still raised in the air. They had stopped firing by now, perhaps realizing that we were too far away. Or perhaps even now, they didn’t want to risk shooting me.

As the griffin ascended still higher with me, the hunters became nothing but specks of dirt on a blanket of snow, and soon, even the buildings and the mountain peaks became miniature. I couldn’t bear to look down any longer. I could only be thankful that the creature was holding me firmly.

In an attempt to distract myself from the height, I craned my neck upward and looked over the griffin with a mixture of trepidation and fascination. I realized that it was a male, and I noticed a bloody wound—two in fact—in the side of him where the hunters no doubt had managed to shoot him. Clearly the bullets hadn’t penetrated deep enough to be fatal. Either that, or the beast was impervious to the bullets.

For the first time, I became aware of how much heat the griffin’s body was radiating. He was holding me close to him, and my back touched the swell of his chest. He must have been hot blooded, and being so huge helped. Even as the harsh wind howled around me, and despite my absurd position, the warmth of this creature began to feel almost comforting.

I gazed up at the griffin’s face.

Where did he come from? And why is he rescuing me?

I realized with a shudder that I should not be too quick in assuming that this creature was rescuing me. Maybe he had been flying by, and simply saw me as an easy dinner.

I averted my eyes to his solid talons wrapped around me, his warmth suddenly becoming less appealing.

I ought not get too cuddly with him yet.

River

I remained tense for what felt like the next half hour—or perhaps it was a full hour—as the griffin continued to fly high in the sky. By now, we must have created miles and miles of distance between us and the hunters’ facility.

Then, with a sudden billowing of his wings, we slowed and began to descend. I dared look down at the ground, but then averted my gaze again as the griffin launched into a dive that was almost as fast and terrifying as a freefall. I clamped my eyes shut and kept them closed until I felt a shudder. I cautiously lifted my eyelids to see that we had landed outside a cave. A cave etched into the side of a towering snowy mountain.

He’s brought me back to his lair.

He’s going to eat me.

The griffin’s talons loosened around me and I leapt to the ground. My feet crushing against sharp rocks, I began to run in the opposite direction of the cave. I winced as the snow once again numbed my bare feet, but I didn’t have to endure it for long. The griffin caught up and whipped in front of me with alarming speed, blocking my way. I staggered back, gazing up at the creature’s face. Although it was fierce, strangely, there was something calm, almost reassuring about his demeanor as he looked me steadily in the eye. I should have been terrified for my life, but even as he stood, blocking my way, I couldn’t bring myself to feel much more than confusion and curiosity. What is the deal with this beast? I frowned, cocking my head to one side.