Flight

Chapter 2

As I soared over the forest, I saw snow on the bare trees.
"It snowed" I said, "it's supposed to only snow on the mountain!"
Pheanix looked at me, "It's snow season, and we call it that for a reason."
Not wanting to look even dumber, I turned my head forward and concentrated on where we were going, I hadn't been to this part of our territory yet.
Pheanix seemed to remember this, and told me where we were going.
"We're going to hunt deer today," she said "Alpha thought the prey wasn't feeding the pack enough."
I agreed. The rabbits and birds that we usually ate just didn't take my hunger away.
"One thing though..." Pheanix said, "You have to be careful, there are Griffins in this area, this is their usual hunting area, they like deer. So you will have to be very careful."
I hadn't ever seen a griffin, but my mother, Sparrow, had been attacked by two of them once. She had lived, but she had many scars from the battle.
"Deer aren't as easy to hunt as rabbits, though. They can break your bones with a well-placed kick. I would suggest that you take it by surprise." Pheanix said.
As we swooped down to the ground, landing in the cold, powdery snow, I heard a snuffling sound, and the crunch of snow. I could smell what I guessed we were hearing. It smelled musty, like it had been gathering dust in a cave.
"That's the smell of a deer. Remember it. I'm going to sneak around the deer, and scare it towards you. Then you leap out and kill it. Before long we'll have a enough food to feed the pack for days!
Pheanix snuck away, keeping her belly low to the ground as she snuck up on the deer. She soon disappeared into the undergrowth. I watched her from the bushes. Her faultless crouch and sweeping tail made her silent, I couldn't even hear the snow beneath her paws.
Suddenly, I heard a low growl behind me.
I turned around and saw a huge monster. It had a large, sharp beak, and a mane of feathers down its neck. It's front paws were the talons of an eagle, and it's back legs were a lion's paws. It's tail was that of a lion.
At first I didn't know how it had snuck up on me, but then I realized it had large speckled wings folded to its back
Before I could move, the griffin pounced on me. It's weight was more then I could handle, and I crashed to the ground. The griffin made a sound that was the mix of a roar and a caw, in victory. It raked its claws down my wing, keeping me from flying. My wing burned like it was on fire. I bit the griffin, hoping that it would get off of me so I could run. If I could just get to Pheanix...

And then everything went black