The Monster Tamer

Chapter 24: Getting Captured (1)

I was happy to see that my new friends are getting mad over my past situation. But for me, I am just looking forward to seeing my daughter and family again. I hope that they are doing well.

Sasha and Devon were walking at a distance in front of me and Stephen. I thought of asking his relationship about his father. Now that I have decided to open up to him, I also want to know about him.

"If I may ask, are you and your father at odds with one another?" I started the conversation.

Stephen looked at me with a sad face.

"You do not need to tell me if you don't want to." I said hastily. "I was just curious. I guess, I also want to know more about you."

"It's okay." Stephen replied. "It really is not that big of a deal. It is just that he was our commanding officer once. We were in the middle east back then when we were attacked by insurgents in a village. There were bystanders, innocent people in the line of fire. I know we do not have any fault of those that are caught in the cross fire but… my father, he… he ordered to open fire even with innocents in the middle of the cross fire. We were carrying high grade weapons that is why we were ambushed. I know we cannot let the enemy. Get their hands on what we were carrying but taking innocent lives just to prevent the enemy from getting their hands on the weapons… it's just not right for me. I did not carry on the orders like my fellow soldiers did and I was suspended for a few months because of that. And my relationship with my father had a strain since then."

"I see." I have now heard Stephen's story. It was a heavy load for him and something that have put a strain in their relationship. "I understand, how it is to have a straining relationship with a parent. It is quite hard."

"Thank you." Stephen said.

I was about to follow up on our conversation when the ground started to vibrate.

"What is this?" I asked while the ground below us started to vibrate more intensely. "Is it an earthquake?"

"No!" Sasha yelled. "Something is coming. RUN!"

We started to run as fast as we can. Just a distance away from us was the foot of a rocky mountain. Our destination was clearly that way.

While running the ground from under us started to open up. A huge thing came out of the ground. It has a long body like a snake that was at least five meters long. Its body was thicker than that of any snake I have ever seen.

"It is a giant worm!" Devon shouted.

There were at least four other giant worms coming out of the ground and chasing after us. Rather than a head, they had a huge hole at the end of their bodies that have rows of sharp teeth.

"You call that a worm?!" I asked in disbelief.

"Well that is what we call them because they dig underground." Stephen replied. "Let's just hurry towards the rocky area. They cannot burry to the top there."

Stephen pointed his rifle at one of the giant worms and fired a shot. The shot pierced a hole on it's body and it dropped dead on the ground. But another one emerged from the ground as if to replace the dead one.

"The hunt in groups." Sasha said. "We need to go there fast!"

Giant worms started to sprung out of the ground. Sasha started to swing her staff while Devon used his gauntlets against the ones that are launching themselves right at us. The giant worms flew out of our way. I used my twin pistols and started to shoot the giant worms that were starting to sprang out, preventing them from even emerging. Stephen was doing the same thing as well with his rifle.

We were nearly at our destination, Sasha and Devon made it there first.

"Come on!" Sasha was urging us to move faster.

"Run, run like hell!" Devon encouraged.

Stephen and I was running as fast as we can. But before getting to our destination, I heard a squeal of some kind of bird. I see Sasha and Devon look up in the sky and so I did the same. I saw what looks like eagles, flying up in the sky. There were three of them.

"Griffins!" Sasha yelled. "We need to take cover!" She shouted.

The Griffins started to dive from the sky and were catching the giant worms off one by one.

'If there are giant worms, then there were giant birds that feed of them.' I thought.

But rather than giant birds, it was a Griffin that were only told in legends. I was able to get a glimpse of one that was flying above. It had a body and tail of a lion and wings and head of an eagle. Its front feet had an eagle's talons while the back had a lions rear legs. I was amazed by the sight that I did not realize that I stopped running.

"Claudia!" Stephen only realized that I was left behind and was about to get back to me when I see a huge shadow loom over me.

When I looked up, a Griffin was hover over me. It was huge in size if you see it up close. I was so preoccupied with the creature that it was too late when its talons grabbed me by the shoulders and pulled me up the ground.

"Ahhh!" I screamed realizing that I was being carried up high in the sky. I can hear the sound of flapping wings while I was being carried up. "HELP!"

I tried to reach for my weapons but I decided against it knowing that I am thousands of feet up from the ground. I can see Stephen trying to aim his rifle to the Griffin carrying me but Sasha stopped him knowing what will happen if I fall from this height.

"Claudia! Wait for us!" I hear Stephen shout. "We will rescue you for sure!"

The Griffin carried me further and further away from my friends. If I was not being carried by a mythical creature now, I would have loved looking at the scenery I was seeing right now. I can see the land below me more clearly. I was being flown over a forest with lush thick trees. Seeing mother nature like this was gratifying.

Not long, the Griffin was starting to lower its altitude. I can see mountain from afar.

"Maybe its nest is located there." I said.

Of course I won't wait for it to take me there. The Griffin was starting to fly lower. I saw tall trees right under me and thought that this was the perfect time for me to make my escape. I grabbed my pistols and aimed under the Griffin's belly.

*BANG*

I fired a shot and the Griffin immediately let go of me. I can feel my body falling down. I quickly tried to grab the tree's branches when I was falling. Luckily, I was able to grab on and it stopped my descent.

"Aww, ow..ow." I flinched in pain.

My fall was far from a soft landing. The tree branches grazed my body and it was now full of scratches. I can smell the scent of blood.

"This is not good." I told myself.

Blood can attract more daemons. Even though it is not yet night time, there are still daemons such as the ones that we just encountered that comes out at daytime.

I can hear the squeal of the Griffin once more. My shot only grazed its body and I believe I just made it mad.

"I need to get down from here." I thought.

Once I am under the trees' cover, the Griffin will have a hard time getting to me. I see the Griffin circle back and was now flying towards my location. I hurriedly climbed down.

The Griffin flew rapidly towards me. I tried to shoot it from where I am but it was able to evade them. I stopped shooting and quickly resumed to climb down the tall tree. The Griffin looked like it knew what I was planning to do and quickly hovered above me. Its talons and beak started attacking me.

"Ahhh…" I can feel its claws scraping my back. I randomly shoot my gun in the hopes that it hit the Griffin or at least distract it.

I was successful toward it away but when it flew away, I lost my grip on the tree and feel downwards. Fortunately, the tree branches softened my fall but I hit the ground hard. My body felt the pain of the fall. My eyes got blurry until it went dark completely. I knew I lost consciousness by that time.

Edited by: nalyn