Wind Under Wings

Chapter Four, Part Two

Vrek was mewling shrilly like a hatchling at this point. What was left of his bloody ear folded back, his eyes wide with terror. His wings flared out and beat the ground uselessly at his sides. "Let me go!" He squalled. His back legs kicked the krall hard in the belly but the krall had a year's worth of growth against Vrek and would not budge. "Please let me go! I'm sorry!"

"Am I weakling? A worthless alsar?"

"No! I'm sorry for calling you an alsar, Frissner, I'll never do it again!" He cast wildly about for his nestmates. "Help me!"

But Frissner had already moved off him. Vrek squirmed to his feet, his entire body quivering. The silver and grey hesses slunk forward and brushed against their nestking in comfort but they did not dare take their eyes away from the krall.

Frissner snorted in disdain and then dropped a wing to them. Immediately all three lowered themselves in a submissive posture, their beaks bowing so low they nearly touched the ground. Frissner eyed the trio coolly.

"I don't want to see you ever bullying these nestlings again," he told them, indicating Taliak and his friends. Vrek and his nestmates looked over and stared at the younger nestlings as though they had forgotten they were there. Vrek swallowed hard and nodded.

"We won't go near them, I swear it under Hazkraz's light."

"Then go."

They did not wait a beat longer. Vrek and his nestmates shot away up the slope and vanished from sight. Taliak could hear the flapping of wings and new they had flown off, likely to get as far away from Frissner as possible. Then the subadult heaved a sigh, hitched up his wing, and turned to face the seven nestlings.

"Are you all alright?" He asked them kindly.

Taliak got slowly to his feet, relieved the ordeal was over. The spot where Vrek's nestmate had snagged him in the hind leg was throbbing a little with pain, but otherwise he was fine.

"I'm okay," he said. He looked at his friends and was surprised to see that none of them had moved from their spot. They remained crouched, eyes trained on the ground as though they had not heard Frissner speaking to them. He cocked his head and gave Igri a helpful nudge in the flank, but she did not rise.

As Frissner watched them Taliak noticed his mane was beginning to prickle again. Worried that the krall was getting offended by the others' silence Taliak prodded Kaavis in the wing, urging the nestking to speak. Kaavis flinched his beak away and did not answer. Taliak was bewildered. He could understand the others not speaking but surely as nestqueen and nestking it was Igri and Kaavis' duty to thank Frissner on their behalf? What was wrong with them?

"Thank you for helping us," Taliak said finally, trying to make his voice sound strong as though he were in charge of all of them. "Really. It's lucky you came along just in time."

Frissner regarded Taliak for several long moments in silence before he finally dipped his beak. His brown-blotched mane smoothed once more against his neck. "I may be an acle's son, but I'm no weakling," he said quietly. "Just because I have to remain here with the Order doesn't mean I'm incapable of surviving as a skark."

Igri fidgeted. Taliak was growing nervous. His spotted wings lifted a little as he said, "We know you're not weak. You saved us from that other nestling—Vrek? They would have shredded us if you hadn't shown up in time."

Frissner relaxed a little at this answer and, to Taliak's surprise, he actually chuckled. "Oh, they wouldn't have done you too much harm. Even Vrek is not that much of a featherbrain."

Taliak wasn't so sure of this but he didn't want to contradict the big krall. He did, however, need directions.

"Do you know where the sand baths are?" he asked Frissner. "We were trying to find it before we ran into Vrek and his nestmates."

"It's just past the lake," Frissner answered, pointing a wing to indicate the way. "You're not far. Just go up that way—the slope is gentler on that side—and you'll see the lake before long. Do you want me to take you there?"

Taliak was about to say yes when he felt Igri very slightly bump against him. He started, glanced down to her again and, after a pause, he declined the offer.

"Thanks, but we want to get to it on our own," he explained, lifting his head and tail high in what he hoped was a display of confidence.

"I see." The big krall's eyes were shining faintly with amusement. "You'll have to cross the river to get to the baths but I'm sure you're old enough to swim. I'll let you get on your way then. Safe travels, little nestlings."

With that he too mounted the slope from which Taliak and his friends had fallen. His strength was such that he did not even need to climb—a single leap was all it took for him to reach the top. He glanced down at Taliak a final time, swished his tail in farewell, and disappeared.

"Why didn't any of you speak to him?" Taliak asked as they all continued on their journey, making sure to head in the direction Frissner had pointed out. "He saved us and none of you even thanked him!"

"I wanted to thank him" Igri said. She was once more taking the lead. "But you heard Vrek, he was hatched by an alce." She threw an eye over her shoulder at Taliak. "You shouldn't have spoken to him either. It'll stir bad winds for you."

Taliak was taken aback by the reproving tone in her voice. He did not know what an alce was and didn't want to embarrass himself by asking, so he only gathered himself and said, "Was it bad winds when he rescued us from Vrek?"

Igri's wings drooped a little. "Well, no...but all the same..."

"I don't think alsars are so bad," put in Kaavis. "Otherwise the Gryp wouldn't allow them the chance to be part of the Order. They're just weak. It's the alces you want to watch out for. They're bad luck no matter which way the wind blows."

"If you don't think alsars are so bad then why didn't you speak to him?" Taliak challenged. "And he didn't look so weak to me."

Kaavis ignored Taliak's question. Instead his mouth split wide in a grin as he said, "You wouldn't know the difference between Frissner and any other two-year-old, Taliak. How can you, when you've never left the meadow?"

Taliak stopped walking and glared at him, but nobody was paying any mind; they all trooped onward and it wasn't until little Areel and Sittiss were bringing up the tail end of the group that Taliak growled quietly to himself and went after them, fuming. He didn't like being treated like a clueless hatchling and enjoyed Kaavis' jibes even less. It wasn't his fault Kardina preferred he stay in the meadow most of the time, and only rarely saw other griffins passing through. Why did she always insist on sheltering him so much?

It was several minutes more before Taliak could disentangle himself from his brooding temper. By then he noticed Sittiss and Areel were speaking quietly to each other. Taliak, looking for any excuse to distract himself from his own thoughts, pricked his ears forward to listen.

"...Never seen an alce before," Sittiss was hissing to Areel. "Wonder what they're like?"

"We've never seen one either but we know all about them," Areel replied. She fluffed a little as she talked, as though pleased to know something he didn't. "They always sneak around and try to stay clear of everyone else, that's why you've never seen one. Our mother says when she flew here from Haakar she chased one out of its den to claim it for herself. The alce was twice as big as her but it didn't even put up a fight, it just ran away. They are very cowardly. No honor, no dignity. Cursed--"

"Almost there!"

At Igri's voice Sittiss and Areel broke off their conversation to look ahead. Taliak couldn't see anything from his position at the back of the group but as he padded over to join the nestleaders at the forefront he saw flashes of bright light sparkling through the trees. Sounds of splashing and many voices could also be heard. Wordlessly they crept forward, tails twitching with excitement, until at last the trees opened and Taliak gasped at the wonderful scene before him.