The Death of a Time Viewer (COMPLETED)

The Gathering of Beasts

"Issss thisss the persssson he mentioned? It is but a ssssmall girl." The first thing Morgianna saw was the yellow stilted eyes that peeked at her from between the foliage before a large basilisk slithered out into the open. Its scales seemed to be a dark green that almost seemed black, but its teeth that she occasionally saw when its mouth slightly opened were pearly white.

A loud flapping of wings could be heard above but Morgianna did not dare take her eyes from the Basilisk in front of her. To her right was two thumps before she heard Alnwick speak. "This is her, she is a friend of mine so do her no harm or you will be harming me." Morgianna peeked at him in her periphery and was pleased to see him still in his phoenix form. However, what surprised her was that slightly beside and to the front of him was a Griffin. When she had heard two thumps she did not think anything of it.

She could feel that there were other magical beasts hiding in the trees and shrubs that surrounded the area, but the strongest magic came from the three she saw. She nodded her head to herself, they would have to do. "I have asked Alnwick to gather you to ask for your assistance."

As soon as she finished speaking the basilisk turned to Alnwick. "This puny child asksss usss for asssssistance, but why ssshould we help her?"

Morgianna did not give Alnwick a chance to respond, deciding to be as direct as possible. "You should help me because one day when the mayor can no longer lure others to his forest to sacrifice he will turn to the magic that is already within it. You all will be the next targets. He will start with the weakest and work his way up until his black magic has destroyed your homes. Those that survive will have to leave, being drove out into the open."

The basilisk narrowed its eyes as it stared at her, ready to retort but before it could this time it was the Griffin who spoke. "I have seen this Mayor you speak of, and the foul stench that permeated from his bloated body. It was as if he was rotten from the inside. Do you truly believe that he would target the beasts that live in my forest next?"

Locking her eyes on his she answered, "My guild already does not want to send others here, for all the members that we had lost. One day nobody will want to help, even the greatest reward will get no attention. When that happens all that will be left will be your forest. From the last group only one person survived long enough to make it home before succumbing to his wounds. I believe that was on purpose in hopes of luring more people here. Those tricks only work so much."

Shouts could be heard from those still hiding. "We are next!" "Please save us!" "Where could we go?"

Morgianna frowned at their panic, looking out at where the voices came from. "I know you all are scared, but I have a plan to get rid of the mayor. I came here to ask for assistance in doing just that."

The griffin who had watched this exchange widened his eyes. This seemingly weak child could understand the voices of the lower level beasts. "Girl, you can understand them. I thought nothing of you conversing with me and Myra, but how can you understand them?"

Myra, who Morgianna now knew was the name of the basilisk scoffed. "Ssshe is probably faking it, ssshe would know that they would be ssscared and isss just offering wordss sshe thinkss they need to hear."

Morgianna stepped closer to the Myra, her gaze level, but her heart tattooing the inside of her ribs. "I should not have to defend myself, but if you wish to have them say something and me repeat it, I will. I come here because even if he is not your enemy yet, he soon will be. The basilisk is supposed to represent wisdom, yet you have spent too many years in peace to see the danger that is lurking just in front of you."

Her yellows eyes narrowed even more, a hiss escaping her fanged mouth. "That is enough Myra, you have lived in this forest just as long as I have. It is our home, our escape, and if we do not take care of it now we may lose it." The griffin shifted his attention fully onto Morgianna. "I am Zephyr. What shall we call you?"

Morgianna thought for a moment before answering. "My guild knows me as little red, however, you may call me by my given name. I do not imagine you will tell anyone what it is. I am Morgianna." She did a slight curtsy and smiled brightly.

"Alright then Morgianna, tell us of your plan and how we can assist you." She could hear the excitement in Zephyr's voice and imagined that if he was in his human form he would be smiling.

Myra still seemed to displeased but nonetheless she did not try to fight their cooperation anymore.

Morgianna excitedly beckoned everyone closer as if she was going to tell a large secret. "Here is the plan. Alnwick the Mayor may or may not have felt the severing of your bond. If he did, he may just assume you are dead. Regardless, he will expect me to be on the altar when he returns. Is there a way to make it look like I am still tied up without actually being tied up?"

Alnwick put his hand on his chin as if deep in thought. "The ropes would be too dangerous to place on you. They may start to drain your magic again."

She sighed, "I was afraid of that, alright in that case. I will play dead. You said the last person you tried to remove it from died, so I will act as if the same thing happened to me. On to my next part, I will need you all to leave far enough away so that when he arrives he will not immediately sense you. Alnwick I can contact you telepathically and let you know when to return. Fafnir has been distracting the mayor, but it is almost time."

Myra who had been listening in silence since she had been scolded by Zephyr finally spoke up. "Who is Fafnir, and can we trust him?"

Morgianna smacked her head with her palm. "Shit, I forgot to tell you. Fafnir is my friend, we have a pact, oh and he is also a dragon." She said the last part as if it was an afterthought.

All around her she could hear sounds of excited chatter. "A dragon?!" "They are very powerful." "I feel much better now."

Zephyr, Myra, and Alnwick just stared at her as if she had grown a second head. Alnwick because of her filthy mouth and Zephyr and Myra because of her casual tone about having a pact with a dragon. All the magical beasts knew how prideful dragons are, they rarely made pacts unless that person had done them a great service or had extraordinary power.

Morgianna who seemed oblivious to the excitement just continued laying out her plan. "Once Fafnir returns with the mayor, I will need you all to close in from all sides so that there is no way for him to escape. He will see me lying down as if I am dead and will immediately try to corner Fafnir, that is when I will need help subduing him. He will not know that Fafnir is a dragon, just as he will not know you all are surrounding him until it is too late. I will then use my Light magic to purify him. Sounds super easy, but just in case, let's go over it one more time." She never lost her smile and unknown to her, her seemingly carefree attitude entranced all the beasts around her. Even Myra felt a slight bit of respect, though if she was asked about it she would deny with her dying breath.

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Word count: 2085