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Riders Pt. 1

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Why do people romanticize objects? There are times when the night isn't some inky abyss punctuated by pinpoints of light called stars. No mostly nights are spent in just dark and time when people sleep. Trees are not majestic giants forever doomed to reach for their lover, the sky with life giving droplets of food. They are tall hunks of wood which only purpose was the fruit they grow and making shelter.

These were the thoughts of a man bitter at life. Roan Nought was bitter in general. He was bitter the tree he was stuck in did not have fruit to fill his empty stomach or that he was able to make a shelter despite the cold night breeze. He would never admit to the situation he was in was due to his own over eagerness or his own poor judgment.

Dressed in his torn tunic and trousers that were caked in dirt and grime seemingly from a prison or many many days traveling, Roan was running for his life. He couldn't see any beauty in the Eruza woods or it's unique blue wild flowers that were so beautiful during the night with their abnormal glow. Where the brown clothing stopped and his tan skin began was almost impossible to see in the dark so he blended into the tree.

It wasn't where Roan had thought he would be this night. He had planned on a lush room with a warm woman in his arms. Instead he was being hunted by some of the very best hounds of the Ilthium kingdom.

As if the sheer thought of the man sized beasts could form them into being, he heard the distinct howl in the distance and sense their quickening presence. Roan could try and keep hidden or run. His long legs were getting tired from running all through the day, afternoon, and now with twilight looming he was losing the edge. Damn those mutts and their inbred sensitive noses.

He pushed himself up on the thick branch he had been resting on for the last few hours and looked towards the East. He threaded long agile fingers through dirty blond hair as his blue eyes searched the Eruza forest for answers. Finding none as the howls echoed in his bones forcing his bare feet forward.

Roan had no idea how far of a lead he did or did not have on the hounds. He couldn't hear the Knights, only the hounds and that told him he at least had two miles. His lungs burned, his legs were beginning to cramp,  the forest floor cutting his bare feet, but he pushed forward. The fear of going back to that cell was far greater than breaking a bone or becoming scared.

As he approached a small inlet stream he saw an inglorious escape. When a man was desperate he would be willing to do anything, or put, anything on his body. He bent down and picked up a warm pile of filth from what he assumed was one of the larger animals of the forest. It didn't matter that his empty stomach protested several times as he smeared the black over his exposed skin. Roan ran up the side of the stream and kept running until the howls lessened and his body could finally take no more.
* * *
The skies were vast and beautiful, telling a story of never ending flights. It wove a tale of far reaching lands that the eye could not see from the ground. It was uplifting, clear, crisp, and ever changing. But for Aristal (?) it told of freedom. Freedom as far as the eye could see and beyond. It was the wind through his hair, on his skin, through his clothes. It was cleansing of all he was every time he took to the sky with Meris. While the sky was his first love, Meris was just as loved as the crystalline abyss. Meris made it possible for him to stretch his boundaries. Made it possible for Aristal to fly. Meris was a griffon and Aristal was her Rider.

Opening his eyes behind the clear goggles that he wore, Aristal looked out and around. They were doing patrol over the Eruza Forest, a vast woodlands filled with dangers and treasures. Towering treetops and clear rivers blurred by below them. They had been flying for about two candle marks now and while Aristal knew that Meris could go on forever if he asked her, there was no reason and he knew that she was getting tired and he could use a moment to stretch his legs.

Leaning over in his harness, he nuzzled to tufted blue-black ear for a moment before he spoke. "Why don't we take a rest lady love? There was a nice spot to land not far from a stream a little ways back." He had to raise his voice over the wind but Meris' senses were acute enough where he didn't have to shout. The griffon chirruped in agreement and Aristal could feel her muscles bunching under his legs as she tensed to turn. He gripped onto the saddle he was on, leaning into the turn and trusting her and the harness to make sure he didn't slip off. He had no fear of falling the great height and even if he had, he knew Meris would make sure that he never hit the ground.

They banked left and soon enough he spotted the clearing he had seen a few minutes before. Meris' put her great wings out the fullest, using the updraft so that she could lazily glide in for a smooth landing.

"Beautiful my lady love! No jolting at all. Perfect as always." Aristal smiled lovingly as he unbuckled his harness, unclipping it from the rings adorning the leather belt around his hips that was there for specifically that purpose. Using the saddle, he easily and gracefully swung off her back, avoiding her folded wings with a move that spoke of experience. He was always in awe at how big the griffon's were even though he had been around them his entire life. He was about six feet tall himself and his head only came to Meris' shoulder. He walked around her and she bowed her head, nudging him gently in the chest with her wicked beak. Aristal laughed, rubbing a hand over the soft feathers between her yellow eyes. "Yes, you are beautiful. Why don't we get some water in you so we can keep those gorgeous feathers shiny." Meris didn't answer, instead raising her head and looking intently towards the bank of the stream. He could hear her sniffing the air, searching for something. Aristal frowned, turning his head to where she seemed to be looking, pushing his tangled, shoulder length copper hair out of his eyes.

Taking a moment, he pushed his goggles up, clearing the view from his own bright green eyes and also using the eye protection to hold his hair back. "What is it love?" His voice was low, whispered and his body tense as he looked for what she had sighted. He felt her nudge his back, pressing his sweat soaked, leather vest against already sticky, tan skin. The Rider only eased down when he felt her do so and knowing what she wanted by instinct, went in the direction she nudged him.

The young man smelled what she found before he saw it. A bedraggled man on the riverbank, his legs swaying in the current of the water but the rest of him on the sand. The man was face down in the grit but covered in filth and by the finger marks in the sludge on his skin, Aristal knew that it had been put there on purpose. Drawing the dagger from his belt, he slowly eased upon the man with silent feet, feeling Meris pause while he did so. He knew the man was unconscious but he wasn't going to risk getting attacked for stupidity.

Slowly, he crouched down next to the filthy bundle, keeping his blade at the ready. He was dressed in simple clothing speaking of lower class citizenship. The clothing looked to have seen better days, tattered and worn. His feet and legs were cut to ribbons telling a tale of flight through the harsh forest. There were also a few cuts on his arms and one on his cheek. Aristal gently brushed a lock of filthy blond hair away from the youthful face revealing dark circles under closed eyes and a fading bruise on an determined looking jaw line.

"Well Meris, it looks like you found a stray." He called back to the griffon who snorted at his words. His lips twitched in amusement as he moved his free hand to the man's neck, checking for life. The pulse was there and strong so Aristal didn't worry about him kicking the bucket any time soon. Sighing, he stood; having a feeling the man wasn't going to wake up for a while. "Looks like we'll be camping here for a little while. Let's get a fire started and get him cleaned up. The smell of him will scare off any game." He turned to the griffon, getting started.
* * *
Warmth, safety, comfort, these were treasures which Roan very rarely found in his life so as he swam back into consciousness, he believed he was leaving a wonderful dream. Then as the smells of burning wood and cooked beast were sucked into his body, Roan remembered he was on the run for his life. His eyes bolted open expecting to find himself on the ground and not in a bed of feathers that he was lying in. His heart began to beat wildly in mild panic and confusion. It was when a large beaked face and yellow eyes filled his view that he began to move. He let out a very unflattering squawk of surprise and tried to back away but stopped short when he realized he was mostly naked.

"Ah, our guest is finally awake. Try not to frighten him back into unconsciousness Meris." Aristal said in an amused tone. Standing, the Rider moved around the fire, approaching the griffon and the wild-eyed man with a blanket in his hand. It looked at if he wanted to run away from the large beast but his unclothed state prevented him. Which was precisely why Aristal hadn't reclothed him with the spare outfit in his pack. He moved cautiously, trying not to frighten the blue-eyed man even further as he crouched down a few feet from him and Meris. "You're safe for now. How are you feeling?"

"More than a large bit of confused with a hefty dose of nervous. Why am I naked?" Roan stopped squirming like a two year old and tried to keep his attention on the other man.

"Because the clothes you did have on had turned into blankets of filth and couldn't really be salvaged. Here." He tossed a blanket towards Roan, using slow movements as to not frighten him. Meris kept quiet through the exchange. "You hungry?"

"Hells yes but I try not to take food from men I don't know who have . . ." His face paled as he looked up at the beast peering down at him. Roan had heard of griffons. He had even seen them from a far distance in a capital city once but never this close. Curiosity made him reach out and touch the soft feathers before looking at the large smooth coat of fur and tufted tail. It also meant this man could have been hired to capture him. How pissed off could the king be to hire out one of them? "What is your type doing in a place like this?"

"My type? Didn't know I was a type." Aristal's tone was still amused, uplifting as he stood once again, going to the fire. Meris had caught a large boar earlier after she had found and consumed her own meal and Aristal now had it roasting over the fire. He cut into it carefully, salivating at the juices that were dripping and hissing into the fire. Checking the inside, he nodded, satisfied and picked up a carved, wooden plate from where it had placed it on the ground. He carved off chunks of the pig, placing them on the plate.

"Meris and I were doing patrol and had stopped for a rest when she discovered you. Smelled you really." He showed the man a piece of meet, watching blue eyes follow it as he took a bite, showing it wasn't poisoned. After that, he placed the plate near him, walking back to the fire. "If you wouldn't mind wrapping yourself in the blanket, I'm sure Meris wouldn't mind a stretch and you've been using her wing as a bed."

"I didn't know I was but it was a very comfortable bed." Roan wrapped the blanket around his belly and then moved forward towards the plate. He didn't want to embarrass himself by looking like a dog eating scraps yet without food for the last four days he couldn't stop how fast he was eating.

"You might want to take it slow or you're going to make yourself sick." The Rider said calmly, placing a canteen of water next to the almost empty plate. The griffon stood up, stretching out her wings before folding back along her sleek, black body. Her front and back legs were next, stretching the cat half like any cat would except much, much bigger. He tail switched back and forth as she sat again, watching the two of them as her tufted ears swiveled around, listening to the forest around them.

"I guess being starved makes a man forget." Roan said sheepishly put the plate down to drink some water. "I thought I'd be dead and when I woke up would be talking to spirits."

"Spirits are no fun to talk to. They speak in riddles and generally just drive you nuts. Better off not having a conversation with them." Aristal quipped with a smile, going back to the spit and cutting off a few pieces for himself. He wouldn't ask any questions yet, just put the man at ease. "Eat as much as you want. Like I said, just take it slow. Won't do you any good if the tasty meal Meris was kind enough to bring us comes back up. There's enough for me if you can stomach it."

Roan figured he would never meet a Rider again so he ventured to answer some of the questions he had from the endless stories.

"Does she read your mind?"

The red haired man looked up from his own meal in surprise and then his eyes flickered to the griffon who was looking curiously at their guest with a cocked head. And then he laughed. "Good Ferish, I hope not! She probably would have dumped me off long ago. No, we just have a bond and an understanding. I'm fairly sure that she understands our language and I can interpret hers so we can speak in a way."

"It um . . . she has a language?" Roan asked between bites. "Is it true you all have brands burned into your skins and you have to swear blood oaths?"

"All these questions." The Rider finished off his meal, putting down his plate before he walked over to the griffon that bowed her head so that he could bury his fingers in her feathers. "How about this: I'll answer your questions if you answer mine?"

Roan swallowed his mouth full of water carefully, his face tense. "Do I get something to wear?"

"Are you going to give me your name?" Aristal countered, laying his cheek on Meris' massive beak as he looked at the other man.

He hesitated then nodded. "For a pair of pants I can part with it."

Aristal laughed, giving Meris one last scratch before walking around the fire to his pack. He rifled through it for a moment before pulling out his spare pair of flying pants and vest. "I'll give you one better. Pants and a vest. Sorry there isn't a shirt but this is all I travel with on patrols." He walked back to the blond man, a smile on his lips and humor in his eyes and held the clothes just out of reach, waiting expectantly.

There was a moment of trepidation in the blond's eyes before he reached out to take the clothing.

"My name is Roan."

"Nice to meet you Roan. My name's Aristal." He handed over the clothes without hesitation before walking back over to Meris. The griffon settled back down so that the Rider could sit down and lean back against her side. He was practically dwarfed by the massive beast with razor sharp talons and a long crescent, ebony beak capable of breaking a man of their size in half but didn't seem concerned in the least.

"Thanks for picking me out of the filmy fingers of death Aristal." He stood and began to change. "I wasn't expecting help out here of any sort."

"And what we're you doing out here to get yourself in a situation to be saved from anyways?" And there was the question that Aristal really wanted the answer to.

He stopped his movement of pulling on the vest as his mind raced with other excuses until he shrugged and looked up at the auburn haired man who had saved his life.

"I found myself in the wrong bed. Her father didn't approve. He wants me dead."

"Ah, the oldest trouble in the book." Aristal's lips twitched in a smile.

It wasn't the whole story but it was the reason his other plans went to hell and ended him up here. Roan opened his mouth to ask his own question when a familiar howl and the tremor of hooves shook the ground beneath him.

Meris' eyes had already been looking in the direction of the howls before any noise had been heard. Aristal didn't move, completely at ease. "Looks like we're going to have company. Friends of yours I guess."

"Damn." He had hoped he lost them but it seemed they were determined to take his head. Roan began to run away from the haunting sounds.

With a sigh from both of them, Aristal nodded and Meris responded. Aristal ducked and Meris extended her wing above his head, catching Roan in it and pushing him towards her Rider. He caught Roan's arm, pulling him towards Aristal and letting him fall next to the red haired man. "Calm down and sit. I didn't save your ass just to let them kill you. I don't need blood on the leathers I loaned you." His voice was calm and slightly amused.

"I'm all grateful for the help but I don't want to die!" He obviously didn't believe the Rider would say no to the price, whatever it was, on his head.

It was only moments after Roan had fallen on his ass at Aristal's feet when five hounds ran into view. They stopped a few paces away growling and howling in different orders to alert their masters. The hounds came only from the Ithiem kingdom and they were human sized but still dwarfed by the griffon. Their eyes hungry and their only job was to hunt and they did it well.

Meris growled at the hounds, snapping her vicious beak at the canines until they backed up further away. But she didn't rise, letting her rider continue to lean against her. Her lion type tail twitched and curled in agitation.

"No worries. Meris would be upset if he new toy was given away." Aristal pulled on Roan's arm until the man was sitting next to him against the griffon's side along with him.

"Toy?!"

The dozen knights rode up stream and stopped as they came up to the line of dogs. Their armor was dulled after days of riding in the forest but the bright red and green paints could still be seen under the dirt. The man in charge took no time riding forward barking an order at the hounds. They immediately sat down at the order but their sharp teeth were still bared.

The tired horse walked forward with his heavy burden with labored breaths.

"Hand him over."

"Is that how you greet someone when you come upon their camp? No good evening? No hello, how are you? And here I thought knights were chivalrous and noble but now I just see you as rude." Aristal delivered these words with a smile and a relaxed pose but his hidden hand was clamped down on Roan's wrist.

"Gods." Roan tried to tug his arm away and run. Maybe he would get a great head start as the crazy man holding him and the crazier man hunting him went at it.

"I am Fredine Caperstone. I am under orders by my king to bring this traitor to justice." The knight's grizzled jaw clenched and wrinkles stacked on top of one another as his eyes narrowed.

"Ah, well welcome Sir Caperstone. I am Aristal of the Aeris Riders and unfortunately for you, I am not under your King's orders." The Rider's words were cordial and polite as he nodded his greeting to the knight. "And presently this man is under my jurisdiction so I'm afraid I have no predisposition to hand him over. Plus my Meris fancies him and I don't like to disappoint my ladylove. I wouldn't advise you upsetting her either. She tends to get snappy."

"This man isn't worth the time of a Rider. He's not even worth the air he breaths. If it's coin you wish to extricate from us I am sure the King would pay you even if I would any coin spent on such a worthless bag of flesh embarrassing." His hands cracked as they clenched around the reigns.

"The hells?!" Roan might not want to lose his head but he was obviously a man not willing to just sit there while another was insulting him. "You ancient piece of shit in tin clothing! I wouldn't have even gotten so far if you knights weren't so empty headed!"

"Oh I don't know. I find him very useful." Aristal fairly purred these words, making them suggestive on purpose. "Besides, I doubt your king could afford the price that the time I spent would cost. Plus he's wearing my spare set of leathers which I would appreciate staying on him and therefore in my possession."

"That's ridiculous! Do you know what this man is even accused of?" The Knight blew angry words and his horse inched forward. "Godless Rider or not we won't let such a vagrant escape!"

"Oh really?" Aristal grinned, getting to his feet. Meris rose to her full height behind him, standing as his back. Gently using her paw, she pushed Roan in between her front legs. Aristal crossed his arms over his chest, his green eyes glinting in the firelight. "First off, I'm not Godless. Second, I really don't give a toss bout what he did. And third, do you really want to make it so your kingdom can never hire our services again? Think carefully and quickly knight, Meris has not eaten her fill this evening."

The knight was obviously thinking about it regardless that he would lose most of his men or all of them in the effort. Pride was a deadly attribute to most Knights.

"Don't think I am leaving because I fear you." His lips curled into a contemptuous snarl, "I leave because when that thieving ass returns, and he will, then I'll cut off his nuts and then his head."

"I'm getting really sick of being talked about and being treated like a helpless kitten!"  

"Oh, I'm sorry Roan." Aristal turned towards the man, but it was obvious that he was keeping one eye on the Knights. "Did you want to go with them? I'm sorry I took that option away from you. Please, if you want to go have at it." Meris let out a chirruping growl towards her Rider that had Aristal looking up at her in surprise. There seemed to be a silent communication between the two that had Aristal shrugging and turning back to the Knights, the friendly smile returning to his lips.

Roan closed his mouth but there was a fire all his own raging in his eyes towards Aristral. He didn't want to go with the knights but the blond's own pride was a bit damaged when forced under a large griffon and been told to stay put as a mal behaved child.

"You'll see Rider. You'll regret not killing or handing him over."

"I very rarely regret not killing someone. Now, there are rare occasions where I actually enjoy it. Specifically when someone is rude and continues to annoy me." Aristal's smile turned cold and nasty and it was clear to see that there was no reason to guess who he was speaking of.

As if sensing Roan's ire, Meris lowered and curled her head under to give the man a gentle nuzzle with the tip of her beak and a soft chirrup. It was as if she were apologizing for the actions she was taking to annoy him.

"We will meet again and I will kill you." The Knight reared his horse around and galloped past the hounds and men. They, of course, followed without question with the men only giving a few dirty looks towards Roan and Aristral.
Riders is the story of Aristal, a griffon Rider and Roan, a bit of a fancy foot rouge. We're not very far on this at all. But we hope you enjoy this teaser chapter.
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Reila13's avatar
damn i love the way u guys write... i believed uve hooked me yet again