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"Stone Hard in the Canyon"

The waters under the skiff were the first thing that Gryph heard as he awoke from his stone sleep. Just as always, the thin cracks across his body exploded out as his flesh was returned to the world of the waking with a resounding roar that filled the sky. Looking forward, he noticed that there was water in front of them, turning back, he eyed Arthur sitting behind him. A knowing glance from the old king showed that he'd only grown more used to Gryph's explosion from stone in the months they'd been traveling together. Still, the gargoyle found it tedious; Traveling on land by day to find that there seemed to be no purpose to their place in the world, then to travel out into the water at night and return to Avalon for another chance to go where the island deemed to send them. But where had it sent them this time?

A mist had formed around the raft, indicating its magical journey through the night as Arthur stood and lifted a lantern in an attempt to see what was in front of them. The sun had truly just gone down, but still the blanket of darkness that filled the sky seemed to jut them into pitch blackness.

"Where're we now?" Gryph asked, squinting his eyes to try and see better.

"I'm not sure, but--"

Arthur's words were cut off by a grunt as the boat suddenly jerked forward, sending him toppling toward the bow; instinctively, Gryph caught him before he fell over the front, and to their surprise, it appeared they had run aground. "You alright, your majesty?" He asked.

Arthur smirked. "Gryph, we are traveling companions now and I trust friends as well. You can simply call me Arthur."

Gryph hummed a bit. "It'd take a bit of getting used to, but I can try, your m--Arthur." He corrected himself.

"It would seem we've reached the end of the river that brought us here."

"That little trickle? I thought Avalon only sent its travelers to great sources of water."

"It seems even Avalon's magic is out of our understanding." The man said. "It does deposit us into lakes on occasion, it seems that drying riverbeds are not off the menu for where it could take us."

Gryph sniffed the air as the two disembarked. "Something smells strange, could it be smoke?"

"Well. I suppose we'd better find out." Arthur said as he too stepped off the boat and felt the softer sand under his boots. "The sand is soft here, perhaps the river fills back in on tide. But we're both fairly hungry--" He paused as Gryph's stomach rumbled as if on cue. The gargoyle placed a hand on his belly, the short green fur on his face hiding the blush of embarrassment. "Some of us more than others... perhaps we could barter for a place to eat and sleep."

"Arthur!"

Gryph lunged forward suddenly as he pushed the king out of the way, a figure leaping from the darkness had caught his attention and with a deft raising of his arm, caught the jaws of the beast. He yowled in pain but swung his arm to throw the beast away from him.

It was a curious creature to say the least, though Gryph only caught a glimpse for a moment before realizing its tail was on fire, glowing in the darkness behind him as he landed, then turned and with a growl leaped toward them again.

Gryph raised his arm again, but the beast quickly changed its strike pattern and spiraled to the left, landing on the ground before throwing himself toward the gargoyle and slashing what appeared to be a band of feathers across his chest. "AHHH!" Gryph stumbled back momentarily shocked by the pain as he felt a gash open on his chest "Alright then! You've had your shots I hope!" He entered a ready stance as the beast ran toward them again. To his surprise though, there was a flash of green light and suddenly a wave of earth jumped up from in front of him and he followed in its wake like a dolphin riding the wake of a wave of water. "What in the--?"

"HAH!" The beast exclaimed as the earth rose and flew at the gargoyle, colliding with him so hard that Gryph flew backwards. He then cried out as slashes exploded across his chest.

Hurriedly, Gryph could feel the wind strike his wings and he had a split second to open them and lift himself out of attacking range. "What the?!" He heard the beast exclaim.

"Hold up." He mused aloud as he turned around and watched the creature take another jump toward him. Swooping to the side, Gryph grabbed the beast by the paw, swung him up high and then brought him back down toward the ground with enough force that it could have killed most men. Instead the beast clutched at Gryph's hand, pinned under the gargoyle's superior weight. "You can talk?!" He asked, sounding a lot more surprised than he had intended.

"Let me go, beast!" The creature scowled, scratching at Gryph's arm and making the gargoyle wince in pain. "Or you will not live to see another dawn!"

"I'm a gargoyle, mate." He said. "We don't see many dawns, like ever."

"Gryph, are you okay?"

"A human?" He asked in surprise. "You are traveling together?"

"Yes, we are." Arthur said. "I am Arthur Pendragon; rightful King of England."

The creature's face contorted in confusion. "England? What is that? I've never heard of such a place..."

Gryph was breathing heavily as his hand pressed down on the beast's chest. "Are... you done attacking us?"

Arthur held the lantern up toward the beast, and he was an odd looking one. Fire-red fur with a scar over his right eye, making it useless. He was covered in tribal markings that littered his arms and legs. The only exception was the roman numeral of '13' marked as an 'XIII' on his left shoulder that appeared somewhat newer and in a different type of font that appeared to emulate the rest of them. The head dress he wore jingled a bit as he glanced up at the two. "Are you two finished staring?" He asked. "What are you doing here?"