The horses were tacked and ready by the time Tigris made it out of her chambers, tailed by nervous looking Aodh and Sir Harold.
"Why don't I go instead?" Aodh was pleading, "Why should we risk the heir to the throne for this?"
"Because the journey is treacherous and I'm a better fighter than you," Tigris informed him smugly. Aodh's concern immediately dissolved into annoyance.
"You only beat me during the fight because you cheated!" he pointed out indignantly.
"Want a rematch?"
"My lady," Sir Harold interrupted before she could place Aodh in another chokehold. His eyes were stormy as he glanced around the bustling courtyard, "Are you certain you don't want anyone else to come with you? What if you're attacked?"
Tigris walked towards her horse, ensuring that she had all her weapons. "I can handle myself and Ivie's stealthy enough for this mission. I need you, Aodh, and the rest of the knights here in case we're attacked again. Remember the new protocol."
Sir Harold nodded, opening his mouth to recount the same protocol back to her when a screech split the air. Tigris immediately unsheathed her sword, as a blur of feathers and muscles limbs tore through the courtyard, leaping upon one of the merchants.
The griffin was back.
The horses reared and whinnied as the civilians in the courtyard screamed and ran for shelter. Ivie leapt off her horse, joining Tigris as they ran towards the beast.
"Get everyone inside!" she ordered, stabbing at the creature's chest. As expected, her blade didn't do anything but hack off a few of the regular feathers, but the force behind the blow forced the creature back. "We'll lure it out!"
The gates creaked open. Ivie slammed her sword and shield together, drawing the beast's attention towards the opened gates. She leapt back dodging a lethal swipe to the chest. Out of the corner of her eye, Tigris saw Roche leading the horses out through the gates, edging around the fight slowly.
The griffin's body coiled. Roche yelped in warning, and Ivie stumbled back, narrowly missing a blast of inkblood that sailed over her head. The enchantment slammed into the forest instead, leaving nothing but dust upon impact with the trees.
Ivie's face went grey as the griffin whirled on her, moving so fast that Tigris could barely track the moment. Ivie shouted, pinned by its huge claws. Tigris barely saw the flash of needle-like teeth before she was sprinting forward.
"Hey!" she shouted, smacking the griffin's flank with her sword. The beast roared in ire, rearing up onto its legs. Ivie scuttled away as Tigris grabbed a fistful of feathers.
"What are you doing?" Roche shouted as Tigris clung on for dear life, barely managing to wrap her legs around the creature's back. The griffin writhed and thrashed like an unruly buck, trying to unseat her.
"Trying to ride it out of here!" Tigris yelled back, grabbing the feather's on the griffin's head and yanking. The griffin lurched forward in agony, nearly flipping her off its back. With another hard pull, it stumbled forward, halfway through the gates.
Tigris huffed, triumph filling her. Perhaps they'd make it through this battle.
"Tigris!" Roche shouted, "Get down from there!"
She nearly asked why when she noticed the inkblood feathers beneath her shifting and warming uncomfortably.
Shit.
Tigris vaulted herself off as the griffin's feathers exploded with enchantments, sending a concussive blast of power so strong that Tigris went flying. She slammed into a tree, her vision going black for a moment.
YOU ARE READING
The Way We Fall
Fantasy(Inspired by the hit BBC show Merlin) One thousand years have passed since humanity fell. From its ashes, the Faultless Kingdom rose. For many centuries, it was prosperous. Then the king enacted a new law: inkblood is a crime punishable by death. Ro...
