Heroes of Atria

by TotallyNotAPerson

7: Nawir

"So there's something I've been meaning to ask of you, Darim." Ancero stated, dropping to a hush so that Solar Rain couldn't hear.

Darim looked back at her, slightly panicked. "Okay? What is it?"

"Your name. How come your name follows the old naming ordinance?"

"What do you mean?"

"It sounds like a name given back during the Great War."

Darim sighed. "Yeah, figured it wouldn't take you long to notice. You see, my great great great great grandfather, was it four greats? I think three actually. Doesn't matter. Anyways one of my ancestors fought in the tail end of the Great War. He was the captain of a small platoon who had the top priority of defending a fort on the border of the griffon and pony kingdoms. All of his men fled to the safety of a more defended fort about half a mile back when reports of a griffon assault came in, all of them except for him. He held his ground in the face of what was later counted to be 15 griffons. When reports stopped coming in about griffon advances on that front, the group braved their way back to the fort to find him, along with the whole group of griffons, dead. They say he was leaning against the fort's wall with his sword still in his mouth when they found him. He dropped the sword and smiled when he saw the approaching ponies, and died right there. My mother loved the name and thought the story to be a miracle, so she named me after him."

"Wow. I'm, speechless!" Ancero replied, clearly stunned.

"So then, what's your story?"

"Huh?"

"Why doesn't your name follow the post-war ordinance?"

"Oh, my uh parents just really liked the sound of the name." she shot the stallion a sheepish smile.

Darim nodded slowly. "Sure."

"Ahem." Solar cleared his throat to get his companions' attention. "What do you guys make of this?" he pointed a hoof towards the woods a short distance away from the path. There was a giant hole where trees had been ripped from their stumps, something large had clearly charged through the spot blindly.

"What do you think it is?" Darim asked.

"It's far too big for a pony to have made, maybe the King or Queen, but they wouldn't be out this far from the castle."

Darim nodded agreement. "Especially after you told them about the griffon from the other day. Even if Dawn didn't believe you."

"So," Ancero began, "what do you think it could be? A griffon crash landing maybe?"

"Doubt it, griffons are tough. Plus weapons are extremely scarce nowadays."

"A skilled unicorn could use their magic." Solar suggested.

"Unlikely, advanced combat magics have been completely banned."

Ancero waved her hoof to get the duo's attention. "Why don't we just go investigate?"

Solar and Darim turned to each other and shrugged.

"Come on then. Darim, you know how to use magic for light correct?"

"Uhh, yeah." Darim replied confused.

"Then start it and let's go." Ancero turned and started into the woods without waiting for her company.

Darim used his magic to make a ball of light appear on the tip of his horn. "Wish she'd slow down a bit." Then he followed the mare into the woods, weaving between the mess of shattered stumps.

"Wait for me!" Solar shouted, running to catch up to the others. When he did, Ancero shot him a glare.

"Shut up. We don't know what's in here." she hissed.

"Sorry."

The three then continued on their way deeper. After a couple of moments, Ancero raised her hoof to stop them.

"Did you hear that?" she asked.

The stallions fell silent, and for a moment, so did the woods. Then there was a distant clang, like metal on metal.

Darim looked at Solar. "A blacksmith maybe?"

Solar shook his head. "No way, blacksmiths have been put out of jobs after the Great War, and there's no way there'd be one this far from town."

"Shush. Darim turn down that light!" Ancero demanded.

Darim did as he was told. "What do you think it is?" he asked as quietly as he could.

"I don't know, but from now on, no light. Let's go deeper."

As the three went deeper, the only sounds were of leaves crunching underhoof and the odd clang, which progressively got louder and louder.

"It's so dark, I can hardly see a thing." Solar complained.

"Keep going, no talking." Ancero replied bluntly.

"Why is the canopy so thick? How do plants grow?"

"Does he ever stop talking?" Ancero asked Darim's outline.

Darim just shook his head and continued walking.

After about a minute of walking, they came to a clearing. The light spilled in through a single break in the canopy, but it was just enough to light up the entire area. That's when they noticed an Earth pony and a griffon on either side. Grass everywhere was splattered with blood.

Upon seeing this, Solar immediately jumped up and tried to call to the pony. Before he had the chance, Ancero had pushed him down and silenced him.

"Let this play out."

The griffon opened its beak and screamed at the pony. The pony ran straight towards the beast, their ash colored coat caught the light from the center and made them look like they were wearing armor. When the pony got close to the griffon, they jumped, catching all three of the group by surprise. The griffon brought a claw up towards the pony, who deflected it with one hoof, extending the other into a full on punch to the side of the griffon's head. The griffon screamed in agony and backed away, struggling. The pony followed the predator, slowly closing in on it. The griffon swung down one of its massive claws right down on the pony. Again, the pony put up a hoof and blocked the attack, making a loud clang. The pony then stood up on just their hind legs and swung down their other hoof toward the griffon's head again. The griffon stopped the attack with a claw, clutching the hoof as tight as it could so that the pony couldn't take it back. The two held their own ground, the pony's left hoof holding back the griffon's slash, and their right hoof struggling to break through the griffon's defense.

"You two stay here." Ancero whispered before running towards the griffon. She swung her head around a bit and her black sword from the griffon fight in the lab appeared in front of her. She charged the griffon and stuck the sword right into the back of its neck. Blood seeped from the wound and the griffon screamed in pain.

The griffon took its attacking claw back to try to pull the sword from its neck. The mysterious pony took the shot and punched the griffon's gut. There was a dulled thud, and all movement stopped in the clearing. Ancero ripped her sword from the griffon's neck and stepped back, while the other pony wretched their hoof free from the griffon's claw and stepped away. The griffon fell to the ground with a satisfying thud. Ancero's sword disappeared and she looked the other pony in the face.

"Ancero?" they asked in a masculine voice.

"Nawir! I knew it!" She exclaimed and hugged the stallion.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"Saving you, apparently."

"Oh please, I had it handled."

Ancero put her hooves on Nawir's cheecks and moved his head around, checking him for injuries. "You're all cut up!"

"Yup, razor sharp claws will do that to ya. Even with hooves of steel." Nawir raised a hoof to inspect it. There was a metal cuff around it that quickly vanished from sight. The leg underneath the armor was completely unscathed. "Heh, easier every time."

"Darim, Solar, get over here." Ancero called back to her companions. The two immediately jumped from hiding and ran to her.

"Oh my, you've definitely seen some better days." Darim stated. He used his magic to materialize a few bandages and gauze pads, applying them to the more serious claw marks.

Solar gawked at the stallion in front of him. "You fought that thing? By yourself! Nearly killed it alone too! How?"

Nawir smirked. "It was hardly a fair fight to begin with, them I broke its wing by throwing it through the woods."

"Cocky prick." Darim spat under his breath.

"What was that?" Nawir asked.

"Huh? Oh, nothing, just talking to myself. Anyways, your smaller cuts and scrapes should heal up within 24 hours, the larger ones I went ahead and bandaged might take a couple of days though."

Nawir nodded appreciation towards the unicorn. "Found yourself a doctor? Nice going Ancero."

"Well I mean really he's the one that found me."

"Ok, but I gotta know, how in the hell did you take that griffon down?" Solar butted in with the impatience of a grade-schooler.

"I knew the bugger was flying around the area, so I took a rope and tied it into a lasso. When I threw it over the thing's neck, I used all my strength to swing him down and throw him through the woods, making that giant ass hole. Broke his wing, made him dizzy, and broke off one of his claws. From their it was a piece of cake. He was a tough one I'll give him that. I'm amazed he lived the throw."

"Amazing."

Ancero cleared her throat. "Well, Nawir, I'm sure you've heard about the recent griffon attacks."

"Heard of 'em? I just bloody stopped one!"

"We should stop by your house. We can discuss privately everything we know."

"Jumping the gun a bit don't ya think? I hardly know a thing and I doubt these two have anything."

"We're trying to stop a repeat of the Great War here. The least we could do is compose our thoughts to tell King Dawn or Queen Dusk."

Nawir sighed. "Alright then. Ya got me. Let's go."

As the small group left the clearing, Darim noticed that very little blood had splattered on Nawir's coat despite having just been in a fight to the death with a griffon. His ashy coat only had little red lines where he had scratches, and the only discoloration on his mane and tail were a single orange strip running down them.