not expected.
Treyvan had suffered the bondbird's behavior enough.
Vree found himself flying straight for Treyvan's enormous beak; easily large enough to engulf the bird.
Darkwind reached out his hand in a useless gesture. He didn't even have time to think. It was all happening too fast. Vree frantically tried to pull up out of the dive.
Too late.
Crack.
The sound of Treyvan's beak snapping shut echoed across the Vale like nothing that had ever been heard there before. Like the sound of an enormous branch snapping in two, perhaps, or the jaws of a huge steel trap closing.
Or the hands of a giant slapping together. Clouds of songbirds took wing in alarm.
Vree screamed in pain and dove for the safety of Darkwind's wrist.
Treyvan spat out the single tail-feather he'd bitten off with an air of aggrieved triumph.
Darkwind heaved a sigh of relief. Treyvan was a carnivore, as much a raptor as Vree was; something he never forgot. Vree was lucky; incredibly lucky-Because Treyvan hadn't missed. He'd snapped off exactly what he intended to. The gryphons' reflexes were as swift and sure as the fastest goshawk, and if Treyvan had chosen, it would have been Vree's neck that was broken, not a tail-feather.
'I warned You,' Darkwind said, as Elspeth hovered between sympathy for the badly-frightened bird and the laughter she was obviously trying to repress. 'I warned you, and you wouldn't listen!' Treyvan fixed the trembling, terrified bondbird with a single glaring eye. 'You arrre jussst forrrtunate that I wasss not hungerrred,' he hissed, and Darkwind 'heard' him echoing his words in simple thoughtimages the bondbird would have no difficulty understanding. 'You may not farrrre so well a sssecond time.' Vree cowered against Darkwind's chest, making tiny sounds of acute distress and pain.
'Now you're going to be minus that feather until you molt, unless I can imp it back in.'
'Hurts,' Vree wailed. 'Scared!'
'I know it hurts. You should be glad he didn't pull it out, or bite your tail off.' Darkwind caressed the gyre until he stopped trembling, as Elspeth bent to pick up the feather and offered it to him.
He took the gesture at face value, and not for the one implied by Hawkbrother custom. 'Tell Treyvan you're sorry,' he told Vree sternly, holding the bondbird out to the gryphon's face, within easy reach of that enormous beak.
Maybe this will impress him enough that he won't try the game again. He sighed. I certainly hope so.
The gyre looked up into the huge amber eyes as Darkwind held him up to the gryphon's face. 'S-s-s-sorry,' the bird stuttered-no mean feat, mentally. 'S-s-s-sorry!' He certainly sounded sincere.
'Promise you won't do it again,' Darkwind ordered.
Vree shook, and slicked down all his feathers with unhappiness. 'Not snatch again,' he agreed. 'Not ever. Never, never, never, never.' Darkwind transferred the bird from his wrist to the padded shoulder of his jerkin, where Vree huddled against his hair, actually pushing himself into the hair so that it partially covered him, hiding. Darkwind examined the feather carefully, hoping that it hadn't been too badly damaged. Vree depended on his tail for steering; the loss of one feather might not seem like a great deal, but it would make a difference in his maneuverability.
'You did a good job,' he remarked to Treyvan, whose crest was rising slowly again. 'It's a nice clean cut, only cracked the shaft a little.
I won't need to use one of last year's set. I should be able to imp this one back in with no problems.' The gryphon chuckled. 'It isss in parrt Vree'sss doing. If he had not turrned, I ssshould not have been able to catch the tail featherssss. If he did not turrrn, I wasss going to catch him and hold him, then let him go.
'He'd have been frightened to death. Well, I think you've finally made an impression on him,' Darkwind replied-not chuckling, though he wanted to, for fear of hurting the bird's feelings. 'He finally sees you as a bigger, hungrier, meaner version of a bondbird, and not something like a glorified firebird. To tell you the truth, I think he's just fascinated by beautiful feathers, like your crest and the firebirds' tails. He snatches their feathers all the time.' Treyvan's crest rose completely, with mock indignation. 'I ssshould hope we arrre not glorrrified firrrebirds,' he snorted.' I am a vain birrrd, and I appreciate that he findsss my cressst ssso attrrractive, but we arrre not anything like firrrrebirrdssss.'
'What are you, though?' Elspeth asked, suddenly. 'I mean, you don't really look like anything I know of-other than vaguely like hawkeagles and falcons.'
'oh, well, we arrre not anything you know,' Hydona replied, vaguely. 'Not hawk, not falcon. It isss not asss if sssomeone took bitsss and piecesss of birrrd and cat and patched usss togetherrr, afterrr all!'
'Yes, but there are supposed to be gryphons north and west of Valdemar,' Elspeth persisted. 'But there aren't any in any of the inhabited lands I know-so where do you two come from?'
'Wessst.' Hydona shrugged. 'You would not know the place. Even the Hawkbrotherrsss had not hearrrd of it.' Elspeth wasn't giving up that easily. 'Well, is that where your kind comes from? Is that why there aren't any gryphons in Valdemar?' Treyvan gave her a droll look out of the corner of his eye. 'If you arrrre asssking if we arrre a kind of Changechild orrrr Pelagirrr monssterrrr,' he replied, 'I can tell you that we arrre not, and thanksss be to Sssskandrrranon forrr that. We werrrre crreated by one of the Grreat Magessss, the Mage of Ssssilence, whom we knew asss Urrrtho. That wasss a long time ago, beforrre the Mage Warrrs. He crrrreated the hertasssi asss well, and othersss. That wasss hisss grrreat powerrr and joy, to crrreate new crrreaturessss. Ssso they sssay.' Before Elspeth could leap in with another question, Hydona yawned hugely and looked up at the sky. 'It isss late,' she said abruptly, 'and I am hungerrred, even if Trrreyvan isss not.'
'Not hungerrred enough forrr falcon,' Treyvan chuckled. 'But a nicsse clawful of geesssse, now-orrr a young deerr....
Hydona parted her beak in a gryphonic smile. 'I think we will leave you now, Darrrkwind.'
