Flying through the small town and feeling the biting winds along my wings was far more pleasant than it had ever felt before, encumbered with only the thin hide to prove my birthright and a small dagger on my hip I dived down into the town proper and looked around. The rymaic clang of a hammer meeting some metal probably a plow or sword, there was little else a town like this would find use for.
The ground was hard with frozen mud and as I walked along it and I cursed my lack of paw coverings or gloves. Looking for the telltale sign of the recruitment tent I also kept an eye out for any food venders, quickly finding one and giving a pair of my megure coppers for a chicken breast that I bit down on without tasting swallowing to fill my empty stomach I continued on my way strutting past tenners and pony traders without any real interest in the insignificant town around me.
Finally finding what I had came here for I opened my wings to catch a gust of icy gale and rode it down a short hill to a large purple and yellow tent with a large plume at its top signifying a recruitment tent for the fief of Mid Talon Goldfeather. The Griffin who owned the area and who undoubtedly would be looking for more free griffins in her forces.
Pushing past the tent flap and scanning the cramped space filled with tables and books I caught the eye of an older griffin gently putting a quill into an inkpot to scratch a few more runes into the book before him, glancing down to finish the character he put the quill to the side and smiled warmly at me so I stepped forward offering my Hide Birthright without a word.
“A Freegriffin of House Stormwing, this is good hide, how did you beg your freedom?” he asked me running a talon down the intricate lines and pictures that outline my youth.
“My Hatchmother spoke for me to my Clanmother who offered me my freedom in return for one thousand silver” I remembered the deal, being born into one of the clans of a House a Griffin is not considered anything more than a servant of their Clanmother, this is unless they beg of their freedom, they are then given a task to accomplish in a year to be known as a Freegriffin and my Clanmother, being a kind old crow, had simply requested a sum of silver twice that of my upbringing.
“So you will have a one year contract to pay for your freedom and then what? Do you intend to stay with the Goldfeather company?” he began looking at my recent years, the blade-hen achievements I had accomplished in my short life.
“I intend to stay for at least three years then, if I have saved enough silver, to start my own company and offer my sword to become a vassal of the Crown” rather optimistic I thought but it paid to be ambitious.
“If that is the case I only need your oath of service and you will be a Freegriffin in the employ of Goldfeather” bowing my head and offering an oath to serve for three years in the Goldfeather company at arms, an oath I had memorized not two weeks ago for this very moment, I watched as he laid my Birthright into a small wooden box and locked it with a silver key.
Pushing back the tentflap I was almost run over by a pony dragging a wagon no doubt laden with gems and enchanted tools from Equestria.
“Hey Watch it!” shouted a tired looking pony strapped to the head of the cart. Ignoring the pitiful excuse for lunch I made my way to the local Inn with the intent to find a room to stay the night.
As it turns out this small town had two Inns, one was owned by a fat old hen who bossed her chicks around with a warm kindness that made the whole place feel homely, being that the only alternative had an Equestrian sign on the door I was more than happy to stay in good Griffin accommodation.
“Five copper a night” the fat hen smiled when I asked for a room, and I paid gladly offering another three copper to have a warm meal in the morn.
Pushing the door to the small room I paid for I found a nest of fresh straw and a small nightstand for my knife and small copper purse that I made use of before bedding down for the night.
The morning was a quiet affair, given that I had gone to bed early I left my room just as the sun lifted over the southern mountains. Oddly I remembered that the Ponies worshiped there sun goddess to bring the sun up each day, smiling to myself at the ridiculous notion I made my way down to the kitchen to ask about my hot meal and found a raven griffin of slight build slaving over a hearth keeping it burning, from the bags under his eyes I assumed he was there to keep the fire from going out.
“O-oh! Good morning Miss. Can I get you anything” He turned to look at me, swaying in a way that clearly indicated a light head, as concerned as I was for the wellbeing of the boy I nodded to the oven determined to get my food and leave.
“Yes, I paid for a hot meal, if you will I would take it by my leave.”
“Oh, Right, yeah okay” he moved with a deftness that only came to a Griffin of low enough status to work in such a menial position, I watched bemused as he threw together something warm and edible and thanking him with a copper I quickly left stepping into the Icy wind to make a good impression by being so early.
Flying down onto the town square I looked to the small crowd of griffins quickly scanning them as they gawked openly. Uneven muscle tones and mutty feather colour I had no doubt that the crowd was comprised of low talon rabble, I also noted that they were standing before the old Griffin who I spoke to yesterday.
“Ah, good for you to join us Eidyia, I am impressed that you are all so early, it bodes well for this years training, I am to understand that you have more than a fair bit of experience as a Sergeant?”
“I have served as such” I bowed my head while tenseing to show the well built muscle around my entire from, I was no farmer or cook, I was a fighter, a taker of lives.
“Good, you can be our line by right” Nodding I looked back at the other recruits who were looking at me with a mixture of jealousy and disdain that was so common when the lower class met their betters.
It was two hours before the rest of the motley group arrived and I had very little hope for any of them. Under nourished and confused looking they were a typical band of castoffs from the farms when the winter stocks of the clanless became too scarce to feed the entire family.
“Now that we are all here” the Old Griffin started again, he had not spoken to me since I arrived, nor had any of the others. Instead moving to the most scared and confused and offering them words of support and encouragement, something I have no doubt made him an effective recruiter.
“Its a long walk to the keep, so we will be forming up in a unit to march, to do this you will form rows of six and you will walk in step with the line by left who will be setting the pace, the line by right will keep an eye out for any potholes or objects in the road and will alert the unit or try there best to remove the obstruction before the unit reaches it, are there any questions?” I watched as small groups, no doubt friends or people who had taken a liking to each other, grouped together, no doubt in the hope of walking in the same row so they can talk.
“Yeah, why can't we fly there?” a lanky hen asked with a rather nasal voice.
“Because you will be transporting food, clothes, two tents and more paperwork than any single griffin has any right to make” he nodded to the tent’s to the side of the town square “Your first task in the service of Goldfeather is to dismantle the tents, pack everything into the carrying sacks and carry them to the fort, its thirty kilometers from here so it will be a nice relaxing stroll” he grinned in the way that old Griffins do when they tell a lie to the young.
The Griffins were a surprisingly cohesive group for a bunch of rabble, but still I ended up with two carry sacks after a runt of a raven tried to lift one and was almost crushed. The march began with little fanfare, the old griffin lined us all up and helped the more defective farmers with marching in time with each other and in less than half an hour we were off. The road was a tenuous affair, a beaten down hard mud winding track through the bleak fields that made up most of the Griffin Kingdom farmland, the grain to our sides was mostly harvested which left stubs in the ground and a great deal of visibility to the wide frozen landscape, it also offered no protection to the frozen wind.
“So Eidyia is it? Where do you come from?” a dark grey feathered griffin with pink tips to her feathers asked me, marching in step to my left, given that I was the rightmost griffin this did not surprise me.
“Holly Honeybeak at your service!” she squeaked before getting a hold of herself, thankfully her step had not been lost in her sudden loss of posture, she must be taking to marching well.
“Its nice to meet you” I replied honestly, she seemed capable and her voice was far from annoying, actually her voice was rather pleasant but given that her name was Honeybeak that was hardly a surprise.
“So you are from a mid talon house? Why join with the rest of us then?” I assumed she was asking due to a lack of knowledge regarding how the upper houses worked and I was not wrong.
“Its hard to explain... If I remained in my house I would be sent to lead forces and command troops but I could not do so in my own name, If I buy my freedom from my Clanmother I will be allowed to legally own land in my own name rather than being a servant to my family. However I need money to appease the people who raised me and pay them back for the years they spent molding me into the griffin I am today.”
“Wait, you can’t just leave and own land?!” she looked agast “Why not?!”
“Well unless I buy my freedom it is assumed that I am owned by my Clan, any land I own and any force I raise is legally owned by my Clanmother, its how the upper class does things”
“Sounds a bit silly to me” She responded dourly before she got all perky and cheerful again “Still, you seem nice enough, my brothers all told me that any griffin from the upper talons were full of themselves and rude, but you seem nice” I was quite honestly touched by her words, given that I had not been told I was nice before, it was only much later I found out that I was not given that phrase often because I did not deserve it in the first place.
Cagepeak castle was built to defend one of the many passes into the Griffin Kingdom from a diamond dog uprising one thousand six hundred years ago and features many of the archaeological designs of the time. A sprawling complex that spans the entire half kilometer pass with a confusing mass of walls, guard towers and store rooms all built apart to support the griffins best advantage over the dogs, air superiority.
The huge walled castles were made to support an army in the tens of thousands for months without resupply and provide accommodation even with the threat of a borrowing force attacking it. The large castles were always dominated by a huge black keep with a steel foundation and enchanted walls to survive even the most powerful magical attacks. It is to be noted however that by the time the Keep was finished, its walls finally erected, the Diamond dog’s short lived empire had been crushed by the newly founded Equestrian republic, a precursor to modern Equestria.
With more castles made just like Cagepeak across the kingdom for a huge force of griffins that were no longer necessary the castles became epicenters for fiefdoms granted in an effort to decentralize the young government of the time. I did not think about this at the time, marching into the castle with the other recruits and looking at the moss covered, crumbling ruin, ancient by any definition, I only acknowledged how wasteful it was that only a fifth of the buildings and facilities here were in use. Mostly centered around the huge dark structure in the middle of the castle.
The griffins around me where panting and swaying no doubt woozy from the long march, Holly herself was practically leaning on me and I had amassed two more sacks on my back from griffins who Griz-whitewing, the old griffin had finally told me his name on the way, determined too weak to carry the full distance.
Such was the quality of my fellow recruit.
“FORMATION HALT!” Griz shouted and I felt someones face collide with my flank as many of my fellows were stunned by the sudden order.
“Not a bad batch this year” A middle aged hen with a missing wing came out of the keep looking over the gathering her eyes slipping over me and looking directly at some of the other griffins before she turned to Griz “I have cleaned out two rooms on the fourth floor for your use, the training ground will be clear for the next week so try to take advantage of that” with a polite bow of his head Griz turned to us.
“Drop off your sacks in the storehouse to your right and follow me inside, try not to get in any griffins way” doing what we were told I sighed happily as I dropped off the heavy load, my back popping pleasantly as I arched it.
“I think that's the first time you have shown emotion on that face of yours” Turning around to the voice I found a lanky blue hen who was just slightly taller than me, eyes full of mirth and mischief.
“Sorry?” I turned my head to emphasize my confusion, this conversation just screamed awkward and I wanted to expedite it at any cost.
“Oh, its just you looked so dour the entire way here... I was half worried you had no feelings at all” I could have derailed the conversation there with a rude comment as to her understanding of my purpose here but that would hardly have been constructive given that we had both signed on for at least three years together.
“Yes... Well its just that I am not used to this, I have been trying to keep quiet as possible” a harmless lie, no doubt she would not try to see though it given that it did not serve her any purpose to find out my real reasons.
“Well just give us all a bit of trust, we can all see you are the most experienced griffin here, we need to work together if we want a good few years am I right”
“Yes I agree, sorry I did not get your name?”
“Berry Buckbeak, I know equestrian name, its what my mother called me, she was a hippogriff, I am one fourth unicorn” that was certainly something that interested me, Unicorns are one of the many subsets of the pony race, more importantly they are the sub race most known for their bombastic use of the magical arts and its well known that there offspring have more talent with magic then most.
However I never got the chance to ask her more because at that instant Griz burst into the storage barn “SNOWSTORM! HURRY UP YOU SORRY LOOKING CABBAGES!” bellowing at the group while he was just a few meters away no doubt was the first act that culminated in the lifelong ringing in my ears that I suffer though in my twilight years.
The rest of the night was a blur of activity, dashing into the keep itself, cleaning out some side rooms, being given a meal and then sent to a cramped dorm room with two rows of beds one on each side of the long hall like structure. There was enough room here to house twice our number, there were about thirty of us in all but by the time we were settled into a bed and the candlelight was extinguished there was silence.
The next few weeks where a structured mess of activity, raised at dawn we were put through a run around the entire castle, something that many of my fellow griffins found themselves unable to do ending up dry heaving on the ground, it became clear why we did this before we had eaten this morning meal.
When we returned to the keep most of the food had been eaten by the more experienced troops before they went to patrol the outlying towns or change the guard in any manned outposts. There was however more then enough food left over for us and we had a hearty breakfast of pork, potato, bread and ale.
after that was the weapon drills, that amounted to handing the farmers a short sword and having them whack a dummy target until their arms where numb and there back aced, having already gone though this particular training I found myself squaring off with Griz himself.
“Eidyia show me what weapon you are most practiced with” the old griffin was showing the others how to stand with a weapon and shield properly, wings spread, on hind legs with one paw back a step side on to your foe. Picking a long sword from the rack I tested the old blade and found it had been blunted well enough to serve and its balance while far from perfect was adequate.
“Oh right, of course you would be proficient in long sword fighting, you must have been a duelist” striding forward he plucked another long sword from the rack and we moved to a battle circle and stood facing one another on our hind legs.
“Now all of your gawkers” he began “when fighting a single opponent, no matter what weapon you use, stand on your hind legs, not only does it make you the biggest damn fighter in the world shy of dragons but it gives you the momentum to use your weapons most effectively”
Gripping the sword in one talon at the hilt and my other half way down the blade with its flat facing Griz I circled him slowly letting my wings and tail relax and give me balance, he quickly copied my movements.
“Paw-work is important in a fight and be careful never to cross your legs, always hold yourself side on from your opponent with your leading foreleg back like this” in a moment he moved his talon from the blade and made a wide sweep with the long sword that I interrupted with the middle of the blade between my talons and quickly darting in with a two talon overhead swing that he blocked.
“Now if you are in a fight with someone stronger than you” It was clear I was stronger than the old crow given that I was younger and bigger “try to avoid a war of attrition and get as many hits in as you can” before he could twist his sword and hook the talon-guard under my foreleg to disarm me I moved my hand to the tip of my sword and flapped my wings flipping over him and tapping his back with my blade winning the round.
“Good show Eidyia, now all of you saw what she did but I need to explain that a little, when fighting with a sword alone when your opponent also has a sword you need to use your weapon as a lever to disarm or get a fatal hit in first, just slashing and whacking each other turns into a nasty war of attrition that will make losers of both fighters, however if honor is on the line it is better to die and take the wing of your opponent then not” a blue and green feathered crow walked out from the crowd.
“But what if you had armour sir? her hit to your back would have done nothing” he cocked his head as I looked him over and Griz let out a squawk.
“Well you can train for all of that, armour is a bit more advanced than this, anyway short swords and shield I want three griffins to fight Eidyia!” I sent him a glare that he took with a grin as three strong looking farmhens stepped forward intent on giving the mid talon show off a good licking no doubt.
It was with good cheer they set upon me, spreading out and whacking at my shealdleg until it ached, while I fended them off nicely it was not without nine strokes along my middle and twelve upon my forelegs, I gave as good as I got however bruising the wrist of the biggest hen who was still small compared to me and a crack across the beak of a fiery grey bird.
A few hours later the entire recruit company trudging into our barracks with a wide range of bruises and even a few cracked bones showed the vigor we set about our training, the number of injuries decreased in the next few weeks as we got better with our assigned weapons, I was allowed to continue to train with the long sword but any of the other recruits who tried the blade failed to wield it as more than a long, sharp, stick.
The next week’s training was a rough sort, a harsh campaign to weed out the weaker griffins from the stronger, thankfully none were so shameful as to request an annulment of their oath to the Vassal Goldenfeather. Long days marching in lines, forming fighting formations and hitting targets as a line made fast friends of most griffins, Honeybeak continued to sit with me at the mess and talk to me while we trained and I can honestly say it was a pleasure to be around her.
After the first week the training became more focused, we were split into talons, a set of three griffins, that were grouped into wings, a set of two talons led by a corporal and then into a larger detachment called a platoon, made up of four wings and let by a sergeant, it was a modern force developed from studying treatises from Equestria and Minos, griffins might be the greatest fighters in the world but that had only made the other races more determined to devise a numerical or tactical advantage, it is only through adapting with the knowledge of others can the griffin kingdom grow.
I was assigned to the recruit company as Platoon Sergeant and not a fortnight passed before I was given my first duty.
Stepping into a small room furnished with a simple wooden table and a wine rack I sat down with a small book given to me in order to keep track of my Platoon, I was expected to resolve all disputes of the griffins under my command and to act as a effective commander in planning the days training.
As I sat down Griz sat next to me putting three tin mugs onto the table and filling them with wine, I took mine and sampled it gratefully finding it far too sour for my tastes.
It was quite a shock when a pony strolled into the room.
The equestrian had a pure white coat with a short green mane that curled around her stubby horn, grinning at me and my no doubt incredulous expression she bowed her head “I am Firestarter, Mage to Goldfeather” she said as way of introduction.
“Eidyia, aspirant freegriffin in the company of Goldfeather” I responded politely as the old single winged hen I saw when my company entered the keep entered the room and took a chair, I noticed that she did not take the mug and instead it lifted as if by itself and floated over to the unicorn.
I will take this moment to impress upon you my dislike for magic, it is a most cowardly tool to hide behind and grants power to the most undeserving of beings, only the few lowest of the low, would demand that the laws of nature be known so that they may exploit them for their own gain, magic is an element that has carelessly cost so many lives in its insidious tendency to favor scions who will do anything in there quest to understand and gain more of its fleeting form of power.
I would apologize for the breach of manor in this tale, let us get back to it.
“You must be wondering why we asked you here?” The one winged griffin who identified herself as Astrid spoke and I nodded my head in the affirmative.
“Well” the unicorn began “there has been a recent string of raids on some of the outlying villages by diamond dog raiders, most of our forces are south and it leaves just three companies here to ensure the safety of the fief, given that the other companies are dedicated to patrols day and night I posed to the Countess that the recruit company could seek out the band of raiders and see them off, no doubt they are itching for a fight” I found her opinion on the desires of my platoon offensive and accurate.
“It would not be easy to track a band of raiders with only four wings, however I do agree it will be good experience regardless for my fellows” the rest of the meeting was ultimately unimportant and aggravating as Firestarter had a rather overt role in discussing the logistics of arming and feeding my company.
The three villages around the castle where each around half a days flight away given the high density of living that the mountain valleys demanded, a faint layer of snow had blanketed the expansive farmland to make a stunning if bleak environment, flying with two wings towards the town most recently raided while the remaining wings moved to secure the other towns in case the raiders struck again.
Landing in the village center with the long padded leather coat of the Goldenfeather company with a wooden shield on my left foreleg and a steel short sword at my hip I was followed by twin ranks of my fellows in much shorter coats befitting their rank. We where met by a village elder who had seen so many winters it had blinded him, given eyes white as the snow around us he spoke as we landed.
“Ah good, you are here, we have been expecting you! The raiders arrived again this morning and took with them most of our winter store!” he lifted his forelegs and waved them about in a grandiose manner.
“Sir, do you know of there hideout so we might set upon them and drive them from our lands?” I asked looking around and seeing pots broken on the ground and dog marks in the dirt.
“Yes! A young chick snuck after them and found where they hide, it is a cave not far from here” He passed me a small piece of cloth with a crude but clear map showing a cave to the west of the town far out of sight of any road.
Looking back at the griffins who followed me I made the choice then to attack with only half of my force, no doubt that two strong wings of griffins would be more than a match for the raiding dogs.
The flight to the cave was charged with the boiling blood of young griffins of to a fight, small bursts of speed from the more headstrong ones were suppressed with grins by the corporals and it was not more than two hours before we had reached the cave itself, no doubt we had been spotted by the dogs as we landed because an extinguished fire pit outside the mouth of the cave had the half roasted corpse of a stolen rabbit sitting lazily upon a spit.
Forming up into twin lines once more we set forth to the cave where the dogs where no doubt hiding our wings extended and our feathers puffed out in pride and excited energy.
It was then that the quiet of the day was broken by a loud crack and a whoosh as a ball of arcane fire sailed from the dark mouth of the cave to impact a young hen to my right burning to her core and exploding consuming an entire talon in purple flame. The century griffin had died as soon as the ball of fire had hit her but her two talonfellows had the padded leather of their armour set alight and there feathers and fur burning brighter than any normal flame would.
As soon as the magical attack had struck my force a howl came from the cave itself and a horde of around twenty dogs armed with clubs and knives charged at us led by a hunched over mutt leaning on a staff with arcane runes carved into its length.
In a moment I screeched for my fellows to form a line and attack the mutts on our own terms but the two weeks of training that they had endured left them the moment they saw a fellow griffin died, I true testament to the rage of the griffin they screeched and bounded forward flapping their wings intent to tear asunder the offending mutts.
Knowing that leadership was useless at this point I dived into the air to gain altitude and then dived down aiming at the mage directing the dogs only to be stopped suddenly by a concussive blast of force directed lazily at me followed by a eye watering array of small multicolored lights that impacted a young raven who had tried to do the same as me, he fell to the floor with uncountable holes though his wings and body dead before he hit the ground.
Before I could collect myself and get to my paws a dog jumped onto my prone form intent to rip and tear at my neck and belly. I was quicker, biting down on his airway and tossing his body to the side I rolled to my paws and barged into a dog with a sling who was pelting my force with smooth rocks taking him by surprise. I sent him colliding with the mage, before any attack could be made on my person from the magic user I drew my short sword and drove it repeatedly into the mass of limbs owned by the two dogs until they stopped moving.
I turned to the rest of the raiders who were being beaten back by my better equipped brothers and sisters. Trapped in a circle of furious griffins the dogs lasted for a few moments the fight dragging on long enough to tire the mutts before we dove in and executed them, in the fighting I had lost six griffins and all but myself and another where injured thankfully with minor cuts and broken bones.
Stepping into the cavern we found the supplies had been neatly stored to one half of its shallow space while a long row of beds and lose bags marked things owned by the dogs, things that by right of our victory now belonged to my force.
We looted what was valuable and burnt the rest. We left the food to be collected by the township, carrying our dead upon our backs as we returned to the keep my heart heavy with the loss of an entire wing.
