FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"This doesn't look good!" the gryphon shouted back over the wind.

Lorei agreed, the storm brewing between the mountain peaks did not look inviting in the least. She leaned low over the gryphon's back, reaching forward to fondle the ashen feathers of her friend's neck with one hand. "You can do this one, Elkytraz. We have to."

"Quit kidding around," the gryphon groused. "What are you trying to do, inspire me? You never use my full name!"

"Sorry, El."

He was right, though, this was going to be a nasty ride. Lorei grimly returned her hand to the halter straps around El's wings, slipping her wrist back between two bands and grasping the padded handhold. Hopefully the simple old saddle would hold together; her grandfather had made it, and her father had used it for the better part of his years. And hopefully El was skillful enough to wade through this storm; it didn't look likely to abate any time soon.

But looking at it only made her heart sink. Instead, she closed her eyes and pictured her son, Rene. When last she saw him, Lord Karthlyn had been treating him fairly enough. She'd been allowed to visit his room, even to speak with his private tutors. Even with a heavy guard keeping watch over him at all times, he had been happy.

That would change the instant Lorei failed with Lord Karthlyn's dirty work.

Once upon a time, she had had the simple - if rare and cherished - title of gryphon handler. And if she cut any purses back then, it was because the noblemen who visited her were wretched men, and she could think of better places for what was mere pocket change to them. Then, she cut the wrong purse, fell into the wrong hands. In her negligence, a malefactor had taken her own son, and used the boy as a handhold on her.

Karthlyn was a cut above the ordinary noble lord, even: he was the steward of the kingdom of Chalesce, the stand-in for the dead king and the princess who was not yet old enough to assume the throne. And any time Lorei displeased him, the foul man was capable of killing Rene, she was sure of it. And so she had become his secret right hand - a spy and thief, for she'd always had deft hands, quick feet, and gryphons at her disposal. She'd grown up with them, and commanded their undying loyalty.

El had hatched when Lorei was eight, and now he was nearly as heavy as a horse. His feathers were the color of ash, and flecked with darker grays, save for his pure white underbelly. He was the swiftest, smartest, and incidentally most sympathetic about Rene. Though she deeply regretted involving him, El had served her very well when she had to travel, or to make a quick getaway. And despite working for a nobleman with connections, they were also outlaws; one didn't occupy oneself as a gryphon-riding thief without word getting around.

Lorei stoked the anger she harbored for that loathsome man, Lord Karthlyn. It gave her the fire to face situations like this. She had to be in and out of the northern province before anyone was the wiser for this job, and cutting straight through the Trembling Mountains was the fastest way to do it.

Her eyes opened with renewed zeal, and she glared at the storm ahead as they approached the ominous dark clouds.

El was thrown hard left by a gusting sidewind, and they were hit with the first sheet of pelting rain. The wind tugged at her loose, dark garb, save what was strapped down by her riding leathers: bracers, shin guards, and heavy jerkin. Instantly, her fingers and toes were numbed through the soft cloth of her shoes and gloves. She gasped, feeling a tug behind her head, and glanced just in time to see the leather cord that had bound her hair flapping away in the wind like a drunken bird. Her raven tresses streamed out behind her head. Damn, she lost more hairbands that way...

Lorei ignored the cold, leaning flat as she could against the gryphon's back, so she didn't catch the wind while El fought it.

The gryphon's wings beat hard against a strong downdraft. His voice rang back, sounding distant despite how he shouted, "Maybe we should set down?"

"Where?" Lorei called back. Everything below was mountainside, and trying to alight on jagged stone in this unpredictable wind would more than likely be the death of them both. She cursed under her breath; this storm was even worse than it looked.

Lightning cracked the air, and the clouds flashed white - all save for a black, winged silhouette. Lorei's eyes widened at the shape of a creature that was positively massive. "El! What was that?"

"No idea! I can't keep this up, Lor, we have to turn back!"

A great wing, its largest feathers as long as El's body, swung overhead.

"Whoa!" Lorei yelped.

"Lor, that thing... it's not..." El called back, but his words thereafter were lost to a strong gust.

"What?"

The gryphon shook his head. "Not real! It's not real! Some kind of spirit..."

Lorei saw what he meant; with the crosswinds that buffeted them, something with wings that big should've been tossed against the mountainside. It sent a chill down her spine. There were strange things in the world, but this was by far the strangest she'd seen firsthand. Just because the wind didn't touch it didn't mean it wasn't dangerous. Her instincts screamed: this was a predator. A ear-splitting shriek rang out, drowning out even a roll of thunder. She glanced back and, through the hair thrown in her face, saw it was rounding on them. Hard to make out, but it looked like some kind of gargantuan bird of prey.

"Whatever it is," she shouted at El, "double time it!" If that thing decided they were a snack, landing or finding a cave or something would be their only chance, albeit dangerous.

The massive bird bore down over them, and Lorei saw talons flashing. "Dive! Now!"

El dove. Despite the risk a downdraft could throw them straight into bone-breaking rock faces, he swerved into a stony ravine, hoping the mountains' cliffs would restrict the larger bird's room to maneuver. It didn't seem to do any good, and Lorei could swear the thing grew smaller to fit in the ravine.

Unimpeded, the gigantic bird descended, it's head nearly level with the fleeing pair. It was the bald head of a condor, and its eyes were pools of liquid lightning. It's beak opened as it uttered again its shrill cry, and Lorei screamed as pain shot through her ears. She clenched her eyes shut, but with the pressure in her skull, they still felt about to pop out. The ghastly caw ended, and she opened her eyes.

There were trees flying past beneath them; they'd flown over a narrow glen. From below rose a sound, a wild braying and groaning, as though the trees shouted at the giant condor to drive it off. Lorei's blood froze, though, when the condor twisted its head to turn both its baleful eyes upon gryphon and rider; lightning crackled and lanced out from those gleaming depths.

And the air between them exploded.

Lorei realized El was reeling, spinning entirely out of control. A grassy knoll flew at them, and she heard something crack as the gryphon struck it at such speed. She clung to her handholds as the earth spun. El's weight mashed her against the hillside and was gone just as quick as they toppled into the glen. The next - and last - thing Lorei saw was a branch her head was whirling toward.

Black.

Voices. Powerful voices, and clopping hooves... horrible screeches. She forced open her eyes, and something dripped into her left one. Rain. Rain and blood. She made out a tree, a thick oak, and when she turned her head she caught sight of drooping boughs. She was numb, unsure what parts of her body were still intact, though she felt a tangle of fur and feather around her. Her right arm was free of its handhold and strap, but her left she couldn't tell; she couldn't even feel it. Had El's halter torn?

Her head throbbed, but she had to get her bearings, and forced her head up. She was pinned against the tree by her right leg - and somewhere she registered it was probably broken badly. Her left shin was still strapped to the saddle, and she wanted to unbuckle it. Her left arm still didn't respond. Yet, she managed to turn her head to get a clear look down the length of the glen. A flash of red, yellow, and green on four legs reared, braying up at the gigantic condor, which shrieked back, but nevertheless seemed to be receding. And rallying around the braying multicolor creature were dozens of... women? They looked like women, wearing nothing to conceal it, but many looked as much like plants, or had bark-like skin. Dryads.

"Lor...?" The gryphon groaned over the din of receding screeches and rain.

"El?" She gasped. "Don't try to- to move..." He could injure both of them further if he tried. She couldn't even tell which direction his head was.

The gryphon trembled. "I'm not going to make it."

"Don't talk like that."

"I'm sorry, Lor... I have to... before I die, I have to say..."

"Stop it!" If El gave up on her, dammit, she could never finish the job anyway. They couldn't give up, they just couldn't. Lorei shut her eyes, Rene's name on her lips as she groaned. Yes, her leg was broken, and the pain was finally reaching her brain. She couldn't keep her head up.

"...Lorei! I love you! More than I should! In ways I shouldn't... dammit," the gryphon heaved, breathing hard. "I'm sorry, I have to say it! I'm not... going to- This is no damn arrow to the wing!" He fell silent for a moment, then, "Who are you? Get- Get... away..."

Murmurs in strange tongues surrounded them. Fingers that felt more like sticks grasped Lorei's shoulder, and a brownish face rimmed by moss-colored hair leant into her sight. Another stick-like finger jabbed her leg, sending a jolt through her. The gryphon yelped, likely receiving a similar treatment. "Wha- What are you doing?" Lorei forced out.

Through the pain, a tingling heat spread from the dryad's touch.

And again... Black.

* * * * *

When next Lorei came to, she was not met with rain, thunder, nor roars. Instead, the crickle of a nearby brook and the merriment of birds were all the sounds to be heard. She expected pain, but it didn't come; her right leg and left arm were sore, tender in places, but seemed whole. She opened her eyes to take in a canopy of boughs, and found herself on a bed of soft earth and surprisingly plush moss. Around her was a picturesque glade, one side banked by the steep cliffs of the narrow valley.

As she took in a breath of pure, woodsy mountain air, she wondered: where was El?

The glade, for all its beauty, seemed suddenly very empty.

Had he really meant it? That he... loved her? She saw no reason to doubt it. He really had believed they were going to die. And he probably would have been right, had Lorei allowed herself to look upon the facts. And yet, here she was. So where was he?

It crossed her mind that she had a mission - that every hour she wasted tested Lord Karthlyn's displeasure, a day might harm upon her son.

But she wasn't going to get anywhere without El, one way or another. Lorei shuddered, remembering their crash. And where were the dryads? She tried to rise, taking it slow, but nothing pained her especially. She discovered a series of rips on her right legging, likely where tree bark had scraped her badly, and there were small stains of blood. But her skin beneath was smoothly healed. As apparently most of her injuries had been concussive in nature, the rest of her clothes seemed no worse for wear

Finding she could walk just fine, she went to drink her fill from the brook's crystal waters. Then, she set herself to wander in search of her gryphon.

El loved her? It didn't surprise her as much as she thought it might. It made sense, and maybe it even felt right. Gryphons were loyal creatures, but El was beyond that: he had always been sympathetic, caring, far more attentive to her than any of the other gryphons she'd raised. It was why she'd picked him to help her with Karthlyn's missions.

And now that she knew, she found herself more than willing to reciprocate it. Gryphons were beautiful creatures, and El was a fine example. But even more than this, she was grateful. Since she had fallen under Karthlyn's control, El had done so much for her, yet received nothing in turn for it. Only long, hard flights, and grueling narrow escapes. Lorei always thanked him, apologized even, but it never seemed like enough. Now she knew the source of El's steadfast resolve to stand by her side.

She detected a footstep, and she rounded on the approaching figure, cautious. But her face lit up immediately. "El!"

"Good to see you up and arou- Hey, now," the gryphon chuckled as her arms were thrown around his neck.

He seemed whole, though his saddle was nowhere to be seen. Putting it out of her mind, Lorei reached up to fondle his ears. "Told you we were going to be fine, didn't I?"

"Did you? I thought it was more like 'shut up, don't talk like that'."

"In hindsight, I'm glad you said what you did," she smiled.

His eyes shifted over her shoulder. "Look, can we talk about that... some other time?"

"It's alright," she assured him. "If you'd told me sooner-"

"No, Lor, look..." The gryphon shifted his weight uncomfortably, still not looking at her.

She leaned close to speak softly into his ear, "I wouldn't even mind having you for a lover."

"Lor, will you please look!"

She spun, and followed his gaze. Oh.

There stood a being her mind simply could not classify the four-legged creature she had witnessed rallying the dryads. In all, it was perhaps the size of a mule or small horse. In shape it reminded her first of a stag, though it had a long tail, and there was something distinctly feline about its poise that she couldn't put her finger on. But it was clad thumbnail-sized scales, the color of rich leaves spread upon its back and tail. Green faded to a band of yellow, then into swaths of gold down its lower flanks, the front of its haunches, its legs, and across its proud chest. Its face and underbelly were tawny, and it had a mane of deep carmine fur. It's tail sported a broad tuft of fur as well, as did its lower legs; it's crisp, black, two-toed hooves were nearly concealed beneath shocks of flowing red. Its eyes were dark, horselike in that they showed little whites, and its chin was adorned with a crimson fluff like a small beard. From between its ears rose, not a pair of antlers, but a single tapering horn, a foot tall with a slight wave to its length.

When she met its eyes, it nodded, and in a deep voice - obviously male - it asked, "You remember the previous eve, I take it? The dryads make quick work of mending flesh, but the blow to your head was of concern." His muzzle had a rather larger and more versatile mouth than that of the deer his face otherwise resembled in shape.

Lorei withdrew her hands from El's feathers, smoothing the front of her jerkin as she faced the regal creature. From his words, she gathered she and El had lost the whole night to this incident. Not to be rude, she tried to put thoughts of her mission out of her mind. "I feel... surprisingly fine, really. I should thank the dryads, if they are around."

"They have heard you." The creature nodded towards a nondescript tree. "You should take care in the skies of these mountains henceforth, however. The great condor is a storm-spirit inhabiting these mountains; he is vengeful, and did not take kindly to your escape, nor that I drove him off. He dare not trifle with such as I, but as I said, take care in the future."

"I guess I should thank you as well for that." Lorei bowed slightly. "But... I don't even know what you are."

It tossed its head, perhaps proudly. "My brothers and I have been called many things. Qilin should suffice. Dymionen is my name."

"And I am Lorei," she bowed again. "A pleasure."

"I know." His head inclined toward the gryphon. "Elkytraz has spoken of your captive son. While I recognize your urgency, I insist you rest through one more moon - I can ensure your child comes to no harm for the delay."

Lorei's brow furrowed. "How?"

There was a hint of a quirk about his snout. "I have influence in high circles. I cannot free your son, but I know some who hold sway over Karthlyn. Great forces are at work to end his reign, and they are not your enemies. Trust my word."

She hesitated. Asking her to place her own life in his hands would have been easier, but finally she nodded.

"There is one other matter," Dymionen added. "Would you walk with me? Alone."

With a glance at the gryphon, Lorei set her face grimly. "Whatever you can say to me, you can say to El."

"It's alright, Lor," El nudged her shoulder with his beak. "He already told me. Go on, he won't hurt you."

"Thanks a lot Elky," she sighed.

The gryphon chuckled at the mocking nickname, but otherwise kept his tongue. Conspired against, Lorei gave in, following as Dymionen set out along a slight game trail down the length of the glen.

She couldn't help but watch the regal creature. As though he was incapable of wasting motion, even the swish of his tail seemed to bear significance. It was not like following a fellow living being; more like walking alongside a force of nature. And as if to solidify this notion, she noted curiously that not even the grass Dymionen tread upon seemed worse for it. If anything the blades sprung back up all the more lively in his wake. "Are you... Qilin related to unicorns?" she had to ask. For, as unlikely as it seemed physically, he did have a single horn, strange powers, and an apparent affinity with nature.

"No, the unicorns shepherd mere forests. My brothers and I have a far greater charge."

He did not elaborate, and Lorei didn't press him for it. "You said you had a matter to talk to me about?"

"Yes. If you would have it, I offer a gift, if you will be patient."

"How far are we going?"

"You mistake me." Dymionen stepped in a tight semicircle that brought him face-to-face with Lorei. "My gift would, in time, secure the release of your eldest child and play a part in creating a new era of peace in the land of Chalesce."

She'd not heard such a bold statement since Lord Karthlyn had announced the king's death - which also happened to be his inauguration speech. "How?"

"I would give you a second child."

"What?" Surely she was mistaking his meaning.

"I apologize if the idea offends."

Lorei shook her head. If he meant what she thought he did... she was surprised, but... Could he really mean it that way? "You mean to... sire a child? Yourself?"

He nodded as calmly, factually.

"I... I don't know..." She flustered. "Not offended so much as... Well, how? And how would that beget peace?"

"Your arrival and my presence here are no coincidence. As I said, great forces are at work." Slowly, Dymionen explained, "With my blessing, your second child would play a role in securing the freedom of your eldest. Losing you will weaken his position - more so, I think, than you realize. Trust that I know the matters of which I speak."

He did sound like he was being frank with her. But she still had doubts; who was this creature, this Qilin, to say such things? And that wasn't all. "What of my first question? I mean... presuming we- that is, that it worked between us... I'm having a hard time picturing what this child would look like."

"Human."

Lorei stared blankly. Surely there was a miscommunication, here. "You're saying... the result of a union between you and I would be a perfectly normal human child?"

"Ah, now I see your uncertainty," snorted Dymionen. "Qilin are immortal. It is not our place to multiply, and our seed does not function as that of breeding species. It would be... unobtrusive, for lack of a better term. My seed would conform to your nature, thus the child would be human. Perhaps 'normal' would not be the choicest description, however; if anything the child would be a purer human than yourself, even."

Lorei balked. "You mean to say some of my ancestry isn't human?"

The Qilin sighed slightly. "I mean to say mankind is in decline, and you are not what you once were. Your child would be a purer essence of humanity."

"But it would work?"

"It has in ages past."

All of this was a bit much to take in at once for Lorei. She shook her head. "I need to talk to El first."

He stamped his hoof, shaking his head. "Elkytraz already knows, and has consented... if indeed it is any business of his."

She frowned. Maybe it was just her, but Dymionen sounded increasingly condescending. If anything, that only hardened her resolve; if he was going to patronize her, the immortal chimera could stand to wait for it. "You want us to rest here for the day? Fine. That means we have time. I'm going to talk to my friend now."

"Very well," he huffed.

* * * * *

"Honestly?" Lorei sighed. "I don't like him. He's so... cold."

"Watch yourself. Never know when a dryad might be listening, and they might just tell him you said that."

"Oh, let them. His ego could stand to take a hit."

She was riding El bareback. Though, the gryphon wasn't flying - just padding through the glen, a casual trot.

"He talks about siring this child like it's a hard fact," she continued, "not like he actually wants me."

"Hey, sometimes it's about necessity. That's something gryphons learned long ago." He shrugged his wings. "I mean, there are so few of us now, sometimes you just have to do the deed with a gryphon you may not like. Even the wild ones come to breed with those of us who live with humans, and you know how wide the rift is, there."

"But you can still appreciate when you want it." She leaned forward, all but sprawling across his shoulders to whisper by his ear, "Like you want me."

El missed a step and half-stumbled to a halt. "Yeah..." His voice trailed off.

"You can't blame me for preferring it that way."

"I guess not, but..." He glanced back at her. "I don't see any reason not to do it with him, though."

"You really don't mind?"

He ducked his head. "You had a husband once, too."

Rene's father... Had El desired her that whole time? "Was that hard for you?"

"Gryphons have had to deal with sharing mates for generations. Mind getting down? We're supposed to be resting, remember."

Lorei hopped down, and the gryphon lay on a patch of soft grass as he chuckled, "Hey, Lor, how many can say they slept with a Qilin anyway?"

"Like that's any reason," she scoffed. "Apparently it's happened before though, according to Dymionen."

"Ah."

Lorei sat beside her gryphon friend, and idly played with his ears.

"Lor, I want you to do this." El professed. "In a word: necessity. I know, it sounds pretty outrageous that he promises so much from a child that hasn't even been conceived yet. But if anyone - anything - can guarantee a promise like that, it'd be one of the Qilin. And... I want to see Rene freed as much as you do. This... sounds like a long shot, and far off besides. But isn't it better than nothing? When was the last time we could hold out any real hope?"

Though she wiled away a long minute scratching behind the gryphon's ears with one hand and plucking blades of grass with the other, she finally answered, "Alright, I'll do it."

El made a pleased noise, half in a trance from her scratching.

"But I want you to know something." Her hand paused, and she waited until she had his eye. "You're the one I want."

"That's..." His eyes darted away. "That's... Thank you."

Lorei leaned over to kiss him upon the head.

El ruffled the feathers of his neck. "Plenty of time for that later."

"Not with how busy Karthlyn keeps us."

"We'll find a moment to ourselves," he assured her.

"Tonight," she promised him. "If we leave in the morning, I want you tonight."

The gryphon could hardly contest her on this commitment - not that he wanted to. He agreed with a nod.

A pheasant fluttered by, chirruping all the way.

Slumping softly against the gryphon's neck, Lorei sighed. "I know Dymionen said Rene would be fine, but... I don't like this delay."

"Trust the Qilin." El turned a sorrowful eye upon her. "Once, you would have loved to spend a day out here like this. I hate to see what Karthlyn's done to you. You hardly stop to enjoy anything like you used to."

"You're right..." Her eyes lingered on the brook. "It's like that part of me died."

"No!" El countered quickly. "Not dead. Don't say that. It's just... trapped. Your son's life hangs in the balance as you are sent on one unthinkable task after another..."

Lorei sat up as the gryphon abruptly rose and padded around her. One of his talons gently encircled her shoulder, and pulled her to his soft chest as he lay back down on his side. His tone softened, he went on. "That you have come this far is incredible. Someday, Lorei, Rene will be free... Karthlyn will be dethroned... and I'll take you and your sons here again. Then it will be beautiful to you. I promise."

Despite herself, Lorei cried in yearning for that day as he described it. The gryphon's neck bent, and he nuzzled her neck, muttering small comforts. She could not stem her tears.

"It's alright," the gryphon told her, "to weep at injustice. To want the world to be made right."

She kissed his beak.

At a footstep, both pairs of eyes shot up.

A dryad stood before with skin like a white aspen, and braided catkins for hair. She turned a bittersweet smile at the pair, and dipped her head in quiet apology for her interruption. But she extended an offering hand. If it would be called a hand; from the forearm on, her limb was more akin to a branch, and clutched in a dozen cupped twig-like fingers was a small feast of apples, pears, and wild berries.

Lorei managed to smile. There were still generous souls in the world, and not all was lost. She sat up to accept the offering. "Thank you."

The dryad nodded, and knelt to deposit the food before her. Her free hand - much more hand-like - reached up to sweep to sweep the tears from Lorei's cheeks. Then she touched her damp fingertips to her collar. Perhaps she sympathized, maybe trying to say she understood.

"Do you not speak?" She asked the tree-spirit. "I thought I heard the dryads chanting the other night."

It was El who answered. "No, dryads tend to speak... only when necessary."

The dryad folded her branch-like arm over her breasts, bowed, and turned to leave.

"Where did you learn that?" Lorei accused the gryphon playfully as she selected a blackberry. "I've known you your whole life!"

"There are tales gryphons pass on. Helps remind us we had a history apart from humans once. We can mourn our fall from glory, even as we make use of the human aptitude for husbandry." He chuckled.

She started on a pear. It really was the choicest fruit - and offered freely by forest spirits, at that. A few bites later she thought to ask, "Had you known anything about the Qilin?"

"I'd heard the name, but only in passing, in one old myth. Was never sure what they looked like, didn't even know if they were real." He shrugged. "Supposedly, there's only three of them, and they're among the most powerful beings on this earth. Who knows if that's really true, though."

Her thoughts roamed as she ate, eventually turning to the immortal creature and the prospect of what she was going to do with him. Strange as it was to try and guess what kind of positions she might comfortably be taken by the Qilin, she thought perhaps it would be better to plan ahead, or at least be prepared. Tossing away the last apple core, she extricated herself from El's embrace. "Well, I'd best get this over with."

"Lor, you're going to mate a legend," the gryphon clicked his beak. "Try to enjoy it, at least a little."

She grinned faintly. "I'll try."

* * * * *

The sun made Dymionen's scales all but glow as he stood on a rise beside a small waterfall, his chin tucked down in his mane. There the brook tumbled down five feet into a pond before it wound its way down between the mountains. From his vantage, the Qilin oversaw the rest of the ribbon of valley meandering down toward the mountains' roots, and the open fields and forests of the northern province beyond.

Lorei thought his poise had grandeur of the sort only a master artisan could capture in a painting, or a statue. She never thought to see such chiseled splendor embodied; she had considered gryphons the most glorious creature she would ever lay eyes upon. But at that moment, she had a hard time remembering she didn't much like him. It seemed like trying to hate wind, the way of nature, or an immutable fact.

The next moment, he was just a strange creature, and the air about him was just haughty.

As she approached the rise to stand beside him, she asked, "So did the dryads tell you I don't like you?"

He sounded neither surprised, affronted, nor concerned. "They did not." When Lorei remained silent, he glanced her way. "Speak freely."

"Were you annoyed at me, earlier?"

His tail swished. "I dislike explaining overmuch - merely prudence on the part of any being who carries too many dangerous secrets."

She was half tempted to ask what those secrets might be. But that would probably just irritate him, even if she were joking. "We're a curious bunch, in my experience."

"Humanity never feels so safe as when they are certain they understand what lies ahead. Even if they are rarely correct." Dymionen huffed. "Is that the extent of your distaste?"

"No. You talk about having sex with me as though you're only interested in the end product, the fate of the offspring." She tried to gauge the depths of his eyes, but he was either too neutral or too controlled for her to discern his reaction. "Are you really so dispassionate?"

It was a long moment before the Qilin responded. "Would it truly be wise to become emotionally attached to one whom you know you shall never meet a second time? I am unlike you. Painful lessons have shaped into who I am over many an age. If I am impersonal, it is a barrier, and one I warn you not to cross. You have Elkytraz; he is quite fond of you."

"It seems to me, you would want your time with someone to be all the more precious if you were not to see them again."

"You would have preferred my brother Padoran, perhaps." His voice bore a hint of mirth. "That was much his philosophy. He grew frivolous, carefree, and outwardly lived for the pleasure of the moment."

"How many brothers do you have?"

"Not but Padoran and one other: Usmoreph."

So there were only three Qilin. And Dymionen had dodged the question. "So, I get it. You're jaded. What do you think of me, though? Surely," she chuckled, "that can't be a dangerous secret."

He met Lorei's eyes and held her gaze. "You have a pure heart."

"Pure heart? I'm a thief!"

"A thief first for just causes, now for love. What blame for the misdeed of your hands does not fall upon Lord Karthlyn?"

She had no answer for him. Who was she to argue with a Qilin? It seemed to her she had just as many faults as the next woman when it came to the gritty details of everyday life. And everyday life wasn't something she got around to very often. 'Pure heart' was a word for young girls and those one-in-ten-thousand men of noble spirit.

Dymionen did not leave her to her thoughts, however. "Are you still willing in this matter?"

"Yes," she answered firmly, because she needed to hear herself say it with intention.

"Then shall we proceed?"

One would think having sex with a legendary creature would entail a more ritualistic approach, but at the moment, all that was on Lorei's mind were logistics. "How- I mean, you've done this before, right? How does it work best? Should I be on hands and knees, or...?"

"That would suffice, unless you have an alternative."

Couldn't he find it within himself to sound even a little bit interested? Lorei found it hard to look forward to the act when her partner was so... mechanical about it. She reached toward his flank, but paused to shoot a questioning glance at him first. "If I may... inspect?" At least she aught to know what she was dealing with.

His head dipped in a quick assent, and his tail flicked.

She found the scales of his side to be warm and smooth, reminding her of fish scales more than those of lizard's. Her hand roamed toward his haunches, slowly; despite what they intended to do, she was wary of any reproach. But she had no idea what to expect him to be sexually equipped like - for the rest of him was a cacophony of similarities to creatures which she knew to be vastly different. Eventually, ignoring a bashful heat in her cheeks, Lorei lowered herself to the unceremonious act of bending over and taking a look.

Where she half-expected a reptilian slit, she found the Qilin had a sheath and, behind that, a lose patch of skin enclosing a pair of ovoids. The scales of his underbelly were smaller, pebbly between the legs, and absent from the distinctly mammalian genitals. She hesitated only a moment more before running her hand in. Dymionen shivered as she neared the heat of his most private places, even gasping lightly as her fingers met his sheath. Lorei grinned slightly, discovering even he couldn't keep up his composure under such stimuli.

"Should you not be more prepared? You are still clothed."

His tone was enough to flatten her excitement. Fingers falling away, she straightened and took a step back. A bit irritably, she plucked at the laces of her right bracer. "You know what? Try not to talk unnecessarily while we do this, or I may have a hard time enjoying this."

He inclined his head, agreeing in - thankfully - silence as she worked the right bracer off. The left followed quickly, as did her gloves. Kneeling, she started on her shin guards. With those off, she picked a tree and tossed her gear by its roots.

Dymionen stepped away from the precipice and the small waterfall. His eyes remained on Lorei the entire time, while she undid the ties of her jerkin. That joined the pile of leather accessories. Next she came her boots, which were comprised of more cloth than leather, optimal for creeping about castles where she wasn't welcome. Relatively thin footwear though it was, the grass tickled her bare feet when she slipped out of them.

Halfway through lifting off her shirt, Lorei paused, noticing the attentiveness the Qilin paid her. Though as implacable as ever, he watched her with an intensity that made her wonder whether, just maybe, he really did find her appealing. She wasn't used to this kind of attention, even from her late husband. She had never had better than average looks, and her prime was nearing its close. Her breasts weren't particularly full nor voluptuous, but she followed Dymionen's gaze as she exposed the set to him. His eyes seemed to feast upon her dainty nipples. Either he didn't get out much, or she was imagining things, she decided. Slipping the shirt over her head finally, she flung it after the rest of her attire. With her thumbs hooked under the waistband of her pants - her last article of clothing - she paused again to watch the Qilin.

He stamped, either in impatience or genuine eagerness. Lorei couldn't guess, but exacerbating either was an amusing prospect. As she stooped to push her pants down, she made sure to push just as slowly as she could. Her watcher hardly moved, save for a flourish swoosh of his tail as the woman bared all for him.

Finally her pants joined the pile of her clothing, and Lorei stepped forward jauntily, unabashed of Dymionen's appraisal of her simple curves. If anything, his stare kindled her elation, and her teats grew pert. She very nearly asked him if he liked what he saw, but then she remembered he was supposed to be keeping his mouth shut.

Again he stamped, and stepped toward her.

So he really was getting into it. Lorei took a step back. She grinned at the Qilin, to show it was not trepidation, nor hesitation. It was a game. He placed another foot forward, and she stepped backward.

Not sixty feet off, Elkytraz plodded along the bank of the brook. The gryphon was recalled from his meandering thoughts by a brusque huff from downstream. His ears perked, for he recognized Dymionen's snort. He hardly thought twice before he made out in that direction...

...only to reel and flatten himself behind a patch of shrubs he'd very nearly sauntered blithely through. His heart pounded. If he'd not been so lost in his pondering, he might have realized Dymionen would probably be with Lorei. For that was precisely what he'd seen; he'd gotten a full frontal glimpse of his rider and handler, completely nude. And the distance wasn't much to gryphon eyes. But it seemed he hadn't been noticed. As he calmed himself and ceased cursing himself for a fool, the better part of reason told him to simply creep away.

The heat in his loins gave him other ideas, however. Scarcely daring to breath, he peered through the leaves of the shrub patch.

Lorei seemed to be leading the Qilin in a broad circle, walking backwards. What was the woman doing...? Had he frightened her? No, that didn't seem right. The gryphon swallowed a laugh when he realized what was happening: she was trying to tease Dymionen out of his ageless wits!

A light breeze picked up. El found himself fortunate; he was downwind, otherwise Dymionen might have scented him. As it was, the gryphon got a whiff of the Qilin - a scent as exotic as his appearance, and tinted of male arousal. El didn't think Lorei's sense of smell would have been keen enough to detect what he could. Not unless her nose was that close to...

Bringing a talon down on his eyes and beak, the gryphon silently scolded himself again. He should have left before he started thinking like this. But... the thought of her doing that...

Dymionen lifted his hoof once more, but this time he took a step backward, himself.

Lorei smiled. She was impressed; she had expected him to grow frustrated and simply demand an end to the games. But no, he was genuinely interested now, displaying a playful side she hadn't suspected he possessed. Obliging the unspoken rules of the game, she took a step toward him.

Again he advanced, and she backed away. Then he retreated, testing her. He sidestepped, and she did the same in the opposite direction - thus they circled one another. It seemed he'd finally realized the initiative was his. He pranced abruptly, and she hopped back lightly; the agility demanded by her profession shone.

From concealment, the gryphon watched with awe as his rider played what was quickly becoming an elaborate dance, one which would be the envy of the most frolicsome birds. Even if it did take place entirely on the ground. El did not think two more beautiful beings existed on this earth: his love, and the mighty Qilin who had saved her life.

Dymionen pranced right, then shot left. For all her reflexes, Lorei fell for the feint and could not dodge him; in motion he was a blur of color. His snout hit her shoulder, but not hard - he nudged her as he wheeled past. She spun, tried to touch him, but he was too quick. He stopped again, at perhaps half the previous distance. He'd made the game his own, and now it was Lorei's initiative. She dove at him, striving to touch him, but he darted out of reach, once again matching her steps.

Circling, feinting, and throwing herself at the Qilin, her hands just kept missing his shoulders and flanks. She lost count of her lunges, but she quickly found herself winded. Just when there seemed no chance she could catch Dymionen, she ran for him once more, and as he pranced to circle around her, his tail flicked. It took the full of Lorei's deft precision honed from cutting a hundred purses and dismantling a thousand locks, but she touched the flailing tip. The fur of his tuft slipped though her fingers. He rounded on her, apparently oblivious, for his head cocked as the woman presented him her hand. There, clenched between her fingers, was an unmistakable silky red strand of his fur. He huffed softly in defeat, and stepped toward her with his head bowed, conceding she had won his game, surely as he had won hers.

"Lorei," he whispered into her ear, "you are beautiful."

Wrapping the strand of his fur around her middle finger several times, she smiled. She didn't scold him for speaking; his words did not bother her this time. As his snout lowered over her shoulder, she embraced his neck. "Thank you." Not just for the compliment, but for finally loosening up.

The exertion had taken her mind from elation, but it was still there, and Dymionen's mane against her breasts reminded her of their intentions. She sidled out from under his neck, and her hands roamed his sides and down towards his belly. She thought he enjoyed her touch. His tail swung like that of a contented cat as she massaged his stomach, down the fine scales of the inside of his haunches, and finally her fingers met his sheath again. She clearly felt, now, a hardening length within. Squatting down for longer look, she found an inch and a half of pink arousal poking from the front, glistening wetly. The Qilin quivered in anticipation.

Partly eager and mostly anxious to see the rest of Dymionen's maleness firsthand, she coaxed and kneaded over the sensitive flesh which carried it. Little irregularities in his breathing rewarded her touch, as did his growing erection. Despite being housed in a sheath, she thought it still looked rather reptilian. It had spearhead-shaped glans with a ridge of stiff-looking nubs along its bottom rim, but its width gave her pause - if his penis grew much wider toward the base, she doubted she'd be able to take much of it.

With several more inches emerging from his sheath, she was relieved to find it didn't widen too much. It had a prominent bulge down the front, but other than that it looked fairly unadorned. Lorei wasn't about to complain. Her hand snuck back over his lose sack, caressing Dymionen's testicles between her spread fingers. He shuddered at this, his rump lifting somewhat and tail tucking instinctively - but Lorei's touch was gentle, and he soon calmed. She couldn't speak for the Qilin, but for her part, there was something about being allowed to touch a legendary, immortal creature's set of eggs.

By now his shaft stood at eight or nine inches, and though the woman couldn't be sure, she thought that was the whole of it. And with the Qilin at full mast, she thought she detected a hint of his tangy musk. With one hand cupping his sensitive orbs, her other raised to wrap around his mating tool and give it a long, slow stroke. His flesh was slick, hot, and she gave it a squeeze as she got a good feel. The sides gave slightly under her touch; it almost felt ribbed beneath the surface. He shivered over her. One front hoof raised, but rather than stamp, it simply hung; Dymionen forgot it in the moment of bliss brought upon him by dexterous fingers.

Not so far off, the gryphon gawked at the pair. Lorei's face was so close to the Qilin. El closed his eyes and could easily picture her leaning in... He could hardly help himself; quietly as he could, he rolled onto his side, one of his talons reaching for the throbbing ache between his own hind legs.

Dymionen huffed as Lorei let her nimble fingers fall from his body. She decided he was ready, as was she. Standing once more and reaching for his chin, she sought his eyes, and have him a coy grin to tell him it was time. Withdrawing a few paces, she knelt, demure, and glanced back at him with invitation. Tail lashing fervently, the Qilin stepped forward. And the warm scales of his chest and his soft mane brushed her back, Lorei bent forward. Her hair fell across her face, and she threaded her fingers through the grass, waiting eagerly as scales slid over her back. Dymionen's neck drooped, and he huffed across her neck. Then his front hooves came to rest by her head, and she felt the warm prod of his tip against her leg.

Lorei wondered at his shift from standoffish to his now ardent behavior. Had her touch awakened his passions, or was he trying to make it more enjoyable simply for her sake? Whatever the case, she had spent enough time stimulating him, and now she wanted to feel him within her depths. Reaching back between her legs, she guided the head of his organ to her feminine nether-lips.

At the touch of her womanhood, Dymionen thrust automatically, and his member escaped her fingers. She shivered as his length slid across her folds, parting her just slightly. He pulled back, she guided his tip into place, and finally he thrust true: a full third of his cock slipped into her passage. Lorei gave a breathy cry, taken off guard by his full width intruding so suddenly. What mild discomfort she felt being so gloriously stretched dissolved into delight as Dymionen began to rock steadily back and forth with a slow, smooth rhythm.

El struggled to remain silent, swallowing his elated churrs and trying to keep his breath from rising too sharply. When next he dared open his eyes and feasted them upon Dymionen mounting Lorei, a tiny moan escaped his restricted throat. From his vantage, El had the perfect angle to watch the other male nearly hilting the woman. Steadily leaking gryphon pre, El's own erection was unbearably hard in his grip. Yet he dared not stroke himself too much, or he'd surely cry out loudly enough to draw attention. Lorei moaned, and when he heard it, the gryphon's lust flared and he rolled his hips against his grasp. He yearned to take her himself, to make her call out her pleasure as the Qilin did.

For moan she did, at the feel of the nubs along Dymionen's glans raking her inner walls. She was no stranger to the carnal act, and tried to clench her passage around his shaft. But she already fit so tightly around her, she didn't know that he could even tell. The hand which had guided him to her entrance remained, as she couldn't help but rub about her clit, and wrap a few fingers around the penetration as it pumped in and out of her. Lorei's depths became smoothed with her fluids, while Dymionen's thrusts grew longer, and much, much harder. His strength was evident as he plowed her. Deep in her belly, his tip prodded what seemed to be the end of her tunnel. She had never been so filled, and that bump as he bottomed out nudged her over the edge into her first climax. With a sharp intake of breath, her passage clamped on the Qilin cock, and she spilled her juices across its length as she groaned through her euphoric peak. His shaft smeared with the even slipperier love fluids, Dymionen glided in the woman's cunt. If he was as close as his ragged breaths seemed to imply, Lorei had never before encountered a creature able to maintain his level of control - even elegance - in the midst of ecstasy. She gave his tool and extra squeeze as he pulled out. He slammed back in, driving in with twice his previous force, bearing his weight down on on Lorei's hips.

What she had thought to be the end of her passage gave under his insistent push, and his very tip edged past the barrier to what she finally realized was her very womb. Once more, Dymionen pulled out, and rammed down harder than ever, bringing a yelp to Lorei. With an impassioned bray, he sank again through the mouth of her womb, even as far as his glans. The spearhead of his maleness locking him in place, a tremor shot through his haunches, and he spilled the first stream of his fertile essence.

Lorei moaned again; the feel of being flooded so deeply shot her into a second orgasm. She clenched his erupting intrusion with every muscle she had. Dymionen humped her, to little end, while his seed coursed and spurted from his tip plunged so far into her body. There was almost no clear break between one ejaculation and the next; it just seemed to keep coming.

When the surge finally dwindled to a trickle, the Qilin was left panting, the woman positively gasping, and neither of them moved.

By the time Lorei regained her breath, Dymionen was withdrawing. She tried to relax and let him pull out, but her insides clenched at his glans, wanting more. He did finally pull out; not a drop of his fluids escaped, except a late bead that oozed from his tip. Gathering her thoughts, Lorei waited for strength enough to rise.

Dymionen's head lowered to her ear. "You have conceived... or near enough."

"You can tell already?" She glanced at him, incredulous.

But he dipped his head. "And... it is a girl."

* * * * *

From where he lay, still unseen, El couldn't make out their words. His eyes were shut too; Lorei and the Qilin were done, but the gryphon was not. He was so close... He beat his gryphon cock, nipping his tongue in the crook of his beak to keep himself quiet. He just had to finish now!

Hooves tromped away, not his direction. In the back of his mind, El realized Lorei would have to dress before going anywhere. He thought he could watch her - maybe that would help him. Just seeing her naked one more time...

But he looked, and froze completely. She was gone.

"Ah-em."

His head snapped around, and there she was. And she was naked... but the gryphon whimpered in shame and tried to cover his indecency with a wing.

"Watching, were you?" Lorei grinned. "Naughty, naughty..."

"I-I wasn't... I mean... I'm sorr-"

"Oh hush, El." She slid to her knees beside the gryphon. "Just think, how many gryphons ever had the chance to peep on a Qilin mating?"

He groaned; even if she didn't seem mad at him, he couldn't think of a more embarrassing situation.

"Did you often spy on me?" She asked him bluntly.

"What? N-No! No..." El shook his head furiously. "I... Truthfully, Lor. I respected you too much to ever- That is, until today, and I just- it just happened and... Oh, bother." He sighed as Lorei broke into laughter over him.

"It's alright," she cooed, fondling his ear. "You're cute when you're sheepish."

"Sheepish!" He squawked with indignation.

"Yes, sheepish, you naughty bird." She grinned at him wickedly. "Put away your wing."

His eyes went wide as teacups. His wing was the only thing hiding his erection from her view. And suddenly he found it very, very hard to move. He wished the stubborn, aching meat would subside, but the neglected tool did nothing of the sort. And the way she held his eyes, he knew she was serious. Especially when her expression softened from her devious smile into a more calming one.

"Lor..." El found his throat parched, and swallowed once. "You don't have to... I mean, what do you want to do?"

She glanced eastward. The sun almost appeared to be setting sideways into the mountains' slope, though it was surely no later than mid-evening. When she met El's eyes, she spoke with conviction. "I want to be with you, now. You wanted me to enjoy my time with Dymionen, and I did... as you well know," she chuckled. "But he's not the one I love. You are."

The gryphon issued a small churr at her profession. "Lor... Do you really mean that? Really? There's a difference between affection and-"

"I know," she stopped him, "and I meant what I said."

El slowly nodded. Bracing himself with a jagged inhalation, he slowly lifted the wing curled around his front. And he was very grateful Lorei kept a straight face about surveying his privates. The gryphon himself to breath regularly.

This wasn't the first time Lorei had witnessed a gryphon's penis - she'd been a handler, after all. Sometimes one simply got unsheathed, or picked a rather exposed space to mate. But she'd never had any intention of really studying one before, let alone get intimate. Protruding rigidly from his retracted sheath, El's flushed length tapered to a tip no thicker than her middle finger, and lacked any discernible head.

Her stare was making the gryphon nervous, however. "So how do I... er... compare?" He tried to laugh.

"Compare?" Her brow furrowed at him until she caught his meaning. "Oh, to Dymionen? Never mind that. It suits you. You'd look very strange with a Qilin's genitals, I should think!"

Her laugh was real, and succeeded in calming El significantly. That and the feel of her fingers wandering through the fur of his belly.

Though, now that he mentioned it: what El's gryphonhood lacked in features in comparison to Dymionen, El made up for in length. It was even longer than the Qilin's, proudly arched away from his underbelly as it was. And while it was narrower at the tip, it was considerably thicker at the base.

Lorei discovered a matted patch in his fur, sopping with pre, beneath his tip. She shot him a wry glance before encircling the base of his member with a hand, squeezing a groan from him. Reversing her hand so her palm was ageist the outer curve, she gave him a slow stroke.

"Lor," he churred.

She smiled. "Yes, El?"

Neck feathers ruffing self-consciously, he purred, "That feels... really nice..." But he pushed his thoughts through the haze of arousal. "What about you, though?"

"Dymionen took care of me, El." Her fingers curled around his tip, and drops of pre issued from his organ. "But I want to do this for you."

"I wanted to make you feel..." He was cut off by a pleasurable grunt.

Lorei was making a point to get a good feel for what he really liked, and had switched to rubbing tenderly down the sides of his length. "You'll have your chance, I promise. Just not tonight."

El tried to respond, but all that came out was a whimper of bliss - then another of disappointment as that wonderful ceased it's ministrations.

Instead, she nudged his sides until he rolled over on his back, shuffling his wings so they lay beside him and weren't crushed beneath him. With a bashful glance at his love, he splaying his haunches for her.

Lorei straddled his tail and crouched over him for better access - though she had to be careful not to step on his plumage. With one hand working up to explore his fuzzy scrotum and play at his sheath, the other crept up toward his shaft once more. When she brushed one of his seed-heavy orbs, his left hind paw batted at the air in a spasm of pleasure. He seemed to like that, she thought wryly. Her fingers lightly rubbed the tender ball. El definitely won out over Dymionen here; far as she might spread her fingers, she couldn't fully enclose both of his testicles. His cock twitched when she tried, though, and he squirmed in delight.

As he shifted under her, Lorei caught wind of his musk - a heavier scent than the Qilin's. She leaned in to breathe deeply of it. For some reason, she wanted to remember this about him: an appropriately thick, feral smell. Lifting her gaze, she met the gryphon's eyes as she inhaled.

El's eyes sparked with shock, nearly disbelieving. Lorei guessed she was doing something he desperately desired, but could never have asked, even now. Odd, he hadn't seemed to have that reaction to simply being touched. Or maybe she it wasn't something she'd done yet... Her head bowed, descending over closer to his nethers, and her suspicions were confirmed as the spark of astonishment - and lust - flared. "Maybe you didn't make a habit of spying on me," she half-whispered in the deepest, most sultry tone she could muster. "But I'm guessing you've fantasized about this..." Her tongue darted at the gryphon's heavy seed-makers.

El was, to put it lightly, thunderstruck. It was too good to be true, almost dreamlike in quality: how had she known? He threw his head back and groaned as her tongue flattened the fur of his sack. One lick at a time, she navigated the circumference of each of his orbs. Smirking at the gryphon's obvious enjoyment, Lorei began to work his mating tool as well - a skillful hand scaling the soft skin of his penis.

El knew he wasn't going to withstand much of such treatment - not having already been pleasuring himself before Lorei caught him. He needed release desperately, pined for it with every caress upon his member and balls. Yet at the same time, he wished he could savor this closeness with Lorei, for such moments together with her were bound to be rare. He wasn't even sure whether he wanted her to quicken or slow when he gasped, "So close, Lor... So... Ahh!"

Lorei apparently took it to mean it was time to start licking his shaft. A bit sticky with gryphon pre, but despite how salty it tasted, she didn't mind. As her tongue worked up the length the gryphon panted and bucked against her, his scrotum jostling her breasts.

Then she stopped.

With a needful, somewhat confused churr, El picked his head up. He stared at Lorei, who was simpering with her lips just barely kissing the very cusp of his member. When it was obvious the gryphon was watching, her tongue slipped around the organ, teasing it. "Whenever you're ready, El," she invited. Then she licked her lips and closed them around his cock tip, and she bore as much as she could into her mouth, lapping at everything her tongue could reach.

No longer caring who or what might have heard, the gryphon moaned in utter abandon as she went down on him.

One of Lorei's hands massaged the rest of the rigid flesh, and the other encircled the base of his downy sack as far as she could.

El cried out, helpless to hold himself off. His eyes screwed shut, his back arched, his wings flailed, and his semen exploded into the warmth of his love's mouth.

Lorei fully expected this, but the volume still surprised her; her mouth was instantly overfull. She pulled back automatically, even as the second load splashed across her cheek and face, forcing her to close her eyes. Her hands knew where to be, though, vigorously stroking his maleness and rubbing down his clenching nuts.

More of El's seed shot up and rained down viscous ropes across his chest, which heaved as he half-squealed, half-cawed through his climax. A few more spurts of white ran in rivulets down his throbbing, twitching member, before his back flopped back to the ground. There he lay panting, but utterly relaxed. He almost didn't notice Lorei crawl forward to lay on his chest, despite the glistening, sticky mess he'd made of himself. Almost. He lifted his wings and enveloped his love in an embrace of warm feathers.

Climbing along the gryphon's body, Lorei nested her head beneath his chin, where she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"El?" She whispered.

"Yes, Lor?" He purred.

"Dymionen... he said it's a girl."

Though congratulation was in oder, El could not have spoken even had he found words - not with the burning lump in his chest. He was finally with Lorei in ways he had hardly dared dream of, the Qilin had given her this child with the promise it would someday help to free Rene. And was it wrong of him to think of her children as his own? He could never have conceived with her himself; it just didn't worth between humans and gryphons. This daughter was the closest he was going to get. Lord Karthlyn would simply take this child, too, if he ever found out. Thinking along those lines, he finally found his tongue. "We'll have to hide her."

She agreed with a nod, which he felt on his neck even if he couldn't see it. He was already running through the short list of people they could trust with such a secret. Somewhere they could hide the child until she grew up. However old she was supposed to be. If anything, the Qilin's promise raised more questions about the future than answers.

"El? Don't worry about it. You're all tense." Lorei murmured to him. "Let's sleep on it. No need to decide on anything now."

He chuckled; how well she knew him. "Thanks. Goodnight, Lor... my love."

* * * * *

Come morning, and the discovery of the crusted mess between them, woman and gryphon bathed in the pond under the small waterfall. Lorei returned to the spot she'd dumped all her clothes the previous day and dressed. Meanwhile, El trotted off to retrieve his saddle. Having given the aging leather a thorough examination, and determining it was still serviceable, Lorei strapped it onto the gryphon. And as long as she was ducked under his belly to fasten the girth, she reached back and groped El's sheath.

She didn't have the chance to pursue anything more devious; cantering hooves approached. She lifted her head. "Dymionen!"

The Qilin came to a halt, once again proud and aloof in his bearing. "Peace, I am but here to bid you both off." He dipped his head their way.

Lorei nodded. "Thank you."

The gryphon, however, answered not with words. He padded over and nuzzled his head against Dymionen's neck - the Qilin leaning away from the affectionate gesture, stamping, but not quite pulling away.

"Someone's frisky, this morning," Lorei laughed.

Dymionen huffed and shook himself. "Well... If that is quite all?"

Chuckling, El rounded back to his rider.

"Take care, for the storm ahead, is just as dangerous as the condor spirit haunting these peaks," the Qilin added. "While I doubt we should meet again, I expect to hear of your exploits in the years to come. Farewell."

"Goodbye." By the time Lorei finished saying it, though, his hoofbeats were receding up the glen. The sudden departure left her feeling like their parting words were... inadequate. Something was missing. With a smile, she crossed to a tree and patted its bark. "And goodbye to you too." She hoped the dryads were listening.

Feeling slightly better, she returned to El, threw herself into the saddle, and strapped down her shins. "Ready, El?"

"Ready!"