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

[Holeypaladin]

Günter's phantasmal steed faded from existence in the same way it was summoned once the adult demigryph tore it apart with her massive claws, leaving no trace of its body behind as he now stood on his feet with a halberd in his hands, warding off the strikes from the huge beast. The demigryph seemed to recognize his weapon as an obvious threat and attempted to circle around him, but he merely shifted his feet and thrust the tip of the weapon into her leg to hobble her a bit and hamper the creature's catlike agility to a degree.

He heard the princess calling out to him and chuckled a bit. "Even if you did heal the younger one, this one would still view us as food for her offspring," he called back. "Their intelligence is no better than that of a predatory animal, and we're the prey. But we might be able to spare the juvenile... no choice but to kill the mother."

He maneuvered a bit in order to give the elf a clear shot at the remaining demigryph's flank, warding off her attempts at getting close to him with a series of short cuts and thrust, which were able to penetrate her tough hide and deliver some rather painful looking wounds. "I'm not sure the juvenile is the only thing she's protecting, either... she seems determined to fight to the death. It's no wonder your knights kept failing their mission. Or whatever the elf equivalent to a knight is... do you have a more proper term?"

[Lu321]

She grimaced. She found that she didn't like the idea of killing the mother. She sighed, waiting for a clear shot. The animal knew no better than to hunt, but it didn't deserve to suffer any. She would make this as clean as possible, she promised herself. She glanced at the smaller demigryph. One might be enough to win her freedom, but if she could tame one, it would guarantee it. "One step at a time..." she reminded herself.

"I've always called them knights, but there are different.... this conversation can wait." she replied, finally finding a weak spot where she could incapacitate the mother. She hesitated before letting go of the string. She winced as the arrow hit it's mark. The hunting business was not one she enjoyed.

Hopping down from the tree cautiously, she frowned. "End it quickly." she told Gunter before turning to the young demigryph. She could feel her energy running out, but she didn't want it harming anyone. Muttering a sleeping spell, she made a hand motion towards the demigryph. It immediately stopped struggling, falling into slumber like she hoped he would.

[Holeypaladin]

Günter couldn't help but agree that a life and death fight wasn't a good time to discuss the elven equivalent of feudal knights, as he was focused on defending himself from a furious demigryph mother who was fighting to the death to defend her offspring. For some reason, she seemed unusually determined, in fact, as he reckoned the juvenile was already old enough to leave his mother's nest.

As the creature was soon pacified by the princess' spell, the knight frowned and gave a nod. Lifting his polearm, he brought it down forcefully, severing the eagle head of the demigryph before releasing his grip on the weapon and allowing it to fade. "The Empire trains demigryphs as war mounts," he remarked. "But they need to be trained from a young age... preferably from birth. This one was too feral and too old to undergo the training."

Glancing over to the juvenile, he remarked, "That one might still be young enough to be trained... or at least somewhat tamed in order to serve as breeding stock. But the mother's protective attitude makes me wonder..." He did a brief search of the area, soon coming across a number of eggs. "Here," he said. "These are what your father really wants. The Emperor will pay a fortune for them."

[Lu321]

She looked away as he killed the creature. Despite the fear she had that it would kill Günter, she felt pity for the creature. Was this really worth her freedom, separating a son from his mother? Although she couldn't see the scene, she winced as she heard the crunch of bone under the polearm. Turning, she looked over to see the severed head of the remarkable creature. Kneeling in front of it, she reached out and took one of the longer feathers. "Post in sídh, nin híril*..." she whispered.

Standing up, she nodded at Günter's words. Seeing him walking around, she wondered what he was looking for. Seeing the eggs, her guilt increased tenfold. If the eggs weren't left to fend for themselves, she wouldn't have even hesitated to leave them there. "I need to rest. After I do, we can secure the eggs and find a way to transport the other demigryph to the castle." Her voice lacked her usual expressive tone, however.

She walked over to the tree she had hid in and sat down among the roots. She remembered his question from earlier and said in a quiet, sober voice, "We also call our knights Rochon. That's the elvish word for it." She looked at the feather she was holding idly. She closed her eyes before sticking it into her hair for safekeeping.

*Rest in peace, my lady

[Holeypaladin]

Watching as the princess knelt in front of the dead demigryph in order to say some words in Elven, the knight had picked up enough elven from his time in her kingdom to get the gist of what she was saying. Gazing at her curiously, he remarked, "You know... for being so adamant on slaying the Beat of Ophala, you sure don't seem particularly happy now that you've done so." With a chuckle, he added, "I suppose you just have a soft heart... not one suited for battle and killing, like mine."

Looking over to the princess and the look of guilt on her face, the knight nodded. With a sigh, eventually walked over to sit beside her, laying a hand on her shoulders. "So-called 'Heroic Knightly Deeds' are quite different than the ballads portray them to be, aren't they?" he remarked, squeezing her a bit closer to his side in order to console her somewhat. "Beyond the safety of your city walls, the world is a nasty place, full of monsters... some of which seek only to survive, while others delight in causing pain. Many of these monsters are human... or even elven."

Nodding as she spoke of the elven word for knight, he said, "How similar are they to human knights? We basically have two kinds of knights in the Empire... feudal knights, which serve kings, dukes, and other nobles... and Imperial knights, who serve the Emperor. Feudal knights are essentially treated a lesser nobles, complete with lands of their own, while Imperial knights outrank the feudal knights, but have no need for personal fiefs." He adjusted the feather a bit in her hair, accidentally touching her sensitive pointy ear in the process.

[Lu321]

"In elven literature, warriors are exalted. I don't understand why one man would kill another for not believing in the same things. Or even just to survive. Then again, I've almost never been out of the palace." She frowned, looking down at her hands. If there was ever a moment that she felt like a monster, this was it. She should have never done this.

"I am not sure about other kingdoms, but we are somewhat similar. Most of the knights, however, do not have their own land. They either live on the land of the noble they protect or inside the palace barracks. Most of them do have families, so the nobles have small houses for them to live in." She muttered, blushing as he touched her ear slightly.

She shyly glanced up at him. Why did he make her feel like this? Like it was almost worth her freedom if she would be able to see him more. She pushed the feelings back, looking down at her hands again. It couldn't be possible that she was falling in love with him... then what was this warm feeling in her stomach every time he even accidentally touched her. "Do you know of a way to transport the eggs?" she muttered, trying to distract herself.

[Holeypaladin]

"There's nothing really glamorous about fighting and killing, as you can see..." the knight said to the princess, gazing at her and giving her a gentle squeeze. "But warriors perform a necessary task... someone needs to protect your people, after all. There are warriors who are exalted in some cultures for performing some really nasty feats but... that's not been my experience with elves. Typically, only the protectors are exalted, while the cruel monsters are vilified as they should be."

Noting her blush, the knight nodded and squeezed her a bit closer. "Seems like they're more elite soldiers than they are feudal aristocrats, then," he remarked. "Most human kingdoms still practice feudalism... which I'm sure you're familiar with." If nothing else, her princess education would have taught her the nature of feudalism. It was all based on the relationships between lords and vassals, with a hierarchy of lesser nobles serving kings and, ultimately, the Emperor. "I suppose Imperial knights would be classified more as Knights-Errant rather than Ritters."

As she spoke of transporting the eggs, he nodded slightly. "Saddlebags," he said simply. "Should be fine." Trying to think of a way to lift her spirits a bit, he eventually said, "I know it doesn't feel like it... but we've actually done a great service to your kingdom, and to the families of the fallen Rochons. Protective mother though she was... she was still a dangerous beast who had killed several elves. Magical beasts are still beasts, after all.... just far more dangerous than normal beasts."

[Lu321]

"I guess we are different than most of the other cultures. Not many of us practice it any more, but I was taught that every creature has a spirit that lives on after it dies, and that if we don't respect them, they will come back to haunt us. Even with beasts, we think it is true." She said, remembering the stories her mother used to tell her about her ancestors. She remembered how long ago it had seemed.

As he squeezed her a bit closer to his side, a new rush of emotion ran through her. She knew he was trying to be comforting, but in reality, it was alarming her more and more. The way that her heart beat slightly faster as he held her, the sudden awareness of his warm body against hers... it was almost to much. She hardly even heard what he was saying, cursing herself and the emotions she was feeling silently in her mind.

She nodded, finally breaking out of her daze enough to listen to him. "We'll have to find a way to pad them. Although those shells are hardy, I doubt they will survive a fall from a horse. As for the mother, I understand. Nothing could be done. I can still wish, can't I?" She shrugged, and after taking a deep breath, she managed to meet his gaze. "I think I'm ready to go."

[Holeypaladin]

Nodding at the words of the princess, the knight remarked, "If you feel a need to pay your respects, then feel free. I've had to kill so many things in my time that one more spirit haunting me won't make a difference." Shamanistic beliefs such as these weren't unusual, and the knight realized that elves tended to be more true to ancient traditions than humans were... even after they formed kingdoms and made political alliances.

Continuing to hold her for a time, he eventually nodded when she said she was ready to go, though somewhat reluctant to let her go. Standing up, he went ahead and padded the saddlebags as much as possible before putting the eggs in them. "Do you have a spell that can calm the juvenile so that he'll follow us back?" he asked the princess, noting that the younger demigryph might still learn to cooperate... if not as a war beast, then a least as breeding stock for the Imperial menagerie.

He climbed back up into his saddle before extending a hand to the princess to help her back up into his lap. "It'll likely be dawn by the time we get back... so we'll need a story. We can say that you went off at night to kill the demigryph, and by the time I got to you, you had already finished her by yourself. I don't need to take any credit." Unfortunately, however, there was little chance the king would believe such a story, due to Talia's lack of combat experience.

[Lu321]

She bit her lip, thinking over spells in her mind. "Nothing comes to mind.... wait... I'm not sure if this will work, but..." she paused for a long moment, as if trying to remember the words. She finally seemed to figure it out. "I'm going to have to get close for this one, but it should take effect immediately..."

With that, she suddenly turned, placing a hand unexpectedly on the animal and muttering the words to the spell. The animal seemed like he was about to fight back, but before he could, his eyes glazed over. Gently walking around to the animal's leg, she grabbed the light arrow. Instead of pulling out the arrow, she simply made it desolve in her hand.

Seeing that the knight was already mounted, she nodded in agreement. "That would never work. My father may be many things, but he isn't stupid. It would more likely be that I bit off more than I could chew. You came and rescued me, and I helped get the eggs and the young one." she said thoughtfully, leaning against him slightly.