Mr A, Mr G, Ghaston, Mr Jackson and Prince Austin were all in Mr G's office. They had been meeting for a while when we were summoned into the office. The looks on their faces were dire as they had been discussing the current situation they were facing.
As the four of us sat down with the adults unsure of what we were there for or what might be happening overall. I honestly thought we were in trouble when I first heard the announcement for the four of us specifically. The dread that you feel when authority summons you and you have no idea why.
"We have found Joey and Travis however their location is in a secure location that is extremely well protected. We think that it is a trap to get the four of you out in the open. We want to use this trap to find those responsible for wanting to kill the girls.
We believe that they have taken the two boys to an abandoned castle to the south. We believe they have set many traps for anyone that comes and they are expecting a large force. Our response is going to be a six man response unit. The four of you will be joined by Ghaston and Mr Jackson.
I understand the four of you have created a great bond and I don't want to mess that up but I am also going to implore you that your lives are more important than Travis or Joey. Believe in destiny, fate, or just plain coincidence there are things at play right now that even us adults can't foresee.
I am giving you a special crystal to each of you. This crystal can be broken and all you have to do is think of the location you want to go and it will send you there instantly. This is to be used to get the hell out of there if you get close to being caught or overrun." Prince Austin informed us of the situation.
Ghaston then spoke up as he took over the meeting. "This is the layout that we know of, we also know that there are at most two hundred beast masters within this castle. There is no one that is allowed to live. If you do not wish to kill then leave this meeting now."
Ghaston gave a pause waiting to see if anyone would get up and leave the meeting but no one moved a muscle. "Good, now we don't know what will be the situation with Travis and Joey but we know that they were seen being held in the dungeon by an informant I have in their ranks. The informant has left the castle knowing all will be slain.
Every beast master in this castle has committed treason against the crown so do not hesitate. I know you guys are only eleven but this organization wants Abby and Maddy dead and they are going to do everything in their power to do so." Ghaston finished up his speech.
"Remember this is not your normal field trip, this is life and death with a cult who wants to end your lives more than a simple hungry beast. We are hoping to flush out the leader but at minimum do not hold back." Mr G gave his own final words of encouragement.
I felt for the first time that I had a purpose, it was a strange feeling but it was overwhelming. I felt like nothing was going to keep us from getting Travis and Joey back. Adam's leg was tapping rapidly and I found my own leg getting the same energy. As if Mr A could read our minds "I feel bad for the idiots getting in your way!"
"Please be safe, I want all eight of you to come back alive, you don't need to clear out the place, just get Joey and Travis." Mr G gave his parting words as if those words would have any effect on our mentality or mission.
We left Mr G's office not really saying anything, just following Ghaston and Mr Jackson to our ride to the castle. We would be taking gryphons again but these weren't royal and much smaller. We also didn't have a rider, we were the riders and this was a learning curve none of us were expecting. Abby and Maddy had plenty of practice but Adam and I were brand new to taking the reign.
After the rough start Adam and I caught up, well I caught up as Adam seemed to have a bit more experience or his learning was that much quicker than mine. We flew for what felt like an hour or two when Ghaston held up his arm and we all began to descend.
We landed and Ghaston produced rope from his dimensional storage to tie up the gryphons as we were still a distance from the castle. Ghaston wanted to make sure that we had a complete surprise for the castle who was expecting an incursion of a larger scale. To help Prince Austin had a large military force patrol just south of the castle and to engage them at high noon.
We would use this distraction to infiltrate the north side of the castle where our informant broke the door from being sealed off. The plan was for them to never see us till we were already in the castle causing mayhem.