Kyra whipped around, eyes widening as she saw the oncoming threat. “Shit,” she muttered, running back toward him and pushing past, “I’ll deal with them, you just run. Get to the mosque and go through, and for heaven’s sake remember to close the door behind you!”
Grant hesitated for a second, fear and guilt warring as he thought he shouldn’t just leave her by herself - until he saw her eyes as she brushed by him. The brown had already begun to fade, the bright blue he had seen when she cast the protection spell leaking through. He gulped and raced down the stairs, rounding a bend in the staircase ahead and looking back up at Kyra. The gryphons were only a few hundred metres out at this point, and he could now hear the piercing screeches as they prepared to attack. There were three of them, majestic-looking creatures, each the size of a large van. He stared in fascination, spellbound by the sight, despite the fact that their intentions were clearly hostile. They looked almost exactly as he had seen them drawn in his old childhood book of mythical creatures - a beautiful white feathered head, tipped with a vicious curved beak, morphing to dark brown, speckled plumage on the wings and upper body. The two front claws looked awkwardly misshapen, with talons far bigger than they should have been. The connection to a lion’s rear legs, however, wasn’t at all how he had imagined it. Instead of a simple or elegant transition, it looked more like some demented doctor had stitched the two halves together. A ring of pink lumpy scars circled the beast’s midsections, marring what would otherwise be a beautiful animal and giving them a far more menacing, malformed look.
Kyra stood above him facing the oncoming beasts, perfectly calm and still, sword sheathed at her side and ribbons swirling in the air around her. He blinked, looking at the ribbons again. As close to the cliff face as they were, they were completely sheltered from the bitter wind that swept the plateau above, yet her ribbons were beginning to twirl and dance in the air, faster and faster, even as her hair remained perfectly still and undisturbed. Despite her instructions to run, he decided it would be prudent to wait where he was, with Kyra between him and the oncoming threat, as continuing to descend would place him more directly in the path of the beasts now that the staircase had curved around. Although if he was honest with himself, part of the reason he wanted to stay was the feeling of excitement rising through him at the thought of seeing more magic up close.
The three gryphons let out a final high-pitched shriek, tucked their wings by their sides and swooped down at Kyra, diving far faster and more gracefully than their awkwardly constructed body should be able to. She waited until the final second, just as the gryphons spread their wings again and held out their claws and talons, ready to rip into her, until she ducked down and flung her arms out. Three of the ribbons whirling around her hair suddenly lashed out, one heading towards each of the gryphons. Grant could see that the ribbons weren’t actually stretching or elongating, but rather unreeling as though the ties around her hair were an endless spool of material. They whipped through the air faster than Grant could process, but not fast enough to catch the gryphon on the right, which flapped its wings in a panic, talons slicing through the air and shredding the ribbon before it could reach its body. The other two, however, found their wings suddenly wrapped tight to their body as the ribbons wound around their midsection, pulling tight and leaving them struggling to move. Kyra flicked her hand to the side and the two gryphons were flung into the side of the cliff, still cocooned and helpless as they screeched in pain from the impact, shards of rock chipping off and flying through the air.
The third one righted itself and hesitated, head flickering between the ribbons holding its friends and the woman who was controlling them. Coming to a decision, it flapped its wings and launched itself at the ribbons attached to its companions, talons ripping through them effortlessly where they floated above the stairs. As the ribbons were cut and the wrappings around her victims began to loosen, Kyra jumped forward, arcing through the air further and faster than any human should have been able to. She flew the 20 metres to the third gryphon in the blink of an eye, and as she passed it she brought her closed fist around in a wide arc aimed at the gryphon’s jaw, just past its beak. As she swung her arm, the ribbons around her wrist sprung to life, stiffening like steel and arranging themselves like a fan on the side of her wrist closest to the creature’s neck. There was a sickening crunch as her fist collided, and the front of the gryphon’s face exploded in a burst of bright yellow blood and white bone. The fanned ribbons connected an instant later, slicing through the beast’s neck, severing the remains of the head completely and sending it hurtling through the air. The lifeless body plummeted, hitting the guard rail a few metres below and bouncing off, tumbling through the air towards the bottom of the valley. As Kyra hurtled through the air, moving far above the stairs and looking like she was going to soar off into the void, the ribbons around her ankles darted out and wrapped themselves around the staircase below her before tightening and pulling, redirecting her into the metal steps. She landed with a grunt, grabbing the rail with her bloodied hand and steadying herself.
The two remaining enemies squawked loudly at the sight of their fallen comrade, spreading and flapping their wings as they freed themselves of their now-loose bonds. Moving awkwardly through the air, they began to circle above Kyra cautiously, still squawking and screeching at her loudly. As they did, however, a wind suddenly blew from behind Grant, oddly warm despite the freezing chill he had experienced on the plateau. The gryphon's heads suddenly turned sharply to focus on Grant waiting further down the stairs, his mouth open in shock at the brutal display of violence. The gryphon furthest from him let out another piercing shriek before diving towards Kyra once more, while the one closest to him took advantage of the distraction, whirling around and swooping down at him. Kyra whipped around as they made their move, hand sweeping down to her side. The sheath holding her sword, which Grant now realised was made of more interlocking ribbons, unfurled itself and pushed the sword into her waiting palm. With a flick of her wrist, she sent the blade hurtling through the air towards the beast flying toward Grant, before turning back to face her oncoming foe.
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At the last minute before its talons could slice her open, she jumped over the railing towards the cliff, the gryphon sweeping through the empty space she left. As she moved, more ribbons stiffened and lashed out, slicing through its belly, carving deep furrows along its underside and covering the walkway with yellow pools of blood and grey, wrinkled guts. Kyra slammed into the side of the cliff, the ribbons around her wrist forming themselves into hooks and piercing into the rocky face, stiffening and holding her in place. She turned slightly, angled herself towards the gryphon charging Grant and leapt once more.
The sword she had thrown a few moments earlier turned end over end before burying itself deep in the third gryphon’s back, just above the seam between animals, the force of the throw causing it to tumble out of the air and fall on the staircase, a dozen metres before Grant would have been sliced to pieces by its razor-sharp, wicked-looking talons.
Deep as the wound was, the gryphon was merely injured, and it struggled to its feet and glared at Grant with bright yellow eagle eyes, seemingly ignoring Kyra entirely despite the sword wedged in its back. But before it could take another step, Kyra’s leap had brought her through the air to land square on the beast’s back. Planting her legs along its spine, she reached down and grabbed her sword, twisting it viciously, causing the gryphon to rear and scream in pain and making her legs fall out from under her. Now dangling from its back by her grip around the sword’s hilt, Kyra held out her other hand towards the staircase and the ribbons around her ankles whipped forward once more to wrap around the thin metal stairs. She made a fist and the ribbons tightened and pulled as they had before, pulling her down to the floor and bringing the sword she was holding sweeping across the rearing creature’s back before she ripped it out, splitting the beast open. Its eyes glazed over slowly as it fell on its side, arms and legs spasming in the air, blood overflowing the steps and pouring towards the ground.
Kyra flicked her sword forcefully to the side, yellow blood splattering into the air, before simply releasing it in midair. The ribbons of her sheath darted forward and grabbed it out of the air, pulling it back to her side and closing around it. Sprinting down the stairs towards Grant, she grabbed his arm and began pushing him down the stairs.
“What are you doing? I told you to run!” she snapped, the unnatural strength she had shown in the fight now being used to push Grant along.
“What are you talking about?” Grant asked, stumbling, “They didn’t even touch you! That was amazing and incredible and… very, very brutal.” His face paled slightly as he looked at the mutilated corpses lying on the stairs above him, and he became fairly certain that were it not for the fact their blood was yellow instead of red, he may well have thrown up by now.
“Those ones didn’t, yes,” she said grimly, “But more will come. Gryphons are like bees, killing one will just bring the whole pack down on you. They shouldn’t even be here, let alone attacking us - they usually know better than that. Something must have spooked them, which is yet another reason we need to get to the fucking door, now!”
They took the stairs as quickly as they could, Kyra taking them three or four at a time, moving with far more grace and ease than Grant. She soon raced ahead of him and reached the ground a full minute before he did. By the time he caught up, she was scanning the skies, looking for any trace of movement. As he reached her side, she pointed up to the west. “There.”
Grant looked where she pointed and his pulse began to race as he saw a swarm of at least two dozen gryphons converging on them, including two massive ones that looked to be almost three times as big as the rest. Far distant screeches began to fill the air, and Grant could sense the rage and hostility in them.
“Come on,” Kyra said, taking his hand and sprinting towards the mosque.
They raced across the small, snow-dappled expanse, Grant again moving far slower than Kyra, even with the heavy hiking bag bouncing on her back. Kyra soon released his hand and raced ahead. As she reached the door, the gryphons began to close in, the swarm tucking their wings in an identical synchronised motion and beginning their dive towards them. Kyra grabbed the handle and flung the door open, beckoning Grant through.
“Come on, come on,” she yelled over the high-pitched battle cries now filling the air. Grant stumbled his way towards the door, fear giving him speed but also making his limbs shake with terror. His slippers were far from ideal footwear for sprinting, and they flew off as he ran, but he ignored them and kept running as fast as he could. Through the door he could see what looked to be a suburban sprawl, dozens of houses arranged in a neat row facing him. It was dusk on the other side, and a single streetlight pierced the gloom, calling him in and giving him a last burst of energy. He dove through the door just before Kyra let out a cry and swung herself through, slamming it shut behind them and leaving the gryphons scrabbling uselessly at the wood.