The frosty breeze of the northern floating isles freshened the air as Koge, Zenaida and Liatris walked across the snow filled the candid fields. Tiny snowflakes were falling from the almost cloudless sky, adding a sense of calm in the air. Koge’s celestial feline was trying to catch them on the fly, hopping back and forth on her back.

Koge took the opportunity to voluntarily fall face first in the fresh snow, enjoying its soft hug. Her little companion, not sharing the same opinion, hopped down before the wyvern rolled in the white powder, annoyed.

The other two dragons smiled at such a scene and took the opportunity to stop by a tree to rest.  Zenaida scooped up a handful of snow and chucked it at Liatris, who laughed and chased after her, kicking up great waves of snow that glittered and flashed in the sunlight.  Eventually, they too ended up rolling around in the great white drifts piled around the landscape.

But said moment of peace soon came to an end as a loud screech struck the atmosphere, reminding the trio the reason they had traversed such frigid lands. Koge quickly got up and shook off the snow as her feline took shelter under her wing. The others did the same and looked at the surroundings, Liatris sniffed the air trying to catch the creature’s scent as Zenaida searched in her haversack.

A silhouette, white as the clouds soon approached the group from the sky before falling disastrously before them. Luckily the snow cushioned the impact.

The gryphon struggled a bit to get up, and as soon as she saw the dragon, hissed threateningly.

Liatris identified the gryphon as Tian from her snow leopard-like tail and candid feathers which looked like those of a snowy owl. She was one of the gryphons which went missing amongst the snowy fields. Looks like their objective just appeared in front of them.

“This makes everything way easier,” said Liatris as he looked at the gryphon who was struggling to keep balance due to the corruption.

Zenaida finally pulled out of her satchel an aberrant cleanser, and carefully approached the scared Tian.

Suddenly Tian turned her back to the group, roared to the sky and dug her claws in the snowy soil, as if she was preparing to resist a strike.

A flap of wings was heard before a dark figure plunged from a cloud towards the candid gryphon. A second gryphon ran over Tian, pinning her down. Feathers flying in the air as the white gryphon tried to free herself.

The black gryphon blocked the other’s movement and looked down to the three dragons.

“And what in tarnation are y’all supposed to be?!” The towering gryphon snorted a cloud of condensation.

Koge stood tall, puffing out her chest a little in pride.  “We’re dragons!” she announced.  The black gryphon examined the stalker, then the much larger sapieres behind her, then finally the celestial feline.  She gestured at the feline with a shake of her massive, glimmering pink horns.

“Even that thing?” she asked.  “Looks like a cat,” she added, with a derisive laugh.

Koge tucked a protective wing around her companion.  “Ah, no, that is a cat,” she explained, “A celestial feline.”  The gryphon grunted, then hissed as Tian struggled again to get free.

Liatris stepped forward.  “We were sent out here to find and cure her,” he said, then asked,  “Were you sent too?  What’s your name?”  The gryphon’s behavior concerned him.  Her aggression was odd for someone looking to contain another of their own species.  He glanced nervously at Zenaida, who looked concerned too.

The gryphon snorted.  “Name’s Pezzottaite.  Like the rock.  I tracked this snowy-looking fella from the citadel.  She’s got that new sickness going around, and I’m here to eliminate her before she infects everyone else,” she explained.  Tian’s claws scraped against her scaled hide, and Pezzottaite growled again.  “You stop that,” she muttered to the owl-like gryphon she was practically sitting on.

Zenaida’s eyes widened.  “Eliminate, as in….kill?” she exclaimed.  She leapt to her feet, causing Pezzottaite to flare her wings in alarm.  “There’s no need to kill her, we have a cure right here!”  She held up the bottle of aberrant cleanser, the liquid inside swirling and faintly blue.

Squinting suspiciously, Pezzottaite asked, “A cure?  You’ve got a cure for whatever’s making critters go all confused and violent?  That’s real convenient.”  Her grip on Tian tightened, making the other gryphon hiss.  “How do you know it works?  Nothing we’ve tried has fixed up those who get sick,” she continued.

“Well, you could let us cure Tian and see for yourself!” Koge interjected, waving a wing.  “I mean, it’s worth a try before you go and ‘eliminate’ her, right?”

Pezzottaite considered Koge’s suggestion.  “I suppose,” she agreed.  She pulled back, allowing Zenaida to come forward with the cleansing potion and apply it to Tian.  Almost immediately, Tian’s aggressive behavior ceased, and she shook her head.

“Oh, wow.  I can’t believe I was so angry,” Tian said, then looked up at the gryphon still towering over her.  “Um.  Could you let me up, please?  I don’t think I’m going to go attacking or infecting anyone.”

Pezzottaite stared at Tian in surprise, then stepped right off of her.  “Well, I’ll be darned!  You’re right back to normal!  You’re even talking again!” she exclaimed.  Turning to the three dragons, she asked, “You wouldn’t happen to have more of those, would you?  We could really use them back home.”

Koge and Liatris looked to Zenaida, who went to check her haversack.  Poking around inside, she announced, “Yeah, I have a few more.  Would you want one, just to make sure you’re not corrupted too?”  Pezzottaite nodded eagerly, and Zenaida pulled out another bottle, which the gryphon downed eagerly.  Zenaida then distributed the rest of the potions to the two gryphons to bring home and help others who might become infected.

As the three dragons watched the gryphons fly away, Koge sighed.  “I guess it feels good to help out those chicken wings,” she said, and Zenaida and Liatris laughed.