by Caleb Monroe
I hold my breath and steady my stance, trying not to give away my exact position. If it truly saw me, then this would be over by now. I silently watch as it lifts its nose and begins to smell the air in the room.
This is what I was worried about. I reach for my blade and get ready for the fight I was desperately trying to avoid. The warhound starts to growl louder, and I know that it has my scent. His incessant growling stirs the others and now nearly all of them are standing and sniffing in my direction.
I crouch down, putting my Sica between me and the warhounds that are about to attack, while simultaneously raising my hand to my lip in case I need Shadow to get me out of here. The hounds slowly close in on me and my heart is about to leap from my chest. Their foreboding barking and howling fill up the room. I hold my blade up high, ready to swing when suddenly the door to my left bursts open.
A Mortem Mangoner comes charging in the room yelling something in his own language. To my dismay, the warhounds ignore him, focusing solely on me. In frustration, the crystal man takes his arm and turns it into a glowing whip that he violently swings above his head creating a whirlwind of loud popping sounds. Every warhound in the room quickly turns its attention to the Mortem Mangoner who is now whipping the floor around him.
I quickly push the window open and jump out to find myself alone. I can hear the Mortem Mangoner using his whip to punish the dogs, and I use the distraction to get back to my target.
I run as fast as I can, using the shadows to keep away from the light produced by the fires, and try to reach the large building in the center of the camp. I am eventually forced to use the rooftops when I see that the front of the building is surrounded by small fires that will make the effect of my muddy exterior a moot point.
I climb to the rooftop of the closest building and search for the green cage. I want to make sure Shadow and the other griffins are still alright. I find it just as two Mortem Mangoners patrolling the cage suddenly get pulled down and stop glowing. I guess Shadow is doing his job and the griffins are safe for now.
I focus on my task again and see that, below me, there is a respectable number of crystal men patrolling around the base of the building. Going through the front door was never going to be an option today, or tonight, who knows what time it is on this dark world. I start searching for another entrance, which is when I find a window fairly close to the rooftop of the building I’m headed toward. I make it to the last building, and I check below me and find the road clear.
The gap is not too far, and I am only ten feet up. If I miss, I will be okay. I think.
I walk to the other side of the glowing roof before taking off running as fast as I can. I make the jump, and as I fly through the air, I pull my blade out in case I land in a bad situation. I hit the edge of the window and steady myself on the outer wall. I push on the window, praying that it is unlocked, and to my luck, it swings open. I slowly put my feet down on the green, glowing floor and find myself in a mostly empty room.
With no warhounds or Mortem Mangoners around, I walk across the room to a door, which I find leads to a second-level balcony. I see a set of stairs to my right that will take me to floor-level, but I quickly stop moving when I realize I can see my mud-covered legs.
There is a light coming from the first level, which illuminates my shape and could give away my position. I get on my stomach and crawl to the ledge looking over what appears to be a lobby, where five Mortem Mangoners are gathered around a black crystal table. They are using torches on the corner of the walls to light up the room so that they can see a piece of large parchment that has been laid out on the table.
I have no idea what they are saying, but the slamming of crystal fists and hammers on the table tell me this meeting is not going well. I watch as two of the Mortem Mangoners start to push each other, and then one of them turns his right arm into a sword, prompting the other to turn his left arm into an ax. They step away from the table and converge on each other, but before they can clash, a much larger Mortem Mangoner steps in between them, putting an end to their quarrel. The large one says one word, prompting both of the fighters to turn their weapons back to hands and return to the table in silence.
This must be their leader.
The leader turns his right hand into a spike as he moves over the center of the table. He pulls his elbow back, firing the spike like an arrow at the table. He pierces the large piece of parchment that was spread out on top of the table and my eyes focus on one word written out in large letters on the top of the paper.
I realize now that they are standing over a map. A map that has the word Liferné written on the top of it. I can see the battle plans drawn all over it. They are planning to attack Cecilia’s kingdom.
As quietly as possible, I slowly back up and head for the door I came through. I shut the door behind me saying, “I have to warn the kingdom. This army will eradicate everyone on the planet if we don’t prepare for it.”
I hear a faint clicking noise coming from above me and I instantly panic. The image of an Imago flashes before my eyes, but I quickly push the fear away. Instinctively, my hand goes for my Sica blade, but I let it go before I run to the window to open it so that I can begin my descent. When I open the window, I realize I was not hearing the clicking of the Imago’s feet above me, but the true source of the clicking is equally as terrifying.
It is beginning to rain.
I only leave my arm out of the window for a second, but when I pull it back inside, I see that the dried layer of mud is already beginning to run, allowing the blue glow of my arm to seep through. I look in the direction of the green glowing cage, and I see that there is a section missing now.
“They did it,” I say louder than I mean to. I keep looking, but I do not see any orange coming from that direction, so that must mean that they are waiting for me at the rock formation. I just have to get back there alive, but with this rain coming down, I will be like a large fluorescent blue blinking sign reading: “Here I am, come kill me.”
I start to whistle for Shadow, but I pull my hand away from my mouth. If I call him while I am still in the middle of the camp, there is no possible way he will get to me alive. There are too many Mortem Mangoners for him to get through. He will get killed if I do that. I take my Sica out again, because I know there is only one option for me. I must get far enough away to ensure the Mangoners do not hear me when I call Shadow.
I see that the edge of the camp to my left is the closest, so at least I know what direction I have to head toward. I push the window open again and hope I can make it back to the building next to me. I will not survive if I have to run the entire way on the ground.
“Here goes nothing.”
I take off running for the window using the ledge to launch me into the air. As I fly toward the roof adjacent to me, the rain quickly extinguishes my camouflage, and I start to light up like a florescent blue light bulb. I land rolling to my feet, but I already hear the Mortem Mangoners yelling at each other about the blue blur that just flashed in the sky.
I start bounding from roof to roof attempting to reach the edge of the camp. It only takes a few seconds before I hear footsteps and even some howling below me. They found me more quickly than I was hoping. The rain has all but washed away the mud that was keeping me hidden on this strange world.
I run as fast as possible, and when I reach the last building, I leap off the ledge to the ground below. I have to make it out of the camp.
I only make it a few more feet before two crystal soldiers impede my path. I never stop running, but right before we collide, I slide to my side and pull my blade around, slashing at one of the Mortem Mangoners’ left leg.
I swing as hard as I can and cleave the whole leg off from the knee down. The crystal man falls, but I know he can regrow it, so I quickly take my Sica and hurl it at the other guard while he is distracted. It hits in the center of its chest, and while it reels from the pain, I run up and do a spinning kick that takes the Mortem Mangoner’s
head off.
I pull my blade out of the dead crystal man’s chest and immediately start running for the edge of the camp again. I see behind me that at least ten more Mortem Mangoners are coming my way, but they suddenly stop pursuing me.
When I turn back around to see why they stopped, I realize how far away I am from the edge of the camp still.
I can only stare off into the empty darkness as I say, “Sorry, buddy. I wasn’t fast enough.” I pull my Sica in front of me as I spin around yelling, “What are you waiting for?! Let’s do this!”
None of them move at first, but then slowly they begin to part as a large green light comes from behind and makes its way through the growing crowd of crystal murderers. I realize the source of the light is the larger Mortem Mangoner from earlier, the leader. He gets to the front of his men and then stands eerily still. No one is moving or saying anything.
I have no idea what he is doing, but suddenly he points right at me saying only one word. At first, I have no idea what he said, but then a slithering red glow behind him tells me all I need to know. The pulsating red glow is coming from an Imago that is slithering his way through the crystal men.
The Imago, whose body is glowing as red as its demonic eyes, wraps around the leader before standing up to laud its massive size over me.
“So, that’s what you said. Well, I’ve killed one of those before; let’s make it two.”
BOOM!!!!
BOOM!!!!
BOOM!!!!
I duck as three cries are launched at the gathered group of Mortem Mangoners. Two of the blasts destroy several of the crystal men, turning them into a green dust cloud. The third was aimed for the leader, but the Imago protected him by using his body armor to shield him.
“Shadow!” I look up and see three orange glowing griffins flying over my head. “Get me out of here!” Just before I turn, I see a wall of Mortem Mangoners coming my way, but what scares me the most is that the leader is just staring at me and not moving an inch.
“We need to go n…” Shadow swoops down grabbing my hand. I swing myself up onto his back and turn to see the two griffins who came with us firing a few more cries at the charging army. “Get them to follow us, now!”
Shadow roars, and the two griffins quickly come to meet us as we leave the glowing, green army behind. “Get us home!”
Shadow roars again, and this time the griffins they freed from the cage shoot out from behind the rock formation we were hiding behind earlier. When we all gather together in the dark sky, Shadow opens a portal that we fly through, depositing us over the forest near our base. The night sky is still black, but the large stars studded all throughout it tell me we are home. It only takes ten minutes to get to the mountain, and I am not sure I have ever been happier to see this place.
“Take us down, Shadow.” We all descend and touch ground smoothly. Captain is the first to come greet us, and I ask him, “How is the digging going? We brought more help.” Captain ignores my question, so I wave my hand in front of his eyes saying, “Did you hear me, Captain?” I turn to Shadow asking, “Can you help me get his attention?” I turn around to find that Shadow, too, is facing away from me, and in fact, every griffin around us is glaring into the forest that surrounds our mountain base. “What’s going on?”
Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click.
Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click.
I now know why none of them are listening to me. I search the tree line for the red eyes, and then I find them. Those eyes that tell me the devil followed us home, but this time I throw my fears aside and stand strong next to Shadow.
I move to the front of the griffins near me and stand between them and the Imago. “You are severely outnumbered! You don’t stand a chance!” I take my blade out and hold it high as I face the griffins and yell, “If we work together, we can take this Imago down! Just follow Shadow’s lead!”
I turn back around, instantly realizing that I spoke too soon.
Chapter 5
The trees look like they are filled with hundreds of red lightning bugs as the multitude of Imago eyes fill the tree line. There must be at least twenty Imago in the trees around us. The Mortem Mangoner leader must have sent them after us when we fled, knowing that the Imago can track their prey even when they cross universes.
“Shadow, I think we are going to need everyone for this fight.”
Shadow quickly jumps into the air unfolding his powerful wings. He steadies himself and releases a mighty roar that rattles my chest. Every griffin around us, including the new ones we just saved, turn their undivided attention toward him even though death is stalking them from the trees.
Within seconds, I hear roars and growls echoing from inside the mountain caves. The griffins that were sleeping have awoken at Shadow’s beckoning, and they are coming to join the fight.
I hear a sound in the trees to my left, as the leaves and limbs shake. I turn to steady myself for the first attack. Suddenly, Captain roars through the trees trailed by his team who was working in the cave. They meet up with the rest of our griffin army, which is now an imposing number of magical beasts.
I run to the front of our line and turn shouting, “We have to do this together! The Imago’s underside is the only…” I am cut off by the sound of tree limbs rustling behind me. I whip around to see a cascade of long, streaming leaves tumble to the ground.
I know exactly what is about to happen. I have already lived through this, twice. The memory of me standing cold and alone in the forest of my world runs vividly through my head. I remember trying to be brave as I faced my demon, but fear won that day.
This time will be different. I am no longer a scared little boy; I am a fighter with an army of griffins who trust me and believe in me. What is more important is that I have him at my side. Shadow will always be here.
I turn my back on the incoming enemy again, and the spectacle of nearly fifty griffins backing me up fills me with a courage I could only trick myself into believing I had the last time I defeated one of these monsters. I refuse to let the Imago in the trees have time to launch themselves into an attack first.
“Shadow, cry!!”
Shadow, along with every griffin in the air and a few in the caves behind me, release an earsplitting, destructive attack. The air missiles create such a loud sonic boom that I am forced to cover my ears for fear that my ear drums may burst.
The cries collide with most of the Imago who are now flying through the sky toward the griffins on the ground. Much of the damage done from the catastrophic attack is felt by the ground and trees. The Imago’s body armor does an excellent job of protecting them by deflecting the attacks, but the sheer force of the attacks is also causing most of the Imago to be sent crashing to the ground.
I watch as one of the Imago that jumped farther than the rest uses its pincers to snatch a smaller, brown griffin out of the air. The Imago does not even wait for it to hit the ground before it dispatches its prey.
The sight of the young, helpless griffin being torn through by the razor-sharp pincer sends the rest of the griffins into a frenzy. The ones in the air aimlessly launch cries, while the ones on the ground charge the closest Imago to them. They swarm them with their superior numbers, attempting to do anything they can to slay these monsters.
I charge the nearest Imago, but I have to stop and dodge a stray cry that was fired in this Imago’s direction. With my Sica still in my hand, I use the back of a yellow griffin close to the Imago, who is firing a cry, to propel myself onto the back of the Imago. While I am climbing up its back, I get tossed off as the creature uses its barbed, dagger-like tail to impale a red griffin flying by.
“NO!!!” I shout as the griffin screams in agony.
The griffins below that have surrounded this Imago launch another set of cries, but as expected, the Imago uses its hunter green outer shell to protect itself
from the whirlwind of attacks. I take advantage of the Imago’s defensive position, and while it is coiled in on itself, I run along its spine.
The monster notices me and begins to rise into the air. When I get close enough to the head, I jump over the top of it so that I can launch a flurry of slashes with my blade at the demon’s eyes. I get nearly all of them before I fall out of range for my short blade.
The monster flails and screams in an unbearable high pitch, and as it tosses its large body around, it is unaware of the danger that is flying in from above.
“Shadow! Show them how to kill these things!” Shadow comes swooping in, creating a giant tornado as he barrel rolls into the blinded Imago. The creature is sent slamming onto the ground, leaving its soft underside exposed. Shadow quickly shoots three cries at the defenseless Imago, killing it as the monster is torn into three pieces.
Shadow flies past me and I take off running after him yelling, “Get me in the air!”
Shadow slows down, and I jump so that he can catch me on his back. From this elevation, I have a better vantage point of the battle waging below. There are at least six dead griffins lying lifeless on the soft grass, and unless our tactics change, there will be far more before this is over.
“Flying V!” I shout, desperation hanging in my words. Shadow roars and five griffins come up to join us. We fly in a V-formation as Shadow leads us directly for an Imago that is about to kill another griffin. “Get me close.” Shadow speeds up, leaving the rest of the griffins behind, and as we get close enough, I jump to my feet so that I am standing up on his back. “Do it.” Shadow spreads his wings out coming to a complete halt mid-air, and I take advantage of our momentum to propel myself at the Imago like a cannonball.
As I make contact with the steely outer shell, I thrust my Sica into the Imago’s throat, narrowly avoiding the snapping pincers. The force of my blow causes the monster to lose its balance, and just before he can right himself, Shadow and the other griffins slam into the Imago throwing him to the ground. Shadow roars and three griffins use their talons to pull the Imago onto its back, allowing the rest to shoot cries which deliver the killing blows.
