Shatter

***

“Ugh, does this rain ever stop?!” Henry growled as he pulled a claw from the mud beneath him, already dirtied and tattered clothing now soaked and covered in slick slimy dirt. “Great…”

“No, and the weather will get even worse closer to the border.”

“Mommy, I’m cold…” The young chick poked her head out from between her mother’s arms as her own loud complaints soon joined her brother’s own, the young voice coaxing a frustrated huff from the griffon in front.

“It’ll just be a bit further d—”

“Wait, shush…quiet!” The griffon spoke in a raspy whisper as he stopped – feet sinking into the mud bit by bit with each second that passed as he peered ahead through the gloomy rainy dusk-light. “Thugs up ahead…”

“What should we do?” Willa nervously asked in a whisper as she put a hand on her daughter’s shoulder to try to quiet the young griff’s complaints.

“Just law low…they should ignore us with any luck…” The griffon pulled a hood over his head, almost obscuring his entire face as he slowly stepped forward – discreetly motioning for the others to follow just a few seconds after. “Don’t make eye-contact.”

“Hey, you, travellers!” A few more minutes would pass before a few figures stepped out into the road, claws waving for the group to stop as the guide in front continued to walk – head turning to the other side of the dirt path as the thugs soon shouted again.

“Stop! You there, I said stop!” The group finally came to a slow halt as the guide finally paused – hood pulled even more firmly around his face as he glanced over towards the three thugs.

“Well well well…what do we ‘ave ‘ere?” One of the thugs let out a menacing chuckle as he moved in front of the group – only Wyman’s gaze rising to meet the fiery hazel orbs that would lock onto his own.

“Looks like another group of travelers…and mother ‘n child with them too…” Another of the gang spoke up, hungry eyes looking towards the young chick as she ducked behind her brother, eyes narrowing as they moved up towards the rest of the adults.

“I told ya already we ain’t going to be like that.” The hazel eyes narrowed as they shot over to the other griffon, a scowl meeting the now crazed grin on the other’s face.

“And? What’re you all going to do? No police around, all gone to shit…” The griffon’s eyes lit up with insanity and malice as he looked over the ground once more, his grin disappearing almost instantly as his gaze finally reached the guide – a few long seconds passing before a sudden rage took hold over him. “Hey…wait – I know this one! A bloody Marksist!”

“Me? I don’t know what you are talking about, I came here fro—” The guide’s words were cut short as the griffon continued.

“No, I’d remember that accent anywhere…bloody foreign filth. Your damn unlucky to find your way here…I lost my damned job because of your two-faced trickery.”

“And who are these folks with you? More of your little traitor-friends?”

“No, we are just simple travelers headed on our way…”

“Oh yeah? And were are you headed? The only thing up the road from here are some piss-ant villages and the border.”

“Good sirs, p—” A shot rang out as the griffon pulled a gun from his coat, fingers fumbling for only a second before pulling the trigger as the crazed grin returned with the wet thud of the body hitting the wet cold road.

“Let’s see what these ‘travelers’ are carrying boys!” Wyman would instinctively take a step back as chaos erupted at all once – his gaze only leaving the now fallen body as he heard his wife scream from behind him, daughter soon running into his arms as one of the thugs started to pull and tug against Willa’s wings and arm to try to drag her off to the side of the road.

“Get off of her!” There was little time to react as Henry suddenly rushed forward to try to fend off the thug, Wyman’s grip tightening around his daughter as his muscles tensed. He’d just be ready to dart forward to help when he heard another two shots ring out – the commotion in front of him suddenly coming to a stop as a brief silence fell across the path. Both his wife and son would fall to the ground just seconds after, all eyes falling on him soon after as his claws dug even tighter around his daughter.

Without a second of hesitation Wyman bolted away, daughter in hand as he pushed off into the underbrush – screams following as gunshots rang out through the dense woods. He’d hold the young sobbing chick close to him as he ran, only stopping to take flight when he couldn’t hear the yells echoing through the trees anymore – wings taking him as far as he could until the mix of exhaustion and the ever colder air brought him to the ground again.

Wyman wouldn’t stop until he could fly no more, exhaustion and cold slowly starting to weigh him further and further down until he came skidding to a halt; finally collapsing onto the ground below. Fortunately the wet soft ground had long since given way to a thick layer of snow, enough to cushion his fall even if the cold would do little to sooth his aching body as his tired heavy eyes looked out over the sea of white. It wouldn’t be too long after before his vision would start to fade, a few half-hearted attempts to pick up his worn body seeing him collapse again until he finally lost consciousness.

***

“Hey! Hey! Come on, wake up.” Wyman let out a groan as his eyes slowly opened – the cold he had felt now replaced with a soothing warmth as a rose-feathered griffon pulled him onto his feet – the frantic words the first thing his tired brain processed as awareness trickled back in. “There we are, knew you weren’t a goner.”

“W-where am I?” Wyman’s weak body could barely hold itself up on its own as the rose-feathered griffon’s grip firmed up to support his weight, Wyman’s mind struggling to process everything even still as thought after thought rushed into his mind. “M-my daughter!? Where is my daughter?”

“Woah! You were out in the cold for a while, don’t push yourself.” Wyman nearly collapsed as the griffon caught him, keeping him on his feet.

“I’m right here, father.”

“Thank Boreas!” Wyman used what little strength he had left to tightly hug the young chick, muscles going limp after as he only barely managed to keep himself upright as the young griffon held back a sob at the sight.

“We had found you both together passed out not far from here. Guessing you came from down south, been getting a bunch of folks finding there way up here…sad state of affairs if you ask me.”

“W-where there any others with me? Is anyone here looking for me?”

“No, if there were others with you we didn’t find them…” The griffon frowned as Wyman’s expression became even more hopeless, gaze falling to the small fire in front of him as the flames reflected off his glassy eyes.

“If you want, haven’t got anywhere else to go or be, you can rest here and wait for them.”

“Th-thank you…” The rose-feathered griffon gave a nod before leaving the two alone in the tent – a cackling fire in the middle slowly sending a modest billow of smoke up towards a hole in the top, warmth radiating through the small space as Wyman let himself collapse in a heap once again, lazy eyes barely able to stay open as his daughter slowly made her way over to lay beside him.

“Are you alright, father?”

“Y-yes…yes sweetie. Just a bit tired is all.”

“Me too, I—” The young chick looked up at her father as his barely open eyes continued to stare into the flames, a few tears running across his feathers. “Will we see mother again? And papa?”

“I—I don’t know…” Wyman struggled to keep his composure. “We’ll stay here…for now…don’t worry about any of that…”

“W-what if those bad men come and take you away like they took papa?”

“That won’t happen, I will keep you safe…I promise.” Wyman held the sobbing griffon even more tightly against him. “For now, I think we both could use some sleep.”

***