The Puggle's New Knowledge

Kevon the Kobold was searching. The Griffon tribe had given him a quest, and he was not allowed to return home if that quest was incomplete. There were about a score of Kobolds in this awful, magicless world, and none of them could return home until all of them had completed the task set for them. This task was punishment for many small torments done by the Kobolds to others for generations. When the Forest Guardians started the “purification” of the forest, they began with the small creatures, and this included Kobolds. And Kobolds were small, potato-like and slow. This forced them to seek aid from former targets. The Griffon tribes were in need of a small creature to do something important, so they took in many of the Kobolds, with the understanding that they would call on the small creatures soon. 

When the Griffons left their canyons and disappeared into the forest one night, the Kobolds were worried, but then the tribes returned the next morning. In a week or so, Kevon and his family were summoned by the leader of the tribe they were with. She informed the family that she had a journey for some to undertake. It turned out that all of the Griffon eggs (high up on a cliff, and so hidden from the Kobolds) had been removed to another world through several small portals deep in the forest, and while the young would be near someone who could hear them, and would therefore be safe, they would not remember this world. Kevon and some of his siblings were given crystals of clearest quartz. They were each shown to a portal, and given instructions, and now here they were. 

Kevon hated this new forest. In his forest, the trees were not so big, and it didn’t rain as much. It was always raining here. So far, he had been able to find several small holes and some buildings to hide in at night, but he wanted to go home. They told him he would be near where the egg he was following had come out. But he wasn’t sent through the portal until a week after that, and they told him this was on purpose, so that the egg could be found by a Rider in this world. As though there was someone in this world with such a magical power. 

His job was not to interact with the Kobold (a good thing, since young Griffons sometimes ate Kobolds), but to just leave the clear quartz somewhere where the young one would easily discover it, but where other people would not. Still, he had to find the little one first. He had been in this miserable world for four nights already!

And it was getting dark again. He would need to find another building to hide out in. There were too many humans here, and so animal burrows were uncommon, but most of these humans had a house where they dwelt and then other buildings, which smelled of hay and herbivores, perfect for a little Kobold trying to avoid capture. 

And there ahead was the perfect building for the night! It was another one of those animal-dwellings, but this one was even better than the usual one. It was completely empty. Kevon sneaked through the tall grass, trying hard to avoid attention. He glanced up at the human-dwelling and suddenly, through the window, he saw what he had been looking for this whole time. He saw the egg! He had found it! And now all he had to do was put the crystal somewhere where the little Griffon in that egg would find it. And where better than this barn, where there were plenty of mice for the little one to eat? The Kobold hid the crystal near a mousehole. It would be too heavy for the mice to move, but the Griffon would see it and as curious as little cats were, the Griffon would surely try to pick it up and mess with it. With this kind of crystal, a simple touch would be enough for the right creature. With his job done, Kevon slept through the night and then left. Whether he reached the portal or not is a story for another time. Let us now turn our attention to the Griffon. 

Many weeks later, after the Griffon’s hatching and after he grew up a little, Amy released him into the barn. She could no longer keep up with his food needs, and she knew there was plenty for him to hunt out there. She didn’t expect him to cause any trouble, and she was right. For a few weeks, the Griffon was content. He finally had enough to eat! One afternoon, while Amy was in the house cooking dinner for herself and her grandpa, the Griffon was chasing a particularly difficult mouse. He nearly caught up to it when it ducked into a hole in the wall of the barn. Darn it! He was just about to head to the back, where he’d seen a few voles earlier, when a small sparkle caught his eye. He looked down and near his front talon was a strange looking rock. It was perfectly clear and it had six sides. Amy would love this! The Griffon bent down to get it into his beak. The moment he touched it, there was an immense flash in his mind, and suddenly, a HUGE memory hit him.  

The tribe made its way through the forest, following their chief. She had told them that this was the best way, the ONLY way. Still, there were some doubters in the group. 

"Why must we send our children into a strange world?" 

"We have already discussed this, " she said, testily. "Baron Gilderoy has kidnapped the young of many other tribes already. We know what he's doing with them. With the children of our friends. "

"But they're going to be powerless in this new world.. " began the dissenting Griffon again, before he was cut off. 

"They will not be without help. Each portal is near a Rider. This world doesn't know magic as we do, but it is not deadly. "

They arrived in the clearing in the forest. There were several portals visible, small, gopher sized circles buried half in the ground to produce ground level archways. 

"Bring forward your eggs, " the chief intoned. 

Many of the griffon women brought forward satchels, rdd rounded with the weight of the eggs. As soon as they removed the eggs from the bags and set them near the portals. The eggs rolled as though they were on a steep hill, through the portals and to the other side. 

A Griffin at the back of the tribe heard something, and the tribe vanished through the forest. They didn't want to get caught by the forest guardians. The guardians worked as bounty hunters for Baron Gilderoy, and if he discovered the tribe… it wasn't worth considering what would happen if they were caught. For now,we're going to leave the griffin tribe.

The eggs rolled through the portals. Some of the portals were very long, and some were quite short. The eggs went all over the world, into many environments. Some ended up in deserts, some on coastlines, some in mountains, and many rolled into forests. 

Our egg found its way to the rainy forests of the Pacific northwest. It rolled down a gentle slope and onto a warm bed of leaves.  

The Griffon came from somewhere else! He had never understood this, but now it explained why he seemed to be the only one around. And this explained how he could send and hear thoughts with Amy, but not with any other creatures. This was a talent that came naturally to his kind… Griffons! He needed to talk to Amy. Now. 

“Amy? Did you see that?” he sent into her.

“See what?” asked Amy, somewhat absently.

“Okay, I just…” he didn’t quite know how to finish. “Just make sure you’re sitting down for a couple minutes. I’ll show you.” When he was sure she was sitting down, he sent her the memory from the crystal.

“Amazing! I always knew you were special. What does this mean?” Amy was just as excited as Puggle, but she was much more practical, and she didn’t want to go flying headlong into something that might hurt them. The other world… Well, it was very different from theirs and she didn’t know. Then she realized something. It wasn’t THEIR world. It was hers. He was sent here to keep him safe, and they thought together, “We’re going to have to go over there.” 

Puggle and Amy would not be able to stay over here and lay low. They would HAVE to return there, and she now knew that they would have to go there together. She couldn’t stay here without him, knowing the danger that awaited him. And they would not have left a crystal (who had left it, anyway?) if they intended Puggle to just stay put. This changed everything.