_Author's note: I wrote this all the way back in 2001. Together with the follow-up, Gryphon's Choice _, I think this is possibly the favourite of my gryphon series of stories.

Pronunciation note: Dr'keli'in is pronounced dr-KEL-ee-in, and Thirana thih-RAH-na.

* * * * *

The moon hung low in the sky, the tip of its crescent barely touching the horizon. Scattered across the dark celestial sphere were the last remnants of the night's stars, gradually losing their distinctness as the sun neared the horizon.

With a blaze of brilliant orange, the sun made its appearance, heralding the arrival of a new day. All over the forest, birds and animals began to wake up, twittering, chirping, grunting their way into the day.

Eventually, the light of the morning reached with seductive gentleness into Dr'keli'in's cave, playing over his elongated face with tender fingers. Slowly, one sapphire-like eye opened, appraising the situation. A nice day, the dragon thought to himself. His other eye opened, this one of an emerald green, and together both looked upon the world outside - at least that portion that he could see through the narrow cave entrance.

Dr'keli'in yawned, letting the light reflect off massive teeth glistening with saliva. Getting to his feet, he sauntered casually to the entrance, ducking his scaled head to avoid the low ledge that formed the top of the doorway. Immediately his scales came alive with rampant fire. Small scales of burnished copper caught the light, and held it captive, releasing tiny flashes of it with every movement. He spread his large wings out, letting the warmth of the sun seep through into tired muscles.

He gazed out over the land below him. Years ago he had battled almost to the death for this cave, and he was glad that he had won. His scars and wounds had taken a month or so to heal comfortably, even with his natural healing ability, but it had all been worth it, just for this view alone.

The dragon's stomach rumbled noisily, alerting Dr'keli'in to his body's needs. "Time for breakfast," he said happily to himself. He stepped carefully to the edge of the cliff his cave was perched on, and leaped forward, snapping his wings open to catch the breeze that would raise him up into the sky. After a hundred and fifty-two years, the dragon still felt a surge of exhilaration at the initial take-off. This time was no exception.

Wheeling above the farms and forests that clustered around the mountain his home was part of, Dr'keli'in kept watch for ill, old or weak cattle, often standing apart from the rest of their herds. In the long run, the dragon had done the farmers a favour, by taking the trouble of cattle disposal out of their hands, and into his stomach. Some of the farmers didn't really like that easy solution, but went along with it because their neighbours did.

Below, he espied what seemed to be two injured cows, lying in a field, close to the edge of the forest, out of sight of the farmholding. How convenient, Dr'keli'in thought to himself, spiralling down to backwing lightly a few metres away from the doomed cattle.

The two cows set up a terrified bawling, which was abruptly cut off after a few seconds by a talon drawn swiftly across their throats. "Such noisy animals," he commented aloud as he dismembered one of the carcasses. "Now deer, those are reasonably quiet, though a bit flighty and hard to catch." He picked up a forequarter, and tossed it into his mouth, swallowing it without bothering to chew. "Hmm...not bad. Slightly bitter, but I've had much worse. It takes the edge off one's hunger, anyway."

Dr'keli'in was about to chuck the other forequarter down his throat when he heard a loud bang, followed by a horrendous shriek, somewhere in the forest behind him. "Another hunter and his gun," he sighed. "What poor devil has got him steamed?" Another shot, another bloodcurdling shriek, then silence.

Abandoning his kill for the thrill of curiosity, the copper dragon carefully made his way into the forest. He was small enough that he could fit through the gaps in the trees, which was to his advantage. A lot of animals fled into the forest, thinking that he couldn't go after them. They were usually fatally wrong.

Straining his hearing to its limits, Dr'keli'in moved through the forest, stopping often to sort out the sounds of the forest from the one he was looking for. Finally he heard it, a faint rasping breath.

Stepping carefully over the leaf litter, the dragon crept towards the source, and eventually came upon a mottled brown shape, covered with dark red stains, and lying quietly. Getting closer, he saw it was a gryphon, the red stains being its blood seeping out in oozing rivulets.

"By Draco," he swore under his breath. "Such a beautiful animal shouldn't meet such an untimely end." His copper scales caught a ray of sunlight, flashing briefly, as he bent his neck forward to inspect the gryphon closely. Putting one ear against its side, he listened for signs of life. A very weak pulse throbbed, and the breathing was almost non-existent. There's still hope! he thought.

Dr'keli'in closed his eyes, and delved into the area of his memory devoted to holding magical spells which, in comparison to the rest of his mind, was rather minute. All dragons had some sort of magical training, and he was one of those that hadn't had much, much to his regret. So much he could do, yet without the proper instruction.... Thank goodness for spell books.

Out of the dark recesses of his memory floated up the almost forgotten words to a minimal healing spell, fine for small injuries, or patching up larger ones to be treated later. Dr'keli'in opened his eyes, sat back on his haunches, and waved his arms through the air in front of him, chanting words barely pronounceable by any tongue: "Arukhbat! Hrzhortum! Lingthra gotem, gmntarla drallak...." The dragon stopped, scrambling mentally for the last two words. Damn! he thought. It's been so long since I cast this wretched spell...Ah! Now I remember! "...janxigo, Vinznayit!"

In the space between his two 'hands', Dr'keli'in saw a shimmering start up, tinged with various colours. Moving carefully, he waddled over to the dying gryphon, and gently placed his hands on it. Immediately a soft absinthine glow began to spread over the injured gryphon. Everywhere it touched, the effects were astounding, even for its limited power. The large holes that had been torn by buckshot were sealed by a skinlike material; gashes were closed up; the breathing got slightly better, slowing down to a more normal pace, and its heartbeat strengthened. Internal organs that had been damaged were partly repaired, the rest of the work requiring the odd healing powers of dragon semen and a spell. Female dragons kept small bottles in reserve in case of such injuries, but males had the source already on them.

The yellow-green glow faded away slowly, until nothing was left of the healing spell. Dr'keli'in checked carefully over the gryphon, now in a spell-induced slumber, and sighed with relief. "Now, how do I get - " He broke off and, shooting a quick glance at the gryphon's face to make sure it was still asleep, bent forward and lifted up a hind leg to check its gender. " - her home for some proper care?" The dragon cocked his head, taking mental measurements. I should be able to carry her, if I try, he thought. His gaze, for some reason unknown to him, lingered on the area below her tail until he made a conscious effort to look away.

He stepped forward, and gently slid his forelegs under the gryphon, lifting her up with some effort. Turning around, he looked back in the direction from which he had come. This is going to be tricky, he thought idly. He wasn't very good at walking on his hind legs, only resorting to it if he had no other choice. This was one of those times.

Carefully Dr'keli'in tottered forward, one slow step after another, his eyes roaming rapidly to watch out for anything that might impede his progress. All the while he muttered soothing words to the gryphon, unsure of why exactly he was doing such a thing. He'd might as well have been talking to a log for all the answer he was getting.

Finally the dragon reached the field, feeling rather sore from using muscles he normally rarely used. I hope you're worth all this, he grumbled silently. Looking around to make sure the area was clear of spectators, he bent forward, spread his large burnished wings, and began flapping them, raising a small cloud of dry dirt from the ground.

Dr'keli'in felt the strain in his muscles almost immediately; he really wasn't used to carrying such heavy loads. He made a short prayer to Draco, asking for the strength to get him, and his unconscious patient, home safely. He wasn't a religious dragon, but if he ever needed someone to watch over him, it was now.

Flying slowly, the copper dragon made his way back to his cave, his wing and arm muscles complaining the entire journey. When at last he landed on the cliff outside his cave he was on the verge of dropping the gryphon just to save himself. With a lot of groaning on his part, Dr'keli'in carried the gryphon inside, laying her on the padding he himself used as a bed, before collapsing on the hard ground beside her. Before he fell into an exhausted sleep, he moved the gryphon's tail so he could view the strangely inviting pussy hidden beneath. Ah, the things I wish I could have, but can't.... The tired dragon stroked the revealed opening with longing, resisting the urge to insert a clawed finger, sighed, then withdrew it, curling up to fall asleep.

# # #

Through Dr'keli'in's foggy mind filtered a strange whimpering sound, amidst garbled cries which he couldn't comprehend. Suddenly he awoke, turning immediately to the injured gryphon beside him. She was flailing around, as if trying to attack an enemy, whimpering in abject fear.

The dragon watched worriedly as the poor animal thrashed around. He was sure that if he left her alone, her dream would disappear by itself, but he couldn't stand to watch her in such a state. He reached forward and gently took hold of her forelegs. "It's all right," he crooned in as reassuring a voice as he could manage. "You're safe now. Safe."

As if his words got through to her panicked mind she quietened, still whimpering, and throwing out the occasional paw. Now might be a good time to wake her up, Dr'keli'in thought. He shook her shoulder, muttering under his breath a couple of words to cancel out the sleep effects of the healing spell he had used. Almost immediately the gryphon woke up, blinking her tired eyes rapidly.

Looking around, her gaze came to rest on a long copper muzzle. Looking further she realised she was looking at a face. A dragon's face. With a shriek to bring down the cave's roof, she leapt backward, lashing out with a quick leg movement.

The poor dragon was rather bewildered at her reaction. He'd expected her to be surprised, but not in this way. He tried to calm her down with soothing words, but over the noise she couldn't hear him. Finally, having reached his limit, he let loose with a roar to wake the dead.

The effect was instant. The shrieking gryphon clamped her beak shut, and trembled silently. With his rather sharp eyesight, Dr'keli'in noticed some of her wounds had opened up again from the stress of her movements. "Right," he began, in a more normal tone of voice. "I am a friend; let's get that fact established right at the outset. I brought you here so I could help you. Got that?"

The gryphon nodded mutely. "Good. I am not in the habit of eating those I help, even if you are technically an optional part of our diet." He grinned in what he hoped was a friendly smile. "Besides, I rather like you, in a...er...." The dragon coughed uncomfortably. "Never mind. I just like you, all right? Now, what's your name?"

After a few seconds of internal debate, the gryphon spoke up in a light, brassy voice, with a quavery undertone. "Thirana," she said, her voice echoing in the cave several times before dissipating into silence.

Dr'keli'in nodded. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Thirana. I'm Dr'keli'in, or Drek for short." He bowed his head courteously. "Now, please come over here so I may look at your wounds again. I see some have opened up again, and I'd hate to think what you'd be doing to your insides." The copper dragon gestured to the padding, eyeing Thirana intently. "The spell I used to heal you was designed only to do patch up jobs, until a dragon with proper healing knowledge and magic is available."

Grudgingly Thirana nodded, moving over to the padding, keeping one keen eye focused on the dragon. She was feeling very sore internally. She hadn't realised she'd been so badly hurt. "Lie there on your right side, if you wouldn't mind?" Drek turned from her to amble further into his cave to where he kept a few essentials, including a large spell book. Large, of course, to hold the huge writing on its pages. Dragons weren't the best at writing small.

Thirana watched her rescuer nervously, her tail twitching from side to side in her agitation. While she studied his movements she thought back to the start of all this trouble. As if reading her thoughts, Drek asked, "How did you come to be in such trouble, hmm?"

She didn't particularly want to tell him, but she didn't have much to lose, so she did. "I was hunting," she said sullenly. "I usually don't hunt in forests but I wanted a change of scenery. That, and there are some animals that live only in the forest, so one has to go in and get them."

Drek mumbled to himself, reading out of the spell book, stumbling over unfamiliar pronunciations. "Please, carry on. I am listening." He placed the book on the ground next to Thirana, and slowly began muttering a spell, placing a taloned hand over one of her wounds to heal it.

"Well, I was trying to dig my way into a burrow underneath a tree when a hunter surprised me. We gryphons aren't exactly good friends with humans, and before I could escape...he shot me." Thirana fell silent, gasping as the healing magic started taking effect. There was a momentary sensation of incredible pain, then a light transition to a local euphoria as the wound was healed. After a moment or two Drek took his hand off, inspecting the area. "Not bad. You understand that you will have scars, don't you? Some may be seen, others won't be."

The gryphon nodded. "Wounds and scars like mine are considered to be a mark of honour, even when the recipient ceases to live." Gryph-grinning wryly, she added, "Of course, I much prefer to be alive to show them off." She chuckled, wincing at the pain she caused.

"I wouldn't laugh if I were you," Drek admonished with a grim smile. "I'll fix you internally soon. Just let me finish up on the outside, as that's much easier to repair." As an afterthought he added, "I don't think you're haemorrhaging."

Thirana watched with interest as the dragon went from one wound or laceration to another, not uttering a sound through the moments of intense pain. As he did his work, she started comparing him to a gryphon male. In his own way, he's quite handsome, she thought, and so much kinder. None of the gryphons I've been with have had that sensitive touch.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Drek's completion of her outer body. "There. Finished. Now, the hard part." He sat up on his haunches, and looked at Thirana. "The next step you might find somewhat repugnant. To repair the damage on the inside, you'll have to drink about a pint of my semen. That, coupled with the right spell, will help restore your insides to proper condition again."

The gryphon grimaced, the corners of her beak curving downward into a small frown. "That much, huh?" She would have liked to have spoken her true feelings, but she didn't. More and more she was liking this dragon's bedside manner. "Well, if it will help...."

Drek turned away from Thirana, slightly embarrassed by what he had to do. He was glad that he rarely had to perform this unusual method of healing. Reaching for a large wooden bowl to catch the outflow, the copper dragon began to stroke the area between his legs gently. Within a few seconds he began to feel the first stirrings of his member. To aid the process, he thought about Thirana, and what he'd like to do with her.

From a small, smooth slit low down on his abdomen his cock began to emerge, pale pink deepening to dark red with a copper undertone. Drek looked down, watching its gradual appearance with longing. He was broken out of his reverie by Thirana's voice. Turning his head he glanced at her. "Pardon?"

"If you wouldn't mind...I'd like to watch," the gryphon repeated. She grinned at the dragon's expression of surprise. "Why not? I would like to see where this wonderful elixir comes from." She said it in a suggestive tone, hoping he'd pick up on the subtlety.

He did. With a raising of his eyeridges, he turned around, exposing his equipment to the gryphon's scrutiny. "Nice cock you have there," Thirana murmured, awed by the incredible size. It was much bigger than the largest gryphon cock she'd ever seen. Watching it grow bigger as it slid out of the dragon's body, she suddenly realised that never before had she wanted to be fucked so badly. Especially as she was a virgin, having managed to keep the males away from her by dint of her willpower and her claws and beak. She had never liked a gryphon enough to lose her virtue to him, and here she was with a dragon, a totally different species, and quite willing to give it all up for him.

"May I touch it?" Thirana asked, watching the object of her desire reach its full potential. At Drek's rather eager nod, she reached out with a paw-like hand, carefully keeping her claws sheathed. It throbbed gently, with a hint of power, within her grasp. "It feels...strange." She started moving her hand idly up and down the shaft, wondering if the dragon was as eager to ravish her as she was to be ravished.

Drek shivered, emitting a low moan of pleasure as his maleness was stroked. He watched with calm interest what Thirana was doing. "Come closer," she said quietly. "I want to try and take this thing down my throat."

He did as she asked, slightly nervous about his cock being in such a vulnerable position. Thirana had no qualms about it. She carefully got to her feet, and opened her beak wide, stretching her neck out until it was straight.

The dragon took his cue, and gently guided his hard meat into the gryphon's mouth, cautiously sliding it in all the way, feeling her tight throat muscles try to resist the huge invader.

Thirana's breathing became slightly laboured as she tried to breathe through her nares and cope with the cock at the same time. Moving her head backward it slipped out partially, allowing her a little more freedom. Tentatively she started a regular motion, her head bobbing up and down on the prick stuffed into her mouth.

Moaning blissfully, Drek resisted the urge to thrust, letting the horny gryphon do a wonderful job on his meat. He couldn't wait to fuck her later, once he'd performed the major healing spell.

Time passed, though it was probably only two or three minutes. Drek was getting to the point of climax, and he tried pulling out so he could finish off in the bowl. Thirana shook her head slightly, but firmly, and continued moving her head up and down Drek's cock.

Sighing, the copper dragon let the gryphon have her way. About a minute later he shuddered as a powerful orgasm swept through his body, triggering the release of his cum.

The gryphon nearly choked on the first spurt, letting a lot of the very warm fluid spill out of her beak before she gained control of her gag reflex. After the second spurt she was swallowing as much as she could, anxious not to miss out on the remarkably sweet tang the cum had.

After about a minute and a half, Drek finished pumping his first load of spunk down Thirana's gullet. As he pulled out of her mouth, long strings of gooey cum stretched, then snapped.

Looking at the last few drops dribbling from Drek's cock, Thirana was surprised to see that the dragon's emission was a faint, almost electric, blue, rather than the boring, ordinary white of most cum. "Aren't you supposed to say a spell, as well?" she asked, suddenly remembering the original purpose of his ejaculation.

"Oh, that's right! I forgot!" Drek scrambled for the book, leafing through it until he found the page he required. "There maybe a lot of pain, initially, but it will soon pass." Looking away from the gryphon's gaze he mentally added, At least I hope so; I've never had the spell done on myself.

Drek cleared his throat and took a deep breath. Putting the book on the ground, he began to wave his arms in small gestures in time with the spell's iambic rhythm. "Ghozi, tarzi, Whreksnitanya, pyntra mwungot, borzhta Qanya!" The last word was a shout, and on that word Drek clenched his fists and brought them straight down, cutting twin arcs through the air.

With a cry of intense pain, Thirana doubled up, writhing in agony on the padding. Drek turned away, not wanting to watch her suffering. Unfortunately he couldn't really block his ears, so he heard every terrible noise coming from Thirana's mouth.

An agonising minute later, the pain began to ease, to be replaced by a heady euphoria. The gryphon gradually quieted down, relaxing her tensed muscles. A sigh of relief escaped her beak, and she opened her eyes to focus on Drek. "Did it work?"

The dragon nodded. "I'm pretty sure it did. It's a very powerful spell, and has never failed yet. I really don't like the side effects, though. Having to cause more pain to cure it? Rather a paradox to me."

"Hmm...." Thirana mumbled an agreement, and turned her eyes onto Drek's nether region. She was disappointed to see it was nearly deflated, and sliding back into his body. "Will you take long to...recover from your...." She trailed off, ending it with an inquisitive stare.

Drek shrugged his shoulders. "Oh, I'm not sure. Is half an hour too long for you?" He rumbled throatily at Thirana's sulky 'yes'. "Never mind. Until I'm ready, I'm quite sure I can give you something to occupy you." He gestured for the gryphon to stand up then, when she did so, moved behind her and bent his long neck down so his head was level with her rump.

Thirana almost jumped when she felt something tickling its way into her pussy. As it gently twisted into her depths, she craned her neck around to see what Drek was doing. Seeing his head directly under her tail, she knew immediately what he was up to, and settled herself to enjoy the stimulation. No gryphon had ever offered this service to her!

The subtle muskiness emanating from the gryphon's pussy wound its way into Drek's sensitive nostrils, combining with the sweet taste of her juices to give him an overall wonderful experience. He could feel that she was very excited, physically, and he made sure to give her as much out of his penetrative licking as he could.

After a couple of minutes, Thirana began shuddering through her first major orgasm, keening in uninhibited ecstasy. Her muscular contractions almost put Drek's tongue out of action, squeezing it hard until poor Drek was whimpering in pain of his own.

Once it had subsided the dragon stared at Thirana. "If you're going to do that every time you climax, I think it might be better if we didn't...." He shrugged. "I've never come across such a powerful reaction."

Panting, Thirana looked back at Drek. "Sorry...about that." She collapsed onto the padding, her breathing quick and shallow. "I didn't know I could achieve such heights of pleasure." Her face took on an expression of concern. "Did I hurt your tongue much?"

Drek shook his head. "Well...you did, yes, but it's easing off now." He carefully laid down next to the gryphon. "I think we'd better just rest for a while, until things get up and running again."

Thirana nodded her agreement, and laid against Drek's warm body, feeling his deep breathing, hearing his internal noises. She sighed contentedly and soon drifted off, followed not long after by Drek.

# # #

It was nearing late afternoon when the two awoke. "We must have slept for a few hours," Drek muttered, gazing at the sun's disc through the entrance to his cave. He shook his head and returned his attention to Thirana, who met his gaze. "Ready?" he asked, trying to keep the hint of eagerness out of his voice.

"Yes, I'm ready." Thirana got to her feet and stretched several times, then stood quietly, waiting, her tail lifted up to reveal to Drek the object of his mounting passion.

Drek could feel his lust begin to rise almost immediately as he drank in the sight of the warm fleshy opening that was soon to be his to enjoy. Down below, his cock began to make its appearance once again, smoothly sliding out until it had reached full stretch. When it was fully hard he shuffled forward and took up a position behind and above Thirana.

Dr'keli'in mating with Thirana

Carefully he mounted the gryphon, her body fitting nicely into the space beneath him. He sighed as his prick made first contact with her pussy, sliding deep into her hot, silky cunt. The fit was a bit snug, but it was a comfortable feeling, to both parties.

Thirana gasped when she felt her pussy being penetrated, and instinctively tried to resist the entry before overcoming that urge, relaxing so the dragon might gain an easier entry.

Once Drek was fully embedded, with the exception of a few inches left exposed, he began to fuck her slowly, with gentle thrusts designed to ease her into her first intercourse, and to maximise the pleasure sustained.

As she was being fucked, Thirana found herself leaning back into the dragon's thrusts, wanting to get as much of his huge meaty cock into her as possible. She was soon at the point of keening in her throes of rapture, added to by Drek's rumbles of his own pleasure.

The minutes dragged on, and their fucking tempo increased to a relatively brisk pace. The dragon was ramming his full length into the gryphon's now more flexible cunt, every thrust met by a backward push onto his cock.

Eventually the dams of lust broke. Roaring and keening together in cacophonous harmony, Dr'keli'in and Thirana reached their peaks, his cock spewing out hot jets of blue spunk, mixing with her juices to form a spicy fluid which soon began to leak out of Thirana's pussy to puddle on the ground.

Drek pulled out slowly, Thirana clenching her cunt muscles to keep his seed inside her as he did so. She then collapsed to the ground, panting rapidly as she tried to regain her breath. "That...was just...so...amazing," she managed to say between pants.

Wiping his clawed hand carefully up the length of his shaft, Drek nodded in agreement. He lifted his hand to his mouth, and licked the tangy residue off it. "Indeed it was." With a slightly shame-faced expression he admitted, "I must confess that that was only my second time." He didn't seem very winded at all, perhaps due to his larger size and better staying power.

Thirana looked up, surprised. "Really? You were so good at it...." She laid her head back down, and sighed heavily. "I feel so...happy, exhausted...it's a hard feeling to describe." She felt the dragon lie down next to her. "Perhaps you could add being hungry to that list," she said. "It's been a while since we've eaten."

"Yes, you'd be right about that. I never got to finish breakfast this morning, thanks to you." He nuzzled her affectionately with his muzzle. "I'm sort of glad that you did interrupt me. I wouldn't have had the chance to meet you, otherwise." He yawned, his teeth glinting in the late afternoon sunlight. "I suppose I had better get some form of sustenance for both of us."

Drek got up again and made his way to his cave entrance. "I'll be back in about...an hour." He turned and launched himself off the ledge. Thirana watched him fly off, and settled herself for a short nap.

# # #

The dragon was back a little more than an hour later. In his arms he carried a large section of an unfortunate deer that had caught his attention. "I've had mine." He waddled awkwardly into the cave and placed the venison before Thirana.

"Why, thank you!" Thirana was genuinely surprised at his offering. She hadn't expecting this much in the way of food. "I hope it died quickly. I don't like my prey to suffer unnecessarily." She received a nod in mute reply. "Good." She ripped a chunk off the haunch, and swallowed.

A slightly uncomfortable silence set in while Thirana dined. Finally Drek broke it by clearing his throat. "I suppose you'll want to be off then...tomorrow, I mean."

Thirana swallowed, then glanced at Drek's face, immediately picking up his regret from the droop of the corners of his mouth. "Well...I really should get back to my own kind." Another extended pause. "Of course, I don't really have any family or friends. I guess I could stay a while longer." She gryph-grinned at Drek. "I much prefer your company to that of the gryphons of my clan. The males want me for sexual gratification, and the rest treat me as I'm not there...which, now that I think on it, I usually am. Not there, I mean."

"Really?" Drek sounded incredibly relieved. "That's great!" He actually seemed to blush. "I've actually taken to you quite a lot. Whether it's love or not, I don't know, but I'd like to find out." He raised an eyeridge in a gesture of inquiry.

The gryphon laughed lightly. "I like the way you think. We can find out together." She quickly finished off the rest of the deer haunch, then stood up to pad out to stare out of the cave. "Watch the sunset with me?" she asked, not turning her head to speak to him.

Drek smiled, and joined Thirana. On the horizon, the burnt orange disc of the sun slowly sank, letting the dusk encroach. "Beautiful," he said. "Just like you."

Thirana leaned against the dragon, feeling warm and secure in his presence. "Thanks. You're rather handsome yourself." She sighed, revelling in the perfection of the moment. Together, gryphon and dragon watched the remainder of the day pass by, until the moon's crescent showed itself on its backdrop of glittering stars.

* * * * *

This story is followed by Gryphon's Choice.