Out of the forest came a winged deer and chasing after it was something that resembled a lion but with wings. It looked at us, it's eyes showed it's hunger. The winged deer got away as the lion seemed more interested in us, we probably looked tastier to it.

I was able to ask in a hoarse, terrified whisper,"What in the world is that?" 

Aine looked at me as if I should know and said,"It's obviously a winged lion and it was chasing it's natural prey, a peryton."

"Is it friendly?" I asked hopefully.

Aine laughed and said," Of course not, it probably wants to eat us or bring us back for her cubs to eat."

"It's a she? How do you know these things? As far as I know you're just like me, an orphan from Manhattan. When did you become a magical creature expert?" I asked incredulously.

Aine smiled and calmly answered, "Thanks but I'm not an expert, I'll explain to you everything but we need to get out of here or else the last hope of this world will be digested by a winged lion."

The lion growled again as if to prove her point. "Fine, how do we survive then, best friend who I apparently know so little about," I replied drily.

Luna thankfully decided to cut in,"Mistress Ashlyn I believe we have only two choices, if we run I could lead you to a safe haven but there is no guarantee that we will make it as the lion flies fast, or you two could run and find a safe place while I hold the lion off for a few minutes but it is not only possible that I perish, but probable."

I asked,"Why hasn't it attacked us yet?"

Aine looked bored and said,"It's probably curious about what we're going to do."

"What do you think we should do, since you're such an expert?" I asked Aine.

"I think we should run and let Luna hold the lion off,"Aine replied.

"And leave her to die? No thank you, let's run instead!" I said indignantly.

Aine sighed and said,"Why ask me then? But I do have a better idea. Please step back."

With that, my best friend who I thought I knew everything about transformed into a dragon triple my size with flaming red scales and a huge wingspan. "Get on my back, maybe you should hold Luna," Aine said, her voice now hoarser and closer to a growl.

I was tempted to either stare at her in awe or sit down and question life but I did as I was told as the lion advanced. It was only double my size but was apparently not intimidated by Aine's size.

We took off at a dizzying speed but somehow the lion kept up. It was only a yard or so behind us. Aine flew tirelessly and the lion eventually tired and gave up, having spotted a herd of peryton also helped convince it to leave us be. We flew for another half hour or so before spotting a cave suitable for sleeping in the night. Aine transformed back into a human and before I could question her again she said,"I'll go find us wood for a fire and something to cook over it." She dissapeared into the forest.

I sighed and took stock of my situation. I was in a cave, all I had was the t-shirt, jeans, sneakers and necklace I was wearing. The necklace had been with me when I was brought to the orphanage and I had always worn it. It was a silver chain with a simple blue crescent moon.

I sat down next to Luna who was know sleeping. Aine took a long time to come back and I eventually fell asleep. I woke up to the sound of hundreds of marching feet.

A/N
Thank you for reading I worked hard on these chapters! I hope you guys liked it.