Darius could feel his heart thumping wildly against his chest, it was beating too fast it was like he has a horse running inside his chest.
His breathing started speeding up, 'Oh no. Oh no.' he started panicking.
'Kalla's going to kill me!' he thought.
CRACK!
The small line in the egg grew, making his heartbeat grow even faster. To the point that it felt like his heart was about to explode.
"Gah!" he exclaimed causing the others to wake up.
"W-what happened?!" Kalla asked.
"The e-egg… it b-broke!" he admitted.
Immediately Kalla towards him, but before she could make it.
The egg fell apart and in Darius's hand, is a bird of sort… NO.
It was a baby griffin. It was about the size of a fully grown chicken with the head of an eagle with cotton-like feathers, the body and tail of a lion, and a fair of front talons.
The baby griffin remained in his grasp, its two round brown eyes staring straight at Darius's purple ones before blinking several times.
"Hey!" Kalla stopped when she saw the tiny creature.
"It hatched…" she mumbled lowly.
"Was it supposed to?" Brennan asked.
"Not this time… I think…" Kalla pondered, thinking it hatched a little too early.
The baby griffin started rubbing its head against Darius's forearm.
And when it pulled back, it stared at him again before chirping multiple times.
"Maybe it's hungry?" Darius asked with uncertainty.
Kalla stifled a laugh.
"What?" Darius asked, softly glaring at her.
"Nothing, let's give him some bread," Kalla said before walking back to the fire.
"Him? It's a male griffin?"
"Yep," Kalla replied, popping her lips after the 'P'.
Darius feeds the griffin some bread, pinching a small amount and giving it to him. Which the griffin gladly devoured.
After eating, the griffin snuggled in Darius's arms.
"Here take him, Kalla. I think it's better if you hold him."
But before Kalla could take the griffin, it started chirping in protest.
"Peeiit! Peeit! Peeeiit!"
"He said no if it's not obvious," Kalla said awkwardly.
"It's about time you rest anyway, go ahead and sleep, Darius. I'll guard." Brennan suggested.
The griffin sat on Darius's lap and peacefully snuggled against him.
"Alright… thanks," Darius said with a smile before scooping the griffin into his arms.
When Darius woke up, it was already morning. The thin mist has settled in the surroundings and the air was moist and cold.
"W-what…" he muttered as he realized that the griffin was still snuggling close to him.
"Oh, you're awake," Brennan said as he walk over to him.
"Why didn't you wake me up to switch?" Darius asked.
"It's alright, you had a long day yesterday. We thought you needed rest to Kalla and I guarded."
"B-but,"
"That fine… here we collected some berries." Brennan set down a clean cloth filled with berries.
"Where's Kalla?"
"Here!" Kalla popped out of the forest, both hands holding water skins.
"I just collected water."
Brennan sat down, "Let's eat for now, then we could head back."
"Wait, before that…" Darius stopped for a moment.
"I don't want to go back to Austral, is there any other route?" Darius looked at Kalla, who had pursed her lips.
"Yes… we can go around it through west and find back the road leading to the Slazgo. It will be a little further though, and it will take more time to reach Sentry using that route." Kalla explained.
"That sounds perfect, just not through Austral please." Darius sighed, just thinking about the possible hassle.
"They didn't even saw us, there's a small chance they will recognize us." Brennan pointed out.
"I know but I just don't want to risk it," Darius picked up a smaller berry and gave it to the griffin, who was now awake.
"West it is then," Brennan chuckled.
The journey to Slazgo was fortunately peaceful, too peaceful in fact that it was almost suspicious.
No monsters, no witches, and no enemies.
But it was something they can't really complain about.
Because they've reached the forest where they first met Cernnunos with ease.
When they entered the forest, Cernnunos was sitting on the throne made out of roots.
He was so still, that he almost appear to be dead.
'Did he never leave the place?' Darius thought to himself.
Kalla knelt on one knee to show her respect, pointing at the others using her lips. As if telling them to do the same.
"Stand child, there is no need for that. I am, but a wandering soul." Cernunnos told Kalla. She looked as if she wanted to protest, but she knew better than to argue with her creator.
"I have heard the voices of the wind, and I must say that what happened is quite tragic…" he started.
"But let us rejoice because the newly hatched griffin is safe." The lord of the wild added, his gentle and tired eyes looking at the griffin.
"Wait," Darius's brows met.
"If you can hear the voices of the wind… how come you didn't know who was causing those problems?"
Cernunnos turned his gaze to Darius, "I share thy frustration about that matter, but witches can use magic to cover their tracks. Besides even if I know the truth, the ancient laws restrict me from directly handling the problem."
"I am nothing but an observer, I cannot use my power to affect the shifting of the world. For the world tree had chosen me to become its tool in the path of peace."
His words confused and frustrated Darius, both at the same time.
'What the point of being so powerful, if you can't even do anything to change the world.'
'Calm down Darius, the gods are following the laws of the world tree. You wouldn't understand but it was created to keep the balance between the realms. It protects all the realms, even the dark ones. Because to the world tree, all realms are equally important to maintain the balance.' Ravana explained.
Darius clenches his teeth.
"Here," Darius tried to hand over the griffin to the god. But Cernnunos raised a hand to stop him.
"I cannot take the griffin, if it was still an egg I could have taken care of the creature. But now… it already recognized thy as its guardian."
Kalla stifled a laugh.
"What?" Darius asked with furrowed brows.
"Griffins recognizes the creature they see upon hatching and in this case, it was you," Kalla explained.
"You knew and didn't even bother telling me? Darius asked.
"Y-yes… it had been calling you mother since it hatch," she croaked. Still trying to stop herself from laughing.
"Griffin have a close connection to magic, they can help thou grow stronger for thy future battles. Isn't that what thou wanted?"
Darius turned to the griffin, who was happily rubbing its head against his forearm.
"F-fine… I'll keep him."
"Now, for thy reward. What is it that thou wanted?" Cernunnos asked.
"I will still receive a reward? Even if I failed?" Darius knitted his brows.
"Of course, I told thee that I will provide a reward if you agreed. I did not tell you that I will not provide the reward if you failed." He clarified.
Darius looked surprised but replied either way, "I understand."
"Then name thy desire."
"I want to obtain the questing beast…"
"And use it as a sacrifice?" Cernunnos asked.
Darius felt his mouth grow dry, the god knows what he was doing. Even the sacrifices for the sword.
The young man slowly nodded his head, unable to form the proper words.
"Then I shall send it to thee tomorrow by first light."
"Y-you'll allow me to slay the beast?" Darius asked.
"The questing beast despite its origin is a gentle creature, unfortunately, it can be used as a weapon. I fear that it will be taken as well, therefore, I shall allow thee to take it."
"After all, only one questing beast can exist in the world. If it dies, the beast will reincarnate after a century. And if I were to choose, I will rather allow the chosen hero of the world tree to have the opportunity to slay the questing beast. Rather than the enemy."
"The what?"
Darius couldn't believe his ears.
A dreadful feeling formed in his gut.
Deep down, he was praying that he heard it wrong.
No, he can't beside tracked. A single year, that's the only time he has.
A year to get stronger, a year to defeat the white crow and save his brother.
This is not something he needed.
"Oh? I thought Titania already told thy." Cernunnos said.
"She did not tell me anything," Darius shook his head. His brows furrowed together, he was beyond angry. The last thing he wanted is for more gods popping out of nowhere just to give him more quests.
He has other important things to take care of, things that matter to him. Things that he truly needed to do.
He can't take this burden, not now… in fact never.
"With the brewing chaos and treacherous creatures plotting to throw off the balance between the realms. The world tree was forced to choose a new hero to stop the destruction of the world."
"No!" Darius declined.
"I'm not going to do it," he said gritting teeth.
"The world tree had already made a decision, it cannot be changed."
"No. I have other things to take care of."
"Listen to me. The elves and the dwarves are tirelessly training thousands upon thousands of warriors, for the day that the world tree will need a hero. But even with those choices, the world tree chose thee."
"It means the tree saw something within thee, something special. Something that others do not have, it believes that thou can protect this world from the evils hiding in the shadows."
"No!" Darius marched off. While Brennan without much choice bowed his head a little to show respect before following Darius.
Cernunnos and Kalla watched from the distance as they two retreated.
"Was it true Cernnunos? Did the world tree choose him?" Kalla asked.
"It did child and truth be told, even I was wondering why."
"If I were to decide, Eldric is more fitting. That lad had been trained ever since he was a child just for this moment. He became the strongest elven warrior, yet the tree chose Darius."
"Do you think it's the sword?"
"No, I doubt the tree will choose a hero based on a mere weapon. There has to be another reason, but we will have to wait. Until the future decides to reveal the truth."
"Soon Darius will have no choice but to follow the path the world tree had chosen for him."