Written by
Razzmatazz
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-This book is dedicated to the children of Canberra hospital.-
I hope you enjoy this book that we worked hard on for 12
hours. That doesn’t sound like long, and it was hard to get it
done within the time limit. We had a great time writing it,
and we hope you have an equally great, if not better time
reading it. It was great fun working together as a team to
produce a novel, and it was well worth the effort we put in.
-from the year 7-8 Canberra girls grammar school team ‘razzmatazz’
Alessandra Binutti,
Zoe Hartland,
Clare Alder
Chelsea
and
Clare Mason-Cox
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Chapter I
Origins
Long ago, in the times of old, when dragons and griffins flew the skies in harmony, there was
a king. The king of the humans. He ruled the kingdom with strength and peace. The days
were golden, and the people’s hearts were glad.
But then, one day, a darkness descended upon them. It called itself Umbra. It was a force
unknown, unseen, and unheard, it lurked in the shadows, but then, when it struck, it made
sure it was felt. It was a being of the blackness, with the ability to possess the minds of all
men and creatures. All except for the dragons.
The darkness spread through the land like a plague. Nobody was safe from its grasp. The
dragons were terrified, they didn’t know what to do. But they could not just stand back and
watch as humanity was obliterated forever. So the dragons held a council. They decided
that the only way to save humanity, was to share with them a part of themselves.
And so a dragon was selected, his name was Don’gur. Don’gur was sent to find a human.
This human, a young man, was chosen. Don’gur placed a piece of his soul inside the human,
and the human gave a piece of his soul to the dragon. And they were bonded. The first
Dragon riders were born.
This human was the last hope, a light in the darkness for all, he banded together with dragon
kind and“What are you reading Gryf?”
With reluctance, Gryf tore his eyes away from the page, to look upon the man who had
spoken.
He was old and hunched over, with a slight frame and a golden ring on each finger. His
ghostly white hair-line was receding daily, and he clutched a walking stick with one withered
hand, leaning heavily against it. Despite all this, and the monocle that hung from his coat
pocket, his ocean blue eyes had lost none of their brilliance.
“Aren’t you supposed to be studying for your warrior ceremony tomorrow?”
“Um, I was…. I just,” Gryf glanced guiltily at the pile of weapons books that lay stacked to his
left, and then looked to the completely irrelevant ancient mythology paperback. “Just…
doing a bit of … light reading?” he shrugged.
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The librarian muttered something, taking out his monocle. He scanned the title of the
paperback. Origins of The Darkness.“WHAT’S THIS BOY!!??” he yelled, looking incredibly
flustered. So much for libraries being quiet. I’d never seen him this angry before.
“It’s just a book…” Gryf said, furrowing his dark eyebrows.
The librarian took a moment to compose himself, fervently polishing his monocle. “Yes well,
you shouldn’t be reading such foolish tales. They’re not good for the mind! They destroy
logic, and your brains,” he said strictly, snatching the leather bound book from Gryf’s hands.
“Hey!” he protested.
The librarian ignored him, continuing, “And men need their brains these days, we can’t have
you floating off in the clouds. Especially not now! You have your warrior ceremony
tomorrow, you need to do well.
Gryf stayed silent. It was better to do that when the librarian got flustered.
“Look Gryf. I know you want to be a librarian. And I tried to convince your father. But it is
not your path, as prince of the kingdom, you have a duty to your people. Princes can’t be
librarians! They are expected to be warriors, and that is what you shall do. You need to
accept the responsibility Gryf, just as your father did. And his father-“
“And his father before him, and his father, and his father, blah blah blah, yeah, I get it,” Gryf
droned, rolling his eyes.
The librarian stopped short, unsure about how to react.
Gryf grabbed his satchel, heaving it onto his shoulder. “You said the library was closed?”
“Well… erm, yes,” the librarian stuttered.
“Bye then.”
Gryf slammed the door as he walked out. The wind lashed at his face the second he walked
outside. Despite the tall fortress walls that surrounded the small kingdom, the breeze was
still as vicious as an angry Griffin.
Griffins. They were everywhere. As an integral part of the kingdom, they were on all of their
flags, emblems, crests, they even flew through the streets. And the Griffin riders. Oh how he
envied them. The heroic peacekeepers of the kingdom, they flew messages, kept things in
order, and performed at events. They had the freedom of the whole sky. The world was
their playground.
Not like me he thought with a sigh. His name was so like the creature, it meant strength and
power, freedom and swiftness. But he was captured, bound and tied by rules and
regulations. People expected so much of him. He was the prince, the Kingdom looked to
him. Or so everybody said. But out here, dressed in battered patched clothes, walking the
city streets, nobody knew who he was. Nobody looked to him. Out here, he was free.
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The trundle of sales-wagons and carriages thrummed along the road, he stepped on the
cobblestone streets in time with the gypsy band that played by a doorway. He stepped into
an alleyway, leaving behind the chaos of the main road.
He heart thudded with nerves and anticipation. The warrior ceremony was tomorrow, he
had to pass. He needed to pass. But the thing was, Gryf was a hopeless warrior. He was
alright in the field, but all of these manners and etiquette, and swordsmanship. The rules and
laws that already monopolised his life were there, and they were ever more strongly present.
Gryf thought that his day couldn’t get any worse. And then he saw something above him, a
flicker of movement. He looked up, something was falling towards him…. Wait… WHAT!?
Falling towards him!?
Chapter II
Griffin Rider
“Just eat it you damn thing!”
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Skylar flopped down on the hay bale in frustration, staring at the griffin in annoyance. Pyro
snorted and flipped his bowl of slimy fish onto the ground.
“Disgraceful creature.”
Skylar stood up and stormed off to her thatched-roof cottage, muttering darkly to herself.
“Ungrateful, disgraceful, painful griffin.”
Still muttering, she slammed her door shut and pulled a loaf of slightly stale bread out of the
cupboard. Grabbing a blunt breadknife out of a drawer, she sliced off the rock-solid outer
crust and pulled the still-soft bread out of the centre, humming as she went. Falling onto the
fur-skin hammock in the corner, she stroked the cool, smooth wood panelling on her walls.
The last rays of sunlight beaming through her window and turning the grey stone floor a
pale gold, and still with the soft hunks of bread in her hand, Skylar promptly fell asleep.
“RUN, THEY’RE COMING!” a voice shouted. Skylar bolted up, rubbing her tired eyes. She
looked up to see a familiar face, contorted with panic.
“Go. Save yourself. I’ll fight them off.” She fell awkwardly out of the fur-skin hammock that
she slept on and stumbled out the door, only to find a bigger horror awaiting her. The sky
was red, people were running around, terrified. Skylar stared, utterly bewildered as to how
the world which had seemed so peaceful could quickly turn in to a world of hell.
“I told you to run!” the voice yelled again. The familiar man ran out the door of the hut and
over to her.
“My child. You must run now. The dragons are waiting for you.” Even more confused,
Skylar turned around to see a wall of darkness descending on the man behind her, the
familiar one, the…
She bolted upright, barely containing a scream. She looked around, realising that she was in
her house, the man gone, the sky a white-dotted blanket of navy blue instead of the blood-red
sky of horror that it was just moments earlier. Shakily standing up, Skylar wobbled over to
the kitchen where her leather riding gear was hanging on a chair. Pulling it on, she smoothed
her hair back, trying to look as if she hadn’t just had the worst nightmare of her life.
“Pyro, get your annoying butt over here. We’re going on a ride.”
Pyro snorted and lay back down on his pile of hay.
“I said, GET UP!”
Pyro finally heaved his massive body out of the hay and plodded over to Skylar.
“Come on, fatso. Let’s go and get you your saddle.”
Pyro suddenly reared up and ran dead straight towards his saddle, sending it flying into the
air.
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“Calm your farm, psycho! We’re not here to ruin your riding gear.”
Finally wrestling the saddle onto the morose griffin, Skylar flung herself onto his back, the
griffin whinnied in discomfort.
“Grow up, Princess. Now let’s go!”
Pyro gave a running start before launching himself into the air, and Skylar prepared herself
for the hectic flight ahead. About 20 minutes later, before coming into land, Skylar suddenly
felt a slight buck of Pyro’s back.
“Don’t even think about i-“
But before she could finish her sentence, Pyro had bucked her off his back and she was falling
through the air towards the ground. But just as she was about to land hard on her back, a boy
about her age appeared out of nowhere, looked up and reached out to catch her.
THUD
Well, that didn’t work.
Chapter III
The Black Mist
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As Gryf and Skylar tried to get out of their tangled mess Pyro fell to the ground in a
fit of laughter.
“Wow, people falling out of the sky. That’s a little bit new.” Gryf said as he stood up
trying to not show any sign of awkwardness.
“Sorry about that. My Griffin he is a baby and well he is a bit temperamental, yeah,
sorry. His name is Parana, Pyro for short.” Skylar said trying to gather her things
together and shove them back into her satchel.
“Wait you’re the kings son, oh my god I am so sorry your royal highness.” Skylar
finished packing up her things and did a very awkward bow dropping some of her
things again.
“Call me Gryf and you are…” Said Gryf expecting an answer.
“Oh I am Skylar, Skylar Draig. Nice to meet you… Gryf. Anyway I have got to go
now, bye.” Skylar started walking away scolding Pyro.
Gryf looked back behind him about to yell for Skylar to stay but he thought better of
it and continued walking away.
As Gryf was walking towards the city he saw little black specs coming up out of the
kingdom walls inclosing the castle and surrounding houses. Gryf herd screams of
pain but the strange thing was that they were less than a second and the stoped very
abruptly. Gryf started going through the possibilities of what might be happening. It
could be an invasion. No the walls were still intact, there was no army and the gate was still
down. It could be the plague. No that happens slowly and I would have heard about it. Gryf
then thought it could be the darkness that he had read about in the old books in the
library. No, impossible.
Gryf started running towards the city still trying to work out what was happening
but coming to no conclusion of what it might be. The black mist was getting higher
almost like it was taking on a mind of its own. Gryf knew that he had to help but he
so badly wanted to just run away. He didn’t want to get caught in all of the clamour
of what was happening. He didn’t want to be responsible for injuries or death if
there were any. Gryf knew that he wasn’t like his father and he didn’t want to be
either.
As Gryf entered into the kingdom walls the black mist got thicker. So thick it wasn’t
a mist anymore it was a mass of black that looked like it would be slimy and
horrible. The black mass was spiralling up the castle and wondering into the sky
there was a black shape of a man but Gryf dismissed it. Gryf went into the main
village expecting to see devastation and chaos but instead everything was
completely normal until someone fell. It was like they were having a stroke. Gryf
rushed to help and just as he got there the person got up and just walked away like
nothing happened. Gryf knew that something was wrong and he knew that he had
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to fix it. Gryf decided to ask the librarian for help so he started off towards the
library to seek for help.
When Gryf was half way there he noticed smoke coming from a little way away and
he changed his priority and ran towards the burning house. When he got there he
found the villagers cheering and setting fire to the house. This was strange, very
strange.
Chapter IV
Realisation
Skylar flew Pyro into a rough landing, and quickly jumped off the troublesome Griffin’s back.
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“WHAT WAS THAT?” she screamed at him.
“I COULD HAVE DIED! AND YOU DIDN’T CARE?!”
Pyro shrank backwards towards a pile of straw, and Skylar realised her mistake.
“I’m sorry Pyro. I shouldn’t have yelled at you. But don’t you EVER throw me off your back
again.”
Pyro blew hot air out of his nostrils onto Skylar’s face and curled up in a furry, snoring ball.
She reeled backwards, spluttering.
“Fine then. Be lazy. I’m going to clean out your stall.”
Leaving the cantankerous griffin to sleep, Skylar walked off to Pyro’s stall. The floor was
covered in thrown-about straw, and the walls were scratched and muddy. Sighing, Skylar
swept all the old straw into a pile, washed the floor and walls, and tied a fish to the ceiling as
a joke. She then left, exhausted.
“I’ve done your stall, so go sleep in your actual bed and not on the neighbour’s straw.”
Pyro snorted.
“Whatever. But if Hillary comes out and apprehends you, don’t come crying to me.”
About an hour later, Skylar heard a yell. Curious, she peeked out the window to see Pyro
snapping at her neighbour.
“GET OFF ME, YOU MANKY ANIMAL!” Hillary yelled.
Cursing the stubborn griffin, she stalked outside towards her neighbour and Pyro.
“PYRO! GET YOUR BACKSIDE OVER HERE NOW!”
Pyro snorted and clambered off the flattened pile of straw towards Skylar.
“I did tell you. It’s your fault that you got into trouble.”
Hillary hobbled over.
“Now you keep that darn animal away from my straw! He’s caused enough damage as it is.”
“Sorry, Hillary.”
“You’d better be.”
Shaking her head, Hillary left.
“You are honestly…” Skylar said, unable to find a suitable word to describe the griffin.
Then out of the corner of her eye, she saw a faint column of smoke curling up into the sky.
Squinting, Skylar realised it was coming from the direction of the kingdom.
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“Um, Pyro?” she said, already starting towards the house. She dashed inside, whipping her
tan leather riding jacket off the table. Pulling on her knee-high boots, something caught her
eye. Her gilt oaken bow and matching arrows hanging in a leather quiver. She thought about
it, and grabbed them off the wall as well.
She threw the saddle onto pyro and jumped on.
“Let’s go.”
Chapter V
Fire and Shadows
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Gryf saw something flicker out of the corner of his eye. What streaked through the sky to go
and join the swirling black mass could only be described as a liquid shadows. He was
seriously panicking now. Something was wrong. The people everywhere had suddenly
turned violent, destroying things and setting everything alight. Fire was everywhere, fire and
shadows.
And laughter. Oh how they laughed. Gryf ran up to a man, the smoke stinging his eyes.
“Hello!? What’s wrong!? Why are you doing this?” he shook the man vigorously by the
shoulders. The man just looked at him and laughed, his eyes boring into Gryf’s soul. Eyes
that were completely black. Gryf leapt back, shoving the man away from him.
“WHAT’S HAPPENING!!? WHAT IS THIS!!? HELP, SOMEBODY!!” He called, desperately.
Warriors were supposed to know what to do now, they were meant to sort out the problem.
But with all of the panic everywhere, the fire, the smoke and the menacing swirling mass of
liquid darkness in the sky, he had no idea.
“AAHAHA!!!” out of nowhere, there came a barbaric shriek of shock and violence. Gryf ran
towards the sound. Maybe there was one normal person left here?
He sprinted down a street, following the noise. He turned a corner and found himself face to
face with a girl. Wavy brown hair cascading down to her shoulders, two different coloured
eyes, one green, one brown, and a pretty face. It was Skylar, the girl he met earlier, and
beside her, was a brown griffin with orange stripes, Pyro, I remembered.
They was being attacked. Tendrils of darkness swirled around her, jabbing and stabbing,
lashing out as they tried to penetrate her soul. Skylar on the other hand, was yelling a battle
cry, shooting shaft after shaft of arrows at the darkness, with Pyro slashing his enormous
claws at them, not letting them near. Every spear of shadow that did manage to get to her
seemed to bounce off, and Skylar was left unharmed. Gryf fumbled with his satchel, pulled
out his dagger and charged in.
He slashed at the shadows, and they recoiled, retreating back as though stung. Finally, after
what seemed like hours, they had fended off the blackness. And it was just Skylar, the griffin
and him. Gryf raised his hand in greeting, and she punched his in the face.
“OW!” Gryf clutched his cheek, it stung.
“OMYGOSH!!! I’M SO SORRY!” Skylar shrieked, dropping her bow.
“WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?”
“I’msorryI’msorryI’msorry!!!” She repeated rapidly, “I didn’t see it was you, I thought you
were going to stab me!”
“RRRARCH!!” squawked Pyro.
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“Stab you?... oh…” Gryf realised that the hand he had raised in greeting had been holding his
dagger.
Oops…
THUMP
We both turned to find shadows rushing towards us, accompanied by those people,
possessed with pitch black eyes.
“RUN!” she shrieked.
There was barely any need to say so. We both sprinted in the other direction, our feet
pounding the pavement and my cheek still stinging from the punch. Dang that girl was
strong. Or at least, I was sprinting in the other direction. Skylar had mounted Pyro, who was
galloping towards me.
“Jump!” Skylar yelled as they thundered towards me. I did as she asked, and she grabbed
my arms, hauling me onto the back of the saddle.
“UP PYRO, UP!!!” she cried, and Pyro obliged.
With a massive beat of his feathered wings, we rose into the sky. I looked down, the ground
was already a dizzying distance away. The shadows had almost engulfed the whole
kingdom. Fire glowed in the midst of the smog-like dark, all was lost. All we could do now
was get away. And so we did.
Chapter VI
The Dream
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“What the hell was that?” Groaned Gryf, holding his bleeding nose and glaring at
Skylar. They’d been walking for hours away from the city.
“Whatever it was, I’m tired now.” Announced Skylar. “Do you know of anywhere
we can rest?”
Before long they came across a cave, and decided to spend the night there. After
what they’d experienced, neither of them expected to sleep well, but before long
they were both sleeping like babies.
I rose up and looked around. I could see something on the wall furthest from me, when I
walked over to it, it grew brighter, and I had to squint to see it. When my vision adjusted to
the brightness, I could see it was some kind of symbol. It was made up of a series of curled
lines, all interlocked with each other.
When I drew closer still the symbol began to glow brighter. Just then I heard a low humming
noise, almost like a buzzing, and the symbol changed from a light blue to a dark, dark green.
I heard something in the darkness behind me, and without thinking I turned to run. I ran
into a cavern, and kept running until I ended up in a room, illuminated with a green.
Then I heard a voice from behind me. I couldn’t see where it was coming from, but I did
manage to hear a section of the lyrics
Come find us
Come find us
We’re hidden away
Come find us
Come find us
Awake us to face the day
It was sung in a deep, almost inhuman voice, and after some time (it was impossible to tell
how much time passed), other voices joined in too.
The noise grew and grew till I could hear nothing else, and it still grew and grew until it
seemed to consumed me, and I was falling and the light turned red and blue and green and
yellow and eventually black, and it felt like it was consuming me.
Skylar shot up of the cave floor and looked around. She was still in the main room of
the cave, and Gryf was asleep next to her. He heard her jumping around, and rose
up. She explained to him the details of her.
“Wait a second, that sounds like umbra!” exclaimed Gryf
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“I read about it in a book. It’s a great shadow, which takes over people’s minds. It’s
referred to as ‘the darkness’. Its origins are unknown, and It is supposedly
impossible to overcome.”
Skyla had trouble falling back asleep that night, and lay awake with pyro at her side.
Chapter VII
15
Hunted
The morning came and the sunrise and orange and yellow rays of sunlight were
dancing across the land, casting shadows of colour. Gryf awoke to find Skylar sitting
by the fire with Pyro beside her.
“Couldn’t sleep?” Gryf asked Skylar with a sleepy voice.
“No, couldn’t sleep. I have been having dreams weird dreams, but that doesn’t
matter what’s for breakfast?” Skyler said trying to put on a brave face and not letting
her emotions take over her.
Skylar drew her bow back letting the string bush her face. She took aim and let go of
the arrow letting it fly through the air and plant itself deep into the bird’s chest.
There was a thump as the bird fell to the ground the feathers around the fatal arrow
shot stained crimson with blood. Skylar went to collect the bird and take it back to
the camp to pluck and roast when she heard Gryf call for her in an alarming voice.
When Skylar got back to the camp she saw that Pyro had caught three rabbits, two
for him and one for Skylar and Gryf to share. Skylar also saw that Gryf was
surrounded by a pack of abnormally large wolves. Skylar silently drew out her
pocket knife and crept up to a large wolf. She reached in front of it and buried her
knife deep into the chest of the animal, letting red blood ooze out and spill onto the
ground.
There were seven more wolves left. Two were circling Pyro, growling at the griffin
not knowing that they don’t stand a chance to win. Two were circling around Gryf
and three were growling at Skylar.
Gryf launched forward and struck a smaller one in the chest stamping on its head to
make sure it was dead. He then launched at another one but this wolf refused to die.
The wolf jumped at Gryf landing on top of him and pinning him down. Gryf
desperately tried to get free. The fowl breath of the animal spilling down over his
face and gliding up his nostrils infecting them with the smell of dead meat.
By this time Pyro had finished off the wolves that were surrounding him and he saw
the danger that Gryf was in and leaving the devouring of his prize till later. Pyro
jumped on the wolf, ripped him off Gryf and with one swipe of his claw the wolf
was history.
While this was happening Skylar had stabbed another wolf with enough force to
send it tumbling across the ground out of reach. Skylar had also thrust an arrow into
the throat of a wolf hard enough so that it became lodged in the flesh so she couldn’t
pull it out. As Skylar’s arrows were scattered around and her dagger was in the
wolfs throat Skylar was weapon less and in trouble. Gryf and Pyro weren’t looking
and they did not notice that they friend was in trouble. The wolf got in a killing
position ready to strike. He started lowering his head with teeth bared centimetres
16
away from her face. Gryf launched forward striking the wolf and wounding it badly,
Pyro came finishing off the job.
After Gryf had wounded the wolf he was still in mid jump and he landed on top of
Skylar.
“Oh sorry, I, um, sorry, let me help you, um, sorry” In a clamour of apologetic voices
they got up and brushed themselves off.
“I think I am having some déjà vu” Gryf said trying to not show how awkward he
felt.
After that the group cooked breakfast and talked around a fire which they soon had
to put out because it was too hot. The band of travellers then set out to seek another
resting place for the coming night.
Chapter VIII
17
Vision
The cool, dark, welcoming cave loomed before them, and Skylar would have run
straight to it if she weren’t so tired.
“I think my legs are going to fall off.” Gryf complained, and Skylar agreed.
“We’ve been walking for hours on end. I don’t blame you.”
As they reached the cave, Skylar felt a strange feeling wash over her, and she
shivered.
“Are you ok?” Gryf asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” She replied, still uneasy.
Gryf awkwardly put his arm around her and helped her to the cave.
“Do you need to lie down?” he said.
“I think I can cope.” Skylar said in a shaky voice, leaning against the rock wall.
“Just a bit shaky, that’s all.”
“Ok, then.”
After darkness fell, Skylar lay down underneath Pyro’s wing, which he promptly
removed once he realised she was there. Cursing him in a hushed voice, Skylar
rolled over under her jacket and did her best to stay warm in the freezing alpine
conditions.
“Skylar.”
She heard a voice hazily in the distance.
“SKYLAR.”
“SKYLAR!”
“WHAAAAAAAAAAT?” she whined, rubbing her sore eyes.
“Are you awake?” it was Gryf’s voice.
“Um, yes?! Obviously?!”
“Oh. Sorry.”
Skylar groaned and rolled over again, to see Gryf sitting cross-legged next to her.
She stared at him for a moment, and then shook her head.
“I’m going to find something to eat.”
“Ok. I’ll attempt to wake up Pyro without getting bitten.”
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She snorted.
“Good luck with that. He still bites me.”
As skylar set off, she felt that strange feeling again. Then she saw it. a strange rock,
greenish in colour, pulsing with a blue light. There was a strange symbol set in the
centre of the rock, and was the epicentre of the pulsing blue light. Skylar stared at it
for a while, and was beginning to feel slightly woozy. Unsure of what was
happening, she fell unconscious.
“oh my god, Skylar, wake up!” Gryf’s voice said. But Skylar barely heard him.
Rising to her feet, she looked at him.
“I know where the Dragons are.”
Chapter IX
19
Dyfroedd Clir
“You look horrible, like you have just run a marathon” Gryf said very concerned
about Skylar’s wellbeing.
“We have to go now” Skylar said very depleted of strength.
“We are not going anywhere you are resting” Gryf said in a way that left Skylar no
choice.
“No, we have to…” Skylar fainted back onto her bed.
When Skylar awoke Gryf had packed everything up and was ready to go.
“How long have I been asleep?” Skylar asked as she got up.
“About a day” Gryf said.
“Let’s go now” Skylar said putting on a pack.
“What no breakfast” Gryf said very disappointed.
The intrepid travellers set off. It was early morning and the sun was just rising. Gryf
was almost running to try and catch up with Skylar.
“How do you know where the dragons are?” Gryf said very confused.
“It was one of my dreams again. Like the one I had the other night except this time it
told me where the dragons are. They live in a big mountain how cool is that?” Skylar
said in a rush of words still walking as fast as a rabbit getting chased by a lion.
“A mountain, that’s a bit hard to hide” Gryf said with a smirk, Skylar staring at him
like he was a loony.
“Can we slow down, I am going to have a heart attack soon” Gryf explained while
panting a lot.
“No” Skylar said continuing “I want to get there as soon as possible and that means
you need to hurry up!”
When Skylar and Gryf got to the mountain they were in awe of the massive waterfall
that thundered down in front of them. Skylar walked ford as she knew the way in
because she was told in her dream, Gryf following close behind.
“It is called Dyfroedd clir. It means clear waters. It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Skylar said
as they walked into the waterfall.
Inside the only sound was the water tumbling down behind them. There was an
entrance hall that lead to a big main space. The entrance hall had blue crystals
everywhere. Hanging off the roof coming off the walls there were even some small
clusters on the floor. They looked up into the main hall which also had crystals
20
everywhere. They saw that there was holes dug out spiralling up the walls in the
main cavern.
Chapter X
21
Lullaby
They dash through the huge cavern, their footsteps echoing across the grey boulders
that seemed to be everywhere. Skylar suddenly stopped, a thought suddenly
occurring to her.
“The song! It all makes sense now! That song I always hum, that’s the song to awake
the dragons!”
Gryf looked at her, confused.
“What song?”
She looked at him, exasperated.
“You know when I’m always humming.”
Gryf nodded.
“That song is our key to waking the dragons!”
Gryf’s face lit up.
“Ohhhh! That song!”
He breaks out in a smile.
“Sing it!”
Skylar takes a deep breath before the first note emerges from her mouth.
Come to us
Come to us
You’ll find your way here
Come to us
Come to us
You’ll know when we’re near
Dragon riders
Dragon riders
We shall rise with fire
Come find us
Come find us
We’re hidden away
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Come find us
Come find us
Awake us to face the day
Dragon riders
Dragon riders
We have risen with flame
Dark shall fall
We will stand tall
Once and for all
Come to us
Come to us
You’ll find your soul here
As soon as the first unearthly note emerged from her mouth, Gryf was staring in
awe at the sight before him. Skylar, her arms raised above her head, her powerful
voice echoing throughout the cavern, the boulders rocking around like mad, and
then…
An ear-splitting crack came from the right, and a huge grey dragon emerged, the
wings unfolding to encircle the rest of the boulders. Skylar lifts her head to see him,
and all the rest of the dragons breaking out of the boulders like eggs.
Who summoned us?
A booming voice echoed in her head.
“I did.” Skylar said boldly, and Gryf cringed, expecting the dragon to dislike the
boldness that Skylar was using.
Skylar, child. You are the daughter of Lucififusus, the great dragon rider and
warrior. You are destined to be a dragon rider, and be one of them, the best warriors
of all time.
Skylar looked happily confused, like she couldn’t believe she was the one that would
be destined to this fate.
“I accept this fate, wherever it takes me.”
Chapter XI
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Bonded
The dragon was beautiful. Being a young dragon, only my age, she was about the
size of a horse. Her scales were curved and smooth, a light purple-blue opaque
colour that reminded me of flowers and the ocean. The back of her head was
adorned by curved ivory horns, with delicate white spines running from the top of
her head to the tip of her long tail. Her eyes were a luminous purple, flecked with
shining silver, with the streak of her ink black pupils running through the centre.
Her four long legs were strong but dainty as they flowed into her pale curved claws.
Her large wings arced around, spreading out from her shoulder, with a light
lavender-purple wingspan.
All at once, Skylar knew, that that missing piece inside of her, that hole that had
never been filled, was now complete. She ran towards her, tears in her eyes.
“Skylar,” she whispered as Skylar flung her arms around the dragon’s majestic neck.
Her voice was a purring growl, and I knew that she was speaking in dragon. But I
was a true dragon rider, I could understand her, and I had found my place.
“Faerie,” Skylar whispered back. Without ever asking she knew her name. They
were bonded. They always had been and always would be. They were one.
“Uh... I hate to break up this extremely emotional moment, but um, we’ve got an
ominous dark force to fight,” Gryf interrupted.
Typical. Way to ruin a moment.
“So…” Gryf trailed off.
I broke away from Faerie, and stood by her side. Whole at last.
A dragon stepped forward, into the sliver of light that struck into the cave. The
dragon was old, and one of the largest ones in the cavern. He moved slowly, with
an aura of knowledge and power that simply yelled wise.
“I am Liryne, elder dragon, and father to Faerie,” the dragon spoke, his voice deep
and rumbling.
I understood every word, but judging from Gryf’s expression, he didn’t.
“You have answered our call and awoken us. You are the chosen one, and your
song has told us all we need to know. Ask what you desire.”
I was silent for a moment, thinking about my question, “What are those dark
things?” I queried.
The dragon replied immediately, “These ‘dark things’ are called Umbra. Umbra is a
being of pure shadow. He is an embodiment of all that is bad in the world. Umbra
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has the ability to penetrate the hearts and minds of all creatures, bar dragons, and
bend them to his will. All those who have been attacked are now under his control.”
“So… how do we defeat it?” I asked.
The dragon considered this question for a moment, before responding, “Only the
truly strong of heart can defeat the darkness.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” the question was out of my mouth before I could
stop it.
All of the dragons, bar Faerie chanted this time, “ONLY THE TRULY STRONG OF
HEART CAN DEFEAT THE DARKNESS.”
Okaaaaaay…
“These words we tell you are true, but there is more,” the ancient dragon rumbled.
“Yes?”
“The darkness always has a source. A main host that it invests most of its power
into. The only way to defeat the darkness, would be to destroy this source. But be
warned! The darkness, once ridden of a host, will latch on to the nearest life form it
can find. They will then become the primary source. However, if the darkness goes
for too long without a host, Umbra will be banished forever. Or, at least until
someone is foolish enough to awaken it again.”
“So… the only way to destroy the darkness is to kill the source, and make sure there
is nobody else nearby?”
“That is correct.”
“Well, then who awakened it in the first place?”
“Umbra has been lying dormant for millions of years, not since the old days has he
awoken. However, this time Umbra has risen because of a man. He is a librarian, a
librarian in the citadel of the kingdom you come from. He is… My rider”
Skylar relayed all of this information to Gryf, and he stopped still, looking like he
had just seen a ghost. Wait… you mean, that librarian? The one from the
kingdom?!”
Skylar nodded.
“But… But I just saw him a few days ago!”
The dragon blinked wisely, “He only meant it as an experiment, you must
understand that the man bode no ill will. His work accidentally delved into dark
fields, upsetting forces that should have been left alone. He yearned for world
peace, where there would be no more fighting, no more fear. And it went horribly
wrong.”
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“But wait… if the librarian is your rider… doesn’t that mean”- before Skylar could
finish her sentence, the dragons interrupted.
Suddenly, all of the dragons sat bolt upright, many of them flaring their wings,
“GO!!! GO NOW!!!” They roared in unison. “THE DARKNESS IS GROWING
STRONGER!!! IF YOU DO NOT DEFEAT IT SOON IT WILL BE TOO LATE!!!”
Pyro whimpered at the noise, and Skylar looked at Gryf, preparing to translate, but
he seemed to get the message that they had to leave.
“I will take you,” Faerie said quietly, her voice was just as beautiful as her, light and
rippling like a mountain stream. She lowered her head and they clambered on.
Pyro running in excited circles around them. Faerie galloped towards the cavern
entrance, her pale claws clacking against the stone floor. She leapt out of the cave,
unfurling her wings and beating them, lifting them all into the sky.
Skylar leaned forward, determined as Pyro rose in the air beside them. The darkness
was out there. And they were going to stop it. Whatever it takes.
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Chapter XII
The Darkness Arises
The Darkness swirled in the distance, engulfing the citadel like a hungry beast.
Faerie’s wing beats were so great they almost echoed in the large space. Gryf’s heart
thudded with fear and anticipation of what was to come. His light brown hair
fluttered in the wind and his stomach lurched every time Faerie flapped. Dragon
riding just wasn’t his thing.
“RARCH!!!” Pyro squawked as he fluttered around them. At least somebody was
happy.
The citadel drew ominously nearer.
“What now!?” he yelled to Skylar over the wind.
“There’s something I need to do,” she yelled back, “then we’ll figure out how to
defeat the darkness!”
“What do you need to do!?” Gryf called.
“Just… something,” Skylar said stubbornly.
Gryf new better than to pester her. Skylar had a terrible temper.
There was a moment’s pause.
“Alright fine, I need to see somebody,” she yelled.
“WHAT?! Everybody in the citadel is being controlled by the darkness!”
“Trust me,” she said, “this person isn’t.”
Finally, after what seemed like hours, they had arrived at the citadel. The swirling
mass of darkness had properties akin to a tornadoes, as they dismounted Faerie, it
pulled at them, threatening to blow them over and suck them in.
They had landed outside the kingdom’s library, and finally, Gryf understood.
“Sorry guys,” Skylar whispered to Pyro and Faerie, as they couldn’t fit in the library.
Gryf and Skylar walked in the door, and it banged shut behind them.
The room was eerily quiet, the endless rows of shelves absent of all movement.
“I knew you would come…” a voice croaked.
They turned with a start, to see the librarian, hair wispy and pocket watch spilled
carelessly on the ground, huddled in a corner.
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“Ever since the day I left… I knew, that you would walk within these walls,” with
shock, Gryf noticed the tears in the man’s eyes, Skylar wasn’t surprised.
“Grandfather.” She said with finality.
The librarian nodded his feeble head, holding back from sobbing, “Yes,” he
whispered, “yes.”
He hobbled forward, and they embraced. Hugging each other for several minutes.
“We need your help,” Skylar whispered as they broke apart.
“Liryne has told me. Do not fear, he and the others are coming to our aid as we
speak.”
Sure enough, as they listened, the sound of thousands of massive wing beats could
be heard outside of the Library. They ran outside, to see hundreds of enormous
scaled creatures soaring in the sky, racing to meet the writhing mass of shadows.
Skylar ran to Faerie, she lowered her head and Skylar jumped on, whereas Gryf
wrestled Pyro into line, (he had been playing with Faerie’s tail) and hopped onto his
back.
They launched themselves into the air, and rose up to join the dragons. Everything
was chaos. The mass of shadows writhed and swirled, tendrils suddenly lashing out
like spears, sent at the dragons. The dragons fought back just as viciously, slashing
their claws and talons at the ribbons, ripping them in half and forcing them to
dissipate in thin air.
“WE HAVE TO GET TO THE SOURCE!!!” Skylar screamed over the roar of noise.
“It is at the centre of the Umbra sphere,” Faerie reported calmly.
“LET’S GO!!!” Yelled Gryf.
They dove into the mass, all vision lost. The blackness was thick, and gluggy, like
being in a cloud of ink. They couldn’t breathe. Gryf clutched his talisman, praying
that he would get through this. The serpent-tooth that was strung on a thick black
leather cord around his neck. His father had given it to him when he was little,
before he had grown distant, by engrossing himself in his royal duties.
Why they weren’t affected by the darkness, Gryf couldn’t even begin to fathom, but
they had a job to do. They needed to save the citadel, to free the kingdom of the
darkness. They flew onward, hearts full of determination and fear, into the eye of
the storm.
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Chapter XII
The Choice
The darkness causes chaos as we try to blindly navigate our way around. Every so
often Gryf would hear an arrow meet its mark, or a flame burn a shadow to ashes.
“Skylar!” Gryf yelled, unable to locate her in the writhing blackness.
“Over here!” she yelled, seemingly far away.
“I’ve found something you might want to see.”
I fly down, Pyro happily landing hard on the ground. I run towards the source of
Skylar’s voice, yelling her name as I go.
“SKYLAR!”
“SKYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYLAAAAAAAAAAR!”
Gryf finally finds her, and as soon as he does he wishes he hadn’t.
She is standing before a black-swathed figure, breathing heavily, with tears
streaming down her face. She raises her bow, an arrow already nocked on the string,
her hands shaking badly.
“Skylar!” Gryf yells again.
She turns around, drops her bow, and runs to me, her arms encircling my waist.
Taken aback, I awkwardly pat her back, which is heaving with sobs. After what
seems like forever, she lets go, her face strangely blank. Skylar, normally someone
who would never show emotion, just cried. And then it all makes sense. The figure is
her father.
Skylar picks her bow back up, and hears Gryf sigh from behind her. But her father
had risen from his knees, and was staring at her with an unspeakable sadness in his
eyes. And then he began to hum.
Humming the tune which he had hummed to her as a child. Tears sprang back to her
eyes, and her hands unsteadily place down the bow. Then suddenly, I hear Gryf yell.
“Father, NO!” Gryf yelled, running towards the darkness. But he was too late. He
stabbed the shining sword into the back of Skylar’s father.
“NO!” Gryf heard Skylar scream, rushing towards her now dead father, sobbing
over his dead body.
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But the darkness no longer had a host. It flashed to the nearest live body. Gryf was
standing next to the king, he didn’t even have time to blink before the darkness dove
into his chest and-
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Chapter XIV
The Darkness
And then it was just me. Me and the swirling darkness, threatening to consume everything I
was, had been and would be. Skyla was gone, and all I could see was black.
I could feel the darkness pressing against my being. I knew that if I gave up, I would be no
more and the darkness would reign. I would be gone, and my body would be naught but a
vessel for the darkness. Would I still be there? I couldn’t decide which thought was worse,
oblivion, or watching as my body was used to hurt those I love.
I could feel myself slipping away as the darkness pressed against me. I could fight no longer,
and soon, I would be gone. I went numb as the darkness pressed further. I could feel myself
drifting off.
I couldn’t remember anything anymore. All I could feel was darkness, endless darkness. The
person I used to be was fading. I ceased to be a person then, and just felt darkness. It would
not be much longer before I would become the darkness.
As my mind races, I wonder, would I submit to the darkness, or would I become it. Would I
start enjoying hurting people, or would I watch in horror as my body hurt innocent people.
Would I start to blend with the darkness, orA voice. A familiar voice, calling me. It was Skyla. I could hear her, sobbing. I knew then that
I would not submit to the darkness and IF I was to lose the fight, I would go down fighting.
I could hear her again now, crying out my name. She was telling me not to give up, and I
would be damned if I was going to let her down.
I thought I felt something then. I could feel the darkness hesitate for a second before
continuing its endless pressing and consuming. I thought of Skyla, and I knew what I had to
do.
I fought. I fought with all of my strength, and with all of my willpower. I fought until I felt
the darkness start to retreat, little by little. I kept fighting for what felt like hours, but lasted
only minutes. Every second was horrible, but I knew I couldn’t let it win.
Finally I could see something but black. I could see a slight outline of someone. As
my vision sharpened, I could see brown hair, and a green glowing eye and a deep
blue eye. It was Skyla, and she was yelling my name. I could see her clearly now,
and I called her name. She grabbed me and pulled me in, and embraced me. The last
of the darkness disappeared, and I held her tight. We both started laughing as I
pulled her closer, and we stayed like that, until Pyro discovered us and piled on top
of us. We realised what we had been doing and tried to jump away, only to be
pulled back by pyro. I was safe again, and I was me again, and nothing was going to
change that.
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Chapter XV
The Feast
A few months later after the kingdom had recovered and had rebuilt some of their
houses and the place had been completely fixed the king decided to throw a feast to
celebrate the banishing of the Umbria. The tables were set in exquisite runners and
very fancy plates. The kitchens where in a mad status and all of the royals and
important people in the kingdom had been invited.
When the people arrived they were escorted to their selected seats. There were
drinks being poured and food being brought to the table. Hands were being slapped
as they tried to see what the food was underneath the covers and voices chattered
about everything and anything.
“Quite!” the king shouted “as you all know you have been invited to celebrate the
defeat of the Umbria” The king held his glass up as he said this.
“Woo” the hall erupted with cheers and shouts of joy.
“Quite!” the hall silenced. “I am very proud to say that my son, Gryf, has defeated
the Umbria as only a true soldier can do. When my time comes I will be confident in
leaving you in the hands of my more than capable son. I propose a toast to my son
Gryf the strong” the king held up his glass again in toast.
Everyone clunked there glasses together cheering for Gryf.
“Gryf Gryf Gryf.”
After the toast the covers for the food were ripped off and the feast commenced.
There was chicken, turkey, goose, cow, pig and all sorts of fish and vegetables. The
feast was gobbled down. There were people stuffing their faces with food left, right
and centre.
After the feast was finished the dancing commenced. The first dance was a group
dance. Everyone got into a circle and danced. Every so often the women would
rotate partners and the men would get a new lady to dance with.
The second dance was an upbeat partner dance. The dancers involved would stay
with the same partner all throughout the dance. The music would start slow and get
faster every so often as the dances would repeat the same routine every time that
happened but faster.
“I am sorry about everything I have said to you.” Gryf said to his father.
“Thank you but I am the one who should have listened to you, I differently
shouldn’t have ignored you all these years, I am sincerely sorry.” The king said back
to Gryf.
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“So dad do you want to go and dance?” Gryf asked his dad with a smirk.
“That’s exactly what I was thinking.” The king said while they were walking away
to dance.
Skylar walked out to the balcony while catching her breath after the dancing. She
was at a good place but something wasn’t quite right. Skylar knew that her dad was
evil but she still wanted him around.
“Thinking about your dad?” Skylar snapped her head around and ended up looking
at Gryf realising that he had asked her the question.
“Yes, it’s just hard not having my dad around, knowing that he’s gone, forever. The
funny thing is I don’t want to be like him but I want to know him” Skylar said trying
not to cry.
“I have the faintest idea of what you mean but I know that it is a lot harder for you
than it was for me” Gryf said back.
“It’s ok to cry, you lost someone” Gryf said.
Skylar nodded and started crying. Gryf hugged her and comforted her. Skylar
looked up and Gryf leaned down and kissed her. The dancing continued into the
night and everyone was having fun.
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Epilogue
Skylar sits on the rooftop, the cool night breeze refreshing on her flushed face. The
red of her dress spilling down the front of the slate tiles, her hair whipping around
her like strokes of chocolate-coloured lightning. She began to drift off, only to be
awakened by the sound of beating wings. A figure was walking over to her, and she
realised it was Gryf.
“Oh, hey.”
“Hi.”
“What’re you doing up here?”
“Just needed fresh air.”
“Ok then”
Gryf sat down next to her.
“It’s a beautiful night.” He said quietly.
“Mhm.” Skylar replied, wishing he would just go so she could have time alone to
think about the events of the past couple of months.
“The party is really good. I think you’d like being down there more than being
antisocial up here.”
Skylar sighed.
“I’m not being antisocial. I just like the quiet calm of out here.”
“So I’m taking it you’re not scared of heights.”
“I haven’t looked down.”
Skylar peeked over the edge of the turret, and stared at the terrifyingly long drop
down to the ground.
“Whoa, don’t go falling off now.”
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Skylar pulled herself up, trying to conceal the fact that she was slightly scared of the
long drop to the swirling black moat below.
“Oh, well, if I drop at least I’ll land in the moat.” Skylar replied, and Gryf wrinkled
his nose.
“You don’t know what’s in there.”
“Good point.”
Gryf laughed. “There could be crocodiles, or piranhas, or the loch ness monster…”
Skylar looked confused. “What’s that?” she asked.
“A huge monster that looks like a cross between a dragon and a snake.” He said in a
voice that mocked the librarian. Skylar laughed, and then a thought came to her,
drowning all happiness away.
“what if the darkness comes back? And what if the dragons aren’t strong enough to
conquer it?”
Gryf smiled.
“then we’ll fight it together.”
Skylar sighed, and leant her head on his shoulder, feeling finally at home.
35
Copyright © 2014 Zoe Hartland, Alessandra Binutti, Clare Mason-Cox, Clare Alder
and Chelsea Antich
Parameters:
Random words:
-Librarian
-Hectic
-Fairy
-Fascinating
-Piranhas
-Cantankerous
-Your suburb
-Furry
-Helping you neighbour
-Curious
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The Kingdom of Griffith has been at peace for millennium.
When suddenly the land is laid in peril.
Dark forces rise that would have been better left alone,
and it is up to Skylar, Faerie, Gryf and Piranha to save the day.
And the journey that they embark on, will teach them more
than they could have ever known.
This book is recommended for Kids aged 10-15
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