The Destiny of Nephe-chapter 7
the long awaited 7th chapter of my novel. sorry it took this long to get it finished. kept procrastinating against finishing it (you'll see why at the end of the chapter). as usual, please follow the LJ cut. thanks <3
Death in the Destiny
Angelica bounced nervously on the balls of her feet. She had closed her shop a few days prior to coming out to the Nephe Forest. Something, perhaps at the urging of the vision that she had seen in the gypsy's crystal ball, had prompted her to close it for a few months and to travel out to the forest. It was only then, after passing through a town, that she had overheard a trio talking about an assignment that they were going to in the same forest. She hoped that she may see them again. The young woman looked fun to be around.
The Fallen Angel looked around nervously. She had thought that this was the right spot. It was the only tree that had a sign posted on it. She looked up at the tree, wondering how high in the air it went. The tree was bigger than the other ones in the surrounding area. This had to be the other trees' parent tree. It looked like it was older than the founding of Nephe. That made the Fallen Angel smile widely. There was hope that some things from the time before Nephe had survived.
Angelica's body stiffened instinctively when she heard a rustle in the nearby brush. She pulled her arms up against her chest and braced herself to run if it was a wild animal when all of a sudden two men and a woman came into the small clearing around the tree. The trio stared at the Fallen Angel for a few moments before the woman finally broke the tension in the air. “Well, look what the cat dragged in,” commented the woman.
Angelica sighed and relaxed. “I could say the same about you, Lily,” she commented back at the other woman.
Lily gave a slight chuckle and walked over to the Fallen Angel, giving her a brief hug. “How have you been? Last I've heard from you was three years ago and you had opened up a shop in the Capital.”
Angelica nodded her head. “It went out of business. People didn't seem to like what I was selling anymore.” That wasn't really the truth but if Lily knew that she had closed her shop because of a silly prediction from a fortune teller she would get an earfull of what the female mercenary had on her mind about her split-second decision.
Lily gave Angelica a quizzical look but didn't comment on the subject. Instead, she motioned to the two men behind her. “I'm sure you know Namir but if you don't that is him. Beside him is his partner, Terakanis.” The two men nodded their heads respectfully at the Fallen Angel as they were introduced. “Tera, Namir, this is my old friend, Angelica. She is a Fallen Angel-one of the few in the world.”
Namir nodded his head. “Yeah, we've met a few times. Been in her shop mainly to get a few...items.” Angelica's cheeks flushed a light pink color in response to the elder mercenary's comment. “So, is this where we are supposed to meet the client?”
Tera walked over to the tree and looked at the sign on it. “It says we are supposed to wait until the others arrive.” He paused for a few moments and turned to look at his partner. “Others? What others? I thought this was exclusive to mercenaries only. This...doesn't make any sense at all.”
Namir shrugged his shoulders. “I don't care just as long as I get my share of the gold hawk bits.” He rubbed his hands and stared at the tree with a greedy look on his face. Lily rolled her eyes and stood next to Angelica.
After a few minutes, there was more rustling in the brushes. Angelica tensed up again and the three mercenaries grabbed for the nearest weapon on their person. Two more men and one more woman stumbled out of the brush, the woman more so than the two men. “Shesh, Ryu, can you get us lost again?!” the woman yelled at one of them men.
The elf sighed and pointed to the small group that had already gathered around the meeting tree. “And I didn't steer us in the wrong direction this time, Arisella. We are here.”
“Finally!” Arisella said, stretching her arms high above her head. “I thought we would never make it here in time.” She turned her attention to the others and eyes the mercenaries as they gripped their weapons tightly. “Shesh, what a serious crowd we have to deal with.”
Lawk took a few timid steps towards the strangers. “Let me see here-you three are mercenaries. I've never seen a more tense group of people like that other than you mercenaries. And this little woman...hmmm....I have no clue what you are. Though you seem strangely familiar.”
Angelica nodded her head. “You ever been inside Angel's Dream shop?” she asked the half-elf curiously.
Lawk nodded his head and then widened his eyes. “Ah, now I know. You are the shop-keeper for the Angel's Dream.”
Angelica nodded her head again. “Yeah. Pity I had to close it down. Not that many people wanted to go inside it anymore, even after I changed the hours to accomidate the new curfew time in the Capital.”
Lawk looked at her somberly. “It seems like the Mæster will do anything to keep a tight reign on the people who live there.”
“That's alright, though. Business was slowly dropping down anyways. It seems that some of the items had been banned and I had to take them off of the shelf. I could have sold them as contraband items but I didn't want the government tracing it back to me.” She gave Lawk a timid smile. “I don't think I would survive the Capital jail very long.”
Lawk sighed and walked towards the tree with the paper attached to it. “So, I am sure that this may have our assignment on it.”
“Actually no it doesn't,” Angelica said. “All it said was to meet here and our host will be here whenever he or she feels like it. Kind of silly, huh? Having to wait on someone. I've never had to do that before. I usually had people waiting for me most of the time when my shop was booming with business.” She continued to bounce on the balls of her feet as she spoke to them.
"Well, that is peachy," Lily commented bitterly. She closed her eyes and crossed her arms across her chest, tapping a foot impatiently. After a few moments, she opened her eyes and held out an arm. The others stared at her curiously and one of them started to ask her what she was doing when a large hawk swooped down out from above the trees and landed gracefully on Lily's arm. The female mercenary pulled her arm close to her body and began to stroke the hawk's breast with two fingers.
Angelica slowly approached Lily and the hawk swiveled its head to take a good look at the Fallen Angel. Angelica smiled warmly at the hawk and held out a hand towards the hawk. It tilted its head to one side and looked over at its master. Lily nodded her head and the hawk timidly hopped from its master's arm and onto Angelica's. "That's Taka," the female mercenary told the Fallen Angel.
Angelica slowly approached Lily and the hawk swiveled its head to take a good look at the Fallen Angel. Angelica smiled warmly at the hawk and held out a hand towards the hawk. It tilted its head to one side and looked over at its master. Lily nodded her head and the hawk timidly hopped from its master's arm and onto Angelica's. "That's Taka," the female mercenary told the Fallen Angel.
"Taka," Angelica said slowly. The hawk squaked as a response to its name being said. "Male or female?"
"Female," Lily responded. "Usually the people in my ex-clan bonded with hawks and eagles of their own gender. Rarely do people bond with a hawk or eagle of the opposite gender. With Gryphons any gender we can bond to, doesn't really matter. Usually mainly males. Females don't like to bond unless their bondmate is bonded to one of my clan-mates. That is until the past Mæster killed off my clan. Since then Gryphons have been rarely seen around Nephe. They tend to venture up in the Faelel region."
They all grew quiet as the group waited for their host to appear. It almost seemed like a waste of time when there was a loud squak that filled the air. All of them searched the skies frantically, wondering if another one of Lily's hawks had decided to dive bomb them unexpectedly. All of a sudden a large form broke through the trees and landed in front of them. A large male Gryphon posed glamorously in front of them and eyes the group with anticipation. A wide grin spread out across his face as he began to paw at the air excitedly. “Wonderful, so many humans in one place. Wonderful! I never though I would see another soul in this many leagues away from my hom.” The Gryphon swiveled his head and spotted the hawk. “Ah, and a kin of mine. Just lovely.” The Gryphon danced in place, clearly excited over such simpleness of being in the presence of humans.
It was Lily who regained composure as she slowly approached the Gryphon. “How old are you?” she asked the Gryphon curiously, wondering something that she didn't want to speak aloud until she knew exactly what his age was. The Gryphon turned his attention to her and stopped dancing.
“Hmm? You wish to know my age?” the Gryphon asked. “Alright, I shall tell you. I am 350 years old, much older than most of you.” The Gryphon eyed Namir curiously before fluffing his feathers and outstretched his wings slightly. “Why do you ask? Is there a reason why you required to know my age?”
Lily gave the Gryphon a curious look. He did look like he was over a hundred but over three hundred? That was interesting. Though she hadn't seen any Gryphons over the age of a hundred in ages. She shook her head slightly. “Not really. Was just wondering it because of my long-dead clan.”
That got the Gryphon's attention. He tilted his head to one side and clicked his beak a few times. “You mean the Vethelos Maestros clan?” Lily nodded her head as a response to his question. “You said long-dead clan. What does that mean? Last I saw of them they were celebrating your birth, little one.”
Lily winced slightly. So this Gryphon knew of her and her family. What else was this Gryphon hiding? “They were massacred by the past Mæster. Well, more specifically the army was commanded by the Mæster to kill my family and the other clan members if we didn't comply to their commands. Of course my father didn't comply and called the Mæster a crazy old bat, if I recall correctly. Though I now know that it was the council's decision to get rid of my family and clan, not the Mæster since she had already been deemed insane by the council at least a dozen years prior to the clan's massacre.”
The Gryphon gave her a pitiful look. He felt sorry for her. Pinning his wings up against his sides, he sat down on his haunches, he towered over all of the humanoids by two feet. "What a pity," he said. "If your clan had survived a few more years then I would have bonded with you."
Lily gave him an odd look. "Why you? Why not another Gryphon?"
“Because of my status...well, my old status in my clan that I was in. I was the third eldest son of the head Gryphons in my clan. My litter-mates had already mated and thus didn't want to bond with one of your clan-mates. I was the only one who hadn't found a mate nor were there going to be any old enough for me to mate with until at least thirty years later. I'm sure that none of the females eligible for me to mate with are old enough still for me.” He fluffed his feathers slightly, looking distinctly ruffled. “Thankfully I am here for you now. It seems you have already bonded with two birds-of-prey. Surely you can take another bond.” He looked at her eagerly.
“Let me think on it,” she responded to him, taking back Taka from Angelia. “I've never seen any of my old clan-mates bond to a Gryphon before. Actually the last one to bond to one of your kin was when my Grandmother was still alive. After that clan-mate had died, the Gryphon that was bonded to him decided not to bond again and flew away to start a clan of his own.”
“Ah, I think I know of him. My second-cousin, once removed I believe,” the Gryphon explained as he gazed up at the trees for a few moments. “Ah, I haven't introduced myself yet, have I? I am Misae. It is a pleasure to meet all of you.” He bowed down low to the ground, keeping his wings pressed against his body. “And the rest of you are?”
Lily nodded towards the two men beside her. “These two are my fellow mercenaries-Namir and Terakanis. The woman who held my hawk, Taka, is Angelica. Not sure about the others.”
“I am Arisella,” Arisella said, pointing to herself and then she pointed to the two men she came with. “And those two are Lawk and Ryuuzaki, Ryu for short.” Arisella smiled warmly at the Gryphon, clearly excited to see one of his kin up close. “I've seen your kin before. I come from Faelel but moved down here after I bet those two.”
“Ah, it is nice to hear that someone else has heard and seen some of my kin in the past,” Misae said, his grin widening slightly. “A pity that we are a shy creature to those who do not understand us. I wish more understood us. We have a lot to teach your kin.”
Arisella pointed to Lily and Misae chuckled at her. “From the beginning of time we have been apart of their lives. It was only a few generations ago that they decided to form a clan. Her kin have been scattered around all of Elysium until one brave woman decided to call all of her kin together, marry, and then formed the clan that was Vethelots Maestros clan. I hope you have heard of them, miss Arisella. They did take work in your land along with the other surrounding countries of Nephe for the Mæster's sake.”
“So what? So she can tame hawks and talk your kin into letting her take rides on your back. What else can she do that is so special?” Arisella said, rolling her eyes. Lily winced at her words. She bit her lower lip to prevent her from snapping at the other woman. It was clear that this woman didn't know squat about her clan. Misae noticed Lily's tense stance and decided to respond to the harsh question.
“A whole lot more than you can. She can actually bond to the hawks meaning that they belong to her and they aren't tame by any means. They are as wild as they were when she bonded to them. She can, in a little clear way of explaining it, control them. Also she can look through their eyes as if they are her own eyes. As for my kin, she had use my elemental powers to her advantage. That is why the Mæsters used them to their advantage when they were still alive,” Misae explained.
“So? I can use Magick to my advantage, too. I am a Sorceress. I was trained to do that sort of stuff,” Arisella said, crossed her arms in front of her chest. “I'm not really sure why she is so special.”
"Because, my dear, I have Magick that you will never have. My Magick is different than yours. Yours requires spells and strength. Mine requires skill and the elements. I can use the water around me and freeze you instantly. Meanwhile,you might still be chanting that long chant that you have to do in order to do a simple spell," Misae said with a smirk on his beak.
Arisella pouted slightly at him. "Not that long of a chant for a simple spell," she said in a sour tone of voice.
The Gryphon shrugged his shoulders slightly and decided to change the subject. "So, most of you have been outside of Nephe before, right?"
Ten miles away from the group of mercenaries, hawks, Gryphon, and Fallen Angel, a pair of mercenaries was busy preparing for their biggest assignment that they have ever taken on. Creed smirked as he pulled out his pocketwatch from the inside of his coat. “Seems like he is a little late,” he said, not bothing to look at his partner.
“He must have ran into a little snag with getting our hawk bits on time,” Hashim said, a hint of humor in his voice.
Creed didn't say anything else. He tapped a finger on his hip as he waited patiently for the Mæster. Of course Mæster Chamberlayn wasn't exactly late...at least not yet. He had another hour before the time that Creed had wanted the Mæster to meet him in the forest with the hundred gold hawk bits but it seemed that the “good” Mæster was cutting his time close...too close for Creed's nerves. He had wanted the hawk bits a good three hours ago to prevent the peope that he was waiting to give the hawk bits as a reward for to not wait too lon. Hopefully they hadn't ran off after waiting more than three hours for half of the reward that they were promised.
The minutes ticked down and Creed grew more and more impatient. Less than a haf an hour before the time was up a cloaked figure came running towards them from the depths of the forest. Creed smirked slightly and straightened his poture. Hashim gave a hoarse chuckle as the cloaked figure stopped in front of Creed. The figure dropped a heavy bag on the ground and dull clinks could be heard from inside of the bag. “Here is the hawk bits that you required,” said the figure. It pushed back the hood to reveal Mæster Chamberlayn. “All of it, actually. I managed to get it without the council or my daughter being notified of the amount that I withdrew from the funds.”
Creed nodded to his partner and Hashim slinked over to the bag, pulled it away from the Mæster, and opened it. He quickly counted the hawk bits and nodded to Creed. The elder mercenary smirked a little wider and bowed slightly at the Mæster. “Well, then, it seems our business is done. I shall get rid of the nuisance that you have been seeking for all of these years. Trust me, tonight I shall get rid of this little mouse for good, Mæster Chamberlayn. You have my word on it.”
“You better,” was all the Mæster said in response to the mercenary's words. He brushed off his cloak and swiftly spun around, walking in the direction that he came in. Hopefully in the morning he would have word of the target's death.
As soon as the Mæster was out of sight, Creed turned his attention to Hashim. “Come. Let us greet our guests,” he said, the smirk still on his lips. He turned to head towards the meeting tree and only walked a half a dozen steps when he sensed that Hashim hadn't started walking behind him. He turned around to see Hashim look at him curiously. “Is something wrong?” he asked, putting his hands on his hips and raising an eyebrow at the other mercenary.
“He...gave us too much,” was all Hashim said as he turned his gaze at the ground. He carefully picked up the bag and put it on his shoudlers, finally walking towards Creed. “Just wanted to let you know that.”
“Hmm...must be because he knew that he was going to be late. Either way, it is a good tip for us to keep. We musn't keep the little mouse and the others waiting for too long,” Creed said, a hint of amusement in his voice. Hashim nodded his head and followed Creed as they headed towards where the group of mismatched travelers were waiting.
The sun was beginning to set as the group began to get a little restless. They had expected their employer to be there hours ago but they hadn't shown up yet. When all hope seemed to be lost that their clients were going to start up, Misae pricked his cat-like ears up and looked into the forest, almost as if he could see something that the humanoids couldn't see. He clicked his beak a few times before relaxing. “Two men are approaching us. Perhaps these are your clients that you seek?” he asked, looking at the group curiously. The humanoids shrugged their shoulders.
As the two men came closer into view, the others looked on with anticipation except two of the eight. Lily and Namir frowned slightly at the pair. The slowly walked towards each other and huddled together, keeping their eyes on the two men that were slowly approaching them.
“I don't like the look in their eyes,” Lily commented to Namir.
The male mercenary remained silent for a few moments before speaking. “I know one of them. The one in the white coat. The other one I don't know about.”
“Who is the white coat? He seems so familiar yet I cannot put my thumb on how he is familiar to me?”
“That is Creed, my old partner. He looks a little different from what I remember him to be but the sword on his belt is the same one that he has had all of his life.”
Lily winced slightly and turned her gaze towards the white coat mercenary. He looked back at her with an insane-like gaze. It was almost like he was in a bloodlust mood. A wide smirk appeared on his face. Lily's expression changed from anger to fear in a split second. “Get everyone away from here,” she whispered to Namir as she shoved him away from her.
Before she could think of what to do next, she heard a gunshot and she ducked. She felt white hot pain as something grazed the side of her right shoulder. Trying to ignore the pain, she started to run away from the two mercenaries. A series of gunshots soon filled the air, blocking out any other sound in the area. The others scattered, not gathering in groups but fleeing for their lives and not caring about anyone else except themselves. Lily slowly turned around in mid-stride and saw three bullets hitting Angelica. She slowed down to a halt and watched as the Fallen Angel fell to the ground.
The female mercenary stared as Angelica stared at her with her soft red eyes, an sad expression on her face. After a few moments, the Fallen Angel stopped breathing but her eyes remained open. Lily stared at the other woman and started to walk towards her but in a flash there was a sharp stab of pain in the back of her head and then darkness overtook her senses.
Death in the Destiny
Angelica bounced nervously on the balls of her feet. She had closed her shop a few days prior to coming out to the Nephe Forest. Something, perhaps at the urging of the vision that she had seen in the gypsy's crystal ball, had prompted her to close it for a few months and to travel out to the forest. It was only then, after passing through a town, that she had overheard a trio talking about an assignment that they were going to in the same forest. She hoped that she may see them again. The young woman looked fun to be around.
The Fallen Angel looked around nervously. She had thought that this was the right spot. It was the only tree that had a sign posted on it. She looked up at the tree, wondering how high in the air it went. The tree was bigger than the other ones in the surrounding area. This had to be the other trees' parent tree. It looked like it was older than the founding of Nephe. That made the Fallen Angel smile widely. There was hope that some things from the time before Nephe had survived.
Angelica's body stiffened instinctively when she heard a rustle in the nearby brush. She pulled her arms up against her chest and braced herself to run if it was a wild animal when all of a sudden two men and a woman came into the small clearing around the tree. The trio stared at the Fallen Angel for a few moments before the woman finally broke the tension in the air. “Well, look what the cat dragged in,” commented the woman.
Angelica sighed and relaxed. “I could say the same about you, Lily,” she commented back at the other woman.
Lily gave a slight chuckle and walked over to the Fallen Angel, giving her a brief hug. “How have you been? Last I've heard from you was three years ago and you had opened up a shop in the Capital.”
Angelica nodded her head. “It went out of business. People didn't seem to like what I was selling anymore.” That wasn't really the truth but if Lily knew that she had closed her shop because of a silly prediction from a fortune teller she would get an earfull of what the female mercenary had on her mind about her split-second decision.
Lily gave Angelica a quizzical look but didn't comment on the subject. Instead, she motioned to the two men behind her. “I'm sure you know Namir but if you don't that is him. Beside him is his partner, Terakanis.” The two men nodded their heads respectfully at the Fallen Angel as they were introduced. “Tera, Namir, this is my old friend, Angelica. She is a Fallen Angel-one of the few in the world.”
Namir nodded his head. “Yeah, we've met a few times. Been in her shop mainly to get a few...items.” Angelica's cheeks flushed a light pink color in response to the elder mercenary's comment. “So, is this where we are supposed to meet the client?”
Tera walked over to the tree and looked at the sign on it. “It says we are supposed to wait until the others arrive.” He paused for a few moments and turned to look at his partner. “Others? What others? I thought this was exclusive to mercenaries only. This...doesn't make any sense at all.”
Namir shrugged his shoulders. “I don't care just as long as I get my share of the gold hawk bits.” He rubbed his hands and stared at the tree with a greedy look on his face. Lily rolled her eyes and stood next to Angelica.
After a few minutes, there was more rustling in the brushes. Angelica tensed up again and the three mercenaries grabbed for the nearest weapon on their person. Two more men and one more woman stumbled out of the brush, the woman more so than the two men. “Shesh, Ryu, can you get us lost again?!” the woman yelled at one of them men.
The elf sighed and pointed to the small group that had already gathered around the meeting tree. “And I didn't steer us in the wrong direction this time, Arisella. We are here.”
“Finally!” Arisella said, stretching her arms high above her head. “I thought we would never make it here in time.” She turned her attention to the others and eyes the mercenaries as they gripped their weapons tightly. “Shesh, what a serious crowd we have to deal with.”
Lawk took a few timid steps towards the strangers. “Let me see here-you three are mercenaries. I've never seen a more tense group of people like that other than you mercenaries. And this little woman...hmmm....I have no clue what you are. Though you seem strangely familiar.”
Angelica nodded her head. “You ever been inside Angel's Dream shop?” she asked the half-elf curiously.
Lawk nodded his head and then widened his eyes. “Ah, now I know. You are the shop-keeper for the Angel's Dream.”
Angelica nodded her head again. “Yeah. Pity I had to close it down. Not that many people wanted to go inside it anymore, even after I changed the hours to accomidate the new curfew time in the Capital.”
Lawk looked at her somberly. “It seems like the Mæster will do anything to keep a tight reign on the people who live there.”
“That's alright, though. Business was slowly dropping down anyways. It seems that some of the items had been banned and I had to take them off of the shelf. I could have sold them as contraband items but I didn't want the government tracing it back to me.” She gave Lawk a timid smile. “I don't think I would survive the Capital jail very long.”
Lawk sighed and walked towards the tree with the paper attached to it. “So, I am sure that this may have our assignment on it.”
“Actually no it doesn't,” Angelica said. “All it said was to meet here and our host will be here whenever he or she feels like it. Kind of silly, huh? Having to wait on someone. I've never had to do that before. I usually had people waiting for me most of the time when my shop was booming with business.” She continued to bounce on the balls of her feet as she spoke to them.
"Well, that is peachy," Lily commented bitterly. She closed her eyes and crossed her arms across her chest, tapping a foot impatiently. After a few moments, she opened her eyes and held out an arm. The others stared at her curiously and one of them started to ask her what she was doing when a large hawk swooped down out from above the trees and landed gracefully on Lily's arm. The female mercenary pulled her arm close to her body and began to stroke the hawk's breast with two fingers.
Angelica slowly approached Lily and the hawk swiveled its head to take a good look at the Fallen Angel. Angelica smiled warmly at the hawk and held out a hand towards the hawk. It tilted its head to one side and looked over at its master. Lily nodded her head and the hawk timidly hopped from its master's arm and onto Angelica's. "That's Taka," the female mercenary told the Fallen Angel.
Angelica slowly approached Lily and the hawk swiveled its head to take a good look at the Fallen Angel. Angelica smiled warmly at the hawk and held out a hand towards the hawk. It tilted its head to one side and looked over at its master. Lily nodded her head and the hawk timidly hopped from its master's arm and onto Angelica's. "That's Taka," the female mercenary told the Fallen Angel.
"Taka," Angelica said slowly. The hawk squaked as a response to its name being said. "Male or female?"
"Female," Lily responded. "Usually the people in my ex-clan bonded with hawks and eagles of their own gender. Rarely do people bond with a hawk or eagle of the opposite gender. With Gryphons any gender we can bond to, doesn't really matter. Usually mainly males. Females don't like to bond unless their bondmate is bonded to one of my clan-mates. That is until the past Mæster killed off my clan. Since then Gryphons have been rarely seen around Nephe. They tend to venture up in the Faelel region."
They all grew quiet as the group waited for their host to appear. It almost seemed like a waste of time when there was a loud squak that filled the air. All of them searched the skies frantically, wondering if another one of Lily's hawks had decided to dive bomb them unexpectedly. All of a sudden a large form broke through the trees and landed in front of them. A large male Gryphon posed glamorously in front of them and eyes the group with anticipation. A wide grin spread out across his face as he began to paw at the air excitedly. “Wonderful, so many humans in one place. Wonderful! I never though I would see another soul in this many leagues away from my hom.” The Gryphon swiveled his head and spotted the hawk. “Ah, and a kin of mine. Just lovely.” The Gryphon danced in place, clearly excited over such simpleness of being in the presence of humans.
It was Lily who regained composure as she slowly approached the Gryphon. “How old are you?” she asked the Gryphon curiously, wondering something that she didn't want to speak aloud until she knew exactly what his age was. The Gryphon turned his attention to her and stopped dancing.
“Hmm? You wish to know my age?” the Gryphon asked. “Alright, I shall tell you. I am 350 years old, much older than most of you.” The Gryphon eyed Namir curiously before fluffing his feathers and outstretched his wings slightly. “Why do you ask? Is there a reason why you required to know my age?”
Lily gave the Gryphon a curious look. He did look like he was over a hundred but over three hundred? That was interesting. Though she hadn't seen any Gryphons over the age of a hundred in ages. She shook her head slightly. “Not really. Was just wondering it because of my long-dead clan.”
That got the Gryphon's attention. He tilted his head to one side and clicked his beak a few times. “You mean the Vethelos Maestros clan?” Lily nodded her head as a response to his question. “You said long-dead clan. What does that mean? Last I saw of them they were celebrating your birth, little one.”
Lily winced slightly. So this Gryphon knew of her and her family. What else was this Gryphon hiding? “They were massacred by the past Mæster. Well, more specifically the army was commanded by the Mæster to kill my family and the other clan members if we didn't comply to their commands. Of course my father didn't comply and called the Mæster a crazy old bat, if I recall correctly. Though I now know that it was the council's decision to get rid of my family and clan, not the Mæster since she had already been deemed insane by the council at least a dozen years prior to the clan's massacre.”
The Gryphon gave her a pitiful look. He felt sorry for her. Pinning his wings up against his sides, he sat down on his haunches, he towered over all of the humanoids by two feet. "What a pity," he said. "If your clan had survived a few more years then I would have bonded with you."
Lily gave him an odd look. "Why you? Why not another Gryphon?"
“Because of my status...well, my old status in my clan that I was in. I was the third eldest son of the head Gryphons in my clan. My litter-mates had already mated and thus didn't want to bond with one of your clan-mates. I was the only one who hadn't found a mate nor were there going to be any old enough for me to mate with until at least thirty years later. I'm sure that none of the females eligible for me to mate with are old enough still for me.” He fluffed his feathers slightly, looking distinctly ruffled. “Thankfully I am here for you now. It seems you have already bonded with two birds-of-prey. Surely you can take another bond.” He looked at her eagerly.
“Let me think on it,” she responded to him, taking back Taka from Angelia. “I've never seen any of my old clan-mates bond to a Gryphon before. Actually the last one to bond to one of your kin was when my Grandmother was still alive. After that clan-mate had died, the Gryphon that was bonded to him decided not to bond again and flew away to start a clan of his own.”
“Ah, I think I know of him. My second-cousin, once removed I believe,” the Gryphon explained as he gazed up at the trees for a few moments. “Ah, I haven't introduced myself yet, have I? I am Misae. It is a pleasure to meet all of you.” He bowed down low to the ground, keeping his wings pressed against his body. “And the rest of you are?”
Lily nodded towards the two men beside her. “These two are my fellow mercenaries-Namir and Terakanis. The woman who held my hawk, Taka, is Angelica. Not sure about the others.”
“I am Arisella,” Arisella said, pointing to herself and then she pointed to the two men she came with. “And those two are Lawk and Ryuuzaki, Ryu for short.” Arisella smiled warmly at the Gryphon, clearly excited to see one of his kin up close. “I've seen your kin before. I come from Faelel but moved down here after I bet those two.”
“Ah, it is nice to hear that someone else has heard and seen some of my kin in the past,” Misae said, his grin widening slightly. “A pity that we are a shy creature to those who do not understand us. I wish more understood us. We have a lot to teach your kin.”
Arisella pointed to Lily and Misae chuckled at her. “From the beginning of time we have been apart of their lives. It was only a few generations ago that they decided to form a clan. Her kin have been scattered around all of Elysium until one brave woman decided to call all of her kin together, marry, and then formed the clan that was Vethelots Maestros clan. I hope you have heard of them, miss Arisella. They did take work in your land along with the other surrounding countries of Nephe for the Mæster's sake.”
“So what? So she can tame hawks and talk your kin into letting her take rides on your back. What else can she do that is so special?” Arisella said, rolling her eyes. Lily winced at her words. She bit her lower lip to prevent her from snapping at the other woman. It was clear that this woman didn't know squat about her clan. Misae noticed Lily's tense stance and decided to respond to the harsh question.
“A whole lot more than you can. She can actually bond to the hawks meaning that they belong to her and they aren't tame by any means. They are as wild as they were when she bonded to them. She can, in a little clear way of explaining it, control them. Also she can look through their eyes as if they are her own eyes. As for my kin, she had use my elemental powers to her advantage. That is why the Mæsters used them to their advantage when they were still alive,” Misae explained.
“So? I can use Magick to my advantage, too. I am a Sorceress. I was trained to do that sort of stuff,” Arisella said, crossed her arms in front of her chest. “I'm not really sure why she is so special.”
"Because, my dear, I have Magick that you will never have. My Magick is different than yours. Yours requires spells and strength. Mine requires skill and the elements. I can use the water around me and freeze you instantly. Meanwhile,you might still be chanting that long chant that you have to do in order to do a simple spell," Misae said with a smirk on his beak.
Arisella pouted slightly at him. "Not that long of a chant for a simple spell," she said in a sour tone of voice.
The Gryphon shrugged his shoulders slightly and decided to change the subject. "So, most of you have been outside of Nephe before, right?"
Ten miles away from the group of mercenaries, hawks, Gryphon, and Fallen Angel, a pair of mercenaries was busy preparing for their biggest assignment that they have ever taken on. Creed smirked as he pulled out his pocketwatch from the inside of his coat. “Seems like he is a little late,” he said, not bothing to look at his partner.
“He must have ran into a little snag with getting our hawk bits on time,” Hashim said, a hint of humor in his voice.
Creed didn't say anything else. He tapped a finger on his hip as he waited patiently for the Mæster. Of course Mæster Chamberlayn wasn't exactly late...at least not yet. He had another hour before the time that Creed had wanted the Mæster to meet him in the forest with the hundred gold hawk bits but it seemed that the “good” Mæster was cutting his time close...too close for Creed's nerves. He had wanted the hawk bits a good three hours ago to prevent the peope that he was waiting to give the hawk bits as a reward for to not wait too lon. Hopefully they hadn't ran off after waiting more than three hours for half of the reward that they were promised.
The minutes ticked down and Creed grew more and more impatient. Less than a haf an hour before the time was up a cloaked figure came running towards them from the depths of the forest. Creed smirked slightly and straightened his poture. Hashim gave a hoarse chuckle as the cloaked figure stopped in front of Creed. The figure dropped a heavy bag on the ground and dull clinks could be heard from inside of the bag. “Here is the hawk bits that you required,” said the figure. It pushed back the hood to reveal Mæster Chamberlayn. “All of it, actually. I managed to get it without the council or my daughter being notified of the amount that I withdrew from the funds.”
Creed nodded to his partner and Hashim slinked over to the bag, pulled it away from the Mæster, and opened it. He quickly counted the hawk bits and nodded to Creed. The elder mercenary smirked a little wider and bowed slightly at the Mæster. “Well, then, it seems our business is done. I shall get rid of the nuisance that you have been seeking for all of these years. Trust me, tonight I shall get rid of this little mouse for good, Mæster Chamberlayn. You have my word on it.”
“You better,” was all the Mæster said in response to the mercenary's words. He brushed off his cloak and swiftly spun around, walking in the direction that he came in. Hopefully in the morning he would have word of the target's death.
As soon as the Mæster was out of sight, Creed turned his attention to Hashim. “Come. Let us greet our guests,” he said, the smirk still on his lips. He turned to head towards the meeting tree and only walked a half a dozen steps when he sensed that Hashim hadn't started walking behind him. He turned around to see Hashim look at him curiously. “Is something wrong?” he asked, putting his hands on his hips and raising an eyebrow at the other mercenary.
“He...gave us too much,” was all Hashim said as he turned his gaze at the ground. He carefully picked up the bag and put it on his shoudlers, finally walking towards Creed. “Just wanted to let you know that.”
“Hmm...must be because he knew that he was going to be late. Either way, it is a good tip for us to keep. We musn't keep the little mouse and the others waiting for too long,” Creed said, a hint of amusement in his voice. Hashim nodded his head and followed Creed as they headed towards where the group of mismatched travelers were waiting.
The sun was beginning to set as the group began to get a little restless. They had expected their employer to be there hours ago but they hadn't shown up yet. When all hope seemed to be lost that their clients were going to start up, Misae pricked his cat-like ears up and looked into the forest, almost as if he could see something that the humanoids couldn't see. He clicked his beak a few times before relaxing. “Two men are approaching us. Perhaps these are your clients that you seek?” he asked, looking at the group curiously. The humanoids shrugged their shoulders.
As the two men came closer into view, the others looked on with anticipation except two of the eight. Lily and Namir frowned slightly at the pair. The slowly walked towards each other and huddled together, keeping their eyes on the two men that were slowly approaching them.
“I don't like the look in their eyes,” Lily commented to Namir.
The male mercenary remained silent for a few moments before speaking. “I know one of them. The one in the white coat. The other one I don't know about.”
“Who is the white coat? He seems so familiar yet I cannot put my thumb on how he is familiar to me?”
“That is Creed, my old partner. He looks a little different from what I remember him to be but the sword on his belt is the same one that he has had all of his life.”
Lily winced slightly and turned her gaze towards the white coat mercenary. He looked back at her with an insane-like gaze. It was almost like he was in a bloodlust mood. A wide smirk appeared on his face. Lily's expression changed from anger to fear in a split second. “Get everyone away from here,” she whispered to Namir as she shoved him away from her.
Before she could think of what to do next, she heard a gunshot and she ducked. She felt white hot pain as something grazed the side of her right shoulder. Trying to ignore the pain, she started to run away from the two mercenaries. A series of gunshots soon filled the air, blocking out any other sound in the area. The others scattered, not gathering in groups but fleeing for their lives and not caring about anyone else except themselves. Lily slowly turned around in mid-stride and saw three bullets hitting Angelica. She slowed down to a halt and watched as the Fallen Angel fell to the ground.
The female mercenary stared as Angelica stared at her with her soft red eyes, an sad expression on her face. After a few moments, the Fallen Angel stopped breathing but her eyes remained open. Lily stared at the other woman and started to walk towards her but in a flash there was a sharp stab of pain in the back of her head and then darkness overtook her senses.