The moon shone over the mountain, making every leaf in the forest sparkle under the faint silver light.
Having nowhere else to go, Kalla and Brennan started walking back to the nest of the griffins.
But when they came out of the edge of the forest, they realized that another person was standing over the edge of the cliff.
Puzzled they approached more carefully, thinking it was another enemy, but then they recognized the figure.
The person standing near the edge and looking down the fall was Darius.
"Darius!" Kalla shouted calling the man's attention.
When Darius turned to face them, Kalla couldn't help but allow her tears to fall. Like rivers, they started flowing down her cheeks, sparkling as the moonlight reflected in each tear.
Without thinking it through, Kalla run towards Darius and tackled him into a tight embrace.
"Ah!" Darius exclaimed as Kalla's petit body slammed against his. "Careful, we might end up falling down the cliff." He said chuckling.
Kalla rubbed her face in his torso, hiding her tears from the man. Both of her hands tightly clutching in the back of Darius' shirt.
"I can just turn into a dove and let you fall to your death," Kalla said with her muffled voice.
Darius laughed while patting Kalla's head, knowing she will never do such a thing.
"H-hey…" Brennan approached Darius hesitantly. He still feels guilty about running off.
Darius smiled, "It's good to see you both." He said gently.
But when Brennan came closer, Darius did not waste time to give him a head chop. It wasn't hard, but Brennan closed his eyes.
"Don't run off like that again, you've could have gotten hurt." Darius lectured.
"Y-yeah… sorry," Brennan replied with a small smile on his face.
Kalla finally stepped away while sniffling.
"W-what happened anyway?" she asked with a broken voice.
"W-well… it was a mess, everything happened too quickly. But when I arrived the woman in the red hood was fighting the griffins, I thought she was alone but she's not." Darius began explaining what happened.
"But she was alone we saw her," Brennan said confusedly.
"That's true, that psycho chased us down the forest. She wanted to kill Brenna but we got lucky, she didn't find us until nightfall and she was eventually summoned by someone. We didn't know who exactly but she said something like... mother." Kalla explained.
"Lucky huh…" Darius muttered.
He sighed, "Looks like all of us survived because of luck."
"Yeah… we are no match for that girl if she killed the griffins by herself." Kalla looked down, her eyes staring at the ground.
"No, it wasn't her who killed them. At least I don't think so."
"That woman was with the white crow, she was the one who blasted me down the cliff. Fortunately, I managed to survive… somehow."
"So that's why your clothes are a bit wet, you fell into the river," Kalla noted.
"Are you sure that's not from your tears?" Darius teased.
"H-hey! Now it, not the time to mess around!" Kalla pouted.
"Besides, we failed the task," Kalla added regretfully.
"Speaking of that, look at this," Darius said before walking back to the edge of the cliff.
Kalla gasped, her eyes went wide as she stared at the egg.
"But the question is, how will he take it from the cliff?" Brennan asked, addressing the problem.
"Do you think the shrub can hold until the morning? It's too dark for us to see everything, it will be dangerous." Darius turned to Kalla.
But she sadly shook her head, "The morning fog might cause the shrub to become slippery, the egg will slip off."
"Then now or never huh," Darius bit his lower lip.
"If only we have ropes," Brennan whispered.
"Right! Forest vines," Kalla exclaimed before running into the forest.
"Wait!" Darius shouted, but she was already far away.
"What did I say about running off?" Darius facepalmed as he shook his head.
"You said that to me though," Brennan said, tilting his head to the side.
"Oh god," the older male sighed.
When Kalla came back from god knows where they immediately devised a plan.
Deciding that Kalla should be the one to retrieve the egg from the cliff, because if anything happens. She can just turn into a dove and fly back to safety.
Kalla tied the forest vine just below her chest, making sure that it was secured.
"Ready?" Darius asked.
"YUP!" she replied almost enthusiastically.
Slowly, they lowered Kalla into the cliff.
Using her right hand Kalla kept her stable by clawing in the side of the cliff.
"Stop!" she said with a cracking voice, she was nervous. Not because of the fear of death but the fear of failing to save the egg.
"If I go any further, my feet will hit the egg and it will fall." She told them.
"I told you, Darius, she should be upside down," Brennan said.
Darius know that, but she was hoping that they could manage. Brennan probably hasn't realized it but… Kalla was wearing a dress.
And Darius was the one in front, holding the vine. He shook his head, if she was to be lowered upside down... then.
'Damn it'
"Should we pull her back up?" Brennan asked.
"No." He said firmly.
"We just need to pull her to the side," He instructed.
Darius took the initiative and stepped aside then to create a space between Kalla and the egg.
He bit his lower lips while trying his beat to keep his grip, his arms are sore from what happened earlier.
"She's heavy," he whispered under his breath.
"I'M NOT HEAVY!" Kalla shouted from the cliff, her voice echoing loudly.
Darius couldn't help but smile at Kalla's attitude.
"Just get the egg, please," Darius said.
"Fine..." Kalla pouted.
"Lower me a little bit more," Kalla said.
"O-okay…" Darius replied.
Kalla gently took the egg and hugged it in her chest. It felt so fragile in her arm that it reminded her of when she was younger. When she just learned how to fly and thought she was going to fall and crash to the ground at any given moment.
Once Kalla acquired the egg, the fireflies started flying away.
"Ha…" her breathing was heavy because of her fear.
"You can pull me up now," she said.
'You can't let it fall.' She kept on repeating inside her head.
"Okay!" Darius and Brennan started pulling the vine up to retrieve Kalla and the egg.
Amid their rescue mission, Kalla noticed something.
"H-hey the v-vine is a-about to s-snap!" Kalla exclaimed.
"Brennan the egg!" Kalla shouted.
Brennan quickly ran to the edge of the cliff.
Kalla, on the other hand, raised the egg over her head to hand it over.
Brennan took the egg and held it against his chest.
SNAP!
The vine finally broke and Kalla fell into the cliff.
Upon realizing this, Darius runs over to the side. His stomach crunch as he watched Kalla fall.
Even if he knew, he was still scared for her.
Moments later, a bright light sparked down the cliff.
Followed by the sound of flapping tiny wings. When Kalla came back up, she was in her bird form. She flew straight to Darius and sat on his head.
"Glad that was over," Brennan said holding out the egg.
Kalla swooped down and turned back to her human form.
"It was small, too small." She said.
"This egg has to be the youngest." She pointed out.
"Well, it's better than not saving any of the griffins," Darius said as he took the egg from Brennan.
Gently, he held it close. A wave of guilt washed over him, thinking if he was strong enough then he could've saved them.
"We should rest, for now. It's way colder tonight, I'll go start a fire," Brennan suggested.
"Yeah… I'm tired and hungry…" Kalla said with a pout.
"Aren't you always?" Darius teased.
"What?! Always what?!" Kalla blush in a thousand shades of red.
"Choose your words carefully!" she warned before pursing her lips.
"Always tired, because you're a hard-working guide." Darius chuckled.
"Y-yeah that's what I thought." Kalla blushed harder.
"Hmmp!" and with that, she left Darius on his own.
The three sat beside the fire, the red flames reflecting in their skin. Its warmth keeps embracing them away from the cold of the wind. And keeping them safe from the darkness of the night.
"Brennan you should rest first, I'll stand guard," Darius said as they eat what's left of their supply. Since whatever Darius what carrying got lost in the river, leaving him was nothing but the bag and his sword.
"But aren't you tired?" Brennan asked.
"I'm fine."
"T-then if you say so," Brennan hesitantly replied.
When his friend finally fell asleep, Darius moved a little further from them.
"Ravana?" he called.
'Yes?' the witch immediately replied.
"Is there anything you can teach me about controlling your power?" he asked.
'Well, it had been some time since you practiced. The last time you used it was back in Austral, but I have to say, you used it well back then. Aside from the slip-ups every now and again.'
"But your control with it is way better."
'Darius, I was born with that power. You only inherited it recently, it's not a surprise that you can't use the power at its fullest potential just yet.'
"I know, that's why you have to teach me as much as you can."
'I will, you don't have to tell me that.'
Suddenly, Darius felt something move in his arm.
When he looked down, his eyes widened upon seeing the egg with a crack.
He felt his heart drop, did he do that? He asked himself.