The Hunt

The night was growing colder. The rain was beginning its descent, slow and soft for now, but soon it would quickly become a full downpour. Dain knew he had to move fast. Soon the beast's trail would be lost to the elements, and that's something that the hunter refused to let happen.

The seasoned mercenary had been tracking the creature who had been responsible for terrorizing the village of Tykass, a small port town known for it's surplus of fish and aquatic life located several miles east of Dain's current location. He had been tracking this creature for days, though it felt far more like months given his lack of sleep. It was imperative to Dain to only get what he needed to keep trudging. Nothing more, nothing less.

During his time spent tracking the beast, he had taken the time to study various details of his prey. For example, the first clue he learned about its identity was that it was clearly some sort of quadrupedal creature, which initially led him to believe that perhaps this was a simple wolf or bear. But nothing is ever that simple, as proven by the second clue. On his second day of travel, Dain came across a mutilated wolf carcass, the skin ripped to bits, innards flung all about, bones beaten and crushed to pieces. No mere bear did this. No...this was the work of something far bigger, far more dangerous. This is where Dain initially found the beast's tracks, as well as his most confounding piece of evidence for this creature - feathers. Massive white feathers with bits of brown dusting the edges. They very much resembled an eagle's feather but they were far too large to be from any bird that Dain had known of. What quadrupedal bird existed that was able to take down a fully-grown wolf?

The mercenary was more than prepared to figure out the answer, but first he had to find his target. Pulling the dark gray hood of his cloak over his head, Dain stood and continued on, following the tracks. Whatever made them was big, reminding him greatly of a cat, but obviously a cat the size of a small cottage, perhaps? With the rain beating down hard, the tracks became almost impossible for him to make out amongst the mud and floodwater along the forested floor. With all hope nearly lost for him, Dain came to halt. The tracks were gone....but then, he realized why. It wasn't because they were lost in the rain. It was because he had found it. He had accidently discovered, what he thought anyway, was the lair of the beast.

In front of him was the open mouth to a relatively small cave, certainly not the biggest that Dain had seen over the years, but certainly large enough to make a den out of. Moving to the entrance of the cave to keep slightly drier from Mother Nature, Dain got on one knee and pulled his small, hooded lantern off his belt, as well as a box of striking matches. After a few failed attempts from the slightly soaked matches, Dain managed to light his lantern, knowing it would work well enough in the rain and provide sight deeper within the cave. Dain stood back up, lantern in his left hand and pulling his single-bladed axe out and holding it in his right. This was it. The end of the line for either him or the creature. He mustered up a deep breath and took a step inside.

*SNAP*

Dain froze in place, refusing to move a muscle, listening intently to the woods surrounding the cave. Tightening his grip on his axe, he struggled to hear anything else over the sound of this relentless storm.

*SNAP*

There it was again. And again. And again. Footsteps? Dain was able to pinpoint the direction that the noises were coming from: west. Whatever this thing was, it was big. Big enough to make audible footsteps in a raging storm. But that wasn't the frightening part. What was frightening was that this...thing....wasn't afraid to be heard.

Dain turned in the direction of the sounds, careful not to move too quickly, as not to draw too much attention to himself, though he realized afterwards that effort was futile, as he had a glowing beacon in his hand in a pitch black storm. He watched the woods, unable to see anything past the foliage and shrubbery. It was getting closer...

Suddenly, a single massive paw appeared, coming through a few shrubs, followed by another, as well as the head of an eagle. Dain was shocked, despite should've having this figured out days ago. It was so obvious. There was nothing else it could've been.

"Of course..." Dain muttered to himself, the realization hitting him in the face as he stared down a fully-grown wild griffin.

A griffin, one of nature's most beautiful and majestic creatures, and one of its deadliest. Sporting the head of an eagle and the body of a lion, wild griffins are a massive threat to any town or village, particularly any town with livestock. But to Dain, it made sense why this griffin was terrorizing that village. It was an endless supply of fish, and the residents were simply in the griffin's way.

As it fully stepped into the clearing, its eyes reflecting the light of the lantern with a dazzling gold color, it faced Dain, its claws outstretched, clearly already prepared to defend itself. Dain leaned down ever so slowly as not to startle the beast, releasing his grip on the handle of his lantern, moving both hands to now grip the hilt of his axe. The two merely stared each other down, neither seeming to want to make the first move.

A roaring blast of thunder echoed from the heavens, and that was the moment he decided to act. Dain rushed forward, axe ready to swing. The griffin reared back on its hind legs, similar to a horse. With an unexpected grace, Dain slid under the front of the beast, axe to the side, aiming to perform a sweeping arc and land it within the griffin's belly. He takes the swing right as the creatures front claws come down towards him, attempting to rake him down his entire body. He was going to complete this contract, that he was being paid handsomely for, even if it was the last thing he ever did.