Honour/Honor

Chapter three

"I'm sorry okay? I'm sorry! Please just stop the pain!" Nicholas shouted as the leader passed by his prison.

"I'm sorry, please! I promise I'll never steal again, stop the pain, I know I deserve this, but please have mercy!"

The blasts stopped leaving Nicholas gasping like it was his first breath in hours. He waited for the blasts to come back, but the fairy just walked away, leaving Nicholas alone with his pain.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." Nicholas sobbed lying on the cold floor. Finally he fell into a fitful slumber.

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When Nicholas awoke he was in a forest, the evening weather harsh and damp. With no clue how he had came to be in the forest he stood up, instantly regretting it as a ripple of pain coursed through his body. Letting out a sharp gasp, Nicholas leaned into the nearest tree for support. After taking a few long seconds to calm himself, he checked himself for supplies; nothing; Nicholas found no food, no weapons, not even his warm winter cloak. He was left, lost, in the middle of a forest with nothing to feed or protect himself. Vulnerable now to the harsh winds and unforgiving forest, Nicholas set off in search of shelter. Night was drawing near and Nicholas soon found himself in need of warmth. After building himself a fire, he set about creating a simple lean-to shelter to protect him from the wind.

The following morning, Nicholas went out to hunt, with no weapons. He spent the whole day unsuccessfully trying to catch a meal, and that evening he finally conceded to eating ant larva and grass as his last resort. The blotchy marks on his arm from the Tenebris plant burned with a sharp pain; Nicholas ignored it to the best of his ability.

On his third day alone in the wild, Nicholas sat almost all day by the fire, waiting patiently for one of his vine traps to spring. He had only set up a few weak traps, having minimal resources and energy. Finally there was a snap as one of his traps sprung. He raced over to find a young cottontail dangling helplessly from one of its back legs. Nicholas reached out, grabbing the rabbit behind the neck to avoid being bitten, and grabbing its body with his other hand; he gave the neck a sharp twist, killing the bunny instantly.

Glad to finally having some meat on his plate, Nicholas skewered the rabbit and began to cook its carcass over the fire. When the rabbit was finished cooking, Nicholas started to eat, fur, innards, and all, his meal. Then he saw a fascinating sight.

A young female griffon limped out of the shadows. Its leg looked badly injured, and its wings were too young to fly. Its ribs showed against its dull coat, as it stared fearfully at Nicholas. Even though it was his first meal in what felt like years, Nicholas tore off a small rabbit leg and tossed it to the griffon. Slowly the griffon inched forwards until it was right next to Nicholas and would eat out of his hands. The odd pair shared the meal, and Nicholas fell asleep, warmed by fur of the griffon next to him, and comforted by its soft wing draped across his back.

Waking up from a refreshing sleep, his first long sleep in days, Nicholas set about adding more boughs of pine to the side of his lean-to; they provided extra protection. He noticed the young griffon watching him as he set about his work.

"Hey young one," He greeted her. Stopping what he was doing, he went over to take a look at her damaged leg. It looked pretty bad.

"Lets get that fixed up," He suggested. Soon he had gathered a half-dozed short sturdy sticks and he began to create a splint for the griffon, after first wrapping the wound with part of his pant leg he had torn off. After the splint was made around the griffons wounded ankle, Nicholas worked to help the griffon stand on it. After several unsuccessful attempts, and lots of re-arranging the splint, the griffon could finally support itself on all four legs. Soon it became a trial of keeping the griffon from running around and hurting itself more.

Nicholas' clever mind raced, and a brilliant idea came into his mind. He needed weapons if he wanted to eat more than rabbits and squirrel, it was time for some big game so he could feed himself and the very hungry animal beside him.

"Steady girl," he cooed grabbing the curious griffon's beak in his left hand. Using his right arm, he picked a stick and began to use the sharp beak of the griffon to sharpen the end. The griffon sat patiently, as Nicholas spent hours rubbing things against her beak. Finally, though, Nicholas was rewarded with several long spears, and a name for his griffon; Honour.

Having spears greatly helped Nicholas's hunting ability. He could skewer a rabbit with a throw from 20 yards away. Mostly the pair hunted the mule deer that would visit the river near-by.

Honour would come screeching out of the forest, sending the deer off to where Nicholas was hidden, covered in mud to hide his scent. If they were lucky the deer would pass close enough for Nicholas to spear one, if they were unlucky the deer would pass far off; once Nicholas had to run out of the way because the deer were stampeding straight towards his hiding spot.

Things started to get good; the forest started to feel like home to Nicholas, and Honour was a great hunting partner and companion. One day, as Nicholas busied himself with adding more pine boughs to the lean-to to shelter them from the approaching rain clouds he heard his griffon let out a long joyful squeal. Spinning around, he noticed a small pack of griffons coming down from the sky to meet with the young one. Nicholas took a step closer, causing the griffons to growl. Nicholas took a couple of steps back, and leaned against a tree to watch the happy reunion of Honour and her family. Honour climbed on the largest griffon's back, and he took off, along with the rest of them. But then Honour looked back at Nicholas and did a clumsy hop off her father's back. Half gliding, half falling, Honour landed right into Nicholas's arms. The other griffons came back. After a few minutes of the griffons watching Nicholas and barking back and forth Honour reluctantly got on her father's back, and off they flew. Nicholas waved bye, but then was surprised when strong talons gripped his shoulder, carrying him off into the sky after Honour.

Nicholas's Heart beat loudly, though he wasn't sure if it was more out of excitement or fear of heights. A mountain peak came into view, and after less than an hour of flying, the griffon set Nicholas down on the peak.

Instantly other griffons, many other griffons, came out to shyly peer at the human coming to their home. They all lowered themselves when a large, brightly coloured griffon appeared. Nicholas held his breath, staring in awe of at the magnificent creature, which watched him with a suspicious expression. The leader griffon let out a low throaty growl at Nicholas, which was returned by a pathetic yap. Nicholas looked to see that his young griffon was challenging the alpha's leadership. Honour's parents also stepped forwards in front of Nicholas. The leader griffon glared at each, then with a final growl stalked off. The tension in the air seemed to suddenly dissipate, leaving Nicholas wondering if he had been the only one to feel it.

Months past, and the griffon's accepted Nicholas as one of their own; as long as he honoured the leader, he was able to make his living among them. He hunted with them, and caught fish, which was the favourite food among the griffons, and which he could catch, using nets, more of, faster, than any of the griffons could catch. One day a pillar of rusty-coloured smoke arose from the east, rising at an alarming rate. Mounting Honour, who was now a strong, young adult griffon, he took off towards the haze.

When they got close, Honour started to loose her balance, as the winds shifted in odd, unpredictable, and unexpected patterns. Honour landed, and Nicholas dismounted and took off on foot towards the source of the smoke. As they neared its origin Honour became uneasy, and soon stopped, turned, and fled back the way they had come. This promoted an uneasy feeling in Nicholas, but he continued to approach the smoke.