Allies Abroad: Damien's Journey

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[Damien Arrowing]

OOC: This is mainly just going to be for myself to post in, so that I can introduce my new charry Sakura and get her involved in the story. If anyone wants to show up briefly they can, otherwise you can read along and enjoy the fun. lol 

IC: Hot winds sang under his wings, speaking of the arid land below. Nowhere had Damien seen such a place as southern Archenland; the barren, desert landscape seemed lifeless, and yet life still thrived. Certainly, it wasn't as abundant or conspicuous, but it was still there. This was the homeland of one half of his ancestors. The gryphons who were said to live here had never lived in Narnia; at least not within memory. They were an ancient group, but still much like the other gryphons.

Raquel had lived here. Her name had once been Raquel Firetalon, kin of the flockleader herself. But Damien's father, Telac, had visited the desert flock, and Raquel had left with him. She had even taken his name as her own to show her support, and Damien and his siblings had been named Arrowing as well. Damien had never visited the land of his mother, but now, driven by necessity, here he was. The great canyon to the south was a welcoming sight; he had been flying over open, dry plains for what seemed like ages. Soon he would meet the flock that claimed half his ancestry.

The circumstances that had brought him this far still played out in his mind, especially while he was asleep. He dreamed almost every night of his past, and wondered why. There were other things more pressing on his mind than what he had done, mostly what he had yet to do. As Damien flew, he remembered what had brought him to Archenland in the first place.

***

Damien’s eyes smiled as he expressed his thanks to Caspian. The gryphon had seen how desperately the Narnians still needed troops, and had been thinking more and more of it. He had already traveled throughout Narnia itself for a brief period, but had realized that there were other possibilities. Most importantly, Damien could bring gryphons to help the Narnians. There were very few gryphons amidst their ranks. Other than himself, Damien had only seen a couple others flying around, and he knew of one other. Four was a terribly small number, considering how many gryphons were around. His own flock numbered in the hundreds, and perhaps some could be spared from their isolated island home. Damien knew that traveling to his old home would not work, though. Before he had come here on his own, he had spent decades trying to convince his family that they were needed in Narnia. They had not listened, and Damien still had the scars from his reckless retaliation to their refusal. He had eventually decided to leave it be, and had gone by himself.

However, as he had thought more about it, the gryphon realized that there were others to whom he could speak; others that he could ask for aide. His mother, Raquel, had come from another large flock that dwelled in the southern areas of Archenland, almost in the Great Desert. Perhaps a few members of the flock would agree to help Damien’s cause. Even a few more gryphons would be a major asset to the army. The large, powerful flying creatures could deal damage like nothing else; from the air and in strength. Other creatures could fly, but none had the strength or raw power of a gryphon. Gryphons were like a combination of the two most powerful predators in existence.

So, Damien had formally requested Prince Caspian’s permission to go on his quest to find allies in Archenland, and it had been granted to him. At the moment, he was not needed, so Caspian felt he could spare Damien for a few weeks absence. Not long after, the iron-blue and rust-red colored gryphon had made his departure, eager to set off.

[Damien Arrowing]

Damien angled his wings downward, beginning the long descent towards the canyon. He was flying very high, high enough to see many times past the horizon he would have been limited to on the ground. He could make out the canyon below, stretching south and growing deeper and more stark in the desert landscape. Smaller, but still enormous side gorges split off from the sides of the great one, digging great furrows into the red-gold earth. Clouds of dust blew up from the land below, but Damien was well above them.

Cold winds gradually transformed into the heated air of the desert, streaming past his wings in powerful gusts. His feathers rustled pleasantly in the breeze, and the gryphon let out a long, joyously pealing cry into the empty air. It filled the almost perfect silence of the high desert sky. Soon he would come to the land of his mother’s family. Soon he would see if help could be gained from the gryphons of the desert canyons.

Damien continued his descent until he wasn’t very high above the canyon. Great cliffs and spires of stone rose up out of the barren ground near the edges of the gorge, and Damien’s eyes lit up in a gryphon smile as he flew right over them. He could have brushed the stone with his wingtip. He arced his flight around one of the rocky pillars, and froze, hovering. The sky and plains were open from here to the next split-off gorge. There was only one rocky spire as high as the one he had just passed. It was thick, and several ledges curved around it. Looking further down the gorge, he could see a rise in the cliff leading to a ridge above the canyon’s edge. Beyond that, the canyon curved and he could see nothing. Damien flew on more slowly, sensing something nearby.

He winged his way tentatively closer to the spire, eyeing the ledges with increased suspicion. As he grew cautiously closer, he could see something near the base of the spire, on one of the ledges. A few feathers littered the ground, colored coppery brown with some bright, fiery red-orange mixed in. Damien landed on the ledge and bent down to examine the feathers. They were definitely from a gryphon. Before he could do anything further, however, a loud, angry screech of attack sounded behind him. Damien launched himself in a roll to the side just before he heard the scratching of talons beside him. He glanced up and saw a huge, bat-like beast with a long, toothy snout glaring at him and flapping its wings rapidly. A flock of them was hurtling down towards him.

Damien screeched in reply to their threats and reached up, clawing the wings of one of the beasts. He was about to pounce on it when the rest of them converged, flapping and shrieking and clawing wildly, their small jaws snapping at him. Damien felt feathers and fur coming out of his hide in bloody tufts as they bit down. He jumped away and skidded around on his powerful legs, shrieking and tensing his hind legs in preparation to spring. Before he could, the rock he was standing on gave way, and he shrieked in fear as he felt himself plummeting down, unable to right himself in the wild fall.

[Sakura Brighteye]

OOC: Yay! First post as Sakura! Also, to warn you, there'll be some godmodding of Damien (just a little) in this post so that I can keep the action flowing. Hope that's okay. 

IC: Sakura watched with a smile as her brothers tossed the rock back in forth while they flew. One would flip upside-down and catch the rock, then toss it to the next. She felt like joining the carefree game, but she knew she had to get back to her home soon. She hadn’t patrolled in a while, and it was almost time for her shift. The gryphons usually took turns in patrolling the border sections.

“Keldon! I’m gonna go, kay?” she called to the eldest of her three younger brothers. The rust-colored gryphon nodded and clacked his beak to show he had heard. Marco waved his tail briefly to say goodbye, but didn’t pause in the game. Sakura’s green eyes sparkled happily and she stood up, stretching out her powerful limbs. She angled her head to get a good look at the sky above the canyon. The endless blue filled her sight where there was no rock.

The ginger-furred gryphon stretched out her wings and perched tediously on the edge of her ledge, bits of rock and dust crumbling into the gorge below. She glanced down for an instant, but then turned her head back up and kicked away from the ledge with her hind legs, her wings beating down strongly and lifting her into the air. She tucked her limbs neatly under her body as she flew up, angling her tail as her path curved down the canyon. She flew at a relaxed pace, moving along with the rock walls flashing past on either side. They slowly curved to the left and west, on an almost straight path to the main canyon beyond.

As she flew, she began to hear something ahead. A sudden shriek of challenge, and then of alarm, rang out in the silence. Sakura had already picked up her pace, flying rapidly towards the scuffling sounds she heard. The screeches of the huge canyon-bats filled her ears, and as she got closer, she saw a limp form on a rocky ledge beneath her home spire. The flock of canyon bats was darting towards it.

Sakura let out a powerful battle-cry. The sound, half-eagle and half-lion, made the canyon-bats pause and glance her way. They shrieked and began flying towards her when they saw she was a gryphon. Sakura flew faster, her eyes burning fiercely. The unconscious form on the rocks was a gryphon, but Sakura had no time to recognize him before she was amongst the screaming horde.

She lashed out with her claws and talons, leaving long bloody gashes on the furry bodies of the canyon-bats. Her beak flashed out several times, always leaving a broken neck or wing. Four bats were already falling away towards the floor of the gorge, when the others finally gave up. Sakura was experienced against them, and a fierce fighter. They knew better than to stick around and get killed. The flew off, still shrieking.

Sakura snorted as they left. “Cowards,” she muttered. Her attention was drawn back to the gryphon on the ledge. She landed next to him, and realized that he was unfamiliar. His color patterns were unlike any she had seen before. His feathers were a unique mixture of rust-red and iron-blue where they were not tawny and dusty brown. She saw the stone rubble near him and glanced up.

“So the rock gave way when you were defending itself?” she said quietly, looking at the jagged gap in the thin ledge above. His weight, definitely greater than her own, must have been too much for it. She glanced down as be began to mumble something, his eyes blinking a few times before closing again. As she bent closer, she could have sworn she caught the words “so beautiful… it’s like fire…”

The gryphon laughed and began dragging him back up a narrow path and towards her home. “You must have hit your head pretty hard,” she remarked to herself, eyes sparkling with amusement.

[Damien Arrowing]

Damien blinked open his eyes, wincing at the sore spot he could feel in the back of his head. His back was a little bruised as well. His eyes were still adjusting to the dim, reddish light when he caught sight of something moving on the far side of the cave.

“Easy, you were knocked out for a while,” a female voice rang out from the opposite corner. She came into view, and Damien had to suppress a gasp at the stark colors in her feathers. The bright vermillion was like nothing he had seen on any gryphon before. It was certainly not a natural color, but it blended well with her overall appearance.

“What happened to those creatures?” he asked, deciding to get that information out of the way.

“I fought them off. I can’t believe you let those things take advantage of you. Seriously, they’re only canyon bats,” the female gryphon laughed, her bright green eyes sparkling. Damien frowned.

“I could have beaten them. I just didn’t know they were here, that’s all. They took me by surprise. How can you expect me to know about things that I’ve never seen before?” he retorted. The female’s eyes lit up with curiosity.

“You’ve never seen a canyon-bat before? Where are you from? You don’t look like any of the gryphons I’ve known,” she said inquisitively.

“Likewise. I come from north of here; from Narnia. My homeland is an island off the coast of Archenland, though,” he replied.

“Oh. Well, no wonder your colors are all earthy and dull,” the female commented, the glitter returning to her eyes. Damien’s feathers ruffled in annoyance and his frown grew more pronounced.

“My colors are perfectly fine. At least they’re not all bright and gaudy like yours,” he said, irritated. The female laughed again, and Damien realized that she was purposely trying to ruffle his feathers. He shook his head, scolding himself for allowing himself to respond to her childish teasing. She wouldn’t be allowed to do that in the future. He let out a long sigh, preparing to attempt a new direction for the conversation.

“So what is your name? Mine is Damien Arrowing,” he said evenly, trying to maintain what dignity he had left. The female giggled again, as if she knew he was struggling to keep his cool.

“I’m Sakura Brighteye. And your last name sounds familiar. I remember it from one of our stories,” she replied, and Damien silently thanked Aslan that she had forgotten to taunt him.

“Well, my father, Telac Arrowing, visited this land once many decades ago. My mother, Raquel Arrowing, previously of the Firetalon name, used to live here. She left with my father and joined him on the island,” Damien explained. Sakura nodded, as if she had suddenly remembered having heard this before.

“Oh, now I know what you’re talking about. Why didn’t you just say you were half Firetalon to begin with? Maybe that’s why your colors are brighter than the normal northerners. But why are you here? Surely it can’t just be for a visit, if you came from Narnia,” Sakura replied, tilting her head inquisitively.

“Well, that’s the reason I came. Narnia is in trouble. Our race is being slaughtered by Telmarines, as well as every other thinking, feeling creature in the land. So many have been killed. I joined the resistance because I didn’t want the homeland of half my ancestors to be controlled by humans. But we need more help. The force is not as strong as it should be. We need others to join so that we stand a fighting chance against the Telmarines,” Damien explained slowly. He tensed, waiting for Sakura’s reply.

OOC: Again, the godmodding is intentional. (I kind of need to for the story to run smoothly). 

[Sakura Brighteye]

Sakura was greatly enjoying herself; ruffling the feathers of this newcomer. However, her eyes grew narrow as he started explaining why he was there, and her feathers bristled along her neck and chest in suspicion. When he finished she stood up and hissed in anger.

“You think you can just come here and expect us to want to go to war? And get killed? And why would we be that stupid, huh? Did you think you could just come here and we’d welcome the idea with open wings? Who do you think you are?” she started ranting, angry at the nerve of this Damien. The gryphon drew back in alarm.

“Wait, you didn’t let me fini-” Sakura cut him off, clawing the ground angrily.

“You’re lucky you’re injured, or I’d throw you out of this cave immediately and let the canyon-bats get you!” she screeched, glaring. Damien’s eyes widened in alarm.

“But I didn’t explain everything! We need help! You won’t just sit by while we’re slaughtered! Will you?” he said, trailing off with a pained voice. Sakura turned away, feeling slightly ashamed, but also angry at herself for being ashamed. Why should she care about the Narnians? If they were in trouble, couldn’t they just leave? Couldn’t they deal with their own problems, without trying to drag other gryphons into the war?

The fiery gryphon turned and stalked out of the cave in a huff, her feathers still bristling. She walked around the ledge on the outside and leaped up ledges. She continued her climb up the spire with her mind boiling with rage. The gryphons here couldn’t just abandon everything to help people they didn’t even know. They had their own problems, and they needed all their strength to deal with them. She reached the flat top of the pillar of stone and sat down, taking in a deep breath and closing her eyes.

“They don’t need our help. And we can’t help them. If we send gryphons to help, they could be killed! We could be sending friends and family to their deaths,” she said quietly to herself, shaking her head. Of course they couldn’t send help. They couldn’t afford to have flock members killed or badly injured. They had problems of their own to deal with. Still, that didn’t change how guilty Sakura felt. She didn’t like not helping others, but she knew there was no choice. Was there? They could deal with their own war, right?

Sakura growled under her breath, angry at Damien. Who was he to come here and give her all of these problems, when she had problems of her own? Why had he come, just when everything was starting to become good? Why did he have to make things so complicated? Sakura sighed angrily and tucked her limbs under herself, resting her head on one foreleg. Her thoughts continued to roil mercilessly through her mind, and she knew she wouldn’t be getting any sleep that night.

[Damien Arrowing]

Damien looked at his claws sadly, hanging his head. Surely Sakura couldn’t feel that way? Surely she felt some concern for the Narnians? She couldn’t just feel that since it wasn’t her problem, she didn’t have to help? Damien shook his head angrily. Why was he so desperate for her to feel concern? Why did he care? If she didn’t care, then he would just find gryphons who did. She was out here living by herself anyway, why should he expect her to have concerns for other gryphons? Why was he so desperate for her help, when there were many other gryphons he could go to? Damien rested his head on his talons decisively, knowing that as soon as he recovered, he would go to the flock down the canyon. They would help him.

His yellow eyes blinked open in the darkness, and he had barely enough time to raise his head before she was gone. The hind leg of a gazelle rested at his claws, and dust floated in the air where it had hit the ground. Damien sighed and tore off a large strip of meat, the pain in his head already a dull ache.

“Time for a new day,” he said sarcastically after gulping down the first bite of meat, “She didn’t even let me say thanks.” He tore off more strips of meat, his curved beak cutting through the tough leg like one of his claws through a leaf.

Damien finished the meal and looked around awkwardly, wondering if he was ready to leave yet. As if on cue, the light from the entrance was blocked by a small shape. Sakura walked into the cave, her green eyes burning as if to challenge him to continue his pleas.

“Um… thanks, Sakura,” he said at last, dropping his gaze to the floor. She snorted.

“Yeah, well, the sooner you’re recovered, the sooner you’re out of my home,” she snapped back, and Damien flinched from her sharp words.

“Well don’t worry. I’m almost ready to leave,” he said back angrily, drawing his limbs under him until he crouched, his head raised.

“Good,” she spat back, turning and stalking back outside after a quick glare. Damien sighed sadly again, wondering if her flockmates would be as prickly towards him when he revealed his goal. Surely he would have better luck with them. At least, he hoped so.

Damien glanced towards the entrance anxiously and picked himself up, wincing as the sudden motion made his head sting. He crept towards the light, moving silently lest he invoke another wrathful entrance by the fiery Sakura. Luck was with him, however, and his head peeked out of the cave without incident. The empty desert sky arced before him, and the warm winds sang pleasantly through his feathers. Damien’s eyes lit up in a smile and he stepped forward into the sunlight. The red rock beneath him scraped pleasantly under his talons. It was nice to walk on, and he felt the urge to scrape his claws across the rock and sharpen them. He knew better, though; the noise would attract Sakura if she was around.

An immense canyon stretched before and below him, and a long, lonely hawk’s cry filled the echoing gorge. The red rock pillar that he stood on was on a sharp prominence above the canyon. The ridge stretched away into a field of pillars and cliffs beyond the canyon. On the other side of the canyon was a flat, mostly empty plain. A few patches of dried, brown grass swayed in the wind, and there was a scattering of bushes and shrubs. The canyon floor was even more lush, filled with bushes and grass, and the occasional tree. A small river wove its sparkling way among the rocks far below. Damien could see why any gryphon would want to live here.

The young gryphon turned away from the expanse before him, and froze when he saw a long, red-orange-feathered tail hanging down on the rocks to the left. He peered up and saw Sakura on top of the overhang of rock. She had not yet noticed him. Damien was about to turn back and hurry inside, but hesitated. She seemed much less fiery and much more sad than when he had last seen her. Damien longed to ask her what she was thinking about, but knew that she would just yell at him again. She might even chase him off if she saw him outside the cave. Damien had to remind himself that he was not back home, and he could not simply ask her anything he wanted and get a friendly response. He slunk backwards, still watching her, until he was mostly in the cave. The long shadows of late afternoon, stretched out behind her, and the sunlight in front of her made her silhouette glow around the edges. Damien shook his head and turned, heading the rest of the way back into the cave. She would probably notice him if he stayed any longer, and he had no desire to get into another argument. He collapsed back on the ground in the corner, willing himself to heal faster so that he could leave and be away from this complicated place. He longed for his place back in Narnia, where it was as simple as finding and fighting the enemy.

[Sakura Brighteye]

Sakura slept that night outside her lair, avoiding another confrontation with Damien. She did not want to have to deal with him yet again. When she awoke, the sky was surprisingly overcast, and she shivered. The sun had only just risen, and the coldness of the desert night had not yet seeped away. She stood up slowly, stretching out her limbs like a cat and fluffing up her feathers against the cold. She looked out over the plain before her, wondering what to do. She could continue to feed Damien until he recovered, but she had a better idea.

Deciding that it was the best thing to do, she stretched out her wings and jumped off the ledge, flapping a few times to get into a nice current of air. This way, she wouldn’t have to deal with the irritating gryphon any more, and he would get what he wanted; an audience with her flock. She flew lower, until she was surrounded on her sides by the canyon walls.

After a few minutes of flying, and maneuvering around the long curve of the canyon to the south, Sakura began to see signs of her flock. A stray feather here and there dotted the ledges on the canyon. Claw-marks scored the rocks where gryphons had launched into the air. A faint chattering noise could be heard ahead; the sound of her flock. It was rather noisy, being comprised of dozens of large, birdlike creatures, but the prey still ran well outside the main flock roost.

Sakura smiled a gryphon smile as the canyon finished its curve into another straight stretch. She could see them now, up ahead. Large, brightly colored shapes darted around the cliffs. The canyon also widened a great deal here. Five tall, thin pillars of rock rose from the canyon floor, stretching up until they were even with the tops of the walls. One of them, the one that split the river in two, stretched even higher. That was where the flock leaders and other important gryphons made their nests. Sakura angled her wings to head towards that pillar.

The flock-leader, Veristar Firetalon, was lounging on the main ledge outside of the pillar. It circled the whole tower, but in one spot it stretched out from the tower into a large prominence. The flock-elders and flock-leader, as well as other important gryphons, would stand on this prominence to address the flock. Today, Veristar was the only one there. The other members of the flock were still waking up or were already out hunting.

Sakura lowered the angle of her wings, beating them a few times to come to a gentle stop on the platform. Veristar was looking curiously up at her, and in the process of getting to her feet.

“I hope this isn’t urgent, young one. You usually don’t see me unless some enemy or possible threat is nearby,” Veristar began, humor in her voice. Sakura was relieved by her pleasant tone; Veristar had always been understanding of her flockmates.

“Oh, no, nothing urgent. But something has arisen. A couple days ago, a gryphon was attacked by canyon-bats and was knocked unconscious. I brought him to my cave to recover, and he’s still there now. His name is Damien Arrowing,” Sakura began, unsure of Veristar’s response. The flock-leader’s eyes widened.

“Arrowing? Is he related to Telac?” she asked, as Sakura had expected. Raquel Firetalon had been her niece.

“Yes. He’s Telac’s son. But he had a reason for coming,” she continued, scraping the ground with one foot.

“A reason? What reason?” Veristar replied, her eyes shining with interest.

“He came from Narnia, where the war is taking place against the Telmarines. He was looking for recruits,” Sakura said, glancing down. When she looked back up, Veristar was frowning, obviously mulling over what she had just revealed.

“Well, I was wondering if you could send some gryphons to get him. He might not be ready to fly by himself yet; he hit himself pretty hard,” Sakura added hopefully. Veristar nodded.

“Yes, of course. He is my kin, and he will be treated until he recovers. But as for his mission… that I must wait and speak to him about when he recovers,” Veristar answered decisively. She shot a pointed look at a group of gryphons relaxing on the cliffs, and when she had caught their attention, she beckoned them over with a wing.

As Veristar was speaking to the group, Sakura fluttered away, relieved that she had been successful. Now she would no longer have to deal with Damien, and he would be able to see the flock. She landed on a huge boulder on a ledge next to her brothers’ cave, waiting for them to wake up.

[Damien Arrowing]

Damien was sleeping, head rested neatly on his foreclaws. He had ventured out onto the ledge in front of the cave, and was napping in the morning sunlight. The desert nights were cold, and it felt good to warm up when the sun arose. Something disturbed his sleep, however, and his yellow eyes blinked slowly open. He rose his head and glanced around, looking for the source of the disturbance.

Far beyond him, down in the canyon to the east, a group of gryphons were flying. They were headed down the canyon, and Damien saw a few brightly colored eyes flicker towards him. Are they coming for me? Probably. Maybe that’s what Sakura was doing, he thought, watching the flock draw nearer. He stood up slowly, still feeling the dull ache in the back of his head. He knew it would soon go away, but he had no idea the female gryphon was this impatient to be rid of him.

The gryphons angled their wings and flapped out of the shadows of the canyon, headed towards Damien’s ledge. They swooped up over the cliff side and landed next to him, folding their wings neatly. Damien noticed immediately that their wings were colored more brightly than the gryphons he knew back home, except for his mother. That seemed to be a common trait amidst this flock. The lead gryphon bowed his head.

“Sakura tells us you were knocked unconscious in a fight with canyon-bats and have been healing here,” he said, tilting his wide head in interest. Damien nodded.

“I was standing on thin rock, and it collapsed underneath me. Are you members of the flock led by the Firetalons?” he questioned, his own yellow gaze just as curious.

“Indeed. We have come to escort you to the flock grounds. Sakura has told us that that is your desire?” the gryphon replied questioningly.

“Yes, that is my wish. I thank you for your service, my friend,” Damien replied with a nod of his head. The lead gryphon glanced at the other three, and without a word they plunged off the ledge. Damien walked tentatively towards the edge of the smooth rock. He had not tried to fly since his injury. Would he get dizzy or possibly even black out? There was only one way to find out. The other gryphons were there to catch him if he fell, and to provide a nice pocket of lifting air for him to fly in. Until he was healed, risks could not be taken.

The young gryphon opened his wings and flapped carefully off the ledge, winging his way down until he was slightly above and behind the other gryphons. The leader of the party flew in behind him, keeping both eyes on him. Damien felt a little odd to be at the center of the procession like this, but knew it was for the best. They began to soar down the canyon, heading for the flock and what Damien hoped would be help for Narnia.

[Sakura Brighteye]

Sakura sighed in relief as a fuzzy shape appeared at the mouth of the deep tunnel-like cave, the outline of a young gryphon. As he entered the light, Sakura made out the form of her brother Marco. He stretched languidly and strode up to his sister, tilting his head questioningly and looking searchingly into her eyes with his own green gaze.

“Hey, what’s going on? You’re never this early when you visit, and never this calm when something’s happening,” he began, as Sakura suspected he would. She gave a slow nod. “Well, something is going on, but it’s not urgent. You remember how Raquel, Veristar’s niece, left with a gryphon named Telac Arrowing?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Their son is here. He got knocked unconscious in a fight with some canyon-bats, and he was resting in my cave for a few days. But I figured he could fly now, so I asked Veristar to send some gryphons to get him,” Sakura explained. By this time, her other two brothers had appeared at the mouth of the cave as well, and were listening intently.

“Why’s he here?” Marco asked, and to Sakura it seemed his tone was even more curious than ever.

“He wants help from us, for the Old Narnians,” she answered, somewhat reluctantly.  Before anyone could say anything further, however, Keldon’s eyes narrowed as they focused on something behind Sakura and Marco. Sakura twisted her head around to see what he was looking at, and saw a rust-colored shape emerging from over a ledge nearby. Aksiid’s eyes were fixed on Sakura, and she narrowed her eyes as well. The gryphon turned and walked away, but she knew she had not seen the last of him today. If he knew she was in the flock roost, he would try to seek her out. She turned back to her brothers, who were all staring after Aksiid with contempt. Satani finally broke the silance.

“So when do you think they’ll get here? And what do you think Veristar will say?” he asked, glancing between his siblings. Keldon shook his head, and Marco glanced toward the central pillar, where Veristar was consulting with a few other gryphons.

“Who knows what she’ll say. She’ll probably think about it first. Most likely for weeks,” he said with a snort. Keldon laughed. “More like months. Veristar likes taking her time with decisions,” he added.

Sakura’s eyes sparkled in a light smile. “Well, at least she makes good decisions, even if it takes her a while to reach them. But she sent out a flock a few minutes ago. They shouldn’t take too much longer to get here,” she said, though she didn’t add that it could take longer if Damien wasn’t ready to fly yet. What if he blacked out trying to fly? Sakura shook her head, wondering why she was so concerned, and telling herself that they’d all arrive shortly and without mishap.

[Damien Arrowing]

Damien glanced around nervously, hearing the raucous chorus of distant gryphons ahead of them. Activity in the canyon seemed to be beginning for the day, or at least that was what his ears told him. A small procession of gryphons winged by overhead, and Damien blinked at the warm, bright hues of their wing and tail feathers. These gryphons were different than what he was used to, and it would make sense if they acted differently as well. The young male shifted his talons uncertainly, wondering how they would receive him.

Soon, the canyon widened into a more open space. A few huge pillars of rock rose up from the center of the canyon. The largest one stretched high above it, and a wide ledge encircled the outside just below the rim level. A few rock arches stretched from the sides of the canyon to the central pillar, and Damien looked far below to the place where the river flowed swiftly past the red rock, eating away at it. This pillar would not last forever, but for now it stood fast. A few hundred of his kind flapped about on the rocky ledges, sometimes leaving or returning from ventures outside the main hub of activity. A few had the carcasses of large mammals gripped firmly in their curved talons. Damien followed his procession until they reached the ledge, by which time all eyes seemed to be boring into him.

Damien flapped his wings a few times and landed neatly on the ledge, surrounded by his guard. Piercing eyes watched him from all sides, but one pair in particular caught his attention. A large female gryphon stood  at the center of the ledge, her wings folded neatly at her sides. She was obviously the leader here. The group of gryphons around Damien parted and urged him forward, and he stopped before the flock-leader, bowing his head in respect.

“You are Damien Arrowing, I presume?” she questioned. Her violet eyes, very strange for a gryphon, looked him up and down as if assessing his ability, and the faint morning sunlight glinted off her bright copper feathers. The taller crest of feathers on her head and back of her neck, her wing primaries, and the feathers on the tip of her long tail were all a warm purple-red color. “Yes, I am Damien, son of Telac Arrowing and Raquel Firetalon. Are you the flock-leader?” he replied, lifting his head.

The gryphon nodded. “I am Veristar Firetalon, leader of the gryphons of the canyon. I know some of why you came, from what Sakura told me, but I would like to hear everything from you if you wish to speak now,” she began, and Damien nodded, admiring that she was skipping with formalities and getting straight to the point. “Certainly. I have indeed come here for a reason. I lived on an island for much of my life, where our flock was led by my father. But, as you know, a war rages in Narnia. A war fought at long last to overthrow the Telmarine oppressors. Our kind have been all but driven out of Narnia, our numbers reduced. I went to Narnia, hoping to help in the war effort. For a while now, I have been doing my part, but it is not enough. We are few in number, and I feel that help is needed. If more gryphons joined the fight, we would be stronger, and would stand a better chance against the Telmarines. I have tried to speak to my family about helping, but they claim that there are too many problems to deal with on the island. So, I came here, seeking your help. Is there anything you could do to help the Narnians? Even a small number of gryphons would be a huge asset,” Damien explained, hoping his words portrayed his sense of urgency and determination.

Veristar remained silent, watching him carefully through her strange purple gaze. Finally, she spoke, her black-tipped gray beak opening rather uncertainly. “This is a great favor to ask of us, young one. I just hope you do not take it lightly that if we help, we could be sending brave gryphons to their deaths,” she began, eyes narrowed slightly, “Though, I will think about what you have requested. You may recover in a cave in the central pillar, and I will give you my answer when you are ready to return to your Narnia. Until then, I hope you will not mind me asking how my niece fares?” Damien barely contained a sigh, glad that at least she was not refusing him outright. If she thought about it, that would give him time to try to make a better case.

“My mother was quite well when I last saw her. I have three siblings, an older brother Cirrick and two younger sisters, twins, named Mira and Tayla. Perhaps when there is peace I could tell them you would appreciate a visit?” he replied. Veristar nodded, and her eyes sparkled in a smile. The familiar expression made her violet eyes seem more normal, and Damien relaxed slightly. “Yes, I would like that. Now, unless there is anything else, I shall have you escorted to your temporary place of residence. After that, you may spend your time as you wish,” she said, her voice warm. Damien nodded.