Temptation

By HaziHeeler

Chapter One

Loki spread his gray feathered wings, inhaling deeply as a sharp wind hissed along the ledge he stood upon. His yellow-gold talons flexed, hooked claws leaving small marks in the stone. The green feathers on the underside of his wings glistened slightly.

He blinked his strangely pearlescent green eyes before diving off of the ledge, opening his wings and letting himself be caught in an air current. Tilting himself upward, he soared along until a wider ledge came into view.

With an elegant flourish of his feathered wings, Loki landed on the ledge, causing a heavy THUMP. His sudden landing scared the living daylight out of a pair of dodos.

With a flick of his tail, Loki turned to look at his home.

Griffin Valley. An enormous crack in the earth, creating an enormous series of cliffs. Waterfalls cascaded down multiple cliffs, creating a huge lake in the bottom of the valley. More water poured in along a path that led from the ocean.

Standing on the ledge, Loki could see multiple griffins soaring around, some of them hunting, others lounging in the sun.

“What are you doing up here?” a voice asked.

Loki turned around to see a silver and black griffin standing behind him. She had a few golden flecks on the underside of her wings, gray talons, and pale blue eyes which reminded him of the frothed water at the bottom of the valley.

“Ah, Valkyrie,” Loki greeted. “I wanted to see the view.”

Valkyrie shook her head, a small smile creasing the corners of her mouth. “You know that only the Elders are allowed up here.”

Loki rolled his eyes. Why was Valkyrie always like that? Constantly telling him reasons he couldn’t do things. “Like they’d care,” he said with a flick of his wings. He blinked innocently. “And besides, they never come up here anyways. They’re too old and heavy to make it all the way up here!”

Valkyrie smiled, and then forced herself to scowl. “Don’t say that!” she said. “They might hear you.”

Loki snorted. “They’re all so old, they’re probably all deaf by now. And plus—” Before he could finish, the unmistakeable throaty roar of a giganotosaurus echoed around Griffin Valley.

“A giga? Here?” Panic flared in Valkyrie’s eyes. Loki sprang into the air and followed a group of griffins heading towards the sound, all of them easily ready to slaughter the huge carnivore. He could hear Valkyrie flapping after him.

Loki rounded a corner—or, it was more of a cliff-edge—and collided head-on with the huge, gray-green tail of a giganotosaurus.