“Is everyone ready?” Gallus asked looking around the clubhouse. With the dice in his claws, he made sure that they were ready for the next horror that might come out of the game. He looked at Yona whose paranoid eyes searched before he could roll. “Listen, Yona. If this really is all too much for you. We can get you out of here before-”
Yona put her hoof over his talons that held the dice. “Yona knows what in game. Yona barely got out alive by herself. This game… This game pure evil. With evil like this, it is unwise to not accept help.”
“But aren’t afraid?”
“Of course, Yona is afraid! Yona terrified. But Yaks have saying. Bravery not same as having no fear – that what makes a fool. Brave is being scared, but still willing to keep going. Yona doesn’t want to play anymore, but friends are in danger. Yona cannot abandon them when they need Yona.”
Gallus nodded, “I understand. If you’re certain…” His friend nodded. “Okay… here we go.” Blowing on the dice to invoke good luck, he rolled the dice onto the board and got a seven.
Nervously, student and teacher watched the Rhino piece move along the curvy path ahead until it reached its place. Gallus eyed the green gem from a new rhyme and read aloud:
Dark as night; it has eyes like the moon.
Stick around, and you won’t be alive soon.
Gallus looked around the room. “What does that mean?”
His question was answered when they heard a low growl that sounded like the laughter of a demon. There in the darkness, a pair of hungry yellow eyes stared back at them before it showed itself. It was a wild cat that was as big as an adult pony, yet it crouched low as getting ready to pounce. In the light, it had dark fur with even darker spots, sharp skull-crushing teeth, and claws like knives.
“No one make any sudden movements,” Fluttershy warned quietly.
“What is that thing?” Silverstream whispered.
“A black jaguar. They don’t often hurt creatures unless provoked.”
The jaguar made another step, its eyes looking directly at Gallus. He gulped, “And… what happens if you do?”
“They can be highly dangerous. They’re strong and have a bite so deadly, that it could price the skull in one chomp. However, if we don’t provoke it by running off, we should be-”
A gunshot cut off whatever Fluttershy was going to say. A window shattered and Gallus felt something graze from his back. Turning his head, he saw a line of feathers that was suddenly cut and immediately knew that the hunter had come back. In his panic, he knew he couldn’t stay put.
He ran, and the jaguar chased after him.
“Gallus!” Silverstream screamed but it was too late, the griffon and the jaguar were out the door and into the ruins.
Rushing out of the clubhouse, they couldn’t see Gallus anywhere but they heard the chilling laughter of the jaguar that echoed in the decaying castle.
“Where do we go now?” Applejack asked.
“Absolutely nowhere.” They all turned to see Ven Pelt cocking his riffle to release an empty bullet case. He was dripping wet, and his clothes were tattered with cuts. In his eyes was a wrathful fire with an expression that he was done with all this nonsense. Holding up his gun at them he warned, “I wouldn’t do anything stupid if I were any of you. Your weapons, drop them.” Pumping his gun, he added, “Don’t make me ask twice.”
Seeing that they didn’t have much of a choice, they reluctantly put down their weapons. All except for Zecora who grasped her spear.
“Are you deaf, girl?” the hunter approached her, pointing his gun at Zecora. “Do you know what this is?”
“I am not a fool, nor I am not afraid of you.”
Ven Pelt raised an eyebrow, “And yet, your hoof is shaking. It is as if… you know me.”
“No, I know of you who hunt the helpless. Who come into villages to leave them worse than a mess. Hunted us as though we were sport. Only one so heartless would enjoy a sort.”
“Hunted…” Spike whispered. “Zecora… you’re not implying what I think you’re implying.”
Ven Pelt used the tip of his gun to turn Zecora’s head. “Your hide would fetch a high price. A fine carpet perhaps…”
“Then let them go free, and do what you will to me.”
The hunter laughed, “You’re brave but foolish. If for a moment I wanted you dead, girly girl, I would have shot you already.”
This gave everyone pause. Ocellus asked what was on all their minds, “Then… why haven’t you?”
“None of you rolled the dice – Gallus did.”
“I don’t-”
Stepping back, Ven Pelt aimed his gun at her, “If I had my way, I would have shot you all right here. I can immediately see the parts you all have like the yak’s horns or the dragons’ claws… or even your chitin would be worth a fortune. But none of you are what I’m after. When the dice rolled from the griffon, he is the prime game to hunt for. So far, it’s been frustrating to catch him, but it only adds to the anticipation to see his head be mounted on my wall.”
“What are you gonna do now?” Rainbow asked.
“As it’s clear that going to the griffon hasn’t worked out, perhaps I could get the griffon to come to me. He’s the kind of creature that would come unless there’s bait to lure him in.”
Smolder glanced over at the open door where she spotted the game. She knew that it was her turn to roll the dice. Perhaps, she thought, if she could get close enough, maybe the game could cause the kind of chaos they would need to getaway.
“If you’re gonna hold us hostage,” Smolder suggested, “maybe it might be better if you did that inside?”
“And why would I do that?”
“Well think about it. You have a weapon that I guess doesn’t fire out rapidly and there’s only…” Smolder took a moment to look around. “Thirteen of us. Even if you did fire that thing at one of us, the rest of us would have a chance to scatter out while we’re out here. Right? So, if you had us in there… It would make it difficult for us to escape, wouldn’t you agree?”
Ven Pelt smirked, “I wasn’t born yesterday. I’ve hunted enough game in my life to know when they’re trying to come up with a cleaver plan. A good try, girl, but I think all of you should stay put.”
“But Gallus is being chased after by a jaguar,” Pinkie pointed out, “how do you know he wouldn’t get eaten before you could do anything to him?”
“The griffon isn’t stupid, I trust.” Pulling out a pocket watch to take notice of the time, he added, “I will be generous and give him twenty minutes. And if he’s not back by then… well… what use have I for any of you?”
The jaguar was fast – stupidly fast. Even when Gallus took flight as he navigated through the twist and turns of the ruins, the ferocious cat was nearly on his tail. No matter how much he tried, he couldn’t shake it off. The thing was close where he swore that it was nipping at his tail. Even when he tried to go higher, the jaguar simply jumps up, its claws nearly missing him by inches.
He needed to get rid of this thing and fast. Surely somewhere in this maze, there must be something that would get it to stop chasing him. But what? Where? And more importantly, how? He was already going as fast as he could in the ruins with its sharp turns, trying to avoid getting clawed or bitten at. Surely there must be something – anything he could use.
Perhaps there was a secret door he could slip in. His professors mentioned how the old castle was full of hidden passageways and booby traps. But where were they?
Diving down a flight of stairs he flew into a hall that had dark suits of armor. He noticed right away that there were rows of cold black armor that stood on pedestals. All of which stood on pedestals in thick layers of dust. He would have flown by without a thought if he hadn’t noticed the two empty spots. They were noticeable because they didn’t have dust on them. Could it be, perhaps, his ticket out from this chase?
Zooming in to one of those empty spots, he hoped that it might do something. Before his talons touched the pedestal, he glanced back at the jaguar who leaped at him. Its jaw opens to display its razor-sharp teeth, eyes with a murderous glare, and claws spread out to tear the griffon to shreds. For a moment, Gallus was sure that he was going to die right there, being mulled, and ripped apart by this beast. However, with his full weight on the pedestal, he was unexpectedly sprung right through the wall, screaming down a twisting slide in the dark. And before he knew it, he was thrust out into the light, nearly falling over the edge of a wall several stories up. He had to flap his wings to prevent the momentum from thrusting him out.
“Wha…” Gallus looked around, “How the buck did I get all the way up here?”
As confusing as his exit was, he saw that the jaguar was nowhere in sight. So, landing himself on the edge of the building next to a stone gargoyle, he was able to finally catch his breath. Giving himself a moment to recover from the chase.
Yet, as he did so, he couldn’t help but think about the crazy hunter. That near-missed shot meant that not only was he still alive but was most likely somewhere in the ruins too. The more he thought about it, the more dread he felt at realizing that his friends might be captured by that psycho.
Taking flight once more, he cautiously stayed close to the castle to get a look at the clubhouse. Landing on the roof, he climbed to carefully peek over to see that his worst fears had been realized. The hunter was holding his friends and teachers hostage out in the open while he circled around them. Gallus ducked back before Ven Pelt could see him.
‘Oh crap. This is not good.’ He thought, ‘This is obviously a trap, and if I show myself, he could shoot me or… he could kill them. C’mon Gallus, think! There’s got to be some way to get rid of that guy. Think! Think!’
The only thing he could come up with is to create a distraction. Yet, how could he do it from way up here?
His eyes turned to a nearby tower that had one noticeable feature – arrow slots. That gave the griffon pause. The castle was originally a fortress, so why, he thought, would that tower have arrow slots that were far away from the wall? Unless… Taking great care to stay out of sight, he maneuvered down and around towards the entrance of the tower. Up the spiral stone staircase to the top, he found something that confirmed his suspicion.
A crossbow. Though it was covered in spider webs and dust, it provided Gallus with the only means to combat the hunter. Across the room, there was a quiver of arrows. Going over, he pulled out four ancient arrows. He knew that these antiques could easily break, but he hoped that maybe these would be enough.
Being careful with pulling the string, he was relieved that it didn’t break as it got close to the latching mechanism. Yet, he struggled to pull it to where he had to use his entire body to stretch it. But once it was locked into place and having the arrow in place, he turned to the slotted windows. It was then that Gallus realized that this was the first time he held such a weapon, and being so old, he didn’t know how accurately it was. For all he knew, he could accidently shoot his friends or teacher.
‘Okay, four arrows from way up here… My friends and teachers are being held hostage by a psychopath that’s probably waiting for me. I don’t think I see any of them with the game which means it is either still inside the clubhouse or the hunter got it. Either way, maybe I need to distract him.’
Gallus eventually got an idea, taking careful aim toward a stone wall by the clubhouse, he squeezes the triggering mechanism, and the arrow was flung out. Fast as lightning, he hoped that it would make a noise when it shattered against the wall to get Ven Pelt’s attention.
It did.
He saw the hunter turn around; the gun raised high but didn’t fire. For a moment he listened, trying to find the source of the sound. Luckily, he started to move away from his hostages to investigate but not leave them entirely. Gallus knew there was only so much time until he returned to them, so he quickly set up the crossbow again and reload it. Just when the hunter had shrugged it off as being nothing, he fired again.
Gallus prayed that the hunter going off to investigate would allow everyone to get away. Thankfully, as soon as Ven Pelt was going around the clubhouse, his friends and professors got up to sneak their way into the ruins. All except for Smolder who instead retreated into the clubhouse.
‘Smolder, what are you doing?’ Gallus thought as he reloaded his crossbow. ‘Don’t go in there.’
He kept an eye on the hunter who searched around, only to find nothing. Gallus saw him starting to turn back so he needed to fire someplace further off to give his friend more time. When he fired to hit another wall, Ven Pelt suddenly turned around and fired his gun which rang out throughout the castle. This time it gave the griffon the desired outcome of having him running away from the clubhouse. Hoping that it might give Smolder enough time to get out.
Indeed, Smolder did emerge with the game folded up under her arm. She peeked around to see the hunter was gone out of sight. Then she made a run towards the entrance of the castle where Gallus saw his worst fears being realized. Ven Pelt was already coming back, and he feared that he realized he was being tricked. In a panic, Gallus rushed as fast as he could to set the crossbow again and reload it with his final arrow.
Gallus nearly screamed as he saw Ven Pelt raise his gun to aim it toward Smolder. So aiming, he hoped against all hope that he could do something to prevent his friend from getting shot.
Gallus pulled the trigger.
The castle rang from another gunshot.