Alexandria, Terranon, and Zenaida had agreed to another elder-subduing mission.  The gryphons they spoke to seemed somewhat nervous when telling the trio where they might find their new target.  The name Morana was accompanied by flattened feathers and worried glances, and they were urged to be cautious.  Morana was dangerous, and the trio would know him by the skulls of past kills strung around his neck.  Terranon scoffed, Zenaida fretted, but Alexandria merely listened with calm consideration.  The fight would be won, or it wouldn’t.  They set out to the large island where Morana had last been spotted.  Unlike some of the other elders, it was unlikely he would flee when confronted, and unlikely to leave an area he had claimed as his.

The trio knew they were in the right place the moment they landed.  The isles they passed were filled with life and sound, but this one was silent, as if all its inhabitants had been driven away.  Nothing moved in the forest the dragons found themselves in, and the only sound was the lonely wind rustling in the branches.  Zenaida felt prompted to tiptoe, slinking along as they searched the island, checking over her shoulder.  Terranon, by contrast, saw the oppressive quiet as a challenge, and deliberately stomped about, hoping to draw out their quarry through noise alone.  As always, Alexandria brought up the rear and did not engage in the antics of her companions.  The forested isle did not seem to have many options for hiding places.  There was little undergrowth, leaving clear lines of sight as long as one had their head below the canopy.  Occasionally a large rock or pile of rocks broke through the ground, but none were quite big enough for a gryphon to hide behind.  Gradually the land sloped up, building toward a peak at the center of the isle.  At the far side, it dropped much more steeply, and the trio had to carefully pick their way down so as not to fall.

Alexandria spotted the cave first.  The other two had fallen into a whispered argument about whether they should try dropping a tree on Morana and stopped paying as much attention to their surroundings.  Alexandria let out a measured shout- a simple “Hey”- and Zenaida and Terranon paused to look at her.  She pointed with a wing at the dark hollow in the earth, nestled against the cliff that formed the back side of the island.  It was large enough for a gryphon, and perhaps even large enough for a warden to squeeze through.  All eyes turned to Zenaida.  As the smallest, she was of course tasked with initial exploration.

Zenaida drew herself up, trying to look brave, and stuck her head inside the cave entrance.  She saw right away that it opened up into a large cavern, wide enough for several wardens to stand nose to tailtip.  What Zenaida did not see were any vicious, skull-wearing gryphons, so she climbed fully inside and turned around, calling, “Come in, it’s a pretty big cave!  He could be in here!”  The others began climbing in as well, but Zenaida’s attention was drawn by a low, drawn-out growl.  She whipped back around and saw red and white eyes glowing in the darkness at the back of the cave, just out of reach of the light at the entrance.  She could make out the paler front half of Morana’s body, and, concerningly, the white of the skulls, light reflecting faintly off their teeth.  Zenaida yelped and Terranon scrambled to reach her side, with Alexandria stepping up to flank on the other.  Morana continued to growl.

Terranon straightened, but it was Zenaida who acted first, stepping forward and clearing her throat politely.  “Hello Morana!” she began cheerily, “We have a cure for the corruption you’re experiencing!  If you come with us, we can get you cured and you can go back to protecting your people!”

“Seriously?” Terranon said, disbelieving.  “Are you going to talk to every elder we meet?  They’re not listening!”

Zenaida turned to face her.  “It’s so rude to just walk up to someone and attack them!  I thought we could-” her explanation was interrupted by Morana lunging out of the shadows, his growl crescendoing into a scream.  Terranon and Zenaida stared, too surprised to react, but Alexandria stepped neatly around them and rammed her shoulder into the gryphon, knocking him to the ground.  She opened her jaws, lurid yellow-green gas already coalescing around her teeth, but Morana kicked out with his hind legs, catching her in the chin and snapping her mouth shut.  She stumbled backwards and in a flash he was on his feet, his own fiery breath brimming in his maw.

It was Terranon who intercepted Morana next.  She bit down on the back of his neck and shook him, snarling through the feathers clogging her mouth.  Zenaida cried out, fearing she would break his neck.  Morana twisted, feathers tearing free, and despite the jostling managed to score the end of his beak through the scales on Terranon’s shoulder.  She hissed, but did not release him.  Alexandria reached forward, trying to grab his hind end and immobilize him, but Morana was growing increasingly enraged, battering his wings against Terranon’s head and shoulders and kicking out with all four feet.  Both hind legs raked across Terranon’s chest and she gasped in pain, giving Morana just enough room to wiggle free.

He looked around at the three dragons that surrounded him, hissing.  His gaze fixed on Zenaida, filled with fury and hate and she shrieked, clouting him in the face with her wing.  Stunned, Morana’s hiss faltered, and at that moment Alexandria pounced on him.  Her weight bore him to the ground, and she worked to clamp one of her hands over his beak.  Morana thrashed, but was thoroughly pinned, and no amount of wing beating would move Alexandria.  “Alright,” she said, as calm as someone picking out a book to read, “Get the ropes to tie him, and we can bring him home.”

Zenaida and Terranon converged on the pinned gryphon, and in short order he was trussed up and ready to be transported back to the city and rescued from his corrupted state.