Rain flooded around them, making it nearly impossible to see the black rocks ahead. The stone had become perilously slippery, so they had to move slowly and together to prevent anyone falling.

      Kaden peered around a rock to see a sheer drop off just behind them. His mouth went dry as his foot slipped over slick stone, and he let out a shout of surprise. A hand caught his shirt collar, and Aliyah pulled him back to his feet.

      "Easy. That fall will kill you," Aliyah told him darkly, "Stay over here with us. If Rowan gets cursed again, we'll need you anyway."

      "I can't see anything!" Kaizen shouted over the roaring thunder. They were momentarily blinded by a flash of lightning, which was followed by a deafening crash of thunder that shook the mountain.

       Aliyah caught Isaiah by the arm as his foot slipped over slick stone, and he nearly pulled her down with him. "Hey, careful! Find a stable spot and hold on!"

        "There isn't a stable spot," the stone beneath Kaizen's hand broke free from the softening soil, and he would've fallen if Kaden hadn't steadied him. He slicked rain-soaked hair back from his eyes, and he looked up into the rain clouds, "Oh man..."

          Aliyah looked in the direction he was facing, and realized the rumbling and shaking of the mountain had not stopped after the boom of thunder. It was continuing, jarring boulders from their places. And she saw what Kaizen was looking at.

         The roar in the mountains was coming from the hundreds and thousands of huge and small boulders alike, each and everyone cascading down the mountain towards them. They barely had a minute until the stones hurtling towards them would smash into them. Best case scenario- they were knocked off of the mountain and plunged into the perilous pit below. Worst case scenario- they would be smashed beneath the hundreds of tons of rocks and be obliterated to dust.

       "Just give us a break!" Aliyah shouted at the sky, raising a fist in both anger and exasperation. She turned to the others, pointing at the avalanche roaring towards them, "We have no place to run to, so does anyone have any good ideas?"

      "We're dead," Kaden moaned, his eyes locked onto the black rocks cascading down the mountain towards them. The heavy rain made him blink fast, and each time his eyes opened, the avalanche seemed much closer.

        "I meant a good idea," Aliyah said snidely, then the ground shuddered beneath them. They nearly all fell, but Isaiah landed on his side, keeping his eyes locked on something in the darkness.

          "Kaizen," Isaiah grabbed his king's wrist, "Trust me, okay?"

          "Hard to trust a man that filled your bed with spiders as a joke. I was haunted for years, dude."

         "Fair point," Isaiah shrugged, then pulled Kaizen forward, spinning sharply around so he was flung off of the cliff, "Sorry!"

         "Kai!" Kaden shouted, and Aliyah looked horrified. The rocks on the mountainside were leaping across slick stone to reach for them, and Isaiah grabbed Kaden before he could leap away. Kaden found himself flailing wildly as thin air greeted him with its cold clutches.

       "Kaden!" Aliyah shouted, leaning forward to look down after him, "Isaiah, what the hell are you doing?"

          Isaiah looked back at the boulders, "Helping." He grabbed her arm as the rocks reached them, and he pulled her over the edge with him to the thunderous sounds exploding behind them against the stone as the boulders struck the place they had all stood.

       Aliyah shrieked, spinning wildly through the air as she plunged through the rain. Then something cold and hard curled around her, and her descent slowed. Then she was jerked upward. She looked up to see golden feathers, and her jaw dropped. It was a griffin.

         Isaiah was hanging from its other the other talon, grinning at her, "You thought I was killing them, didn't you?" He laughed at her shocked face, and she looked up. Through the falling rain, she could see other griffins swooping through the storm, each carrying a silhouette in its talons.

       "Heyyyy, sis!" a voice called, and the griffin holding her uncurled its talons. She shrieked, spinning through the dark air until she landed on coarse feathers that shifted beneath her. She gasped, finding herself sitting on the back of a dark brown griffin. Behind her was the familiar face of-

        "Marcus!!" Aliyah exclaimed, her mouth hanging open, "You- we- what are you doing here?!"

        The boy sitting behind her had long, reddish brown hair that fell to his shoulders, longer in the back than his bangs. He had a strong jaw though a narrow face, and his yellow eyes were shadowed by a thick brows. His large hands gripped the sides of the griffins, "I'm here to save your tail," his grin revealed white fangs, "Since you were about to die and all."

        "Well, you do have perfect timing," Aliyah squeezed him into a hug, "But I thought you headed east!"

         "I did, but got sidetracked by the griffin sanctuary. They're actually really neat up close," Marcus grinned at her, "They like lightning storms, find the flying thrilling. And when I spotted you, I persuaded them to catch you all. I'm just glad the one guy saw us and pitched the rest of you over. Otherwise you'd probably be dead."

          "Thanks! So where are they going to put us down?" Aliyah asked, and as if in response, the griffin dipped downwards beneath her, and she grabbed her brother to keep from falling forward. The griffin spiraled downwards, then beat its wings to slow its descent as it raced towards the cliffside.

          "Hold on!!" Marcus laughed at her fear, throwing his head back as they rocketed towards the sheer cliff. Then the griffin swerved to the side, disappearing into a tunnel in the side of the mountain. Darkness covered them like a wave as they sped through the tunnel, dodging around stalactites and stalagmites. Aliyah ducked her head low, blinking hard to adjust her eyes to the darkness. The wind tore at her hair, blowing it in her face as she gripped tightly onto her brother's wrists.

            Then they went up, swerving through the tunnels until they were washed in golden light. Aliyah looked down to see the tip of the mountain, the cave, and the other griffins all floating above a floor of thick, gray wisps. The air was icy cold, and she found it harder to breathe. Her lungs ached as she inhaled deeply.

           They were above the clouds, beneath the light of the sun and above the storm.

        Aliyah massaged her face, trying to adjust her eyes to the blinding light. Then she looked up, picking out her friends in the talons of the other griffins. Some of the griffins dove down into the thickening clouds, disappearing into the roaring thunder and blinding lightning.

          "Take us down, pal?" Marcus asked the brown griffin they sat atop. It screeched loudly to the others, and Aliyah felt her stomach rise into her throat as they spiraled down. Clouds blinded her vision as they dropped, and a flash of lightning just beside them made her shriek.

       Marcus cackled at her fright, and she elbowed him in the gut, "Shut up, ya-" Thunder cut her off, and the griffin swerved suddenly. She nearly fell, but he grabbed her shoulders to stabilize her.

        Then the griffin landed inside of a huge cavern, and the smell of hay and feathers choked her. A breeze smelling of sediments stirred her hair, and the sound of rain drummed outside.

      Piles of grass, hay, and straw were tucked neatly into large ledges in the cave, most of them occupied by a very large bird. The griffins had sharp talons and feathers on the front half, their beaks jagged and designed for tearing apart prey like a hawk's. But the back half had soft brown fur, large paws, and a lion's tail. Their wings were enormous, covered in speckled feathers of varying colors. And each carried itself with an air of pride and magnificence.

      Behind her, a flurry of feathers and a squawk announced the arrival of the other griffins carrying Aliyah's friends.

     Kaden and Kaizen were dumped mercilessly to the floor, Isaiah flopped on top of them. Kaizen rolled swiftly to his feet, his hand going to the sword at his side. Aliyah quickly hopped off of the griffin, "Hey, it's okay, guys!! They're helping us!"

     "Who's that?"Kaizen aimed a finger at Marcus, "He's not your brother, is he?"

      "He is!" Aliyah exclaimed, "How could you tell?"

        "Same eyes," he shrugged, "We need to use these griffins. Don't you get it? These are exactly what we were looking for! We could catch up to Rowan with these helping us."

       "Who's Rowan?" Marcus blinked.

        "A friend. Her sister's been kidnapped, and she went to look for her. But she ditched us to do so, and we really need to help her out," Aliyah said, "She's fighting a witch, a really powerful one. And there's a dragon."

         "A dragon?" Marcus blinked, " A big blue bastard?" He spread his arms to represent how big it was, "Really evil eyes with a cackling woman with dark hair and a face that could sour a grape riding on the guy's back?"

        "Yes! Adeline and the dragon! Was there anyone else on it?"

        "Yes, actually," Marcus tapped a finger on his chin thoughtfully, "She was asleep. Most beautiful girl I'd ever seen. Heavens above, she was gorgeous. Went to see where she was being taken, and it was the valley in the middle of the mountains."

        "You know where they are?" Isaiah asked excitedly, dusting feathers off of his clothes and straightening his gold-buttoned jacket.

         "That's too convenient," Kaden's eyebrows sank in suspicion, "Why should we believe you?"

        "It's a small mountain range," Marcus rolled his eyes, shaking his head back as if he was being aggravated, "I ride griffins around in my free time. Which is all the time. It would be suspicious if I didn't see the dragon and witch lady flittin' around my mountainside."

         "Besides, he's my brother," Aliyah said, "Sometimes he's an annoying pig head, but he's honest."

        "And it's the best lead we have," Kaizen reminded them, "We need to get there before something happens to Rowan. The King wouldn't be too happy to lose both his daughters along with his second wife within the same three days."

          "Wait," Marcus held up a hand, "That girl on the dragon was a princess? I should have known!"

            "She's Princess Quinn of Irisanna," Kaden told him loftily, "She's also single. And in need of a knight in shining armor. But there isn't a way to get to her, so I think we should just give up... I mean, unless we can sprout wings or something crazy like that."

        "I bet I could persuade the griffins to help you out," Marcus said thoughtfully, "But not because of the girl. For my dear little sis," he draped an arm over Aliyah's shoulder, and she elbowed him in the gut.

          "I'm older, genius."

          Marcus waved this off dismissively, turning to the nearest griffin, "Wanna ride to the valley?"

         It lifted its head, golden eyes boring into Marcus. Then it sprang into the air, flying to one of the ledges.

         Aliyah watched it get settled into the nest, its tail resting on its beak as it curled into a ball, "Is that a polite no?"

        "Eh, he says he wants to wait until the storms lightens up a bit," Marcus shrugged his shoulders carelessly, "Nocturne isn't a fan of lightning. He's got zapped before, and it freaked him out."

         "I would be freaked out too," Kaden rubbed the back of his head, scrubbing at his hair, "But we really don't have time to wait."

          Marcus sniffed the air, casting a glance back at the mouth of the cave, "It'll blow over soon. An hour."

             "And a half," Aliyah corrected, "Work on your weather scenting skills."

           Marcus made a face at his sister, but turned to the others, "Two hours, and we'll go. Might as well rest a bit, eh?"