Trinket (Reverse Harem)

148 : Jealous & Greedy

We flew south through the mountains, stopping at what mountain streams and pools we could find so Ormiss could swim, but as the mountains grew dryer and browner, the water became scarce too, until we entered the southern forests, which quickly turned to scrubby trees and then to the dry, parched landscape I already knew so well.

The gryphon territory wasn't too far (as those things went) from where my pocket realm had been placed. Although I'd never seen a gryphon before Itek, I'd heard about them, especially warnings not to go too far north because they were dangerous and surly. The gryphons made their home in the tall, ancient trees and caves that lined the mountains and dry terrain to the farthest edge of the country.

The trees were the biggest I had ever seen. Huge. And ancient. And tall. And while Itek easily sailed through them, leading the way for the others, I felt the eyes watching us as we got closer and closer to... wherever we were going.

Eventually, we passed under an ornate braided grass arch from which lanterns and carved bits of metal hung, dancing and chiming in the breeze, and the trees widened into a large circular grove, and from there, opened up onto an expansive network of caves and stairs carved into the sides of the red mountains. Gryphons of varying colors peered at us from perches on higher and lower branches. More lounged in the sunlight. Kittens played on the dry grasses below. It was similiar to the dragons' mountain abode, but minus the lanterns, and instead everything was decorated with elaborate weavings and braidings made from grasses and strips of wood and tree branches and what looked like polished stones and other sparkling bits.

I could tell from how Itek flew that he knew the path through the tree-avenue well, and had flown it many, many times. I almost felt safe.

Almost. Still hated flying. Maybe it wasn't flying I hated, but the fall.

Korr and Ethat, who were considerably bigger with bigger wingspans, didn't have as an easy a time skimming through the twisting pathways of the gryphon city.

Itek led us into the mountains, which were made of a mixture of red and gray-striped rocks that had been intricately carved with geometric patterns and designs almost too tiny to see (but, I realized after the fact, a gryphon could see them perfectly well), until Itek ascended up an invisible hill leading up to a large shelter carved into the top of a bluff.

The gryphon buildings were carved into the side of the bluffs and mountains like an ant-hill, resembling caves, but so much more than that. There was a casual careless grace to everything, like they effortlessly created beauty when they could be bothered to.

Itek alighted on a carved ledge outside an airy cave/house. The interior was dark, but I could make out several holes in the ceiling, allowing shafts of light to pierce the darkness and illuminate small pools or carvings inside the deep, massive cave/house. Could I call it a cave? Or was it a house? Or both? It seemed like both. Inside, along the walls, seemed to be various areas that gave the impression of several different households, each in their own little space, but it wasn't clear exactly how I understood any of that, or what exactly was going on in the casual, contended chaos.

A couple of gryphons, mostly cloaked in shadow, lounged in their various homes (roosts? nests?), calm and sedate as cats, and watched us arrive with the same casual interest as a pantere. The cave/house smelled of water and greenery and stone and feathers and other things I couldn't identify. Maybe herbs and flowers?

Two small gryphon kits tumbled out of a nest area to the left and gazed up at Itek in wonder, eyes huge. One was a gold color, the other a striped white and grey. Little stubby wings poked out of their shoulders, and their bird parts were downy and fluffy and a little moth-eaten while their kitten backends still had pointed tails. Itek clicked his beak at them. They made clicky-mewl noises back and one tumbled backwards as they tried to look at everyone crowding into the mouth of the cave.