//------------------------------// // Seven // Story: Fighting Back the Beast // by Mr Anomalous //------------------------------// SEVEN The great towers of the city sprung forth into the sky, puncturing the flawless blue with their spires. Flags and banners whirled gently in the breeze, flapping. The birds chirped and the flowers bloomed. It was quite peaceful. That peace was about to be disturbed. Bronze City, the capital of Gryphus had a large, thick wall filled with towers and guards, both on the ground and in the air. One of those guards, Black Talon, flew through the sky, around and around the city, keeping a watchful eye out for any disturbances. Soon enough, he spotted one. It came in from the West; another Gryphon. She seemed tired, distraught. Normally, Black would have stopped her, but he could tell by her armor that she was a soldier in the Royal Gryphon Military. "Hail!" He called. Unfortunately, he did not receive an answer, only the flapping of wings as the exhausted Gryphon sped past him, apparently on her way to the palace. Wonder what that was about? Black Talon thought to himself. He only shrugged in the air and continued his rounds. "King Dim! Sire! I have a messenger for you!" Called the guard. "Well? What are you waiting for? Let him in!" Turns out, it was a female, Dim saw, as she tumbled inside, panting heavily. She approached him and barely managed to mumble something along the lines of "your majesty" as she thrust a scroll into his lap. The poor Gryphon collapsed onto the ground. "Get off my robe!" Dim said, irritated. The female Gryphon hardly managed to do so. The Gryphon King unrolled the scroll and read the simple words. His eyes only narrowed. "'Bad Gryphon?' Do the mock me like a child?" Dim looked over the the messenger who had brought the scroll in the first place. "You, messenger, what is your name?" The other Gryphon stood up on wobbly legs and saluted. "I am Corporal Gilda Bane, at your service," she panted. "What happened?" "Sire, at the bunker where I was stationed, we were attacked. Two of my fellow guards were doing thier rounds around the border and only one returned, his limbs broken, his beak smashed. He was beat up pretty good. He pawed over this scroll and lept out before some sort of explosive on him activated and he was killed." "What about the other Gryphons? What happened to them?" "I...don't know, your majesty. I was told to get this to you as soon as possible, and I left before I could see." King Dim nodded. "Guard!" "Yessir!" "Fetch the mage and his orb: let us see what is attacking us." The guard nodded and left. There was a moment of silence and then Dim spoke. "Corporal Gilda, are you weak?" "No sir." "I thought not. Be glad that I don't execute you for dirtying my robes." "I am, sir." Before Dim could say another thing, the single guard returned with a cloaked Gryphon. "Mage-master Claw: bring me your orb." The Mage shuffled over and set the orb down on the ground before Dim. The Large Gryphon looked at the glass orb and cleared his throat. "Show me holdout number seventy-two." The orb swirled around a bit before a clear image was visible. When it was, the mage gave a short gasp and King Dim's eyes narrowed ever further. There was nothing but rubble, discarded shells, and blood. The entire area was spattered with it. There were a few corpses, but they were all mutilated beyond recognition. There were no signs of the aggressors. Each bunker has six guards. If two were killed outside, and it Gilda is here, then that should leave three. Why do I only see two? Suddenly, the Mage jumped back even further. The Gryphon King leaned forward. That was a peculiar sight. It was a small, glass dome. Outside of it was what appeared to be a container of some sort, and two, rubber hoses connected the glass orb to it. Inside of the barrier were three creatures. They looked more like apes than anything else, albeit less hairier. They were feasting on a meat inside. Ah. There's the other one. "Mage, if you vomit in here, I will have you thrown in the dungeon." The cloaked Gryphon, who had yet to speak a single word, nodded furiously as he kept his stomach under control. "Take this orb back. And you," The King said, referring to Gilda,"You are dismissed." Soon, it was only Dim and his guard. Looks like our alien friends want my things. Well they cannot have them: they are mine. Turns out, Gryphon is pretty good. It's like the rarest, toughest, leanest steak you've had, no matter how burnt it is. The bones are really tough too, Stromm could use them as effective tools had he been a primitive man. He was not, though, he has steel and iron, so bones are useless. Except for the skulls, they could make good mantle-pieces... "So, what have we learned?" "Don't a approach a Gryphon pillbox; nuke it from a distance," replied each of the men who shared his air chamber. Stromm nodded. They were learning already. This war would be over soon. After an hour or so, it was time to pack up. Based on the maps and other things that had survive inside of the small bunker, they were quite close to the capital. Not a wise place to put your King, the edge of the border. That just means that the Gryphons would have intense defenses. But that just means more fun. The Gryphon village was small, it didn't even have an official name. Only twenty or so resided there. Every able Gryphon was forced to work in the fields though, if they didn't the guards from the mountains would come down and take one of them, presumably to be tortured, killed, or simply left to die in the wilderness. But they were about to be free. One of the workers finished his work for the day and stretched. The night was approaching. He turned to return to his small hut, but was stopped by a distant rumbling noise. He turned around and saw lights, both on the ground and in the sky. His eyes widened with fear. What new torture had King Dim devised now? But there was no escape, as whatever they were entered the village quickly. But instead of pain, there was food. Warmth for the night. Had someone finally came to help them? These strange creatures with advanced technology? The answer was yes. They would be liberated and then some.