Buying Time

The night was freezing, as was to be expected in the deserts of Southern Griffonia. Ulric found this to be much more desirable than the scorching heat of day, for it reminded him of his home in the North. He had come to attend a meeting with the other Griffonian leaders, and he was terribly late. Of course they would want me to attend, he mused to himself. I'm the only one who could even fathom the idea of getting their claws dirty! And so it was, as he hurried through the dark alleys of sandstone walls and wooden pillars. Ulric Goldfeather, a soldier from Windrun, had been called to a meeting with kings, queens, and lords.

After a good few minutes of looking around, it was quite obvious that he was lost. He had been told to look for a red mark on the doorframe, but he couldn't find it. Perhaps a quick flyby would help, he thought. A few flaps of his wings, which were large and muscular (even for a Griffon), and he was up in the air. He began to glide around the city, searching for the mark he was supposed to find. "This is what happens when you aren't provided with a proper route," he grumbled in frustration. He soon began to calm himself by calling upon some memories.

The first one was how he had become so famous; the Battle of Cloudtree. He had been arriving to defend the city's walls when a group of wyrms-- flightless dragons-- began clawing their way up the walls. They began decimating the unlucky guards with blasts of dragonfire, and then he came up the walls, armed with a sword and shield. He started yelling out in a language he did not understand, and out of his mouth came fire. The griffons of Cloudtree won that day, and Ulric was now known by a new name; Dreki, which being interpreted to Equestrian, is "dragon".

The soldier was stirred from his thoughts as he saw the mark he was looking for. He swooped down to the house and knocked on the door. Just as soon as he did so, a view-port swung open. "Who goes there?", called out a griffon behind the door. Slightly annoyed, he replied indignantly, "It's me, Ulric! Open the damned door, for the love of Otec!". The guard's eyes widened in surprise, and the door swung open. He didn't want to face the wrath of someone like Ulric, certainly. As he walked in, the other guests glared at him and he was met by the penetrating stare of the leader: the Seer.

"You're late. If we plan to find Roac and defeat Equestria, this cannot happen again. Do I make myself clear?" If it were any other, Ulric would have flown into rage and surgically altered their face. But the Seer was not a simple mortal- she was something else. Something more sinister, and it could told simply by being in a room with her. So, as one might imagine, he nodded. Humbly.

"Good. Now, let's continue with the meeting."