Aella looked at the bartender yelling at the young men, “You bastards with no manners. Fuck off to your houses.” He ran after them with a broom.

“I’m heading out,” Aella said, walking toward the door.

CLACK! Jack closed the door, looking at her, “It’s almost nightfall. Do you want to go alone to the forest?” He stared at her face, “Arad can survive, you know that.”

“No, he can’t, and I’m not taking chances.” Aella glared at him, “Move away.”

“No chance. Arad will skin me alive if I let you get yourself killed. Have some faith in your leader.” Jack stated with a passive face.

“We elves have a better night vision than griffons. Our chance is to kill it at night.” Aella replied, pushing Jack to the side.

“Aella, stop. Do you think a griffon will live alone? Your arrow couldn’t even pierce its wings.” Lydia grabbed her hand, “Jack is right. Let’s prepare first. Make a plan and hire more people.”

Aella looked at Lydia’s hand, remembering the elves who died when her magic failed. “I can’t add Arad to them,” She mumbled.

“What did you say?” Lydia stared at her.

“Arad saved me twice, risking his life.” Aella looked at her with a smile, “I’m going after him.”

A faint gust of wing rushed around Aella with her smile, rumbling quietly as the candles flickered.

“Damn it,” Lydia growled, “Jack, we’re going with her.” She stared at him. She then glared at the bartender, “If you have ropes, please give us a handful.”

Jack scratched his head, “We have more chances if we are together. I can understand that.” He sighed.

“Are you going to hunt the griffon in the middle of the night?” The bartender glared at them.

“Kind of,” Lydia replied, “I won’t let this idiot kill herself. Will set a trap, bait them away from the nest first.”

“How do you intend on doing that?”

Lydia stared around, “Griffons love horses, will bait them with horse blood and one of our mounts. We will buy time for her to grab Arad.”

One of the farmers stared at them, “Use my field, it’s close to the mountain, and I didn’t plant this year.” He stood, “There is a small cave to the east corner, hidden behind the bushes. You can use that to hide.”

The bartender handed them the rope, “You will lose the horse.”

“The choice between a teammate and a horse is obvious,” Lydia replied, “It’s our only way to avoid multiple deaths,” Lydia replied as they walked outside.

Under the sunset, Jack stared at the mountain. “Will head for the field and set the bait. But the griffons might not scout till the morning. We have to bait them in first.”

“Leave that to me,” Aella replied, “I will use wind magic to carry the scent to their nest, and when they catch and fly away, I will pull Arad right away.”

“Then all we need to do is make sure the griffons don’t catch up on the plan and turn us into their next meal. Sweet.” Jack smiled, looking at the two horses. “One of you lads is going out tonight, but it’s for a great purpose.”

“Should we set to protect the horse?” Lydia said, looking around for a blacksmith.

“How?” Aella stared at her, “The griffons have great sight. They will fly back to me.” .𝙘𝒐𝒎

“We won’t fake it. The horse will stay as the bait, but we will protect it as anyone would.” Lydia smiled, “Will attempt a kill if it was only one.”

“Let’s get to work. Lydia and I will prepare. You got ready to save Arad.” Jack said, and Aella nodded.

***

Thud! Thud! Thud! Aella rushed across the forest, leaping from one tree to another. She kept focused on the mountaintop and looked for any large nest.

“Arad, please be safe.” She growled, holding her bow tightly.

CRACK! She heard something. The sound of branches trampled. Thud! Aella stopped, staring down from the thick leaves. “Bandits?”

Several men in rusted armor sat around a fireplace, roasting a few rabbits as they drank. “This village is **, and no travelers, no merchants. The ** do they live?”

“We need to move. Otherwise, we will eat rabbits for the rest of our lives.” Another man growled.

THUD! The moment the man stretched, an arrow stuck between his eyes.

“We’re being attacked!” The other men screamed, hiding behind their shields. “The arrow came from that direction, be careful.”

Hustle! Hustles! As the leaves danced, an arrow came from the other directing, blasting a hole in the back of one of the Bandits even though he wore a helmet.

“Shit! Did you hear that? That wasn’t the sound of a bowstring. It sounded like a **ing crossbow.” One of them growled, turning around and shooting an arrow at the leaves. For a moment, spotting two green eyes glaring at them.

BAM! BAM! BAM! An arrow flashed, striking the bandit’s one and hitting him in the throat.

“It deflects his arrow, be careful. We aren’t facing a normal AGRAA!” Before he could finish, Aella’s second arrow took his eyes, and the third killed another man.

“Hide! They are picking us like rabbits!” The bandits curled together, forming a small shield fortress to protect themselves.

Thud! Thud! Thud! One of the bandits looked up upon hearing the footsteps on the wood, only to see Aella leaving between the trees with the crescent moon behind her. She aimed her bow down, mid-air.

“An Elf!” The bandit yelled as an arrow pierced his shoulder. Thud! Aella fell on him, pushing the arrow deeper into his chest with her foot.

The bandits screamed, seeing her land in the middle of their shield fortress, “Kill the bitch!”

As the bandit dropped his shield, swinging an axe at her. Aella grabbed her steel bow with both hands, smacking him in the face. She then pulled her dagger, stabbing him in the throat and chest before turning toward the other bandits.

Two pulled their swords, but Aella opened her palm and lifted it, remembering the elves dying, slowly losing focus on her magic.

Just moments before the magic could fail, she the griffon taking Arad. “Levitate!” She growled Levitation Aella’s spell activated, causing a gust of wind to lift the two adventurers a few feet.

“What?” The two growled, but Aella put an end to their life with two dagger stabs.

When another bandit attempted to grab her from the back, Aella slipped away and pulled her bowstring. BAM! She forced him to eat an arrow.

“You long ears!” A bandit swung his sword at her. CLANG! Aella attempted to block with her dagger, but he was strong enough to disarm her.

Aella used her two other hits to blind and break his windpipe. All of those ruffians aren’t as fast as her.

^I might not be strong like Alcott to finish them in one hit. But they aren’t strong enough to hold me.^ She killed another two in the blink of an eye.

“Why are you attacking us, you bitch?” The bandit leader growled, glaring at her from under his full-plate helmet.

“Griffons don’t wander too far from their nest. Why was it a whole day trip away? Are you the ones who trained it to hunt caravans and travelers?” Aella said, staring at him with a cold eye.

“We don’t know anything about that monster!” The bandit leader growled, rushing at her with a sword swing.

Swosh! Aella dodged his attacks, “I don’t care. You will never tell the truth anyway.”

CLANG! With a single swift move, Aella smacked him in the head with her bow, rattling his skull.

When the man stumbled back, trying to regain his balance, Aella jumped above his shoulders. Before he knew it, she slipped her bowstring under his helmet.

“Shit!” He growled, seeing his end.

Aella twisted her bow, wrapping the string around his neck. She then pulled the bow, divorcing his head and torso.

“This what makes our archers better than you humans. We can fight in melee with our bows.” Aella said, glaring at the leader’s twitching corpse.

After finishing all the bandits, she inspected their temporary camp for arrows and money, and she even found a map detailing the griffon’s patrol routes.

“As I thought, even if they didn’t train the griffon, they must know how to avoid them living in this area.” She grabbed the map and gave it a quick read under the firelight.

“Two griffons, a male and a female expecting the youngs in the summer. They even heard their scream this morning. Something must have happened.” She drew a route evading all of the griffon’s patrols.

“With this, I can sneak in and pull Arad out without risking the beasts finding us.” She smiled, rushing away toward the nest.

As Jack and Lydia were getting the trap ready, they heard someone call them. “Jack, Lydia, What are you doing?”

When they turned, it was Arad walking out of the forest.