Tyr bounded forward with a scree and ripped the small clan female off of Diana’s bleeding head; Etherrawen swept in right behind and took care of the male. All four rolled into the corner, smashing everything in their path. Poor Diana struggled against her bonds, golden eyes huge. She mumbled loudly on the other side of her gag, a dirty and travel-worn affair. Other Guilders in the Common Room slewed to a stop outside the Nook door in time to watch Tyreenya wrench her female’s arms behind her back in a position most uncomfortable for quadrapeds.

“OW! OW! Lemme go, bitch! Lemme go!”

Tyr cuffed her hard across both rounded ears, rocking her head to the side. “Shut up, you!” she roared in the ringing ears. “Come on!” With Eth bringing up the rear, the Dark Empress ushered her charge none-so-gently out into the more spacious Common Room. Reaching the middle, Tyr flung the criminal from her body and sent her sprawling onto the huge homespun rug. The tiny female bounced several times before crashing up against a couch. She leapt up and took one step forward—and fell over.

Guilders stood around the four, staring at Tyr’s outrage and Eth’s quiet calm. One of them broke away to administer to Diana still hog-tied in the Nook. Lux came galloping down the corridor, iridescent eyes wide at what she came upon. “What is going on here!” she demanded, taking a four-square stance in the rear exit to the Room, half in and half out of the hall. Her single horned head swung about in all directions, finally zeroing in on Tyr and Eth. “Explain?”

Tyr growled low in her throat, black beak clicking savagely as she pointed to the clan female. “That one there and her partner—we found them in the Nook with Diana.”

“And what did they do to deserve such mal-treatment? Certainly nothing serious?”

Eth pointed with her tufted tail at LunaFlare who was coming out of the Nook with Diana on her arm. “Ask Diana, Lux, see what you get.”

The changeling dragoness was covered in a myriad cuts and bruises that stood out lividly on her bright scales. “Diana?” Lux asked quietly, walking forward. She passed by the unconscious clan female and stepped around Eth and her charge. “Are you ok, sis?”

“Not really,” she replied, putting a hand to her head. “I was working on some paperwork at the desk, filing away some things Tath needed done when they came in.” She pointed to the two in question. “I put my stuff away and introduced myself, asked them why they were here and their names and such.” Diana paused to rub at her temples. “I can’t recall much after that, sis; they jumped me and tried to loot the Nook. That’s when Tyr and Eth came in.”

Lux’s eyes narrowed and she stalked over to the male held by Etherrawen. “Is this true?” she asked, her equinesque muzzle close to his own dwarfish beak. “Did you intend to rob us?”

He remained closemouthed; Eth shook his shoulders so that his head swayed from side to side. “Answer the Admin,” the dragoness growled, “or I’ll give you over to Tyr, there. You see what she did to your sister.”

“She’s not my sister,” he muttered hotly.

“Lover, friend, cousin—what?”

The clan male sneered, no mean feat for one of his kind; they were one of the most immobile of faces of the Guild world gryphonic races. “You don’t scare me.”

“I’ll get Tser,” one of the other Guilders volunteered.

Lux shook her head. “No, no need to bother Tser about this. I’ll deal with him myself.”

Poison watched with a certain mirth as the great Lady Blackmoon fell from the sky. She stepped over the gory bodies of Malystryxx’s most loyal servants and peered into the gloom of the Nightwings fog. Pity, she couldn’t see that far down—even with her eyes the way they were. When no sound of impact met her ears, Poison turned on her hind and smartly marched back into the lair entrance. She stalked back through the smooth corridors to the main chamber; nothing was changed here, not yet. She didn’t have enough time to fiddle with such fripperies.

The dragoness’ claws scraped the stone floor as she swayed down the hall and entered a side room. Here was the place she’d made her own. Already, Malystryxx’s charms and bobbles were swept to the side, littering the floor like careless toys. Her potions and herbals were rearranged to Poison’s liking and the books reshelved.

The purple exslave pursed her lips and fingered her bullring thoughtfully, scanning the shelves for the one she’d placed moments before. Finding it, she reached up and brought it to the table, moving beakers out of the way. Opening the ancient tome, Poison filed through it until she reached the marked page; using a severed finger as a marker, she kept one eye on the text while the other searched for potions.

“Ai herivan i-nessa
Sei jsiod ofi soeof pochnin
Deigns wincth Brecaru-sheden!”

As she chanted, various bits and pieces went into the vast mixing bowl before her. Vile liquid brewed therein, rolling amidst a sea of yellow smoke.

“Sei sfst benmd winhd
Vobmi oplej’nibvn regulr—
Carnidn!!”

The mirror across the table reflected the sadistic scene. With a handful of the final ingrediant, Poison tossed it in and stepped back as the serpent arose from its writhing bed of amber-colored smoke. Silently, she closed the book as it hovered near her, twin flat eyes as red as coals beseeking her. Swaying slightly to a tune only it could hear, the snake coiled about the bowl, its hood fanning out in display. Its ethereal tongue flickered once, shooting out close enough to taste the sweat on Poison’s blue-whorled skin.

Suddenly, it recoiled, hissing with an otherworldly voice. Whirling around twice, it gave a small puff and was gone.

Poison put a hand to her cheek … it came away bloody.

The clan gryphons were hung by their scruffs in the powerful talons of Etherrawen as Lux questioned them. The ludrakoni didn’t like doing this, but they had viciously attacked Diana (who was sitting in the café with a warm cup of tea and several Guilders to talk to) and had attempted to steal valuable Guild records. So far, she’d gotten their real names and their relationship to each other. The truth to why they were here was a bit more hard-pressed to get, but with a few well-timed squeezes, they relented.

Afterwards, Eth and Lux wandered out onto the main ramp and showed them the open air.

Copyright 2002, Crystal Shekeira. All Guilders are © themselves. The Gryphon's Guild is trademarked to Tserisa Supalla. All other names, places and events are © MH. Do not alter, copy or distribute.