Gregor And The Prophecy Of Doom (Book VI)

Prologue

The two scouts, Lin and Cormax, were just finishing their mission of general survey across the border. Their flyers, Egle and Lithclaw carried them around the perimeter one last time, their wings beating slowly at a rhythmic pace. There was nothing. All was quiet.

"Let's go back, "Cormax grumbled, "Nothing will threaten the border today. The life bond of the queen deters all who are thinking of attack. "

"Our orders were to survey the perimeter until the third torch burns out, "Lin answered adamantly, "and orders are ought to be followed. Do you want to let Her down?" He spoke the word "her" with an obvious emphasis. They both knew who "her" was. Eira the scared. She had been chosen to watch the border, and she took her job very seriously. The only person that might be scarier than her was Solovet, but she has been dead for 2 years now, so the glorious title of "most feared general" fell onto Eira.

"Very well, "Cormax answered grudgingly, "but may we pick up speed?" The bats flew faster, skimming over the borders.

"Wait!" Lin shouted, and all the other three turned to stare at him. He was looking down at a section of large rocks which created a semi-covered cave-like structure. "I saw something moving there." He said. The bats swiftly landed a few feet away from the rocks, and the riders dismounted. The scouts produced long blades and moved cautiously towards the section of rock. Egle and Lithclaw followed, though much more tentatively as they were at a disadvantage on the ground.

"I demand that you show yourself!" Cormax announced. No one replied.

"Could it be just a mother hiding her young?" Lin said. The gnawers did that sometimes, when the mother did not want to be disturbed in the giving birth of her young, which always gave the humans quite some trouble. Their lands were somewhat connected by a thin border at the southern end of the water way, and some gnawer mothers gave birth to their pups in hidden and seldomly used rock formations just like this one.

But this was not in that strip of connected land. It was the border between the gnawers' land and the cutters' land.

Lin rounded the corner, and held his arms straight out, his blade in front of him. Cormax followed. The bats stayed behind, as the cave was too narrow for them to enter. There was a moment of silence, and then... one of the guards screamed, a slashing sound, and the sound of clipping and tearing. Blood seeped around the bend of the opening, as the two scouts were shredded on the spot. The two flyers took off flying towards the sky, flying as fast as they could towards the human's territory. They both knew that it was a cutter, or multiple. They also knew what the actions of the cutters meant: Killing a mixed scout was the same as declaring war on Gnawers, Humans, and all other allied creatures alike.

So focused were they on getting as far away as possible, that they did not look back. If they did, they would've seen the 8-foot creature step out from behind the rocks, with Cormax's head in its jaws.