chapter 2

The next thing I heard was my dad arguing with my sister, but  I couldn't hear what they were saying. I opened my eyes and realized that I was home my 4 poster canopy queen bed. My body still hurt but it only felt sore. My back didn't hurt as much anymore but it still had an annoying, stinging feeling that people get  from paper cuts. My sister looked at me and with the happiest face in the world, squealed,''amber! You're awake!" and ran to me. She was about to jump on me when my father let out a loud ‘' Cassie?!'' then she stopped right in her tracks and sat down in a chair beside my bed and just stared at me. Father laughed and said,"even though amber is awake and not in much pain she could still be hurt very easily so you have to be careful, OK?" "yes, papa," said Cassie and she smiled at me. I laughed at both of them and thought how weird it was that Cassie and father had more of a connection than I and father did. He hardly was ever around the home or around Cassie but when he was, Cassie would cling to him like glue. He always loved her more than me but only because, unlike my mother, unlike my mother, who loved me more than anyone in the world until she died 4 years ago, Cassie's mother was evil and cruel. She didn't love anyone but that stupid, ornery,  evil little cat that she named Blanchola or white chocolate. She named it that because it was "sweet as chocolate." you can guess where the white part came in. But that cat was nowhere near sweet. intact, I may have been even eviler than Cassie's mother herself. She went missing more than 2 years ago, less than a month after her and father were married. i don't know how father fell for her “love” lies or how he's still falling for them even after she went missing. while i was thinking about those things i noticed the calendar said it was the 18th of June and i thought to myself that can't be right… we went into battle on the 23rd of may, the same day my griffin got stabbed in the heart while i was turned around backwards fighting an ogre. when she cried out in pain i turned around long enough to see her lifeless eyes staring at me as we tumbled to the ground and the ogre sliced me diagonally across the back with its sword right before we slammed into the ground. i looked at my father and said,”how is it the 18th of the next month? it feels like I've slept only a few hours.’ father looked at me sadly and said’ amber, honey, you have been in a coma for almost 3 weeks. we are still clearing the battlefield and we need to hire more people and embalmers to take care of the dead. as you probably know, Pepi died the instant she was stabbed in the heart. since she's not able to take care of her eggs anymore we had to put them in the egg nursery.” i stared at the wall with tears trickling down my cheeks, praying that this was just all a big realistic nightmare, but i knew it wasn't. as i closed my eyes, i could hear the chorus of screams again. the anguished cry my griffon made when she died joined the chorus. i listened to it as it got louder and louder until it drowned my father's voice out. i started to feel a warm spot under my neck that turned almost hot. then i heard my father yell” amber! you pendent is glowing.” i opened my eyes, looked at the necklace,which glowed with a green light, and i whispered,’ something's wrong…’ i rose up and looked at Cassie as my father yelled and fussed at me for moving too much. Cassie was by the window by the time with i got out of the bed surprisingly i wasn't in pain at all. Cassie yelled.’ there's guards storming the egg nursery!” without thinking, i ran as fast as i could out of the door and to the nursery, only glancing at father and Cassie's shocked faces.