Timenall & the Captive Gryphon - Chapter 8

Timenall shook his head. “I just don’t think it is a good idea. You don’t know these people. They are ruthless.”

The two were back at Farloft’s lair and the young dragon was worked up having witnessed the brutality of the crime against the gryphon colony. He was trying to convince his new friend they didn’t have to wait for Timenall’s paws to heal. He could do something in the meantime. He could infiltrate the Varda traders in order to set the captured gryphon free.

“They are not going to refuse the help of a dragon my size,” Farloft boosted. “I can carry four times the weight of an average gryphon. I tell you they would jump at the chance.”

“Farloft,” Timenall was trying to temper the young dragon’s imagined solution. He thought he could just walk in, offer his services and the Varda would fall agreeably at his feet.

“I make a few runs for them over the mountains. They see how efficient it is and how agreeable I am.” Farloft paced back and forth in front of his cave in excitement. “I get them to release the gryphon, because I made my point that they are pretty much useless. Then on the next run, I dump their stuff and them into the nearest crevasse.”

Timenall’s expression was one of total disbelief. “How old are you, Farloft?”

The young dragon stopped his pacing and turned back toward the hybrid. “This is my 68^th summer,” he answered with a confident air.

“No wonder you are so naïve,” Timenall sighed. “You’re barely more than a youngling.”

“I am not a youngling!” he said in an indigent tone. “I have been out of my parent’s lair for three years.”

“Wow…That long?” Timenall rolled his eyes and smiled at the dragon.

Farloft squinted his golden eyes and snorted. “Don’t go making fun of the dragon. The plan would work.”

“It would NOT work,” Timenall said. “They are vicious warrior traders that would probably kill you before you even got an opportunity to say a word to them. You are not invincible. You know…dragon teeth, claws, scales, even meat are worth a lot on the open market in the eastern regions.”

Farloft shivered even though he was never cold. His parents had warned him against going east. Even though there were many in that region that revered the dragon, there were also more than a few that longed for the dragon’s power. They believed that ingesting parts of a dragon could pass that power on to them.

Farloft plopped down on his haunches beside Timenall as he sat looking out over the valley.

“Well then, what are we going to do?” he asked. He was impatient and wanted to rescue the gryphon before anything else happened to them.

“We’re going to wait until my paws heal and hope that the other gryphon do not get anxious and try something foolish. Once I am able to land a blow without opening my wounds again, I intend to introduce you to my family. Then we will deal with the Varda once and for all.”