The Battle Within

The Battle Within Chapter 2

I slowly sit up, my head is hurting. I didn’t think drawings could feel pain as bad as this. I slowly open my eyes and look at my surroundings; I’m lying under a beautiful weeping willow tree, its majestically long branches sweeping the floor, I look to my left and find a bunch of flowers, I look right and see Gobblesmack staring at me. I gasp and jump back.                                                                 “Gobblesmack, you scared me!” I gasped.                                                                “Sorry Miss, Gobblesmack means no harm,” Gobblesmack said, “How are you feeling Miss?”                                                                                                               “Better thanks, how long have I been sleeping?”                                                          “Not long miss,” he replied.                                                                                           “Why did you have to climb that tree anyway?” I ask.                                             “Gobblesmack…. likes trees…” he said, his eyes drifting away. Suddenly he jumps up and runs off.                                                                                                 “Gobblesmack, come back! Please!” I shout after him, its too late he’s gone.

“Why does he keep doing this,” I groan as I slowly stand up, getting a dizzy spell as I do.  Instead of chasing him, I return to the spot I was originally drawn on, a rock in the middle of the clearing surrounded by towering trees now filled with animals.  

I sit on the rock and scratch random lines into the dirt, Chelsea won’t be able to see the difference. I can move to the creek if I wanted and she will still see me on the rock holding my sword high. Sometimes I pretend she can see me, and stay like a statue, studding her face as she draws.     

Suddenly a ginormous bird comes flying past, with its tail on fire. I jump up and follow it, running as fast as I can. As I’m running I realize it’s a griffin.  Soon the bird lands on a patch of dirt, about one kilometer both ways. It just looks at me for a while. It really is stunning. Its chestnut colored feathers bathing in the light produced from its fiery tail, its clear blue eyes, like windows to its soul stare back at me.  I slowly approach it, taking about one step every ten seconds. It watches with interest but doesn’t move. When I get close enough I slowly reach out, my arm extending towards its beak. It still hasn’t moved. I place my hand on its beak, stroking it. I really hope it’s friendly. Soon it takes a step closer to me so that its head is near mine. It smells like ash. “Hey there,” I say trying to break the silence even though it can’t talk. “I’m going to call you Cinders”. I say.

It’s getting dark now, yes there is a sun here and it can be night and day, even drawings need their sleep. It’s cold tonight and I have lost my sense of direction so I can’t find my way back. I’m physically shivering right now, and Cinders senses that I’m cold and comes closer to me and wraps her wings around me. I instantly feel warmer because she’s hot from her flame. Her flame is like a life support, when her flame goes out she dies, it works like a heart.

I stay with Cinders that night.

The next day I woke, cold. I look around for Cinders but I can’t find her. I thought we were friends. Disappointed I stood up deciding I should go for a walk to see if I can find her. Lucky for me she landed right in front of me with three large fish in her mouth. She drops them on the ground in front of me and motions for me to eat it. I look around for some wood to make a fire, within a few minutes I have gathered heaps. I stack them in a nice pile and ask Cinders if she can light it with her tail. Soon we have ourselves a massive fire. I rip the fish in half and wrap it in banana leaves, dipped in water so it won’t burn. I put them on the edge of the fire so they won’t over cook. While it’s cooking, I ask Cinders to watch the fire while I gather some fruit. Soon we are eating the biggest meal I’ve had for a while. It was delicious, fresh fish and fruit. Just as I was putting out the fire so it wouldn’t start a bush fire I heard something. The ground shook. I looked at Cinders. I climbed on her back, being careful not to touch her tail and she took off. It was amazing, I could see everything! We flew high and used the clouds as cover. After about an hour we slowly started to descend, I could see the forest, the creek and my rock. I look behind us and scream. There was an angry giant chasing us. Cinders accelerated so we were going so much faster and the giant followed. I panicked, we got to think of something and fast!