The Enchantress

Another edit 15.1.2011. Story updated (=most of lingual mistakes fixed...)

They were two of the latest self-conscious gryphons who ever lived in that world. They were grandparents of Kinhiae, parents of her father Fekehér. Proud, almost pure-blooded hippogriff Zyreus and bloodthirsty enchantress Fayza...

Story begins...

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There was a little village of nice and diligent salkahis beside a little mountain range and a fertile forest. It was a peaceful place. But under this silent surface there was everyday danger among everybody.
Fayza, the serpentine gryphon enchantress had kept poor creatures in a little fear in many years. She was powerful, has mental skills of hellgriffs and some special features from her non-gryphon side. She also knew herbs and could make several different potions with more or less malicious effects - paralyzing, stunning or just deadly. She, though, let the salkahis live their own little lives as long they did everything what Fayza said, like bring new and fresh food daily. Enchantress's dome was inside a great dripstone cave near village.
Actually Fayza hadn’t even interested of villagers, but she had forced them to say every stranger to come visit her. Then Fayza usually killed them with her drinks. She had great lust of blood, just one part of her dark witchcraft. Skulls of her victims she hanged up near the roof of cave. Fayza was merciless and cruel. The salkahis thought they wouldn’t have any change against her, though, so they suffer their fate silently. Fayza was sly enough and let all salkahis live, even random wanderers, so she didn’t provoke villagers to stand against her.

Then one day there came a wandering gryphon to the village. He was gorgeous looking hippogriff with good manners even though he was remarkably proud of his heritage. His name was Zyreus. He told he's wandering to find a spouse with pure blood like his.
Villagers really liked him, but they were too afraid of Fayza so they told Zyreus to visit a cave nearby. Zyreus left, and the creatures were sad. "So good boy but we'll never see him again..."

Fayza had done this before - play nice, then drink the victim something poisonous and that's it. Zyreus became a bit doubtful when seeing all the skulls and purpleish shimmer all around, but he thought maybe this weird lady could help him regardless of this. He saw Fayza was almost a gryphon, too, but something in her just abhorred Zyreus. She wouldn’t be any perfect spouse.
The enchantress talked all nice and unnecessary things and - like randomly - gave Zyreus a goblet of some drink. Fayza took something too, but not that whatever she made Zyreus to drink. The male gryphon fainted quickly due to paralyzing potion.
There Fayza walked and looked her newest victim, all around, and thought... She actually liked Zyreus - he was something else than everything she had caught before. This one was something worth of saving... This one would give much, much fun. Gryphon enchantress smirked, and went to find a hard metal collar and chain and mix some more potions...

When Zyreus waked up a bit, he realized he's shackled...and teared. There was bleeding scars on his hands. Then he noticed Fayza who immediately gave him something liquid and bitter. Zyreus was still a bit dazed and couldn't fight against. He heard "I'll keep you, my pet" before he felt his will pouring away...

During next weeks the creatures realized Zyreus was still alive, but many things had changed. His eyes stared into emptiness, he looked powerless and surrendered. The creatures understood it was Fayza's evil device, but once again they couldn't help. They saw him shackled and often bleeding, and cruel enchantress seemed kind a more bouncy than before.
Intoxicating, even a bit poisonous potions what Fayza gave Zyreus daily, faded male gryphon's own will, made him apathetic and unimpressed. But there was something what Fayza had forgotten - immunity. Usually she killed her preys fast, doesn't desensitize them to the poison.
And slowly, when time went on, the proud mind began to awake, screaming revenge silently...

Seven parts of eight were hippogriff in Zyreus's genome, the last eighth didn't affect his outlook that much but had given him skills no other hippogriff had ever had, like great adaptability, better physical recovering and ability to resist electricity better than common body. That was been noticed when a lightning stroke Zyreus when he was young, and survived without any permanent visible or inner wounds. Anyway, nothing of those helped him to recover his proud nature, his prideful mind, which was teared apart by Fayza.

Then one day when Fayza brought a daily poison goblet for Zyreus, she didn't see totally same apathetic face than before... Zyreus looked the same, but he stared Fayza straight into her eyes, and smirked. His eyes looked still unimpressed but there was an eerie gleam in them. And first time ever in her life Fayza felt this situation wasn't totally in her control. When Fayza came closer, Zyreus didn't do anything at first, just smirked, but then he took the goblet with slow and sure move, drank the potion voluntarily and gave goblet back. Fayza was silently confused, what's this now. But Zyreus kept on smirking and stared her very uncomfortable way.
When Fayza was leaving and turned her back to Zyreus, she heard him laughing quietly, saying “...I will take which belongs to me...” Fayza left, but she still had the feeling this can't be good.
And surely, it was the first day of the end...


Part 2 of the story.

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Because this story is too long to tell with one single picture.

Ink, coloured pencils, aquarels, time. |p

Story (c) me. All use forbidden.

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Edited add:
And here some explanation for things you pointed out:

- Zyreus has very good regeneration skill - thus his wounds usually heal completely without leaving scars, so only recent wounds can be seen.
- Architecture, yes. |3 There's that, even more than can be seen in the picture. Fayza is not the first who has used that cave system. There's evem more archs, even some creepy statues.
- Skulls are big - they're just hanging high and far away from the "view".
- I never said they're natural stalactites. |3 (but main reason they're like that is because of my style so can't help)..