The Flood He Invented

After we fled the dying Earth, my mother married the warlord of the gryphon clan so we would have a place in the Yellow World.

What I got was endless drizzle and a muddy hut, kept low on purpose to stay clear of the predators in the canopy.

The most dangerous of them is my new stepbrother.

Plumak tracks me through the ferns, ruins every attempt to leave, and fixes me with those intense golden eyes.

I keep my distance until a sudden deadly flood drives me up into his enormous hanging nest.

In the dark I find he has been hoarding my clothes.

The flood was never real. He lied to pull me into his cage, and once he has me, his restraint gives way.