“Yes, I’m fine. No, it was no bother to rescue them and deplete the magic inside me. Thank you for not asking. After all, who cares about a poor animated magical object that just saved the King of the Pirates—and a human—from certain death?” Mr. Gryphon loudly proclaimed his litany of grievances.
“You will be fine, Mr. Gryphon. Though you really should be resting,” Nali soothingly said with a shake of her head.
Mr. Gryphon gave Nali a pained look. “That’s fine for you to say, Empress. You have the powers of the Goddess on your side. Me—I’m doomed to a life of pain and suffering because I was given to an unappreciative—”
The unceasing complaints had started nearly a half hour earlier when Asahi found the winged lion stuck in a rivulet of sap oozing down the tree trunk. Asahi finally shea
