Prologue

Skywing flapped his broad wings against the cold night air that drifted all around him. The snow colored, black striped gryphon angled his wings as his keen amber eyes caught sight of the goal he had to accomplish during this pitch-black evening. Among the darkened trees of the forest was the collection of lights that signaled to the party of mortals that someone was watching out for them. They were like spotlights among the darkness that seemed to get worse with every moment they remained within the Forest of Despair. A terrible name for a terrible place, to be sure. A location where no soul could thread, unless they were given permission by the forest’s mysterious ruler. Skywing had heard the rumors, of course. All the gryphons in his flock had, only he never thought his wings would take him to this dreadful place. Not before this night.

For when the king himself asked you to protect him, no matter the rank, no matter the pride, no matter the wealth…you had no other option but to obey.

The gryphon tilted his wings downwards, following the currents that moved beneath his feathers until he was gliding towards the ground that stretched below his limbs. Onyx claws protruded from the tips, sharpened for deadly purpose. Skywing might have not been a dragon, blessed with an armored hide or a fierce breath weapon, but he was more than capable of fending for himself.

The gryphon glanced to his left and right, more as a reminder to himself that his flight mates were still around. To his left flew a female gryphon going by the name of Cetaz. Her feathers were an earthen brown, tipped with bright reds that were very pleasing to the eye. Her stern gaze was one of determination, as she spoke not a word the entire time they had been keeping watch. Skywing figured that was her way of keeping her calm. To his right was another snowy white gryphon. Although Skywing's fur and feathers had the stripes of a tiger on them, this other gryphon had spots very much like a cheetah. His radiant blue eyes kept scanning the ground below, following each of the mortal soldiers that walked the earth. His name was Petat, and since he was always worried and watchful, he made the perfect spotter. Skywing looked to his own fur, where leathers covered up the vital areas like his chest. Painted in gold, there was the great rampant gryphon of Lumara, its inspiring presence potent enough to spread a smirk over the gryphon’s black beak.

Skywing back-winged as he led his flight through an opening in the twisted dark branches of the ominous forest. He tried to not pay the gnarled wood any mind as he landed softly among a collection of ten mortal knights, all of different races, clad in full plate armor. They had shields with golden gryphons slung around their backs, swords stowed in scabbards of worn leather made from cured hide, and crossbows that were adorned with runes and metal vents. From each one of these weapons came a dull resonating hum that always caused the gryphon’s ears to splay and twitch. Skywing grumbled under his breath as humans, elves, and dwarves eagerly told him how they could not hear the noise that plagued him so. He strode past a few of the knights, who seemed to pay him no mind as a lone wind rustled their earth-brown tabards. Those too bore the familiar golden gryphon present in every banner, shield, or armor made in Lumara.

Skywing tucked his wings to his sides as he proudly puffed out his chest and scanned the tree line for any movement. His ears perked up when he heard the twin sounds of his flight mates taking position around him.

“Keep your eyes peeled.” He said calmly to his fellow gryphons. With a swish of his tiger tail, he strode over to the man that led this expedition, for this entire operation relied on protecting the most valuable person in all of Lumara. They were here to protect its king, Cornelius. With a slight chirp, the white gryphon dropped to a bow before the onyx haired man, who was clad in dark red leathers that had pictures of golden gryphons stitched into the edges. His warm eyes looked to the gryphon with fondness, and in a few moments a smile came to his face.

“Your majesty. The skies are clear. It appears as though the seer had not sent anything in the way of ambushers to surprise us.”

“I am grateful for your service, Skywing. Your loyalty to the crown shall not go unnoticed.” Cornelius spoke softly. “You may rise now, friend. This forest cares not about our rank. Under its dark canopy, we are all of the same flock.”

The king paused for a moment, closing his eyes. “Listen to the murmur of the trees. Breathe from this chilly air. Do you feel it? The hint of darkness that plagues this place? It’s almost like a shroud, wrapping its tendrils tighter around us the more we linger here.” Cornelius shivered slightly. “Let us meet with the Emerald Lady and be done with this mission before the shadows claim us all.”

Skywing rose up to all fours and offered the king a nod of acknowledgment. He had remembered the conversation earlier as they spoke of this plan. This…entity they were here to see called itself the Emerald Lady. Of course, nobody really knew what she was. Some said an immortal sorceress. Others whispered of something a lot more grotesque.

Skywing merely knew her as the ruler of this forest, a position she held for many, many years, going further back than the current king or his great, great, great, grandfather. She had apparently helped the crown in the past by offering whispers of the future or knowledge of power.

Such knowledge made the gryphon uneasy, filling his paws with doubt at what could be waiting for them. He hardly knew of creatures that could live this long. All of the ideas that came to mind were growing more devilish by the minute, with the worst of them taking the form of a great dragon, or a horrible blood sucking Vampire. It was she that had requested the king come to her forest by night, with only two guards at his side.

The same idea that made Skywing scoff in the face of such ridiculous request. He thought back to earlier that day, when he shared a piece of his mind with Cornelius.

“Two guards?” he had said with a few squawks and a click of his beak. “Does she think you struck by madness? If I may speak plainly, sire, she insults you by spewing such a ridiculous request. Deny her your visit.”

The king had just held his tongue and listened to the gryphon’s words with a series of quick nods. “You are right, my loyal gryphon. It is a most.... unusual request, that I should only bring two of my guards in a place of such peril...However, I have no need to remind you who stands to gain most from this audience.”

“Surely you will bring more guards then!” Skywing had squawked out in surprise. The thought of this seer somehow disposing of his beloved king made his heart turn cold. “Promise me you will bring a greater-”

The king had held up his hand and silenced him. “I shall. Of course I will. I am growing old, not stupid. I want you to accompany me to the forest of despair...Bring your other wing-mates. They will be most valuable at spotting any danger from afar.”

“I don't see anything.” Petat said nervously. His voice pulled Skywing's attention back to the present, and away from the ever-watchful king.

He padded carefully over to the rest of the group as they continued to their intended destination at a snail’s pace. Normally, he would have complained about the inadequate speed. Skywing was always one to get a job done quickly and efficiently. To have to wait now sent an itch through his bones that made him twitch in irritation. “Take heart, Petat.” He said with a courageous voice, walking past the other gryphon with a graceful stride. He noticed that some of the knights had even removed their helmets to lend him their ears. “We are here only for a simple conversation with the ruler of this forest. I am sure we will be fine as long as things remain peaceful between us.”

He watched the others start to relax. The steel-like grip on their weapons loosened for a moment before they returned to sweep the dark trees with their lights attached to their crossbows. With a sigh, Skywing strode next to his wing-mates, and joined the others in their watch.

They continued along the path that carved its way through the cluster of sinister looking trees. The way the bark curled and twisted made it look like there were hundreds of eyes watching them as they slowly made their deeper into the tenebrous forest. Skywing looked to the ground, scratching the dirt with one of his talons. This dirt thing made him feel uneasy. He could not shake the feeling of nervousness about this path that dwelled within this un-tamed area of the forest. It just seemed too convenient.

“Well, well, well.” A deep, loud, amused voice seemed to radiate from every direction of the woods.

All the soldiers suddenly stopped with the sound of clinking metal, raising their weapons to point them nervously at different sections of the forest. Several of the men whispered questions as to where the voice was coming from, who it was, and how to defend against malevolent charms if this was indeed a sorceress.

Skywing tensed his own body up, kneading the ground with his claws. He readied his wings for flight in case he needed to jump out of the way of anything that came his way, his eyes looking to the canopy above. How he wished to be in the sky right now, instead of a captive on the ground. It made him feel so trapped, especially in this moment where disembodied voices rang around him.

“I believe I only allowed you TWO guards, little human.” The voice continued, ending with a chuckle. There was suddenly a rustling from a nearby bush that drew the fire of several crossbows.

They lit the area with great red pulses of magical energy, impacting the small poor bush that was incinerated in moments from the combined fire, until the king held up his hands and shouted at them.

“Cease your firing, you silly monkeys! Have we become so paranoid that we attack bushes now? We risk setting this whole forest ablaze. Weapons down. All of you!”

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“Wise words. You are all so unnecessarily nervous around these trees. What can they do to you? Uproot and crush your feeble forms under their roots?” The voice chuckled again. “Now, human king, riddle me this. Why did you bring more guards than I gave you permission to?” The voice started to sound aggressive, as it punctuated its words with a growl. “You requested this meeting, and now dare to insult me? This lack of manners might prove more damaging than you believe.”

“No!” Cornelius replied, turning his head from side to side. It seemed he was unsure where to direct his voice. “I do not seek to insult you, but to protect myself. You wanted to meet me in the dark woods with only two guards?” The king crossed his arms and wrinkled his brow. “What if I was ambushed by thugs or bloodthirsty creatures? I am a wanted man by those who seek vengeance against my kingdom. There are millions of things that could have denied this meeting.”

“Accidents are not likely to happen in MY forest, human. I think you are all in need of a lesson on what happens when you disrespect your betters.”

Skywing felt his blood run cold. He backed into a circle formation with his wing-mates. The soldiers around them started to do the same thing, the hum of their nervous chatter only adding to the rising anxiety.

“Do you see anything?” asked a female knight, her crossbow held tight.

“Nothing yet. Keep ya eyes peeled.” replied a shorter armored clad warrior that sounded like a dwarf.

“There!” Another person yelled out, firing their crossbow repeatedly. Their red shots illuminated the dark trees around their intended target, which appeared to be a slithering pile of green snakes.

The collected knights let out cries as they suddenly fired into the tree line. Those green snakes were revealed to be vines of all sizes that shot from the forest like arrows. They slithered along the ground, avoiding most of the energy bolts before finding two of the knights. The vines suddenly wrapped around their legs, quickly binding them together as the two let out cries of terror.

“Save them!” Skywing bounded towards the two knights as the others were too busy trying to hold off more of the vines that attacked them from all directions. Skywing dove after the knights that were being dragged along the ground by the green slithering vines. He lashed out with one of his claws and managed to separate one knight from their attacker. The other one was not so lucky. They were dragged into the depths of the forest, screaming for dear life, and in a few moments, dark, chilling silence.

“Bless ya, gryphon!” The female knight replied swiftly, her voice full of gratitude. She pushed herself up, and pulled out her sword. “Looks like this might be the better option in here.”

Skywing nodded, looking around to see if anyone else needed his help. His eyes widened as it appeared anyone meant everybody. He bound from knight to knight with the learned agility he nurtured over many years of sprints and grueling exercises. Always pushing himself to the limit. Always striving to be better, to do more. His talons tasted many vines, freeing knight after knight from the grasping vines intent on dragging them to their doom.

“Take that!” He cheered out, slashing another vine in two.

“Hail Skywing!” A knight shouted. “The very gods blessed ya feathers when dey gave you yer wings! I owe ye a drink, mate!'

“Maybe more than that!” Skywing screeched, ripping another vine in two. It looked like with the help from the gryphon squad, the vines had stopped their advance on the collection of mortal knights. In the confusion, only three of the knights had been dragged off into the woods. Thankfully, the king was still within the center of their formation. He had pulled out a small version of the energy crossbow, one that could be held with only one hand so he could pour some of his own shots into the clusters of vines.

“You continue to struggle against the inevitable, little rabbits. You have entered MY forest without my permission. What is the punishment for such insolent trespassing, I wonder?”

Suddenly, the ground opened up beneath Petat like a vast, grotesque mouth. The gryphon and the two knights he was protecting fell into the pit with a collected groan of pain.

“Petat!” Skywing screeched, turning to his wing-mate. He bound to them with a push of his mighty hinds. However, the ground closed almost instantly, silencing the terrified screams and screeches of the victims. “PETAT!” Skywing shrieked out, his claws digging into the ground, as if all he had to do was remove the top, and they would still be there. Scared of course, but still there. However, it soon became apparent there was still tons of gravel in the way and absolutely no sign of his fellow soldiers.

“Wh-what in the blazes happened? The ground can open up now?” Screamed one of the knights, crossing his sword with a vine.

“Anton, watch out!” screamed another female, moments before a large vine sprouted from the ground, wrapped around her armored body, and with a violent yank, pulled the knight into the tenebrous depths of the menacing dark forest.

Skywing ripped several more vines in two, even slicing one that had wrapped itself around his hind leg before it could tug on him.

“Your highness, we have to leave!” The gryphon screeched out, bounding over towards the king who had a look of horror on his usually cheerful face. Skywing did not wait for his words, simply wrapping his scaly forelimbs around the king. “Sorry about this, your majesty.” He opened up his wings and readied himself to fly, trying to push back the wailing cries of the other knights that were being picked off one by one. He knew the battle was lost. All that mattered now was getting the king to safety. All of their lives -even his own- were less important compared to the great and wise king of Lumara.

Skywing jumped into the air, feeling a dagger plunge into his heart as he heard the screech of Cetaz erupt into his sensitive ears. It was full of pain, fury, even a bit of fear.

He looked down to see that the female had attempted to leap after him. She had even grabbed two knights with her talons to save them from the encroaching vines. However, the brave gryphon had only managed to get several feet into the air before vines grabbed hold of her hinds.

“No. No! Skraaaawk!” The female gryphon desperately pounded her wings against the air to no avail as the vines slowly pulled her closer and closer to the ground. “NO! Rawwkaaaaak!” She screamed out, before eventually being pulled into the forest with another screech of fear.

Skywing looked away again. “Don't worry, sire. I got you. At least we’ll get out of this mess…together.” He beat his wings against the air, carrying them to the canopy when, much to his horror, he felt the same wicked vines latch around his hinds, tighten around his limbs, and yank him down violently. NO! He pounded his wings against the air, unable to slash at the vines while he clutched the king within his grasp. NO! He internally screamed once more, as with each flap, he was pulled closer and closer to the forest below. His mind dreaded to think of what awaited him past the tree line, but it appeared as though he was going to find out soon enough.

“We surrender!” Cornelius shouted out. Skywing crashed into the ground, pain flaring up in his side. “We surrender!” the king screamed again. Skywing was dragged against the ground by clusters of vines.

“An expected result, tiny human.” The voice chuckled. The vines released Skywing much to the gryphon’s relief.

Skywing groaned, letting the king fall from his grasp as he pushed himself to all fours. His eyes glanced around to the empty clearing, where moments ago, a whole squad of guards had stood vigilant. He narrowed his eyes as he felt his blood begin to boil, and his breathing quicken. If he ever got a chance to tear into the source of that voice, he would gladly introduce them to his claws. With a flick of his tail, the gryphon refolded his wings behind his back and turned his attention back to the present.

“Now bow before your better.... brave king. Cement your defeat with something stronger than words. Show me how much you want to preserve your life, at that of your gryphon.” The voice said that last part in a laugh, almost like the very word was laughable.

Skywing looked over to his king. Surely Cornelius would ignore this voice. He would stand tall and defy their wishes. However, to his amazement, the king immediately went down onto one knee with his head held low.

“Submit. It is…the only way,” Cornelius looked over to the gryphon, his eyes hollow, his voice, defeated.

The gryphon lowered himself to the ground and pressed his beak against the same earth that stole so many of his squad…companions…even friends.

“Very good.” the voice said. Skywing noticed a large green scaled limb step into the clearing. “Keep your eyes down, gryphon.” the voice focused on him, and he felt his blood run cold. “You would not want me to consider this an act of defiance so shortly after you cast down your pride at my feet.”

Skywing lowered his eyes as the owner of the voice walked past them. They were large, at least three times the size of Skywing himself. He could make out the emerald green scales strewn over the creature’s hide, and the large winding tail that swished behind the imposing body. His eyes widened as he realized he was looking at the long form of none other than a dragon.

“It pleases me to see reason finally dawn upon your primitive mind. Tell me, wise king, why you wished this meeting with me. For now, you have my undivided attention.”

The dragon flicked their tail so that the webbed spines slid across Skywing's beak. He could have snapped at it, offered one last bit of resistance against this towering beast. However, he found his body unable to respond, as if his mind, his instincts, the very core of his being surrendered completely to this dragon.

“We came to find the red dragon you spoke of in prophecy.” Cornelius blurted out. “We have searched high and low within the borders of our nation, yet managed to grasp no sign of them. I fear that, without your help, this herald you speak of will come, and we will find ourselves pinned under the weight of this threat before we even get the chance to retaliate.”

“Oh, you speak of that.” The dragon chuckled, settling down onto their haunches, as if they wanted to make sure the black onyx talons on their hinds were pressed right up against Skywing's beak.

Such a humiliating thing to endure. Skywing kept his eyes closed, if only to numb part of the shame that coursed beneath his feathers.

“Oh, my sweet, little gryphon…do you not like the curves of my claws settled so close to your beak?” The dragon lowered their head so that Skywing could see their lighter green frills twitch in anticipation at his response. Their glowing purple eyes made his feathers stand out in terror, and the dragon opened their maw in a tooth filled smile of glistening white fangs. “I could make you lick my talons right now if I wanted to.”

Skywing offered no response, causing the dragon to chuckle deep in their throat. He just lowered his eyes and let them gloat; let them win this already failed battle in order to fight another day.

“That's right, little gryphon.” The dragon snapped their snout to Cornelius once again. “You will need the red orb of dragon kind.” It spoke clearly, and Skywing thought the voice sounded feminine for a moment.

“And where is this red orb you speak of?” Cornelius asked. “More importantly, will it help us find this herald that threatens the future of my people?”

“The red orb will help you locate the dragon, human, but it will not remove the threat on its own. Use your wits for once. Despite you being a lesser being, I know you possess some measure of wisdom, otherwise your armored form would not be gracing the throne of your kingdom.” The dragon looked up to the trees, almost like it was looking at something they could not see. “As for the orb…it will soon be found by a wizard called Vargus, located to the west in Lumarian lands, past the dragon neck mountains. There will be a temple close to his house that resides near the hovel you call Gladenhill.”

“That…that is excellent news!” the king’s eyes brightened. “I shall send a group of knights to retrieve it at once!”

“NO!” The dragon snapped their maw inches from the king’s head, causing the man to let out a small whimper. “You will send a group of knights two weeks from now to find it, and I shall make a request of you, wise, powerful king.”

“Why two weeks? And what is this request you speak of?” Cornelius asked, not raising his head for an instance as he continued to shiver.

Skywing heard the dragoness give a loud, drawn out sigh as she tapped her tail on the earth softly. “You will mind my words, or the retrieval of this item will be at risk of failure. My request is that you place the human dragon hunter Arcturus Lund at the head of your squad.”

“Arcturus Lund?” The king's voice filled with surprise. “He is an excellent knight on the field of battle, to be sure. But why send him?”

“Because this is the best way for the plan to succeed, puny human. Now rise, take your gryphon before his spine starts to bend from all this kneeling, and leave my forest before I decide to amuse myself further. Now BEGONE!” The dragon roared into the night, shaking the very trees and making Skywing's limbs shiver.

Despite his fear, he found himself able to rise to all fours. “What…what about the other guards?”

“They are mine now, gryphon.” The dragon whirled around, placing their snout close to his head. “Consider them payment for breaking our initial agreement. And if your friends refuse to be mine, I will use them as stone statues around my forest to deter anyone else from making the same mistake.” The dragon bared its teeth at him with a growl, making the gryphon feel ever the smaller. “Now begone from my presence. I will only tolerate your insolence for so long.”

Skywing gulped, nodded, and turned back to the king, who was waving him over silently. He turned back to the grinning dragon and cursed himself. To think that lone beast had disposed of his squad so easily…

The gryphon flicked his tail and padded his way over to the king, where he wrapped a wing around the human’s shivering form.

“Come on, Skywing. The night’s getting colder. Take me away from this place before my boots stick to the ground.” Cornelius said softly.

“Right away, your majesty.” The gryphon touched the ground with his belly to allow the king to settle upon his back.

With a spreading of his wings, the gryphon bounded into the sky, not even looking back towards the smug looking dragon that watched their departure. He hoped that, one day, he would get a chance to strike back at this monster. To avenge the sacrifice of his fellow soldiers, and if they survived, rescue them from this forest’s accursed grasp.