Kione smiled to his mother as he walked out of the kitchen to the Lower Hall. She was a cook for the lower ranks of griffon and riders, who stayed in the Lower Hall of the castle Cliff Heights. Kione�s father also worked in the lower bailey of the castle. In fact, at the age of eight, Kione had ventured out of the lower bailey only once, and that was to watch a duel with his family. His father had seemed very happy afterward and told Kione he no longer had to help his parents work, so the boy had free reign of the lower bailey and no worries. Later he would find out it was because his dad�s fighter won the fight.
The boy left the Lower Hall, a very large four story building that set against the walls over looking the steep cliffs that gave the castle it�s name. He headed toward the armory to see if his father needed anything, but his attention was distracted by something on the other side of the bailey.
Kione headed across the near empty bailey. It was late afternoon and, the riders and griffons in training had stopped for the day. Kione spent most of his day, as he spends them all, watching the training that goes on in the bailey. He dreamed that one day he could be a rider too. His dad hoped he�d be an armorer like his father, but Kione had his own hopes and dreams.
Tucked into a corner, where the view was partly blocked by the siege engine tower and the gate that lead out of the lower bailey, Kione saw a group of bullies picking on something or someone. As he neared he saw it was a small griffon, smaller than most allowed to wander about. The youngest griffons were kept in an underground nursery with their mothers. This one didn�t look old enough to be out without his mother.
Kione looked up to the round mural tower as if expecting a guard to notice the bullies and save the hatchling griffon. He saw no one and there fore decided he had to do something himself.
�You think you can fly with those puny little wings?� The lead bully sneered as he poked the little griffon�s wing. The griffon made a startled noise which only made the bully laugh.
�I bet the sheep would eat him.� Another bully chimed in.
�That�s enough!� Kione shouted a he stepped up to the group. �Leave him alone, Arnold.� Kione insisted to the leader, knowing that with this group you had to talk directly to the brain. Arnold was about ten. He was bigger, older, and meaner than Kione, but the smaller child couldn�t allow the injustice to continue.
�Oh, look boys. Another runt.� Arnold laughed as he turned to look at Kione. All the other bullies laughed as well and Kione felt a sickening sensation in his stomach. One more look at the cowering griffon gave him the courage to press on. He held his head high and tried to look proud, like the few Elite Riders he had seen walking the wall that separated the lower bailey from the inner bailey, which housed the keep.
Arnold narrowed his eyes at the defiance and stepped up to tower over Kione. The other bullies followed Arnold�s lead and closed in as well. Kione wouldn�t be scared away. He did his best to look brave, despite the turning of his gut.
�You gonna make somethin� of it, Runt?� Arnold sneered.
�Leave him alone.� Kione said again. The voice didn�t seem his and he didn�t know where it came from. He was vaguely aware of speaking through the sickening feeling in his stomach. The world felt in danger of spinning too fast.
�Why don�t� you make us� Arnold challenged with a touch of anger to his voice. Kione couldn�t speak past the lump in his throat. He couldn�t move, couldn�t think. He felt like his mind was trapped in a fog bank and he couldn�t get his bearings. Then like a ray of light, the fog lifted and everything was clear again.
�Alright, but not here.� Kione stared with a firm voice. He glanced around with narrowed eyes trying to show how brave he was. The other boys glanced around a well to the adults going about the daily life of the lower bailey. They all knew how much trouble they could get into for fighting.
�Then where?� asked Arnold.
�Meet me in the siege engine tower two hours after dark.� Kione replied with a slight smirk. Arnold�s friends frowned. The siege engine tower was off limits to the children. Kione noticed the frowns and knew he had to act quickly. �Unless you guys are too scared?� he taunted.
�I ain�t scared of nothin�� Arnold growled. �We�ll be there.� With that Arnold lead his little troop away.
Kione watched them go and then let out a breath he didn�t� know he was holding. With a sigh of relief the boy wiped some sweat off his brow and moved to the griffon�s side. �It�s alright, they�re gone now.� He informed the hatchling with a smile.
�W weren�t you scared?� The griffons stuttered, his eyes wide in fear.
�Of course I was, but a good rider never shows fear.� Kione responded remember a lesson her over heard from one of the windows of the Lower Hall. �Did they hurt you?�
�No, I�m okay.� The griffon responded as he stood. �My name is Lysander.�
�I�m Kione.� The boy smiled at the little griffon.
Kione and Lysander spent the rest of the day talking and playing. Kione even got permission from his mother to leave the lower bailey and enter the keep with Lysander. It was the human�s first time in the keep. Even though Kione only got a small glimpse of the hall before going down to the nursery, the beauty and majesty of the large round keep only worked to fuel his dreams of one day being an Elite Griffon Rider.
About an hour after night fall the two were finally getting tired of talking. Kione had received permission to spend the night in the nursery. He made himself comfortable on the hay bed that was set into a corner for Lysander. The room was full of other young griffons, most of them a little older than Lysander.
�You going to sleep now, Kione?� The young griffon asked.
�Of course, can�t stay up all night.� Kione replied in a joking voice.
�But you�re supposed to fight those guys in an hour.� Lysander pointed out with slight concern.
�You didn�t think I was really going to fight them did you?� Kione asked with a laugh. �Let those jerks get in trouble without me.� The griffon and the boy shared a laugh and then settled down to sleep.
An hour later the patrolling guard inspected a noise from the siege engine tower to find Arnold and his troops playing on the weapons. Later Lysander and Kione would find out that the troop of bullies had to sit through hours of lectured from Baron Shikara, Elite Griffons and Rider, and from the parents of each boy. Arnold and his friends got into a lot of trouble while Kione and Lysander slept peacefully. Everything had worked according to plan for the future griffon rider and his mount.