When they left the city, which was not difficult at all - no one guarded the city gates, and they were hanging more for the sake of form, one leaf fell off - the princess immediately and decisively turned off the road, which puzzled Khani quite a bit. Of course, the boys were only vaguely familiar with the geography of the island, and that was mainly from the princess's story, but they knew the outskirts of the city. The forest that Toril was heading for was called the Unkind Forest by the inhabitants of Acanton, and they avoided it. Only hunters, desperate daredevils and daredevils, went there to return extremely frightened and bring a new portion of stories about the miracles and horrors happening in its thickets. True, they went there again to check the traps they had set... And one more thing confused Khani - all the storytellers invariably returned alive and well, despite the dangers and difficulties. Valiant heroes... Here the brothers' opinions diverged - Hani was inclined to take the stories at face value, while Chani was extremely skeptical. He claimed that the heroes did not go deeper into the forest than ten steps from the edge, and all their adventures were invented in roadside taverns. Hani got excited and argued, but Chani remained firm in his suspicions, although he did not express any intention of checking them. On this the brothers agreed - the forest had a bad reputation, and it was worth keeping away from it.
When Khani told the princess about this, she replied that she did not think it necessary to go around the forest along the old royal road, since it made the journey longer. Chani reasonably pointed out that sometimes the shortest route takes much longer than the longest. The princess objected that in this case everything was not as it seemed to the brothers. Chani shrugged his shoulders and obeyed.
They walked along a cheerfully ringing stream, and the forest did not seem scary at all. On the contrary, the birds' voices called out loudly to each other, the leaves of the tall, slender ash trees rustled quietly, talking to each other, and the loudest sound was the squabble of magpies.
Hani was about to open his mouth to express his surprise at the discrepancy between the name of the forest and what they had actually seen, when a quiet, drawn-out groan silenced him. Hani immediately drew his short sword and prepared to defend himself. But no one was in a hurry to attack him. Chani, pressing his lips into a line, looked at his warlike preparations with a grin. But when the groan was repeated, louder, Chani also became alarmed.
A quiet whine flew between the trees, thin and plaintive, ending in an indistinct muttering and groaning.
"Who is it?" Hani turned to Toril. "We have to help him."
- What if they are simply luring us? - Chani suggested. - You yourself told such horror stories about this forest that now it is time to run away from here as fast as you can. And you yourself are going to help God knows who.
The groan came again, this time ending in a long meow, like a cat's tail had been pinched. Chani glanced at the princess, but she only shrugged.
— I myself don't understand anything at all.
"I'll be damned, but it's a cat," Khani said in amazement.
- A cat? Here? - Chani sighed. - Think about what you're saying.
And again a piercing "mya-wau-ah!!" flew through the forest.
"No, we need to save the cat," Khani resolutely pushed away his brother's outstretched hand. "And anyway, whoever it is, he's clearly in trouble, he's asking for help. And I think it would be just mean of us not to respond."
"To whom?" Chani winced.
The meowing turned into a quiet whine and cry. Khani, no longer listening to his brother's objections and admonitions, ran in the direction from which the plaintive sounds were coming. Having run out into a sunlit clearing, he stopped. In te clearing, an animal was moaning mournfully, not at all like a cat. An animal that Khani had never seen before. Yes...
The adventures began before the journey, back in the city. And now the miracles began. Just what he dreamed of…
It was hard to say who was more surprised to see the beast: the brothers, who were unfamiliar with it, or Toril, who clearly knew who it was but had never expected to meet it here.
He was as tall as a calf, but he resembled... It was hard to say what exactly he resembled, more likely some unthinkable combination of animals. His body resembled a lion's, but his paws were much larger than necessary and looked completely alien. A large eagle head with an impressive beak was crowned with a frivolous crest. And the luxurious wings, covered with soft silky feathers of the same pleasant golden color as his fur, looked completely out of place. The long tail ended in a cute tassel.
The beast opened its beak, and again the same long, plaintive meow was heard. Then the beast whined, twitched, hopped awkwardly across the grass, and Khani realized that something was holding its right front paw. Ignoring his brother's warning cry, Khani ran up to the beast and saw that it had fallen into a trap. Without thinking, Khani grabbed the sword, thrust it between the steel arches, and pressed. The trap creaked and reluctantly parted.
The beast, with a sigh of relief, pulled out his dented paw, licked it with his long, smoking tongue, and, hobbling on three whole paws, moved away from the hated iron. He stood there for a while, swaying in complete exhaustion, and collapsed like a sack onto the grass.
"A griffin?" Toril asked, not trying to hide her surprise. "I would never have thought that even one of them survived to this day."
"Were there any before?" Hani asked with interest.
- Of course. Legends say that in ancient days they lived in herds.
"Ugh, you have to come up with such nonsense," said someone's pleasant, quiet voice.
"Who is it?" Khani jumped up.
"Of course, I am," the same voice answered.
— Who is "I"?
- It's me, I, the Griffin.
All three of them stared wide-eyed at the Griffin, who was sitting in a dog-like position, holding his paw, which had been dented by the trap, in the air.
"So you're even talking?" Chani was amazed.
- What do you mean, "still"? - the Griffin was instantly offended. - Not still, just. I'm saying it like I always have. And I don't see anything surprising in that. Not only can I talk, but I can do a lot of other things. And stop insulting me. You might as well say: in herds. I'm a rare animal, - he said proudly. - Unique.
But the princess was not impressed.
"Where did you come from, rare animal?" she asked dryly.
The griffin clicked its beak in displeasure.
— Where from?.. I'm flying, you see, just flying, not bothering anyone. I was in Diagbenachingwea. A wonderful place, a beautiful river, such waterfalls… And the bananas grow there… Yummy, you can swallow your tongue. Have you ever been there? And you shouldn't, — Griffin finished without any transition. — A terrible hole. The river is muddy, you'll get sick any minute. The waterfalls too… You'll fall
— You can't collect the bones. And under every banana tree there's a crocodile. And any of them is trying to swallow you without asking. If only they had agreed in advance who exactly. But they grabbed them, were about to eat, and then fought to the death, all trying to figure out who would bite first. — The griffin shuddered. — But I ran away... I mean, I defeated them all! Phew! Feathers flew!
"From crocodiles?" Chani asked innocently.
- Yes, why? - The Griffin looked at him with his clear blue eyes, puzzled. Then he remembered - apparently it had dawned on him. He sheepishly fingered the feathers on his chest and said: - And there are special crocodiles there. Feathered. And eared, to boot.
Toril couldn't help but burst out laughing, and the brothers burst out laughing too. The griffin pouted.
- If that's the case, I won't tell you anymore.
"What are you saying?" Khani quickly reassured him. "We believe you."
"Do you believe it?" The Griffin looked at him with his right eye and nodded with satisfaction.
- Well, okay. So, I flew away from Diagbenachingwea, but then the dragon attacked me...
"Ten-winged?" Toril interrupted him sharply.
- That's him, - the Griffin wheezed pitifully. - Eight-winged. He follows me everywhere. He probably wants to catch me.
"Ten or eight?" Chani asked.
"Ten," said Toril.
"Eight," corrected the Griffin. "After all, he's only four thousand years old."
"What does age have to do with it?" Toril asked.
- You don't even know that? - the Griffin was amazed. - It's a simple thing. Every thousand years the dragon grows another pair of wings. This one is four thousand - that means it has eight wings.
"And the fifth pair?" asked Khani.
"This is a special and long conversation, some other time," the Griffin evaded.
"Why is he trying to catch you?" Toril asked.
- How should I know? - the Griffin said quickly. - He just wants to - and that's it. I'm saving myself as best I can. After all, I'm so quiet, so peaceful, I don't bother anyone, I don't offend anyone. I just flew in - and here you go. Straight into a trap! Tell me, where have you ever seen traps set for Griffins? - he finished indignantly.
"An unheard-of disgrace," Chani nodded sympathetically.
- That's what I'm saying, - the Griffin rejoiced. - It's just a nightmare. A mockery! I'm a rare animal! - He stuck out his chest. - A re-lic! I need to be protected and taken care of with all your might.
"I can't take it anymore," Khani sank down onto the grass, laughing silently. "He's going to kill me now."
The griffin was offended again.
- Oh, so... So that's it?! Well, that's it, I'm not talking to you anymore.
- He walked across the lawn, limping slightly, then opened his wings with a crack and took off.
"He didn't even thank me," Chani snorted, looking disapprovingly after the point melting into the blue sky.
"He'll do that next time," Khani promised, holding his stomach with laughter.
Contrary to all fears and expectations, there were no more adventures or encounters in the forest.
"I think," Chani concluded, "that our hunters simply don't wanKhanit their game to be scared away."
Indeed, over the course of three days they saw a great many deer, wild boars, and roe deer. The unafraid animals fearlessly followed them with their eyes, lazily making way for them.
"Perhaps so," Toril agreed.
They also crossed the plain without incident and, already at the foot of the Black Mountains, came out onto the road. This was the Northern Highway, which crossed the entire island from the very north to the extreme southern point. The travelers then walked along it, as Toril had suggested from the very beginning.