Chapter 2

Jasmine eyeballed in disgust as the ground slipped towards them by every second. They were dropping downwards, to an ever-so sandy place. Captain Kerai punched every button she could find, trying to lift the Lightshadow with the rest of her limbs. Beside the shivering girl was Daisy, hopping on one leg as she struggled with a magic sky-vamp, tearing open the already humongous hole. Its fearsome fangs ripped apart the remaining strips of cloth – like a ravenous cheetah, ready to eat its prey.

With a mighty splash, the sky-ship crashed down, swimming in a tadpole-infested oasis. Daisy had won by forfeit, the monster had flown away. Jasmine jumped out of the airship to see the exotic sight. She glared at many things: the afternoon sun glimmering in the pool of baby frogs, the salt-like grains of sand becoming one with the wind and the double-hump camels slumping tiredly, like a teenager limping out of bed, towards a source of water.

Daisy began to stare at the odd desert. Beside her, there would’ve been fountains with water gushing into people’s mouths. Where the camels rested, there would’ve been a stable of horses. Far ahead, there were cacti, ready to sting their predators. The desolate land might’ve been crowded with cowboys and cowgirls. But now it was just an abandoned sandland as the clouds cackled across the sky. The sun began to set majestically as tumbleweed rolled on the sand.

Half an hour later, the girls pulled the Lightshadow out of the water and sat there – all alone. The rest of the crew went searching for provisions for the ship and themselves, leaving the siblings, who prepared a shelter. Jasmine and Daisy found spare planks of wood and began to make their safe house. The pearly moon illuminated the night. It was then that they saw a strange shadow.

Chapter 3

Something scuttled on the skyship beside them! Jasmine, whose palms started to sweat, hid in the now completed shelter but Daisy clambered onto the Lightshadow and searched for the mysterious figure. She could see a wing, it flapped, just near the mast. It was incredibly tiny and had a sharp beak. It suddenly ran towards her.

“It’s a gryphon – a baby one!” she explained. “But it’s wounded.”

 Daisy, who had her thinking face on, lifted its leg and put it on her lap.

“It probably tripped in the wind.”

The gryphonlet whimpered as the icy wind whistled through the sky. Jasmine slipped away to get a fire blanket, hoping that its parents would look at the bright side – they’d saved their baby! Daisy wrapped a bandage around its ankle, wishing for an approval from Captain Kerai.