Realms of Magic

Kathranis floated, his entire body writhing in agony. Even though he felt his vocal cords vibrating, he couldn’t hear his screams. Kathranis tried to open his eyes, only to be blinded by a brilliant white light. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried vainly to cover them with his arms. Another wave of pain raced through his body, causing him to scream more. Every muscle in his body clenched and unclenched at the same time. As more and more pain raced through his body, Kathranis began to hear a very soft tone in his ears. It slowly began to crescendo. As it grew louder, Kathranis realized that it was song, and a familiar one at that.

As the song began to reach its peak, a soft pop echoed through his head and the pain disappeared. Kathranis let out a breath of relief, only to have it knocked out of him as he slammed forcefully into a tree. He landed on the ground with a thud and a groan. Bird song rang clearly through the air, which had an edge of cold to it. Kathranis took a moment to just lie on the ground and recover. As the minutes passed, he slowly opened his eyes.

Above him a canopy of redwood trees stood tall against the clear blue sky. Sunlight streamed through one of the openings in the leaves and shined directly into his eyes, prompting him to roll to his feet. Kathranis immediately regretted doing so as a wave of nausea caused him to trip and fall flat on his face.

You look as bad as I feel.

Secil walked drunkenly next to Kath’s head and plopped on his belly, wheezing.

That was painful, let’s never do it again.

“Agreed.” Kath mumbled. After a moment of lying with his face in the mud, Kathranis; using a tree for balance, pushed himself up and slowly got to his feet. He closed his eyes as the world spun in circles again, and he waited for the nausea to pass. When it did, he opened his eyes and took a more careful survey of their surroundings. For the moment, the trees stretched as far as the eye could see in all directions. The forest floor was moist and fallen leaves littered the ground. Kathranis took a whiff of the air. While crisp, it lacked scents common to civilization, like the smell of cooking fires.

‘Or like the smell of rotting garbage.’ Kathranis thought to himself.

Taking his thoughts away from the lesser things of the “civilized” world, Kathranis confirmed the fact that they were completely alone and were not likely to be attacked by bandits or other thieves.

Satisfied with their safety, he began a personal check of his belongings. Both his bow and his swords had survived the teleportation, along with most of his arrows. As he opened the flap to check his bag, he realized with a slack face that his bag was full of books.

“Secil, when did Fordred and I change gear?”

The cat grunted out loud.

A day or two ago. The books were slowing us down, so you took them so Fordred would move faster. He took the rations you still had in your pack.

Kathranis shook his head in disgust.

“What am I supposed to do with wizard tomes? These won’t help me survive! They’re completely useless!”

Secil grunted again.

You could try learning spells, I know so much work. Secil sat up and looked Kathranis in the eyes. But honestly, if you set your mind to it, you could be an incredible mage. I’ve heard of human battle mages in the Gryphon legion, is it too difficult of a leap for you to learn a few helpful cantrips?

“I suppose not.” Kathranis grumbled. Slightly less disgusted with the tomes, Kathranis closed the bag and slung it over his shoulder. Following the sun’s angle he pointed north.

“Come on, we need to find shelter before night fall. The air has a bite, and I don’t want to be stuck outside when the sun is gone.”

Secil got to his feet and the two set off through the trees.

Steel rang against stone as Kathranis struck his dagger with the rock in his left hand again and again. The pile of tinder below the blade gave no hint of smoking as he struck his dagger again, sending sparks everywhere. He had gotten so used to using his flint that he had grown complacent in his other means of fire building. Secil flinched as another clang sent a shower of sparks onto the pile of twigs and dried leaves. Kathranis grinned as a small stream of smoke flowed up from a leaf. Cupping his hands around the ember, he lightly blew the heat onto other dry bits of leaf. As more and more of the tinder caught fire, Kathranis fed it larger and larger pieces, slowly building the blaze. Once the flame reached a comfortable height, Kathranis settled back, using his bag of books as a pillow. Secil growled softly at him.

Aren’t you getting food?

Kathranis chuckled to himself.

“We’ll get food in the morning. We got lucky to find this cave, and I am loathe to leave it.”

Secil grunted, but settled his head in his paws and closed his eyes. Kathranis smiled again and joined the cat in sleep. It felt like he was asleep for only a moment when a piercing shriek woke them from their rest. Kathranis was on his feet in an instant, one hand gripping his sword hilts. The fire had burned low, so he focused his eyes until they changed to see heat patterns rather than light. Another shriek pierced the night. Following the sound, Kathranis drew his bow.

As he followed the sounds, he noticed a large shape loping next to him. He knocked an arrow, only to realize it was Secil, changed into his panther form. Kathranis shook away his jumpiness and continued on at a light jog. They didn’t have to run far until Kathranis saw a flood of heat signatures. Changing his eyes back to normal, he crept to the edge of the torchlight and watched.

A group of no less than nine humans had trapped what looked like three griffons. Except that one of the griffons had a sword in one claw and was trying to fend off the humans. As he sighted a target, Kathranis noticed the humans weren’t exactly the regular breed either. Most of them were dressed in scant rags, carrying nothing but wooden spears and stone axes. They circled the griffons with the air of a pack of wolves. Whispering the words to a quick flame spell, Kathranis picked the biggest and smartest looking human of the lot.

The arrow hadn’t even touched the man’s throat when Kathranis drew his swords and charged in with a war cry. He knocked a man’s spear out of line and quickly stabbed a blade through the man’s heart. Keeping with the edge of his surprise attack, he lashed out with his right blade at one of the humans with an axe. When the man brought his axe in a block, Kathranis tipped his blade low, stabbing the steel blade through the man’s stomach instead of his throat.

If he had scared the humans with his quick killing of three of their friends, the sight of Secil tearing the throat from another sent them into a panic. Most dropped their weapons as they ran screaming, crying out “Demon! Demon!” in a language similar to goblin tongue.

Taking a deep breath, Kathranis sheathed his swords and turned to the griffons, only to find a sword pointed just below his nose. He held his hands up.

“Whoa now, no need for that. Can you talk?”

The griffon with the sword snorted.

“Of course I can talk, but how can you? Did your master teach you? Is that where you got those swords?”

Kathranis grinned cautiously and took a half step back.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about friend, but if you put that down you could come with me to the camp I set up in a cave not far from here. It’s sheltered and I have a fire. Just put the sword down.”

The griffon opened his beak to argue, but was interrupted as one of the other two called out.

“Valan! Stop messing with the human and help me, Zefuris is bleeding badly.”

Kathranis dipped under Valan’s sword and took his holy symbol from around his neck. The small leaf charm had been a gift from a druid that had lived in the forests near Myth Drannor. The old man had taught Kathranis most of what he knew now about Silvanus and being a ranger.

Kathranis squatted next to the two griffons that sat crouched on the ground. One was thinner than the other and wore no armor. Assuming it was a female, Kathranis also noticed that her head feathers were a golden color while the other two had deep brown feathers. She looked at him in shock, but seemed to calm when she noticed the charm in his hand.

The wounded griffon had a broken spear shaft sticking out from between two plates of thick armor. Blood seeped thinly from the wound, but Kathranis quickly determined that the griffon was indeed, dying. He drew a small gasp from the female griffon as he tore the spear end from its place, causing a river of blood to flow free from the wound. In one fluid motion Kathranis whipped the knife from his boot and cut off a lock of his own hair. Compared to some elves, his thick, black hair was short in length. He kept it at his shoulders and usually locked the majority of the mass in a loose ponytail. Several strands however, stood free of the wrapping and he cut the hair free from his head.

Taking both his holy symbol and hair in one hand, he pressed it on the wound and intoned a prayer. A soft green glow enveloped his hand and the wound faded from sight. As he put his necklace back on he said a quick thanks to Silvanus and got to his feet.

As he turned to face Valan again, his vision blurred as fist met face. Kathranis staggered back and grabbed for the hilts of his swords. Another fist cracked into his face, causing him to instinctively bring his arms up to protect his face. Kathranis grunted as a fist planted itself in his ribs, and while his arms drifted down, another broke his nose. The force of the punches pushed him back until he slammed into a tree.

Anticipating where the next blow would come from, Kathranis dove to the left and drew his swords, giving him ample breathing room. He shook his head clear and shouted at Valan.

“What in the Nine Hells is wrong with you? I just saved your lives for gods' sake! This is how you would repay me?”

The griffon glared at him and brought his sword up.

“I don’t know what careless fool was your owner, but you can rest assured, your temporary freedom is gone. I will not have a spell casting human running free in my kingdom.”

Kathranis yanked his swords from their sheathes and carved an x in the air with them.

“I have no idea what is running through that bird brain of yours, but if you think you can take me down…” He brought the tips of his swords near his face. “You’re dead wrong.”

The two fighters stood at a tense stand-off, waiting for the other to move. Kathranis began breathing faster, trying to fool his opponent into thinking he was about to strike. He shifted his right foot just enough to provoke reaction from Valan. The griffon charged forward quickly and without sound, putting Kathranis off-balance. He dipped under the large steel sword of the griffon and brought his own blades at Valan’s wing. Before they could touch a feather, the griffon leaped back.

Now over-balanced, Kathranis shifted his weight into a roll and dove towards the griffon. Again the creature hopped away before Kathranis could touch him. Shocked at the speed of the creature, Kathranis wove a defensive pattern with his swords and jumped back a few feet. As the griffon tensed for another attack, Kathranis began bouncing on the balls of his feet, trying to throw Valan off-balance. He had to hide his surprise when he found that it actually worked. Kathranis almost grinned as he watched the griffon try to bob in time with his feet.

So focused on his feet, Valan wasn’t prepared as Kathranis leapt forward, swords flashing. Kathranis easily batted Valan’s sword out of line with his left hand and slammed the griffon’s face with the right. Pressing his advantage, Kathranis pivoted on his right foot and kicked Valan in the chest, sending the griffon further off-balance. Kathranis ducked low under a desperate sweep from Valan’s blade and surgically opened two cuts on the griffon’s wrist, causing him to drop the sword.

Silence fell over Kathranis as he narrowed in for the kill. Vaguely he heard a shout echoing through the clearing, but he ignored it. His face set in a grim scowl, he opened two more cuts on Valan’s other claw, causing the griffon to hiss with pain. In one fluid motion, Kathranis sheathed a sword and kneed Valan in the face. Using his free hand, Kathranis yanked the griffon forward and slammed his forehead into the griffons chin. Kath’s vision narrowed further to the point that he saw only points on the griffon’s body that would put the beast down. His right sword descended in a vertical arc and closed the distance to the griffon’s neck.

Time slowed down as Kath’s surroundings flooded back into his perception, particularly the four hundred pounds of griffon slamming into him at full speed. Kathranis pin-wheeled away and slammed into a tree, giving a shout as a loud crack echoed through the clearing. He landed on the ground with a thud and immediately cradled his left arm. Kathranis took a piece of string from his pocket and whispered through gritted teeth a small spell Fordred has taught him. The string grew in size until it was about the size of a boot strap. It coiled around the break site and with a sharp snap, constricted the bone back into place. During the entire process, Kathranis could do nothing but grit his teeth and wait for the pain to stop.

He flexed his arm a few times and checked to see if the bone was properly set. Though it couldn't move around, Kathranis knew that his arm was out of action until it could heal. Kath growled and grabbed his sword from the grass. The second griffon, the one he had healed, was aiding the one called Valan to his feet.

Kathranis scowled and prepared to attack again, but then thought better of it. Kathranis sent a mental message to Secil and then sheathed his sword. Not making a sound, Kathranis slipped backwards into the shadows and ran silently for a while. Then, when he judged he was far enough away, turned around and crept back to the clearing. He circled around the edge of the torchlight and crouched behind a tree near the body of one of the dead humans.

He watched as the female of the group wrapped Valan’s claw in strips of torn white cloth.  The other male griffon, a soldier by Kath’s guess, stood guard a foot or two away. He listened as they talked rather loudly, causing several night predators to take notice. More than once Kath saw Secil growling at any animal that came near, chasing them away when they got too close.

“What were you thinking Valan? That was clearly not your average human. It could have killed you!” the female said.

“It shouldn’t have been that smart! Humans are naturally stupid and spell casters are few and far between. I’ve never even seen one that could fight and cast spells. Stupid Equestrians are treating the beasts too well, they are nothing but animals! This is why i've been pushing for father to permanently banish their enslavement! Teaching them the basics of speech is bad enough, but this!  Any more knowledge and the damn things will destroy everything!”

The female griffon sighed and shook her head.

“Valan, you must learn to calm that imagination of yours. This was probably a singularity; we will likely never see a human like that again. What we must focus on now is finding somewhere to rest before returning home tomorrow. Father is likely unhappy at our timing for this… outing.”

“Would’ve been fine if we didn’t have a certain guard hanging around like dead weight.” Valan grumbled.

The armored griffon said nothing, but gave a loud snort. Now out of combat, Kathranis noticed that the armored griffon was larger than the other two. The soldier had the scars of battle while the smaller two griffons looked relatively… soft. Both of the males bore weapons, but Valan wore no armor and his brown feathers gleamed in the torchlight. Kathranis was knocked from his scrutiny of the griffons when the soldier spoke.

“Princess, I suggest that we make haste in finding shelter. I’m surprised that animals haven’t already arrived to pick the corpses clean. If we stay out here much longer, we may be trapped in another fight we don’t want.”

Kathranis raised an eye brow. What was royalty doing in the middle of the woods at night? And with only a single guard?

"What do you think Secil?" Kathranis projected to his familiar.

I think that more wolves are gathering than I can handle. Its going to get worse soon, wolves aren't the only beasts gathering out here. If these fools don’t leave soon, they will die. Secil stated flatly.

Kathranis pondered the thought for a moment.

See if you can lure them back to the cave.  Kathranis replied. I will take care of whatever beasts comes our way.

Kathranis slipped away from his hiding spot and crept to the shadows of the forest.