I spent much time preparing for my assault on the final Sanctuary of Artemis. If the gryphon had spoken truth, then I would face a small army alone. My usual colpisci e timore methods would be suicide, I was not yet skilled enough for stealth to be a viable option. This severely limited me. I felt that I would need to improvise, and be prepared to retreat at any moment.
While I was walking through the markets of Canterlot, preparing my plans, a merchant called out to me, saying that a stallion armed as I was may find something of use in his wares. I was surprised to find that he indeed did carry something of use to me, a small crossbow designed to strap to my leg. I purchased this crossbow, a quiver, and as many bolts as I could comfortably carry. I spent several weeks training myself in the use of this weapon. It seemed simple at first, simply point and tap the release to launch the bolt, but I found it rather difficult. I went through several hundred bolts before I felt I was accurate and fast enough to make the weapon useful.
I also spent some time modifying the ammunition. The head of the bolts was normally a simple metal spike. I replaced these spikes with barbed arrow heads, which I then soaked in the Cults own poison. These modified bolts were nearly impossible to remove, and the poison would at the very least lead to an infection in the wound. A terrible and highly effective weapon; well suited for my purposes.
So armed and prepared, I gathered some meagre provisions and searched the servant quarter of the city. It took only a few hours to find the gate to the final Sanctuary, and so after informing the Guard of its location I entered the caverns.
I was surprised to discover that there were no guards at the entrance. Either the Cult was very confident, or I had been fooled by the gryphon in the last Sanctuary. A quick search with my third eye informed me that there were indeed many gryphons in this Sanctuary, but much further in to the caverns than I had expected. In fact, aside from a few outlying presences that I assumed to be guards they seemed to be congregated in to a single cavern. This confused me, until I remembered that the leader of the Cult was here. I thought that I must have interrupted a sermon of some sort.
Taking advantage of the situation, I began a small hunt. Within an hour, all of the guards in the outlying tunnels were dead and their bodies hidden. Fifteen gryphons were dead, but there were at least one hundred and thirty more. I needed some way to either split the gryphons in to smaller groups, or kill a large number of them at once.
I returned to the small side tunnel where I had hidden the bodies, and searched them for anything that may help me. To my joy, I found what appeared to be a small bomb. A few moments study of the device told me that it would be quite sufficient. The shell of the bomb was made of hard clay that would shatter in to lethal shrapnel, and there appeared to be many small nails inside of that shell surrounding the core of explosives. Searching the rest of the bodies, I found three more of these bombs as well as a tinderbox. Thanking the fates for my good fortune, I began to seek for a tunnel that would take me above the cavern the gryphons were congregated in.
A short time later, I found myself crouched on a ledge listening to Diana’s perverted preaching. The priest’s words sickened me, and I found it difficult to restrain myself from killing him where he stood. Instead, I lit the fuses of three of my four bombs and threw them in to the crowd. All three exploded above the crowds head, driving shrapnel and nails in to heads and bodies through the crowd. The effect was truly spectacular, even the most hardened warriors of the Cult were running in a panic to escape the confines of the cavern.
I seized my opportunity, and leapt from the ledge to crash in to the panicking Diana. Before he could voice a word, my hidden blade pierced his throat and ended his life. Standing, I had a small moment of dread before I was forced to flee. The panicked warriors had ceased to be so confused, and they had just watched me kill their leader. I took flight, aiming for the ledge I had jumped from, only to find one gryphon blocking my way. I used my crossbow to place a barbed bolt squarely in his stomach, and he fell with a haunting screech. The sound their comrade made caused most of the remaining gryphon warriors to hesitate, which gave me the time to reach the ledge. I lit the fuse on my final bomb and left it on that ledge before I galloped through the tunnel.
I heard the explosion some seconds later, followed quickly by more screams of pain. I allowed myself a single grim smile as I fled, hoping that it would discourage the gryphons from pursuing me further. Several minutes later, I crawled out of the gate I had entered through and called the Guard. I watched as several squadrons of pegasi soldiers entered the Sanctuary before leaving for the palace. I required rest after such excitement. Checking my calendar as I returned to my room, I noted that I was now twenty years old.
Authors Notes and Translations
Dei Cacciatori Dipartita = Hunters' Demise
colpisci e timore = shock and awe
Well, now that the Cult is over with, I can get on with the actual story a little...