Militis Corde

by Sanguine Eyes

Bonus Chapter: Past II

The dust kicked up, midsummer drought did little for the temperate zone. The land was normally a Lush in green, but something unnatural had happened. The grass was dead and now dust seem to linger in the air. Something foul lingered within this place.

Talons gently sifted through the torn-up grass and dirt. Lifting high and allowing the dry Earth to run through his digits. The grey Griffon said nothing as he calmly stretched his wings and took to the sky again.

It had been two weeks since he was dispatched. The sun could not dry out this area this quickly. Even nearby streams had stopped and run bone-dry. The anomaly was originally just a level 4 disturbance. But there was nothing else so he decided to take it up. And why not? “Idle talons serve only darkness…” He mumbled as he continued further.

He had mapped out the area and found the center of what he assumed was the unnatural event. The thickest part of the forest, somewhere unwise to go lest one would be accompanied by hunters. But he and every other Griffon new full and well. “ A knight of the Ordos Sanguinius was alone for a reason…”

His eyes peered through the haze as the night begin to fall. But he saw something, something he clearly did not expect. Another Griffon traveling by ground. Straight into the heart of the forest.

His mind turned and he knew that this cannot possibly be a coincidence. The figure was clearly a hunter of some sort. Armored and muscled with a spear at his side and a crossbow upon his back between his wings.

He allowed himself to fall, sinking through the trees in order to follow this Hunter at a distance. It was clear that this Hunter was either a part of the problem or on his way to try and solve the problem. “Malicious or clever… let's find out…”

He followed silently, watching carefully from every shadow. The hunter’s every step was clear. Experience and wisdom guided him. But the forest was alien to him as it was to this lone Warrior. “Clever it is… but how did you know where the magic is?...”

He watched as the hunter slipped between two trees, but then came to the notice that he could no longer see the Hunter. “I suppose I should have given him a little more credit…”

With a flash of Cold Steel, the Warrior whipped his blade behind him to catch the spear before it drove into his spine. The hunter was fast and cunning. The blades danced between them, each and every slash was parried or redirected, every thrust countered. The Hunter was not to be considered prey, even by the knight.

Knocking the spear to one side, Talons locked in and together they fought their way into the sky. Skill tempered by Decades of experience and well honed understanding of the art of combat clashed violently against physical power and excessive skill, new and unheard of fighting styles. No one beast of the air could gain an advantage over the other.

Finally they parted, blades dance through the air at the Hunter. Barely deflected by the twirling spear leaving icy blasts of Frost and ice. The crossbow popped off of the hunters back and discharged. Deflecting off of the blade, the bolt combusted into a ball of Fire but rolled off of the protective runes etched into the Warrior's Armor. They stood and cold regard of one another.

“You are not, a part of this problem are you?” His old eyes peered into the hunter’s Enchanted goggles.

“You tell me old bird… you're the one who followed me into the forest… if anyone is here to cause trouble it's you.”

“There is some truth to your suspicion but alas, you are incorrect. We are not supposed to believe in coincidence but I suppose it is passable here… you are here to hunt what is causing this unnatural phenomenon… and so am I…”

The crossbow leveled at him again. “Let's say that I believe you… where does that leave us now?”

He did not move or bother requesting that he lower his weapons. “The Ordos Sanguinius suspects magical interference… I am here to destroy whatever it is within… I cannot stop you from getting in my way. Thus I suggest that we work together at very least until the taint has been removed…”

The hunter regarded The Warrior for a short moment. His grip tightened on his weapon before a smile appeared on his face. “Gareth… Gareth Blacktalon!... Hunter… every hatchling knows not to trust the shamed…”

“Perditus… Shamed knight, champion of the Ordos Sanguinius…” The warrior did not bother explaining or justifying the shame.

“Perditus?... your name is lost?” The hunter hummed the question with a curious smile.

“I was shamed. Lost became my name… is my only name. I am undeserving of any other…”

They silently regarded each other for a short moment, it was fully understood that's the warrior would defend himself if attacked but he did not value his own life. None join the Ordos Sanguinius for glory, only the broken and lost of soul joined the blood order. The warrior knew that the Hunter was not as he seemed. The bladesmanship was clearly inventive a veteran Soldier, but he had no comrades with him, he had no emblems and no symbology. He was alone but the warrior could not tell why. The hunter had no dishonor in his movements. He was strong and old, not as old as the warrior but clearly the hunter was far more than what he seemed.

Gareth frowned his eyes picking out the details until he remembered. He remembered but he did not speak it.

They shared a nod and fell through the forest covering once again. They knew no threat would come from each other. Suspicion and mistrust was common between Griffons, and even deserving. But these two knew far too well that they had nothing to fear from each other.

They progressed further and further into the heart of the forest. Wordlessly they continued. The song of their souls was all that could be heard within the deathly silence of the unnatural Forest.

The forest soon became a nightmare of darkness of the night, and the night became a cave drenched in darkness. The Hunter and the warrior continued despite the eerie darkness

The hunter grumbled dragging his talons through the sickly aura coating the ground like if it were a membrane of filth. “Foul magic…”

“It is not foul Magic… it is simply being used by something foul.”

“If you say so, whatever it is, when I see the source, I'm going to kill it… “

“Very well, but if it cannot be destroyed I must capture it.”

This was the first thing that had said verbally in hours, but between them, every last twitch and movement spoke volumes. Pain and sorrow from the warrior, eagerness and caution from the Hunter. The song of their souls call out to each other and they sang the story of their lives.

At long last they found it. A wall of water blocking off the cave. The hunter nodded to the warrior and the warrior nodded back. The warrior passed an air stone rune to the Hunter who then swallowed the stone. Together they entered the water. It took very little time to get to the center and escape the wall of water.

The tormented soul of the water Elemental chained into place cried out to them, it's song one of torment.

The Hunter growled and the warrior remain silent. The spear twirled in his grip before snapping into position. “This is vile… what beast has done this?”

“shhh…” the warrior raised his talons and closed his eyes. “listen and you will find it…”

He could feel the souls singing loudly. Despair from himself, Anger from the Hunter, pain from the elemental, then finally Glee, vile contentment, filthy power tainting the air with its sour notes.

The Warrior’s eyes snapped open and he stood ready with his spear. Both Griffons faced the hidden foe.

Hooves sounded upon stone and both prepared themselves. “Hello hello…” The Voice croaked, dry and worn. “the kittens have come out to play…”

“Unicorn?...” the hunter looked to the warrior

The warrior shook his head “It used to be… but this is something else. Greed and Desperation gave way to Darkness. This isn't a pony anymore.”

The equine stepped into the light and a smile spread over it's rotting features. “Quite observant… I did not expect something like you to understand what I was… but alas.. neither you nor I really care so let's get this done with, I am very close to completing my work.”

The dry rasping voice felt sickly against the hunters ears, but it was nothing new to the warrior.

“Lich… this unicorn traded his soul for more time here in the Mortal plane. Specifically he traded it for eternal existence within the mortal plane and a fairly substantial amount of power…” The Warrior glared up at where the Unicorn stood.

“That doesn't sound like something I have heard of before.” the hunter stood unsure of himself as he leveled the crossbow at his Undead enemy.

The unicorns lips parted like worn leather on a hot day. “Fascinating that you would know so much about me… I'm flattered, most ponies don't even know… but here you are, a Griffon and you know exactly what I am as if you know exactly how I came to be in this form…”

“We need to destroy him quickly. It's okay to use explosives against him but try to avoid using anything excessively magical. The water Elemental here is bound specifically so that he can siphon off all of its magic. Considering it's made entirely out of magic it will last him quite a while, but an Elemental is too pure and every ounce of the magic he extracts, he must first corrupt it. And he can't corrupt the elemental itself. He's not strong enough to do that, which means we can kill him and free the elemental…”

The hunter smiled to the warrior. “ In that case I'll keep him busy, you free the elemental and hop in to help once you're done..”

The warrior nodded instantly flew to the bound ancient Elemental. He turned back to the hunter for short moment. “Be careful, the Lich is immortal. No matter how many times you take him apart he will not die.”

The hunter Smiled twirling his spear. “Good… I don't have to hold back I’ve been meaning to get some stuff out of my system.”

The Unicorn scowled and lowered his horn. A blast of fire and lightning shot out at the Hunter, but Gareth was nothing close to a normal foe, even to this undead monster.

Blasting through the fire, his crossbow sang, bolt after Bolt penetrated and exploded within the pony’s flesh. The rotting flesh and ichor splattered off the undead creature even as the fire cauterized the wounds near instantly.

The fire danced off of his feathers as the hunter twirled through the air planting his spear into the neck of the Lich. But he did not stop nor slow, with his blade planted through the undead creature’s flesh the momentum continued and the creature was slammed into the far wall. Gareth twisted his foe upside down against the Cold Stone and planted two crossbow bolts into his face. One in each eye socket. The enchantments slowly ignited and begin to burn away what little flesh remained.

Even with this the Lich still thrashed about. His rotting flesh quickly begin to regenerate, his twisted backwards limbs and dislocated vertebrae begin to contort back into its natural state.

Quickly Gareth repeated the process almost as if he was cleaning the walls of the cave, the handle his spear, the mop a mass of Rotting Flesh and Bone.

Finally the Lich tore free of the spear and began a Cascade of spells. Magic that burned magic that suffocated magic that peeled away, magic in a thousand different death-dealing schools. The relentless assault was quickly yet narrowly dodged by the hunter with skillful weaving in and out of range and sight from the Lich.

The Lich was an undead horror, an arcane monster capable of unthinkable devastation. However, before his undeath, he was most likely some stuffy old Mage that never went outside. The hunter was far more than just a bird who hunted. His spear claimed the lives of a great many soldiers and mighty beasts in his time. While this Undead abomination blasted away at the world trying to snuff out a single life, he would never understand why he would never be able to touch this Hunter.

In frustration the Lich raised his horn and begin to draw deep within the power inside his Undead body. Being immortal he did not need to worry about the dangers that a lack of oxygen would present, and so logic within his mind dictated that collapsing this cave would provide him with a victory even if it took him awhile to reap the benefits of the victory. However, his potential victory was quickly cut short when the water Elemental practically obliterated his Undead rotting body against the cave wall.

Joining the Hunter in the open-air of the cave, the Warrior stared down upon the undead creature. “It cannot be slain, we must seal it away…” The Warrior spoke calmly as he raised his Talons offering a variety of blades and stakes glyphed and runed with anti-magic blessings.

It felt like mere minutes before they finally left the cave. A smile crossed the Hunter's face as rain came down upon the droughted land. The warrior to leave began but he slowed and look back when the hunter called to him.

“I think I know you, many know you… you do not need to live life shamed… “

The warrior shook his head. “She died because of me, I either live life shamed or I will die in my shame.”

“You didn't kill her…” the words the Hunter's spoke was from one Warrior to another from one brother in arms to another.

“It doesn't matter, I was her protector, she died… I lived… now I am worth less than nothing…” The Warriors words echoed with his pain.

The hunter stared for the longest moment, the warrior before him could very well have been called his brother many times over. The soul within the warrior was a noble one but stained with pain and Horrors that he could not Escape. And it was then that he understood the Warrior’s chosen name. “...Very well… Perditus… but I beg of you to not forget that you do have value, and you will always have value…. You truly are lost but don't think even for a moment that she looks down from beyond the sky at you with anything but the love she has always held…”

The warrior looked back and the pain flowed from his eyes before he turned away and took to the skies back to his own exile.

Author's Note:

This one was a fun thing I made for a friend of mine on the Griffon amino. Gareth Blacktalon has a lot of art of him, hes a cool bugger.