Darkness cascaded down from the evening sky above, shrouding the world in a veil of cold murk. For my congregation, however, we had the gift of fire to keep us warm. Three fires stood abuzz with flame, dancing to every gust of wind like a ballad with an exceptional high tempo. Surrounding them, we sat in huddled silence, tired from the day.

"You do know what this means, don't you?" I asked my son rhetorically, for I knew he already had the answer I was searching for.

"Yes, father." He replied, his eyes fixated on his blade as he cleaned it, it was as if both his eyes and the blade itself were in flames from the reflection of the blaze. "They'll be back, and in number."

I looked over to Leona and Helena, both were walking about the camp, listening to the children and helping them if need be. Helena was adamant about providing for these children a future, as was I, as this was the purpose of this journey.

I suddenly felt something tugging on my coat, looking over I saw the little griff my son had so heroically rescued from a life of servitude. Her eyes looked frightened as she quivered a bit.

"They're coming back?" She asked, "Those bad griffons?"

Smiling assuredly, I grabbed her by the forearms and picked her up, letting her rest on my lap as I gently hugged her form.

"Yes, they will come." I said bluntly, feeling her tighten up a bit in my embrace. "But no matter what little one, we'll be here to protect you." I paused as I put my finger under her beak and let her gaze rest onto me. "For there is no force on this earth that could break our will. For we, little Marina, are immortal."

She looked up at me in wonder as I comforted her, her eyes searching mine for any kind of lie. She found none, but in her eyes, I still saw the fear.

"I'm still afraid." She whispered against my chest as she sniffed.

"I know, my child, but would you allow me to teach you something?"

"Teach me what?"

"How not to be a slave to fear, how instead, to be a servant of love." I said whilst stroking her head.

"...I'm not sure I want that, the bad griffs said they wished to make me a servant too…" She answered, her voice muffled against my coat.

I would weep at how one so little could have such a corrupted outlook on what love looks like, but not now, now is the time for change.

"No, my child. Not that kind of servant, and definitely not that kind of love." I said in a hushed tone.

I propped up my leg a little so she was a little closer to my height as she sat, her face finally coming out of my coat as she controlled her sniffling. "Perhaps it's best that I show you."

Lifting my arm out towards the flame, I let my magic flow throw my hand and with less effort than before, a green glow enveloped it. Expanding and contracting to my whim, I made it stretch out and soon it reached out and touched the flame. Upon making contact, it crackled like a pinecone had been thrown into it and changed color from its natural mixture of red and yellow to a pure green. This caught the attention of the rest of the children, some of them watching with fear, but most in wonder.

Twirling my hand, two threads of green flame arched from out of the fire like a rainbow, before arriving in the other two fires laid out in the camp. The same happened once more, with the fires being turned into a beautiful green colouration as my magic took hold.

Looking down once more to little Marina, I reached far inside my heart to find words to both bring comfort to her and to explain to her God's infinite love.

"O blessed child; be not afraid. The lord shall keep you still." Inside the fire, I willed it to display within its heart Jesus Christ. He sat on his knees upon a bed of grass with a smile on his face as he held a white lamb in a gentle embrace. The lamb however still seemed quite distressed.

"And shall pluck you from the cursed dark, by love, your heart will heal." Upon uttering these words, I willed the image to change once more. The lamb progressively got more and more docile, its head eventually resting upon Christ's chest and sheding a single tear upon it.

"O blessed child; with thy sun eclipsed, does not the darkness reign?" I asked as the image changed from the peaceful picture of God to the lamb, disheveled and beaten in a cage. It was no longer the pure white of before, but dirty and bruised. It was laying down upon its side, with its head resting against the bars.

"But vengeance falls on blackened souls'' The image panned out to view abominations. Demons of hell, sitting around a fire, laughing and eating upon another lamb whose time had passed too soon. Looking further one would see a hill behind them, and the sky was a starless night.

"The light will shine again." Changing an age even slightly can bring a profound effect, and the arching of light over the hill certainly brought that as the outline of a lone man stood on top of it. The sight of him made the demons bear their teeth, thrashing and screeching in what looked like anger and fear upon the visage.

"In a breadth of innocence; we shall walk the seas." Lifting within his grasp a shepherd's stick, the sun rose and the demons disappeared in a smoldering billow of black smoke, so too did the cage. The lamb itself upon being touched by the light was healed from its wounds, yet still dirty from the muck.

"Rest your heart on providence and know," The fire displayed the figure removing his hood and light encompassing his entire being as he kneeled and held his arms out in an awaiting embrace. The lamb, cantered over to him, hopping over fire and the dirt as if flying. Upon reaching him, the light dissipated as the lamb was held in his embrace.

"Thy captor's kingdom shall be burned for all to see," The hooded man was Christ, who now stood upon the hill together with the lamb in his embrace as they looked out to the rolling hills. Across them, yet more demons disappeared into smoke as the light touched them, seemingly harmless as the light so easily willed them away. Christ then let the lamb out of his embrace and they looked to the side.

"and thy flesh shall not be owned." The lamb scampered off as Christ looked on with a smile on his face. For it did not venture off back into darkness, but instead joined the flock of pure white sheep who instead of shunning the dirty sheep, accepted it with open hooves as they played.

"O blessed child for the Lord hath said whoever shall harm thee," The final picture displayed the flock being led through a valley of green with the sun shining down upon them and Christ at the front.

"Tis better to be tied to stone, and drowned in darkened sea." Outside the valley however, was but pure misery. Clouds covered the scorched lands with bones pulled high, forming hills in some places. The demons who seemed so happy to go after the weak, now looked almost as weak and frail as the lamb they had previously consumed.

As I lifted my arm down, the magic lessened and the image disappeared within the changing colours of ember. And as the fire returned to its natural orange, I held Marina close to me as she smiled.

"Tis better to be tied to stone, and drowned in darkened sea…"

Nuzzling close to me, Marina cooed. All around the fires, the children stuck close to one another with smiles on their faces as the mood was uplifted from the uncertain feeling from before. Next to me, Mark sat with his legs spread apart, with Paulina and Fiddie on each of his knees, leaning on one another with their eyes closed. In the back I saw similar situations with Helena and Leona, both of them surrounded by fluffy groups of griffon children.

It was a precious scene, truly. It is said that duty is heavier than a mountain, and that death is lighter than a mountain. But for moments like these? For people like these Any? Any weight was worth carrying.

Tink. Tink. Tink. Tink.

The moment was broken however, as I followed the sound of a talon repeatedly hitting metal. Looking up past the children, my gaze fell upon the silhouette of a griffon standing atop the roof of the house opposite to us. He stood there, wings unfolded, looking down on us. I couldn't make out his features through the dark but the flame did mark out his eyes, which stared right into mine. Additionally, the flames danced across the surface of one of his talons oddly enough, as none of the others did.

"Well done, bard. Very well done indeed." He said in a mocking tone. "Such a high sense of honor as well, looking out for these little ones." His eyes wandered across the children as he spoke, frightening many of them as they began to scurry off behind me and Mark.

Together, me, my children and Leona stood up and met his gaze without fear. Mark spoke up first.

"Well I'd welcome ya to join us, sir. But I can't help but wonder about your name." He spoke in an equally mocking manner, ending his greeting with an overly dramatic bow.

Silence filled the air for a couple of seconds, I would glare at Mark but if I broke the griffon’s gaze, he’d view it as a moment of weakness.

Tink.

Suddenly, with the clinking of metal from the griffon above, muffled steps fell upon snow from both my right and left. In my periphery I saw multiple griffons moving across the snow, at least twelve in number.

“What an oversight on my part, I do apologize.” He began before with a single flap of his wings glided down before us, with his compatriots forming up next to him. He stood tall, with his presence noticeably larger than those around him. Scars covered him from head to talons, some more of note than others, with white streaks clipping through his dark gray plumage. His eyes were a bright yellow with a depth to them, a depth reminiscent of a predator eyeing its prey. His left ear had a gruesome look to it, as if torn off with a badly healed wound left behind, its pink flesh smelled of rot. His most noticeable feature however was a single one of his talons, totally engulfed in metal, whether replaced or gilded, I did not know, however it looked permanent.

“The name is Theodocius, although my business rivals call me-” he paused as he wheezed a chuckle. “The butcher.”

I looked down at him, feeling the threads of his soul roiling beneath the surface. Instead of the light that shone through the children and Leona alike however, this one was matted in black, covered in it like soot from a chimney. It would be hard to wash it out.

“A name earned, no doubt.” I finally said, my tone no more harsher than if I was speaking to one of the children. “Yet i wonder, which one will we come to know you by?” I asked as I offered a quick glance to one of his companions slowly dragging a knife down one of his talons through his telekinetic grip.

“Quite the inquisitive sort aren't you, Elijah?” Theodocius said with a light chuckle, no doubt knowing my name through his watching of the camp. “Well you see, your gallant little lad over there gave me quite a fright.” He looked over to Mark. “Three of my workers disappeared recently, like a puff of smoke” He added with a chuckle before looking back at me. “Despite that… setback in relations, however, I am a generous griff. Ain’t that right boys?” He asked with some glee, getting a chorus of positive responses from his so called workers. I noted that several of them were eyeing up the children behind us, they’ll come to regret that.

“So I've come up with a resolution.” He said, his tone shifting dramatically from his previously thin mask of jovialness to a murderous glare. “Either you join us, and give up what you’ve taken or I’ll dismember you and make you watch as we kill each and every one of these fucking brats!” His voice growed in volume as he spoke, nearly shouting the last bit, making the children behind me let out a yelp in fright at him.

I paused for a second as no party moved, making sure the silence hung heavy above us before I spoke. “And what exactly have I taken that is yours?”

Theodocious growled before snarling “Dont play dumb with me shit-for-brains!” He looked past me into the crowd. “We want the girl.”

Lord have mercy on this one’s soul

“No.”

His pupils almost seemed to contract as he focused into my eyes, his eyebrow twitched.

“No?”

“God gave them wings to fly, not be shackled. He gave them the freedom of mind to act out against the oppressor, not to be a pawn at another’s whim.” I paused as I breathed out, making a motion with my left hand to alert Helena and Mark.

“And he gave me a sword, so I may render onto their captors his will!” And with that Helena and Mark extended their wings, each one of them bursting with magic as I heard the rocking of the carriage behind us.

Author's Note

Sorry for the long wait, covid hit my family and the fever coupled with schoolwork has been keeping me busy.