Broken

Chapter 28 (Yejun)

Alex has to basically drag Yejun under the cover of the tall pines, roughly tossing him against the sharp and sticky bark as he, himself, stumbles forward. The <Fear> cast by a gryphon was impressive for a beast found on the second floor of the tower, but it was also the reason they were the masters here. Unlike most monsters this low in the tower, they were strong, maneuverable, and smart. 

On top of that, they had various ways to captivate a person.

Yejun's eyes widened as he saw the beast hovering over the location he and Alex had just been. He had heard descriptions of griffons before, even seen illustrations of them in texts... but none of that did them justice. It was like it was the very definition of a proud and noble being. Easily ten meters in length from the tip of its dark beak to the end of it's tufted tail, and close to five meters in height. It was a mass of muscle and feathers held aloft by a pair of brown wings that easily reached a span of twenty meters when fully extended. It could barely fit in the space of this clearing near the river.

It landed on the moss covered forest floor with four taloned feet that looked to be a mix between a bird's claws and a lion's paws, attached to thickly furred legs. The majority of the gryphon's body appeared to be that of a beast, while its head and neck were that of a white eagle's. However, the feathers of it's neck almost resembled the mane of a lion.

The most expressive part of this intimidating creature were it's eyes. Massive orbs of slitted green light, almost glowing as if infused with mana. The eyes alone instilled a fear and wonder in Yejun that had him gazing up at the monster and thinking 'This is a noble monster...'

"Focus!" Alex snapped, literally kicking Yejun in the shin.

"Ow!" Grabbing the newly forming bruise, Yejun looked up at the mage and saw the fear and borderline panic reflected there. Did he have to call out to Yejun more than once? Had Yejun just been sitting there, gawking up at the monster?

Suddenly he recalled what he had studied about gryphons before leaving on this trip. In the books, they were described as being similar to dragons, even if they were far below them in every way. But, like the greatest of monster, the dragons, griffons had the power of <Fear> and <Majesty>. As the name suggested, fear was a skill- most often activated via a roar or intimidating presence- that could slow, or even paralyze an opponent for a time. As for <Majesty>, it was also a crowd controlling skill that could make intelligent beings freeze in wonder. Depending on how susceptible an opponent was, it could even cause beings to worship the wielder.

Scary.

"S-sorry..." Gasped Yejun, struggling to get himself under control. Seeing Alex's strained expression, it was clear that the mage was not immune to the griffons powers either.

"When you get the chance, run. I'm going to lead it away and try and disable it." Alex grunted, taking off before Yejun could even say anything.

"H-hey! Wait!" He called after the other man, watching him dash along the riverbank and drawing the attention of the griffon, who followed the moving prey with its dangerous eyes. "You can't fight that thing!"

Alex was strong, there was no doubt, but he was still a mage! He couldn't take on such a powerful monster without a tank- or at least a dealer or two- to distract and engage the gryphon. Alex would have no time to cast stronger, more effective spells! Was he really going to sacrifice his own life to provide Yejun the time to escape?

'Damn it! Damn it!' Alex cursed within his own mind as the screech of the gryphon sounded behind him once more. At least he was prepared for it this time and didn't freeze up as he had last time. That didn't mean that it had no effect, slowing Alex's movements and dulling his reactions. He had to draw the damn bird away and give Yejun the time and distance to escape.