Chapter 5-2

As Zrathanzon had predicted, it took a couple weeks before Varack'Nara was ready for traveling, and even then they had to travel slowly—not in the least because a close eye had to be kept on the griffon. While he seemed perfectly fine with being raised by two half-dragons, it was clear that the hatchling had a lot of griffon in him. Hatchling griffon, to be precise. Which meant he had something of an instinct to pounce on anything smaller than him that moved.

Varack'Nara grew quickly as the trio slowly meandered their way east. While Zrathanzon indicated that it would take him two years at least to reach full adult size, he also said that most of that growth happened during the first year. Almonihah seemed a little bit envious of this, given that his own growth was a bit slower even than a human child's, but as the days turned into weeks, it was clear that Varack'Nara was going to be as much a friend to him as Garekh was... at least when the hatchling was older.

By the time the summer came, the little griffon wasn't quite so little any more. He was more the size of a pony. And if possible, he was even more of a handful. While he wasn't quite so likely to go pouncing on mice that he had seen out of the corner of his eye, Varack'Nara seemed to compensate by being even more curious about everything else.

“There are times I wonder how they manage to survive childhood in the wild,” Zrathanzon commented to Almonihah in Draconic, after a particularly close call with a pit fisher.

Almonihah just grinned in agreement.

It wasn't much longer after that when Zrathanzon started trying to teach the griffon how to fly. It was a rather interesting sight, to see a wingless half-dragon instructing a griffon on how to get off the ground, but surprisingly enough, it seemed to be working, if only because Varack'Nara could understand the Common Tongue. As Almonihah listened, he realized just how much his mentor must have watched the various animals of Draezoln go about their daily business. Then he thought of a question.

“Zrathanzon, why is it that Varack'Nara can understand the Common Tongue? It's not like we taught it to him.”

Zrathanzon kept his eyes on the griffon, which was still struggling to get airborne. “Because everything that has half a brain can. He could speak it, too, if it wasn't for the beak.”

Of course, that answer just opened up another question. “Why is it that everything can understand it?”

Zrathanzon was silent for a moment, then shrugged. “I'm not really sure,” he admitted. “If you asked a priest of Mashano, they'd tell you it was their god's gift to the world. They might even be right, though it may have been more his gift to the humans rather than Draezoln.”

Just then, Varack'Nara managed to get off the ground... for about five seconds. His landing left much to be desired, though it did get a bit of a chuckle from Zrathanzon and a bit more laughter from Almonihah. Zrathanzon went over to the griffon, checked him over, then reassured him that, despite how much he hurt (and his plaintive screeches certainly seemed to indicate his landing had been painful), he was just fine. Then he proceeded to give him some tips on how to avoid a repeat performance.


It took a couple more days before Varack'Nara managed something that could really be called a flight, but once he got the hang of it, it seemed he spent more of the day in the air than on the ground. Almonihah watched with undisguised envy as his friend cavorted in midair. It seemed, as he watched, that he could almost feel the wind whipping his frill around, and feel his wings pumping to pull himself higher into the air, and see the everything on the ground below getting smaller as he climbed...

He blinked and shook his head a bit. He was surprised at how vividly he could imagine flying. Then again, it hadn't really seemed like daydreaming. It had been more like... a memory.

Zrathanzon glanced over at the younger half dragon, gave him a bit of a knowing grin, then turned his attention back to the path they were walking.

They walked in silence for a little while longer. Varack'Nara glided down and landed next to them as they entered a clearing, his sides gently heaving as he caught his breath from the exertion of flight, and a cheery twinkle of pure joy in his eye. Almonihah looked at the griffon jealously, until his expression turned suddenly thoughtful.

Zrathanzon had a pretty good idea what his little pupil was thinking. “He's not going to be strong enough to ride until at least next spring,” he said to Almonihah.

Almonihah grinned a bit sheepishly at the acuity of his mentor's insight into his thoughts, but said nothing.


The rest of the year passed quickly. Varack'Nara's growth seemed to slow somewhat as the year wore on, so that he was about the size of a small horse by the time they made their way back to Llinos's valley. Zrathanzon had started to get the griffon accustomed to the idea of carrying weight on his back, and he'd also started to give Almonihah some pointers on riding a griffon. He insisted, however, that it would still be at least until spring before he could actually try doing it. While the young half-dragon was quite eager to try, he somehow managed to obey his mentor's instructions.

Llinos didn't seem to have changed much from the first time Almonihah had met him, but it was obvious that Garekh was much less of an eager puppy than he had been that first winter. While he was still obviously glad to see Almonihah and curious about Varack'Nara, his greeting was more of a sedate trot up to the visitors rather than the eager leap and licking that had greeted the young half-dragon many mornings two years ago. Varack'Nara, however, was still obviously young, curious, and energetic, which was enough to make many of the other animals in the valley just a bit nervous.

There seemed to be a change in the things Llinos was teaching Almonihah, as well. Whereas before he had spoken mostly of herb lore and the various creatures of Draezoln, interspersed only sometimes with mentions of Naishia, now the druid spoke often of the sacred places of the wilds and the magic of nature. While Zrathanzon had continued teaching him of the various gods, Almonihah had continued to express particular interest in Naishia, so he suspected that the Ranger had mentioned something to Llinos. Truthfully, he didn't mind. Perhaps it was just because of his way of life for the past few years, but he felt that something about the wilds was special, even sacred. The teachings of Naishia seemed to resonate with this sense, more than the what he knew of the philosophies of the other gods.

While he did have the patience to wait for the spring, Almonihah couldn't quite hide his anticipation of riding on Varack'Nara. Even though he enjoyed his time in the valley as much as he had in previous years, the fact that he was waiting for spring made it seem to pass slowly. The riding lessons from Zrathanzon only made his anticipation keener.

Almonihah noticed that sometimes, when he returned from spending time with Llinos, Zrathanzon was working with some leather and other materials. When he asked what was being made, the older half-dragon would simply answer, “You'll see.”

Finally, the days started to get warmer, and the snows started melting from the ground. Soon, Almonihah, Zrathanzon, and Varack'Nara left the valley for the year and headed back east.

***********

This is actually the end of this chapter. This one was a bit shorter than a lot of the others have. I actually considered combining it with the next chapter, because they're both fairly short, but I thought it made more sense to have the two chapters.

If Almonihah had lived on Earth in our times, he probably would have been obsessed with airplanes as a kid. Don't believe him if he says otherwise.