The world of fantasy was always a part of Kaito"s childhood, and a big reason why he got into fantasy style animes. Numerous creatures that combines or upscales the features of familiar animals and other living beings were the roots of his fascination with the imaginary. And yet, there he stood, standing face to face with one of those creatures. In times like these, Kaito"s childhood wonder..."RUN FOR IT!"
Was completely thrown out the window, overpowered by raw survival instinct.
The sudden yelling triggered the Griffin"s predatory instincts, as it let out a far more menacing screech. The three made a mad dash away from the winged beast, as said monster flew above the trees, diving down at them like a hawk. If it weren"t for Franciska tripping leading to Kaito and Vincent bending down to help her, the beast would have claimed at least one of their lives with it"s razor sharp talons.
"Gyyahh!! Vincent, please save me!!" Franciska cried in fear, as the ma.s.sive predatory bird swooped over her head.
Vincent hugged her tightly, trying to comfort her as Kaito stood up, his legs shaking.
"I almost just became bird chow..." He thought while sweating bullets, while looking at the Griffin, who was always positioning itself for another dive, "Seriously, what kind of difficulty settings are these? Gimme a break!"
Looking behind him, he saw Vincent comforting Franciska, who was slowly calming down. Knowing that they had no way of defending themselves, he called out to them, as he noticed that the Griffin had it"s eyes on them, typical for a predator.
"Vincent! Take Franciska and run for it!" Exclaimed Kaito, "I"ll hold it off!"
"Are you crazy!?" Exclaimed Vincent, "This is a G.o.d d.a.m.n Griffin for Pete"s sake! You"ll be torn apart in mere seconds!"
"Just go!" Kaito yelled back, as the Griffin let out another screech, before plunging at them.
Plunging his hands into his hip pouch, he managed to pull out a spare magazine for his rifle. Quickly reloading his Carbine with the swiftness he acquired from military training, he took aim at the Griffin, as it dove in for another attack run. Unloading a storm of bullets at the beast, he was able to land one lucky hit, the bullet, piercing the monster"s eye, as the pain caused the beast to shift it"s trajectory.
The bird ended up crashing into Kaito sideways, as the two tumbled down a steep incline. While this happened, Vincent made a cross gesture, seeing what had just transpired.
"Peace be with you, mysterious mage." Vincent whispered, "G.o.d have mercy on thy soul."
He then turned to Franciska, who managed to get back on her two feet.
"Lady Franciska, please, we must hurry! That Griffin will be back on us in mere moments!" Exclaimed Vincent.
"W-What about the mage?" Asked Franciska.
"He..." Vincent hesitated, "No, we must prioritize your life first. Please, we can"t let his sacrifice be in vain!"
"R-Right!" Replied Franciska, as the two ran off.
Meanwhile, back with Kaito, he got lucky, and fell onto a patch of soft gra.s.s. The Griffin however received the short end of the stick, having it"s front right leg impaled on a piece of sharp stone. Getting up, the young soldier stared the Griffin in the eye, looking at it as it stared back.
"I"m very sorry for this." Said Kaito, placing his palm on the injured leg of the Griffin, "I really am."
Just then, the Griffin leaned onto him, as the two"s faces were mere inches away. Looking at him from up close, Kaito trembled in awe and excitement.
"Could this be?" He thought, "The bonding between former enemies I see in so many movies?"
The Griffin bowed it"s head, as if it wanted him to pet him.
"Oh my goodness! Yes! I can"t believe I"m gonna ride a Griffi-"
Suddenly, the beast shot upwards, biting Kaito in the head. Panicked, Kaito pulled it"s head back, as his helmet held the Griffin"s beak open long enough for the man to pull his head out of the creature"s killer maw. Just then, the Griffin swiped at him with his other claw, before getting back up, as if nothing happened.
"It only pretended to submit!?" He exclaimed, rapidly backing up.
Just then, the beast charged at him, as he crawled out of the way in fear, causing it to run through a tree.
"That"s things even more ferocious than before!" Thought Kaito, as the Griffin has fully ditched his flying tactics and opted for grounded combat.
Picking up his Carbine again, he pointed his gun at the Charging Griffin, as he pulled the trigger. No good, the fall jammed the gun. Instead, the young man was thrown into a tree, knocking the wind out of him. Luckily, his bulletproof military vest was just enough to prevent any sort of concussion, as the man holstered his now useless gun and switched to his sidearm: a USP Model handgun.
While the power and range of the sidearm was lower, it was his only option, as the Griffin"s claws dug into both sides of the tree, trapping him in the middle, as it lunged it"s beak, trying to pierce him.
Leaning to his right, the beak attack smashed right through the tree, as Kaito rolled under the beast"s arm to escape, before firing at the monster. While the bullets couldn"t penetrate the Griffin"s thick hide, it was still hurting it, like getting stones thrown at a human.
Noticing that it had lost a lot of blood from the fall and was missing an eye, Kaito figured that this was the stage where the enemy would enter some sort of berserk state, similar to a video game boss. Surely enough, the Griffin was swinging it"s claws wildly, ripping through branches and smashing stones.
As Kaito backed up more and more, reaching into his numerous hip pouches, hoping to find something that could help him, he suddenly managed to find something that might help him.
"Okay, If I miss it, I am dead..." Thought Kaito, sweating nervously, while running away from the rampaging beast, "So please, if you could just stay still!"
However, as soon as he thought that, the Griffin stopped it"s chase.
"Woah, that actually worked?"
However, the wings on the Griffin sprouted once again.
"Nevermind! He"s gonna kill me!!" Kaito thought, paralyzed with fear.
Suddenly, the creature charged at Kaito like a speeding bus, attempting to run him over. Closing his eyes, Kaito tightened his resolve, as he took something out of his pouch. Suddenly, he let out his best Tarzan impression, as he leaped onto the Griffin, dodging it"s beak and hugging it"s neck. The beast, panicked, flew upwards, trying to shake him down. The sharp branches of the trees left cuts all over Kaito"s face, as he hung on for dear like while screaming.
Suddenly, he felt a breeze as he opened his eyes, revealing that he was over 20 meters off the ground. Panic started to form in him, as he thrashed about, hugging the beast even tighter, as the Griffin also thrashed around in midair, trying to shake him off.
"NononononononoNO! I don"t wanna die-ie-ie-ie!!" Kaito cried out, as the two wrestled in the air.
The Griffin, knowing that he couldn"t shake Kaito off, decided that it will instead dive down, as smash him into pieces against a rock. However, as soon as the thrashing stopped, it felt a sharp pain in it"s neck; Kaito had lodged it"s combat knife into it"s shoulder.
"S-Sorry?" Kaito smiled nervously.
Suddenly, the Griffin dove down, as Kaito saw the ground approaching at high speeds. Scared for his life, he let go of his knife, before letting go of the Griffin entirely, crashing into multiple trees on his way down.
Back with Vincent and Franciska, they were able to meet up with a band of travelling merchants. Approaching the wagon, Vincent helped Franciska get on.
"So, this cart will take her to [Harvirn]?" Asked Vincent.
"That"s about as far as I can take her." Replied the merchants.
"Oh thank you, thank you! I cannot thank you enough." Replied Vincent, "Here, 8 small silver coins. It may not be much, but it"s all I have left."
"We appreciate it, that"s only good enough for 1 person." Said the Merchant.
Hearing this, Franciska stood up in protest.
"What? No! You can"t just leave him here! There"s a Griffin nearby, he won"t survive on his own!"
"It"s fine, Lady Franciska." Said Vincent calmly, "[Harvern] is as far as I can take you anyways. It seems as though we must part ways here."
"Don"t say that!" Franciska cried in tears, "You"re my servant, and I order you to come with me!"
"Shhh, don"t cry, Little Franciska." Said Vincent, "It will be fine, I promise."
"Vincent!"
"It"s been an honor serving you, milady..." Said Vincent.
"Hey, look up!" Said another merchant, pointing at the sky.
In the sky, the silhouette of a great winged beast grew ever bigger, as it became more and more clear that that creature was flying towards them.
"It"s a Griffin!" Yelled the merchants in a panic.
"Franciska, go!" Said Vincent.
"VINCEEENNNNTTT!!!!" Franciska cried.
Suddenly, out of the blue, to everyone"s surprise, an explosion engulfed the Griffin, as it"s body flew out of the smoke, missing both it"s front legs and bleeding from it"s neck. It"s now lifeless corpse crashed into the ground, sliding towards them, before stopping only a few feet in front of the group.
"The Griffin..." Uttered the merchants.
"...Was shot down?" Finished Vincent.
Suddenly, sounds were heard coming from behind the downed beast, as a figure emerged from the foliage.
"I"m so glad I was able to attach that grenade onto the knife in time..." Uttered Kaito, bleeding and covered in wounds.
"Sir Mage!!" Vincent and Franciska called out, as they ran to him to catch him, as he collapsed into their arms.
The merchants however stood silenced. In the history of mankind, there hasn"t been a single recorded incident in thousands of years where a Griffin was defeated singlehandedly. They were too fast in the air, too strong on the ground and too ferocious. One would usually need a small army of 100 men and some form of siege artillery to bring one down.
And yet, there they stood before a hero, clad in green, standing tall like a giant. They were the first to bare witness to a legend that will be told for generations to come. The legend of the Green-Clad Hero, whom with the flames at his command, slew a mighty Griffin alone.