//------------------------------// // Chapter 16 - The hunt for a legend // Story: Celestia Trigger // by Thadius0 //------------------------------// Our journey through the pass was unmolested, now that we'd dealt with the Fiendlord's apparent army. Or most of it anyway. I couldn't imagine that she'd be able to mount any serious offensives against the griffons in the near future. On the other side of the pass, all I saw to indicate that we'd gone the right way at all was the lack of a castle on the horizon. It was mostly the same beautiful countryside. It was hard to imagine that a zebra lived somewhere in here, in some sort of base, and was wreaking havoc from it. Then again, we had just dealt with her army... "I have no idea how this zebra got to be so powerful," I said as I looked around. "Nor do I know why she's after the griffons, of all peoples. But I do know that should we find a way to, we should stop her." "History dictates that the Fiendlord was trying to summon a mighty monster to the field of battle...and then disappeared," Zehan supplied. "It is thought she reached too far, and was slain by her creation." "Let's see if Gregory is around," I said. "Like as not, thanks to the fact that he lives here, he'll be able to discern the Fiendlord's whereabouts. He is the reason we're visiting in the first place, after all." "We're probably gonna have quite the walk until we find the forest he lives in," Copper pointed out. "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step," I quipped, taking that step and leading my friends to the south. The very first town we ran across was so ecstatic that we'd dealt with the army of the Fiendlord, they threw us a party. Apparently that army had swept through the town not so long ago and sent the townsfolk into their homes due to fear for their lives. The fact that we'd dealt with them all was cause for celebration in their eyes. Granted, it was a small celebration, but the feeling was there nonetheless. We did eventually have to press on, but managed to hear an important bit of trivia before we left the villagers to their merriment. Apparently a small cub had found some sort of medal of heroes, and had taken it upon himself to try and reclaim the sword of heroes as well. Putting a pin in that for later, the four of us pressed on further south, to where Gregory was said to reside. A second, more sedate village was what greeted us the next day. When we asked the townsfolk about Gregory, they pointed us in the direction of a forest to the west. Of course, we did have to ask around in the local tavern, and overheard more than a little about some mountain to the north holding a shrine to heroes in it. Mainly because this was where the little cub had come from, so of course they would talk about where he was going. "It seems a little...off, that that's all they'd talk about, before you asked them where Gregory was," Copper mused as we trekked to the west. "They're just proud that somebody is doing something, and doubly so that it's one of their own," I replied, now seeing the forest come into view a bit more. Though calling it a forest was a bit generous. It was no Everfree, that was for sure. Still, for some reason our wayward friend resided here. It wasn't twenty feet before we were assaulted by large snake creatures again, though these at least didn't start off trying to trick us. I absently cut them down with a few well-placed slashes and sighed. "And here I was thinking this would be a problem." "Maybe it was, when their snakes weren't all already dealt with," Zehan pointed out as he froze another solid. "This magic feels...odd, still, but I am getting used to it all the more the more I use it." "Yeah, I felt that way too, the first few times I used mine," Copper said as she put her turret to use zapping a few snakes. "Elemental magic is definitely useful, though I suppose it would feel odd to a pony that isn't a unicorn to use," I mused. Eventually we found the center of the forest and looked around. "Where the heck is Gregory's home?" Justice clicked and whirred for a moment before looking upwards. "There is a life-form detected above us that is not similar to these snakes," the robot informed us. I looked around and found something...encouraging. A rope ladder. Though why a griffon would need one was beyond me. He probably had it for his more ground-bound guests. And when I looked up to where it led to, I saw the mother of all tree houses hanging out in the foliage above us. "Well, now I feel like a moron," I said flatly, causing Zehan and Copper to laugh. "You two go up first, I'll climb up after, and...I don't think you can follow us, Justice." "That construction likely would snap under my weight, yes," the robot said with a nod. After watching the zebra and pony ascend the ladder (somehow), I clambered up myself. Within, it seemed rather oddly silent. I could see a bed in one corner of the large room, along with documents strewn about. But of our friend, I saw no sign. I did spot a rather conspicuous chest near the bed, though. Moving towards it got me the sign I wanted. "Who goes there!" I heard from above, before a large form dropped in front of us. Instinctively, I grabbed my katana and prepared to fight...only to see that it was Gregory, who had been doing something similar with the sword strapped to his back. "Ah, 'tis only you, Crono," he said, lowering his claw. I slowly removed my hand from my katana's hilt and nodded at him. "We thought to check up on you after we managed to get through the pass," I said. "The pass?" Gregory asked with a furrowed brow. "But I have heard the Fiendlord sent an army of monsters there..." "Yeah, that was us," Copper said with a smile. "We managed to beat them so badly, the survivors ran from us." The griffon was suitably impressed. "You truly are fine warriors," he praised us. "Would that I could have joined you..." He sighed and shook his head. "But the only blade that could stand against the Fiendlord's foul magics and put an end to her and the threat she poses forever, I have not the right to wield." Sensing where this was going, I nodded my head and motioned for my allies to descend the ladder behind me. "I wouldn't give in to despair just yet," I told the griffon before I left. "Sometimes, you can even surprise yourself with what you can be capable of." My only reply was a noncommittal grunt as I left the griffon to his musings. It took us yet another day to locate one specific mountain in the empire of Griffienhiem. When the thing has myths and legends surrounding it, you normally wouldn't expect it to take so long. Turns out, the empire is ringed with the things, and the ones that crop up inside it aren't so special in most griffon's eyes. It took three griffons to actually point out the one where the young cub had run off to. "A question," Justice asked. "Why do we seek the mountain known as the Hero's Rest?" "Because," I said as we made our way to the base. "That small griffon cub came here after hearing so many tales of valor associated with this place, and there's supposed to be some sort of sword here as well, yes?" "There is a legend associated with the mountain about a blade capable of defeating nearly any foe when wielded by the proper bearer," the robot mused. "And where do you think an impulsive young cub would dart off to when he heard of such things?" I pressed. "To where all the legends originated from," Zehan supplied. "Meaning, hopefully we will find the cub-" There was a scream from in front of us, and a monster that reminded me a lot of a really, really fat goblin appeared from further up the mountain. With a quick flurry of attacks from all four of us, the beast was slain in moments. That was when a small griffon cub darted from higher up the mountain and hid behind us, just in time for another one of the creatures to show up. Only this one was armed with a wooden hammer. I attempted to slice into it, but the creature blocked me with its massive hammer. Zehan tried as well, to a similar non-effective result. And then Copper set it on fire with her flamethrower, and that got the creature to toss the implement away. Afterwards, it was quickly dispatched. The griffon cub behind us was still shaking slightly. "Hey, kid?" I said as I sheathed my sword. "We're not gonna hurt you-" "You guys were so heroic!" he practically screamed. "I ran into trouble almost right away and tried to sneak around it, but you guys...you dealt with it right away!" "Yeah, that's what we do," Copper said, smiling at the praise. The young cub reached into a pouch he was carrying before pulling out a small disc of metal and handing it to us. "Guys like you deserve this Hero's Medal. I bet you could even get the sword that's supposed to be here," he said. "I'm just gonna go home now and tell my folks that I got it from some knight in the inn when he was drunk one night." With that, the cub was off. I gave the medal to Copper and turned to the climb ahead of us. We had a sword to claim.