Legendary Creatures Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The creature awoke with a massive headache. It's mouth was dry and it's limbs screamed with agony as it moved. Dazed, it could barely make out anything in the room because it was so dark. It didn't know where it was or how it had gotten there. Everything was hazy as if awaking from a long slumber.

The creature tried to stand but it was hard at first. As it stood it tried to walk towards the door but didn't get more than two feet before feeling a tug on its neck from the wall. It gnawed and clawed at the chain around its neck to no avail. Shortly after giving up it heard someone approaching the door to the room it was in.

As the thing heard the door click open, it also almost as instantly heard a man's voice say, "Aaahh, he's awake. At last! We've waited several days for you to finally come to."

The creature looked at the man for a moment trying to assess the intentions of this odd man in front of it. The man was a very short, portly man standing about 4 feet tall. He wore glasses that had circular lens that magnified his chilling gray eyes. He also wore a long white lab coat with the traditional pocket protector accessory with several pens.

The man stared at the creature in front of him. The creature stood twice his height. It had to be 6 to 7 feet tall. The creature's front half was that of a massive bird with gray and white feathers. The back half was that of gigantic lion.

The man smiled oddly towards his associates behind him. He then looked back at the magnificent beast in front of him. "My name is Dr. Yorik Hempshine. I brought you here after discovering you in Greece. I'm very sorry about the restraints but we had to make sure you wouldn't try to flee. Now if I relieve you of those nasty chains, will you be a good boy and stay where you are?"

The creature blinked twice and let out a shrill squawk.

"I'm not sure what that means. Can you nod for me? Nod yes or no."

It stared at him and nodded up and down to acknowledge that it would behave. With that, the doctor took out his keys and took off the chains around the creature's neck and legs. Relieved, the creature shook it's whole body. As a thank you, it nudged Yorik's hand.

The doctor patted it on the head and said, "Now there's a good boy." The creature let out a hum as Yorik petted it. The other two men tried to move into the room but as they did the creature became very agitated. It lashed out with both front claws and screeched so loud both men grabbed their ears. "Easy, boy, easy. These men are my associates and they are just here to help. We have many tests to perform to make sure you're healthy. Gentlemen, please step out. I will get him to come to the lab myself." The men backed out of the room and disappeared down the hall.

"There we go. It's just you and I now. I know you can understand me, so I'll just ask. Will you follow me to my lab so that I can make sure you are well?" The creature nodded yes once again. The doctor walked out into the hall and the creature followed. As they walked down the hall Yorik admired the creature. It was at least three times his size by height and mass. "Now that we trust one another I'll explain. I found you in a small cavern in Greece. You were barely alive. You are a gryphon. Though you're species has never been truly founded other than in folklore, I have found the real thing. You. But I'm getting way to in-depth for the moment. You've just awoken in a strange place. I felt it only necessary for you to know what you are. We can't communicate verbally but we can talk by me talking and you using body language and your own voice, how does that sound?" The gryphon nodded again.

They reached the door for the lab. In the center of the room was a large table with several straps connected to it. With that sight the gryphon started to back away from the room. It had had enough of being confined.

"It's ok. I won't strap you to the table so long as you cooperate. We are just going to take some blood samples to rule out that you have no infections or diseases." Dr. Hempshine took a syringe out of his pocket. "Now would you please come into the room so we can do this?" The gryphon walked into the room slowly, eyeballing the two men who sat on the other side of the room. It snorted and sat on it's hind legs. "Good, now give me your claw." It lifted its front claw up to the doctor's hand. Yorik stuck the needle into one of the giant veins in the claw and extracted a vial of blood. The gryphon let out a low squack as the needle entered it's skin. Finished, the doctor removed the needle and put the vial on the table. Then he applied pressure with some gauze to the wound to stop the bleeding. After just a few minutes he removed the gauze to find the hole completely healed.

"See? All better", he said with a smile. Both of the doctor's associates walked up to confirm what he had said. To their astonishment the wound had healed within only a few minutes. One of the men picked up the vial of blood and put a label on it with strange markings the gryphon didn't recognize.

The gentleman with the vial brought it to a strange contraption again that the gryphon didn't recognize. It looked down at Yorik for confirmation that everything was ok and over. The doctor looked up to find two large yellow eyes staring at him. "We're done," he said calmly. "Unfortunately that also means we must bring you back to your cell. I promise I will not shackle you but for now, until I know you can be trusted completely, we must keep you contained in a place where you cannot cause harm to yourself or other." The gryphon stood and started shaking it's head back and forth violently as if to say no and then let out a blood curdling cry that scared and made the other two men jump in their seats.

Dr. Hempshine raised his hand to silence the creature. Just with that gesture the gryphon stopped. "How about this? Let's name you first and take you out in the courtyard for some fresh air. Would that make you feel better?" The gryphon purred in agreement. "Then it's settled. Walk with me, my friend." Both Yorik and the gryphon walked to the archway that led to the courtyard. A large rot iron gate blocked the way with a massive lock in the center of it. The doctor again pulled out his keys and picked through them until he found a key that looked very old but would match the lock correctly.

He unlocked the gate and said, "Ah there we go, fresh air. Let's walk." They walked out to a beautiful sunny day. Several oak trees shaded several spots around the perimeter. Yorik spotted an especially peaceful spot where there were several roses were in bloom around the base of a particularly large oak in the corner of the yard. "Come."

They walked to the oak with the roses and Hempshine sat down. He patted the ground next to him. "Come lie down and we can come up with proper name for you," he said. The gryphon did as it was told and lay down next to the doctor. "Now, what would be a proper name for you? Hhhmmm. Well, I found you in Greece. One of my favorite Greek mythical heroes is Achilles. So, I think that's what we'll call you. How does that sound?" The gryphon put his head in Yorik's lap to show agreement that it would be an excellent name. "I'll take that as a yes," the doctor said.

They sat there what seemed like an eternity. Finally, Dr. Hempshine stood up and brought Achilles back to his cell. "Good night to you, Achilles, my new friend. Tomorrow is a new glorious for us to discover many things about each other." He closed the door and Achilles heard the annoying click of the lock. His mind was swimming with all this information that had been told to him. He lay down on a large pile of hay that was left for him as a bed. He was happy and content as he put his head down to sleep.