[M] The Beast of Ophela (Holey & Lu321)

The knight listened as the princess spoke of her family situation, giving an occasional nod to show that he was paying attention. "I see... well, formal or not, a princess would never be taught how to rule most human kingdoms... that's for sure. Most of them don't even allow daughters to inherit... if a king dies without a son, the line of succession typically goes to the closest male relative. So in a sense, your kingdom is quite different from the surrounding humans."

As he continued to hold the princess as close as it seemed she would let him, the knight noted how peaceful the night seemed. Too peaceful, in fact... a sign that they were getting close to the beast's territory as the sound of wild animals dimmed. In the woods, silence meant death, so he would need to keep his eyes and ears open for whatever the killer was.

"Oh were they?" he remarked. "Hm, but aren't you older than the Empire? I heard that whenever I see an elf girl, I should multiply how old she looks by five or so to get her actual age, since you live so much longer than humans." Though he was more curious about her, he was somewhat surprised when she asked him another question about himself. "You know... no one ever really asks me that sort of thing," he remarked. "I don't really have a family of my own. Technically, I've been adopted into the Imperial Family, but I can't exactly think of myself as a prince, and since the Emperor is basically immortal, there's no chance of any members of the Imperial family ever inheriting his throne. It's mostly a way of granting us some kind of claim to nobility in order to distinguish us from commoners, which are viewed as rabble and cattle by so many kingdoms. I don't really visit any family, though... my life was basically devoted to questing until I became a glorified palace guard."

"I suppose that is true. I have no doubt my father would have done that if it weren't for the legend. They say that long ago there was a wizard who blessed the king. They say that he promised that as long as his decendants sat on the throne, the kingdome would prosper. It was always expected that once I married, my husband and I would be the heirs to the throne to honor that legend, true or not." Talia smiled, remembering how facinated she had been when she had first heard the tale.

She noticed how quiet it was getting around them, which was strange seeing as to how the dawn was not far off. Usually birds were singing at this time. The thought made her uneasy. She contemplated hopping off the horse to look around, but that did not sound wise at all.

Hearing him speak, she shook her head. "Well, I can not say that isn't true. Time goes by in the blink of an eye for us, yet we don't seem to grow older. For that, I am sometimes greatful, but I often wonder what it would belike to have a shorter life, one that you had to hurry to fill with good memories befor you die." She paused as he spoke again. "That is interesting. I would have never thought that is how the Emperor runs things. What kind of ques- ... Did you hear that?" She asked, refering to a groaning sound in the distance.

"Ah... I see," the knight said with a nod. "So it is some sort of ancient legend. Well, if the legend is true, then you or your children should definitely inherit... though whether you choose to marry a pompous prince, a commoner, or even a human shouldn't make much of a difference as far as the legend is concerned. Ideally you'd meet some kind of prince who is also as awesome as I am, but such guys are rare, and virtually nonexistent among elven kingdoms."

"Hm... humans are definitely in a hurry to accomplish something, that's for sure... not only because their lives are short and fleeting compared to yours, but also because they have so much hardship due to an overall lack of magical talent among most humans." Frowning as she spoke of hearing something, he said, "Your pointed ears are better than mine... so if you heard something, I'll take your word for it. I'm going to need to let you down since fighting with you in my lap won't be easy. Whatever you do, don't try to fight a war beast with a sword... even I plan on using a lance or polearm for the extra reach." With those words, he demonstrated by using his Foundry circuit to conjure forth a lance seemingly from nowhere.

"Are you a proficient archer?" he asked her a question, figuring he already knew the answer as he helped her down from the phantasmal steed and prepared to fight. Though the daughters of noblemen were discouraged from wielding swords, they were, in fact, encouraged to learn archery, since the bow was a weapon they could use while defending their castle homes while staying away from the violent butchery on the front lines. "Try this one out," he said as he conjured forth a bow which was strangely without arrows. "Drawing on the string will turn your inherent magical energy into arrows of light... quite useful for magically talented princesses whose families are blessed by ancient wizards, I should think."

"Do you think my father would ever let me marry a commoner? Or a human? Only if my life or his was in danger would he allow such a thing." Hearing his next comment made her blush flair again. Was he always this irritatingly charming? "Be careful. Your pride might just get you killed. You best leave my marriage options to me as well."

Hearing him blatantly tell her that her choice of weapon had been a bad decision, she frowned. How was she to know that you didn't use a sword to defeat a beast? It wasn't like she had any experience in the matter. She was surprised, however, when a lance suddenly appeared. Her mind searched for an exclaimation, wondering if he had hidden any magical talent. After a moment, she realized it was a circuit that had made it possible, not magic.

"I am, although I assume you know the answer." She replied as he helped her down. Taking the bow, she listened to his exclamation before pulling on the string. Sure enough, a arrow of light appeared. Hardly any of her enery was required, leaving her enough power to place some spells. "Before you go rushing into danger, would I be allowed to place a spell of protection? It will not be very effective if you are wounded deeply, but it will prevent minor scratches and bruising."

"Yeah, both of those seem unlikely," the knight said with a chuckle. "I imagine that's one of the problems you end up having to face all the time, and why you're still not married despite being well past marriage age." He simply shrugged and said, "I never presumed to try and tell you who you should marry... just figured it would be nice is everyone agreed with your decision, yourself included."

Gripping his lance in his arm he went ahead and helped her down from the steed so that he would be able to focus on the fight, then conjured forth a shield in the hand that been holding her using the same magical Foundry circuit. "Of course," he remarked, "But it's polite to ask rather than just assuming by handing you a weapon when you haven't yet said you know how to use it." As she mentioned a protection spell, he said, "I won't decline the offer... usually my armor is more than enough protection, but a bit of extra magic might help in case this beast has armor piercing natural weapons."

While waiting for her to use her spell, he heard another growl, this time closer and loud enough to hear. "It appears this beast thinks it is the hunter... we'll have to prove it wrong. I recommend staying back, perhaps taking cover behind a tree or something, since your weapon will be more effective when the creature's attention is focused on me."

"That would be nice, although unless I can convince my father, I doubt that will happen." Talia left that part of the conversation at that. Discussing her marriage choices with him was bound to get him, or her, in trouble in the future. She was glad that he agreed with her for the most part, but she also wondered if he was speaking that way just because she was a princess.

Smiling as he accepted her offer, she nodded. Placing both of her hands on his arm, she muttere a few words under her breath, keeping them low so he couldn't hear them. Feeling a surge of power leave through her hands, she removed her hands from him. "Thank you. That should work quite nicely."

Hearing the growl and his suggestion, she slung the bow around her shoulder with a nod. She jogged to a nearby tree, grabbing one of the lower branches. She made quick work of climbing to a hidden spot, where she could easily see whatever went on below. That was then she saw her first glimps of the beast: a young demigriph. While it had a few wounds, it looked surprisingly healthy.

The knight noted how the princess tried to keep her words as quiet as possible as if to hide the secret of her magic from him and chuckled. "You realize that humans can't use elven magic, right?" he asked her. "Our incantations tend to be in the Draconic language, while yours tend to be in the Sylvan tongue, right? Basically, elf magic is a derivative of fairy magic, while humans who lack any fairy ancestry are completely unable to use it, relying instead on the magic once taught to our kind by good-aligned dragons."

Soon he felt a protection spell encompass him and he nodded. "Not bad... I feel better proteted already." He watched as she climbed up into the tree, riding around it to see what sort of beast she had spotted. A demigryph... a juvenile male, by the looks of it. "Well, I think I know why your father wants it captured alive... but something tells me it isn't alone."

Sure enough, the demigryph's screech was sooned joined by the screech of another... the demigryph's mother, an adult female. "I think that's the one killing your knights... if only to protect her own offspring." The female seemed much more eager to fight than the juvenile was, though the knight was more concerned about the princess than he was about simply killing the monster. He ran off with his horse in order to cause the demigryphs to chase him perpendicular to Talia's trees in order to give her a clean shot at their flanks.

"Yes, but it is easier to be cautious than to let everything slip." she offered him a small smile. While it was true that he could not use the magic, she knew plenty of people who could use magic that she didn't want knowing spells. She trusted him, she just didn't want anything bad to happen.

She stayed quiet as the next demi-griph appeared. She had anticipated there being one monster, but two? That was unexpected. She frowned. It certainly would explain all the attacks, but....

She shook herself out of thought as the knight rode his horse past her. The female demigryph jumped at the chance to attack, the male hanging back. She pulled back the string of her bow, sending three arrows towards the flanks of the beast. One hit its mark, causing the demigryph to cry in alarm.

The knight didn't fault the princess for being cautious, though he always found it odd how elves were so protective of their magical secrets. The fact that they passed down their spells through their family without allowing outsiders to learn of them caused their magical advancement to essentially remain stagnant for thousands of years, as it was impossible to further magical research if would-be researchers couldn't gain access to new methods.

In comparison, the Arcane University in the Imperial City collected countless spells, every single text they could find on magic, in order to further the research of magic among human mages along with other races with an aptitude for magic. By collecting as much knowledge on magic as they could, researchers at the University had furthered magical research at a staggering rate over only a few decades.

It was spells such as these that allowed Günter to summon the phantasmal steed, which he used to skillfully maneuver between the two demigryphs. While he was evading the claws of the female demigryph, an arrow struck the younger one, causing him to cry out and charge towards the source of the arrows... the elf. In order to protect her, the knight charged to intercept the juvenile demigryph, impaling the creature through the opposite flank with his lance in a devastating blow.

Though his strike was sufficient to cripple the younger demigryph, it served to enrage the protective mother, who charged straight at the knight and ripped his phantasmal steed in half. He was able to skillfully roll away from his horse without suffering any serious injury from the fall, but his lance was now useless as he lacked a mount. Discarding the weapon, it faded from existence as he used his magical Foundry circuit to summon a weapon to replace it... in this, a halberd with the Beast Slayer enchantment, which he lifted in order to ward off the angry mother of the crippled beast.

Talia watched as the younger demigryph charged towards her. She had pulled her bowstring tight to attempt to defend herself when out of nowhere, Günter appeared. His lance drove into the creatures flank and leaving a deep wound, one that would immobilize the demigryph, but still be able to heal with just a little bit of elf magic. Thats when an idea popped into her head. It was a stupid one, but it was probably their best chance.

"Günter! You know more of these creatures. Do you think if I healed the younger one, the mother would stop attacking?" She shouted over the battle, her eyes locked on the younger demigryph. It was in obvious pain, and if she could find a way to get down from the tree unnoticed, it would never know who fired the shot.

She looked up just as Günter changed wepons, discarding his lance in return for a halberd. What had happened to his horse? She drew her bow again, looking for a clear shot. There was none. Unless Günter fancied getting impaled by arrows, she would have to wait for a clearer shot.