051 - The Great Hunt

The first to reach the ledge was the hero Gunner, jamming his iron plate boots into a crack in the cliffs and launching himself up over the rocks.

"Dolt! Watch out!" Pete grabbed the young hunter and hauled him to a side on the cliffs just below Gunner. Pete and Dolt were the second closest to the hidden ledge, and when the hero kicked they were showered with falling rocks.

"I'm fine!" The young hunter brushed Pete's hand off and rushed up the rocks, vaulting over to the ledge.

"Dammit! Wait! You're only gonna get yourself killed!" Pete rushed after him. The other hunters scurried up the cliffs after them, some ways behind.

Down below in the sandy basin Isabella waited calmly stringing her bow, Carl Lang dusted himself off and asked "Aren't you going to after them?"

"Whatever for?" She replied. "Gunner is already there. And besides, when he fails to kill the beast it shall fly up, and then I shall shoot it. Better that way, no?"

"Skriee!"

The roar of the Griffon pierced through the many hunters heads, a sharp mournful cry, followed by a mighty crash of rocks.

Pete scrambled over the thickets and tumbled into the ledge, then froze. Just in front of him was the young hunter Dolt and the hero Gunner, equally frozen in their tracks, a shocked expression blossoming on each of their faces.

The Griffon. The mighty winged beast with the wings and beak of a hawk and the hind legs of a lion thrashed against the cliffs, its beak broken, its talons cut, its wings sliced and bloodied.

Beyond the thicket was a recess into the cliffs forming a shallow cave, an open area before the cave where the beast had made its nest. It was a mess, dry branches and brittle bones that must have made the nest were thrown about the ledge in disarray.

Just within the cave were two figures all in white, a pale faced man and woman, equally unearthly in their appearance and attire. Tall and slim and both with long straight black hair, the man had his tied in a loose knot, and the woman had hers loose around her shoulders.

The man held a short curved blade out in front of him, a slight smile on his lips at he brought it up, easily knocking the Griffons strike to a side. The Griffon wailed pitifully, crossing from side to side of the nest and lashing out with all its might.

Behind the calm white robed man the woman tended to a cooking pot within a fire. In the pot was a single large egg, the watching it intently, ignoring everything else around her.

"How much longer Min?"

"Five minutes brother Soo, a little longer."

The two white dressed figures chatted in a relaxed manner, the brother swatting to keep the Griffon at bay.

Gunner was the first to recover, shouting over at the strange couple "Oi! What the hells is going on here? Who the devil are you?"

Soo turned his gaze on Gunner, two black eyes seemed to bore straight through the heavily armoured hero, a sneer appearing on his pale lips. "Who we are? What we're doing? What right does a barbarian have to ask that of me?"

"Brother! Don't be impolite," Min smiled at Gunner and the two hunters. "Just keep those feeble ants away while I finish breakfast."

Gunner stared in silence, the knuckles of his fist turning white.

Pete could barely breath, let alone find it in himself to raise his voice or act; the oppressive presence of the Griffon alone was enough to turn his legs to jelly. Now, seeing the casual manner by which the brother and sister were cooking a Griffon's egg and keeping the beast itself at bay with ease . . Pete's heart thumped a wild tune within his chest.

"Breakfast!" Gunner roared, raising his iron staff above his head. "Ha! Have your blasted breakfast you freaks! I'll be taking the Griffon!" Gunner leapt at the wounded Griffon in a single swift motion, bringing the iron staff down with both his arms.

The iron staff smashed down on the Griffon's wings, knocking the beast off balance and sending it against the stone walls of the shallow cave with an enormous crash.

Gunner swung his staff once more, slamming it into the ground and sending a shower of dirt and debris over to the campfire and the two strange figures.

"Brother!" Min cried out suddenly.

Soo frowned, raising his slim curved blade and crying out "Hiya!" The blade moved like liquid metal through the air, carving out a shining figure of eight. All the dirt and muck Gunner threw up with his staff froze in midair, flying back away from the brother and sister.

Gunner didn't so much as hesitate, bringing his staff down with even greater force, aiming to smash both the blade and the man's head into a bloody pulp.

Clang!

The sword sliced right through the iron, right through Gunners black plate armour. Gunner yelled in alarm, falling back onto the ruined nest.

The Griffon immediately took this opportunity and lashed out at Soo's exposed back with both its talons, but Soo was faster. He simply rolled to a side, as if he knew the precise place to be to avoid the Griffons attack, and the precise moment to execute his roll.

Quick as a flash, Soo was back on his feet and next to his sister, his demeanor entirely relaxed, as if he were doing nothing more taxing than going for a morning stroll.

"Skrieee!" The Griffon carried on the momentum of its failed attack, tumbling face first into the nest and falling on top of the hero Gunner.

"Don't do that." Soo returned to a relaxed position. "Now, begone. Your presence is upsetting my appetite."

Gunner struggled under the weight of the Griffon, his face contorted in rage and a string of curse words flowing from his mouth.

The young hunter by Pete's side moved, rushing forwards towards the Griffon. Pete yelled out "Dolt!" But made no move to stop the youth, his feet firmly planted by shock into the ground.

Dolt ignored the hero Gunner, ignored the strange brother and sister at the other side of the shallow cave, ignored Pete calling out after him. The young hunter dropped his spear, grabbing the Griffon by its hind quarters.

"Dolt!" Pete called out again. What the blazes what the idiot trying to do?

Before Gunner or anyone else could so much as react, the young hunter lifted the Griffon above his head, turned, and wordlessly leapt out of the nest, his simple jump sailing over the heads of the hunters still climbing up the cliff to the ledge and down into the sandy basin below.