Daring Do and the Gryphon's Quest

by De Writer

Chapter 18. Awakening

Chapter 18. Awakening

It started with a soft crooning sound. There was an all encompassing sensation of safety and love. She felt a warm body snuggled next to her. Trying to open her eyes was too much of a struggle. There was a sensation of light but no focus.

She lapsed back into darkness. Retreating to the safety of being loved, cared for and cared about. And that gentle crooning. It reminded her of something. Memory was as hard as opening her eyes. She just accepted the sound and the sensations of being loved. Loved in every fiber of the being that she could not yet sense. It simply permeated her being.

Without alarm, she felt the warm snuggling body next to her move. It went away but the feeling of love, security and care remained. After an unknowable time, the warmth and contact returned. The feeling of love penetrating every fiber of her being was stronger. She could feel that it was doing something to her, perhaps for her. She neither knew nor cared. She simply accepted. That it was both benign and safe, she understood at a deep and secure level.

At the edge of hearing the crooning continued. There was a soft but familiar voice speaking. She heard the words but did not really grasp them the way that she did the crooning. The crooning, she realized, was guiding something. She was not sure what it guided, but as gentle as it was, there was a will of iron behind the crooning and in control of it and more. Safe control. She was loved and that control was a part of the love.

There was a short period when the crooning stopped. The love remained. The voice came again, soft, gentle and anxious, “You are sure? She is recovering?”

It was answered by another voice, calm, serene and certain. “I/we are sure. Matunen is loved and returns the love properly. She is like a young nymph. She will grow swiftly now. I/we share her love/heart/thought. Soon Matunen’s self will hatch and she will begin to be conscious of self.”

The battle to get her eyes open was only partly successful but she could see a little. Her voice was beyond her reach. She managed to twitch a hoof. Not move it, quite. It felt like a tonne weight was on it. Just a twitch.

The anxious voice exclaimed, “She just moved! Her eyes are half open! She twitched a little! I saw it! Can she hear us?”

The calm, serene, certain voice replied, “I/we need to share self with Matunen to know. Soon Friend will tell you.”

She felt the soft, safe warmth of the body next to her. Something too close to focus on passed in front of her eyes. She felt it touch her forehead. She was suddenly even less alone, totally open and welcoming the other part as if it was also her, somehow.

She knew that she/the other were totally safe. It was in joined memory. Contented, calm if left to love. Ferocious, deadly dangerous, in defense of what it loved. And she was among what it loved.

The effort to get the foreleg to move was simply astounding. It dragged across blanket and managed to weakly wrap the warm, safe source of all that love.

It was not fur or feathers under hoof. Her mind struggled to find the concept. Chitin. Sort of like a shell, almost. Plates, like, well, like … It was too much effort to sort out. She just relaxed and accepted.

The crooning resumed for a time. She heard the calm, sure voice say, “Matunen hears. She does not understand much, but she hears. Matunen self is hatching.

“I/we need another prey to share with Matunen. Share of life, strength. Prey is a failed nymph. Its body lives but love does not.”

A different voice called. There was iron in it. A voice of naked steel, with razor edges. “Friend needs more prey! Bring in the next five for her to choose from!”

Voices begging for mercy entered her hearing. An interesting concept. Why would they need mercy?

The voice that was so calm, sure, certain and loving spoke. “I/we return to you the mercy that you gave. You gave Matunen no mercy. There is no mercy to give back.

“You tried to take life from Matunen. Matunen needs life now. I/we shall take yours for Matunen.”

There was a flash of hard green that penetrated through closed eyelids. The green light and begging, weaker and weaker begging, continued for, for how long? Who knew?

She felt both the ongoing love and caring, with under it a will and control, and strength. She was being very carefully filled with strength by the loving, caring, and ferocious other who cuddled and crooned.

Still feeling the love, the care, the strength, the warm, chitin plated other left her side. There was the sound of teeth crunching flesh and bone. Rustling, flapping, awkward in a confined space. A different sort of ripping, biting sound. It brought a memory unbidden. Eagles feeding on a carcass.

Warm, safe, loving, the other settled in beside her. She smiled. It was not so hard now. She opened her eyes and looked about with curiosity. The room was full of Eagles. She was in a big nest. A Gryphon nest. There was a smaller nest with eggs in it nearby.

Moving her head was an effort. It brought the source of all of that love and care into view. Friend was happily nuzzling her. She still could not get the strength to lift a hoof but she tried. She wanted to hug Friend so much.

Daring Do turned her head the other way. Carmen Pondiego and Grata were there. So were two armed guards and a Gryphon in nurse’s uniform.

In a voice weak from more than mere disuse, Daring Do husked, “Hi. What’s going on? Is this a Hospital Aerie?”

The nurse replied, “Imperial Hospital Aerie #1. You have a lot of friends in High Places, Doctor Do.”

A tiny cracking sound stopped all conversation in the room. Friend hopped off the nest, a smile of delight on her face as she delicately began to assist the Eagle chicks that were finally hatching!

Author's Note:

This tale can be regarded as an Alternate Universe or an Equestria of the future. I have incorporated both characters Of Carmen Pondiego and the Equestrian Defense Bureau with permission from both blog holders.

Carmen Pondiego I regard as a co author. She provides ideas and plotting assistance as well as writing critique.