//------------------------------// // Chapter 5. // Story: Litany of Sacrifice // by Reactor //------------------------------// "Onward they came, silent save for the clatter of talons. No warcry on their lips, no cheers or taunts. Without mercy or jubilation, they solemnly slaughtered until nothing remained but silence." -- Scrivener Cellivar Gehan describing Death Riders Princess Luna gazed over the snowy mountains of the Gryphon Kingdom. How their glistening white surfaces reflected the orange rays of the descending sun. How their tall peaks reached towards the sky. How jagged rocks dotted the smooth slopes. So beautiful, yet so treacherous. Especially lately. The indigo princess closed her eyes and inhaled the clean, crisp air and let out a sigh. ”Enjoying the sights?” Luna opened her eyes and scanned the beautiful scenery once more. ”Just taking out most of the situation, sister.” She heard scrunching sound sourcing from her sister's hooves. Typically Luna liked being alone with her thoughts, but if there was somepony who's presence she cared for, it was her sister. She noticed Celestia joining her admiring of the scenery. ”It has been over a thousand years since I have last seen these mountains. They always had a calming effect on me.” Celestia took a moment to take in the marvellousness of the landscape. She felt vulnerable on the clearing they were supposed to meet the gryphons. The nearby river offered a calming effect on her nerves. ”The Lonely Mountains are indeed quite a sight to behold. Especially at spring they show their full beauty.” Sighing she continued. ”Too bad the reason we're here is not as pleasant as the scenery.” Luna scrunched her nose, as if she smelt something bad. ”Still no sign of the Gryphons?” The answer to that was obvious but she still asked it. To pass the time if nothing else. ”No, the pegasi are still circling the area. They'll inform us as soon as they see anything.” Celestia gave the obvious answer to her sister's question. Sighing, the older alicorn continued. ”I just hope we will come to an agreement that will benefit both of our nations. I really wouldn't want to deal with another national threat at the moment. It hasn't been even a month since King Sombra's return and defeat.” Luna turned to face her sister and noticed something on her features she would never show to anypony. Tiredness. Granted, a lot had happened during the past few years. Celestia had had to face the incidents alone, and if that was not enough, she had to resort to the Elements. Luna wasn't much of a use during those past years, having lost myriad of her powers during her cleansing from Nightmare Moon. She had had to recover for years. Now when she had mostly recovered, she did her best to alleviate her sister's burden. Luna draped one of her massive wings over Celestia's shoulders. ”You don't have to face this alone, dear sister. Not anymore.” Luna smiled at her sister, which Celestia returned meekly. Their affectionate moment was shattered by a cry of a guard. ”The gryphons are here!” ”Celestia.” ”Hubert.” The alicorn and gryphon stared at each other, waiting for the other to do their move. Registering each muscle movement they tried to read each others' motives and intentions. ”It's been a while.” The gryphon king stated blandly, opening the conversation. ”Indeed it has.” Princess Celestia replied, her voice free of emotion. The gryphon's only seeing eye turned from the alicorn to the ponies behind her. If he wasn't in the presence of the leader of a neighbouring country, he would've ruffled his aching wings. But that would signal of the nervousness he felt, a rare feeling for him. He settled for adjusting his wings to a more comfortable position. The king had six gryphons accompanying him. As the gryphons favoured maneuverability over protection, each of them was wearing only light armour. Four of them were armed with blades strapped to their talons and tails and the remaining two held muskets. Both the ponies and gryphons glared at each other, looking for any sign of hostility. Both sides knew that when the gryphons' weaponry and skills in battle were superior to those of the ponies', the Equestrians had numbers and magic on their side. If a fight arose, it would be a bloody one. The two leaders' silent match was interrupted by a cough. The king looked behind Celestia. ”Why, isn't it Princess Luna herself. It's time we met. As I'm fairly sure you're aware, I'm Hubert Hazyclaw, the king of the Gryphon Kingdom. A pleasure to meet you, although I wish the circumstances were happier.” Luna stepped forward so she was on par with her sister. Holding her head high she answered the slightly smaller gryphon. ”King Hazyclaw. The pleasure is mine.” During years of politics King Hubert had developed a talent to see through ponies' and other creatures' false facades. This time was no exception. ”Ah, but no need to be so cold hearted. We're all here on peaceful cause, are we not?” The king grinned. Luna rolled her eyes when the king turned his attention back to Celestia and opened his mouth again. ”Well then, we have a lot to talk about. Shall we begin?” The gryphon raised an eyebrow and motioned with his talon to the two alicorns to walk with him. Crisp Saber was tired. The incident with Princess Luna, the tightened security in Canterlot and the flight to the border of Equestria had taken a toll on her. The princesses and the gryphon king had been talking for hours now and it was already dark. That was not a hindrance to the bat pony, quite the opposite. But most of the ponies accompanying her were regular ponies who didn't excel at night and that brought their overall security down. At least Luna's moon was illuminating their surroundings. She suppressed a yawn with her hoof and rested against her spear. She heard steps behind her and spun around her spear pointed forwards to find a gryphon approaching her. The gryphon raised his talons in the air as to show that he wasn't a threat. ”Woah, woah! No need to get offensive.” The gryphon lowered his talons. ”What do you want?” Crisp Saber demanded, lowering her spear only marginally. ”I just wanted to talk. Could you point that thing somewhere else? I don't really want to end up as a pin cushion. Whether by accident or on purpose.” As Crisp Saber reared her spear the gryphon stepped forward and introduced himself. ”I'm Steelwing of the house of Ebonshield. You?” ”Outspoken and straight to the point. Huh, a bit like myself.” Crisp thought to herself before answering. ”Crisp Saber. Of no house or family.” She returned her gaze towards the surrounding forest. Steelwing stared at her for a moment before coughing. ”Well then, you're of the Night Guard are you not? Being a bat pony and all.” ”What, the leathery wings gave it away? Or the purple armour? I know you guys know our military structure well enough.” She answered irritably. ”I didn't mean to offend you. Just trying to get conversation going. It gets boring to just stand around and peer into the trees.” The gryphon sat near enough to the bat pony to allow easy conversation, but far enough so he didn't seem invasive. ”Well, why didn't you go chat with your buddies then?” ”Bat ponies have always interested me. Their knowledge of the night and skills as fighters. There are even rumours of bat pony and gryphon groups. Ever heard of them?” Crisp Saber was confused. Was the gryphon complimenting her? Was he genuinely interest in her kind? Or was it just to fish out information of her. His intentions seemed harmless enough. ”Yeah, I have. I've heard that they live near the Zebra Grounds and trade with the zebras.” Steelwing nodded. ”I'd like to visit them. Someday I'll make a trip to south and find them. Maybe I'll even visit Canterlot.” Crisp merely nodded. They remained silent after that, listening to the sounds of the nightly forest. Chirping of crickets and sloshing of the nearby river. It seemed like neither of them wanted to talk about the mysterious attacks or the lately hostilities between ponies and gryphons. The mare was now glad that the gryphon had come talk to her. At least now she had something to keep her awake. While deep within her musings, she thought she saw something glistening within the forest. Shaking her head she dismissed the thought and blamed it on exhaustion. That was until Steelwing raised his opinion on the matter. ”Did you see that? Like a glass glint?” He asked while nudging Crisp on the shoulder and keeping his gaze in the forest. Crisp turned her head towards the gryphon and whispered. ”You saw it too? I thought my tired brain was just playing tricks on me.” A sound of a twig breaking was heard from the same direction where they saw the glint. ”There aren't supposed to be any of your comrades in there, are there?” Steelwing asked while standing up. Crisp Saber followed suit. ”No, we're the furthest away to the east. And there are none of your friends there?” The gryphon shook his head. ”No, they're all near the river.” They saw a shadow move in the clear moonlight, now sure there was somepony or someone spying on them. ”Who goes there?!” Steelwing yelled into the forest, only to hear a clatter of someone running. ”We can't let them escape, who knows what they've heard!” Crisp Saber shouted, ready to fly after the snoop. They saw three Day Guard ponies and two gryphons coming towards them from where the others were. ”What happened, we heard shouting?” One of the ponies asked before they caught up with the two. Steelwing turned his head to face the approaching group. ”There was something in the forest over there.” He pointed a talon at the place they saw the figure. ”We saw a glint of glass and a shadow retreating deeper into the forest.” The group was now looking into the forest beside the two. The head pony, an earth pony sporting an insignia of a sergeant, turned towards Steelwing and Crisp Saber. ”You sure you saw something? Sure your mind wasn't just playing tricks on you?” ”No, sir. Being a bat pony, I saw it clearly. A tall creature, at least two ponies tall, bipedal. It wore armour and seemed to be holding something on it's claws.” The sergeant looked on to the ground, thinking. He turned around to face a pony accompanying him. ”Stalwart Watch, go inform the others. We'll go after this snoop.” The pony saluted with a sound ”Yes sir!” and bolted to the direction they a moment ago came from. Turning back to face the others the sergeant continued. ”Now then. I cannot command you gryphons, but I'd really appreciate the help.” ”Of course we will give our aid.” Steelwing answered. ”Great.” The sergeant smiled. ”We'll split into groups of two. We'll take the central area with Morning Gloom here.” Steelwing nodded towards the other gryphons. ”You'll take the right-most area while Crisp Saber and I will go to the left.” The two gryphons nodded before taking flight and heading into the forest. The sergeant smirked at Crisp Saber before trotting into the forest. ”Getting friendly with the gryphons, now are we?” ”Just doing my duty, sir.” She answered while taking flight. Corporal DKSR//3D/32/5 was a simple man. As was every other Korpsman. But he was no mere line soldier, no, he was part of something more important, especially now. Being a Death Rider wasn't easy, but he didn't care as long as he could serve the emperor. Many outside of Krieg would not envy Corporal DKSR//3D/32/5 for his position, but he held his title with pride. Often working as a spearhead of an attack, death rates among Death Riders were sky high. Another part of their duty included scouting and gathering intel, which he was doing now. The equines were exactly where they had been seen the last time and it was ridiculously easy to find them. He and his two mounted comrades had been studying the equines for almost two hours by now. He had left his mount farther back in the forest, to not be spotted as easily. Once again he peered through his battle scope and examined the strange creatures. They were nothing like he had seen or heard of before. With their colourful coats, ancient armaments and simple carriages that seemed to be pulled by the same creatures that rode them. But that wasn't his main focus. His main focus was to monitor their behavior and if possible, style of warfare. So far he had some information of the former, but not much of the latter. Another important thing was that the equines were accompanied by the ”gryphons”, as they were called. Race that had proved hostile. Not that Corporal DKSR//3D/32/5 minded, it was another possibility to serve the emperor by slaying the heretic. But he couldn't just charge in there to put end to the creatures, even if he probably could have done it even alone, or die trying. That would have been against his orders, and Kriegers were known of their commitment. The Korpsman's location was probably the most unsatisfactorying. He could only see one of the creatures and the was no a lot of information he could get out of that. For his satisfaction, a gryphon had joined the equine a moment ago. The equine seemed surprised and to be wary of the gryphon. Maybe they weren't allies after all. At least not yet. From what his comrades had already reported, the two taller equines seemed to be negotiating with one of the gryphons. They had paced around the clearing and the river banks. But they never came to Corporal DKSR//3D/32/5's sight. He would have felt slight disappointment because of that, if such feeling would have been familiar to him. The two creatures had been silent for a while, when the equine drew the Korpsman's attention. The creature stared straight at him for a while, until shaking her head. Then the gryphon replicated the stare. The two seemed to be conversing again, all the while keeping a keen eye on the forest. Had they seen him? He had been as careful as he could have, there was no way they could have spotted him. He adjusted his position, but not being careful enough, a twig snapped under his boots. The creatures' conversation seemed to only intensify of that, they must've had heard him. Deciding it was best to change position, he slowly retracted into the woods, only to hear a shout coming from the creatures' direction. Not wasting any time, he ran back towards his mount. The other Death Riders had had to hear that and would also be retracting. The Corporal didn't like it, they should be facing the enemy first. Even if the equines were not their enemies yet, at least not officially, the gryphons definitely were. But orders were orders, ”Fight only to defend yourself or your comrades. Intel is vital” as the Watchmaster had said. He stopped to see if he was being followed. Sure enough, he saw a creature flying above to the right of him. He continued running to reach his mount. Only after a few seconds he heard shouting from behind him. Glancing back, he saw an equine flying low after him. His mount was in a clearing only few dozen meters away. Weaving through the undergrowth and trees he managed to lose his chaser's line of sight of him. He saw his mount in the clearing, exactly on the same place he had left it. Clambering onto his Krieg Steed, he turned to face the direction where the smaller equine would most likely to be coming, and true enough there it was, standing on the other side of the clearing, eyes wide of fear and horror. Crisp Saber cursed herself under her breath. She had had a visual on the creature and now she had lost it. Even the forest seemed to be against her as it had grown too thick to fly through. She couldn't hear the others any more. The adrenaline produced by the chase started to recede from her body and she started to hesitate. What if she had to fight the creature? She had never fought another being except on training purposes. And the creature was unknown to her, who knew what kind of weaponry it had or magic it possessed. Shaking the grim thoughts out of her head she treaded onwards with determination. Crisp noticed the undergrowth becoming thinner and more moonlight started seeping through the trees. She pushed the last bush out of her way and stepped onto a clearing. Then she saw it clearly. The creature she was chasing, only twenty or so meters in front of her, riding on another creature. Her pupils contracted and blood ran cold. She could feel the color leaving her face and hooves trembling. She could feel her stomach churning and bile ascending to her throat. She was too terrified to do anything, even breath. It was nothing she had ever seen before, or could have dreamed of even in her most horrifying nightmares. She confirmed the creature as the same she saw near the edge of the fores. Its long, grey coat. Green breastplate, shoulderpads and helmet ornating a golden eagle. Its face cowered behind a mask, large soulless black eyepieces staring straight at her. It held a spear on it's hand, a white and purple pennant flaring on its tip. But that wasn't what made her feel sick to her stomach. It was the creature that was ridden. It reminded of a pony, a very sick and mutated pony. Its build was muscular and looked like it could buck a tree off its roots. It had no fur, only sickly brown skin covered with scars and a serial number embedded on it. Instead of hooves it had talons and there was no mane or tail, only a shrinked stump remaining on its backside. Hoses were wired to its neck, coming from a contraption strapped in front of the rider. The most horrifying feature to Crisp Saber on the mutated pony was its face. Or would have been if she could've seen it. Its face was covered with an armoured hood, two more hoses coming from where its nostrils would have been. Its eyes were covered with round lenses, the eyes themselves visible only due to the dim moonlight and the bat pony's ability to see in the dark. Eyes filled with fury, nothing left of the pony it once might have been. Seconds seemed to turn to minutes as the creatures stared at Crisp Saber while she stared back. The mutated pony shifted and whinnied in frustration, its voice sounding unholy through the mask. Then it charged.