There was once a family of four. There was one mother, one father and two adorable little boys named Jesse and Raymond. Now Raymond was the oldest while Jesse was the youngest. One windy night their mother was tucking them into bed when the youngest one said,
“Mommy, mommy I can’t sleep.” Then the mommy said,
“Why is that? You played so much that I was sure that you would be tired by now.” The mother was astonished. Then Raymond said,
“Mommy, could you read us a bedtime story please?” The mother hugged her two boys and told them that she would like to but there was a big problem.
“What’s the problem?” Both children asked, suddenly sounding sad.
“I have read you all of your books on your shelf already. I have nothing new to read to you.”
“How about you make up a story? One about knights, monsters and dangerous beasts.” Raymond suggested with a smile. Mommy sat next to both of them and nodded.
“Well a story about monsters might scare me but I’m glad that I will have my two knights to protect me. Now let’s see……oh yes. There was once in a tiny village called E’ Vera and there were a pair of brothers. They were the king’s royal knights. They wore silver armor that gleamed so brightly that it blinded you. Their helmets were encrusted with rubies and emeralds and they carried swords made out of silver and gold. They vanquished evil with their swords and protected innocents with
their mighty shields that were forged from the flames of Vulcan, god of forges and were as hard as dragon skin.”
“What kinds of monsters did they fight?” Jesse asked from under his bed covers.
“They fought mean dragons and nasty trolls the size of school buildings. There was also a time when they saved a small town from a hydra. It was huge with a forked tongue like a snake, well tongues because it had nine heads.”
“What did they do to stop it mommy?” Raymond asked, he sounded excited.
“Well they had to lead it away from the town first. Then they had to burn the heads off with a torch.”
“They had to burn the heads off? They do not sound nice.” Jesse said. Ramon was just lying in bed waiting for their mom to continue.
“Well, they had to protect all of those people from getting hurt.” Mom tried to explain.
“That’s true. Ok, what other monsters did they fight?” Jesse asked.
“Well, do you boys want to hear about the time that the king asked Knights Raymond and Jesse to find a griffin?” She asked. Jesse and Raymond’s faces lit up in excitement.
“Yes, yes, yes!!” They both exclaimed.
“Well, it all started on a windy night, just like tonight. The king sent one of his messengers to the brothers’ house and asked them to meet him at the castle immediately. As soon as they arrived the king told him what he wanted them to do.
“But what exactly is a griffin?” Knight Jesse asked. The king answered,
“Well, a griffin as a huge animal with the head and wings of an eagle and the tail and body of a lion. It is hard to find because it is a fast flyer and can strike without anyone noticing, despite its enormous size.”
“Why would you need a griffin king?” Knight Raymond asked.
“I want it as a pet. Ever since my daughter got married I have become quite lonely and I need a friend.” The king explained to the two young men.
“But king, a griffin would be too dangerous to have as a pet. Wouldn’t you rather like a dog or cat or fox instead? Those pets would be safer.” Jesse and Raymond asked the king.
“No, no, no. I want a pet that can protect me as well as keep me company.” The king said in so loud a voice that the castle seemed to have shaken.
“Very well then, we will find a griffin and bring it back for you.” Both knights said. As soon as they left the castle they walked all over town and asked everyone where they could find a griffin. One shopkeeper named Jeremiah said,
“Well, I reckon that you could find such a beast by the mountains, just past the woods. Why would ye want to find a monster like that anyways?”
“The king asked us to find one for him.” Jesse said. They left after they bought eight pounds of raw meat and some rope.
“What do you plan to do if we find that monster, brother?” Raymond asked.
“I plan to trap it using this rope and the meat.”
“But how are you going to do that?” Raymond seemed confused.
“I will show you as soon as we spot one.” Jesse said. They walked deeper and deeper out of town and into the forest.
“I suggest that we make camp now.” Raymond said.
“I agree with you.” They walked until they spotted a clearing just a few yards away from a cave. They set up camp and decided to rest up for the night.”
“What happened next?” Raymond and Jesse asked.
“The next morning they got up bright and early to scout the area.
“Hey, why don’t we look inside that cave?” Raymond suggested to his brother.
“That would be a good idea.” They both walked over to that cave and lit a torch because, even though it was day, the cave was still so dark that you couldn’t even see your hand in front of your face. The tunnel seemed to stretch on forever. They grew tired and decided to stop and rest for a while.
“ROOAAAR!!!!” They heard it from the other end of the cave and a blur of red, brown and gold shot right past them in the same instant.
“Raymond, was that a griffin?” Jesse asked, astonished.
“I believe it was.” Raymond replied. They ran all the way to where they saw the griffin came from and stopped in their tracks when they came to the end. They saw a huge nest at the very end of the cave. It was filled with four huge eggs and the discarded bones of mice and other small animals. Their mouths were both open in shock.
“This place is so cool.” They both shouted at the same time.
“If what we saw was a griffin then we could catch it and give it to the king.” Raymond said and Jesse nodded. They both ran out of the tunnel as fast as they could and grabbed the rope, raw meat and their swords and shields. They ran all the way back to the nest and found that the mother wasn’t back yet.
“How much time do you think we will have before we set the trap?” Raymond asked.
“I don’t know, but it will not take me long at all.” Jesse replied. As soon as that was said Jesse got to work on his trap. After a few minutes he was done and walked over to his brother to wait by a huge boulder.
“How exactly will this work?” Raymond asked.
“Do you see how there are sort of crevices on the walls? Well, I swung the rope to go through one of those crevices and, when the creature comes by here, I will pull the rope and it will tie the griffin’s paws together and it won’t be able to move.” Jesse explained. They waited and waited for a while until they heard something coming closer and closer. The footsteps sounded so loud that they reminded me of a thunderstorm with lightning bolts striking down on the earth. They heard a loud thud and then a groan.
“What is this? Who is here!?” The creature growled, and then it saw the two brothers moving towards it.
“We are here to take you to your king. You are to be his pet.” They said but that just made the griffin angrier.
“The king’s pet! Never! He has sent many men here to catch me but no one ever has, until now of course.” The griffin said. It looked sad but also thoughtful.
“We are sorry but we must.” Raymond and Jesse both apologized. He cut the griffin free with his sword.
“What are your names brave knights?” The griffin asks.
“I am Sir Raymond and my brother is Sir Jesse of the town of E’ Vera. What is your name?” Raymond asked.
“My name is Minerva and I am the mother of these eggs.” She said. There was another sound from the way where we came into the cave. There was murmuring and loud clanging noises, like pots and pans falling to the ground. Everyone stood perfectly still and then they saw a pair of men walking towards the nest, they hadn’t spotted Jesse or Raymond yet. But they did see the griffin and that made them stop in their tracks. The two men unsheathed their iron swords and pointed them at the monster.
“Don’t get any closer or we will skewer you, monster!” They exclaimed.
“Don’t even think about it you bandits!” Raymond and Jesse stepped forwards so that the men could see them, swords out and pointed at them. They walked closer and closer to the thieves, not taking their eyes off of them. The thieves quivered in fear and bolted towards the entrance, not ever bothering to put up a fight. Jesse and Raymond sheathed their swords and ran towards the nest.
“None of the eggs are missing. They didn’t get close enough to take one.” Minerva told them. She walked over to the nest and picked up the smallest egg.
“Would you still like one of my eggs?” She looked at them and asked.
“Well, we can’t return without one, but they are your children.” The brothers told her.
“How about we strike a deal? I am the last griffin and these are my last babies. How about I let you take one of them to be raised in the castle to be protected their while you come and help me care for the others here while I am out hunting?”
“That would be reasonable.”
“Good, now here you are. Be very careful with it. Griffin eggs are more fragile than chicken eggs. Do not let it out of your sight because there are many that would love to steal it and sell it on the black market.” Minerva warned us.
“Of course. We promise to protect it no matter what.”
“Thank you, now you must be off before the king sends a search party to look for you.”
“Alright, we will be on our way.” As the two brothers left the forest, they came across a group of villagers. They carried pitchforks, three flambeaux and swords.
“What is going on here? Where are all of you going?” they asked. One villager, clearly the leader of that mob, walked up to them and said,
“We are going to rid our town of the beast! It has caused us great suffering. It burned our crops to the ground and practically starved us to death. We are going to kill it!”
“Yeah!!!” the mob yelled, raising their weapons.
“Now, why do you suspect that a monster did this? Would it not be possible that someone from another town came here and burned your crops to the ground? It has happened before.” Knight Raymond tried to explain to them. They all just stared at them.
“You two are knights to the king, is that not so?” The leader asked.
“Yes we are.” Knight Jesse told them.
“Then you should protect us from monsters.” The man said, his voice was angry. They tried to explain that the monster would not hurt them, unless they didn’t leave her alone. They wouldn’t hear of it so instead the knights told them that the griffin was under their protection and that the villagers would have to go through them if they wanted to hurt her.
“Alright, we will do as you say. But please put your swords away.” They placed their swords back into their sheathes, but stayed until all of the villagers walked back out of the forest. The griffin egg moved from inside the bag.
“We should get back to the king, before this egg hatches.” Raymond said and Jesse nodded. They ran all the way back into the king’s castle.
“Where have you two been? You boys had me worried sick!” the king exclaimed, his face lit up as soon as he saw the creamy colored egg that we had brought him. He took it out of the bag and placed it on a red velvet cushion beside him.
“When will the egg hatch? How did you manage to escape the griffin’s nest?” he asked us, his voice growing higher and faster as he talked. Happiness was clear on his aged face.
“Well, the griffin let us care for one of her babies as long as Raymond and I went back to care for her babies while she was hunting.” Jesse told the king. He nodded in agreement.
“That would be a fine idea. Now, when do you think that they egg will hatch?” As he asked we saw that the egg was moving, well squirming, a little bit on the pillow. We heard the creature try to peck its way out and eventually it did.

In a matter of minutes the baby griffin had gotten out of her egg and was cleaning herself, she was covered in clear transparent slime or something like it. Her eyes were a mixture of brown, blue, purple and green. Her wings were of a dark bronze color, they matched her beak. The lion body of the baby was a dark red color and her tail was a beautiful and enchanting mixture of red and gold, it looked like a fire.
“She is so beautiful!!” the king exclaimed, he looked so happy.
“Thank you sir, who are you?” The griffin asked and we looked shocked. It just tilted its head to one side.
“I am the king of this land and this in Knight Raymond and Knight Jesse. They are friends of mine.” The king explained. He gestured to both of the knights.
“Oh, it is nice to meet you both.”
“It is nice to meet you too.” Both knights replied at the same time.
“Um…what is my name?” She asked and we looked at the king.
“Your name, yes what will I call you? Ah I got it, how about aurora? Because of your beautiful eyes.” The king said, he was looking at the griffin and smiling so much that it looked at if his face was stuck that way.
“I would love that name, thank you.” Aurora flew to the king’s arms and hugged him. From then on they all live happily ever after, protecting their village, helping people and helping the griffin Minerva raise her baby griffins.





The End….?