//------------------------------//
// Chapter 3: Legendary Status 
// Story: The Griffon Chronicle 
// by Grave Walker 
//------------------------------//

How is this possible? That’s all I can really think right now, especially with the load that just got dropped onto me. Did I not only just jinx myself, but got way more than I thought possible. Apparently, I’m like the second coming of Jesus Christ or something alike to these griffins! But thank god I’m not being worshiped like a holy idol! No, I’m the guy that must save the freaking race and bring about this wasteland country to glory! And the best part, he believes without a doubt, that I’m that freaking guy. This is so not what I want right now.

“Okay, hold it.” I said, abruptly stopping his ongoing prophet speech. Taking another deep breath, I calmed down and proceeded.

“I didn’t come here for praise, Titan. I need to find a way back home. If it’s even possible.” I said, grinding my beak as I mumbled the last part. Shocked at my statement, he continued to go against my words. 

“But Chronicle-” 

“I am no Chronicle!” I interrupted again, slamming my fist onto the table.

“I am not who you think I am! Okay!” I yelled while leaning back, groaning as I rubbed my temples in frustration.

“You can’t deny your destiny Jack Cobalt!” Titan rose from his seat, now towering over me like an angry father. His firm gaze quickly signified the fine line I’m walking on. I am a unannounced guest in his town, his domain, and I’m telling him off. Not a good idea jack.

“If you are not the Griffin Chronicle, then how did you not only slay a dragon, but ate his very soul?” He questioned me. I tried to pairay against his logic, but I came up with nothing. 

“It is prophesied that a griffin from the heavens shall unite the lands under one banner of blue. A griffin who rules the land with heart and send demons back to the gates of Tartarus. That same griffin will bring the dawn of a new golden age upon the very world itself! Dose one of those sound familiar, Jack?” He pointed out. Groaning again, I looked up at the large bronze griffin. 

“You don’t understand! I’m not even a griffin!” He reared back at my seemingly absurd statement. Titan stayed silent for a moment, looking at me as if I was mad!

“Then tell me, Jack Cobalt of Valenwood, how are you not a griffin?” Staring right back at him, I answered. 

“Because I'm an Alien.” And silence took over the room again as he processed my words carefully.

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but are you claiming to be from the stars?” He asked slowly, emphasizing his words clearly while eyeing me with great detail. Looking for any signs of lying. 

“Yes I do. I am from a life lush planet called Earth. The planet itself is very diverse with many vast and unique environments. If I remember correctly, around 70% or so of the earth's surface is covered in vast oceans of water and life. I was originally a tall, pale, and hairless bipedal ape known as a Human. That is before I was turned into… Well, this.” I gestured to myself, slightly wincing and regretting that I may have insulted not only myself, but the entire species of the flying mythological creatures. Deciding to not ponder on those thoughts, I continued on. 

“In fact, I am just a slightly above average guy before all of this happened. I no leader, Just hiking around and up to my shack and pray for a gross score to mount. I stumbled upon a small cave with glowing rock. Then suddenly, I’m on the edge of a cliff turned into a griffin.” I told truthfully, letting this information settle in.

“If what you say is true, then you truly are the Griffin Chronicle!” And there goes my hope of setting things straight!

“What! No! I’m not the Griffin Chronicle you dumba-”

“SILENCE!” Titan shouted, the volume of his voice sending me onto the floor.

“I will not be disrespected in my own home! Chronicle or Alien, you will respect my title of lordship. Am I clear?” He asked, or rather ordering me with anger, his tone low while striking fear into me. 

“Yes sir.” I quipped out, nodding quickly at that. 

“Whether you like it or not, you have proven to be The Griffin Chronicle. It seems Destiny itself has made it so.” He stated. Getting up from his seat, he walked over to me, lending his talon hand to me.

“And I shall gladly see to it that you fulfill that honor.” Grabbing my forearms, he lifted me up onto my feet. 

“While you may be from the beyond, the gods have graced us with you as our chosen leader. I do not know or dare I say try to comprehend their plan, but what force of nature can bring a hero from another world? Come, Jack Cobalt, we have much to discuss.” Taking a seat next to Titan, he poured me a glass of what I supposed was wine. Reluctantly, I accepted the cup of… Sparkling liquid? Is this a carbonated fizzy drink?

“To the future of the world!” Clanking our glasses together, we drank our cup’s content. While tasting the supposed wine, I nearly choked at the unexpected, yet all too familiar taste. What the hell?! This is no alcohol! This stuff tastes like Classic Mountain Dew! Chugging the glass down like the Soda addict I was, I drank my cup down to the last drop and quickly poured myself another drink.

“Wow, hold it! Save some for me! This stuff is hard to come by!” Titan words fell onto deaf ears as I was in dire need of some Mountain Dew! Already downed the cup empty again, I hastily reached for more. Nearly throwing my glass away, I began sucking the bottle down, horrifying the Lord of Dune City.

“By the gods! Do you even know how long it took to get my hands on that bottle alone?!” He yelled out as I chugged the last mouthful of the amazing drink. 

“What? It’s just Mountain Dew, right?” I asked Titan, seeing his left eye twitch like the wings of a fly as his anger couldn’t be even more present. I swear he was going to blow a blood vessel or something. 

“This is Crystal Fall’s Magic Wine you fool! Made out of purified crystals and liquefied with magic. The Empire of Crystals has long since disappeared and getting any more of this stuff is hard to come by! You just drank a king’s worth of riches scumbag!” While I could clearly see that I had just doomed myself, I couldn’t tell if Titan was going to kill me, or spontaneously combust at any given second.

“Sorry?” I stated, not knowing whether I should run for my life or try to make it up to him. Just as I was going to make a break for it, Titan closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. 

“Guards!” He summoned. A dozen or so heavily armored guards came rushing in at attention. Before I could even Leeroy Jenkins this shit, I was surrounded by poleaxes pointed inches away from my neck. Shitbuckets...

“Jack Cobalt is a guest in my home and is to be treated as such. Now escort him to one of the spare rooms and for the love of the heavens! Keep him away from my cellar!” Titan ordered, the sharp ends lowered away from my neck as I sighed in relief. Being led away from the dining room, I was escorted by the guards down the well-kept long halls.

“So are you guys like the CIA or something?” I asked the encased griffins, noting how their armor was much better than the others from the wall. Dressed in some form of gabbason completely encased in layers of battle worn armored plates, calling these huge griffins anything lesser than a tank would be an insult. Having a closer view and inspection, they had more than enough protection from blades and arrows. Just by my observation, I estimated the armored plates ranging from 4mm - 5mm thick. Now I’m no metal or armor expert, but that just seems way overdone. In comparison, the main chest plate thickness is the equivalent of half a penny. 9mm thick metal plate! Oh god these guys have to be hella ripped to wear this stuff.

Yet, impressive as their armor was it merely wear it, the armor was basically nothing when faced to my modern firearms. At least, with only my Mauser. My revolver and shotgun are only gonna dent that shit. Speaking of weapons, their choice was a menacing polearm. I think it was a 15 ceneryish Poleaxe? With the Pike on topn, a heavy axe on one side and a skull knocking hammer on the other side. As of their sidearm was distinguished well crafted arming dagger with silver engravings. 

“We were the Queen’s mighty Third Legion. But since the fall of Fort Warbeak and the death of our Queen, the last of the Third Legion have taken refuge here and serve as Lord Titan’s personal guards. So to answer your question Pureblood, if this ‘CIA’ is anything like Honorbound Warriors, then I guess so.” He stated back, surprising me a bit that I got a response from under all of that armor.

“How many are left of this Third Legion?” I asked, gaining a grunt of pain from him. 

“We used to be proud warriors in the few thousands. Yet, with the recent betrayal of Allen Claw, only a mere two hundred of us remain.” He sighed as I felt the pained memories passing over though his voice.

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Why would you care Pureblood?” He retorted back, seemingly angered at my response. 

“I’m the Chronicle apparently, so that’s why. Also, why is everyone calling me Pureblood?”

“Do you not know what you are?” He asked, sounding quite surprised.

“Thanks to whatever sadistic god, I’ve been turned into a griffin. Sorry if I don’t know what is normal for griffins or anything in this world.” I grumbled out. I was stared at for a good thirty seconds from getting a response.

“Well Chronicle, a Pureblood is a griffin who isn’t altered by the magic fallout. Unlike the normal griffins of the waste, you have your vivid colors which is an obvious sign of being a Pureblood. Because you are naturally protected and resistant from the war’s aftermath, you inherit our ancestors past glory.” He said, but I still had one more question.

“I get that, but why name them Purebloods? That sounds like a family linage or something.” 

“The reason you're called Pureblood isn’t so much of your family tree. Rather it is in literal terms of your blood’s magical levels. Those who hold magic in their veins are resistant to the curses, sicknesses, and are overall stronger because of it. The many who did not possess such traits are... considered weaker when compared to Purebloods.” The guard seemed a little uncomfortable on this subject. Strange.

“Wait. So anyone with enough magic can become a Pureblood?” I asked, intrigued on this topic.

“Sadly, that is not the case. From what I know, only a Pureblood father and a Pureblood mother can give birth to a magic protected child. Though there is Lexus…” He drifted off.

“Who’s Lexus?” The heavy armored griffin let out sighed.

“Lexus Songbird is… A successful experiment as the 2nd Legion call it. Birthed from impure parents but holds all the qualities of a Pureblood… The rest of the detail aren't any my business as that was the 2nd Legion’s work, not mine.” He told, pausing a bit as he seemed to remember something or trying to forget.

“Anyhow, even with the rarity of your kind, you have many advantages over the other griffins. Purebloods are considered to be royalty as most hold some kind of power or higher position in the land. Besides that, you are the brightest colored one I’ve met so far. And you are also the first one I’ve seen to get their talons dirty in a fight. Definitely a living snowball in Tartarus.” He remarked as I listened to him, taking every word into my memory.

“So I’m not only considered to be a divine savior of an entire race, but royalty as well? How Ironic.” I thought out loud as I was brought to a door. Opening it, I found a neatly cleaned room with a good sized bed the looked fit for a king. Not the ridiculously sized beds to hold five people kind, but the silk sheets and quality sewn blankets were of a king’s quality. 

Not even looking back at the guards, I flopped onto the bed as I sunk into the softness. Not even caring about taking off my dirty armor, I embraced the idea of slumber. By now my brain was fried and needed a break from all of this. I’m done fighting against their logic as it was impossible to convince them otherwise. I might as well just go with the flow and get shit sorted. Even if it mean going up against another dragon… 

Shivering at the mere thought, I rolled over onto the center of the bed and cover myself up with the blankets. Even in my armor, I felt very comfortable in this heavenly bed. Maybe, just maybe, I’ll wake up and this’ll be just a strange dream...

Oh how wrong I was.





The next day was the final nail in the coffin as some would put it. By morning, I finally accepted that this magical realm of religious talking griffins was reality. Even as ridiculous as that sounds, there was no denying it. This was not a dream or some messed up coma, this was real. Everything felt to real for it to be such. All the way down to my beating heart, I now accepted that I was totally screwed. I had no family to call for, no friends to back me up, and no home to stay in. I was completely alone in this world with not a dime to my name. Well, I had these gold coins… Bits, I think they were called that. Anyway! All I had was what I could carry and thank to my mouth, or beak in this case, I’m now the proclaimed savior of the universe! God smite me now!

Besides my sudden and unwanted fame, I was still very lost on how this world worked. Besides what that elder and Third Legion guy told me, I don’t know shit. I needed to figure out how I’m gonna to do this. I mean, I’m by far no hero. I’m just a guy lucky enough to have moderately wealthy parents and live off of it. Hell, I barely passed high school. I don’t even know kung fu, yet I’m proclaimed a badass! Well, I did kill a dragon, and that was badass… As I thought deeply on what to do next, I stared into a decorated mirror. 

“Seeing my face for the first time…” Man, it felt so weird saying that. I heard and recognized my voice, but all I saw was a cobalt blue griffin saying it. I’m probably never gonna get used to this, but I’ll make do with what I got I guess. Besides the weirdness of my movement corresponding with my griffin reflection, I got a good look of myself. Oddly enough, I found to liking how I looked. And strangely enough, I felt some power from seeing myself as well. I guess I am the chosen one.

I had a strong curved black beak with cobalt blue and silverish white feathers. But what stuck out like a sore thumb was the fact that I had ears. Yes, I said that right, EARS! Unlike every other griffin I’ve seen, they had holes on the side of their heads. Me? I got wolf like ears with black tips. As if this couldn’t get stranger enough, my yellow eyes seemed to almost glow with some kind of power. May it be that I’m now part cat or I can shoot magical lasers, I really didn’t know. Anything is possible now...

Besides my body, my cloak was damaged with a few burn marks as well was my armor. While the armor sustained little to no actual damage, it still looked dirty after fighting a dragon in the rubble and ash. Then the obvious reason popped into my mind. 

“I need to take a bath.” I mumbled, noticing that I also grime up the bed with scorched dirt and flaked ash. 

“Damnit. God, why do you hate me?” I asked sarcastically. As if on cue, I heard a few knocks from the door. 

“I was being sarcastic!” Surprised at the sudden sound, I drew my revolver in panic, gaining an quite yet noticeable epp.

“Umm… Room Service?” Calming myself down and holstering the gun, I opened the door to find a young looking Griffin with some cleaning supplies.

“Who are you?” I asked, gazing down at her as I had my talon resting on the holster.

“I’m just a servant?” She stated, unsure with her words. 

“Well, what do you want?” I asked again, now noticing how nervous she was. 

“Lord Titan wishes to know if you want to dine with him.” She told me. 

“Sure. I’ll just need to get my armor off and get cleaned. Do you know where I can take a shower? ” I asked, seemingly confusing the griffin. 

“Oh! Um, the bathing rooms are on the west side second hall.” She said, now confusing me a bit. 

“Do you mind if you can show me where it is? I’m kinda lost here.” As if on instinct, she agreed and lead me down the long hallways and soon, we were in a large spa like area. There was even a huge swimming pool and a few tubs for cleaning. Walking to a nearby table, I began disarming myself, laying my guns and blades down. I also began talking my armor and clothes off, which proved to be a bit of a problem as I had absolutely no idea how I got them on in the first. 

When I did get them off, I put then on the side in a neatly made pile. I glanced over my shoulder to see that the griffin was still there, blushing madly. Having no idea if I was super sexy or her just being totally awkward, I sighed. I’m guessing that it was probably both.

“You know you can go now. Right?” I stated as I got her out of stupor. 

“Oh, I didn’t mean to disrespect you! Please don’t fire me!” She begged, getting onto her knees. 

“Hey hey hey. Calm down, nobody's gonna fire you.” Trying to calm her down with my words, I walked over to her.

“You did nothing wrong. In fact, you helped me.” Surprised, she looked up at me with hope in her eyes. 

“What’s your name?” I asked, lending my talons to her.

“My name? Um… My name is Rose.” Rose said, hesitantly taking me arm and got herself back up.

“Nice to meet you Rose. I’m Jack.” I replied, trying to give a reassuring smile.

“Are you… Are you really here to save us?” She asked, looking at me for hope. Damn it! Why are those eyes so cute?

“I… While I cannot fix everything with a snap, I can do what I can with the time I’m given.” I said, unsure as what I was really gonna do. I mean, I know I’m supposed to save and rebuild a Empire, but how exactly am I gonna do that? Yet my words seemed to bring joy to her.

“Well, I’m gonna take a bath so... I’ll see ya around?” After Rose left me alone, I began dipping into the warm water. Oh good lord that feels nice!

“Oh Yeah… That is what I needed.” I sighed, letting my body soak up the water. Now only if this could last forever… Sadly, everything has to come to an end at some point. After I cleaned myself up, I began cleaning the grime off of my armor. Using some spare rags, I polished the metal plates and scalemail to prime. As I finished putting the armor back on, I locked and loaded my guns with the safety obviously on. 

All three firearms were in perfect working condition. But if I was being really picky, I could say I need to give the Mauser’s barrel a good cleaning since it I’ve used it a bunch. I mean, this K98K has served in use of german hands since 1942 and has continued on from some grandpa's war trophy to my elk slaying rifle. Obviously, the scope wasn’t part of the original package, but I did keep this rifle of world war 2 in the best conditions as I could.

As I was sheathing my blades, a knock came upon the door.

“Chronicle, Lord Titan request you to breakfast.” As on cue, my stomach began grumbling, telling me to get my ass moving. Agreeing immediately, I joined the two armored griffins as I walked with haste. When we did reached the dining room, my senses were immediately assaulted with pleasure. I don’t know if they were cooks from heaven or my sense of smell was greatly improved, I didn’t care. I was fixated on the perfectly roasted meat and scrambled eggs awaiting to be eaten.

“Well Jack, what are you waiting for?” Titan said, getting me out of my stupor. Nearly hurling myself to my seat, I began filling up my plate with the heavenly food. 





“Why god? Why do you hate me?” I groaned as I clutched my belly. While still in pain, I regret nothing. I don’t care if my body wants to die, for that food was amazingly good. In fact, eating with a beak is different than with normal teeth. I ate too big of bite sizes and now I’m back in bed, ready to just give up on life.

“Which one?” Titan asked between laughs. Oh yeah, Titan was mocking me the entire time. He said that I deserve this for drinking his wine. 

“Karma.” I replied, laying my head back down. His laughing soon stopped as he probably didn’t get the joke. 

“I’ve never heard of Karma. Which one is she... Or is this god a he?” He asked. Damnit, now we're getting onto religious subjects. That is the last thing I want right now.

“She’s been considered a bitch at times, but overall, she is fair with what you get with what you do in life. Even in the end. Like a good and honest person living a life of ruin will be gifted a afterlife of happiness and prosperity. The evil person living in luxury on the misery of others will face hell both in their life and in the afterlife. At least, I think that how it works. I’m not as religious as you are.” Sliding out of bed, I landed onto my feet… Or paws I guess… Damnit I hate this new terminology! 

“Where are you going?” 

“A walk.” I replied, all the while ignoring his concerns. I quickly holstered my revolver and I continued to walk throughout the palace until I was blocked by two of those heavily armored knights. Before I could ask them to get out of my way, Titan caught up. 

“Chronicle, you cannot seriously be leaving us!”

“I’m not, I just want to get some fresh air. I need to give my head so rest” I retorted, walking past the two griffins and out of the palace. I was met with no more intrusions after that. I continued my walk through the city until I found the main trading center. Buyers and sellers looked at me in awe as I passed them by, gazing over their products. I continued to walk until I came upon a workshop of sorts. I took note of the Griffin working on some red dragon scales. He must be the blacksmith Titan was talking about yesterday.  

“So what are you forging with those dragon scales?” I asked, gaining a irritated grunt. 

“For thee last time Vicky, dragon scales are not forgeable ya doof!” The griffin yelled back, not even turning his head. I got a closer look at what he was doing. He was sharpening the scale’s edge with a simple stone grinder.  

“It’s Jack actually-” 

“I don’t care what yee mum named ya, if ya don’t got any business in me shop, don’t bother me!” He yelled, still fixated on his work.

“I’m here to see what creations you’ve made with my kill.” I spoke with more of authoritarian tone this time, gaining his attention. The grindstone came to a halt as he slowly turned his head at me. The face I got was quite scary. The left side of his face was burnt badly as his left eye was a old milky white. In fact, each side was so distinctive that it was like he had two separate faces. 

“Yee the Chronicle?” he asked in a low tone, gazing over my armor. 

“I prefer to be called Jack.” I simply replied, giving a straight face.

“Yee really slayed this dragon?” He asked, eye widen with wonder.

“Yes, but to tell you the truth, it was a lucky shot.” He scoffed at me, shaking his head.

“It seems all anyone needs is a bit of god’s luck in this world.” The blacksmith told, sighing as he rubbed his sacred face.

“Yeah, lucky me.” I mumbled. He didn’t seem to get my sarcasm.

“Besides yee luck, what do I owe the pleasure?”

“I was wondering what you were making with those dragon scales.” I pointed out.

“Come here, I’ll show ya.” Walking into the shop, I found the room to be somewhat of a mess. Many tools laying in differentially arranged piles all over the room as there was some moldy food on the counter. He lead me down another corner and unlocked a door. 

Inside the closet was a bunch of dragon scale weapons. The weapons in particular were odd to say the least. The longer scales were sharpened into short swords and smaller ones were into spears. The red blades were oval shaped and seem to be sharper than razors. There were a few thicker ones that were sharpened into a circle shape. These ones are put on the end of a reinforced handle, making it a ‘O’ shaped axe/spade hybrid of sorts. 

“How do you keep the scales connected with the the handles?”

“A crafter are ya? Well, since I can't just drill a hole and bolt em together or made a tang, I grinded a hole here see, into the bottom of the scale.” He showed his example the a scale that had deep oval shaped hole into the weaker unsharpened base. But what caught my eye was that he drilled a six pencils sized holes inside drilled hole at an angle deeper into the red scale.

“While I was figuring how to get em scales to hold strong to their handles, I got the idea grand idea of making the cast with the scale. Since these are dragons scales, their immunes to being melted or ruined by the molten metal. But as ye have noticed, I needed to make sure that the cast held strong to them scales. So I carved six tunnels into the base, allowing the melted metal to have a stronger grip. That way, in battle yee won't see em scales lose or breaking off the handle. This keeps em bond strong as one. After that, I poured the molten metal into em hole see. And with this cast I formed the tang to make the handles.” He showed, as he continued his work at the his forge.

“Obviously, I used different casts to make the different weapons. Like with the spear, the hand is the harden wood staff. So as yee see, the wood slides into the spear handle like dis. Just adda few strong nails into these parts and abra cadabra! A dragon scale spear! 

“Very impressive, forging your own medium into the blade to create a stronger and reliable handle. Very smart…” I started, testing the one of the blade’s sharpness by grazing my finger/talon across the blade edge. It was very sharp.

“Thanks.” He smiled with glee as I found his craftsmen's ship to be top quality. Or at least it was good enough to impress me.

“So how long have you been a blacksmith?” I asked out of curiosity. 

“Since yesterday.” 

“Really? I find that hard to believe.” I retorted, putting the finely crafted weapon down. 

“I was the apprentice before that dragon attacked. Old Beakworks fell into the smelting pot. As yee can see, I didn’t make it out unscaved.” He said, rubbing his burt face. Damn, now I feel like a dick. 

“Sorry to hear that. I am sorry for-”

“No, ye don’t need to give an apology. But what I want is scales, care to slay any more of em?” He asked, gaining a laugh from me. 

“Alright, I make sure you get the scales and bones of the next dragon I slay.” With a shake of our talons, the agreement was made. 

God, what have I done…