The Fairy and the Gryphon

by
Jack Ivey

The fairy sat on the leaf of a large fern watching from a distance as the enormous dragon stared down the mighty gryphon in the open pasture. The dragon spread its wings, their massive span creating a shadow over the valley, as the gryphon returned the taunt with his own wings opening wide. The dragon then screeched and sent a tower of flame soaring high above the adjoining forest to which the gryphon put his tail between his legs and ran off towards the dense forest.

The dragon laughed a hearty laugh. "Run you coward, you will never be king of this land," he yelled, leaving the ground and flying in the direction of the fleeing beast.

The fairy took to flight herself and followed the two. She positioned herself on a tree branch and watched as the dragon bore down on the helpless gryphon. The dragon opened its mouth wide and just before it could chomp on the other mystical creature, the fairy flew at lightning speed, throwing her magic dust into the eyes of the dragon. The monster screamed in pain as it fell back, thrashing on the ground, trying to rid its eyes of the burning sensation they now experienced.

"Come quickly," she said to the scared gryphon.

"W-who are you?' he asked in almost a whisper.

"No time for that now; follow me. I know a place where you will be safe," she responded, leading the creature through the forest until they reached an opening where the sun shone brightly.

"He will not find you here, this place is protected by fairy magic," she informed the now out-of-breath gryphon.

"Thank you little fairy, I was sure I was going to die," replied the gryphon in between pants. After he had time to regain his composure, the fairy spoke.

"Tell me Gryphon, why did you back down from the dragon? You are a mighty beast and that dragon should have been no match for you. I have witnessed many dragons flee from the sight of a gryphon?"

The gryphon shook his head, "I do not know, I was just scared. It was so big and strong and I am not as fierce as you might think."

"You must protect yourself. What if one of your friends was in danger; you would protect them, would you not? That is a gryphon's duty, is it not?" she questioned.

"Ah yes it is little fairy, but you see, I have no friends. I am alone in this land and have no one to protect but myself and, as you have witnessed, I am not very good at that," he answered.

"No friends? How can that be? Oh never the mind, I shall be your friend if you like," she offered.

"I would like that very much," the gryphon replied with a slight smile forming on his face.

"My name is Christina," the fairy told him.

"I am called, Luther," he added. "Luther the Gryphon."

"Very nice to meet you, Luther the Gryphon," she extended a tiny hand as Luther lifted his massive paw to meet it midway.

"Nice to meet you as well, Christina the Fairy."

From that point on the gryphon and the fairy were the best of friends. Each day was very special and the sun was always shining. Christina taught Luther all about the flowers in her magic place, the different names and how they grew, and each night he taught her about the stars and the constellations in the night sky. Christina taught him some of the games that fairies liked to play and he taught her some gryphon games. Her favorite game was hide and seek, which they played often.

One day she found the best hiding spot and Luther spent hours looking for her. She was in the thicket brush on the far side of the hill and could see his every move. She giggled as Luther would pounce behind something, certain he had found her. She watched as he made his way beyond the clear lake when suddenly, something from behind grasped her wings. She turned quickly to see the clawed hand of the dragon. "Aha, got you, you little pest," it roared. She wriggled and squirmed in an attempt to free herself.

"Oh come now fairy, everyone knows that if you get a fairy by her wings she is helpless. Squirm all you like, it will do you no good." Christina tried to scream but she knew that Luther was too far away to hear her cries.

"What are you going to do with me?" she pleaded.

The dragon laughed, "I am going to eat you, of course, little bug. You will not be filling, but I will feel much better for it."

"What have I ever done to you?" she asked the monster.

"Don't you remember the magic dust in the eyes thing when I was about to eat your cowardly friend?" he questioned.

"You are not the same dragon," Christina told him in the most convincing voice she could come up with.

"Not the same dragon? Ha, you must be dumber than the gryphon. I am that dragon, one and the same," he answered with a slight chuckle.

"If you are that same dragon, then prove it," she demanded.

"Prove it; prove it how?" he asked.

"Well, that dragon could spit fire a mile into the sky. You cannot spit fire."

"I certainly can spit fire. I can spit fire farther than any dragon ever has," he retorted.

"Then prove it," she dared.

"I do not need to prove anything to you, fairy," he snorted.

"Very well, then eat me you ugly beast. But you are not that dragon; that is for very sure," she snapped back.

"Oh have it your way, insect. What difference does it make, I'm going to eat you anyway." With that the dragon spit a towering stream of flame into the sky from its fiery mouth. "Satisfied?" he asked.

Christina pondered his question for a moment, and then said. "I suppose you could be him, but that dragon could spit much more fire than that. You must be a baby dragon?"

"I am no baby dragon and I am tired of this stupid fairy game. I am going to eat you now and we will see what kind of dragon I am."

He had no sooner finished his statement when Luther appeared from the thicket and, roaring loud enough to shake the leaves from the trees, pounced on the dragon's back and proceeded to rip the flesh from the side of its neck with his enormous beak. The dragon howled in pain as Luther displayed the ferocious beast he was meant to be. The dragon took flight as Luther slid from its back and watched as it flew off as fast as it could.

"Luther, you saved me," cried Christina as she hugged her friend.

"Yes I know, aren't you proud of me?" he asked, almost embarrassed.

"I am very proud. I was hoping you would see the fire and find me," she told Luther, still hugging him.

"I did see the fire and I just ran up here and needed to save you," he answered.

"You were very ferocious," Christina praised.

"Thank you, I was scared but I didn't let it stop me," he told her as he reflected on what he had done.

"And why did it not stop you this time, but it did before?" she asked with a very happy and uplifted tone in her voice.

"You said it before; gryphon are to protect their friends and I never had a friend before, until you."

She hugged him again. "I will always be your friend, Luther."

"And I will always be yours, Christina," answered Luther the Gryphon, King of the Land.

Impressum

Texte: Jack Ivey
Lektorat: Valerie Byron
Tag der Veröffentlichung: 28.12.2012

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