Read Online The Oathbound Wizard-Wiz Rhyme-2 by Christopher Stasheff - Free Book Online
Authors: Christopher Stasheff
Tags: Fiction, General, Science-Fiction, Fantasy fiction, Fiction - Fantasy, Fantasy, Juvenile Fiction, Epic, Science Fiction; Fantasy; & Magic, Fantasy - Epic, Fantasy - General, Wizards
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mount.
"Care to try on your new wardrobe?"
"Not really," the griff grumped, "but I made you an offer, and I'm stuck with it."
Matt paused, the saddle in his arms. "No, you're not. I don't want to impose..."
"Awright, so you're welcome, you're wanted!" the griff bawled. "Can't a guy gripe a little now and then?"
"Oh! Oh, sure!" Matt reached up to settle the saddle between the beast's shoulder blades. "Just didn't realize that was your normal operating mode. Sorry." And he ducked down to buckle the cinch.
There wasn't a whole lot to spare.
A few minutes later, Matt was back in the saddle again, and the dracogriff was prowling on down the slope. For a while, Matt just enjoyed the scenery, letting his spirits lift with the cool mountain air, feeling cleansed and almost whole again.
He stiffened, alarmed by the thought. "Almost whole"? When had he started feeling shredded? And why?
He nibbled at the thought for a few minutes, then put it aside for his subconscious to work on while he went back to enjoying the view. It was very relaxing, having a companion who didn't insist on talking a lot. Grumpy as he might be, the dracogriff promised to be a good traveling companion. On the other hand, how much of a conversationalist would he be if Matt were feeling talkative? Just to try it out, he said, "I don't see how flying could possibly be more enjoyable than this."
"You're in the mountains," the dracogriff growled. "Wait till you see what it's like on the plains."
"Oh, I've ridden there before, too, and I'll have to agree--down there, a hike isn't anywhere nearly as much fun as up here. There, I'd rather fly."
"I'd never rather fly," the dracogriff snapped. "Let's just get that straight up front, okay? I don't fly if I can help it."
Matt frowned down at him. "It's just as safe as walking."
"Oh, yeah, that's easy for you to say! You didn't try to fly into the dragons' territory!"
Matt scowled. "What were you doing there?"
"Do you know what it's like to grow up without any of your own kind around?" the dracogriff demanded. "It's mighty lonely, let me tell you! Especially since I knew crisped well the griffins wouldn't have anything to do with me--they felt sorry for Mama, but they weren't about to have anything to do with her as long as I was there. So of course I dreamed about the other side of me! Of course I dreamed about growing up to join the dragons! After all, the cussed things are so ugly, my looks shouldn't have made any difference, no matter how grotesque I am! So when I grew up and left home, where else would I go?"
"You're not grotesque," Matt said softly.
"Oh, sure!" But the dracogriff said it with a little less conviction.
"Besides, it's what's inside that counts."
"Oh, yeah? You didn't have one of their sentries catch you in the air! You didn't have him chasing you over half the sky with his flame turned up high and reaching out twenty feet for you! You didn't get singed and crisped and burned so bad you fell a hundred feet into a treetop!"
"My lord, you poor beast!" Matt whispered
"But he didn't let up then, oh, no! The blasting monster stooped like a hawk and dove toward me, screaming the foulest names you ever heard in a blast of fire--and he was enjoying it! So I ran on the ground, but he kept coming back and coming back, and the more I ran, the more angry he got and the more vicious he got, until I finally found a little cave just barely big enough to crawl into, where he couldn't follow--and even then he prowled outside for the whole rest of the day, blasting the doorway and roaring at me that I was a...'loathsome gargoyle,' he called me, whatever that was!"
"Couldn't you breathe fire back at him?"
"Not enough to matter," the dracogriff answered impatiently. "On a good day, I can light a fire. I just got all the bad things about being a dragon, see--all the good things, I got from my griffin mother! But maybe that's just the natures of the beasts."
"You ran into one of the worst of the
"Care to try on your new wardrobe?"
"Not really," the griff grumped, "but I made you an offer, and I'm stuck with it."
Matt paused, the saddle in his arms. "No, you're not. I don't want to impose..."
"Awright, so you're welcome, you're wanted!" the griff bawled. "Can't a guy gripe a little now and then?"
"Oh! Oh, sure!" Matt reached up to settle the saddle between the beast's shoulder blades. "Just didn't realize that was your normal operating mode. Sorry." And he ducked down to buckle the cinch.
There wasn't a whole lot to spare.
A few minutes later, Matt was back in the saddle again, and the dracogriff was prowling on down the slope. For a while, Matt just enjoyed the scenery, letting his spirits lift with the cool mountain air, feeling cleansed and almost whole again.
He stiffened, alarmed by the thought. "Almost whole"? When had he started feeling shredded? And why?
He nibbled at the thought for a few minutes, then put it aside for his subconscious to work on while he went back to enjoying the view. It was very relaxing, having a companion who didn't insist on talking a lot. Grumpy as he might be, the dracogriff promised to be a good traveling companion. On the other hand, how much of a conversationalist would he be if Matt were feeling talkative? Just to try it out, he said, "I don't see how flying could possibly be more enjoyable than this."
"You're in the mountains," the dracogriff growled. "Wait till you see what it's like on the plains."
"Oh, I've ridden there before, too, and I'll have to agree--down there, a hike isn't anywhere nearly as much fun as up here. There, I'd rather fly."
"I'd never rather fly," the dracogriff snapped. "Let's just get that straight up front, okay? I don't fly if I can help it."
Matt frowned down at him. "It's just as safe as walking."
"Oh, yeah, that's easy for you to say! You didn't try to fly into the dragons' territory!"
Matt scowled. "What were you doing there?"
"Do you know what it's like to grow up without any of your own kind around?" the dracogriff demanded. "It's mighty lonely, let me tell you! Especially since I knew crisped well the griffins wouldn't have anything to do with me--they felt sorry for Mama, but they weren't about to have anything to do with her as long as I was there. So of course I dreamed about the other side of me! Of course I dreamed about growing up to join the dragons! After all, the cussed things are so ugly, my looks shouldn't have made any difference, no matter how grotesque I am! So when I grew up and left home, where else would I go?"
"You're not grotesque," Matt said softly.
"Oh, sure!" But the dracogriff said it with a little less conviction.
"Besides, it's what's inside that counts."
"Oh, yeah? You didn't have one of their sentries catch you in the air! You didn't have him chasing you over half the sky with his flame turned up high and reaching out twenty feet for you! You didn't get singed and crisped and burned so bad you fell a hundred feet into a treetop!"
"My lord, you poor beast!" Matt whispered
"But he didn't let up then, oh, no! The blasting monster stooped like a hawk and dove toward me, screaming the foulest names you ever heard in a blast of fire--and he was enjoying it! So I ran on the ground, but he kept coming back and coming back, and the more I ran, the more angry he got and the more vicious he got, until I finally found a little cave just barely big enough to crawl into, where he couldn't follow--and even then he prowled outside for the whole rest of the day, blasting the doorway and roaring at me that I was a...'loathsome gargoyle,' he called me, whatever that was!"
"Couldn't you breathe fire back at him?"
"Not enough to matter," the dracogriff answered impatiently. "On a good day, I can light a fire. I just got all the bad things about being a dragon, see--all the good things, I got from my griffin mother! But maybe that's just the natures of the beasts."
"You ran into one of the worst of the
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