You decide it's now or never, so you take a first cautious step forward. However, as though sensing something, the griffin raises its head. You freeze, hoping to escape notice. You, nevertheless, manage to notice what looks like blood and bits of meat and sinew hanging from the griffin's beak. You grimace at the thought of whatever the griffin is eating raw. Your expression turns into a full-on scowl when your belly rumbles rather loudly, as the idea of food has reminded your body that you haven't eaten in a very long time.
Your stomach has given you away, and the griffin plants a wary gaze on you. It doesn't seem skittish, or belligerent either. Rather, it seems to be evaluating you. As the two of you remain locked in a staring contest, you notice movement behind the griffin. It's Leona, trying to inch forward. Whether or not the griffin has noticed her, it appears to have had enough of your presence. Before you can react, it grabs the keys in its beak again and leaps upward.
"Dammit!" You curse as you realize that in the middle of the hallway immediately above the griffin is a break in the ceiling revealing a vertical shaft, akin to a skylight. Wasting no time on hesitation, you run to the shaft and jump, flapping your wings madly. You shoot upward, passing by an opening to another level. You see the griffin above you, and try to increase your speed, although you haven't thought about what you'll do if you catch up to it.
The griffin eyes you as it flees, seeming to guess at your intentions. However, oddly, it pauses for a second near the wall, then easily continues upward. You only have eyes for the griffin, and don't pay enough attention to your surroundings. It is only a loud rusty creak that gives you any clue that something is not right.
"Look out!" You hear a warning shout echo up the shaft from Leona, but it comes a second too late. A huge iron grate swings down across the shaft between you and the griffin. Rolling wildly in midair, you manage to slow your forward momentum, but not enough to allow you to escape without a nasty bump on the head. You nearly fall, but despite the throbbing headache manage to flap your wings enough to hover just beneath the grate. Squinting upward through the bars at the griffin, you could swear the darn thing was pleased with itself. Lazily continuing up the shaft, the griffin easily landed and exited through one of the openings to the upper levels, and you hear the clicking of its talons on the stone floor as it walks away.
Looking down, you see Leona with her front paws up against the wall, giving her a little height so she can see into the shaft better. As you glide down, she drops down on all fours, nearly tripping over her own paws again but managing to right herself. Your feet finally hit the floor, and you reach up to rub your sore noggin.
"Are you okay?" Leona asks concernedly. Still massaging the knot on your skull, you look upwards at the grate, and notice something just beyond which you didn't see before. Sticking out of the wall was a small lever. In fact, it was exactly at the spot where the griffin paused in midair.
"You don't suppose...." you begin thinking out loud unconsciously.
"Huh?" Leona queries, scrutinizing you.
"Oh, nothing," you look down at Leona and respond, coming to your senses. It is a rather uncomfortable thought, though. What if the griffin was also once a human who was changed? What if ALL the creatures in this castle were once humans? For what purpose were they changed, and why were they all collected here? For some reason, you think back to the painting in the entry hall, the one with all the crazy creatures fighting each other, and you shudder involuntarily. Looking over at the bloody remnants of the griffin's meal on the ground, your thoughts grow increasingly grim. What if that unfortunate creature was once human as well?
Suddenly exhausted, sore, and frustrated, you loose an enormous sigh. When you open your eyes, Leona is still looking at you with a worried gaze. Deciding not to burden her yet with all of your morbid musings, you force yourself to give her a sheepish smile.
"You wouldn't happen to know where we could find some food in this place, would you?" you ask.