He woke up to something poking his leg. The all-too familiar weight of his vest, the back pads of his helmet, and the tight chinstrap served to inform him that he was still in full battle kit. Right, he remembered, I fell asleep while en route to camp. Something poked his leg again, the tip so sharp that he felt it through the ACU trousers.

“Fuck?” he mumbled questioningly, the heat and muffled effect letting him know that he had fallen asleep with his neck gator pulled over his nose and mouth. His eyes opened to the blurry vision of post sleep, the blinding sunlight causing him to shut them again. The sound of something moving in dirt reached his ears. A sleepy chuckle escaped his lips as he used gloved hands to rub the sleepiness from his eyes.

“The hell you guys doing?” he asked, opening his eyes and turning his head to the source of the noise.

He froze, his breath caught in his throat.

He didn't blink... and neither did they.

A handful of avian heads peered from behind a bush. Their heads were much too large for normal birds, their eyes too large for their heads. Their feathers were predominately of the gray scale but at least two had some feathers dyed a different color while another had red... paint on it's face. Their eyes widely varied in color from orange to blue. And...

Is that one wearing eye shadow?

Without breaking eye contact with the strange birds, he began to pull himself to a sitting position. As he did, the bird with the face paint let out a high-pitched screech, hovered up from the bush and began to fly right at the human. As he raised his hands to defend himself, he realized that he was not looking at a bird. No, birds weren't quadrupeds; nor did they have paws or lion tails.

“Gryphons!” he voiced in surprise as it hit him, literally. The Gryphon, claws leading, rammed into his chest... straight into the plate inside the vest. He heard the loud crack of it's beak and the cry of pain. Ignoring the fact that a Gryphon had tried to run him through with it's beak, he scrambled to his feet. The injured Gryphon fell to the ground, clutching it's beak as he backed away from the bush full of mythological creatures.

Squawking, noticeably more developed than the pained Gryphon whimpering on the forest floor, filtered into his ears. The Gryphons in the bush pried their eyes from their fallen friend to look toward the sound, their relief evident in their much too big eyes.

Gryphons. Cubs. Bush. Injured. Ground. Adults coming.

Fight or flight kicked in as he turned and sprinted away from the Gryphons. As he began his retreat, he heard the high pitch squawks of the cubs join the calls of the adults. he knew what they were: calls for help and protection. Protection, aka kill the offending creature, he thought as his boots dug for purchase and his muscles screamed with the sudden activity.

“Dad!” screamed one of the cubs as the group of adults burst into the clearing.

“Remus!” one of the Gryphons yelled as he sped over to the injured cub, cradling the young Gryphon in his claws, “Are you okay?”

“Hurts,” the cub groaned.

“What happened?” questioned Remus' father, a growl escaping with his words. A claw rested on the father's shoulder, drawing his attention just long enough to see who it was, “My child is hurt Marius!”

“So he is, but prodding him to speak will only hurt him more, Pratius,” Marius replied. Pratius looked back down at his son, the scowl on his beak giving way to a strained smile as he tried to calm his injured kin. Marius turned to the other cubs, who had gathered as a group a couple paces from the hurt Remus, looking on in worry.

“Cubs,” Marius began, softening his voice, “what happened?”

The eldest, a young Gryphoness named Nereida, stepped out of the group. Marius wasn't surprised that his daughter had been the one to step forth.

“We were just looking ahead of the group,” she began. Marius had already known this, but he stayed silent as she continued in the same breath, “When we entered this clearing, Arcadius spotted something laying in the dirt. It's coat was hidden underneath strange clothes and most of it's head was covered by a strange mask and helmet.”

Nereida paused to take a breath before continuing, “Arcadius walked up to it and poked it in the leg, thinking it was dead. It didn't stir, so Arcadius poked it again. It then rubbed it's eyes, mumbling in a strange language, and looked at us from where we... hid behind the bush. It stared at us for a bit before trying to raise itself.”

Another pause as the Gryphoness looked at Remus, who was now silent but still wept tears of pain and held his beak, “That was when Remus charged it. He tried to pierce it's chest with his beak but the thing's clothing must have been armored...”

Marius looked at the injured cub. His cracked beak would take weeks and many potions to heal properly. He then looked back at his daughter, “And what of the creature?”

Nereida pointed farther into the woods. Upon close inspection, Marius could see the footprints of a creature in flight. Though they seemed strangely spread out.

“It got up on it's hindlegs and ran away. I guess it heard you coming,” Nereida commented.

Marius looked back at his daughter, “On it's hindlegs? Like a Diamond Dog or Minotaur?”

Both Diamond Dogs and Minotaurs were known to sneak into this forest to capture unsuspecting Gryphons. Some of those captured would be killed on the spot for sport or food. Others would be taken to work as slaves. Though denounced and condemned by the corresponding species' governments, the events still occurred. Even Marius' mention of the creatures had put the rest of the hunting party on edge.

“No,” Nereida informed, shaking her head, “it was much too skinny and agile to be either.”

Marius let a sigh of relief slip from his beak before looking back at Pratius, “Pratius, take Remus and return to the village. Make sure they know of the creature and send letter to Lord Appius informing the same.” Pratius nodded as he took to the sky with his cub cradled in his forelegs. Marius turned back to Nereida, “Gather the other cubs and follow Pratius.”

“But father-”

“Now Nereida!”

Nereida stared at her father, her eyes burning with a desire. A desire, Marius guessed, to take revenge upon the creature for her friend. That desire, however, lost to his authority and, with a nod of the head, she took wing after Pratius, the cubs wordlessly following her.

“Now,” Marius began as he turned to the rest of the hunting party. Four Gryphons had followed him out to both hunt wild boar for the village and to help protect and teach the cubs. Now, they were going to help him bring down this creature, “let the hunt begin.”

Author's Notes:

Had an idea for a new story so I churned out this first chapter. Sorry to say, however, that updates will be sporadic at best.

Still, I thank you guys for reading and hope that you enjoy this new tale.