“Hey! Not so rough!”
I stumbled as I was shoved into a large iron cage filled with various griffins and ponies. As expected based on what Jarl Fiadhaich had said, they were all either children or their mothers. The whole place was inside a series of caves and caverns with beds and stuff separated from firepita and so on. I reached out and grabbed Gerhman as he stumbled inside. The door closed with a creak and the griffin who captured us sneered,
“You lot play nice now. We need ya in good shape fer tha ransom.”
I dusted myself off and turned to the assemblage behind me. They all were staring wide eyed at me as Gerhman rubbed his neck.
“Uh... hello.”
They all shrank back and gasped.
“Right, dragon prejudice. Hello there, I am Cain. This griffin is Gerhman. Before you panic, I will not light you on fire, slash you with my claws, crush you with my tail, trample you underfoot, or eat you. Did I miss any stereotypes?”
An old griffin(ess? Do you call a girl griffin a griffiness or griffin?) coughed and grumbled,
“Steal our panties?”
“Mismatch our socks?”
“Put crunchy bits in soft food?”
“Make our crunchy food soft?”
“Sit on my face?”
We all looked at the middle aged pony who said that.
“Lady, what the actual Hell have you been reading.”
She blushed and shrank back. I turned to Gerhman and whispered,
“Alright, you explain things to the adults and keep them quiet, I’ll distract the guard.”
“Right.”
I walked to the bars and whistled to the bandit standing guard.
“Hey, hey you. Over there, yeah, you.”
“Shaddup!”
“...Uh... excuse me.”
“Shut it.”
“But... I gotta crap.”
“Don’t care.”
“...Come on, can’t you let a dude get out to use the bathroom.”
“There’s a bucket in there for that. Now shut up before I rip those piddly wings of your off.”
I turned back to the inside of the cage and grumbled,
“Douchebag.”
I walked back over to Gerhman and the others just as he finished whispering to the crowd of mothers.
“—so all we have to do is sit tight until the lads show up and kick these bandits... bums.”
The prisoners all excitedly whispered as I tapped Gerhman’s shoulder.
“I guess we wait now.”
“I guess so, bruv. I guess so.”
I spent the next however long it was leaning against the cage, waiting. After what felt like eternity there was a commotion as a group of bandits entered the cave we were in. One in particular stood put from the rest. He wasn’t a particularly large griffin, but he had an aura of cunning around him that suggested he was no ordinary bandit. He sneered as he twisted a yellowish ring around his claw.
“Greetings to my two newest... guests. I am Scorcher, and I’m here to inform you that your rescue is not coming.”
I did my best to hide my reaction but it was ultimately useless given everyone else started freaking out. The leader grinned and said,
“What, did you not wonder how I knew where the women and children would be all by themselves? I posted an informant inside the Jarl’s house and, well,” A female griffin that I’m assuming was attractive by griffin standards (she was wearing some griffin makeup and was walking in an ineffective yet bouncy way with a weird smirk) slunk over and stood by the little tool. She winked and waved at me. Odly, something about her expression looked kinda...off, but she seemed to be trying to hide it. (What! I’m mildly empathetic!) “Well, she’s been keeping me very well informed. It’s a shame that you didn’t bring any of your bags with you. I was hoping we could take your money and your hope in one fell swoop.”
He held out my coat and laughed.
“But this will suffice.”
He draped it around himself and drew the hood partially over his head.
“What do you think, Greava.”
She smiled slightly and said,
“It looks quite... dashing.”
He chuckled before walking out with his groupies.
“So long. It should only be a little longer before you return home and I become significantly wealthier.”
With that we were left with just the one guard like before. I inwardly fumed as the others all began to bitterly bemoan their fortune. I stalked over to Gerhman and growled,
“Great, just great. This turned out perfectly.”
“Tell me about it. What a prick that ‘Scorcher’ fellow is. I mean, who the blazes does he think he is? Actin’ all high and mighty with that smokin’ chick beside him.”
I raised an eyebrow and he squawked,
“What! Even you gotta admit she was a knockout. I mean, sweet Freya! Talk about a hot dish am I right!”
“Uh... must be a griffin thing. I personally am a bit turned off by the whole... all-fours and ‘she looks absolutely nothing like me’ bit. But you do you man.”
We were interrupted by one of the moms clearing her throat and saying,
“Einheria would like to speak to you.”
I switched my attention to her and asked,
“Einheria? Who is that?”
Gerhman butted in.
“She’s kinda taken over as leader of all this lot. Although... she can’t actually speak. You’ll see when you meet her.”
I shrugged and followed her to the center of the group of moms seated around one particular griffin in the far corner of the cage, safe from prying ears. This griffin was leaner than her counterparts and had snowy white feathers and grey fur. Her vibrant plumage and coat were marred by a host of scars all over her including an all too visible crescent along her neck. She nodded to me, her golden eyes piercing my own. She signed something with her claws and the griffin who fetched us translated.
“She says she is sorry that you were caught up in all of this, and that she appreciates the effort you made to save us.”
I nodded and lightly smacked Gerhman across the back of his head.
“Don’t thank me, thank this dummy for convincing me to act as bait.”
“Hey! Don’t blame me.”
Her eyes sparkled as she softly chuckled at our antics. I crossed my arms and asked,
“Quick question, how many of you are there?”
The translator spoke up.
“There are thirty-five of us.
Fourteen adults and twenty-one children.”
“Any way out?”
....
“None that we could think of so far. We haven’t been able to find a way out of this cage.”
“As roomy as it is, I definitely can see how staying in it could prove problematic to our escape.”
The white griffin raised an eyebrow and Gerhman piped up.
“Sorry about him. He becomes sarcastically obvious whenever he’s agitated.”
....
“She says that’s alright and that at least he’s keeping his spirit up.”
I shrugged.
“Either way, I could probably get us out of here by picking the lock. The question is, how do we escape from these caves?”
“I believe I could be of assistance in that regard.”
We all turned to see the female griffin spy standing in front of the door to the cage. Behind her, knocked unconscious, was the guard who had been at the door. As everyone nervously murmured I asked,
“How exactly can we be expected to trust someone like you to uphold your end of any bargain we strike?”
She scoffed.
“Because I hate it here more than you do. I hate these stupid bandits and that pompous ‘Scorcher.’ I want free of this life, and you want to escape. So I believe we can help eachother.”
“And what reason is there for us to believe you actually mean what you say?”
She growled,
“I hate all of these stupid bandits! The only thing they care about me is trying to get me into bed with them. And their leader treats me like his personal trophy.”
“So why haven’t you left?”
She laughed.
“If I could have, I would have. As much of a joke as Scorcher is, he’s crafty. If I ran he’d track me down and kill me in my sleep. So, in exchange for your freedom, guidance to your little town, and completely amnesty. I want one thing.”
“And what might that be?”
She gave me a wicked smile.
“I want you to kill Scorcher.”