Eighteen-year-old Nazalia Van Helsing and her seventeen-year-old
brother, Michael Evon Van Helsing were riding out on the south woods near
their home. Both rode black stallions, but Nazalia was riding ahead of her
brother. He was old enough to be riding alone without her by his side, and
she was enjoying the brisk morning air. Her dark curls bounced as her
horse trotted through the trees, and her brown eyes surveyed what changes
the spring had made to the woods. Things were beginning to bud out and
show signs of life again, which made Nazalia's spirits high. She hated
seeing the trees look dead and bent like evil creatures. She saw enough of
evil creatures in her hunts with Tyrney and Benjamin. Tyrney, Nazalia, and
Evon had been taught the ways of their father's, and their mother's, trade,
he wanted them to know how to protect themselves against the evil creatures
in the world. They used their knowledge well.
Evon rode at a slow pace, he felt something was lurking in the woods. He didn't have any sixth sense like his father had, but he had instincts that told him danger was near. His brown eyes, that were exactly the same color as Gabriel's, searched the trees for anything that was out of place. He noticed nothing, but he knew he had to keep his eyes open if anything was hiding. He'd learned enough from his father to know that even if your sight tells you you're safe, you are never safe until the feeling in your gut is gone.
Evon turned his head at the sound of leaves rustling, which tossed his long ,wavy, brown hair about. Evon looked exactly like his Gabriel, only many years younger. All who met Evon knew he was a son of Gabriel Van Helsing just by seeing him. Gabriel kept his eye on Evon, just so that the Holy Order wouldn't have one of their spies see him and want to recruit Evon just because his resemblance to Gabriel. Gabriel figured that the Holy Order would want Evon to put fear in evil's heart just because he looked like Gabriel. So, Gabriel never let Evon wander off all alone just to keep him out of the Holy Order's grasp that would leave Evon struggling with all the emotional pain and verbal abuse that Gabriel put up with.
Evon rolled his shoulders until they popped, then he relaxed enough to pay close attention to his surroundings. He continued to keep his horse in a walk as he glanced around, and listened closely. He saw trees, leaves, weeds all around, but there was something there. Evon knew something was there because the hair on his neck was on end, and it only did that when he was in danger. He swallowed hard and stopped right by a old, huge tree. Evon was about to call out for Nazalia to keep a look out for anything suspicious when he heard rustling in the huge tree in front of him.
Evon looked and saw a swarm of griffins jump out of the tree, and he tried to turn his horse around. But, the griffin's were too fast for Evon to escape. One dived down and dug its claws into Evon's shoulder as it passed. Evon screamed out in pain as the creature's nails tore into the muscles in his shoulder. He clutched the wound with his hand and shut his eyes for a moment. He knew that he couldn't keep his eyes closed, so he opened his eyes and looked down at his hand. Blood was seeping through his fingers. 'Damn,' he thought. 'The wound's deep.'
The griffins used Evon's moment of distraction to dive at him and knock him off of his horse. The horse ran away from the creatures and was gone from Evon's sight. Evon lay flat on his back against the cold ground. The wind had been knocked out of him, and he laid there trying to get up. His chest hurt from the impact, and it was going to be bruised from being slammed into by the griffins. He looked and saw that the griffins had surrounded him. Evon saw evil was clearly present in their beady eyes, and he took a deep breath.
Evon sat up in time to see the lead griffin, one with blood in its claws, leap forward. Evon clenched his teeth--due to the pain in his shoulder--and pulled his revolvers out of the holstiers at his sides. He fired the revolvers before with lightning speed and dropped the griffin before it could attack him. The griffin's blood splattered the ground and left a puddle where the creature fell. The blood even spattered on Evon.
The other griffins became angry at their leaders death and began screeching wildly. Evon knew he was in danger, but he couldn't take his eyes off of the blood on the ground. Before he could pull his eyes away, the creatures were ready to attack. Evon fired onto a griffin that lunged for him, and that caused a chain reaction of griffins to leap for him. He kept firing into the swarm of griffins until he ran out of bullets in both revolvers. Then Evon used his primal instincts, he ran.
Evon ran from the vicious creatures and turned back to see them following him. "Nazalia," he screamed into the woods. He knew that she would hear his cries for help no matter how far she was because it was silent in the woods. He continued to run around trees and zigzag to try and lose some of the griffins, but it was failing. The creatures continued to gain on him, and Evon knew that he was in trouble. He didn't even have time to reload his revolvers with them so close.
Evon was too preoccupied to see a branch in front of him, and it scraped down his cheek, leaving a bloody line across his face. Evon cursed but had no time to do much else. He knew he had to get away, and he could only think of finding Nazalia for help. 'Come on, Nazalia, I need your help here.' Evon thought as he fell down a hill. He scrambled to his feet just before the griffins flew down onto him.
Nazalia heard her brother's scream, and she became afraid. She'd never heard fear so strong in Evon's voice, and she steered her horse towards the direction of the scream. Her horse raced forward, and she saw Evon's horse without its rider. "Oh my God." Nazalia breathed panicked. She nudged her horse, and it went even faster. The trees flew past her while her mind was set on finding her brother. She slowed her horse down when she saw a dead griffins and blood on the ground. She shook her head and steered her horse in the direction of shuffled leaves. 'He must be trying to escape,' she thought.
Evon's heart was pounding, and the front of his shirt was covered in blood from his shoulder. The running caused his blood to surge, and he felt weak from the loss he'd suffered. He started to drop to his knees when he heard the griffins behind him, and he turned to see them. He couldn't run anymore, so he tried to reload one of his revolvers. He was able to get the bullets into the gun, but didn't have time to cock the gun before he felt the griffins tackle him.
Evon's revolver flew out of his hand and landed at the edge of the cliff that overlooked a swift river. Evon felt himself be knocked over by the griffins and tumble over the rocky edge. He flipped backwards and was able to catch the edge of the cliff before he fell. But, he knew that he couldn't hold onto the edge for long. His shoulder was already protesting against the weight of his body upon its injury. Evon kept his teeth clenched and tried to pull himself up. He looked up to see the beady eyes of the griffins; there was an eagerness in their eyes because they wanted to see him fall. 'Please, Nazalia, help me now.' Evon thought desperately.
Nazalia found the griffins huddled around the edge of the cliff and she pulled out her revolvers and fired at them. She took them all out before they could realize that they were discovered. Nazalia saw Evon hanging onto the edge of the cliff when the griffins were dead. She leaped off her horse and ran to him. "Evon," she said frantically as she grabbed hold of her younger brother's wrists. She saw his torn shoulder and held back a shudder. She could worry with his wounds once he was safe on solid ground.
Evon felt dizzy and knew that he didn't have much time before he was out, and he knew that Nazalia couldn't pull him up on her own. So, he used the rocks at his feet to push up on. He was succeeding in getting up the cliff when the rocks broke away, and Evon slipped. He felt his sister's hands clamped against his, but he knew that he wasn't getting up over the ledge. "I'm sorry, Nazalia," he told her.
"No, Evon, I'm getting you up here." Nazalia firmly told Evon.
Evon felt his hands slipping out of his sister's, and he saw the dying hope in Nazalia's eyes as she struggled to hold on. He knew it was over seeing that look, and he felt himself slip into unconsciousness.
Nazalia felt Evon's hands slip out of her own, and he fell down into the river's waters below. She pulled herself up and jumped onto her horse. 'I have to get to the river bank,' she thought as her horse ran as fast as it could. Nazalia fought back her tears because she was determined to save Evon. She finally found the hill that led to the river bank.
Nazalia was off her horse in the blink of an eye and ran over to the river bank. She saw Evon was laying there against a bolder in the water. Nazalia pulled him out of the water and laid him down on the river bank. He was out cold, but his shoulder was still bleeding. Nazalia took the shred of fabric that had her hair pulled back down and tied it in front of the wound on her brother's shoulder. She felt for his pulse and found it still there; it was weak but there. 'Thank God,' she thought. Then, she lifted her brother up and felt along his back. She winced at the feel of broken ribs, from the hard impact of the water after hitting it as hard as he did. She felt the tears then and she muttered, "I shouldn't have rode so far ahead."
Tyrney and Benjamin were coming back the way that Nazalia had left from, and Tyrney saw Evon's horse. His eyes widened, and he knew something was wrong. He nudged his horse to a run, which Benjamin followed. Tyrney found the griffins laying in pools of blood, and he felt a knot in his stomach. "Nazalia," he cried out hoping she was nearby.
Benjamin stopped beside his friend and asked, "What's going on?"
Tyrney shook his head. "Something is wrong," he said worriedly.
Nazalia heard Tyrney yell out for her, and she ran back up the hill to find him. "Tyrney!" Nazalia screamed as loud as she could once she reached the top of the hill.
A gnome poked his head up from underneath a rock on the opposite side of the river bank. He saw Evon laying there, and he stared hard with his pale, pale gray eyes. He finally recognized Evon. "One of the Van Helsings," he said in a gritty voice. "Master will love to hear about this."
Tyrney and Benjamin heard Nazalia's scream and took off after it. Both were worried she could be hurt. They found her standing on a hill, her cheeks wet with tears. "Help me," she screamed pointing down to Evon.
Tyrney felt his heart sink at the sight of his little brother laying nearly dead on the river bank. He jumped off of his horse and ran down there. Benjamin hopped down and went over to Nazalia, he touched her shoulder and gave her an empathetic look then followed Tyrney. He and Tyrney gently picked Evon up off of the ground. He was limp, and Benjamin saw Tyrney had grown pale. He was afraid for Evon, but so was Benjamin. Evon was in ill conditions, and he showed very few signs of pulling through until night.
Tyrney told Nazalia, "Get on your horse!"
Nazalia mounted her horse, and saw Tyrney and Benjamin set Evon up in front of her. Tyrney looked up at her and said, "You're lighter and can get back home faster." Nazalia nodded and wasted no time in leading her horse back home while Evon was still alive.
Tyrney stared for a moment until Nazalia's horse was out of sight. He shut his eyes and leaned against his horse. Benjamin mounted his horse and told Tyrney. "Tyr, come on. We should go just in case there are any more griffins around."
Tyrney knew his friend was right, and he climbed up onto the saddle of his horse. He couldn't get the sting in his heart to die away. He nudged his horse, and it began to run. Tyrney saw Benjamin was right beside him, and he was glad because he couldn't fend off any danger in his current mental condition. He was too rattled by Evon's hope for survival to be tuned into the surroundings.
Evon rode at a slow pace, he felt something was lurking in the woods. He didn't have any sixth sense like his father had, but he had instincts that told him danger was near. His brown eyes, that were exactly the same color as Gabriel's, searched the trees for anything that was out of place. He noticed nothing, but he knew he had to keep his eyes open if anything was hiding. He'd learned enough from his father to know that even if your sight tells you you're safe, you are never safe until the feeling in your gut is gone.
Evon turned his head at the sound of leaves rustling, which tossed his long ,wavy, brown hair about. Evon looked exactly like his Gabriel, only many years younger. All who met Evon knew he was a son of Gabriel Van Helsing just by seeing him. Gabriel kept his eye on Evon, just so that the Holy Order wouldn't have one of their spies see him and want to recruit Evon just because his resemblance to Gabriel. Gabriel figured that the Holy Order would want Evon to put fear in evil's heart just because he looked like Gabriel. So, Gabriel never let Evon wander off all alone just to keep him out of the Holy Order's grasp that would leave Evon struggling with all the emotional pain and verbal abuse that Gabriel put up with.
Evon rolled his shoulders until they popped, then he relaxed enough to pay close attention to his surroundings. He continued to keep his horse in a walk as he glanced around, and listened closely. He saw trees, leaves, weeds all around, but there was something there. Evon knew something was there because the hair on his neck was on end, and it only did that when he was in danger. He swallowed hard and stopped right by a old, huge tree. Evon was about to call out for Nazalia to keep a look out for anything suspicious when he heard rustling in the huge tree in front of him.
Evon looked and saw a swarm of griffins jump out of the tree, and he tried to turn his horse around. But, the griffin's were too fast for Evon to escape. One dived down and dug its claws into Evon's shoulder as it passed. Evon screamed out in pain as the creature's nails tore into the muscles in his shoulder. He clutched the wound with his hand and shut his eyes for a moment. He knew that he couldn't keep his eyes closed, so he opened his eyes and looked down at his hand. Blood was seeping through his fingers. 'Damn,' he thought. 'The wound's deep.'
The griffins used Evon's moment of distraction to dive at him and knock him off of his horse. The horse ran away from the creatures and was gone from Evon's sight. Evon lay flat on his back against the cold ground. The wind had been knocked out of him, and he laid there trying to get up. His chest hurt from the impact, and it was going to be bruised from being slammed into by the griffins. He looked and saw that the griffins had surrounded him. Evon saw evil was clearly present in their beady eyes, and he took a deep breath.
Evon sat up in time to see the lead griffin, one with blood in its claws, leap forward. Evon clenched his teeth--due to the pain in his shoulder--and pulled his revolvers out of the holstiers at his sides. He fired the revolvers before with lightning speed and dropped the griffin before it could attack him. The griffin's blood splattered the ground and left a puddle where the creature fell. The blood even spattered on Evon.
The other griffins became angry at their leaders death and began screeching wildly. Evon knew he was in danger, but he couldn't take his eyes off of the blood on the ground. Before he could pull his eyes away, the creatures were ready to attack. Evon fired onto a griffin that lunged for him, and that caused a chain reaction of griffins to leap for him. He kept firing into the swarm of griffins until he ran out of bullets in both revolvers. Then Evon used his primal instincts, he ran.
Evon ran from the vicious creatures and turned back to see them following him. "Nazalia," he screamed into the woods. He knew that she would hear his cries for help no matter how far she was because it was silent in the woods. He continued to run around trees and zigzag to try and lose some of the griffins, but it was failing. The creatures continued to gain on him, and Evon knew that he was in trouble. He didn't even have time to reload his revolvers with them so close.
Evon was too preoccupied to see a branch in front of him, and it scraped down his cheek, leaving a bloody line across his face. Evon cursed but had no time to do much else. He knew he had to get away, and he could only think of finding Nazalia for help. 'Come on, Nazalia, I need your help here.' Evon thought as he fell down a hill. He scrambled to his feet just before the griffins flew down onto him.
Nazalia heard her brother's scream, and she became afraid. She'd never heard fear so strong in Evon's voice, and she steered her horse towards the direction of the scream. Her horse raced forward, and she saw Evon's horse without its rider. "Oh my God." Nazalia breathed panicked. She nudged her horse, and it went even faster. The trees flew past her while her mind was set on finding her brother. She slowed her horse down when she saw a dead griffins and blood on the ground. She shook her head and steered her horse in the direction of shuffled leaves. 'He must be trying to escape,' she thought.
Evon's heart was pounding, and the front of his shirt was covered in blood from his shoulder. The running caused his blood to surge, and he felt weak from the loss he'd suffered. He started to drop to his knees when he heard the griffins behind him, and he turned to see them. He couldn't run anymore, so he tried to reload one of his revolvers. He was able to get the bullets into the gun, but didn't have time to cock the gun before he felt the griffins tackle him.
Evon's revolver flew out of his hand and landed at the edge of the cliff that overlooked a swift river. Evon felt himself be knocked over by the griffins and tumble over the rocky edge. He flipped backwards and was able to catch the edge of the cliff before he fell. But, he knew that he couldn't hold onto the edge for long. His shoulder was already protesting against the weight of his body upon its injury. Evon kept his teeth clenched and tried to pull himself up. He looked up to see the beady eyes of the griffins; there was an eagerness in their eyes because they wanted to see him fall. 'Please, Nazalia, help me now.' Evon thought desperately.
Nazalia found the griffins huddled around the edge of the cliff and she pulled out her revolvers and fired at them. She took them all out before they could realize that they were discovered. Nazalia saw Evon hanging onto the edge of the cliff when the griffins were dead. She leaped off her horse and ran to him. "Evon," she said frantically as she grabbed hold of her younger brother's wrists. She saw his torn shoulder and held back a shudder. She could worry with his wounds once he was safe on solid ground.
Evon felt dizzy and knew that he didn't have much time before he was out, and he knew that Nazalia couldn't pull him up on her own. So, he used the rocks at his feet to push up on. He was succeeding in getting up the cliff when the rocks broke away, and Evon slipped. He felt his sister's hands clamped against his, but he knew that he wasn't getting up over the ledge. "I'm sorry, Nazalia," he told her.
"No, Evon, I'm getting you up here." Nazalia firmly told Evon.
Evon felt his hands slipping out of his sister's, and he saw the dying hope in Nazalia's eyes as she struggled to hold on. He knew it was over seeing that look, and he felt himself slip into unconsciousness.
Nazalia felt Evon's hands slip out of her own, and he fell down into the river's waters below. She pulled herself up and jumped onto her horse. 'I have to get to the river bank,' she thought as her horse ran as fast as it could. Nazalia fought back her tears because she was determined to save Evon. She finally found the hill that led to the river bank.
Nazalia was off her horse in the blink of an eye and ran over to the river bank. She saw Evon was laying there against a bolder in the water. Nazalia pulled him out of the water and laid him down on the river bank. He was out cold, but his shoulder was still bleeding. Nazalia took the shred of fabric that had her hair pulled back down and tied it in front of the wound on her brother's shoulder. She felt for his pulse and found it still there; it was weak but there. 'Thank God,' she thought. Then, she lifted her brother up and felt along his back. She winced at the feel of broken ribs, from the hard impact of the water after hitting it as hard as he did. She felt the tears then and she muttered, "I shouldn't have rode so far ahead."
Tyrney and Benjamin were coming back the way that Nazalia had left from, and Tyrney saw Evon's horse. His eyes widened, and he knew something was wrong. He nudged his horse to a run, which Benjamin followed. Tyrney found the griffins laying in pools of blood, and he felt a knot in his stomach. "Nazalia," he cried out hoping she was nearby.
Benjamin stopped beside his friend and asked, "What's going on?"
Tyrney shook his head. "Something is wrong," he said worriedly.
Nazalia heard Tyrney yell out for her, and she ran back up the hill to find him. "Tyrney!" Nazalia screamed as loud as she could once she reached the top of the hill.
A gnome poked his head up from underneath a rock on the opposite side of the river bank. He saw Evon laying there, and he stared hard with his pale, pale gray eyes. He finally recognized Evon. "One of the Van Helsings," he said in a gritty voice. "Master will love to hear about this."
Tyrney and Benjamin heard Nazalia's scream and took off after it. Both were worried she could be hurt. They found her standing on a hill, her cheeks wet with tears. "Help me," she screamed pointing down to Evon.
Tyrney felt his heart sink at the sight of his little brother laying nearly dead on the river bank. He jumped off of his horse and ran down there. Benjamin hopped down and went over to Nazalia, he touched her shoulder and gave her an empathetic look then followed Tyrney. He and Tyrney gently picked Evon up off of the ground. He was limp, and Benjamin saw Tyrney had grown pale. He was afraid for Evon, but so was Benjamin. Evon was in ill conditions, and he showed very few signs of pulling through until night.
Tyrney told Nazalia, "Get on your horse!"
Nazalia mounted her horse, and saw Tyrney and Benjamin set Evon up in front of her. Tyrney looked up at her and said, "You're lighter and can get back home faster." Nazalia nodded and wasted no time in leading her horse back home while Evon was still alive.
Tyrney stared for a moment until Nazalia's horse was out of sight. He shut his eyes and leaned against his horse. Benjamin mounted his horse and told Tyrney. "Tyr, come on. We should go just in case there are any more griffins around."
Tyrney knew his friend was right, and he climbed up onto the saddle of his horse. He couldn't get the sting in his heart to die away. He nudged his horse, and it began to run. Tyrney saw Benjamin was right beside him, and he was glad because he couldn't fend off any danger in his current mental condition. He was too rattled by Evon's hope for survival to be tuned into the surroundings.