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Chapter Three

The next day I was sore, but wasn't about to be stopped now that I had actually been moved into a cohort. Imamiri's group was one of the groups responsible for taking down the stragglers. We were five, including Imamiri. It made me glad that I wasn't in a cohort that was responsible for moving the slain beasts or for assisting wounded gryphons. Those jobs needed to be done, but they weren't for me.

I later found out that Yilell's group was one of the cohorts responsible for aiding the wounded. She showed me her satchel of sweetsleep bursting with pride, and I congratulated her, embracing her warmly. I maintained that I wasn't really cut out for that, but Yilell was actually perfect for it.

I trained hard, not pushing my strained wings too far. I would go back home sore, my father beaming with pride and my mother clucking over me, and would wake up sore but determined to prove myself. I made sure that my knowledge of our signals was perfect, and was surprised by the new things that we were taught. The few weeks flew by, and one night around the campfire one of the scouts flew in.

The oddity around this was that instead of just announcing that the herdbeasts were in sight, he flew straight up to Matriarch Iro with a strange look on his face. They spoke quietly for a few moments and then he was shooed forward to spread the good news. After it was announced, while we were all cheering, he disappeared off with the Matriarch who left Yilell behind. I excused myself from my parents' sides and moved over to my friend.

"What's going on?" I whispered.

"I don't know. He mentioned something about seeing some strange fires on the ground, and smelling strange creatures, but then mother cut him off and sent him forward to report the return of the herds." She frowned into the fire, but then shrugged. "I don't know anything more than that. Sorry, Renn."

"Bah. It's no big deal. Do you think it will affect the Hunt tomorrow?" That would be just my luck, my first hunt called off because of a sighting of some strange beast.

Yilell shook her head. "I don't think so, otherwise he wouldn't have been allowed to announce the sighting like that. Everything's still going to go as planned, I think."

I sat back, content. Tomorrow I would be able to prove myself. I prayed to Ona, the goddess of the sun and Uakry's mate, that she would rise swiftly and shine brightly throughout the day.

The next morning came, at the usual time despite my prayers, and I rose early and headed over to my cohort to get ready. We gathered and I watched the morning mist slowly evaporate in the morning sun, which shone fierce and bright. It was a good omen for the upcoming day, and we headed off to the edge of the plains with smiles on our beaks and songs in our hearts.

We set up on the cliff face, behind the cohorts that were to harry the herd onwards, discouraging the beasts from turning and fighting as we picked off the slow. This spot was the perfect place because the herd was hemmed in on both sides by the cliff and a large forest, forcing them through a much narrower bottleneck.

I couldn't see the leading edge when it reached us, but I could hear the multitude of herdbeasts that made it up. Thunder rose up from the ground as thousands of hooves struck the grass, thousands of throats calling to each other through their long journey.

The first seven cohorts rose, flying towards the herdbeasts, driving them on with sharp dives and raking talons, fierce screeches and even the occasional dropped rock or branch. At this point I could see them, a great brownish moving tide of flesh, the bodies pushed so close together that they appeared to be one giant organism with some fraying at the edges. We waited for a few moments more, and although I cannot speak for every gryphon there, I felt my heart was in my throat to the point where I might choke. Even from up here, they seemed dangerous; one misstep could lead a gryphon to being trampled underfoot or gored by a horn.

It seemed like an eternity before the signal went up for us to take off. The five cohorts rose up as one, separating mid-air. We flew farther down the line, and waited for the second signal, the one that would tell us to drop down and start picking off prey. I watched the edges as we waited, watched the stragglers moving off to the side, slower than the main herd. Maybe one was older than the rest, or turned an ankle during the run and could only limp along. Those were our marks.

As I hovered I remembered the story of the foolish Matriarch who nearly lead her eyrie to disaster. She wanted to go down in history as having killed the most herdbeasts in a single go, for arriving at the wintering grounds with food to spare. Instead, she weakened the great herd so that future years had to hunt carefully, and all for the sake of hundreds of pounds of meat rotting on the ground. Gryphons had to carry all of that meat, after all, and there were only so many shoulders to bear that burden. Hers was the lesson taught to us about frugality, that leaving the healthy young and adults alone would insure that there was food for future years.

I was jerked out of my reverie by our signal and dove. This time I kept my beak clamped shut, even though I still wanted to call out with the joy of it. We moved as one team as we descended towards the side, splitting apart at the end to hit our intended targets. I swooped low and found an elderly beast, limping along. His ebony horns were long and proud, his hide a russet brown striped with shadows. He looked back at the last second, and his eyes widened to show the whites. The buck gave a final burst of speed, and I pumped my wings to match. I flew over him, and then swung downwards, my paws grabbing his flanks a heartbeat before my fore-talons sank into his withers, latching myself firmly onto his back. He was a tough old critter, and gave me a few bucks for my trouble before my beak found purchase on his neck. Once clamped down I gave it a fierce shake, snapping his neck and ending his struggle. I looked up then, and saw that we were a little ways away from the main column. I grabbed his body and strained, lifting him up into the air and flying him a little ways farther out to the side, depositing his body out of the way for the gathering cohorts to come grab.

Now that that was taken care of, noise thundered back into my ears. The herd was still moving past, and I took to the air to find another victim. It shocked me every time it happened; I would swoop in and my world would narrow down to me and my prey. All other sights and sounds would fall away, and all that existed would be the bucking, fighting form beneath me and my reactions to it.

All told, I believe I brought down three or four beasts before I tired, my wings aching from the constant motion. I signaled to Imamiri that I needed a break, and headed over to the edge of the forest to rest instead of flying back to the cliff. I watched the precision strikes of the guiding cohorts, constantly driving the herd onward. I watched the attacks of the striking cohorts, singling out their prey and knocking them down. I saw one gryphon get thrown from his prey before he could properly latch on and I then got to see the healers in action, swooping down in teams of two to help the wounded out of the way and dose him so that he could fly off under his own power. I saw one gryphon go down, never to rise again. They removed her body and placed at the side where the beasts were laying, waiting for pick up. I couldn't tell who it was that went down, but we would have a ceremony that night for the fallen.

I sat and watched as the herd thinned down to a mere trickle, the once-green field now a brown, mucky morass of churned earth. I was just about to take off when a familiar green and blue form came gracefully winging her way down to land beside me. I gave Yilell a tired smile.

"How goes your first Hunt?" I asked, taking in her equally tired grin.

"Well. Yours?"

"It was... Exhilarating. I've never felt so alive! Although, I don't think I've ever felt quite this tired, either." I laughed softly.

"That I will definitely agree with. I think mother had the right idea when she placed us where we ended up." She sighed. "I think my heart stopped a little every time I saw someone diving down. I'm glad it's pretty much over."

"Yeah. We should probably head back..." I rose, preparing to take off.

"I'd offer to race you, but I think that'd be cheating, taking advantage of your tired self!" She laughed.

"Ha! We'll see about that!" I challenged as I tucked my feet under me.

She turned back, smiling brightly as she launched upwards. And then she crashed back to the ground as a net appeared from behind us, landing over her body. She gave a shriek as she fell, her breath whooshing out of her as she hit the ground.

"YILELL!" I screamed, launching myself forward as a second net fell on me, fouling up my wings and holding me to the ground. I screamed and writhed, reaching a talon out to her. I felt a sharp pain in my flank, and tried to turn to see what had bitten me. The ropes all around me made it hard to see, my beak kept snagging on them, my talons were all tangled up, and my wings were weighed down and useless. With a sense of surprise, I felt my hindquarters go numb, followed by my talons.

The last thing I saw as my head hit the ground was Yilell starting to sag also, a look of stark fear on her features.