The Last Gryphon

by Catsafari

There once was a monster, and that monster was slain by a youth, and that youth became king – or so the story goes. But when a young baron finds his beliefs challenged, what monsters will he awaken? "Everything we know about you… is wrong."

14. The Last Gryphon

Chapter 14: The Last Gryphon

The earth rumbled with the march of the soldiers. Even in the depths of the dungeons, their advance onto the forest could be felt. It seemed as if the whole world trembled with the oncoming war.

Toto knelt down to where Baron sat. After a moment's hesitation, he gave his friend an awkward pat on the shoulder. "It's not your fault, you know," he said. "You did everything you could back there. It's just that, sometimes, everything isn't enough."

Baron didn't move or reply. With his back to the wall, he could feel the ground's faint trembling. When it came to the soldiers demolishing the forest, he would feel every shake and tremor.

"Leave him alone, birdbrain; he's obviously not in the mood to chat back."

"Well, excuse me for trying to be helpful, lardball."

"If you were trying to be helpful, you'd find a way to blow this joint, moron."

"Why don't you just eat our way out of here? That's the only talent you have, after all."

Elora groaned, rubbing tiredly at her forehead. "Boys, do you have to fight at a time like this?"

"Yes!"

Louise shook her head and wandered over to Baron. "Hey, Humbert?" After a moment of no reply, she sat down beside him on the bench. She leant against him, to again no response. "I hope you're not planning on giving up. I know things seem bleak, but there's still hope. We haven't lost, not yet. So please, don't give up."

"Would it be so bad if I did?" Baron murmured. He looked away from Louise, his shoulders slumped in defeat. "All this time, I've tried to do the right thing, but I've just made it worse. I thought I could find a way out of this without fighting, but look at where it's led us." He dropped his chin onto his arms, staring unseeingly at the cell door. "Even when Haru severed her wings, I had hoped that it would be enough to end this. But if even her sacrifice wasn't enough, then what chance do we have? The King has chosen his course. We can't stop him."

"Do you really believe that?"

"If I meddle again, who knows what further damage I might cause."

Louise released a word that rose all eyebrows in the cell. "Humbert, how can you be so… so conceited?"

"I… What?"

Louise rose to her feet, rage simmering in her eyes. "Do you really think that this is all your doing? Are you really so self-centred to think that everyone just blindly followed you down this path? We're all here because we chose to help you and Haru! Because we saw another person in need! So don't diminish our decisions to bloat your own feelings of self-pitying guilt! You may have started down this path alone, but by all the stars in the sky, you are not alone now!"

Baron opened his mouth several times, and only on the third try did any words make it out. "Louise… I…" He glanced around at his friends and family, at the smiles that had fallen into place at Louise's words. "Thank you."

Louise harrumphed. "Good. Now, we are going to work out a way to get out of here and stop this war. First question: Does anyone know how to break open a cell door?" Before anyone could answer, Louise added in Muta and Toto's direction, "And, I swear, if either one of you cracks a joke at the other's expense, you'll be spending a week in this cell when this is all over."

The two in question exchanged glances, evidently wondering whether the other was going to risk it.

"Actually… I do have an idea," Toto tentatively offered.

"If it involves Muta eating our way out of here, then you need to stop right now."

He sniggered, but added, "No, it's not that. Look, I've worked with doors before while helping my father, and I think that it could be possible to break the hinges if we levered it open."

"Levered it with what, birdbrain? It ain't like we've been left with a toolbox."

"There's the bench," Baron said. He stood, motioning back to the lone piece of carpentry in the cell. "Toto, if we slotted the end between the bars, would it work as a lever?"

"It has to be worth a try."

Muta dragged the bench over to the cell door and angled it between the bars, leaving it at a 45-degree angle to the floor. "Like that?"

"Yes. Now, if we push down on the far end, the hinges should break. It might take several of us, but–"

There was a crack as Muta leant onto the bench and the door gave way. He smirked at Toto's evident surprise. "And that's what happens if ya not all skin and bones, twiggy. Some of us actually have muscles."

Baron grabbed Toto's arm before another argument could ensue. "There may be guards down here, and if they heard the door break then we have no time to waste. Let's get out of here unless we want to be caught already. You can argue later."

"Fine by me. It might give the fatso enough time to invent some new insults."

"You're treading a dangerous line," Louise warned. She sidestepped the ruined door and lifted a torch from its bracket, using it to illuminate the passageway before them. Save for the flickering flame, there was no movement down the path before them. "I think the way's clear, folks. I wonder why the guards didn't hear that…?"

"David," and Elora's face scowled as the King's name passed her lips, "may well have pulled in all the force he could manage to face the fairy forest. Given his fear of revenge, it wouldn't surprise me. Humbert, how prepared are the fairies for attack?"

"They're not," Baron answered. "They might be able to scare off the occasional wandering human, but I don't think they're able to face the scale of a real war. Especially if the trees are destroyed."

"Then slowing the destruction of the forest will be our first priority." Despite her slight stature, Elora seemed to grow a little taller as she spoke. "Humbert, do you think you'll be able to find Haru? I have a feeling she'll be the key to ending this."

"I… I don't know. She'll have retreated into the forest, probably, to recover; that, or she'll be trying to stop the attack if she has the strength. I don't know how I could – wait. No, I know how to find her, but I'll need to detour home first."

"Will you need help?"

Baron shook his head. "I think it'll be best if only I went to look for Haru. The fairies there should trust me."

"Fine. Then the rest of us will go to the forest and see what we can do about the attack." Elora paused, and then brightened. "In fact, perhaps we should also stop by our home. I think I may have a few potions in my office that might come in handy."

Baron and Edmund exchanged glances. They knew that look.

"Mother… please don't do anything too drastic."

"Of course not." Elora's smile didn't help to reassure her family. "I'll just create a few distractions. It'll be easy."

ooOoo

Baron stood at the edge of the forest, lingering to watch as a thick fog rolled out over the open land between town and forest. And, by default, the army that was making preparations there. An uneasy smile crept onto his face; the army wasn't particularly great in number, but what it lacked in men, it made up for in its trebuchets – powerful catapults capable of firing fiery missiles. The fog – courtesy of his mother, he suspected – engulfed the army, throwing up confusion and chaos as suddenly the soldiers lost sight of even their neighbour, let alone the forest.

It wouldn't stop them, but it would delay. And that would have to do for now.

He turned his back on the town and brought out Haru's feather. He had called her gift ominous at the time. He wish he had been wrong.

"All right, feather. Time for your magic." He brought the gift up to his lips. "Take me to Haru."

The feather shimmered, and then rose up before him. It spun slowly in the air, like a leaf caught on a strand of spider web, and then froze. The seconds ticked by. Just as Baron was beginning to wonder if the magic had faded since it had been given, it shot off into the depths of the forest.

"Wait! Hold up!" Baron tripped over a tree root, only just catching himself to see the feather zoom to his right. "Slow down!" He raced after it, letting it lead him ever deeper into the forest, down ever-wilder paths. Here, the trees were older, their canopies thick and full. Here, little light reached as far as the forest floor, sinking the lower levels into an eerie twilight. Here, the forest was untamed by human hands.

And still the feather flew.

His foot misjudged the sloping, uneven ground, and he was sent sprawling down. He slammed into a bush, his arms catching on its prickly branches. For a moment, he couldn't move. It took several precious seconds to register that he was light-headed from lack of breath. His brain had been screaming at him to stop, to slow, and now the world seemed to spin around him.

Shuddering, he pushed himself up, but he didn't know why. He had lost track of the feather – it had raced on without him while he had fallen. His one chance to find Haru, to make things right, had gone.

He released a shuddering sigh and collapsed against the nearest tree. "And, to top it all, I'm now lost." He scoffed and raised his gaze to the leafy boughs above. "I'm useless."

A rustle from the branches gave him a grand total of three seconds' warning before a fairy fell out of it. The creature slammed through the air only inches from his face and landed at his feet.

"What the–?"

The fairy, still in its feline form, hissed at him and scurried away. A moment later, another leapt onto the forest floor and ran off in the direction of the town. Baron took another look at the tree he had stopped under and his mouth fell open in surprise.

He didn't know how he had missed it. It was huge, larger than any other tree he could see, its canopy filling the sky. He stepped away from it and realised he had seen the very same tree once before – when Haru had taken him up into the fairy trees.

On a stroke of inspiration – or desperation – he ran over to one of the smaller trees and heaved himself up onto its branches. Haru had to be up there. She had to have retreated to the fairy flowers to recover. This had to be his best chance.

He couldn't allow himself to think otherwise.

He clambered up another set of branches, following a similar path to the one Haru had taken, and tried not to think about the growing distance between him and the ground. As the tree's boughs grew narrower, he risked a leap onto a larger tree, nearly missing his mark. He grabbed a branch and held on for dear life, scrabbling for purchase.

"If Haru's not up here, and this turns out to be in vain…" he muttered, but he hauled himself clear of the drop and dragged himself up onto the next branch. It was slow going, but the continued silence from the edge of the forest drove him on. Sooner or later, the King would reclaim order over his soldiers and the preparations for the attack would continue.

Sooner or later, the forest would burn.

More fairies passed him by on his way up, perhaps fleeing, Baron thought. They could not be ignorant of the danger sitting on their doorstep.

Now the upper canopy was in reach, its leafy layer spread thickly above him. He grabbed at one of the under-branches and tried to weave an opening between the leaves. Sunlight streamed forth from the gap. He pulled himself through, his knees giving way as he staggered onto the canopy.

Something tickled at his palm; when he lifted it, he saw the feather he had lost. Its glow was gone now, but there was no mistaking it. He hesitantly picked it up and looked to where it had stopped. Before him rested one of the huge fairy flowers, its petals folded in on itself. He brushed a hand against it, and thought he could feel it moving beneath his fingers.

"You."

Baron flinched away from the flower. He looked back and saw the human form of Machida standing in the canopy.

Baron said the only thing he could think of.

"I'm sorry."

"I told you to make sure history didn't repeat itself," the fairy growled. "That was the one thing I asked of you. And you couldn't even do that."

"It wasn't my doing," Baron said. "Haru–"

"I know what she did. If I thought you were the one to sever her wings, you would not be standing. But now do you see why humans and fairies shouldn't mix? No good ever comes of it. Tragedy befalls, and it is always the fairies who pay the price."

"If I had known that she had been planning to…" Baron hesitated, his mind halting at the task that Haru had undertaken alone. "I would have stopped her. But by the time I realised, it was already too late. If I had known…"

Machida scoffed. "It makes no difference now. Your King has the wings of both gryphons. He has what he wanted, regardless of your intent."

A small fairy jumped onto the canopy, running along the upper branches to land on Machida's shoulder. It whispered something to him, and his face darkened.

"It looks like even Haru's wings aren't enough to satisfy your King," Machida snarled. "Even now, he amasses his people to march onto our forest. Well, let it be said that we fairies don't go without a fight." His form dissolved away, changing into his feline shape. "If your King wants war, then war he shall get."

"Machida…" The strength left Baron's voice as the fairy leapt off across the forest. He was left alone, save for the slumbering form of Haru inside the flower. He sat down against it, his energy gone. "After everything we tried, after everything you did," he murmured to the flower, "it still comes to this. It still comes to war. I'm sorry."

ooOoo

"Elora, it looks to me like your fog potion is wearing thin." Edmund leant out to watch as, little by little, the wind blew the mist away. "Quite literally. Do you have any more?"

"That's all there is, I'm afraid. Time to move onto our next stage." Elora pulled out small pouches filled with what appeared to be a yellow dust-like powder. Edmund eyed them suspiciously.

"That's… not what I think it is, is it?"

"Clubmoss spores," she said brightly. "And a few other spores; I… may have got a little carried away. Anyway, they're all mixed together to make a highly flammable concoction."

"There are times I'm very relieved you're on our side."

Muta snorted as he – with Toto and Louise – returned to the group, now clothed in stolen soldier uniforms. "Those little things? Please, they couldn't blow the moustache off my old man. How do we look?"

Toto shoved the helmet on his companion. "With that, much better. You should wear a helmet all the time. Just think of all the money you'll save on mirrors."

"Keep talking and the only mirror I break will be when I throw you into one."

Louise secured her own helmet, tightening the chinstrap to keep it from wobbling. "This really isn't the time." She took the pouches from Elora and tucked them away. "So all we need to do is stuff these into the joints of the trebuchets for now? Can't we just light them immediately?"

"Unadvisable, unless you want to lose a limb," Elora said. "No, just leave them in the joint. When the trebuchets are fired, at least some of the sparks from the fireball should set them off. Those weapons are the main threat against the forest, at least for now."

"Gotcha. Uh… there's not a chance that they'll go off without warning, is there?"

"Actually, he's right," Toto said. "With all your hot air, you could set the spores alight."

Muta gave Toto a non-too-light shove. "Stuff it. I was being serious."

"As long as you don't come into contact with fire, you'll be fine," Elora reassured them.

"Don't worry." Louise grabbed both men by the scruff of their collars. "I'll keep them under control. Come along, boys." She dragged them off in the direction of the amassed soldiers, where order was being reclaimed now the fog had dissipated. The three separated, each going for a different trebuchet.

"So what do you make of this?"

Louise straightened, almost jumping at the voice. She stuffed the pouch into a joint of the machine, and moved back. "What?"

"You know, all this fighting the forest malarkey." The other soldier gave a chuckle and shrugged. By their voice, the other soldier sounded like a woman about Louise's age, or a little older. "I mean, sure the forest is dangerous, but so is the ocean. Is the King going to rage war with the sea next?"

There was a pause, and Louise realised the soldier was expecting a reply. She gave a half-laugh. "If there were fairies in the ocean, maybe."

"Oh, right. The fairies." The soldier sounded disgruntled, as if she was making a face at the word. "The war against the fairies. If you ask me, this isn't so much a war as it is an extermination. Calling it a war makes it seem as if the fairies have a chance."

"It also makes them sound like pests," Louise said.

The soldier shrugged. "I guess so. Well, whatever it is, it's a waste of resources. But, you know, the King's orders are the King's orders. Not much we can do about that." She patted the trebuchet. "Just be careful around these beauties; as far as I'm concerned, these are more dangerous than any fairy out there."

"Thanks."

Somewhere towards the front of the army, a horn was sounded. Deliberate movement started up across the open land. The chaos from the unexpected fog had been cleared.

"Well, sounds like it's time to get going." The soldier snorted and added, "Join the army, they said. Excitement and adventure, they said. Travel the world, they said. Nothing was ever mentioned about burning down our own forests."

Before the army could even start to advance, the forest rustled.

Louise wanted to dismiss it as the wind, but the swaying of the branches was not that which a mere breeze could generate. She wasn't the only one who thought so either; all through the army, muttering was being passed about. Others too could see the shadows shifting between the leafy boughs, could almost hear the hisses of the creatures within.

The King stepped forward, singling himself out from the soldiers. A glass cage was brought up behind him; for a moment Louise thought it was the wings that had stood behind the throne all these years, but the feathers were too dark, too glossy. Too new.

A gasp caught in her throat.

"Fairies!" Her father's voice boomed across the open space between him and the forest. The rustling stopped. All eyes were on the human monarch. "We have come to reclaim the forest!"

A shadow jumped out of the trees, landing protectively before the forest boundary. New murmurings started up as the soldiers saw the large, black feline bared before them.

"I know what you come for!" Machida roared. His voice was hoarse, roughened by his feline form, and all the more monstrous for his fury. "You come to destroy and burn and murder! You come to steal what is ours and obliterate what you don't understand! You come to leave devastation in your wake!" The forest behind him darkened as yet more fairies joined the shadows. "You come to rage war!"

Unease crept through the army. The soldier who had been speaking to Louise earlier leant over to her. "No one said the fairies could speak," she whispered.

"Perhaps that's because no one's been listening," Louise said.

"You creatures threaten the safety of this kingdom!" the King shouted back. Silence fell over the army as they waited to hear their monarch's response. "You live and hide in the shadows of your forest, like the monsters you are! We left you in peace once, and another gryphon sprang up! Who knows what dangers you will bring if we continue you to run wild!"

"Dangers?" The fairy released a low, dark laugh that echoed up through him. "You bring an army to our doorstep and call us dangerous? Look in the mirror, humans," he called, and now his voice rose to cover all ears, "and judge for yourselves which side are the real monsters. But, if it's war you want…" Machida raised his head and roared into the sky.

Behind him, the trees swarmed with more feline fairies. They dropped down onto the ground and amassed around the largest fairy, their designated leader.

"You stole the wings from our gryphon," Machida growled, "and you dare to display them before us like a trophy? Those are not spoils of war, but a peace offering, and you hang them up like your enemies head upon a pike? We have stood by through many trials, but we will not stand by for this. No more, do you hear us? You will take no more!"

ooOoo

The forest almost seemed to shake with rage, quivering with the wrath of its occupants. Baron rose to his feet, but it was impossible to see anything through the forest canopy.

"And so it begins," he murmured.

The tree beneath him rustled again, but this time the source was from behind him. He turned in time to see the huge fairy flower open up its petals and Haru stumble out.

He moved forward, catching her arms before she could collapse. She froze at the contact, staring down at the familiar, human arms, and he couldn't exactly blame her. He had to be the last person in the kingdom she wanted to see right now. But then something gave way and she leant into his arms, her head buried into his chest.

As she shook, Baron's eyes were drawn to the angry red welts that scarred her back. The only remnants she retained of her once-beautiful wings. Gently, he drew his arms around her.

"You shouldn't have done that," he muttered. "We were going to find a way."

"Like what?" Haru whispered. "Leaving the forest? There are so few fairy forest left, Baron, and too far away. The fairies here would never make the journey. Anyway, this is our home. I… I couldn't let them destroy it."

"Then you should have told me that. You didn't need to do this."

"They're just wings," and Haru sounded like she wanted to believe that. "Humans survive without wings all the time, and so can I."

"I would have stopped you, if I had known what you were going to do."

"I know. That's why I had to trick you. But my wings are a small price to pay to protect this forest."

Baron froze. "Haru…"

"Tell me it was enough," she whispered. Her fingers curled into the front of Baron's shirt. Her shoulders shook and Baron felt her tears fall. "Tell me my wings were enough for your king."

Baron couldn't speak; his mind could only see the wings bared before the King in tattered, bloodied glory. His silence said more, however, than any words could.

"What more could he possibly want? What can he take from me that he hasn't already?"

"Your home."

Haru stilled, the shivers suddenly gone from her form. Slowly she loosened her hold and leant away from Baron, and now there was something new in her eyes. "He's not getting it."

"He's amassed an army to burn down the forest," Baron said. "He… He found my book, Haru. He knows about fairies' weaknesses, about your salt allergy, your burns to iron, even your dependence on the trees. I don't know what to do."

"Then I'll have to stop him."

Baron caught Haru's arm as she turned away. "Didn't you hear me? He has an army. He'll kill you."

Haru smiled. "He'll have to catch me first. Are you really going to try to talk me out of this, Baron? I thought you were done running."

"I am," he said, and he released her. "But you needed to know the risks first. You needed to be sure that this is your choice."

"It is." Grim determination twitched at her lips. "And, don't worry; I think I have a plan."

"You think?"

"Well, more of a theory. Or a work-in-progress." She glanced down at the canopy under her feet, and then back to her companion. "How did you get up here?"

"I can climb. Look, Haru–"

"Baron, do you trust me?"

"–I…" Whatever he had been about to say trailed off at Haru's question. A tired but firm smile rose to his lips. "I always have."

"Then trust me on this." She shifted into her feline form, which seemed so bare without her wings. She motioned for him to take a seat. "Whatever your king thinks, I'm not going to let this become a war. There must still be a chance for peace."

"Just… don't do anything as reckless as last time," Baron pleaded. "At least not alone."

Haru chuckled and stepped up to a gap in the branches. "I promise." With Baron secured, she leapt down onto the boughs below and sped across the forest. She bounded from branch to branch, her paws barely touching one before she was moving onto the next. The world was a blur about them, never pausing long enough to settle.

As they neared the edge of the forest, an explosion rocked the ground.

Haru skidded to a halt. "What was that?"

"I don't know, but I guess they've started."

Another boom cracked through the air, and Haru started to run again. They came to the forest border to see chaos at hand. Catapult-like machines stood broken and burning, while the soldiers tried to smother the flames.

"What are those?" Haru asked.

"Weapons," Baron said. Relief washed through him. "Sabotaged weapons." It had to be his family and friends; they had to have marked out the trebuchets as the biggest threat and taken them out. Now the remaining danger lay in the form of the soldiers themselves.

Haru jumped down to the forest floor and motioned for Baron to dismount. The forest boundary was marked by the hoards of fairies – mostly tiny, cat-sized fairies – who stood guard over their home. She singled out Machida, who stood before all others, and joined him.

"Machida."

The other fairy jumped at her voice. "Haru? What are you doing here? You're still too weak–"

"What are you doing?" she demanded.

"We couldn't wait for you to wake," he said. "The humans are going to destroy our home. You should have known better than to think trading your wings would secure peace, Haru. These humans are too greedy for that."

"I know, but I had to try. Machida, you must know we won't be able to win this battle; we're not made for war. Just look at your army."

"Every fairy here chose to defend their home. The least we can do is try."

"And I understand that – of course I do. This is my home too, but let me try something first." She smiled and shifted back to her human form. "There may still be a chance that the humans will listen."

"Don't you see them?" Machida hissed. "Don't you see how they're lined up and armed for battle? These humans will never listen!"

"Baron did," Haru said. "His parents, his friends, they all did."

"That… That was different."

"How will we know unless we try?" She straightened and turned her gaze to the army, which was still trying to regain order after the loss of their trebuchets. "It's time for them to see who their king is so afraid of."

Baron grabbed her wrist. "This?" he demanded. "This is your plan?"

"Like I said, it's a work-in-progress. Please, you said you trusted me."

"I… I do. But you don't know the King. He's not going to listen to reason–"

"I have to try. Please, Baron." She offered him a tired, but hopeful smile. "I have one more trick up my sleeve to try before I let this bloodbath begin. One more time, let me try to end this peacefully."

Baron met Haru's gaze and saw the same stubborn streak he had often run into with Louise. He nodded and moved back. "Please, Haru; be careful."

She grinned. "I always am."

ooOoo

Chaos had befallen the army. Their organisation had given way when the trebuchets had blown up, forcing them to detour from their duties to deal with extinguishing the unexpected fires. While Louise was dragged into helping to dowse the very fire she'd started, she heard mutterings of the fairies. This was their doing, the whispers claimed. It had to be. How else would all the trebuchets spontaneously combust when they tried to fire them?

Her father was furious. Louise could hear him desperately trying to reclaim order, to quench the superstitious murmurings, but unease was worming its way through the ranks.

And then, from the fairies' side, someone stepped forward.

Silence fell over the army as the slight form moved out of the forest's shadow. Sunlight rippled across their form, shifting them from a mere silhouette into an undeniable, living, breathing person. A young woman, not particularly tall nor strong, now stood between forest and army. Her features were human, right down to the maple brown eyes and the short-shorn hair, and yet there was something wild about her.

"Your Majesty, I see you received my gift." Her voice wavered a little at the start, but it carried over the field. She bowed and, as she did so, the wings in their case began to beat against their glass confines. "But a fairy's gift is a powerful thing, Your Majesty; are you sure you can handle it?"

"That's the gryphon?" Louise heard someone mutter.

"But she's so… young…"

"Almost still a child."

"You!" The King's voice cut over the murmurings. But his next words were subdued; Louise almost missed them. "You're… the gryphon?"

"Surprise," Haru chuckled humourlessly. "What else did you expect?"

She started to breach the gap between her and the army, raising alarm from both sides. Louise saw someone almost dash out from the fairies' side – it looked suspiciously like Humbert – before the largest fairy cut him off.

"You see, when it gets to it, I'm just… me," Haru said. She continued to walk as if she couldn't see the soldiers massing around their monarch, or hear her wings rattling ever angrier in their cage. "Just another person. Just another fairy. What are you so afraid of?"

A nervous archer accidentally released an arrow. It flew wide and buried itself into the grass to Haru's left. She halted, now only metres away from the humans. "I gave you multiple chances for peace. I gave you the benefit of the doubt. I gave you my wings. And still you march upon my home?" A burst of anger ran through her. "Speak, or must you hide behind your subjects?!"

Louise shuffled her way through the soldiers, nearing her father until she could see what was going on. She stopped behind the display, in which Haru's wings were throwing themselves against the glass. She saw her father motion for the soldiers before him to step aside and approach the fairy, sword in hand.

"So you do come for revenge."

"No," Haru said. "This has never been about revenge."

"Then why are you here?"

Haru spread her hands out, gesturing to herself in a loose motion. "I wanted you to see what you fear. If you are going to burn down the homes of thousands over me, then you should see the cause of your terror." She smiled. "Isn't it time you stopped hiding from your guilt and faced me?"

"Maybe you're right." Louise barely caught her father's words, but she saw his stance shift. His grip on his sword tightened. "Maybe it is time I finally faced you. Maybe it's time I indeed ended this."

He swung his sword towards Haru, and the moments that followed were nothing but shattered images for Louise. She remembered Haru's horror, as she stumbled back too slowly, far too slowly. She remembered Baron's cry from the fairies' side, but even as he started to run, he would be too late. She remembered the deafening, frenzied battering of the wings, throwing themselves against the glass again and again until the sound filled Louise's being, replacing even her own heartbeat.

She remembered her hands scrabbling for the display's latch and throwing the glass doors open. She remembered the wings bursting free from their prison, and she remembered the moment that they passed her by. For a moment, just a moment, her whole world was a vortex of feathers and wind.

Then they continued on and Haru was engulfed by light. It radiated out from her in waves, slamming the King back, and then it was gone. The light faded and Haru was left, hovering off the ground. Her wings stretched out about her, slowly beating through the air with strokes that sent little whirlwinds dancing at her feet. Even Baron, running across the field to her, paused at the sight.

Haru raised a hand to her shoulder and tenderly ran it down to where her wing broke from her back. "My wings…" she murmured. "You're back."

A clatter from the ground caught her attention; she glanced down to where the King was blindly scrabbling for his fallen sword. She dropped down and carefully took the weapon by its wooden handle. At the sound, the King glanced up at her. He blinked, and Haru realised the man had been sent temporarily blind from the burst of light.

A strange silence settled over the allotted battlefield. It was more than just a lack of speech; it was as if the whole battlefield was holding its breath. She looked to the humans, only metres away. The soldiers had frozen, watching her with horror. She looked behind her, and saw Baron standing across the field.

She looked down to the king, who swung his head blindly from side to side. If she wanted, she could sever his head from his shoulders, and no one – not the soldiers, not Baron – would be able to stop her in time. That was what the battlefield was waiting for. The silence was almost hallowed.

Haru lowered the sword and knelt down, looking into the unseeing eyes of the monarch.

He blinked, and this time his eyes focused on the gryphon before him. At first he squinted, trying desperately to see the form before him, and then his eyes crinkled. "Naoko?" he whispered.

Nerves flooded through Haru, but at what, she wasn't sure.

"No. I'm her daughter."

The man's face fell, and reality seemed to crash back down onto him. The years of guilt crawled over him, shrinking his frame and dropping his gaze. "Just get it over with," he said. "Take your revenge. You have every right to after what I've done."

Haru eyed the sword at her feet, and part of her agreed. No, a lot of her agreed. The man before her was responsible for so much suffering, so much anger. It would be easy. She could make sure he never hurt anyone ever again. She could end it.

And yet, her hand stayed.

"Didn't you hear me earlier?" she murmured. "I'm not here for revenge."

"Why not?" the King demanded. "I've taken so much from you, so why spare me now?"

Haru heard Baron approach her, and a gentle smile flittered across her lips. "It's simple. Because I'm not a killer." Baron's hand softly curled around her shoulder and she drew strength from his support. "Why did you do it? I need to know. Why did you take my mother's wings?"

"I told myself it was for the best," the King murmured. He didn't meet her eyes, preferring instead to look down, away from the gryphon and away from the shadow of her wings. "If I took her wings, then people would believe she was dead. It was the… easiest way."

Haru lowered her head so she met the King's gaze. "You told my mother you loved her. Was that ever true?"

"I think so. But…"

"But you valued a kingship over her," Baron said, filling in the words the man could not say. A thought crossed his mind, just the barest whisper of how neatly Haru's age coincided with the loss of her mother's wings, and how the same eyes could have found their way onto the faces of a human and a fairy. The King had tricked Naoko into believing he loved her, Machida had told Baron, but now he wondered how far the deception had gone.

"I thought Naoko would survive without her wings," the King said. "I thought she'd understand. I went back to try to talk to her afterwards, but I couldn't find her. I didn't… I mean, I wasn't sure whether she was hiding or if she'd died. I thought you… you might be…"

"You thought I was her," Haru said.

"Coming to take revenge," he finished. "And who would blame you?"

"I would." Haru rose to her feet. Her hand slipped into Baron's and they stood side-by-side, the human and the gryphon. "I've seen enough misery and death; I won't be the cause of a single lost life. I'm not a killer."

"Please, understand… I didn't think I had a choice at the time–"

"You always had a choice. You chose a kingdom over another's trust and the guilt that haunted you was more of a monster than I ever will be. You created your own demons and no one can save you from that." She turned away, looking to the humans that watched, seeing curious eyes and cautious faces. She stepped forward, her wings rising around her.

"This war is over!" she called, and her voice echoed across the field. "We fairies do not look for conflict nor rivalries; we only want to protect our home. So let it be known that this forest is protected! Your king has been spared, despite the harm he has brought to us. So this fight – this battle, this war – is over!"

The King watched as his army shifted. Without any direct or immediate change, they altered. The aggression left them as they surveyed the human and the gryphon, standing before them. The human who was familiar with so many, and the gryphon who seemed so human in her words. A whole generation that had been taught to fear the very idea of gryphons now saw one in the flesh, and it was not the creature of nightmare that the stories had told.

Instead, what they saw was a young, tired, fierce woman, barely out of adolescence and striving to protect her home.

"No…" The King fumbled for his discarded sword, mad with a guilt that now twisted his mind. "It can't end like this… I won't let it. I'm the righteous one here!"

Haru heard the sword descend, saw the glimmer of the iron blade flash, but instead of the burn of flesh being severed, she felt a pair of hands gently shove her away. The world tumbled about her, and for a moment it was almost peaceful.

And then she hit the ground and uproar broke loose.

ooOoo

A/N: I may have shamelessly used the prison-break scene from Pirates of the Caribbean because I couldn't think of any other way to move the plot along without either awkward deviation from the story, or a deux ex machina. So if it looked familiar, that's probably why.

Last chapter next week! Stay tuned!

Cat.