Gryphine Claw

            “The witch took her,” Vek said exasperated.  Vek was a man just short of average height.  He had tight black hair and piercing blue eyes.  He wore a soft blue protection suit that could be seen through his tough full body armor.  The only parts not covered in armor were his head and lower arms.  A large sword in a scabbard hung on his hip.   He held up his fingers stained with grease and soot.  “She has Jaice.  I’m going after her.”

            There were two others in the small stone-cobbled room.  One was a very large man, one of the largest you’ll ever see.  His enormous shoulders bulged out from behind his curly red locks.  He wore no shirt, because most likely none would fit him comfortably.  His legs were armored with sleek steel over brown hexagonal patterned tights.  Magnetized to the armor of his left leg was a dark chrome bow.  On his right arm he proudly wore a large metal gauntlet.  Everything about this man screamed barbarian, but he was indeed Vek’s closest friend.  “Then I will accompany you,” Reed clapped his hand on Vek’s shoulder.  Reed’s towering height was impressive, and standing next to his short friend it was almost funny.

            “You can’t,” Vek responded.  “As much as I would love to have you at my side, brother, you have to stay and defend the city.  What if the Gryphine were to attack.  You two are the only capable ones to handle it.

            “A city without my brother is not a city I care to protect,” Reed’s voice echoed around the small room.

            “No, Reed.  Vek is right,” Sammy asserted.  She was the other standing in the room.  She was short, shorter than Vek.  Though her hair was pulled in a high ponytail, it’s black tendrils reached for her knees.  Her black and teal vest was armorless, but hanging on her right shoulder was a pauldron as big as her head.  Two large axes held to her back with their handles competing for height above her head.  A nomex blend pleated skirt draped over her strong legs.  Legs strong enough to break walls.  Over all, she was like a human wolverine.  Not many people messed with her.  “This city is helpless without us.”

            “But without…”

            “Reed,” she interrupted.  “We are staying.”

            “Yes, my love.”

            “Thank you,” Vek bowed to Sammy.  “You keep him safe, Sammy Mer.”

            “Sammy pulled Vek into a hug.  “Of course, Vektory.  Bring back Jaice.”

            “I will.  Nothing will stop me.”  Vek turned to Reed.  “And you.  Don’t bite off more than you can chew.”  They grabbed each other’s arms.  “You have a problem with that.”

            Reed laughed.  “Make her pay, brother.  Burn her rotting corpse to the ground.”

            “That’s the plan.”

            “Here,” Reed offered.  He pulled off his large silver gauntlet and snapped it in half.  “Without me as cover, you may need this.”

            “Vek slipped the half bracelet on his arm.  He clenched his fist and flicked his wrist.  A light burst from the bracelet in the shape of a half circle.  “Thank you.  This will prove useful.”

            “It better,” Reed joked.  “For now I am half exposed.”

            “Enough chit-chatting, boys,” said Sammy.  “You have a job to do.  Get it done.  We’ll be here when you return.”

            “Aye,” Reed agreed.

            Vek nodded his head.  He left swiftly.

            On his journey Vek crossed many adversities and fearful situations, but none could compare to the witch.  It was as he pulled his sword from the felled Catoblepas that he heard an explosion, controlled and mechanical.  The sound was distant but it was clear what made it.  “The broom,” Vek whispered.  “So, she knows I’m coming.”  His shield already extended, he flicked it again and it buzzed to life with a green energy.  He grabbed his sword with both hands and twisted the handle.  The edges of the blade hummed, mimicking his shield with a green glow.  “Come to me, witch.”

            The roar of the broom gave away the witch’s location, but the speed at which the enchanted contraption could fly made her difficult to anticipate.  She flew past Vek time after time.  With each pass she left a cloud of exhaust and soot.  She was too fast for Vek.  She wasn’t trying to attack yet.  Vek knew what she was doing.  She was blinding him.  Vek struck the tongue of the Catoblepas and took off deeper into the forest.

            The witch pursued Vek.  Noticing that he was escaping the fog, she threw red glass balls in the shape of apples.  Vek deflected most off his shield, but each exploded in a gust of nauseous fumes.

            Still holding the tongue, Vek rolled past a tree.  He took cover, waiting the next pass.  The roar grew louder.  Before it was at its loudest Vek jumped out from the tree and thrust his shield out in front of him.  The collision of the energy infused shield and the mechanical broom sent the witch in a tailspin.  Vek pulled himself off the ground and chased the out of control broom as it crashed into a tree.

            The witch’s ride exploded in brilliant orange flames.  “Not until I see your body,” Vek yelled.  He charged the crash.

            “Here it is,” the witch squawked.  She burst from the flames holding her wand at eye level.  “And, what do you presume to do now, mortal?”

            Vek kept running.  His shield was high and his sword higher.  “Slay you, witch!”

            Red light shot from the witch’s wand, catching Vek’s shield and pushing him back.  “That will be difficult,” she said as she shot another burst of red light.  “Though, I guess that’s what you’re famous for, isn’t it?  Slaying monsters and beasties.  Saving towns and cities.  How poetic.”  The witch knew the legends of Vek and his gang of friends.  She slowly walked toward Vek.  Each blast of her wand knocked him back or off balance.  “That may be difficult now, with you and you friends separated.  Your adoring wife trapped in a cabin in the forest.  You, fighting the mighty witch alone.  And, the other two.  Do you think they can handle a Gryphine just the two of them?”

            “I have no lack of confidence in my friends.”  Vek struggled to gain balance.  “But the cabin,” Vek muttered between blasts.  “That’s interesting information indeed.”

            “Yes,” the witch questioned.  She snapped her wand in the air.  “Why is that,” she asked as she paused between blasts.

            “Because,” Vek answered.  He took advantage of the gap in blasts and ran away.  “Now I know what I’m looking for,” he shouted back.

            The witch raised her wand to her mouth.  “But, you’re going the wrong way,” she called out in Jaice’s voice.

            Vek didn’t look back.  He grabbed a piece of equipment attached to his leg armor in the shape of a bird.  Punching in a couple of buttons he tossed it in the air.  The bird rose above the trees, sliding across the canopies.  When it was in sight of the cabin it sounded a series of beeps.  With the witch still behind him, Vek made for the direction of the beeps.

            “Hurry up,” Jaice’s voice echoed in front of Vek a distance.  He paused to consider if the witch had managed to pass him.  “Vek, now,” her voice sounded upset.  “Before you screw up even more.”  Nope, Vek thought.  That had to be Jaice.  He ran with renewed energy until he came to the cabin.

            The structure was brown with glistening white.  The windows were domed, each with a different bright color.  The chimney was twisted with red strands.  The whole place was quite alluring.  Jaice appeared in the blue window.  “Get in here, now,” Jaice commanded.  “Wait.  Is the witch following you?”



            “Yes,” Vek said, uncertain.  “I think so.”

            “Good.  Get in and leave the door open.”

            Vek entered the cabin and looked around.  There was a brick oven to his left, the kitchen was directly before him with a giant black cauldron and all, and to his right was Jaice on the staircase.  She was unarmed and in a common dress.  Her short blondish pink hair was wild and flew in all directions.

            “I have a trap that’s ready for the witch.  She almost fell for it before she sensed you stomping through the forest,” Jaice scolded.

            “I’m here to rescue you,” proclaimed Vek.

            “You’re about to get me killed.  What is that in your hand?”

            “This,” Vek held up the tongue.  “A Catoblepas tongue.”

            “Give me that!  You could die carrying it like that.”  Jaice snatched the tongue from Vek and placed it in a velvet bag.

            Vek grew irritated.  “Why did you do that?”

            “Stay here and pretend you know nothing of the trap.”

            “But, I do know nothing of it,” before Vek could finish Jaice retreated up the stairs.  Vek flicked his shield and sword back to life.  The house buzzed with energy.  He glanced around, looking for clues to the trap.

            The witch’s unmistakable squawk cut through the air; “A last stand?  Admirable.  You expect me to come through the door, don’t you?”  With one loud shrill all the windows shattered.  “You see?  You’re trapped now.  Not knowing where I’ll come from.”

            Vek looked around hastily.  “It doesn’t matter,” he bellowed.  “Either way, you’re mine.”

            “Is that right,” the witch whispered in his ear.

            Vek whipped around but the witch blasted him with her wand.  He slammed into the wall.  “Now what, hero?  You’re wife is upstairs, faded in a trance and you are going in that oven.”

            “Cheap shot,” Vek spat.  “Afraid you can’t beat me head on?”  He pulled himself back up.  What Vek lacked in brute strength he made up for with conviction.  Forfeit was never an option.  The witch however, did not know Vek beyond the stories.  Thinking that Vek had met his match, the witch was afraid he would try to escape.

            “No way out,” the witch shrieked.  She pointed her wand at the door and it slammed shut.  A bright light flashed white-hot.  Vek and the witch were blinded.  “What is this,” she cursed.  “Never mind!  I don’t need sight to kill you!”  The witch lifted her wand above her head and yelled, “Potion to me!”  The liquid contents of the cauldron stirred and then slid through the air and into her mouth.  The potion wasn’t what she expected.  She coughed terribly and her body shook in rage.  What was supposed to give exponential power seized her muscles instead.  With foam on her mouth she dropped her wand and fell.

            “Hurry,” Jaice yelled running down the stairs.  “Help me throw her in the oven!”

            “But, I can’t see,” Vek yelled back.

            “It will wear off.  Help me toss her body or the potion I slipped her will wear off too!”

                        Vek felt around for the witch and grabbed a hold of her feet.  Together they managed to stuff the paralyzed witch in the oven.  Jaice cranked up the temperature and hit the ignition.  A whirl of fire erupted behind the glass plate.

            “How are you,” Jaice asked.

            “Blind.  You?”

            “It’ll wear off, baby.”

            “Sometimes I wonder if you’re worth rescuing.”

            “You better take that back,” Jaice punched Vek in the arm.

            Vek nodded.  “She burning?”

            “All but her wand,” Jaice grabbed the metal stick off the ground.  “This could prove useful.”

            “We need to get back to Reed and Sammy,” Vek said, feeling his way to the door.

            “The Gryphine’s not dead,” Jaice shouted in surprise.

            “No.”

            “But, with the witch dead, it’s uncontrolled.  It’s going to be wilder, stronger.  Unpredictable!”

            “I know!  And Reed and Sammy are fighting it alone.”

            Jaice reached out for Vek.  “Grab my hand.  Let’s go.”

            The journey back through the forest was even easier with Jaice.  Together, the two were practically unstoppable.  That goes double for when Vek’s vision returned.  Impish gnomes, sultry centaurs, and buck-toothed squirrels that didn’t quite understand personal space all regretted meddling with Vek and Jaice.  Nothing could delay them from rejoining their friends.

            When they arrived, the Gryphine was falling back to the forest with Sammy chasing it with her two giant aces glowing in hand.  After the last tassel on it’s stripped tail slipped past the forest line Sammy greeted Vek and Jaice.  She led them to the infirmary. 

            It was an odd sight to see such a large man laid out on a cot.  Reed barely fit, lying there with his ribs bandaged red and one leg in a splint.  At the side of the room laid his bow, unstrung.

            “What happened,” Vek begged.  Vek hated seeing his friend injured and always felt guilt if he was unable to stop it.

            “I punched the Gryphine, and the mighty beast struck back,” Reed said interspersed with coughs.

            “You punched it,” shouted Jaice with amazement.  She turned to Sammy.  “Did he really punch a Gryphine?”

            “Aye,” Reed answered.  Sammy nodded in agreement.  “It is unfortunate that the beast was not so taken aback as you, Jaice.”

            “Are you okay,” Vek asked.

            “I am now that you have returned.”  Reed pulled his leg out of the sling.  “Now, what is our plan for its second arrival?”

            “You can’t go back out there.  You’re hurt.  Get your leg back in that sling.”

            “Nonsense, brother.  Jaice, how do we defeat this creature?”

            “No,” Vek commanded.  He grabbed Reed’s bow.  “We’ll handle this.  You need to heal.”

            “Aye,” Reed agreed.  “So long as you can string that bow.”  Sammy snickered.

            Vek pressed the button on the bow and a small sliver of a string lit in purple fell out on one end.  Vek grabbed the string and pulled to the other side as hard as he could.  The string barely moved.  Vek breathed in and pulled again, letting out some distressing noises in the process.

            Screams of the villagers pierced the walls of the infirmary.  “We are needed now,” Reed said as he got off the bed and grabbed the bow off Vek.  Reed pulled the string to the other end and fastened it.  “The plan, Jaice?”

            The plan was fairly simple and easily executed by the team of friends.  Vek stood in the courtyard calling for the Gryphine.  Essentially, he was bait.  The next step was Reed’s.  As the Gryphine went in for the attack on Vek, Reed loosed an arrow from atop a tower.  The arrow flew straight and true, hitting the creature beside the horn on its hairy face.  The Gryphine pulled up, but not before Vek was able to slash at its scaly hind foot.

            The Gryphine pumped its wings with unrivaled ferocity, closing the distance between it and Reed.  Reed aimed another arrow and punctured the creature’s left eye.  It let out a scream that could shatter your heart.  Getting its mouth open was the true test.  With its jaw gapping, Reed pulled out the special arrow; the one with the Catoblepas’ tongue pierced.  The tongue of the Catoblepas was unique.  The tongue was covered in a secretion that could paralyze any creature if it were ingested or absorbed in the blood stream.  So, the team tried both.  Reed shot the last arrow straight into the monster’s mouth.  Only a matter of time, and it would fall from the sky.

            Jaice prepared for the next step, back in her combat gear.  Her metal knee-high boots tipped with leather covered her red leggings.  Her white tunic was covered in red and gold embellishments all the way down the sleeves.  In her black gloves she flourished the witches steel wand.  It was her turn now.  She recalled the potions and spells she was taught, reenacted the witch’s movements, and shot a blinding bolt at the creature’s remaining good eye.

            The searing vision of magic blocked the Gryphine’s sight and it pulled to the right.  The Gryphine brushed against the building, trying to escape. 

            Sammy came running out from behind Reed and leapt off the tower.  She landed on the Gryphine’s powerful feathery wing of green and brown.  She pulled herself along its spiny back and straddled its neck.  She grabbed the axe handles off her back and flicked the blades to life.  With a warrior’s cry she heaved the axes above her head and plunged them into the Gryphine’s skull.

            The creature floundered in the air.  Its wings acted as poor parachutes, and it fell from the sky.  Sammy grabbed the horn for stability.  She braced for impact.

            Two shops demolished, the Gryhpine laid motionless in a pit of lifted dirt.  Vek had already begun running to the creature.  It was his job to make certain it was dead.  Sammy rolled off the Gryphine’s head and stood up.  She raised her fists and shouted a hardy roar.

            The four friends stood over the once destructive Gryphine.  “We have slain the beast,” exclaimed Reed cheerfully.

            “I told you my plan would work,” Jaice said with confidence.

            “Aye, you did,” agreed Reed.  “We have delivered this small town to salvation by dispatching one of this world’s most crude monsters.”

            Vek starred at the Gryphine.  “A witch and her hound were put down today,” Vek said, low in his voice.  “A true monster and her slave.”  He looked up at his friends.  “But why?  Why this small town?”

            “Because, they were unlucky enough to run into the only warriors great enough to stop them,” Sammy answered.

            “Let’s get a drink,” Jaice put her hand on Vek’s arm.

            “Aye,” Reed muttered.  “And put to rest that brood’s memories.”

            The group started for a tavern, but Vek turned to look at the Gryphine.  Its right eye slowly opened.  Pain filled the deep oranges of its iris.  Vek walked toward it.  The Gryphine’s mouth gaped open; part of the arrow holding the Catoblepas tongue was still there.  The creature struggled to lift its front foot.  Vek stood there, watching it.  He was unsure of what to do.  The creature was obviously in pain and close to death.  With it’s last strength it softly placed one claw on the armor covering Vek’s chest for just a moment.  Vek’s chest itched and burned, and then the claw fell.  The Gryphine’s eye slid closed again.

            “You okay,” Jaice called from up ahead.

            Vek jumped from being jarred out of the experience.  “Yeah,” he shouted back.  “I’ll be right there.”

            “Hurry up,” Jaice petitioned.

            Vek turned back to the Gryphine.  He crouched by its claw and twisted his sword.  Energy hummed, and Vek cut off the Gryphine claw.