DracoStryx Artemis, a comming of age story

Hatchling Artemis, control training

Summer was in full swing, the heat of the Grecian temperatures scorching the ground on particular warm days when Helios was at his highest in the sky. Artemis had grown steadily as her training progressed. The Tyto by now had gained almost all her adult feathers and was towering over Scyleias length. She had the height of a horse by now but the Amazons didn't know how much she would grow still. Her adult feathers peeking more and more through gave some indication but since Artemis was the very first DracoStryx that joined the Amazon Nation, the women didn't know what was yet to come before she stopped growing. The Stryxes appetite grew with her as she gobbled up much of the Amazons food. Thankfully, resources were abundant since it was Summer. The Tyto didn't seem to favor either meat or fish, she liked and could digest both. She even nipped away some fruit once in a while or nuts when offered. The nuts were a nice treat since her beak was not the right shape to crack nuts for its contents.

Artemis was completely coordinated on her feet and spent much of her time running around, chasing after Scyleia when she was riding Tsianina or even herding some horses once or twice. The horses had begun to adjust to the big predator so up close. Scyleia was raising Artemis nicely and taught her to not see the horses as prey but as working animals or companions, just like the Amazons and it seemed to work out.

Scyleia however, started to notice some changes in Artemis' behavior. She started to use her wings more and more during her running rounds. She started to spread them more and even flap them a bit instinctually, jumping as she went to catch some wind underneath to get the feel of it. It was time for the next step, gliding.

Scyleia made herself ready for her night patrol and like she did a couple of times before, she took Artemis with her since the Tyto seemed to be most active during the night. It seemed to be more of her natural biorhythm but the brunette was teaching her Stryx to also be awake at other times of the day once in a while to make her more adapting. The training was similar as to what the Amazons themselves did too. Amazons were humans and thus diurnal but they had to be ready any time of the day in case of an attack. Scyleia thought that if she taught Artemis this at a young age, it would be easier for her. Most of the time however, the Snow Tyto was awake at night still.

As Scyleia was ready and opened the door to her hut, forest green eyes locked with hazel green, Artemis was already waiting for her.

'Hey girl. Ready for patrol?' Scyleia asked the female and got a trill as answer, telling her she was.

Artemis followed her human companion but stopped in her tracks as she noticed the brunette wasn't going into the direction of the stables to get Tsianina and that confused the Stryx. Scyleia noticed the thuds of bird feet walking had stopped and turned. Artemis twitched her tail and the three green feathers hanging from two brown leather bands bobbed up and down. The Tyto blinked and looked into the direction of the stables.

'We're not taking Tsianina with us this time. I'm going to teach you something new. We're going to climb trees together' the brunette said and Artemis skewed her head. 'You're gonna learn how to glide on your wings, you're ready' the Amazon continued explaining.

As it dawned to Artemis, she got really excited and screeched in happiness, looking forward to the challenge and the pair made their way into the thick forest with the full Moon overhead for the most light.

The pair walked to the part of the forests with the oldest and strongest trees. They needed these ancient giants for safety. Artemis might be a lightweight for her size since that was needed for an airborne predator but they still didn't want to take any risks. Scyleia looked around to see a tree with the best access and the best trees around it. After half a candle mark of walking and looking around, the Amazon found her target. A big oak tree with low hanging but strong branches and many trees of different lengths, yet all strong, around it. Scyleia looked at Artemis, who wat taking in her surroundings and whistled to get the Tytos attention. Artemis looked at her and the brunette motioned to the oak tree before climbing in, branch by branch. When she was at a decent height, she called to her Stryx. Artemis stood there at the foot of the tree, looking up, not completely sure she was still willing to try and climb up herself. She had never done this before, just climbing onto boulders at most. Scyleia looked at her with a reassuring smile, trying to coerce her to climb.