"My name is Souru. I am a gryphon from the north. What is your name little one?" The girl shook her head at the question, but stopped her retreat.

"You do not have a name?" The gryphon seemed to consider this for a moment, before nodding. "Your feathers, they remind me of the sky just before dark. May I call you Twilight?" The girl nodded slowly, relaxing slightly at the friendly presence of the gryphon. It did not seem to be like the others.

"Why--" her voice was cracked and raw with disuse, "Why do you look like me?" The gryphon chuckled at the young girl's question.

"I think what really needs to be asked is why do you look like a gryphon. Are you not human?" The girl withdrew at this, her body remembering the pain she had endured, how she had begged and pleaded with them to stop. They had refused to listen. The mage, tired of her crying had threatened to give her to the bald man if she wasn't quiet. Her tears hadn't stopped, but the noise had.

The gryphon seemed to read the girl's fear, even in the dark, for she reached a fore-claw towards the girl in an attempt to comfort her.

"Don't worry little one. I'll protect you, I promise."

I realized that while I had paintings of Keshaar and Zanthar, I didn't have any of Twilight. So here she is!

Twilight has unusual colored plumage for a gryphon (most gryphons have natural, raptor-like colored plumage) because she was not born a gryphon. Born human, she was kidnapped as a child and mutated by a rogue mage who made her more gryphon than human. While she still has a human form, she prefers to remain as a gryphon after joining Keshaar and his flock.

WIP shots are up on my blog. You can see there here: lvadams.wordpress.com/2013/09/…

Check out my blog or facebook page for more information on my novel. If you're a fan of medieval fantasy or gryphons, you definitely want to check it out!

lvadams.wordpress.com
www.facebook.com/LindsayVAdams