Samantha Edwhan

Griffin's Choice

Chapter 1

Griffin exited the bedroom. Inside, he could still hear the Everhart family sobbing as they mourned the loss of Gerold. He was gone. Griffin's mouth was dry and his legs were frozen in place. Gerold, his best friend, was gone. Hiza Calndom was now without a High Caln. Of course, it wouldn’t stay that way for very long. Griffin was the Prinze. That meant he was next in line. He would be the one ruling the Calndom from now on.

He always knew he’d take over, but he had never really considered what it would be like when this moment came. How could he possibly lead the Calndom when he was reeling from the loss of his friend?

He remembered when he'd first met Gerold. They were fledglings back then, no older than fifteen. Gerold had been the Prinze of High Caln Rana Peacock for little over a year. Griffin had been amazed to meet them. He had been living at Tribe-Ali back then and meeting the rulers of Hiza Calndom was a lucky privilege that very few got to experience.

They had been fast friends. For the first time in Griffin's life, he had felt like he had a best friend. Not even his brother clicked with him in the same way. It wasn’t long after that when Gerold made him a promise.

“When I'm High Caln, I'll make you my Prinze,” he'd said with a big grin. “Then we'll always be together!”

Griffin smiled at the memory. But it faded just as quickly. He'd agreed to it without much thought of what that would mean. He'd never considered the fact that he would outlive Gerold and become High Caln after him. Now, however, that was a reality.

Griffin didn't know what to do. He wanted to collapse to the floor, to run and hide from the responsibility, but he couldn’t bring himself to move. Could he go to his wife, Misti, for comfort? Griffin screwed his eyes shut. No, she was sick. Some sort of illness had taken hold of her and she couldn’t have visitors. If the sickness spread to him, the Calndom would have no one. Everything would fall into chaos. Griffin pictured a scene in his mind. One where dragons revolted when their leaders were no more and his family was slaughtered.

Stop thinking like a paranoid nestling, Griffin told himself. Of course that wouldn’t happen. But what if it did?

Someone tapped Griffin's tail and he jolted out of his thoughts. Turning around, he saw the nurse that had been tending to Gerold for the past few months. Her expression was soft and sympathetic.

“I’m so sorry to disturb you, Prinze Griffin,” she said. “But could you please move a little? We need to move our High Caln’s body.”

Griffin glanced at the door behind her, where a few of the castle’s staff were somberly waiting. He ducked his head and shuffled to the side. The nurse gave him a curt nod and walked past him. The castle staff followed slowly. The castle staff followed slowly. They were strapped in harnesses with leather bands connecting them. A blanket laid over the bands with the shape of a dragon underneath. Griffin’s heart ached as he recognised the orange tail that hung limply out of the blanket.

The reminder of his loss gripped at his heart like ice covered claws. Griffin screwed his eyes shut and backed away. He bumped into a wall and stumbled a little. How was he supposed to go on without his best friend? How was he supposed to fill the role that Gerold had been so good at? Griffin was no good at being a leader. He struggled with the paperwork and the big words. Gerold had always been there to guide him, but now he was all alone.

The swirling emotions were becoming too much for him. Tears pricked at Griffin’s eyes and he turned and ran into the library. The door swung shut behind him and he desperately snatched a book at random. He sat on the floor and opened the book to the first page. It was a history book. It detailed how the Calndoms of old times used to operate. Griffin didn’t care. He just started reading, trying to fill his mind with the words of the book until his emotions faded away.