The Acolyte Awakens The Fearsome Gryphon!

The sun sat high in the heavens, streaming down onto the wafting forest of orange and gold.

Hilda sat in silence, looking over the talisman one more time.
It did not give off a hostile aura that a demonic artifact might hold.
Contrary to the statue, it felt soothing to touch, and holding it put Hilda at peace.
The sensations made her feel like smiling… only it was a sad smile.
“I… never held it this long.”
In front of her was an impromptu seal on the hole composed of a clay base anchoring wood around a tin top, inlaid with sanctified runes.
Next to her was Avessi, along with a few strangers from the village that helped out.
Seeing Hilda’s efforts again, she couldn’t help but give a slow clap.
“You had this kind of talent hidden away?”
Such a compliment wouldn’t fluster Hilda.
Exhaustion would make her words come out less focused than she hoped.
“E-even the laymen and women are capable of this much…”
The acolyte panted.
Avessi’s expression darkened.
“Should we leave?”
“You better… before this blows up. You’ve been a big help all day. I didn’t think I’d be able to sleep…. Thanks for coming back.”
“I wanted to get my lightstone back, but… we’ll call it even if you can somehow stop that monster.”
Hilda smiled.
Before Avessi could ask, she explained.
“Thanks… For believing that I can do it.”
“I’ll still ask for aid.”
“Of course. If I can’t handle this, you might have to drop the lumber.”
“That’s… going to cost…”
“Then you should get moving.”
In the timespan, the overflowing energies caused the elderberries around them to erupt, blossoming and wilting too rapidly to fruit, twisting and gnarling as they constructed a vast forest of elder trees.
Some reached over forty meters tall.
Hilda knew she’d never reach two meters tall.
They cast a deep shadow over the shrine.
With this surge of power, they knew that this was a powerful site, with a powerful guardian.
None wanted to be the one to say that they would stay.
None except Hilda, who nobody ever asked.
“Then… before I go, I insist on giving you one thing.”
“What?”
“This pen of volcanic ash. I heard that your priests would often have it in exorcisms. I’d planned on selling it once I got closer to Church territory, but now…”
Avessi handed it over.
Hilda turned it around, inspecting it from each angle. It was a well crafted short, dark grey stick that smudged easily.
Already Hilda was regretting that she didn’t have gloves with her.
But she didn’t show that.
“…Do you need gloves? I saw your eye twitch when you touched it.”
Hilda was a long way away from being a master of deception.
In fact, she wasn’t sure if she’d ever manage it.
All of her luck was used up pretending to be someone she’d have never chosen.
“Sure.”
No sense in turning that down.
After handing it over, Avessi muttered under her breath.
“I looked up what I could about the guy in the mask… He’s said to be a fierce fighter. Used to be knight material. He was looking for something. Be careful.”
With that, Avessi and the other she gathered readied to retreat.
“Everything packed!”
“This lumber’s heavy miss.”
“That little girl’s staying behind?”
“She’s with the Church.”
“Ooo… a priestess?”
Their voices trailed off with the carriage.
When at last she was all by herself, with nobody around…
Hilda looked down at her shaking hands and laughed.
“As if… I’m barely an acolyte.”
This was the final day.
At some point, she knew one of the raindrop people would show up.
They would, probably, be able to stop this.
So then why was Hilda continuing to ready herself?
It was simple.
Despite the duty being tossed on her, Hilda was not going to flee.
No.
Throughout this time, she was ready to prove she had what it took to advance.
Before her, the makeshift seal was beginning to crack. The floor around it, the foundation of the shrine, was starting to collapse as the gryphon thrashed.
Hilda stepped outside of the shrine’s radius. The stream was completely covered by the gnarled roots.
A chill wind blew through, ruffling her fluffy pink hair.
It felt like the end of a long road.
But she held on tight to the talisman.
When she looked at it, the events of yesterday flitted upwards,.
“This talisman… is actually… seeking me out. It was never falling out because of the gryphon. It fell out because of me.”
Now she could keenly recall another memory that her dreams had sifted up.
One about her own insecurities.
It wasn’t like she’d say yes to everything.
But it was hard for her to say no to someone that truly needed it.
How it started… she wasn’t sure.
What she recalled was the kind face of that nun she confided in.
“It’s not a sin to help… Right.”
She smiled to herself, looking around one more time.
Though she stepped away from the shrine, Hilda kept working.
She walked around the edge, pushing the ash-pen around, forming a basic seal.
It wouldn’t hold for as long as the last one.
All she needed was a little more time.
That’s what Hilda was anticipating.
Then she heard a crack.
The roof collapsed.

And…

Then…

At last.

Large, strong, and broken to its core, glaring hatefully at Hilda.

The fearsome gryphon that caused so much distress was awakened!

Yet, as Hilda looked up at it, she gave a light chortle.

Though it was cruel, it looked so weak.
Nothing at all like the powerful creatures she’d heard of its kind, from the lowliest to the highest.

This one, weak and thin, reminded her of herself in some ways.
It had been by her side for a week, contained within a statue.
Now she was ready to bring it to an end.

From where this confidence sprung from was the sense of purpose she had as an acolyte.
The talisman in her hand felt warm in the crisp autumn breeze.

It prepared to charge at her. As it reached the edge of the shrine, it came to a stop.

“The… there’s actually a barrier there…”

Hilda was dumbfounded when she looked upon the golden light shielding her from the gryphon’s charge.

It looked at her through it, darkly.

Now was her final chance to bring it to an end.
If she failed…
Before she could finish that dark thought, she shouted.
“That would only mean I was unworthy of the Goddess’ love! You, gryphon, abandon your nature!”
At once, she held out the talisman. It glowed with a fierce, bright intensity.
Hilda could feel her vision flicker, as if it were using her as auxilllary power.
Moments after that she felt better.
A loop that felt intense, giving her greater strength.

Then, the gryphon spoke.
Not with its beak.
Words flowed as if through magic.

Hilda felt ready for this. This was the lynchpin of everything she knew, of that dream she had that day.

“And ye will know…”
Its voice was solemn, firm, and deeply obscured.

“I’ll know that we’re right!”
Hilda, who was but a normal girl, shouted firmly.

“Ye, thou know…”

“That this is why… Why it happened. This is why! We were both here because of this-“
At that instant she held the talisman high.
“-because of you!”

Something seemed to change in the gryphon.
Its initial savagery began to falter.
It began to rest on the ground - the rubble of the shrine’s roof, but still less aggressive.
From this angle, its size was more apparent.

“Shall ye kneel…”

“You’re trying to bully me, but I won’t flinch! Neither you nor I kneel to anyone else! Only our faith, only our guidance, in the Goddess that loves us!”

At first she felt like flinching when the gryphon charged.

But she held her ground.
All this time she was scared to see it.
Her heart was pumping loud enough to make her ears ring.

This was not close to the extent of its true strength.

The trees of the new Elderberry Grove shook violently, scattering leaves about them.

All the steps were in place for Hilda.
She’d constructed this ritual in haste, relying on a vague intuition and feeling from the talisman.

Now it was time to finish it all with a flourish.

“Know me as you know yourself, as we know each other!”

Then a spear of light, of faith and guidance, materialized before Hilda’s eyes.
It shot through the barrier, pierced through the Gryphon, and straight out the other side.

The gryphon’s beak went wide open.
Cracks began to appear in its body, even though it wasn’t a statue.
They crisscrossed over it again and again.
It was no use fighting it.
As soon as they covered the gryphon in its entirety, it was like the beast exploded into a cloud of light.

It must be said that under ordinary conditions, Hilda would be freaking out.
The plan that seemed to vaguely form itself in her head was suicide and made no sense.
Trap the beast after unleashing it, push through to it by persuading it of your mutual faith, and then you’d be able to use a divine miracle to subdue it…?
All of that sounded like a solution straight to suicide.

But now, having recalled all the faith she held, Hilda did not fret. She did not worry.
Those of the raindrop people who seemed to seek their revenge… That could wait.

As the cloud of light disappeared, taking the barrier away with it, Hilda finally saw the gryphon sit down eye-level, face-to-face with her.

There was nothing to fear.
Snow-white feathers.
Golden fur.
A glowing aura of power above its head.
This gryphon was a true messenger.

“Ye have lifted the seal that cursed me and drove me mad, withering away all of my strength until almost nothing was left. Now we shall pledge the seal. Show that you have the justice for our future.”

“I, Hilda Pantalea, pledge.”
Not even she knew why she was speaking at that moment. It simply felt right to do.

“Good. Walk in hand with good, not evil.”

With a grand screech that seemed to echo throughout the forest, the gryphon glowed bright… then faded away.

But Hilda didn’t feel sad, for some reason.
Because she knew it was not truly gone.
This was the strength of a bond between a messenger and a servant of the Goddess.
It was now like a part of her soul.

Now it would… Actually, she would… always be a part of her, whatever they faced.
The talisman, no longer fit for purpose, its power exhausted, crumbled into ash.

Faced with the wreckage of this horrific gamble, shrine and all, Hilda took a deep breath and exhaled.

Before she could turn to leave, the masked hunchback man appeared.
Somehow, he seemed much frailer than before.
Before she could speak, he collapsed to the ground, looking up at her.

“Y-You…”

The hunchback man bowed at once.

“It is my honor to witness the Herald of the Gryphon awaken. Thank you, maiden, for being the one to carry on her will.”

“…Ehhh!?”