Zenora

Emily’s point of view:

“What do gryphons usually eat?” I asked my father and he pointed at the row of dead ferrets hanging on the wall. I was a bit grossed out but I took three of them and walked up to the purple Gryphon.

She saw me coming and loudly squealed at me. I threw one of the ferrets in the air towards her and she caught it easily with her beak and ate it whole. I stepped a bit closer and she watched me curiously, carefully making sure about each movement I made. I walked a bit closer even and then she lunged at me with her beak. I could jump out of the way just in time, dropping the ferrets on the floor and hitting the ground with my butt. She took the ferrets in her beak and gleefully walked over to the place where a bunch of hay was on the ground. And while she had her prize for today in her beak, she turned her back to me, gnawing on the ferrets she had stolen. Okay, I had to come up with a better plan for her I whispered to myself.

“Hehe, you thought she was so easy to control, huh?” I heard a loud voice behind me.

Well yeah, I kind of hoped she might just listen to me, but I guess I can’t have everything on the first try. I turned around and saw a big man. He had full black leather armour, a bright white cape and a big bow and quiver on his back. He had long black hair, tucked in a bun and a short-trimmed beard.

“This is Archeops or Arch for short, he is the leader of the pack of hunters from my army.” My father introduced him with a clap on his back at which the man gracefully bowed.

“Nice to meet you, Princess. We will start your training soon and maybe you can see this strange bird more often as well. Because the fact that she didn’t bite your arm off tells me she likes you.” He grinned and reached out for me to help me stand up.

Still brushing the dirt off my butt, from falling on the floor I greeted Archeops and gave him an actual handshake. I was happy that he told me that I could see the purple Gryphon soon again, I’d like to get to know her.

“I can’t wait to do some training, are you going to train me?” I asked him.

“Yes, I asked him to take some time for you. Since you can control beasts already and seem to have no trouble controlling a Rhydian, he will be training you in some advanced hunter training.” Father said.

How did he know I could control a Rhydian? But when he saw me with a confused look he told me that Brock had explained everything yesterday evening, just as the fact that I had asked for the troops to be sent to the portal.

However, I was happy to get some private training. I didn’t like the attention I got when standing in front of a class at the university. So, with the private training, it was just me and Archeops and I could solely focus on combat and not have to feel embarrassed with others looking at me.

Archeops’ jaw dropped. “A Rhydian? You can control a Rhydian?” He asked me in disbelief.

I smiled and explained to him how I did that and he just listened to me completely astonished. He asked a few more questions about how I got the images of Rhydon and his family, and I happily answered them. His eyes just grew bigger and when we were done talking about it, he just laughed out loud and patted my father on the shoulder.

“You’ve got a great daughter. I think she will amaze us, even more, when she gets stronger, King Aron.” He chuckled. “I’ll send a servant your way, in a day or two, to let you know when we can start training on the training fields behind the castle.” He said while we left the barn.

My father and I rode back through the city on our way to the castle. In the distance, I saw the harbour on the right, with the white sails rising high above the fields of grain. It was a nice sight to see, but now that we drove towards the castle, I was amazed by how big it looked compared to the tall sails of the ships. I mean, the sails had reached high already, but the castle was twice that height! It had several towers with red flags with yellow Gryphons embroidered on them and one big roof in the middle. The walls around the castle were high enough to not be able to climb them and on top of the walls stood guards in red clothes with yellow Gryphons on their chests as well, the same ones that were on the flags.

We took our horses to the left of the castle, left them with some guards and walked around the corner to the back of the magnificent structure. Getting near, I heard a lot of grunting and clashing of metal before we reached the training fields, and when close, I saw people fighting with swords, axes and spears, against each other or on target dummies. The men and women on the square fields were sparring with each other, some with and some without weapons. I looked at the gear the women wore and I could imagine myself in one of those leather armour outfits as well, they looked strong and fierce and I also wanted to look like them.

A bit further I saw a row of targets made of hay. A man with a large bow rode a horse and while it was running, he lifted his torso and shot at the five targets, all dead in the centre. Amazing!

“He is one of our best hunters.” My father said. I figured that already as he was a good bowsman and he looked amazingly strong as well. I couldn’t wait to get some of that training too! I always liked working with the bow because of all the weapons Dennis had trained me with, the bow was my strongest skill.

My thoughts went back to that moment when Anna and I got attacked in that alley, at which luckily we only got robbed. But ever since that moment, Dennis had used that to train me to defend myself. But now that I’m here and I learned all these new things about my past and my powers, I guess Dennis wanted to train me, even if I wasn’t attacked in that alley. He just needed a good reason, and it was convenient for him to not have to come up with excuses as to why. Nor did I ever wonder any different either because of it. Besides, I actually liked all the training so I never gave it any other thought either.

Now of course I know why he trained me. As the daughter of the King and becoming a future great hunter, he had to make sure I knew how to fight and how to handle various weapons.

My father guided me further onto the training fields when I suddenly saw a circle of men, all looking inwards. One by one they attacked the one that was in the middle and every one of them failed at taking him down. When a few of them were on the floor I could see who they were fighting against. His big muscled body was wet with sweat and he had some scratches on his right shoulder. Breathing heavily but still easily taking down every single one of his men, he looked as if he was made of marble, yet as agile as a cat.

One by one, he defeated them until…

My father and I walked up a bit closer and Brock saw me when he turned around. He was distracted for just one second and one of the men saw the gap in his defence and swung around his neck. The man turned Brock on his back and threw him to the floor. With a loud roar Brock got up to his feet and knocked the man unconscious with just one blow to his temple. Brock raised his hand and the surrounding men all stopped at his command.

Two of the men picked the unconscious man up from the ground and helped him to the infirmary. I could see he was angry. But was he angry that he got distracted by me, or the fact that he got thrown down on the ground? He walked up to me and I crossed my arms to let him know that I don’t want him close. But he just smirked, put his head down and kissed me on the cheek.

My father frowned but didn’t say a word. He trusted Brock with his life otherwise he wouldn’t be made General of his army at such a young age.

“My King, did you ask Arch to train her?” Brock asked him.

“Yes, he will be training her in hunter abilities, but you have to train her in weapons and hand-to-hand combat.” He replied.

“I’d rather have one of my men train her, I need to get in better shape myself first.” He said while rolling his shoulders.

Annoyed by being ignored in this little conversation, and still a little angry for the way he had left me yesterday, I decided to say a few words of my own.

“Yes, we wouldn’t want you to lose focus again now, would we? I mean that faceplant of you on the gravel looked a bit embarrassing, right dad?” I said firmly, looking Brock straight in the eyes and I could see his rage build up with every word I just said. Just as I wanted him to.