This a a story about a beautiful, diligent griffin. A cinnamon colored griffin, with just the right amount of white fur, like a dusting of sugar on a cinnamon doughnut.
A beloved Griffin.
She was nice, and fancy. She was so wonderful.
And she have a two legged friend. A stupid two legged friend who lied and left her alone...
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The narration was interrupted by the sound of a newcomer. There was some jowling, and a hiss, until the beautiful griffin narrating realized it was her friend griffin coming into the tent.
"What you doing?" the newcomer griffin asked, his feathers darker brown with black spots.
"Oh...I tell a story." the narrating griffin hesitated. "I found that redhaired lady's computer. It has speak to text."
"Wow. That fancy. It works for griffins too?"
The cinnamon colored griffin purred happily. "Yeah. I told it too, and 'puter is too scared of me to no work. Work 'puter! Work!"
"What story you tell? Is it about breakfast? Or find dead things, hunt them, yah?" the new voice mewled.
"No. It is about my special two legged friend. Spiky Hair Guy."
"I thought his name was Butler." the newcomer said, arching his back idly.
"No, that his job to take care of me. But he have weird name."
The newcomer looked over the small laptop, and snorted. "You misspelled that word. It says diligent, but I think you meant delinquent."
"I am diligent."
"Then get back to work. Redhaired lady gonna be mad at you for touching her 'puter."
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The mighty, beautiful cinnamon griffin was beloved of all people. No griffin was faster. No friend more swift. She was the boss griffin, and the kept all other griffins in her glaring in line.
Except Diver. He scared her. But she would not tell him that, so she assumed no one else realized.
But despite being so well beloved, there was only a few two legged ones that she loved. The rest were too slow, too dull, and too heavy to soar through the air like her station demanded.
And the very best one was Spiky Hair Guy. It was a tricky name, for his hair was not always spiky. But when he was in battle his hair would rise up, just like a proper griffin, and be spiky. That was another way she knew she could trust him.
He was very good to her. When they were away from home, when they were at this place called the Stable, and he would have to leave her, he always came back to visit. Even though he was so cruel, and left her alone for hours at a time, he would always come back. The cinnamon griffin knew that he was busy doing boring things that he insisted he needed to do, but because he was so earnest, she mostly forgave him.
But the best times where when they were home. Or what he called 'Out in Campaigns.' Out in the fields, the marshes, the forests, spending the days fighting bad things and making them into dead things, and the nights playing a game he called 'get off my bed.'
Silly Spiky Hair Guy. Any bed she wanted was her bed.
He was such a good two legged person. He played well with other griffins in the glaring too. He played a hide and seek game with Sparks, where he would try to hide things, and Sparks would get to find it again! He played 'chess' with Diver. Sometimes he even won against the scary older griffin. He mended Manners' wounded paw, that had no wound but Manners liked attention like a baby. Stupid Manners. Spiky Hair Guy was nice to Aquilus, gave him fish. He even was nice to Glare, the dumb griffin who couldn't talk but just stared at the wall.
But he loved the cinnamon griffin the most.
She knew, because he told her so.
But he lied.
All the other Glaring went away, back home to 'campaign', with their two legged friends. But Spiky Hair Guy was delayed. He said mean things, like 'we will go tonight', and 'I promise I'll be back.'
Then he was not. Instead, after waiting for hours and hours as the night got deeper and deeper, she had realized that something bad had happened.
He must have went to find dead things without her.
She was almost sure of it.
Then the strangers arrived.
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"Did Spiky Hair Guy?" the newcomer griffin asked. "Did he find dead things without you?"
"Don't interrupt the story."
"Why you tell it like that? Who are the strangers?"
"That part of the story."
"You should just tell everything. This way no surprise."
"Redhaired lady says that ruins the story."
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
"I no like her. She so mean. She ate all the chocolate cake this morning."
The cinnamon color griffin froze. "Um...yah, she do that."
"That a terrible thing to do. It was a big cake. Big enough for everyone. And she no share"
"Bad bad bad...and it was a good cake too..."
The darker griffin narrowed his eyes "Why you look suspicious..."
"I....um...no look suspicious."
"You sound suspicious."
The cinnamon griffin chirped a few times in distress, before uncovering a genius plan. "Um...um...let talk about something else!"
"Hmmm." the dark colored griffin stared deeply at the narrator. "OKAY!" he chirped brightly.
"That was close." the beloved griffin said.
"Hmm?" the newcomer griffin asked back, tilting his head birdlike.
"Back to the mean strangers!"
"Okay! And then what happen?"
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Mean strangers arrived to the beautiful griffin's room in the stable.
They wore dark masks, and dark cloaks.
And they were mean.
They talked about her like she wasn't there. She decided she would not talk to them either.
"This her?" one of the scary cloak people said. "Elswith's griffin always looked so...intimidating in battle. This thing looks like a freaking pet. It's wrapped in a blanket. Look, it even has slippers on."
Of course the beautiful griffin had slippers on. Without the other members of the Glaring, who would warm her cold cold talons and paws?
"Aye Lord. We better hurry before the Stable removes us."
"The Stable has other concerns tonight. But we should hurry."
"Why are we even removing the stupid beast?"
The cinnamon griffin looked around to see who else they were talking about. They must be mistaken, cause Glare was not here either.
"Because if Elswith decides to flee, without his griffin, his choices are limited to options we control."
Elswith...that was Spiky Hair Guy's other name his two legged friends called him.
The mean strangers pulled out a saddle. It was the one for going fast, but not the one for going far or carrying things. "Come here, come here. Let's go to somewhere fun!" he raised his voice so it sounded fun.
But the beautiful griffin was not dumb. She knew from the saddle they were not taking her to home on the campaign. They were liars.
Spiky Hair Guy...maybe he did not go find dead things without her.
Maybe he was in trouble.
She should find out more.
So she arose from her pile of blankets, which included blankets left by all the other griffins, and delicately removed her slippers with her agile tail. The scary cloaked figures were taller than her, but that was when they walked on two legs. If they prowled on all fours, they would be shorter than her. She allowed them to fumble about. They knew how to put on a saddle, but they were not smart.
They must deal with stupid griffins.
Because they did not notice that as they put the saddle over her back, between her neck and her wings, that she was being naughty.
She took a deep breathe and puffed out her chest.
So the girth of the saddle was loose. And finally, the second separate strap was the wrong kind for this saddle. It did not connect correctly. That also meant that the safety harness that it would attach it to was not as safe.
She listened as they buckled buckles "Are the rumors true?" the stupid one asked.
"About Elswith's secret sibling? Everyone who is anyone has a secret sibling or two. Or people who your family prefer more than you so everyone pretends that they are related."
"No. About the other thing...was the Heirling of the Red Sword really a..."
There was a brief scuffle and the one speaking suddenly had a knife pressed against his neck.
His partner spoke harshly. "Say whatever you want. But do not bring into question the Heirling of the Red Sword. The Red Sword accepted him. To say anything else would be to insult the Red Sword. And I will not so much as lift a hand as you are hauled away for torture or dismemberment. Do not finish your sentence."
"Yes Lord." the stupid one said.
"You should get going." the knife friendly one said.
They went to the areas where the griffins could leave. The beautiful griffin followed along, plotting herself. For she was a clever girl.
"Head straight for our holdings in the mountains." the knife one said.
"I will, Lord, I will."
The cinnamon griffin grimaced as the one who asked stupid questions got on her back. He was a good rider, but he was clearly used to flying bigger griffins. He didn't know how to hold his weight. Not like her Spiky Hair Guy. She felt him shift his weight until he sat, back pressed against the cantel, the back rest part of the saddle. That was not how to hold on to her. That was for support when she did an awesome turn. That was not to rest while she was standing.
"We cannot allow Elswith to win the Game. Our Faction would crumble. He must be stopped. Go and bring back the Poison Eater. She will have good ideas. We have a month before the Game even begins. Perhaps something could happen to Lordling...to the Former Lordling before the game begins."
"Aye, my Lord."
And the stupid one kicked at her sides.
She nodded to herself. She was not sure before, but now she knew. He was an enemy.
Because he did not say 'let's go find dead things!' or 'let's show these guys who's the fastest girl ever!'.
Clearly he was an enemy.
And Spiky Hair Guy should win all games. He liked games. He played them a lot. She could help him! She was bad at chess. But she was good at knocking the board over.
So she took off. She unfurled her beautiful strong wings and ascended upward and away from her home away from home. The raw magic in the air was agitated and dense. No doubt the storms that would stop most travel was nearing. If she got too far away, she might get caught and trapped. When the magic was wild, it made flying hard.
Especially with this stupid potato on her back.
The Stupid one kicked at her side, and she followed instructions, flying level and steady. She wanted to see where his nest was, so she could throw bad smelling dead things there later.
She watched the place Spiky Hair Guy called 'The Citadel' zoom out from under her as she flew over it. There was forest and field for minutes until the yummy smell of chocolate touched her nose, but then that smell was gone too. She watched as the scary trees that never had leaves started to get closer as she flew.
She felt more bad magic ahead.
She looked backward, to the stranger with a dumb stupid mask and dumb stupid cloak, as he sat like a box of potatoes on her back and kicked at her sides.
"Move to the right, you stupid creature."
So she did. Sharp right, banking downward. She constricted her chest and felt the safety harness snap. Oopies. The girth was loose to begin with, and without the safety harness to hold the stupid one in place, a terrible tragedy arrived.
Oh no.
He fall down.
"heh heh heh heh heh." She chuckled. "So sad." she said, not sounding sad at all.
The beautiful griffin watched him go. She was not sure if he activated magic to save himself in time or not. But he was a bag of potatoes. She thought potatoes bounced really well. Then she looked where her glaring was, far away. The rural places. Dragon Scull.
Her friend was not home. Bad guys got him.
She would have to make sure nothing bad happened. Because she was, and is, the best, fastest, most beautiful girl in the world.
She knew, because her friend told her so.
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"Who ate my birthday cake?" A new voice interrupted from outside the tent.
"Oh no! The Redhaired lady is back!" the dark feathered griffin said. "And is trying to blame someone else for eating what she eat! So rude. Quick, publish it, publish it!"
The beautiful, clever, and diligent cinnamon colored griffin peered at the strange computer. "Quick...where the publish button...click it...click it...click it....I find it. I so smart."