The old Gryphon lay on the sun-warmed rocks, flaring his wings just slightly to absorb as much sun-warmth as was possible. He closed his goldish-green eyes, and a slight sigh escaped his beak. In the noonday sun, the faded tawny colour of his hindquarters, and the dulling red-gold of his forecolors shone. The rubies that adorned the chain around his neck, and set in the hoops of his earrings glistened.

But despite the perfection of the day, the Gryphon’s heart was heavy in him. He lowered his head, and studied his raptor-like foreclaws. Battle scarred and worn as they were, there was one detail he concentrated more than the others. The first "finger" of his left paw was missing the deadly talon.

He sighed again. This time it was much heavier. He slowly, almost painfully laid his great head on outstretched legs. His eyes unfocused as he drifted deep into memories of the past . . . .

He was young, much younger, and his coat hadn’t faded nearly so much, he had been a brilliant beast of tawny and red gold, bright as a young sun. His black wings had no traces of the gray that adorned them now. He was strong, and vain. And no one dared challenge him.

He had been asleep on these very same rocks, watching the sun set, and fondling a rather large natural ruby when he heard the man approach. He closed his eyes, and evoked his ability to hide in plain sight.

The man, however young looking, was ancient. Not nearly as old as he, but nonetheless, old. He was of blue eyes and black hair. His clothing was black as well, and he walked with a cane. The Gryphon could tell the man did not need the carved stick, but it had served its purpose.

Trailing behind the man was a dog . . . no, wolf, gray and brown, not much different than the man, but having the same aura of age.

The wolf whined as it looked to its master.

"Shadow, shut up." the man said irritably, "I know something is here, and with you making all that noise it knows we’re here too!"

The Gryphon chuckled, "I knew you were there long before your mutt started making all that noise!" The Gryphon did his best to sound irritated.

The man and wolf stopped dead in their tracks. And looked around, neither being able to place where the voice was.

"Where are you?" demanded the man.

"Touchy . . ." leered the Gryphon, "Don’t be rude. I could snap you in half before you knew what happened."

The man sighed, though still irritated, said much more politely, "Ok, I’m sorry. I really didn't like not being able to see who I am talking to."

"Too bad," replied the Gryphon, "It will stay that way until I find it appropriate to show you myself."

The man sighed angrily. Shadow whined.

"Temper temper . . . what do you call yourself?" asked the Gryphon.

"I am called Oliver Duwah." he replied.

"And I am Choursourin Ra’kel Sekorrin Reehish Dra Tokrothith." Replied the Gryphon with much pride in his formal name, grinning, as it was nearly impossible to pronounce in human tongue.

"Um, fancy name, Char-sur-Ren...Seekour...." Oliver stopped, unable to pronounce the name.

"You can call me Ra'kel." said the Gryphon, doing his best not to laugh.

"And you can call me, Oliee." the man said sitting down and facing the place that he best guessed the voice was coming from.

"Well then, now that we know who we each are, lets cut the pleasantries . . . Why are you in my territory?" The Gryphon’s tone, which had been good-humored thus far, had a true note of irritation in it this time.

Oliee swallowed hard and his wolf, Shadow, whined again.

"And would you shut that damn dog up!" the Gryphon thundered.

Oliee clamped his hand around Shadow’s muzzle.

"So?" asked Ra'kel.

"I, uh . . . well . . . ." Oliee seemed to be at a loss of words.

"For the love of Gaia and everything you hold holy, spit it out!" Ra'kel was getting impatient.

"I was just on a quest to find something for my true love. I haven’t seen her for many years, and I want something special for her."

Ra’kel cocked his head . . . could this person be after his treasure horde? No, this one seems too smart, but there was only one way to find out . . .

"Well then . . . perhaps I can help you." With but a thought Ra'kel banished his hiding for plain sight.

The man was clearly taken aback. Ra'kel was about the size or a draft horse, probably larger. That and he had been lying but a few feet away from Oliee.

"You shall come with me, but that dog stays here!" Ra'kel stood up.

"Ok." Oliee seemed unsure of himself.

Ra'kel moved beside Oliee, "Climb on." he said shortly. Oliee obeyed, and was soon settled between the Gryphon’s wings and neck. Ra'kel crouched and took off into the air with mighty beats of his wings. Soon the two were soaring in the cloudless nighttime sky.

They approached the Gryphon’s lair; it was a large cave carved out of a sheer cliff side. It would be nearly impossible to get to it on foot. Ra'kel backstroked and landed on the cliff face, climbing into the back maw that was the entrance to his home.

He said a word in Gryphon tongue and strange lights lit the entire expanse, revealing a cozy sleeping/recreation area and a tunnel at the back of the room. In the living room as it were, was a nest of sorts, made of furs and other soft things. There was what could be best described as an oversized desk, and some shelves with large books on them.

While Oliee was taking all of this in, Ra'kel had already disappeared into the tunnel/hallway. Oliee heard him say the word again and a warm glow came form the hallway. He followed the warm light.

The room was huge. The ceiling disappeared into darkness, and the room was so spacious that it would have been a good 20 minuets to get from one side to the other. But in it, piled high was the Gryphon’s treasure.

Gold and silver, gems of all sorts, some natural, some carved. Armor, weapons, chariots, and even some antique cars. The wealth of the world was here.

Ra’kel was perched on an oversized throne that seemed to fit him perfectly.

"There you go, pick what you will, the choice is yours"

Ra'kel waited while Oliee searched for over an hour. At last he approached the Gryphon. Ra'kel could sense disappointment coming from the man.

"What have you chosen, Oliee?"

"Nothing, great one." Oliee replied.

"Why? Was my treasure not good enough? Was there nothing to satisfy you for your true love?"

"No, it just that, gold and riches are wonderful, but there is nothing here but physical trinkets . . . I do not wish that to proclaim my love to her."

Ra'kel nodded, "Come then, let us leave."

With that the two departed from Ra'kel’s aerie and returned to where shadow lay, waiting expectantly for his master.

"I am sorry to have bothered you." Oliee said with a slight bow, turning to leave.

"Wait, " said Ra'kel, feeling the first rays of the morning sun falling on his back.

"Because you have shown that you are not possessed by the greed that most humans are. And because you have shown that your love to this person it true, I will give you the perfect gift."

Ra'kel held out his left foreleg, and in one swift movement brought it to his beak and there was a loud crack as a single talon fell to the ground. Ra'kel held his now bleeding foreclaw close to his chest.

"Human greed does not posses you because you are not human Oliee. That I can sense. So give that to your love, and it will protect her from all magic, except for those of your people."

Oliee stared at wonder at the claw, but his head jerked up at the Gryphon’s words. "But . . ." he started.

"No, hush. For every advantage there is a sacrifice. Keep that, and keep her close. They may come to save you some time. Now, get to where you will rest for the day, the sun is rising, and not all of the magic on this Earth can stop it."

Ra'kel watched with a grin as the black-haired man and his wolf disappeared quickly into the woods.

Ra'kel awoke suddenly as a ball of fur and feathers pummeled into his side, followed by two more. He looked down at the three kits.

"Grandfather!" they squealed, their high-pitched voices raising in excitement.

"What is it?" asked Ra'kel lovingly.

"You promised to tell us a story after our nap!" piped Sar’shan.

"Yeah! Which one are you going to tell us?" asked Tree’sa

"Tell us about how you lost your claw!" begged Kortha.

"But you’ve heard it a thousand times!" objected Ra'kel.

"PLEASE?" the three asked together. Giving him their best puppydog looks.

"Fine, fine," said the old Gryphon giving in. "It had been a warm spring day and I had just got a giant ruby from the dragon, Snraggyl. You all know that story . . . Anyway, as I was preparing to sleep, I heard a person approaching . . . ."

The End