Crimson Hair. Lavender Wings
Chapter 2
By the Black Griffin Bard
"I can't believe this... this is STUPID! Why am I on this wild goose hunt?" Zel grumbled under his breath as he flew through the air and landed in the woods. The only reason he was ON this trip was to get the Dew star, a item which will be able to revive his race's lines, for they were few these days, hunted for meat, feathers, claws, and blood for magic spells, and their gold lined nests. Looking around, he stood on his hind legs and formed a symbol in the air. Suddenly a flash of blue light and in the place of the Gryphon Lord stood a handsome young man of 20 or 21, his lavender hair covering 1 side of his face, his sapphire blue eyes blazing with hidden fury. His beige cloak and hood covered most of his face, but his black pants and white silver lined shirt were eye catching. Stomping through the forest, he suddenly heard a distressed whiney. Walking through, he stopped as he saw that same crimson red unicorn with black and gold 'stockings' on her hind legs, with the SAME wolf, surrounded by some hungry looking bandits and a few ogres. But another thing was that the Unicorn's hoof was trapped in a anti-magic rope.
"Heh! We'll make a pretty penny for 'er horn alone!" One of them smirked.
"Yeah! And that wolf will be a great fur on yer floor, won't it?" One of his comrades laughed, sending Xellos', and surprisingly Zel's, temper past the rage factor. Xellos leapt at the first of the bandits, catching him by the throat. Letting loose a bloody gurgle, the man went down, his throat a bloody mess. Xellos turned slowly, turning into his human form, licking the blood from his fingers. Taking out his staff, he hit the nearest bandit with it, the amplified magic on it causing a spray of blood to come from where the once surprised face was. Xellos smirked evilly, when sudden Zel came in running with his sword, cutting down one of the bandits ready to mash Lina's brains in. Letting loose a fireball, he sent the other crashing into the ground. Slicing at the rope, Zelgadiss turned to see a huge Ogre hovering over him. A enraged note rang through the air as Lina lunged forward, her horn, which was magical, pierced into the thick ogre skin like it was paper. Throwing off the dead ogre, the other bandits crawled back, staring at the 3 some, one wetting his pants in terror. Lina pawed the ground, head lowered as if ready to charge. THAT made the bandits run off, for no one except another Unicorn or a well armed and VERY trained man could stop a unicorn's charge, and that was if the man was fast enough. Turning around, Xellos eyed Zelgadiss, who glared back. Lina ignore this and turned into the pretty redhead in a red silk shirt, black pants, gold lined black shoes, a black gold lined cloak, and a odd snub horn with a intricate golden design flowing outward as if the snub horn was on a circlet in her forehead. She looked about 15 or 16 in this form, a bit underdeveloped, but that didn't matter. Zelgadiss was stunned at her beauty, her nearly blood red hair catching the sunlight, making her ruby eyes seem darker and more fawn like, making her heart shaped face more beautiful in all.
"Thank you kind stranger. I would be dead if you had not come." She curtsied to Zel, apparently not knowing who he was.
"I could of taken them." Xellos grumped as he turned human and leaned against a tree. Zel ignored him and went down on 1 knee and kissed Lina's hand. This caused like to blush bright red and Xellos to turn red in anger. Stomping forward, Xellos swatted Zel's hand from Lina's and then stormed off to do some hunting. Lina smiled in apology and then made a symbol in the air, her form being engulfed in a red light. She whistled, or sang, a simple bar of music, which Zelgadiss recognized as the 'I thank you. I am leaving now' measure. There was a bit of irony in this, for she thought he didn't understand. Zelgadiss smirked before walking off, glancing back at the mare running into the dark forest.
'That... MAN! I could of handled everything! Why did he have to come along? I could of saved her! then she would notice me more... more then a friend anyway...' Xellos wolf sighed, and lowered his head slightly. 'I shouldn't worry, a mortal human would never attract Lina-Chan's attention... But he wasn't like any man I know, neither was his aura... Is he a..' Xellos' thoughts were turned as Lina came trotting in.
*Shall we continue?*
*Not tonight, It's getting late and I'm getting hungry.*
* Well I'm off to nap and graze! Bye Xellos!*
Zelgadiss stayed downwind and eyed the wolf and the direction the mare had traveled in. Making a great leap, he flew into the air and headed toward the direction of the Mare. When he arrived over her, she was sleep-grazing, like all other unicorns, but at the tingle of his magic aura, she looked up and her flesh soon melted into the form of the crimson Gryphon. Leaping into the air, she tackled him and forced him to dive low, her claws bared. Sending him into the ground, she hissed. "WHY are you following me?"
"That is a secret." He smirked back.
"TELL ME OR I'LL rip your throat out!" She hissed, her mane flaring up.
"Your cute when your enraged Lina." He stated simply. That caught her in surprise, which he used to his advantage. Flipping her over, her pinned her down. At that point, she began to thrash. She couldn't transform, not into a human because that was too weak and her Phoenix form was too complex a spell to do with 1 hand. Instead of a claw to the throat, she blinked as he backed away. Hissing, she got up and leapt to attack, but fell back as she bounced off a shield.
"Your a Gryphon lord aren't you?" He hissed.
"Why do you care?" Zelgadiss said.
"AREN'T YOU?" She demanded.
"If you must know yes... and Now I must leave before your friend there tears out my throat." Zelgadiss flapped his wings and flew off, leaving a bewildered Lina on the ground, who was soon joined by a very angry Xellos.
"Lord Zelgadiss... I will KILL you" He thought murderously.
"Lina...such a beautiful creature, if only she wasn't a horned horse..." Zelgadiss sighed.
