«I’ll bet you an eternity that the griffins will come back for her.»
«They never leave their prey behind.»
«Not even iron doors can keep her from them.»
«But there is an amulet that protects even against a bird’s claws!»
Could it be that they’re talking about that fancy amulet of feathers that lies next to them on the shelf. Fiona instinctively grabbed it and put it around her neck. Any protection is better than none. Although, she had noticed a similar amulet around Ornella’s neck. It probably wasn’t protective after all, but a sorcerer’s.
The bivalve on the table shone and opened, revealing a large pearl inside, glistening with all the colors of the rainbow. A wonderful singing voice poured out of the shell. It must have been hypnotizing, because Fiona fell asleep to the singing of the shell.
She awoke to an earthquake-like rumble. The dawn was gray, and it sounded as if rocks were falling from the sky and hitting the roof of the cabin. Fiona became nervous. The house seemed to be groaning under the heel of a giant who was about to tear it down.
The walls shook, and sharp bird claws scratched against the windows.
They were griffins! They swooped down on the sea witch’s cottage from all sides. The flapping of their wings echoed in her ears. Their claws scraped against the windowpanes, but they could not squeeze them out.
«They’re looking for their prey,» they whispered from the shelves. It was the shells talking again.
«How could they see the house below? They don’t usually see it when they fly over.»
«That’s right! They’re blind wherever sea magic has taken root. They, too, are prisoners of the underwater kingdom.»
Fiona shuddered when she heard the last phrase. The shells said it with grim solemnity.
«Who are the prisoners of the underwater kingdom?» She asked, but none of the shells dignified her with an answer.
Fiona was even offended. Shellfish are such chatterboxes when they need to talk among themselves, and with a human girl they do not want to engage in conversation. Or are they forbidden?
«Come to the window!» Suddenly a familiar voice called.
Fiona turned around. Outside one of the windows a huge, majestic bird was flying. It was a gryphon, a crowned gryphon. His feathered head gleamed with a gold crown of teeth like a king’s crown. It was no longer a gryphon, but Prince Orwell, standing outside the window, timidly beckoning her to him.
Fiona hesitantly moved toward him. She was won over by the fact that Orvel acted as if he were a lover who had come to sing a serenade beneath the window of his sweetheart. Except he had neither a lute nor a mandolin, and his sharp steel fingernails bore the claws of a griffin. But he has a magnificent crown on his forehead. Fiona sighed languidly. Somehow she instantly forgot all the hurt and even the fact that she was about to be executed. Now Orvel looked more handsome than ever. Only his eyes glittered feverishly.
«Let me in!» He asked. It was very uncomfortable for him to stand on the bridges near the house. There was a little room, and it was slippery, and the bones of mermaids and morgenes could prick him.
«Can’t you go in yourself?»
Orvel shook his head sadly.
«There are sea spells everywhere. They won’t let me in. But you can let me in. You’re special! That’s why we can’t all live without you. Ever since you disappeared, all the princes have had thirst and insomnia that won’t go away from anything.»
«But you were going to burn me as a witch,» Fiona reminded him.
«It was Ornella, not us. We won’t let her do that again.»
Should we take his word for it? Fiona hesitated. He was a werewolf, after all. She had just seen with her own eyes how he had changed from a griffin to a man. But he was a prince, and quite handsome. She’d developed a weakness for princes recently. She guessed all country girls are overly susceptible to the allure of nobility.
«I can’t let you in,» Fiona admitted honestly. «This isn’t my house.»
«Then come out yourself!» He beckoned to her more insistently. «Hurry up! Rokuela will return.»
Behind him on the bridges the other brothers were already turning from griffins to princes. Perhaps Condor could join them. Fiona longed impatiently to see him again.
She cast a wary glance at Rockwell’s sinister pets. It was no less dangerous in the sea witch’s cottage than it was in the company of the griffin princes.
Fiona dared to go out to them. And no one touched her! Even Orvel hid his steel-clawed hands from her so as not to scratch her.
«I am so glad to have you with us again!» He smiled beamingly. «I promise you that we will not play bluffs anymore.»
«Blind spots are for victims,» one of his brothers confirmed.
«And you are not a victim!» Orvel agreed. «You’re our lady!»
Is she a lady? Can’t he see she’s only a peasant girl? Or is it more important to him some inner magical light he sees in her?
«Would you like to ride on the back of a griffin?» Orvel suddenly suggested it.
«Are you serious?» Fiona didn’t have time to break free. The elder prince put his arm around her waist and danced with her across the bridge of mermaid’s bones. A moment and they were already dancing over the sea. Fiona didn’t even realize how they had managed to get off the bridge. The waves were bubbling beneath her feet. Let her go now, and she would fall and drown. It must be deep under the bridges, and she couldn’t swim.
Orvel suddenly laughed like a madman. Perhaps he wants to drown her after all. She had trusted him for nothing! The prince tossed her in the air like a light toy. Now she is going to fall! Only instead of the cold waves, Fiona fell straight to the scruff of the huge bird. Orvel managed to change into a griffin in an instant. The other princes left below were also turning. Fiona noticed that each of them had an amulet around their necks like the one she had found at Rokuela.
Orvel was already carrying her forward, overtaking the wind. The other griffins were catching up behind her. The flapping of their wings made the sky black. Fiona focused her gaze on the crowned bird’s head, which was now a millimeter from her. She clung to the griffin’s powerful neck as tightly as she could. A normal bird would have strangled by her now, but for Orvel her touch was barely perceptible. He cackled something quietly as he flew over the waves.
The rainbow was suddenly right below them. It weaved and diverged into a multitude of new rainbows. Fiona did not immediately realize that these were the rainbow bridges of fairies and elves about which there were so many legends among the people. She had always thought they were the fiction of storytellers, and now she saw them with her own eyes!
Griffins flew over the bridges. Fiona noticed some winged figures idly strolling on one of the rainbow bridges.
The sea below began to stir. A storm was coming up! One could see from above how the huge waves were breaking the small fishing boats. The griffins began to play, flipping Fiona from one back to the other with ease. Within minutes she was flying on the scruff of each of the griffin princes. Sometimes she got creepy. The storm below was wrecking ships.
«Shall we dive aboard some merchant caravel to play with the sailors?» She could hear the words in the bird’s wail.
«It is not today! The storm is already playing with them!»
One enormous shaft nearly covered the gryphon on whose back Fiona was now flying. The bird carrying her had managed at the last