Gryphons

"Right, just like that. Look him in the eye. Stay friendly and keep smiling. Whatever you do, don't blink. He'll think you can't be trusted."

Though Kurdran's booming voice right beside him was a little distracting, Alvin had no time to pay attention to him. The eight-foot-tall beast in front of him was staring him straight in the eyes. For a boy not even five feet tall, facing down a ferocious creature several times his size was more than a little intimidating.

"Don't blink!"

The prolonged stare was making the boy's eyes dry. He could feel his eyelids growing heavy, but the dwarf's shout stopped him from blinking.

In the end, the boy's persistence paid off. The fearsome beast, with its pair of pale golden wings, responded to his steadfastness. Snowwind, Kurdran's close companion, gently lowered his back toward the boy, who had maintained his smile and manners the whole time. It looked almost like a nod.

At last, Kurdran let out a long breath of relief. Snowwind was his close partner and companion, but he still had the wild nature of his kind. If the prince of the Kingdom of Lordaeron got hurt because of him, Kurdran would be in a terrible bind. Fortunately, the young boy had won Snowwind's approval through patience and kindness.

"Good job! Snowwind has accepted you. You can try petting him."

Following the Wildhammer Dwarf's instructions, Alvin slowly reached out a small hand and lightly touched the sharp beak Snowwind had lowered toward him. It felt different from what the boy had imagined: smooth to the touch, not rough at all.

Seeing that the enormous beast in front of him showed no signs of aggression, the boy moved a little closer and stroked its sleek feathers. As he gently ran his hand over them, Snowwind wore an extraordinarily humanlike expression of contentment, as if he enjoyed the boy's touch.

After making his first close contact with the unfamiliar gryphon, the boy followed Kurdran as they took Snowwind for a stroll through the wilds near Southshore. According to the dwarf, it was a way to get used to living together and let their bond grow over time.

"Wildhammer Dwarves have been around the gryphons living in the mountains and forests since childhood." As he spoke of his own youth, a hint of nostalgia crossed Kurdran's face.

"Once we learn to walk and climb, gryphons become important companions in our lives. They're very clever and our closest friends, not livestock like the horses you humans keep."

"Hey, don't fly too far off!"

The dwarf shouted at Snowwind, who was soaring freely through the sky, then turned to the boy with a cheerful smile. He preferred talking to someone about his own height rather than craning his neck to speak with an adult human, even if the other person looked like a child.

"See? He understands what I'm saying."

Kurdran proudly showed Alvin how close and trusting he and his gryphon companion were. He hardly seemed like an older adult.

That was Dwarves for you. In daily life, they drank too much and acted recklessly; on the battlefield, they were brave, tenacious, and ready to die; in political discussions, they could also show flashes of startling wisdom.

In the history Alvin had experienced in the game, the Wildhammer Dwarves should have had little contact with humans before the Second War. But in this timeline, for some unknown reason, these folk who lived in seclusion at Aerie Peak had a good relationship with the Kingdom of Alterac and maintained regular trade.

Because of the War of the Three Hammers, their relationship with the Ironforge Dwarves wasn't as amicable as people might have imagined. Still, it wasn't as strained as the stories claimed, since the conflict had been sparked by the Dark Iron Dwarves' treachery. In a way, both the Wildhammer Dwarves and the Bronzebeard Dwarves had been victims of that war—though the Bronzebeards had been luckier and won.

After the war, the two clans of Dwarves often kept in touch and joined forces against the fallen Dark Iron Clan. They left behind many works that would endure through the ages, such as the Thandol Span, the famous great bridge linking the north and south of the Eastern Kingdoms.

Though they were wild and unpredictable, they were steadfast in their yearning for justice. When the Ironforge Dwarves, who looked almost exactly like them, became embroiled in war, these hot-tempered folk who revered nature and justice chose to take up their hammers and do what they could for their former kin.

For that reason, Falstad Wildhammer, king of the Wildhammer Clan, chose to join the Alliance and sent the gryphon squad Kurdran belonged to to Southshore to fight the Orcs.

Curious about gryphons and dreaming of flight, the boy spent most of his time in Southshore with the Wildhammer Dwarves and their airborne companions. The rest of the time, he followed Lothar around and watched the Alliance's war councils.

"Kurdran, about how long will it be before I can fly with Snowwind?"

Flying freely through the sky was one of the oldest dreams of every race bound to the ground by gravity, and Alvin was no exception, even though he came from the modern world. The boy tilted his head slightly, held his right hand above his brow, and watched the jubilant gryphon fly toward a small copse in the distance beneath the brilliant sun.

"It'll take at least two months before this fellow fully accepts you." The dwarf held out his thick hand and began counting on his fingers. "You'll also have to learn to judge the wind speed, control your direction..."

As he spoke, Kurdran looked up and glanced into the distance. Suddenly, his expression turned awful, and he let out a shout. "Oh, no!"

"What happened?" The boy followed his gaze. The powerful gryphon was still circling slowly above a somewhat withered copse. Everything around them was peaceful, like a scene in a painting.

No, wait!

Just as he was wondering what was going on, a flash of white entered his view: an arrow with white fletching. It cut swiftly through the sky, climbing toward the highest point its momentum could carry it before falling toward the ground, tracing a complete parabolic arc through the air.

If he wasn't mistaken, the arrow had been aimed at Snowwind, who had only just reached the woods. The boy's expression changed, too.

"Damn it!"

The Wildhammer Dwarf cursed and rushed forward on his short legs, grumbling as he ran. "Whoever did this, I'm going to knock some sense into that brainless fool with my hammer!"