I've already dozed off twice on the couch trying to write this blog today. So I'll make this as quick as possible.
This was a late night inspiration for a continuation of the same universe as the Falling Airships story I posted yesterday. This one has another character as the focus, one gryphon named Valkyrie.
Fall of Valkyrie
A sharp jab between my shoulder blades made me take
an ungainly hop forward. I dug my talons into the wobbling wooden plank beneath
my feet, unable to use my arms for balance. For the millionth time, I jerked my
wrists against the rope cutting off my circulation. The only thing I could see
beyond the grungy rag tied around my face was a sliver of light near my cheek.
That wasn’t much help either, only showing me a glimpse of wood and clouds
below my feet. The entire board I stood
on hummed from the giant propeller I knew was spinning at the rear of the ship.
My entire scalp twitched as another prod at my back made me shuffle my feet
forward again, and a harsh sound split the air.
“When
I tell someone to get, I mean get!” It sounded like he had gargled cut glass. I
could almost imagine the dark bruise that had to have formed around his thick
scaly neck from my garrote. I felt the blade pointed at my back break the skin
and a small warm trickle start as he pushed again. “Stow-a-ways and thieves get
no mercy on my boat.”
I fumbled forward again, trying to use my wings for
balance, when jerking my arms around behind me at their limited range failed.
The wind ripped that advantage away from me as it rushed past me, tipping me to
the side before I righted myself. I tucked them against my side again, feeling
the cold wind where my secondary flight feathers were supposed to be. I slid my tongue over the chipped edge of my
beak before answering. “Damn you sound bad, Blood.”
A rustling of sound and a blow to my rear cut off
any other remark I might or might not have planned to make. I fell forward and lost my breath as the end
of the plank caught me under my ribs, stars blooming in my eyes. I flipped head
over tail into the free air, unable to scream as I tried to suck air in. The
smaller air bladders below the airship spun past my sliver of vision as I tumbled
through the air. I felt a shock of cold as I fell through a small cloud, small
droplets beading my fur.
I spread my wings, feeling a few of my major covert
feathers get ripped loose by the wind. In a few seconds, I stopped spinning and
my fall had developed a bit more grace. I lifted one leg then the other through
the loop of my arms, bringing my bound arms in front of me. The coarse rope
lasted seconds against my sharp beak and I ripped away the blind fold, letting
it find its own path to the earth.
I pleaded with my luck. For precious seconds, I
bargained with any deity that might be listening. I cracked the only eye that
would open and looked down to see the ground far below and rising. Stilling my
thoughts, I felt the air currents around me and my wings. I stretched them out,
feeling the sore empty places where Blood’s crew had ripped out all of my
secondary flight feathers and a portion of my tertiary. After a couple test flaps, it was obvious I
wouldn’t be saving myself by flying.
I kicked my leg a little, feeling the long thin
metal tube tied to my thigh. My commissioner wouldn’t be happy I had failed to
return his documents to him but at least Blood was no longer holding it. Of all
the things I could think of when death was near, I took pride in knowing that
scaly lizard would sound that way for a good long time. It had been a full day
before he could even walk to get me on the plank after I was pulled off him.
I fell through another cloud bank, my view of the
hard, hard ground blanked out by white. I heard a high whine and clacking sound
a split second before I was clamped into a vice grip. Tight thick wire spun
around me pinning one arm and both wings against my body. Two weighted sacks at
the end of the lines cracked into each other, my hand between them. Before the
pain could reach my brain, I was jerked out of my fall by a long rope, leading
deeper into the cloud bank. I swung wide, hearing the hiss of an airship
fillings its air bladders.
I felt the lines tighten as I was pulled upwards by
lengths. With my free hand, I clung to the rope, squinting with my good eye at
the hull as it appeared out of the cloud bank. As I rose higher, a huge shape
hauled the rope up hand over hand, lifting me with no sense of urgency. When I
was within grabbing distance, a shaggy arm grabbed the lines wrapped around my
chest and threw me to the deck, driving the wind out of me again.
Stars exploded behind my eyes again as I tried to
fill my lungs, the bindings keeping my chest compressed. As I lay on the rough,
beautiful, hard deck, a pair of heavy boots stepped close to my face. With
energy I didn’t have, I lifted my head and tried to focus on the figure
squatting on his haunches. Light glinted off polished scales and teeth as he
grinned at me.
“Poor birdie, did you
fall out of the nest?” The voice was velvet smooth and full of ego. A large
clawed hand lifted my face up by the beak. “We don’t see gryphons falling to
their deaths much. Seemed a waste.”
I coughed and vomited onto the deck and that
hand. Instead of dropping my face to
smack into the deck, the same hand tipped my head forward to clear my beak. I
rasped out a question. “Who are you?”
That same smooth voice chuckled and leaned forward.
A dragon loomed in my vision, all teeth as he grinned again. “Welcome aboard my
airship, missy. I’m Captain Finnegan.”
~~~~
So that's Valkyrie's first appearance in anything. I have another part of her story on my other computer. I think I'll get on that and finish it tomorrow, to have something new for the non masses to read.
I still need to set up a schedule for this. I failed at that today due to the massive frustrations that abounded.
Sunday: Character Bios
Monday: Poems
Tuesday: Prompt
Wednesday: off? maybe/maybe not? Book Review?
Thursday: Prompt
Friday: Original
Saturday: New content
If anyone is reading this, shoot me a comment, on Twitter, on Facebook, or here? Also, toss me prompts! I know I have at least one friend reading this. I hope. Feedback. Pretty please with a cherry on top?
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