The Beginning of a New Adventure

I hope you enjoyed Farloft's tale these last few weeks. 

I am sure he will come up with another for us soon. 

Remember if you need a 'Farloft Fix' you can always pick up his Chronicles in the Kindle Store on Amazon or hop over to his blog Farloft's Rhetoric and listen to his free Audio Book.

Starting Saturday we will be revisiting 3su, Star Trader to the Known Universe . 

It is going to be a wild ride you will not want to miss. 

Strap on your blaster, kiss your sweetheart goodbye, and get ready for our next adventure!

Timenall & the Captive Gryphon - Chapter 16

The gryphon, and the dragons who had helped rescue them, stood on one side of the meadow. The gryphon were hesitant and appeared to Farloft as though they might take flight at any minute, but they were also exhausted from their ordeal. They stood quietly as they faced the Forest Night Dragon clan led by Vespal.

Melozzo had his wing protectively draped over Belree as she stood with Mims on her back. Jozwik had given up on following the heated discussion and flopped down on her belly to rest her injured wing. The rest of the members of the gryphon colony stood or sat behind Timenall. The hybrid huggled Weirim with a wing as they stood at Salishan’s side as he confronted his father and the other clan members.

“They cannot stay here!” Vespal growled in anger for the umpteenth time. “Their day flights will draw the humans here and put all of us in danger.”

Timenall & the Captive Gryphon - Chapter 15

Farloft was tending to Melozzo’s wounds as the forest dragon cradled one of the gryphon hatchlings in his huge multi-toed paws.

Farloft did not know the hatchlings name just that it had lost both parents in the battle with the Varda and for some reason had taken to Melozzo for comfort. Farloft continued to lick the deep cuts where the forest dragon took the lashes of Ram’s whip to protect the hatchlings. Belree, Weirim’s best friend, was sitting close to Melozzo comforting the young orphaned hatchling by meticulously grooming it. It had fallen asleep, but neither adult had noticed. They were quietly talking above it, their heads close together.

The fires from the funeral pyres Farloft set, one for the Varda, and one for the five gryphon that had died in the fight, were still smoldering below. Timenall, three of the older gryphon, Lopho, Dalfie, and Keeree, and Salishan, were huddled away from the group. They appeared from Farloft’s view to be deep in conversation, but due to the other chatter of the reunited hatchlings with thankful parents, he could not overhear whatever was keeping them occupied.

Timenall and the Captive Gryphon - Chapter 14

Timenall had freed Weirim ,and she in turn had freed Dalfie. The two gryphoness wanted to fight, but the hybrid called them back. “We need to get the packs off the rest so we can get out of here.”

“I am not going anywhere until I see that man Ram die,” Dalfie hissed in anger. She started toward the cluster of men the dragons were holding at bay.

Timenall reached out a wing and batted Dalfie in the face to get her attention. “We need to free the others,” he repeated in a firm tone. “There will be time enough for revenge.” He had no idea that Dalfie had seen her mate die at the hands of the Varda leader.

Dalfie pinned Timenall with a piercing stare. “You free them. I am going to see that these men never leave this valley.”

Timenall reached for her, but she evaded his wing. Weirim nudged him with hers. “You can’t stop her,” she said. “Ram killed Marsdon.”

Timenall & the Captive Gryphon - Chapter 13

Everything seemed to happen at once. The other dragons pushed their boulders down from the rim. Men dropped the leads on their gryphon captives and scrambled from the avalanches created by the huge rolling stones.

As soon as Farloft reached the cage he wrapped his paws around the upper bars and flapped his wings to hover over the hatchlings protectively until Melozzo arrived.

The group of men who had gathered to discuss the problem of getting the hatchling cage around the impediment were regrouping and trying to arm themselves with weapons strapped to the packs on the backs of the their gryphon prisoners - the gryphon were having none of it. They were fearlessly bucking and kicking. The heavy weighted boots on their paws were lethal if they impacted a man’s head or chest.

The other dragons descended following the tumble of rock. They grasp men with claws and teeth and flung them against rock and hard packed trail.

Timenall & the Captured Gryphon - Chapter 12

“Back up,” Timenall warned and followed the order with a shove of his wing. “They’ll see you.”

The hybrid and his dragon allies were stationed all along either side of the rim of the canyon the Varda were about to enter. The plan was to separate the caravan into smaller units so the human’s couldn’t put up a unified defense. Last night the dragons placed large boulders in the path that the Varda would need to navigate around and over in single file. As this broke up the line of the caravan the dragons would push some even larger, strategically placed boulders down the canyon walls. At the opposite end of the canyon the dragons blocked the exit totally with boulders and fallen trees. The Varda would not be able to see it until they rounded the curve in the canyon. By that time it would be too late. There would be nowhere to run and no way to drive the cage full of hatchlings through.

Timenall & the Captured Gryphon - Chapter 11

Farloft cocked his head as he dipped a wing to get a better look at the scene below. Timenall assigned him the duty to scout out the location and status of the captured gryphon. The hybrid thought the Varda would not associate the dragon with a possible rescue attempt.

Farloft chose to spy on the caravan at night. His night vision was excellent and the fires the Varda clustered around made it easy to survey the kidnappers and assess their strengths and weaknesses.

Farloft had no trouble spotting the cage Timenall described which held the hatchlings. It sat right in the middle of the camp. The little ones were all huddled together in the middle, using each other’s bodies for warmth and comfort. The Varda had the adult gryphon staked out separately, hobbled with their wings bound to their sides and their beaks all covered with wire cages which kept them from chewing off the weighted boots they all wore, much like the ones Timenall was wearing when Farloft found him. The hybrid had told Farloft the boots were way too heavy for any of the gryphon to fly far or high, but they could for a short time if their wings were released. It was only the foolish actions of the Varda not binding his wings right away, and his size and strength from his dragon side, which allowed him to escape in spite of the boots.