Long Live

Chapter 12

Hey, guys! Hope you enjoy this chapter and happy reading!

Jack didn't need to wake up the others. Oh, they knew already.

Just as the griffon was going to tear him to shreds, it suddenly froze. It whipped its head back to look at its back, which had been shot with an arrow.

"Stay away from him!" Merida said, firing more arrows at the beast.

"Get out of the way, Jack!" Elsa said, grabbing her sword.

Jack rolled out of the way, getting his sword as well.

Jack had heard about griffons, creatures with a head, wings, and talons of an eagle; and the body, tail, and backlegs of a lion, it was a formidable foe. Very few have ever told the tale of meeting one of these animals.

"Anyone know its weaknesses?" Hiccup shouted, blocking the griffon's attacks with his sword.

Jack looked at Galaxy, who had always had some sort of knowledge of mystical creatures. But when she made eye contact with him, she shook her head.

"No, I'm afraid not," Jack said.

"Then let's try to find it," Hiccup said, kicking the griffon back.

Jack ran to where the others were. "Okay, we're each going to have to do something to distract it," he instructed. "Merida, keep firing arrows, particularly at the face or its back feet. Hannah, try to deal with it close-range. Hiccup, make your sword so that it has the fire and try to distract it with it, but also hit it at times. Rapunzel, Anna, and Galaxy, aim for the backside when you're attacking. Elsa and I will try to attack at the front."

The rest of them nodded quickly, each going to their assigned tasks.

"Come here griffon!" Anna singsonged, getting the griffon's attention.

The griffon let out a cry before charging at her. Anna moved out of the way and Merida was able to shoot it at its face. The griffon shook its head, trying to get the arrow out. While distracted, Anna, Rapunzel, and Galaxy attacked it with a shower of blows to the backside. Jack and Elsa ran to the front of the griffon and starting dealting blows to its chest and its talons.

The griffon was able to open its eyes just enough to try to swipe at all of them, but they all skillfully dodged. Before the griffon tried to take another swipe of them, Hiccup rolled right in front of it, his fire sword at the ready.

With the griffon distracted by the fire of his sword, Hannah was able to deal some close-range attacks on it. When the griffon tried to bite her, Hiccup hit it in the face with his sword. The griffon let out a cry of fury and pain. It glared at Hiccup and lunged at him. Hiccup was able to dodge out of the way and deal some blows to its side.

Jack and Elsa ran to help Hiccup and hit it on its back. When Jack had hit a particular spot on the side, the griffon cried out, swiping at them with its talons. When the group was sill trying to recover, the griffon unfurled its wings and flew up to the ceiling of the cave, eyeing which one was the weakest member.

"Wings," Jack muttered. "I forgot about the wings.

"Okay, whole new battle plan," Jack said.  "Everyone, try to dodge it when it comes down and try to hit the wings."

They nodded and as if on cue, the griffon came down from the ceiling and tried to swipe at them while flying. The group was able to dodge but was too slow in trying to hit it. The griffon flew up again for some more power in its wings and charged at them. This time, the group both successfully dodged and hit a bit of the wings.

"We're doing great so fa-" At that moment, Jack was hit by the griffon's claws. He fell to the ground, a bit of blood forming at his abdomen.

"Jack!" Elsa cried. 

"I'm fine," Jack got up slowly. "I'm fine. Right now, our full attention needs to be on the griffon."

Elsa nodded, but she still looked worriedly at him.

"It's coming back!" Rapunzel said.

The group looked up and they narrowly dodged its claws, unable to hit at the wings.

"When it comes back down, we need to hit the wings as much as possible," Jack said. "Timing is important here."

 They turned their attention back to the griffon, who was readying for another attack. It flew down, claws extended and ready to attack at anybody who dared to get in its way.

"Now!" Jack shouted.

The group all cut at the griffon's wings , making the griffon unable to go back up. With one final cut from them, the griffon lay motionless on the ground.

The group stood there, panting and trying to recover.

"G- Good job, guys," Jack panted. "That was g- great teamwork."

The group smiled and chuckled.

"We need to get yourself cleaned," Elsa said. Jack looked down to where his abdomen was cut, the blood flow now becoming a little bigger and faster.

"We'll get it," Rapunzel smiled at him. All except for Jack, they all tried to find where the first aid kit was.

Jack stood there, still panting, but feeling great at the same time. This enemy wasn't like a bear or a siren. It was much more menacing and intimidating than that. And they had just defeated it.

"Guys, I think this calls for-" Jack's sentence was cut short when he felt something sharp grab at him. A fiery pain burned in his chest. He could feel himself getting farther and farther from the ground.

"Jack!" the others cried out.

Jack could barely look up to what was taking him, but his instincts and the missing body of the griffon told him that it was in fact the griffon itself.

I should have stabbed it one more time to make sure it was dead. Jack cursed to himself. He could feel his body getting weaker and his vision getting more blurry and darker. Darker. Darker....

A sharp cry rang through his ears and he could feel himself being dropped to the ground. The others ran to him, all frantically trying to help him. Jack opened his eyes to what was the cause of the griffon dropping him. His breath caught in his throat as he witnessed Galaxy firing something. It wasn't a weapon or anything like that. No, it seemed like it was some type of energy, some type of-

No, it can't be. Jack's eyes widened.

With the griffon cornering Galaxy, it lunged for her. She dodged out of the way, her cloak going missing from it. Jack could see her face clearly now. Her hair was as vibrant and deep as the sea itself. Even when angry, her face still seemed to remain as gentle as ever. And her eyes. Her eyes were a mystical, pale lavender.

With one final blast of energy from her hands, the griffon truly and finally lay dead at the ground. Galaxy stood there, huffing and puffing, but Jack could feel his own heartbeat race up as well.

She has magic. he thought.

AN: Thanks for reading and see you in the next chapter!