Gryphon Border's Edge – Night Shift Border Patrol
(Six Hours Later)
Phoenix the Gryphon pulled his whetstone down the left side of his spearhead for what felt like the thousandth time this week and then began sharpening the other side. If things kept up for his patrol like they had for the last three months he would be replacing his ninth spearhead within the next few days. He glanced at the stone itself and tossed it over his shoulder before reaching into a pouch in his backpack and pulling out a fresh one to continue his task.
^Ssshing^ ^Ssshing^ ^Ssshing^
“Ugh, will you give it a rest, Phoenix?! You’ve been sharpening your spears for the last hour and the sound is driving me nuts!” Phoenix paused a moment and looked across the small campfire his squad of five had built at their newest recruit. Shard's fur, unlike most Gryphons, was the color of wood ash, and his feathers were a rich red color. It was a trait that most of the males in his family shared, but that really was all there was to it. It marked him as different, not special.
“You would do well to do the same, young Shard. A dull weapon will do you no good against what we face in these times. Or in any time of battle, for that matter.”
Phoenix himself was the of the more common coloration of brown-gold fur and white feathers with the only difference being that his pinions were tipped with a fiery orange-gold, hence why his mother gave him that name. Whereas Shard was in his early twenties, Phoenix was in his late fifties. Most Gryphons lived to be in their early eighties, and he doubted that he would be an exception provided something besides time did not kill him first.
“For what we face in these times we’d be better off using hammers and axes, not spears and crossbows!”
“Oh?” Phoenix raised an eye ridge. “And I suppose you want to get close enough for one of the Shamblers to bite a chunk out of you? If you do, by all means trade in your own spear after the next rotation. I’m sure someone else will make good use of it.”
Shard opened his beak and was about to say something in return when their squad’s leader rose to his paws and talons and shouldered his pack.
“That’s enough, you two." Their commanding officer stated. "Time for us to move on to the next location; the others behind us will be coming up on our position soon enough, and those ahead of us likely have already moved on.”
“Aye ma’am.”
“Yes ma’am.” Both nodded and rose from their seats on the bare ground. Gathering their equipment, they fell into their regular positions and began walking. Had the time been during the daylight they would have flown rather than walking but on a cloudy night such as this one it was dim enough that even their sharp vision could see no farther than that of regular birds (excluding owls). Several watchtowers were being planned for construction in the near future, but even those wouldn't help much when time got to being passed sun-down, and there would still be the need for active guards on standby to be on claw in case a herd of the dead larger in number than five or six was spotted. With the Gryphon race's ability to hover in mid-air just out of reach yet still able to strike with pole weapons or arrows and bolts the Gryphons had a distinct advantage in extermination over say, the Diamond Dogs and Minotaur races, but once in awhile someone would hover a little too low and get grabbed. Being immune to the plague aside, no one felt like being chewed to pieces because they made a mistake and were pulled into a crowd of ravenous undead.
"So," Shard began, once more breaking the silence. "why aren't we building a wall of wood or stone along our borders like the Minotaur are? We could just wait for them to come up to the walls, and then have someone walking along the top impale their head, and keep on walking. It'd be like squashing bugs."
"Because we don't need to." Their leader replied, eyes never ceasing in scanning the uneven rocky terrain. "Most of our people live on or in canyon-like or mountainous terrain. With a few exceptions such as our own little town, a nest-full* of refugee camps, one or two coal mines and the fishing villages along the coast most of of our living regions are out of reach from ground-bound attacks. With the exception of the one small city the Diamond Dogs have, the wall building that Diamond Dogs are doing only involves blocking up the entrances to their dens."
"That's right," Pheonix agreed, continuing "and in the case of the Minotaur most of their territory is flat and open meaning that the undead ponies can walk in with nothing to hinder them other than the Minotaur warriors themselves. If one of the so-called hordes were to come along it could cause them a lot of harm." Shard was skeptical.
"But not us? I thought you said" Shard turned his head to address the lead Gryphon. "that our fishing villages were on the ground. Most of our local food comes from them, right?" She shook her head.
"For them to have gotten that far into our territory uncontested it would mean that the rest of our nation are in dire straights. At that point it would hardly matter if they got that far. Even if they did the villagers down there are no slouches. They're Gryphons, after all." There was a sharp intake of breath behind Shard and the leader and the two of them went silent, weapons once at rest or holstered were now held at the ready.
"Up ahead on the right, by the rock." A pointed spear directed their attention, though the words were more than enough. A figure slouched against the large not-quite-a-boulder, its breaths ragged and gurgling. Two more figures, both equine and roughly the same size were slowly plodding along passed it. In the dark it was impossible for facial features to be visible, but the smell on a gentle breeze told the story all too well.
"I'll take the one out front. Phoenix, get the one on the rock. Shard, the straggler." The trio spread out to approached their targets, but paused as a sudden but brief buzzing sound became apparent. They looked at one another, then at their targets, then all around and back to each other, and shrugged. Starting forward again, The one by the rock was put down first, followed by the lead. As Shard approached the last one however, the brief buzzing sound came again, much closer this time.
Sounds like the wings of a hummingbird...or maybe a hornet. Shard raised his weapon to skewer the Shambler's head, then froze when it turned its face towards him. It looked like an ordinary pony in the dark, but now that Shard was closer he saw that it wasn't. Its body was a reflective solid black chitin save for places where a few chunks along the neck were missing. One dull blue eye flickered with light where the other seemed to have been torn out along with part of its face, and large wings like a dragonfly's twitched on its back, creating that occasional buzzing. That's not a Pony! That's a Changeling! It opened its fanged mouth and let out a loud high-pitched hiss instead of a moan or growl, and the sound of buzzing that they'd heard earlier sounded all around them, quickly growing louder. Shadows of movement sprung up from the ground and quickly closed on them, cutting off any chance of escape.
For a time yells of surprise filled the night but these quickly changed to screams of pain gradually drowned out by the sound of buzzing wings.