The Intuitives(67)

But this time, Rush was prepared. He did not make a sound. He did not step back from the portal. And with one final, heroic thrust, the creature surged through the tunnel, as though the resistance that had previously met it now suddenly dropped away, and it exploded out the other side, flying through the air straight at Rush, crashing into his chest, and knocking him to the ground.





35


A Night Out



“Holy shit!” Sam still sat in the middle of the circle, her hands high in the air, framing the portal that shimmered in the space between them.

Sketch had been right. The gryphon was not as big as a full-grown lion, for which Rush was now exceedingly grateful. He lay on the floor, rubbing his chest where the creature had torpedoed into it. Then he sat up slowly, all the while staring at the gryphon, which had rolled playfully off his chest after crashing with him to the ground and now stood staring at him, cocking its eagle-like head this way and that, as though trying to decide exactly what sort of creature Rush was.

“This… is really cool,” Kaitlyn said.

“Be careful,” Mackenzie warned. “We don’t know what it might do if it gets scared.”

“Oh, come on. Look at it. It’s just a baby.” Kaitlyn crouched low anyway, trying not to scare it as she made her way toward it cautiously.

It had the body and rear legs of a lion cub, but its front legs ended in thick talons, shaped like a bird’s, with feathers running from the shoulder to the knee. Its chest and neck were as broad as a lion cub’s would have been, but they were covered in feathers as well: white near the top, transitioning to a tawny golden color before blending almost imperceptibly into its fur. Its head looked vaguely like an eagle’s, but it had golden, furred ears, long and tufted, more like a lynx than a lion. Its broad beak was the same tawny gold as its fur.

As Kaitlyn came closer, it stood up on its hind legs and spread its wings wide, screeching at her, making Kaitlyn gasp. The feathers on top of its wings were white, like its head, but the feathers underneath were golden, like its fur.

“It’s beautiful,” Sketch murmured, and the gryphon turned its head to stare at him, bobbing its head up and down once.

“It’s like it understood you,” Kaitlyn said. “Can it understand us?” She directed the question to Rush, who looked at her like she was crazy.

“How should I know? Do I look like a mythological zookeeper to you?”

But Kaitlyn just shrugged back at him. “Hey, you called it here.”

“No way,” Rush protested. “You called it here. With that circle thing over there. Remember? Miss I-know-how-to-make-that?”

“I never said I could make a gryphon. And anyway, Tick-Tock was the one who opened the portal.”

“Yes. Yes, I did. So nice of you to remember me,” Sam retorted. “I’m not sure why you guys don’t want to take credit for summoning magical creatures here on planet Earth, but I’ll be happy to take full responsibility for all amazing feats and wonders if someone could please just come hold this portal open for me. My arms are getting tired.”

“How do you know it’s magical?” Mackenzie asked. “Just because it got here by magic doesn’t mean it is magic.”

“Here on Earth?” Daniel said, knitting his eyebrows together in puzzlement. “I don’t think it came from space…”

“Not really the point,” Sam said, rolling her eyes. “A little help, please?”

“I don’t think you have to hold your arms up anymore,” Sketch interjected, staring at the circle.

“Really?” Sam asked hopefully. “Are you sure?”

“Well, the things on the floor are all glowing, and the ones around the portal are lit up now too, so I think the circle is holding them open,” Sketch said.

“The ones around the portal?” Sam asked.

“Yeah,” Sketch confirmed. “In the air, around the edge of the portal, just like on the floor. You guys don’t see that?”

“Just looks like a hole to me,” Sam said, shrugging.

“Oh,” Sketch said, taking that in. “But you guys see the lion-bird thing, right?” he asked, turning to Rush. “I mean, that’s what you guys are talking about?”

“Yeah,” Rush said, grinning. “Definitely see that.”

“So, uh, what do I do?” Sam asked Sketch.

Sketch shrugged. “Whatever you want, I think. Just don’t mess up the ones on the floor.”

Sam moved her arms a little bit farther from the portal, watching the gryphon the whole time. It cocked its head at her inquisitively, watching her as she watched it, but otherwise nothing happened. She dropped her arms to her lap gratefully and started rubbing each shoulder in turn.

“Thank God,” she muttered.

Rush reached out a hand toward the gryphon, moving slowly, so as not to frighten it. At first it moved away, but when he stopped moving his hand, the cub moved back toward him, stretching its head out and grazing his fingertips.

“Well, that’s weird,” Rush said.

“You mean the baby gryphon standing in the garage in Middle-of-Nowhere, Wyoming?” Sam asked, still rubbing her shoulders. “Or something weirder than that? Cause if so, we’re really having a banner evening.”