-How her egg was abandoned- [ This story takes place during Event 2; From Below, starting at Part 2, comment 3, and ends at Part 2, Comment 7. ] In the Throne Room; an expansive cave where Darkness; the Griffin Queen, a huge jet Black Griffin with not a speck of any other color on her, as if she had been dunked into a giant bucket of black paint, was resting on her treasure-laden nest. The Queen blinked open her eyes as Elegance, Mal’s Personal Mount and Princess of the Griffins of the Shadows, padded into the cave. “You have returned.” Hissed the Queen of the Mountain. “I have, Mother.” She said, quietly. “Mal has spotted the two who invaded our caves yesterday climbing up the mountainside. They are looking for their friend, Spirit i believe her name is.” Elegance explained to her mother. Darkness nodded, slowly, her expression full of her bitter hatred for the interlopers. She would never stop until she had their pelts. “Send Guards to scour the mountainside.” She hissed, reaching out and grabbing a Mountain Goat r i b from a heap of meat laying next to her and swallowing it whole. Elegance nodded, then retreated backwards from the cave, her head bowed. Once she reached the entrance to the Cave, she spread her white wings and took off. Elegance was a truly beautiful Griffin, with feathers and fur as white and perfect as Snow, with her red eyes always wide with concern and worry. Worry for her mother’s subjects, and worry for herself. Soon she reached the dark part of the mountain, which had a few willow trees rooted into it’s crags. She landed under ones drooping leaves and vines, finding her curtain of Willow vines undisturbed. Looking over her shoulder to make sure no one was watching her, Elegance walked inside. Hidden behind the curtain was a small cave, so small that it could barely hold two griffins inside without suffocating them. In one corner, books and scrolls where laying in a heap in front of three stone shelves, carved into the wall with her very talons. In the other, there was a nest of willow fronds and golden threads woven together into a nest. In that nest sat three eggs; one of them dark purple-blue-black with light colored speckles all over, the second a stone grey one with lighter grey speckles near the top, and finally, the smallest of the three was the color of a chicken’s egg, speckled darker brown on top like flakes of powdered cinnamon. These were Elegance’s eggs, her only clutch. Their father was a stone grey griffin, and indeed /was/ made of stone. A strange condition he had had since birth, he had been born with the ability to create and move any crystalline, mineral or metal, in return for becoming the stuff of mountains, so they called him “Gargoyle.” Elegance had never thought him as ugly as a Gargoyle though. She had in fact thought his appearance was as beautiful as herself, and so she had mated him in secret. However, Gargoyle had left by the Queen’s command on a special mission, and had been gone for several months. He still hadn’t returned, and Elegance was beginning to think he would never return, and had been felled by a tribute or something worse. Or perhaps the magic that allowed him to move and create the stuff of the earth had finally disappeared, and turned him back to nothing but rocks. Elegance held back her tears as she remembered her mate’s words. “I will be back to see our beautiful offspring someday. Do not worry, Princess Elegance.” And yet, months later, she did worry for him. Elegance held the darkest egg in her talons, making sure the Griffin inside was still alive, before setting it back down. Elegance had hid the eggs in this secret hideaway to keep them from the Queen, but she could sense the activity of the mountain as it awakened from its century-long slumber, and she grew fearful. Even now the whole mountain shook to its roots with it’s fiery temper, a blazing tempest beginning to build within its heart. She had to move her eggs to a safe hiding place, now. There was no time to waste, she grabbed the tan one and put it into her bag, sewn together from mountain goat pelts, and took off. [ Continued Below ]
[ Continued from Above] Out into the forest she soared, hoping to find someplace safe for her future offspring. ‘/Our/ future offspring.’ She reminded herself as she scanned the ground below for someplace to hide them. There! Down below, there was a patch of tree’s near a clearing that appeared to be an abandoned Tribute’s camp. Hopefully the Tribute that lived here had moved on or died, so her children would be safe. Carefully Elegance landed, pulling her Tan egg out of her satchel. “It’s ok, my little Fledgling.” She hushed, as if the Griffin inside could hear her. “Mother will be back soon with your Siblings, and then we will all live in peace, far from my mother’s tyranny.” And she scrambled together a nest of moss and sticks, and tucked the Egg into it, taking one last look at it before closing her eyes, full of sorrow as she took off into the sky. When Elegance reached the Willow Cave, the mountain was trembling with barely controlled wrath. She had to get them out /now/. Elegance hurriedly put the two eggs into her bag, then turned to leave. But never got so far. In that instant, many rocks came storming down the mountain, knocking Willow tree after willow tree down like Bowling Pins. One rock was bounced off of a tree and slammed into the entrance to the cave, sealing the cave tight. With a shriek of horror, Elegance clawed and slashed at the rock to no avail as the mountain tensed, ready to erupt. “No.” Sobbed Elegance, clutching her satchel to her chest, sheltering under her wings like an umbrella. Rocks began to drop from the ceiling, the whole mountain rocking violently like an Egg about to hatch. Elegance, tears pouring down her face, curled around her bag with the last two eggs inside, readying herself for what she knew would happen next. “My dear Gargoyle, may my spirit and the spirits of our unborn offspring find you wherever the wind has taken you, wether it be to the other end of the earth or to the great Roost above.” She said, closing her eyes. “And goodbye, our one surviving egg. May you live a long and happy life, and may the Magic of your father run strongly through you wherever the winds may take you.” The mountain went still, the tiniest relief before it exploded in a cacophony of scorching flame. “Farewell, my dearest children. May we meet in the heavenly roost someday, but until then; farewell.” And then the Mountain Erupted, and the Willow Cave collapsed in on itself… Writing by me. Characters belong to me. Art is mine, but the background is a screenshot from Minecraft.
