A Griffin Story, Part Two

Will A. Sanborn

6/7/94

Revised 5/3/97

Alec walked alone in the late evening through the woods which lay half a mile from his house. He'd taken a small, and seldom-used path through them, lighting his way with a small lantern. Normally this would not have been a way for a young man to spend his Saturday nights, but during the past few months, he'd ceased to be a typical young man. He'd gone to bed at his normal time, but as usual for a Saturday night, and sometimes one or two other nights a week, if the workload on the farm was light, he hadn't stayed there. After he was sure his parents were asleep, he slipped out of the house to make his way into the woods.

Anyone else might have felt uneasy traveling into the darkness of the woods at that hour of the night, but Alec was used to the journey and the woods had become very familiar to him. Also the reward at the end of his trek well made up for traveling alone in the darkness. As he went deeper into the woods, he became more excited, picking up his pace slightly in order to meet his secret lover as soon as possible.

As he walked onward, he pondered the uniqueness of the whole situation which had started a few months ago in early spring. Now in the middle of summer, as the warm night air surrounded him, that unbelievable chance encounter had kindled into a strange romance the likes of which he could sometimes hardly believe.

It had all started on that fateful night as he was returning home much too late from the spring dance in town. Choosing to take a short-cut off the road and through the countryside, he'd never guessed what laid ahead of him. Walking home, his journey had been abruptly interrupted by a griffin swooping down upon him and carrying him away to her lair amongst the mountains lying off to the east.

He'd passed out from fright, a fact which kind of embarrassed him now. When he awoke in the cave, she'd prowled towards him out of the shadows, and stood up on her hind legs. Raising her taloned arms, stretching out her body, she'd spread her wings wide. At the time the gesture had filled him with terror, but he now realized that it was more a playful pose than a display of force.

To his surprise and horror, she'd then made advances on him which made it perfectly clear that she hadn't brought him there to be her dinner. At first he couldn't believe what that creature was suggesting, but as she had become more insistent he found at least part of himself becoming more agreeable to the whole idea. She'd definitely coerced him into making love, but was also gentle with him in her way. She'd also had a playful forcefulness about her that had initially shocked him, but then had become strangely exciting. Even with some of his misgivings, he had found the situation to be pleasurable.

After a long night of love play, they'd fallen asleep in each other's arms to wake up the next morning and share the sunrise together. At first the idea of lying with an animal had seemed unnatural, but he soon realized that while she wasn't human, she was also far from a common animal. Not only had he begun to find her unique form very appealing, but he realized that her spirit and personality were also very agreeable.

After another round of play, she'd gently flown him back to the woods near his house, being careful to stay far away from civilization so as not to be seen. She'd wrapped her arms around him, making sure not to pierce him with her sharp talons, after apologizing for causing his wounds the night before when she'd lifted him unwillingly into the air.

The flight home was beautiful, just as exhilarating as lying with her the night before, and in its own way even more enjoyable; he'd never imagined being able to see the world in such a way. He'd put his trust in her since she hadn't killed him the night before, and had cared for him since they'd joined together as lovers. Soaring over the landscape in her tight and comfortable grip was almost too much for his mind to grasp, but it was so exhilarating at the same time.

The whole trip probably only lasted about ten or fifteen minutes, but it seemed much longer to him as he took in all the wondrous sensations. Several times he had to consciously force himself from screaming out in excitement, for fear of being seen or heard by anyone who happened to be out there in the wilderness. No matter how unlikely that was, he didn't want to take any chances of them being discovered

She'd landed in a clearing in the woods about half an hour's walk from his house. They lived on a farm away from town, so it was fairly safe for them to land there without being seen. As she released him from her safe grasp, he'd turned to embraced her, squeezing tight and rubbing his hands gently through her silken feathers. She'd responded in turn with her own arms and brought her wings up against him, surrounding him with her warmth. Looking into her eyes which just the night before had seemed to be cold and uncaring, he now saw her look back at him with adoration. After ending that comfortable embrace, they'd set a time for their next meeting on the following weekend. As he watched with awe and affection, she'd turned from him and taken flight with such wonderful gracefulness.

He'd finally returned home in the late morning to find his parents extremely nervous and very upset with him. He'd explained his tardiness and torn shirt with a concocted story about getting into a fight after the dance in town and being so beat up that he'd slept there overnight to let himself regain his strength. Although they'd been very angry to hear this, they'd believed him, and except for a couple of lashings from his father's belt, his punishment wasn't too bad. He had to work on extra chores to make up for his behavior, but he got through the week with the thoughts of the upcoming tryst clouding out just about everything else in his mind.

His parents had noticed some of his strange behavior, but had explained it away by figuring he'd found a sweetheart during the dance in town the weekend before. They even suspected that she might have been the reason for his returning home so late that morning. His mother was a little distressed by this, but his father convinced her that "boys will be boys" and that it was good for the young man to go out and live a little. Had they known how close they had come to the truth of the matter, it was surely likely that they wouldn't have felt so at ease with the situation.

But they had never suspected anything. He'd been able to sneak out of the house a couple of nights a week and meet with his newfound exotic lover for the past few months, and as yet hadn't been caught. He made sure to take the necessary precautions so that would never happen.

Walking along through the woods, he thought about how their relationship had grown over the time since they'd first met. Remembering the fear he'd felt on that first night and how that had soon turned into a fiery passion which with time had grown into a strong love between them, he felt a smile creep across his face.

At first there was a part of him that had trouble with the fact that he was sleeping with what some people might call a terrible beast. But he then came to realize that he couldn't deny the feelings he felt for her. He did find her body exotic and attractive and had found those same appealing qualities in her personality too. There was a wildness to her, but she was also a caring and loving person.

On their second night together they'd begun to talk for quite some time and had begun to grow closer together. She'd opened up to him, dropping her slightly gruff exterior and showing him her affectionate side. During all of that time, he'd discovered that he really did love her for what and who she was. Although she wasn't human, she acted more like one than some of the animals he had seen walking around claiming to be men.

They'd come to be lovers and it was the most wonderful feeling he had ever experienced. Sometimes he regretted the fact that he couldn't share that with his family or friends, but it also was a secret which he enjoyed keeping to himself and reveling in it.

After the first month when they'd become fairly close, he decided he needed to ask her a couple of questions in order to further their relationship; there were just a couple of things that he needed to know. He'd first asked her what her intentions had been on that night when she'd dove out of the sky at him and hoisted him screaming into the air. Although he realized she was kind and caring towards him, he also knew that she was a predator and he had to know just exactly what her designs on him had been. He'd tried to ask the question in as nice a manner as possible as they were snuggling together, and she had not taken offense to it as he feared she might.

Although she was a predator she said, she wouldn't have killed an innocent person for food. There was an honor about her kind and she explained that although some griffins had killed humans before, most of it was in defending themselves, although some of her kind had been known to kill in revenge for some grave wrongdoing against them. As with most tales which were greatly exaggerated, their malignancy toward man had been for the most part made up. In fact she'd said that, except in very rare occasions, griffins tried to keep their distance from humans, being wary of them.

When she'd seen him there walking alone in the countryside she'd decided to take a chance; she'd figured that he was young so wouldn't pose as great a threat to her. She'd also been lonely and was in need of some physical companionship and decided that he would do quite nicely. Her reservations about dealing with humans had been eclipsed by her neediness, and she'd acted on those impulses.

She'd figured he would of course be frightened of her, but being of the age that he was, she could coerce him to lie with her and that he would eventually become eager at the prospect of it. Having finally convinced him to go along with her intentions she'd used a little bit of his fear to playfully frighten him in hopes of heightening the passion in a strange sort of way. Later she'd apologized for scaring him like that and had become much gentler in their love making.

His second question had been harder to ask than his first, and that was why didn't she have a mate? When he mentioned it, her eyes had clouded over with tears and she'd begun to shake softly with her quiet sobs. Realizing he'd uncovered a painful area, an incredible awkwardness had washed over him and he'd hated himself for having asked such a question. All he could do was hold her tightly and try to comfort her, trying to ignore the guilt he was feeling gnawing at his stomach.

She'd finally calmed down enough and was able to tell him about how her mate had been killed while foolishly trying to raid a human campsite a couple of years ago. He'd been young and too bold, and when he saw the small camp there out in the wilderness, he'd decided in a moment of bravado to attack it for supplies. Unfortunately it had not been an ordinary human campsite, but instead held soldiers out on a training mission. They'd caught him during his raid and as he was flying off had lobbed a barrage of arrows at him. Several of the weapons had made their mark and he'd returned to her extremely weakened having lost a good deal of blood. She'd been able to remove the arrows, but his wounds were too great and by the next night he'd succumbed to them.

Since then she'd been alone and grieving. Griffins were fairly rare to begin with and she hadn't seen a single other one in the area in that whole time. She'd chosen to remain in this area instead of searching, perhaps in vain, for another mate. Therefor, her first night with him had been fulfilling a yearning need, but for both of them it had grown much beyond that with their time spent together since then.

Listening to her tell him her sad tail, he'd been at a loss for words. All he could do was gently stroke her neck and tell her how sorry he was. Seeing his awkwardness she'd told him that it was okay. She didn't hate humans for what had happened, it was her mate's fault, as much as theirs, for being so foolish and not heeding instinct and better judgment. She'd said that if they hadn't killed him, he might have tried attacking them, so in a way they were justified to have done what they did. She pretty much explained it as the law of the wild and left it at that. The rest of that night had been a bit straining on both of them, but they held each other tightly and he did his best to comfort her. In the end it had served to bring them all that closer together.

As Alec walked through the woods he realized that he was almost upon the clearing which had become their meeting place for these nighttime rendezvous. The past week had been a really busy one. He hadn't been able to see her since last weekend, so he was extremely excited for their meeting that night.

As he walked, he also mulled over the current situation with that girl Laurie Daniels who'd been hounding him over the past few months. Before he'd met his lover, he'd met Laurie and had been quite attracted to her, but soon enough he'd come to realize her true colors. She'd come across as sweet enough, but had soon dropped that charade and acted like the spoiled brat that she was. She was the daughter of one of the town's businessmen, so she was accustomed to a life more luxurious than his on the farm. Normally she wouldn't have associated with the likes of him, but she'd somehow developed a fancy for him and had expected him to jump at the opportunity to be hers. Her parents probably weren't too crazy about the idea of the two of them getting involved, but she was extremely head strong and for the most part did as she pleased.

Alec's parents were of course delighted with the idea of him associating with her, since if he was to marry her, it would greatly improve their family's financial situation. He'd soon come to realize that he didn't want anything to do with her, but was having a hard time convincing her or his parents of that fact. Not only did he find her general character and attitude to have become quite offensive, but he'd also found out that he truly loved the griffin and wasn't going to let their relationship get thrown away.

He'd realized that he'd soon have to make a choice that would affect the rest of his life. If he decided to commit himself fully to his lover, it would mean leaving the world of humans to join her in their own domain. These thoughts weighed heavy upon him, but he knew when the time came he would be able to do what was right for himself. No matter how strange his lover might appear, she had a heart and soul which had captured him.

Finally, after the walk and all of his reflections, he came to the familiar clearing in the woods. Setting the lantern down, he leaned against a tree and waited for her to come to him. He didn't have to wait for long though, and he soon heard a slight shuffling sound coming from above. She'd told him some time ago that she could fly silently without any effort, but could also make slight sounds with her wings if she wished. She'd done so on their first night together to have a little fun as she stalked him, and did so now to signal him of her arrival.

Standing up he walked to the center of the small clearing just as she made a graceful landing, lit up in the moonlight she looked as beautiful as ever. Standing up on her hind feline legs she threw her arms around him as he walked into her embrace and wrapped his arms around her, feeling her softness against him. He kissed her gently on her cheek and she returned the gesture by rubbing her head softly against his neck. "I've really missed you this week" he whispered as he squeezed her tighter.

Suddenly she stiffened up all over and her talons reflexively dug into his back, sending shivers of fear up and down his spine. Letting out a gasp of surprise, he struggled to comprehend her actions as she turned her head up to look at him, a mixture of fear and anger in her eyes.

His heart beating faster, he heard a sound from the woods just outside of the clearing. Jerking his head in that direction he saw a man stepping out from the trees, holding a sword ready at his side. As he watched in terror, two other men emerged from the shadows on either side of them, standing about six feet away. They too had their swords drawn and ready with a look of cold determination in their eyes.

"Mr. Daniels..." Alec stammered out, recognizing one of the men, not believing the impossible situation.

"Hello Alec. I must admit that I'm surprised to see you in such a situation, but I should have believed my daughter when she told me of your strange nightly meetings."

Alec was just too stunned to say anything, how could they have found out about him and his lover? Standing there with his face a mask of utter surprise, he noticed that the griffin had shifted her position some so she now was facing the leader of the intruders. She still had a tight grip on him and was squeezing her talons into him in small spasms.

"Yes Alec, you heard me right. My daughter is the source of this information. It seems you have been a bit careless." At that a fourth figure emerged from the shadows, revealing herself to be Alec's spurned love interest, Laurie.

She regarded him with utter contempt for a moment before finally chastising him. "So is this why you have been ignoring me Alec? How could you possibly commit such a heinous act. How could you possibly have feelings for such a beast?!"

Too angry and scared to even come up with a retort to her, he could only glare back at her with all the hatred he could muster. How could she be so spiteful, to ruin the wonderful relationship he'd found? She laughed at him bitterly. "You didn't think that anyone would find out did you? You thought you could cavort with this animal all you wanted to and nobody would be the wiser? Well I'd had enough of your games mister, and I decided to watch you closely and see what you were up to. I followed you here last weekend and saw you commit those unspeakable acts. It was all I could do to keep myself from being sick you bastard! I finally heard you make plans to meet here again this evening and I decided to put a stop to this once and for all."

They matched one another's angry stares for moments that felt like they stretched on into hours until her father finally broke the silence. "Okay Alec, we don't want to hurt you, even if you have debased yourself in this way. Move away from the beast and we'll let you be."

His lover still had a tight grip on him, and as he glanced into her eyes she looked up at him with the deepest of sorrows and slowly released her hold on him. She'd already lost one mate, and he knew she didn't want to lose another, even at the cost of her own life. Surveying the situation, he hesitated to let go of her, knowing he couldn't bear to lose her either. Finally he spoke, "Mr. Daniels, I can't believe you'd do something as ruthless as this just because of what your daughter might have said."

"It's not just that Alec, it's also the fact that I have a substantial amount to gain from this venture. Haven't you heard that the pelt of a griffin has certain magic properties?"

Hearing that, Alec could hardly believe that the man could stoop so low. His anger rose a couple of notches at the thought of it, much to the delight of the intruders, especially Laurie. Finally in a burst of inspiration, he hatched a desperate plan.

Slowly letting go of his lover he stepped away from her towards Laurie and her father. Putting on his best attempt at a sorrowful expression he held out his hand toward her. "Laurie, I'm sorry. She put some sort of a spell on me. Won't you please forgive me..." He could sense his lover's anguish as he walked away from her and he felt a pang of guilt, but he knew he must go through with it.

Laurie was taken in by his guise as he sweet-talked her, and her father was too busy sizing up the griffin to realize what he was about to do. As he moved towards Laurie, the men were cautiously advancing slowly towards the griffin with their swords out. They were apprehensive at striking the first blow since she had her talons out ready to strike, and they were carefully sizing up their prey.

As Laurie walked towards him and took his outstretched hand, Alec secretly managed to pull out his small hunting knife from its sheath on his belt. With a blinding movement, he grabbed her hand and pulled her to him, bringing the knife up against her throat. Holding her captive, desperate to save his lover, fiery emotions burn within him.

As she screamed out, the three men snapped their heads around to see that the tables have been turned on them. Her father stood there trembling in disbelief, worry and anger, finally exclaiming with desperation, "you won't do it Alec. I know you can't do it. I just know you can't do it."

"Do you want to try and call my bluff Mr. Daniels? Are you that certain?" Alex replied coolly.

"But there's no way you could be so barbaric."

"Are you sure of that? It's no more barbaric than what you were about to do, and at least I am going to do it out of desperation and love, than out of greed."

"But this is different, she's a human for God's sake!"

"But the griffin means just as much to me, in fact she means much more to me than your shrew of a daughter here. Now if you want her to get out of this, I suggest you call off your goons."

The other two men looked at her father for orders. Finally in desperation, he was forced to tell them to back up behind him. As Alec and his griffin lover face them off, they both glared at them with utter hatred.

"Now, have your men drop their swords and walk off into the woods. Don't try and fool with us." Nodding toward his lover he continued, "she has extremely good hearing and will be able to tell if they try and sneak up on us."

After getting a nod from their frightened and upset boss, the two men dropped their swords and hightailed it into the darkness of the woods. Edging towards the griffin dragging a frightened Laurie with him, Alec gave his ultimatum. "Now, you're just going to toss all of the swords into the woods and then sit down over there against that tree." After glaring at Alec for a few moments, his would-be assailant finally complied with the orders, doing so with a look of angry resignation.

Alec's lover moved behind him and slipped her arms around him as she got into position for flight. At the last minute Alec released Laurie and threw her to the ground. In an instant the griffin spread her wings, leapt into the air, and they were aloft. They quickly soared into the night sky leaving the treacherous intruders to cower angrily below them.

They made the flight back to her den in silence, her grip on him tighter than usual but not painfully so. Landing on the ledge to the cave she turned to him with relief in her eyes and tightly embraced him. They stood there comforting each other for a long while, each not believing what had happened and just glad to have come out of it unscathed.

Finally she looked at him with uncertainty in her eyes. "Now what are you going to do?" she asked, her voice worried and unsure.

Squeezing her tighter and caressing her back with his hands he replied with a slightly shaky voice. "I've been thinking things over for awhile now, and what happened tonight just forced me to make the decision earlier then I was going to. It's obvious that I won't be able to return to town, but that's not the only reason why I've decided on this. In these past few months I've felt closer to you than anyone else, and I don't want to lose that. I want to stay with you and make our life together. Let's leave tomorrow for someplace new, let's stay together forever."

Looking into her eyes he saw they were brimming with emotion. She leaned against him, resting her head on his shoulder in quiet acceptance of his proposal. Finally she led him into the cave and to her bedding where they began the rest of their life together.


Copyright 1994, 1997, Will A. Sanborn - was1@shore.net