Moon

⭑ · · ᯓ 𐃈 ᯓ · · ⭑

“Damn it!”

Kite flubbed the wording on her incantation and was forced to start over from the beginning.

With a gargled cry, the monster erupted with bile from its chest-level vertical zipper mouth, spewing it on the ground in front of it. Using the flame atop its head, it set the waxy mixture ablaze with a swing of its neck, creating a ring of fire around itself. Its mask glowed with the light of flame.

Felix had begun to charge, but was forced to retreat as chunks of the flaming bile were thrown in his direction. He dodged via a roll, taking a rough tumble onto the snow and gravel.

Somehow, he knew he couldn’t block the chunks with his axe. For each time a glob touched anything remotely flammable, it stuck like glue, melting whatever it touched into a fine paste. It became clear what had happened to the hunters.

Trees went up like matchsticks, quickly covering the cliffside in red and orange. It was hell, and Felix’s head hurt with an image that reminded him of the scene before him. The feeling of his axe in his palms, the smell of smoke, and those awful visual motifs common with the Mad God’s thrall. This time, a mask.

“What’s a servant of the Mad God doing in a place like this?!” He held his head, wincing. His brother’s words echoed in the back of his mind.

“…The dangers on the western frontier remain, remnants of the Mad God’s forces…”

“But we’re far east. Does that mean remnants of madness exist all over the world?”

You were supposed to finish things, Hero.

Felix spoke to his past self internally without realizing it, like it was someone else’s life and responsibility. Without warning, fireballs approached from several directions at once. Fire wraiths had suddenly joined the party as well.

Felix nimbly dodged the first by jumping backward, but the second fireball was too close. He tried to repeat the same trick as before, swatting the fireball away, but he was met with an unexpected result.

“ACK—!” The fireball exploded against the flat of his axe, badly burning his hands, which still clutched the weapon, and launched him backwards into a tree with a splintering crash.

Kite changed her target as she finally reached a breakthrough in her spell.

“…Carry away all that stands before me, and leave nothing behind but open sky. Tempest!”

A violent wind picked up, pelting the fire wraiths with a combination of impossibly fast chunks of gravel and ice. Their wings were torn to shreds, their cores rendered useless by the damage. They fell where she struck them.

Meanwhile, Felix—hunched over in agony—tried to work out the pain brought on by leaving a dent in the tree with his own back. But something much more painful than that nagged at him.

“Why…”

Why am I getting weaker again?

Losing interest in Felix for the moment, the monster turned its attention to the injured griffon who remained on the ground, trying to lift itself to its feet.

“…Air Slash!” Wind sliced through the air, Kite’s latest spell striking the monster as it wound up to throw the bile at the griffon.

“How’d you like that, candlehead?!”

The glob slipped and landed on its own shoulder, enraging it after the burning finally stopped. It let out a guttural laugh, or that’s what it sounded like. The sound wiped away Kite’s toothy grin as it stomped towards her, preparing to flatten the harpy where she stood.

The hilt of his axe was hot to the touch, but Felix ripped it from the smoking embers of the ruined tree all the same. It had left its bowl of embers, which meant Felix had his window to charge before it was too late.

“No one should accept weakness. Least of all, you, Hero.”

You’re wrong, Crow… I haven’t accepted weakness. It stings… I hate it!

“ARRRRGH!” Felix, filled with newfound energy, buried his axe in the neck of the monster, not quite slashing through to the other side.

But there’s something I’ve always hated more. And that’s…

It was a surprise attack, and a decently well-executed one. Most creatures would perish after having their head half-rended from their torso. However…

“—!”

The candle-headed creature’s neck tissue regenerated around the axe’s blade, locking it in place. Its next move was to grab the one wielding it and slam him on the ground repeatedly with one hand until blood shot forth from his mouth.

…losing people close to me.

The monster, its bone-white mask bearing the same unchanging smile, wound up as far as it could and launched Felix over the injured griffon and off the side of the cliff into the unending mist.

“Felix!” Kite shouted in horror as her friend disappeared.

For a time, no one made a sound save for the low rumble of the monster that approached Kite with its open maw. She could try to run without wind magic, since a long incantation was out of the question, but she was out of tricks. For once, she couldn’t think of a way out.

Not by herself.

“Heh.” Her arms fell to her sides, her heart aching. “I’m not as much of a loner as I thought I was...”

As she cast her gaze downward, the monster came to stand in front of Kite, its salivating maw opening up to enjoy its next meal. Felix’s still-stuck axe served as a painful reminder of what she’d lost, and that was enough to sap her of her spirit.

However…

“Huh…?”

A feather that was not her own fell in front of Kite, as pure and white as snow.

It wasn’t just one, either. A veritable rain of white, glowing feathers fell from a cloudless sky. The waxy monster, too, seemed deeply disturbed by this turn of events, pausing its meal to look around.

And then the chime returned, as loud as it had been all day, and was followed by the sound of large wings flapping. Finally, a mighty cry rang out to announce the arrival of something previously unforeseen.

“SKREIGH!!”

Light returned to Kite’s eyes as she watched in wonder.

“…Kite!”

“It couldn’t be, Felix…?”

“Kite!!”

On the back of a pure white griffon, Felix rose above the cliffside. Light shone behind him like a divine painting, and coloring his beaten and bloody face was the strangest smile, like a little kid who had finally gotten the thing he wanted most.

“Felix!!” A genuine smile and tears came to Kite from the corners of her eyes. “You’re alive!”

The white griffon circled the cliffside platform, forming a vortex. As the wind passed through her plumage, it created the sound they’d been hearing, and added more feathers to the ones already hanging in the air.

Like needles, the pointy ends of the feathers shredded apart the monster as it got caught in the vortex, its body trying to keep up with regenerating itself.

“My axe!” Felix held out his hand, making eye contact with Kite.

The time for heartfelt reunions was over, and she understood what she had to do.

“Winds, gather at my call. Neither wall nor chain may bind you… Neither king nor god may command where you choose to roam…”

The white griffon’s vortex began to slow, and the monster spewed bile in an attempt to ground her and Felix. The latter kept his gaze fixed on his friend who prepared her spell. When the moment was just right, he’d prepare himself.

“Wrap yourself around my body. Make light my steps and swift my passage, until even the eye cannot follow…”

This ends here!

“Gale Step!”

Kite disappeared in a flash, a tan feather remaining where she stood. The boom came next, Felix’s axe ripping from the monster’s flesh at blinding speeds.

Kite used the last of her forward momentum to throw Felix’s impossibly heavy weapon up towards his waiting grasp. As his burnt hands closed around the hilt, Felix leapt off the back of the white griffon as it gained a bit of altitude.

“But when you showed me how it felt to stand up, and fight...”

Kite’s voice echoed as Felix tucked his body inward and swung. Like a living whirl of sharpened steel, he spun faster and faster still. He may have been weaker than before, maybe even disillusioned by the weight of expectations he once held.

“And for what it’s worth, I chose to follow you, Felix. Not the hero.”

Felix still didn't want to go back to being that man he couldn’t remember. He still wanted nothing more than to go home to his farm, but being ‘weak’ didn’t mean that he was helpless to the whims of the world around him... That he’d let the people he cares about come to harm on his watch.

What was it again?

“Next time, though, when you’re in danger…”

“HRAAAAAAGH!”

I’ll have to tell her sometime.

. . .

. . .

. . .

The axe buried itself in the cliff, cutting cleanly through the monster’s flaming head, the mask, and everything all the way down through its putrid body. Felix held the same intense expression as its death throes saw it shatter into dark particles and disappear into the wind.

“Whew…” He finally relaxed. “We did it.”

The oppressive atmosphere suddenly dissipated, bringing with it the island’s natural night state, the stars and the moon shining above. Though it remained cold, Kite could feel a weight lift from her. She decided to test whether her divine blessing worked again by barreling into an unsuspecting Felix, embracing him as she did.

“Felix…” Kite held on, burying her face in his chest.

“Kite…?” The man froze, unsure what to do next. “What’s the matter?”

“What’s the matter? You could’ve died, idiot!” She suddenly pushed away, wearing an angry expression. “And what’s that dumb grin for?!”

“Thank you, Kite.” Felix smiled, hurting everywhere. “For being worried about me.”

“Yeah?” Kite turned away, crossing her arms and sniffling. “I’m not worried; sorry it seemed that way to you…”

Felix reached out a hand to pat her on the head as she was turned the other way. However, he was interrupted by the ground shaking once when the white griffon grounded itself nearby. He followed with his eyes to the other griffon who still lay injured near the edge of the cliff.

The two griffons, white and brown, nuzzled each other warmly, squeaking in their native tongue. A warm smile came to settle at the corners of Felix’s mouth as he approached the two great magic beasts, holding out a hand to the one that had saved him.

“This is your family, isn’t it?” Felix asked while the white griffon stared back with its golden eyes. “Thank you for making it so that I can still get back to mine.”

“Skreigh!”

The white griffon cried out joyfully, stomping a taloned foot. Felix wordlessly began to heal her mate, but then he heard a whole host of squeaks underneath it, hiding in his plumage. One after another, they waddled out.

“Chicks…” Kite came up and knelt, equally amazed.

When the monster emerged from their cave, Felix had worried in the back of his mind that the nest had been destroyed, and any young were long gone. However, the male griffon had shielded them with his body, too injured to flee.

It was probably just moments from becoming food for the Mad God’s remnant, who had rampaged and thrown the magical ecosystem out of order as it was.

The chicks came right up to Felix, and after a nod to make sure it was okay with their mother, he held each of the fluffy things with a satisfied smile. They were all brown-feathered, like their dad. Felix held one up for Kite to see, who nodded and shrugged, exasperated.

“I guess there’s no way we could bring her back now, huh?”

Felix knew that it killed her to concede that. After all, they were giving up ten whole silvers, and after all the effort they’d expended to get there. Out of respect for his friend, that wasn’t just something he could shrug off like it didn’t matter. He placed a hand on Kite’s shoulder.

“She was following us the whole time, you know,” Felix said. “Must have been trying to warn us, even back before the fire wraiths attacked us on the bridge. I knew she was sweet. Pretty incredible with her magic too.”

“No kidding.” Kite agreed. “They say griffons were the first wind magic users, you know.”

“Really?”

“Yep.” She nodded once, studying the white griffon. “Zephyr, the god of wind and storms himself, was said to be a griffon, watching the world through the eyes of one of his children. But that’s all folklore and bedtime stories.”

Felix chuckled.

“I think it’s neat.”

“Maybe… Have you decided what you’re gonna call her yet?”

“What I’ll call her…?” Felix pondered whether it would be impolite to name a creature that was likely much older than he was, but he naturally found his gaze drifting upward. “How about ‘Moon’?”

This got the griffon in question’s attention as she turned her neck to study Felix and Kite, who both noticed.

“Moon?” Kite repeated. “Because she’s white?”

“Well, yes, but not just that...” Felix scratched his cheek, a little embarrassed. “She was up there watching us the whole time, just like the moon. I like to think that no matter what sky we’re looking at, no matter where we go, it’s up there somewhere. It connects us.”

“Moon…” Kite smiled. “It’s as good as any other name.”

Moon answered with a pleased trill and nudged Felix with her beak. Though maybe a bit too roughly given his sorry state. He rubbed his aching joints before a realization struck.

“So… how are we getting home?”

“Kreigh!” Moon, as if sensing their desire to leave, leaned down and flattened her white wings.

Felix passed Kite an almost giddy look, waiting to see what her reaction would be. Keeping in mind that they’d likely have to find a different stable or alley to rest in once they arrived, it was still hard for him to hide his excitement.

“Ah, what the heck.” Kite sighed lightly. “Let’s go home and get some sleep. We’ve got a day of more guild work waiting for us in the morning…”

“Hopefully something easy.”