It had been nearly three months since Dr. Vance Vantana had seen his mentor, Dr. Henry Knox. In that time, Vance had come to realize just how much he relied on the legendary scientist professionally and how much he missed him personally. They had met when Vance was just a boy. Knox had taken him under his wing and shown him a world he never knew existed or thought possible. He was part teacher and part family member—the latter became more pronounced over the years, as Vance devoted himself to his work and had little time to develop outside relationships. It was a major reason why Knox’s disappearance was so devastating. It had helped Vance to believe that Knox was out there somewhere, alive, and that he would eventually return or be found. Of course, he hadn’t expected to find him in a yeti prison. But there the old man was, tired and scruffy but in good health. Vance couldn’t help himself—the rush of emotions was too great. He bounded over and embraced his mentor.
“Based on this welcome, I’m supposing you thought me dead,” Knox posited. Vance broke the hug, looking sheepish. He tried to hide his embarrassment with irritation.
“Where the heck have you been?!” Vance questioned Knox like a mom whose kid had stayed out past curfew. “One day you were there and the next”—he snapped his fingers—“Poof! Gone.”
“I’ll explain it all to you later, if we get out of here alive. Perhaps you could introduce me to your friends?” Knox suggested.
“Right, right. Of course,” Vance said. “I think you already know Chriscanis, Chase’s successor.”
Knox approached the cynocephalus. “Yes, I believe we’ve met, if briefly. Congratulations on your new position.”
“Thank you, Doctor. Hopefully, I’ll survive my first year,” Chriscanis added wryly.
Knox set his sights on Tashi next. “The perfect posture, fierceness in the eyes, and an extraordinary strength of presence. You must be a Guardian.” Tashi nodded.
Sam London was just too excited to wait for his introduction. He stepped forward and shot his hand out. “I’m Sam. Sam London. I’m a really big fan of yours, Dr. Knox. It’s an honor.”
Knox shook Sam’s hand and studied him. Then he looked at Vance. “You brought a boy on the most dangerous journey on earth?”
“He’s very persistent,” Vance explained with a guilty shrug.
“I am,” Sam added.
Knox smiled. “You must be.”
“He saw Phylassos,” Vance revealed. Knox looked to Sam with surprise and the boy nodded his head affirmatively.
“Well then, I look forward to hearing more about you, Sam London,” Knox said, impressed. “Now, what are you all doing here?”
Vance explained the events of the last few days and the recent battle in Phylassos’s cave. Knox was displeased to hear that the yetis had secured the gryphon’s claw. He called the entire affair confounding.
“The yetis have never been known as an ambitious species. Territorial, yes. Obsessively territorial. But certainly not power hungry,” Knox mused.
“I reckon they’re being manipulated. Like the gargoyles that attacked us outside Bakersfield,” Vance surmised.
“It would seem so. But by whom?” Knox asked.
“Whoever it was, they knew to use us to gain entry into the cave. We were pawns,” Chriscanis said.
“Indeed you were,” Dr. Knox replied. He then turned his attention to Tashi. “Do you still have a charge left in your shekchen?” Tashi nodded. “Good. We will need it. And we must hope that your brethren have been alerted.”
“You mean the other Guardians?” Vance asked. “How would they know?”
“The claw has been taken. They will sense it,” Tashi explained. She shifted her attention to Knox. “But they still may not find us.”
“They will. We just have to—” Before Knox could finish his sentence, there were two yetis opening the prison door. One of them pointed at Sam, then gestured for him to step forward. Sam immediately looked to Vance for help. Tashi, Vance, and Chriscanis took a position in front of Sam as Knox stood by, watching.
“Tashi,” Knox said, “ask them what they want with him.”
Tashi made several guttural noises and motioned to Sam. One yeti replied with a string of staccato barks. Tashi responded and the yeti followed. She turned to Sam. “They wish to ask the boy who saw the gryphon some questions.”
“They can’t be serious. I’m not lettin’ him go off alone with them snowballs,” Vance asserted. “I’m responsible for him.” The yeti growled at Vance.
“You’re not invited,” the young warrior replied, in what was likely a refined translation of the yeti’s utterance.
“Vance, it is our best opportunity. We cannot take on an entire village of yetis single-handedly,” Knox explained. He faced Sam. “Sam, can you do this?”
Sam nodded. “I think so. What do you want me to do?”
“I want you to stall them for as long as you can. And when you see the signal—”
“How will I—” Sam started.
“You’ll know. When you see it, you’re going to take this…” Knox slipped Sam a small metallic device. It was capsule-shaped, with a button on the end. Vance’s brow rose.
“Is that…,” Vance began to say, but was silenced by a nod from Knox.
“You push this button and then you run, boy. You run like the dickens. You find a place to hide and you stay put until you hear us call for you. Do you understand?”
“I think so.” Before Sam could get a grasp on his orders, the yetis entered the cave and grabbed him. Tashi pulled Vance back to avoid an altercation.
“You will do us no good dead,” Tashi reminded him.
“I agree, old boy,” Chriscanis added. “Best if we stand down. Let this play out.”
Vance attempted to relax, but seeing Sam dragged away by the yetis was tough. He had to keep reminding himself that Henry Knox had never failed him before. Time and again, Knox had saved Vance from dangerous situations. Vance wondered why he found it so hard to trust his mentor now. Perhaps it was because he had already been through so much with Sam. It took all his strength to call out and reassure the boy as he was led away. “You’re going to be okay, Sam,” he said. But he couldn’t hide the uncertainty in his voice.
Not surprisingly, being dragged up an icy embankment by two abominable snowmen was an unpleasant experience. They weren’t exactly gentle creatures. But Sam London couldn’t help thinking the worst was yet to come. If they could somehow get over the language barrier without Tashi’s help, the yetis would likely have questions to which Sam didn’t have any answers. And then what? What would they do to him? It had already been a tumultuous day, punctuated by imprisonment in a yeti cave-jail and meeting Dr. Henry Knox. If the yetis hadn’t taken his book bag, Sam would have loved to have Knox sign his book on gryphons. Yet instead of enjoying this encounter with the famous author, Sam was being sent by him to distract the yetis and give them all a chance to escape. Sam wondered what the device was that now sat snugly in his pocket, what it could possibly do to save them, and what the signal would be to use it.
The creatures marched Sam toward the center structure. What had been teeming with yetis just moments earlier was now completely deserted. The village was eerily silent, except for the haunting whistle of the wind as it wound through the icy buildings. When they rounded the massive dome, Sam finally got a look at his destination—or, more importantly, the creature that was waiting for him. It was six feet tall with sickly dark blue skin. It sported mangy black hair that fell just below its shoulders, and bloodshot eyes. The creature was dressed in a dirty black cloak that fell loosely around its body but was open in the back to allow for its wings. They were inky black, shorter than a gargoyle’s, and flapped softly, constantly, and almost hypnotically, without ever pulling the creature off the ground. When it spoke, it did so in a breathy, rough voice that was high in pitch. This living nightmare was apparently female.
“Bring the boy closer,” the creature said, gesturing to him with talonlike fingers. Sam could see razor-sharp fangs in its mouth and a long nose that hooked slightly toward its chin when it talked. One of the yetis pushed Sam closer as the hideous being leaned in for a better look. It ran a talon down Sam’s cheek, then smiled a terrifying smile.
“Do you know who I am?” the creature asked in a vile whisper. Sam eyed her, studying her features. They were familiar to him. He searched his memory and then realized—
“You’re the creature my teacher told me about. The aswang,” Sam said.
“And you are the boy who saw the gryphon. Tell me, was Phylassos worried about his precious claw?” the aswang asked with an air of superiority.
“Claw?” Sam replied, feigning ignorance. The aswang pulled the golden gryphon’s claw from within her cloak.
“This claw. The one that has sustained the unjust curse for all these centuries,” the aswang said with a simmering anger. “The one that has forced our kind to live in the shadows, when it is we who should rule over simple creatures, like you.”
Sam looked back to the prison: still no signal.
“They cannot help you now, boy,” the aswang snarled.
She was right, Sam thought. He was on his own. He swallowed his nerves and relied on the one skill that had gotten him this far.
“You’re talking about that claw as if it’s the real one. You can’t trick me,” he said confidently.
The aswang eyed him. “I can smell the magic on it from miles away. Enough with your feeble attempts to—”
“I fell for it too,” Sam bluffed. “Until I found out where the real one was. But don’t feel too bad. Everyone knows how sneaky the gryphon is. To be honest, I’m a little upset at myself for not realizing it sooner. It’s so obvious. I mean, why would he hide it here, of all places? Especially if he thought it was in danger. It totally makes sense that he would have hidden it—” Sam stopped and quickly cupped his hand over his mouth. When he pulled his hand away, he began again. “I can’t believe I almost said it out loud. Man, would I be in trouble.”
The aswang was listening to Sam with increasing interest and growing frustration. She eyed him, then the claw she held in her talons. “You lie, boy. This is the genuine claw.” The doubt in her declaration was clear, and Sam hid his glee. It was time to ride this bluff as far as it would take him.
“Nope. It’s not. The Guardian showed me the proof that it’s a fake. But don’t listen to me,” Sam suggested. “Go ahead and break it. You’ll see. It won’t end any curse.”
The aswang snarled, “Where is this proof?”
Sam stretched out his hand. “Here, I’ll show you.”
The aswang hesitated. “If this is a trick, I shall eat you whole.”
“It’s not. Just give it to me, already. I’m surrounded by abominable snowmen. What am I going to do?” The aswang eyed him, then slowly handed over the claw. Sam pretended to study it closely, and cast an eye toward the prison. C’mon, guys, he thought.
“Well?” the aswang said. “Show me, boy! Or I shall—”
“Eat me whole, I got it,” Sam responded. “Just give me a second. It’s not that easy to see. That’s why it’s a really good fake.” He was running out of time. Still no signal, and the aswang was getting wise to his ruse.
“Enough of this. Give me the claw. If it is a fake, we will find out soon enough.”
“We?” Sam inquired. “As in the yetis, or is there someone else? Like someone above you? I kind of thought there might be. No offense. But you don’t seem like the top-banana type.”
“Give it to me,” the aswang said, irritated.
The moment of truth. Sam had played his hand and lost. He was about to return the claw when it finally happened. An electrical charge shot into the sky and illuminated the valley. Sam’s eyes went to the origin—the prison! That was the signal. It was enough to briefly distract the aswang and the yetis so Sam could do as Knox had instructed him: run like the dickens. The aswang quickly realized Sam was making off with the claw. She yelled to the yetis, and the creatures were instantly in pursuit, the aswang leading the charge.
Sam clutched the claw tightly to his chest as he ran at a full sprint through the village and toward the narrow mountain passage they had taken to enter the valley. He pulled the cylindrical device that Knox had given him from his pocket, pressed the button on the tip with his thumb, and dropped it to the ground. He spotted a collection of wooden carts the yetis used for food and quickly dove for the closest one, sliding beneath it and hiding between the cart and a short ice wall. He peered back to where he had dropped the device and could see that it was now spinning. In fact, it was spinning so fast it began to lift off the ground like a miniature helicopter. He could also see that it was flickering with light. And that was when something extraordinary happened: the yeti village was suddenly overrun by Guardians in full warrior dress! The yetis reared back and total chaos ensued.
While the yetis scrambled to face their new opponents, Sam began to notice that something didn’t seem altogether right about these Guardians. Sam focused on the one closest to him and could see that it shimmered. These weren’t Guardians, Sam concluded. His suspicions were immediately proven correct when the aswang ran right through the one Sam had his eye on. These Guardians were holograms. The aswang grabbed the device that was projecting the images and crushed it in its talons. All the Guardians instantly disappeared. Sam’s eyes darted over to the scores of yetis who had been preparing to face off with their imagined enemies. They froze, confused.
Suddenly, Sam was being dragged out from under the cart by his feet. His body slid across the ragged ice and into the open. He spun himself right-side up and saw the aswang pulling him toward her with her talons.
“I will have the claw, boy!” the aswang squealed. “And then I shall have you for dinner!”
Sam kicked at the creature and managed to connect with her chin, stunning the aswang. He broke free from her grip, climbed to his feet, and took off running. The aswang regained her bearings and pursued, but now she used her wings to fly a few feet above the ground, swiftly closing the gap between them. She barked orders to the yetis, who joined the chase.
Sam glanced back to see that he was now being chased not only by the aswang, but also by an entire village of abominable snowmen. There was no way he was going to make it to the narrow mountain passage in time. Track was another one of those sports he wasn’t very good at.
The aswang reached Sam and swooped down, slashing at him. The creature’s talons tore the back of his jacket and caused him to lose his footing on the icy terrain. He tried to keep himself upright, but the momentum was too great. He tumbled to the ground and slid several feet. He could hear the aswang land behind him, stalking him like prey.
“No escape now,” the aswang jeered.
Sam was tired, his breathing rapid and heavy. He began to feel a sense of resignation—it was similar to the feeling he had experienced with his near-fatal injury in the Himalayas. The difference was that the pain was replaced with paralyzing fear. And there was a sound filling his ears that seemed to make the situation all the more frightening. A dull roar that grew louder by the second. The ground was vibrating beneath him. At first he thought it was the yetis vocalizing before pouncing on him. But when he saw the aswang stop and peer around curiously, he knew it wasn’t coming from the yetis. The aswang’s focus had turned to the mountain passage, which was obscured by the low cloud cover. Sam followed the creature’s gaze. And then, out of the dense white mass, the source of the roar made itself known.
Hundreds of Guardians emerged from the clouds and stampeded toward the village. They let loose a terrifying war cry and wielded their shekchens, ready for battle. It was an astonishing sight. The hapless yetis believed them to be holograms, which gave the warriors time to get closer.
“They’re real!” the aswang tried to warn them, but her voice couldn’t be heard over the noise of their boots on the ice.
The yetis’ slight hesitation was all the Guardians needed to overcome their enemies and overwhelm the village. The aswang ignored the army and charged after Sam. She lifted him by his jacket and flapped her wings. The two were several feet from the ground when the aswang was struck by an electrical charge. She fell back to the ground, losing her hold on Sam and allowing him to roll away.
“Are you okay?” Tashi asked him as she rushed over with Dr. Vantana and Chriscanis. Sam nodded and Vance helped him to his feet.
“I think so,” Sam said as he got his bearings. “What took you guys so long?”
“You’d be surprised just how difficult it is to break out of a yeti ice prison,” Vantana replied. “You did good, kid. Real good.”
“That you did,” Chriscanis added. “You saved the whole lot of us.”
“I thought I was toast when the aswang—” Sam turned to gesture toward the creature, but she was already gone.
“There she goes,” Vance said, pointing to the sky. The aswang had taken flight and was disappearing into the cloud cover.
“And with her, the answers we need,” Chriscanis concluded. Tashi let off a few bolts from her shekchen, but it was too late. The aswang had escaped.
“Did you get any good intel out of her?” the doctor asked Sam. “Anything that could help us figure out who might be behind this mess?”
“Not much, but she’s definitely not working alone. She kept using the word ‘we,’ and she knew who I was,” Sam revealed. “I think there’s someone above her. Someone calling the shots.”
“The aswang have always been trouble,” Chriscanis said. “But I’ve never known them to be the type that enjoyed being bossed around.”
“Nor the yetis,” Tashi chimed in.
“Right, right,” Vance added, pursing his lips as if trying to make sense of it all. Sam caught his eye and shrugged. The doctor smiled. “I think this belongs to you.” He handed Sam his book bag. “I’m pretty certain this book bag has been places no other book bag has been.”
“That’s for sure,” Sam replied.
Dr. Knox and Yeshe approached. Behind them Sam could see that the yetis had ceased fighting and stood stoically, surrounded by Guardians.
“The yetis have surrendered,” Dr. Knox announced. “They offered little information on the aswang. It contacted them a few months ago and preyed on their jealousy of the Guardians to persuade them to help retrieve the claw.”
Sam looked at Tashi, curious. “Why are the yetis jealous of you?”
“They were the gryphon’s sworn protectors before Phylassos cursed humanity. Once the curse was in place, the gryphon believed the claw would be best protected by those who weren’t a part of it. That is why we were created. Our loyalty would never be questioned,” Tashi explained.
Yeshe continued, “But the yetis rebelled and Phylassos punished them, prohibiting them from ever leaving these mountains.”
“Apparently, one of the aswang’s promises to them was their freedom,” Knox added. The old man stepped closer to Sam and put his hand on his shoulder. He smiled kindly. “We owe you a great debt, Sam London. You are the hero of this day, if not the century. It is an honor to have met you, and I thank you for saving us and the claw.”
Sam’s grin would have made the Cheshire cat envious. “You’re welcome….Oh, and here.” He handed the claw to Knox, who handed it to Yeshe. “Dr. Knox?” Sam asked sheepishly.
“Yes, Sam?”
“Could I ask you a favor?”
“Now is a good time. I would be hard-pressed to refuse a request from my liberator.”
Sam pulled the gryphon book out of his book bag. “Would you sign this for me?”
“I think I could manage that,” Knox answered with a wink.
The journey back to Kustos was Dr. Vantana’s chance to question his mentor and fill him in on recent events. Knox was particularly intrigued by the gargoyle attack and the encounter with Cernunnos, who had always had a particular dislike for Henry. It appeared his grudge went back quite a few years. Knox didn’t seem as disturbed by Penelope’s sudden amnesia as Vance thought he would. Vance questioned him about the last time he’d seen Penelope, and Knox explained that he’d met with her right before he decided to go “silent,” as he called it. Vance remembered Penelope talking about the hologram device when he’d been in her lab just days earlier. She had found the specs for the device, and evidence that she had completed it, but couldn’t locate the actual unit. Now Vance knew that Knox had taken it. The doctor continued to wonder why there was no record of Knox’s having removed it and why his leaving coincided so perfectly with Penelope’s amnesia. Knox discounted it as merely chance.
According to Knox, he had been receiving messages from Phylassos regarding a threat to the curse and attempts to steal the claw. He learned through his sources that claw relics around the world had been stolen. However, because of the delicate and secretive nature of this investigation, Henry decided it would be best if he unraveled the mystery himself and didn’t mistakenly tip off whoever was behind it. His search led him to Tibet, where he got caught by a group of yetis on his way to Kustos. Now that he knew about the aswang’s involvement, the case would take him and Vance to the Philippines. Time was of the essence, since the creatures behind this conspiracy might already be adjusting their plan in response to the DMW’s investigation.
With Vance and Henry heading to Southeast Asia, Sam would have to return home, although Henry couldn’t be certain Sam’s purpose had been fulfilled, either in connection with Phylassos or the investigation. It appeared he had done his part, and they were putting him in too much danger by including him any further.
Dr. Knox decided it would be best if they waited until their return to Kustos to break the news to the boy. As expected, Sam was quite upset, which in turn made Vance upset. To make matters worse, Henry directed Vance to counter the injection he had given Sam days earlier. It would dilute the bigfoot blood in Sam’s body and return him to normal. Having the sight taken away was a devastating blow to Sam. Vance felt terrible, but Henry was right. Until Sam was of age, he would need to return to his life outside this strange new world. Constantly seeing magical creatures flitting about would make that impossible.
Fortunately, Yeshe compensated for the bad news by arranging for Sam to receive a medal for his heroism and to be named an honorary Guardian of the gryphon’s claw. Yeshe noted that the medal was forged with the same gold Alexander the Great had used to plate the claw. Chriscanis volunteered to escort Sam home, while Vance and Henry prepared to leave for the next stage of their investigation. As Vance said goodbye to Sam, he found that the connection he had made with this boy was stronger than he realized. He had always been a loner, but Sam London had him reconsidering his life and his solitude. Vance was most certainly going to miss him. Of course, he wasn’t sure Sam’s part in this mystery was over. He took solace in a sneaking suspicion that this would not be the last time they saw each other.
So many questions lingered in Vance’s head about Sam and his meeting with Phylassos, and now the doctor had even more questions surrounding his mentor, Henry Knox, and his unusual disappearance. But the question that weighed on Vance’s mind the most was simply: Where was the gryphon in all this? After everything that happened, why had he not chosen to appear again?
Vance couldn’t help but feel that Henry wasn’t being entirely forthcoming. What did his friend and mentor know about Phylassos? And when would he decide to tell him?