Wrath of the Gryphonwind is here!

It's finally here! Wrath of the Gryphonwind is now for sale at Amazon in a print edition! Wrath of the Gryphonwind is a gay-themed steampunk young adult novel with gryphons and dragons and a werewolf and...well, here's what it's about!

Young inventor Owen Pyke would rather build mechanical men and steam-powered potato peelers than become an armored, gryphon-riding knight of the sky. But joining the Gryphonwind guild is Owen’s only ticket out of the orphanage. Together with his beloved bond-gryphon Odrynn, Owen and his fellow Gryphonwind cadets train for aerial battle in the war to end faun slavery in the south. After Owen angers his faun friend By’yalt’r by flirting with By’yalt’r’s boyfriend Eryk, the faun disappears and Owen is suspected of harming him. Owen must quickly find out what happened to By’yalt’r while avoiding the violent anger of the faun’s bond-gryphon, along with a private detective hiding a terrifying secret and a nosy reporter who might be a werewolf. But an unsavory man follows Owen to stop the boy from uncovering the truth. And the angry Gryphonwind armies of the southern protectorates are drawing ever closer to the great city of Port Cedryssene...

Sounds like fun, doesn't it? There's plenty of action and excitement to enjoy! And check out the great cover art by April Danaher! Keep an eye open for Wrath of the Gryphonwind in Kindle and e-reader editions, coming soon! But you can get the print edition now. Enjoy!

Wrath of the Gryphonwind at Amazon.com

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UPDATE: Wrath of the Gryphonwind is now available in a Kindle edition! I'll have the version for other e-readers up soon, too.

And Weren’t You in Love When You Were Young?

More good writing news to end the year! I just learned that my story “And Weren’t You in Love When You Were Young?” has been accepted by Etopia Press and will be issued by them soon as an e-book. Based on a classic tale of love and tragedy, “And Weren’t You in Love When You Were Young?” is about fifteen-year-old Todd Laurino, who falls hard for fellow high school student Adrian Ginneo. But Adrian cannot come to grips with being gay, and his blind rejection of Todd’s love devastates the boy and nearly destroys Adrian’s best friend. I’ll post an update when the story is published. This is one of those wonderful tales that I always want so very much to find a good home, and it has. I’m very happy about this!

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"Chang'd Innocence" Is Up!

Wow, that was fast! "Chang'd Innocence" is now up at Aphelion Webzine! As I described previously, "Chang'd Innocence" is a mysterious/sinister/ beautiful/harrowing tale of innocence violated and the nightmare that innocence can bring upon wrongdoers. The journey of a mysterious, violated girl and her protectors through the dark night/nightmare/fright there streets of New York City carries you past shapeshifters and vampires and werewolves, and policemen who are not entirely living anymore.

Shapeshifter Zefiryn Piotrowicz was raped at age twelve by a stranger who destroyed her family to acquire the strength of Zefiryn’s magic. Two years later a disgraced Shakespeare professor and a kidnapped lawyer help runaway Zefiryn sort through New York’s monsters of the night to find her attacker, and take revenge.

This is a haunting tale, full of loss/longing/betrayal/love, which always seem to arrive together/forever, don't they? Enjoy the story, and always be careful of the innocence you do wrong to -- it springs up/wings up/fights up/flights up in many unexpected places.

"Chang'd Innocence" at Aphelion Webzine

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"Chang’d Innocence" is coming

My story "Chang'd Innocence" will be published this month at Aphelion Webzine. "Chang'd Innocence" is a mysterious/sinister/beautiful/harrowing tale of innocence violated and the nightmare innocence can bring upon wrongdoers. The journey of a mysterious, violated girl and her protectors through the dark night/nightmare/fright there streets of New York City carries you past shapeshifters and vampires and werewolves, and policemen who are not entirely living anymore.

Shapeshifter Zefiryn Piotrowicz was raped at age twelve by a stranger who destroyed her family to acquire the strength of Zefiryn’s magic. Two years later a disgraced Shakespeare professor and a kidnapped lawyer help runaway Zefiryn sort through New York’s monsters of the night to find her attacker, and take revenge.

I'll post an update here when "Chang'd Innocence" is published at Aphelion. Until then, be careful of the innocence you do wrong to -- it springs up/wings up/fights up/flights up in many unexpected places.

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Wrath of the Gryphonwind Cover Update

Artwork by April Danaher for Wrath of the Gryphonwind

Wow. Just...wow!

April Danaher has really outdone herself here. I love this! The characters, the colors, the whole atmosphere of the work is amazing! She really captured the boys (Owen and By'yalt'r) and the gryphon (Odrynn) so well! I get so tickled when I see something I created in words become pictures in someone else's hands.

Wrath of the Gryphonwind will be ready to read before you know it! Stay tuned for further updates.

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Wrath of the Gryphonwind Coming Soon!

Artwork by April Danaher for Wrath of the Gryphonwind

My YA fantasy novel Wrath of the Gryphonwind is nearing completion! It has young warrior knights flying into battle on armored gryphons and a gay teen love triangle and a murder mystery and...well, here's the description I wrote for it:

Young inventor Owen Pyke would rather build mechanical men and steam-powered potato peelers than become an armored, gryphon-riding knight of the sky. But joining the Gryphonwind guild is Owen’s only ticket out of the orphanage. Together with his beloved bond-gryphon Odrynn, Owen and his fellow Gryphonwind cadets train for aerial battle in the war to end faun slavery in the south. After Owen angers his faun friend By’yalt’r by flirting with By’yalt’r’s boyfriend Eryk, the faun disappears and Owen is suspected of harming him. Owen must quickly find out what happened to By’yalt’r while avoiding the violent anger of the faun’s bond-gryphon, along with a private detective hiding a terrifying secret and a nosy reporter who might be a werewolf. But an unsavory man follows Owen to stop the boy from uncovering the truth. And the angry Gryphonwind armies of the southern protectorates are drawing ever closer to the great city of Port Cedryssene...

I'm very excited about this one! But one thing I'm even more excited about is the cover art being created for it by April Danaher. April is an extremely talented artist, and those of you who follow the Ponies (you know who you are!) probably know her excellent work already from her DeviantArt page. The drawing above is the cover of the book prior to being painted in full color. Here's another sketch April made of the characters in my novel.



I love the concepts and the dynamism of her line drawings. Stay tuned for more information and a look at the finished cover for Wrath of the Gryphonwind!

BONUS PONY PIC: Here's one of my favorite Pony pictures by April, which was one of the pictures that convinced me she was the right artist for this project. I simply love this work!



"Summer Fun," by littletiger488

April's DeviantArt Page (littletiger488)
April's Website

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"Flight" and "Tiger Stone" are coming!

Thanks to the lovely ladies who run Gypsy Shadow Publishing, my stories "Flight" and "Tiger Stone" will be published by them later this year or early next year!

"Flight" is the story of a boy named Ogaleesha who is trapped in a summer of hell on his grandparents’ Wyoming ranch when he meets a boy who can fly. The boy, part of a hidden tribe of people like him, forces Ogaleesha to face a terrifying fact about his grandparents’ past and an inescapable personal truth, one that will change the stubborn Ogaleesha's life forever.

"Tiger Stone" is a noir detective fantasy in which private eye Kimball Glock hunts for a stolen diamond through the jazz-magic streets of postwar New York City. Kimball uncovers the stone in the teeth of a shapeshifting tiger-boy who hides from a witch bent on the child’s enslavement. Tough guy Kimball is shattered by his selfish betrayal of the boy before being swept by magic both dark and light into a final battle for the weretiger’s soul.

I'll post updates as the stories are published. Thanks to Denise and Charlotte at Gypsy Shadow for giving these stories a home!

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They do not belong to you.

(I almost feel as if I should apologize for this in advance. Almost. But I won’t. I warn you, this piece is rough. I hope perhaps you’ll finish it with some idea of the pain that gave birth to this essay/blog post/emotional rant. Just don’t forget it if you do read it. Don’t forget them.)

Let’s get one thing clear right off the bat. Jerry Sandusky is a rapist, and the people around him who did nothing while children were being raped are enablers at best and co-conspirators at worst. The full extent of the law should and likely will be thrown at them. I wonder if Sandusky will use the excuse that he cares about kids. That’s bullshit. Anyone who cares about kids wouldn’t hurt them the way he did, with threats and coercion and force. That’s not caring; that’s predation. There’s no excuse for causing that kind of hurt, ever.

That has to be said first, because that is not why I’m writing this.

I’m going to skip over my thoughts on a voyeuristic country that hates child abuse but seems so anxious to hear about it; a hypocritical populace that despises child molesters but can’t get enough of the sordid details on Oprah or TV newsmagazines and such. We’ve all heard the details about the boy in the shower, and it’s as if we can’t wait for that boy and others to come forward and tell us the rest (I listen to NPR and the other evening, believe me, they could hardly contain their anticipation). At this moment (5:29 p.m. central time on 11/12/11), there are over 31,000 articles about the Penn State case on the Google News aggregator. That’s staggering. And it’s sickening. But I’ll spare you that opinion, because that is also not why I’m writing this.

I’m writing this because of a misplaced fury. I’m writing this because I’m tired of the smugness, the certainty, the assuredness of those who think they’re not culpable. I’m writing this because the other day I read a news commentator who described the rape of that young boy in the shower as the “most heinous act” one could commit against a child. But you know what? I think torturing and murdering a child are far worse. And the family homes of America are filled with parents and guardians who do just that (at least the torture part), and we fail to get outraged. We look the other way because “that’s just the way people discipline kids.”

No, I think the betrayal that occurs when a parent turns vicious on you and beats the living shit out of you is far worse. (In my case, it was for being an incorrigible girly-boy.) That is torture far worse than anything physical because you know what? The betrayal of a child’s love by a parent is far worse than any physical torture. It’s a torture that, for lack of a better concept, affects the very soul of the child, the very innermost sense of self and love and happiness that belongs to that boy or girl. The boy in the shower with the rapist Sandusky may have felt betrayed by a trusted and respected friend, but he didn’t have to feel the immensely deep and heart-shattering betrayal of his own father lashing out violently at him.

You may disagree with me if you wish. But you had better have some good goddamn backup for your opinion, because I LIVED THAT TORTURE AS A CHILD. I’m not going into details here about my father’s repeated beatings of me. But I will say this: the day my father died was the happiest day of my childhood.

I remember it as vividly as if it happened yesterday, being awakened early in the morning by a ringing telephone and asking my mother who had called. She told me the news. I went back to bed and cuddled up under the covers with a little smile on my face and repeated to myself, over and over, “I’ll never be beaten again; I’ll never be beaten again.”

I was saying that mantra about my father. MY FATHER. You think that what happens when a child is raped is worse than the depths of betrayal felt by child whose parent turns against him? I invite you to think clearly about this. I am so sick of the rage people express over cases like the one that kicked off this post, but seem to think nothing of it when parents rip out their children’s hearts and stomp on them repeatedly. We don’t treat children as lives in this country, we treat them as possessions. Why else would a threat to one’s child and a threat to one’s car elicit similar reactions from many parents in this country?

I know; many of you hate the sort of abuse I speak of as much as what happened to the boy in the shower. But get some goddamned perspective, people. The mob mentality surrounding the Penn State case is sickening. You’re castigating the enablers at Penn State because their betrayal and failures hit too close to home; because experiences like I had probably go on in your neighborhoods all of the time, if not in your own homes. You pillory the sexual abusers because you know if the spotlight was ever turned on you and/or your neighbors and extended family, you would not likely survive the revelations. Could you live with yourself if I and everyone else in the world had a window into your relationship with your child when no one else was looking? I wonder. I wonder because I know I grew up in circumstances which could not have borne that light. And honestly, what happened to me wasn’t anywhere near as bad as some of the other horrifying tales I’ve heard.

If this all seems too harsh, too widespread in its accusation, it’s because when you grow up as an abused child you begin to suspect all of the adults around you as colluding with your abuser. That’s what I believed: they all know. They all know daddies beat their boys with so much hatred and fury. It’s the secret of the adult world; that kids are there for adults to punish and hurt as they please. They all know.

Try growing up with that fundamental idea of society stuck in your mind. It’ll fuck you up big time.

I’ve gone on long enough, but one more thing needs to be said before I go. Get a grip, people. And, as I ranted on another occasion when sanctimony threatened to overrule decency and acts of actual benefit to others, go find some way to help kids who are in trouble NOW. And realize that the sensational cases, the ones that make the evening news and get splattered all over the Internet, don’t even begin to scratch the surface of the horrors that children have to live through. Somewhere in this country, a child cried himself to sleep tonight the same way I once did. And that is one child too many. And YOU need to stop your self-righteous, feel-good, “goddamn, I’m better than that fucking child molester” bullshit and make this world a better place for kids. Goddamn fucking NOW. Children are not your possessions. They are their own LIVES.

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Beware of the unicorns!

"Rainbows & Unicorns" is now available from Aeon Press Books in a volume called Transtories. This anthology looks to be chock full of great stories! My story "Rainbows & Unicorns" is a sweet fairy tale with blood splattered all over it, in which a gang of hurt kids encounters a brand of helpful magic that, for some people, turns into a nightmare. I will leave it for you to discover why it fits perfectly in an anthology involving stories that in some way are based on the word "trans".



Transtories is available in both print and electronic editions. Read it, and be very careful that you never harm those who are protected by unicorns. Enjoy!

Transtories, from Aeon Press Books

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"Snow, Glass, Apples" -- by Neil Gaiman

It's just another version of the Snow White tale. How creepy can it be?

You'll want to be locking that door, by the way.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Illustration by Julie Dillon.


"Snow, Glass, Apples" -- by Neil Gaiman

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Once Again, HOORAY FOR BOYS WHO WANT TO BE GIRLS!

Seven-year-old Bobby Montoya identifies as a girl and wants to join the Girl Scouts. The Girl Scouts won't let him. His mother, Felisha Archuleta, thinks the organization is being ridiculous.

Archuleta says that Bobby identifies as a girl and she doesn't have a problem with it: "He's been doing this since he was about 2 years old. He's loved girl stuff, so we just let him dress how he wants, as long as he's happy." Bobby himself told CNN, "It's like hurting my heart. It hurts me and my mom both. Somebody told me I couldn't like girl stuff."

Fortunately, Bobby's mother and grandmother are telling Bobby that it's okay to like girl stuff! It's about time people figured out that girly-boys, however they grow up to be, shouldn't be shunned, discouraged, shamed, teased, beaten, or otherwise just because they're different. My life would have been a lot better had the adults around me, when I was a girly-boy, understood this.

Here's a great video about Bobby. All I can say is, just like with Livvy James, when I was a kid I would have killed for those fecking GORGEOUS boots Bobby is wearing!



My girly-boy story is here. I still miss that black cat costume an awful lot...

"Transgender Boy Tries To Join Girl Scouts, Rejected Because Of 'Boy Parts'" (Gothamist)

BTW, Bobby likes My Little Pony, so on top of everything else he totally rocks!

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An American Classic

I first read this book many years ago on a business trip, one of those things you have to endure where you want some sort of engrossing novel to carry you away from the bullshit of a job you hate (and traveling with the company owner, too) and one of those nerve-wracking times when you have to be “on” all the time because you’re surrounded by clients who are all morons anyway, and you have to be nice to them. I was on board a plane reading the opening scenes of American Gods that take place on a plane. Not that it had anything to do with the novel, but I remember watching what was almost a mugging on a Baltimore street from my hotel room late one night while I read this book. Fascinating, as if the world had become weirdly in-tune and out-of-order from the normal and usual, as if tendrils of the novel wormed their way out of the pages and into the ether.

I finished American Gods well after that trip ended, and when I closed its pages I was startled by an unbidden thought: “That was one of the most satisfying books I have ever read.” And I meant it. Every moment spent reading American Gods had been worth it, every hour with it an hour much more than well-spent. How often can you say that about any book? The works of Shakespeare and Homer; the utterly perfect characters and situations of Stephen King’s masterpiece, The Shining; the overwhelming too-muchness and diamond-flaw perfection of my favorite novel, Les Misérables. Not many others. Not many others at all.

The edition of American Gods I read years ago was the “standard edition,” I guess we could say. I started reading it again recently in the above pictured, Tenth Anniversary edition, with text restored by the brilliant Neil Gaiman. I’m already hooked again. Read this. It’s worth every minute of your time. Very little written today is this goddamned excellent.



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Psychotic Puck

Puck has wandered into the outline for my next novel and wants to take it over. I continue to resist his insurrection, but plan on finding a good and proper place for him in it. I figured I’d better catch up on Puck’s most famous literary appearance and re-read (and re-view) A Midsummer Night’s Dream. I’ve always wanted to see this old 1935 adaptation of Shakespeare’s play and I finally watched it last night. What about Mickey Rooney’s portrayal of Puck?

He’s completely deranged and psychotic. It’s amazing.

I was intrigued by this quip from Amazon.com about Rooney’s performance:

The other actors are decidedly varied, and they tend to be overwhelmed by the production design. Not so Mickey Rooney, whose performance as Puck is a feral, antic act of imagination (he was 14 during filming); picture a boy raised by wolves who somehow memorized Shakespeare. His Puck growls and screams and mocks the drama of the other characters, a little postmodern imp before his time. (Critic David Thomson called this Puck "truly inhuman, one of the cinema's most arresting pieces of magic").

“A boy raised by wolves who somehow memorized Shakespeare.” That is amazingly accurate. Rooney’s portrayal of Puck is legendary – he’s off-the-wall, annoying, magnificent, profound, silly, and magnetic. His laugh is one of the three greatest film laughs I have ever heard, along with Tom Hulce as Mozart in Amadeus and Heath Ledger as The Joker. In fact, give Mickey Rooney’s Puck a knife and make him malevolent, and he instantly becomes Ledger’s psychotic villain from The Dark Knight.

I enjoyed this all more than I expected to. Definitely worth hunting down.



Here’s Gore Vidal introducing AMND on TCM. There’s a brief clip of Mickey Rooney in this with just a touch of that insane laugh of his. Pay attention to what Vidal says that Tennessee Williams once told him about Mickey Rooney.



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Totally Awesome OPERA KID!

THIS KID IS AWESOME! Nine-year-old Aiden Sagerman loves opera and he wants to find other kids who love opera. He's not having much luck, though.

Most kids think of operas as long, boring plays that are in some language they don't know. Other kids think of operas as good chances to get some sleep. Still other kids think of operas as both. And then there are kids like me; kids who like opera, kids who understand the plot.

A lot of kids misunderstand opera. Once I told a friend the plot of "Die Walkure." I knew it was the kind of thing he might enjoy. As soon as I told him it was an opera, he stopped listening and tried to change the subject. That's what has happened with everyone else.

There are so many reasons why I like opera: the complex plots, the amazing music, the interesting characters, the battle scenes and just the stories themselves. I really don't understand why other kids don't like it. What idiot came up with the idea that operas were boring for children?

Reading his commentary is one thing, but you have to hear him deliver it for the full effect. Cripes, three-fourths of the adults out there couldn't deliver a short commentary with this much expression and feeling. Dang it, I think I see now why Aiden loves opera...

Good luck, kid! Eventually the opera lovers all find each other somehow.

"Opera Kid: Nine-year-old Aiden Sagerman likes opera, and he's not kidding." (KQED Radio)

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Hooray for boys who want to be girls!

This is a fantastic article about a terrific girl, her beyond-awesome mom and dad, and how they defied bigots to help their child be who she needs to be. Naturally, the worst of the bigots are adults. The kids are all right.

‘None of the other children called me nasty names and the boys accepted me as a girl. A few of them kept calling me by my old boy’s name, but I didn’t mind because it takes time to get used to something new. I have a small group of close friends — all girls — who would look after me if anyone tried to pick on me, so I’m not worried. I have as much acceptance as I need.’

Read the whole thing for an inspiring look at a world that, small hard-won bit by small hard-won bit, is changing for the better.

"Why I let my son live as a girl: Mother of boy who returned to school in a skirt bravely tells her extraordinary story" (Daily Mail)

BONUS STORY! Here's a look at a sweet world where boys want to be girls, girls want to be boys, boys just want to love boys and girls just want to love girls, and bullies get their comeuppance!

"Gryphon and Tiger and the Boy Filled with Dreams"

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Wolf Note

My novel Wolf Note is now available in an Amazon Kindle edition! This tale is an action-filled mystery with a werewolf private eye who falls in love with a beautiful and famous operatic soprano -- and then he discovers that someone is trying to kill her!

Private investigator Griffin Thorn must find out who wants to kill opera superstar Brianna Keller. Griffin becomes Brianna’s bodyguard after an unknown assailant attacks her, and his admiration of her talent quickly turns into love for her. Secretly, Griffin is a werewolf keeping one step ahead of bounty hunters dedicated to wiping out his kind. Orphaned as a boy, Griffin took bloody revenge on the hunter who killed his parents. Griffin thwarts another attack on Brianna and, with hard-nosed FBI agent Tarrant Cobb, tries to uncover the stalker’s identity before he strikes again. Brianna learns Griffin’s secret and falls in love with him anyway, but another deadly attempt to take the singer’s life nearly kills her children. With the puzzle unsolved, Griffin realizes his violent past might destroy his dream of staying with Brianna forever. But Griffin soon learns that in life, love, and murder, nothing is ever as it seems.

There's plenty of action and romance in this one! Wolf Note will soon be available in a print edition and in other e-reader editions. Get ready for some red-in-tooth-and-claw opera werewolf action! And it's just in time for the beginning of the new season of The Metropolitan Opera! Enjoy!

Wolf Note at Amazon.com

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Where the Wild Things Still Are; or, Children Are Beasts

A delightful and acerbic look at children's books today from one of my heroes, the irrepressible Maurice Sendak. What's wrong with kids' books today? They're too goddamn nice!

When your work first appeared, it was considered to be new, something different. What were you doing that nobody else had done?

I was developing a child who I recognized as myself as a child, from my observations of other children around me in Brooklyn. We were wild creatures. We did things that were objectionable.

Max, to me, was a very average normal kid, but he upset a lot of people at the time. He yelled at his mother, he talked back to her, she deprived him of food and then gave it to him. Children who fight back, children who are full of excitement are the kind of children I like.

Max was a little beast, and we’re all little beasts. That was what was so novel.

More terrific observations about the cowards that were and are our parents from Mr. Sendak here. God, I love this man!

"On the Phone With Maurice Sendak" (The New York Times)

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Illustrations by Brian Ness

Gryphon and Tiger are very excited that the fabulous Brian Ness created some beautiful drawings for their site! Brian is a terrific artist and his work captures the world of Gryphon and Tiger wonderfully.

Brian resides in Minnesota, though like me with Gryphon and Tiger, his real heart seems to reside in a place called Dandyland.

You can visit Dandyland and see even more of Brian’s lovely work here. If you're daring, Brian collects a fabulous treasure trove of wonders at this site, too!

I loaded a page of Brian's illustrations at my SmugMug page just so you could view Brian’s Gryphon & Tiger drawings in all their ginormous glory!

I first found Brian’s work on some of the stories at I’m from Driftwood, so poke around there and you’ll find some sweet surprises.

Gryphon and Tiger both want to say, “Thank you, Brian!” And they would like to offer Brian a freshly baked partridge popover and some hot chocolate.

Gryphon and Tiger Have Moved In!

As you can see, our friends Gryphon and Tiger are in the process of moving their authorial establishment here! You can find tabs at the top of this blog that will tell you a little more about Gryphon and Tiger. You'll also find a page with links to the tales of their adventures! So settle in for some fun with Gryphon and Tiger. Here's some hot chocolate, and I think Tiger is just pulling fresh-baked cookies out of the oven. Enjoy!

The Gryphon & Tiger Story Co.

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Gryphon and Tiger and the Valiant Girl

Gryphon and Tiger hiked down from the mountains toward Town, carrying the bag stuffed with gold taken from the dragon they had slain. Gryphon and Tiger were not exactly taking the gold to Wizard with alacrity. The day was radiant, and Gryphon and Tiger walked slowly and laughed at the birds and stopped to smell some purple flowers, because Gryphon and Tiger had just become friends, and they didn’t want this precious time alone together to end.

But end it did with a flurry and a bustle and a burst of fallen autumn leaves. Onto the forest path tumbled a Girl of twelve, and her eyes were black and her curly hair was black, and her skin was the color of rich tea with just a little milk. Her clothes were ragged and colorful, and some bits of her clothing had fringe and other parts had beads, and she had leaves tangled in her hair. Girl nearly fell when she spilled onto the forest path from a ridge above, and then she looked around, glowered at Gryphon and Tiger, and raised to them a heavy sword that was much too big for her.

“Do you work for Wizard?” Girl said.

“Well, um,” said Tiger; but he was interrupted by Gryphon, who said, “No, we don’t,” because Gryphon knew right away that something was wrong.

“Good,” Girl said, “because I just escaped from Wizard, and I have to leave Town.”

“Escaped from Wizard?” Tiger said. “But everyone loves him!”

“Ha!” cried Girl. “You haven’t seen his secret dungeon under his Magic Tree where he keeps children locked in cages so he can turn us into beasts.”

This news made Tiger very unhappy, and he tugged on his tail a couple of times and stood closer to Gryphon.

“But where,” Tiger said to Girl, “are your parents?”

“Dad tried to save me,” Girl said, “but Wizard turned him into a manticore, and Dad had to go hide because he had become all big and scary.” Girl turned her head aside and shed one tear, which was enough for her. Then she said, “Mom lives in Town, but if I go back to her, Wizard will turn her into a troll.”

Gryphon said, “What does Wizard want to do to you?”

Girl cried, “He wants to turn me into a unicorn!”

Tiger tried to smile. “Unicorns are nice.”

“Yes,” Girl said, “they’re nice and pink and flowery and pretty, and I don’t wanna be one!” She waved her sword at Gryphon and Tiger to show how serious she was.

“How does Wizard change people?” Gryphon said.

“I dunno,” Girl said. “All I know is, it takes a lot of gold.”

Tiger cried a little bit then, for it was he who had asked Gryphon to help on the quest Wizard had given Tiger, to kill the dragon and take his gold. Tiger said to Girl, “We didn’t know.”

Gryphon comforted Tiger, and told Girl the truth. “Are there more children in Wizard’s dungeon?”

“Ye-e-e-eah,” said Girl, who was now suspicious of Gryphon and Tiger. “Lots.”

“Then,” Tiger said, “we must go rescue them.”

Gryphon and Tiger hid their bag of gold in the woods, since now they would never give it to Wizard. Then they walked with Girl out of the woods and into Town, toward Wizard’s Magic Tree. Along the way they stopped and bought a green scarf from a street vendor; and Tiger, who liked to make things, fashioned the scarf into a sling for Girl’s sword so her arms wouldn’t get so tired carrying the heavy weapon. Girl loved Tiger for that, but she was still suspicious of big and powerful Gryphon. Gryphon had black eyes, and Girl knew that creatures with black eyes, like her, had smart and busy brains. But while they all walked down the street past carriages and jugglers and traveling eggcup salesmen, a retinue of the King’s Knights rounded a corner and came toward our adventurers. The King’s Knights were proud and noble, but they were a little dim, and they might not have believed raggedy Girl’s tale of the evil Wizard and his dungeon, because Wizard might have sent the Knights to look for her. So while the Knights demanded that a hapless eggcup salesman show them his eggcup-selling license, Gryphon used his huge wings to shield Girl from the Knights’ view. Then Gryphon, Girl, and Tiger ducked behind a passing trolley and ran away. After that, Girl loved Gryphon, too.

Wizard’s Magic Tree was in the center of Town Park, down in a little valley shaped like a soup bowl. Few people ventured close to the Magic Tree since the valley rim was patrolled by little brown wriggly creatures that looked like moles but had teeth like sharks. But because Tiger had been there before, the mole-sharks let Tiger and Gryphon pass. Girl hid on Gryphon’s back underneath his folded wings so she wouldn’t be spotted.

Tiger shivered after they passed the mole-sharks. “Those little creatures are so ugly,” he said. “Why did we never realize that Wizard is evil?”

“The powerful ones have special magic,” Gryphon said, “and can fool people into thinking they’re good.”

Tiger thought Gryphon was very wise, and that made him feel a little warmer inside.

Magic Tree was one of those places that look small from the outside, but are really as big as palaces when you go through the door. When Gryphon and Tiger entered with hidden Girl, Wizard waited for them in his blue and silver Wizard robes and his blue and silver Wizard hat, while standing at his blue and gold cloth-covered magic-making table.

Wizard stroked his very long and silver Wizard beard. “Where,” he said with a sniff, “is my gold?”

Girl jumped up from under Gryphon’s wings, and stood as tall as she could atop Gryphon’s broad back. She thrust her sword out toward Wizard as if it weighed nothing at all.

“The only gold you’ll feel, evil Wizard,” Girl said, “will be the gold on the hilt of my sword!”

Gryphon’s long ears twitched, and any doubts he had were dispelled.

“I can hear children crying in your dungeon,” Gryphon said, “you evil, evil man.”

And so they fought, and there was much shouting and tussling and flashing of magic fireballs. The mole-sharks ran in to help Wizard with their greedy, dripping fangs, but Tiger took care of them one at a time by popping the monsters with his sharp tiger-teeth, and the wriggly little creatures’ bodies burst like bloody little balloons. Gryphon flew about the high-ceilinged chamber and batted back Wizard’s magic fireballs with his wings, and slashed at Wizard with his beak and claws. But it was Girl who was bravest of all. She sneaked under gryphon’s mighty, flapping wings, ran up to the distracted Wizard, and plunged her sword deep into his body. Girl never broke a promise, and indeed the only gold that Wizard felt that day was the cold hilt of Girl’s sword on his belly before he died.

A trio of very dim Knights waited outside the Magic Tree to arrest those who had attacked wise and good Wizard. But Gryphon held the Knights back while Tiger and Girl brought the newly-freed children up from Wizard’s dark dungeon.

Tiger never frowned, but right then he was very angry, and he ordered the Knights, “Take these children back to their proper homes!”

The Knights obeyed, though first they had to free the eggcup salesman whom they had arrested for not having the proper eggcup-selling papers.

Gryphon looked at Tiger, gave his new friend a sad smile, and said, “Your fine clothes are all bloody and dirty.”

Tiger smiled, and nuzzled Gryphon’s beak with his muzzle. “That’s okay,” Tiger said, “because I’m with you.”

Girl giggled at them because to her, there was nothing sillier than being in love.

Gryphon, Tiger, and Girl went back for their bag of gold, and divided the coins three ways. Then Gryphon and Tiger took Girl home, and there was much happiness even before Girl’s Dad showed up. He was no longer a manticore, for Wizard’s evil spell had worn off when Wizard died. Dad hugged his Girl, saw her gold, and being a very practical sort of Dad, he reached at once for the newspaper to find his family a nice, new home.

Gryphon and Tiger hugged, and said good-night, and each went to their own homes. Gryphon and Tiger both got in trouble, for despite bringing home gold and slaying Gold Dragon and vanquishing Wizard and freeing the children, the new friends had missed a day of school without permission, and the Dean of Polytechnic Academy was very upset. Mr. and Mrs. Tiger were understanding, and only sent Tiger to bed early and without dessert. But Mr. and Mrs. Gryphon were fiercely angry, which is simply normal for gryphons, and they made poor Gryphon take out the trash every night for a week; for, you see, taking out the trash is the thing gryphons hate to do most.



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