He began moving forward, and, nudging the top of his smooth, orange beak against my belly, herded me back toward the cave. I tried to circle around him, but again, he was quick to cut me off before I could.

I threw a glance over my shoulder into the cave. I guessed at least it would be warmer in there. But why does he want me there?

If he had been intending to eat me, why would he wait for me to walk into the cave? He was a monster. He could rip me in two with a chomp of his beak. He didn’t need me in the cave to do that, and heck, even if he did, he could carry me there himself.

I glanced from the cave, to the deserted, icy landscape surrounding us, then back to the cave. It didn’t seem that I had any choice but to obey the griffin’s whims. He wasn’t letting me leave, and I was positive that if I did somehow skirt around him and hurtle down the mountainside, he would only launch into the sky and scoop me up again.

So I turned to face the cave. The tip of his beak nudged against my back as he ushered me inside. Once I had neared the back of the cavern, winding around the stalagmites, I stopped and turned around again to face the creature. Planting my hands on my hips, I raised a brow as if to ask him, Now what?

To my shock, I could’ve sworn that he actually nodded. He gestured with his head toward one of the large, flat rocks at the back of the cave, as if… telling me to sit down?

Cautiously, I moved to the rock he’d indicated, and sat.

“What are you?” I whispered, my nose scrunching in confusion.

The creature stared at me, his beady brown eyes deep and soulful.

Can he really understand what I’m saying?

I couldn’t shake the feeling that he understood me. There was something so… sentient about his eyes.

“What do you want with me?” I whispered.

He glanced toward the exit, and then looked up at the sky—which was now darkening. What was he trying to tell me? It looked like he was indicating that he wanted to fly away with me, but hadn’t he just done that? Why bring me to the cave?

“You want to take me outside?” I asked.

Again, he nodded.

“Where?”

He expelled a caw, and I sensed frustration in his eyes. He threw his head back over his shoulder again, to indicate outside.

I stood up and began to head toward the exit. Again, he caught up with me, and ushered me back to the rock.

Now it was my turn to breathe out in frustration.

I didn’t understand him. If he wanted to take me outside, why did he bring me to this cave in the first place and why was he insisting that I sit on this rock? I frowned. “I don’t belong here,” I said, speaking slowly and careful to enunciate each syllable. “I need to go home.”

I heaved a sigh. At least this cave was warm with the griffin in it. His body emanated heat like a radiator.

He backed away from me, and sat down a few feet away. As the minutes passed, his warmth eased the pain in my aching bones and loosened my tight muscles, making me feel relaxed. He averted his attention away from me and gazed out at the dark, frozen world outside.

He made no motion to stand up again, and I found myself trapped at the back of the cave. It looked like he was keeping watch… perhaps even guarding me. Clearly, I was going to need to wait for him to fall asleep before I could attempt to escape.

For now, I might as well rest my traumatized body. I didn’t know when the next opportunity to do so would crop up.

I curled up on the rock, and even though it was hard and bumpy, I felt more comfortable than I ever had in the hunters’ soft bed.

Many hours must’ve passed as I lay there, eyeing the creature and waiting for him to nod off. But he didn’t.

What he did do, however, as he kept watch over the cave throughout the night, was glance back at me every five minutes with what I could’ve sworn was a look of concern in his eyes.

Ben

I remained close to River until she fell asleep. I knew that she would eventually. The trauma that she must’ve been through would have drained her, and she needed to recuperate.

Then, in the very early hours of the morning, I dared move to the exit of the cave and launch into the sky. I hated to leave her, but it would be only for a short while. We had a long journey ahead of us, and I wanted to do all I could to make sure that it would be as painless for her as possible.

As I beat the griffin’s wings and lifted silently in the air, my mind returned to all that had passed since I’d discovered that I could possess the body of an animal.

I didn’t know how it was possible, but after I’d seeped into the body of the Great Dane and found myself seeing through his eyes, I soon realized that I could also control his movements. His legs became like my own, my will his will.

I was certain that I wasn’t able to possess human beings or other supernaturals with the same level of consciousness. It made me speculate that perhaps ghosts could possess animals because animals’ awareness wasn’t as high as the former. Maybe, since their minds were less developed, there was less resistance and they were easier to control. Whatever the reason, I had made a breakthrough. I could inhabit animals.

After making this discovery thanks to the dog, all my plans changed. I was no longer going to head back to The Shade. That had been the last thing I’d wanted to do in any case. It would’ve taken a long time to find and I’d resorted to it solely out of lack of any other plan. But now… now I had another plan. What would hopefully be a better, faster plan.

I drifted out of the dog’s body on the beach, relinquishing control. The animal let out a snort before moving back toward his owner with shaky legs, as though recovering from the shock and confusion of my possession.