Darius lie awake in his bed, after weeks of traveling he had expected himself to sleep like a log as soon as his back touched the soft mattress. Yet to his surprise, here he is. Lying awake, eyes wide open and his troubled soul repeating the conversation with Cernunnos.
Over and over and over.
The chosen hero of the world tree, he said.
Darius clicked his tongue before turning to the side. His hand found the sleeping griffin.
Gently he stroked its cotton-like wings.
"I wish I could sleep as peacefully," he mumbled to the creature beside him.
The white crow.
The summoning.
The planetary alignment.
His brother.
His lineage.
And now, the world tree.
His problems are just growing more and more every time. The pressure was so great that it was almost difficult to breathe.
'What would the world tree even need from someone like me? If the world tree was connected to the realms then it knows my past. It knows how much blood is in my hands.'
"Why me?"
'Ravana?'
'Ravana?' He called out, but the witch did not respond.
"Great, right when I need her. Bloody hell." He cursed.
The griffin suddenly woke up, as if it was sensing his troubles. Snuggling closer, the creature rubbed itself against Darius.
"Everything will be okay mama, I'm here." He heard, causing Darius to abruptly prop himself up. Wide eyes staring at the griffin.
"No." He said in disbelief.
Staring at him were the griffin's round brown eyes.
"Why?" it asked while tilting its head to the side.
"You can talk?" asked in return.
"I can't at first, but I just started learning your language mama."
"Listen, I…" Darius struggled to find the right words.
"I'm not…" he furrowed his brows as he looked at the young griffin.
'I can't…' he thought pursing his lips.
'How will he react if I told him, I'm not his mother. Oh god…'
"Not?" the griffin asked again.
Darius sucked his breath in, trying to decide.
He shook his head, "I' m not your mama." He said between his teeth, his face contorting uncomfortably.
"Yes you are," the griffin insisted.
Darius shook his head.
"E-eh?!" The griffin looked shocked. Tears glossed its eyes.
"B-but I…" it sniffed.
Shit…
"I-I… because… no. No. It's just." Darius scooped the griffin.
"It's not mama… its dada." He cradled the griffin, trying to desperately mend the damage he had done.
"Dada?" The griffin blinked its eyes, its young mind still comprehending what Darius was talking about.
"Y-yes… dada." He nodded his head, thinking about what he had done.
"Dada..." the young griffin mumbled once again.
"Oh wait, now that I think about it. I haven't given you a name." Darius raised the griffin right in his face.
"Hmmm… what should I name you? It should be something you like," he pondered.
"Bread!" The griffin exclaimed.
"I like bread!" he said the word bread with enthusiasm, but Darius thought he might get some beating from Kalla if he ever named the griffin with that.
"Maybe not bread…" he said much to the creature's disappointment.
"What about…" Darius furrowed his brows.
"Feli." He finally said after a while.
"Feli?"
"Yes, Feli." Darius smiled.
"I like it," the young griffin nodded its head.
"I'm glad," Darius smiled one more.
"I'm Feli!" The griffin chirped.
Darius woke up because of a hissing sound.
Thinking that it was a snake, he immediately stood up. But when he did, he saw something in the window.
Something he had never seen before.
It was a sight to behold, Darius would admit that. Because outside the window, there stand a creature with the head and neck of a snake, the body of a leopard, the haunches of a lion, and the feet of a deer.
It was terrifying yet magnificent.
"Took you long enough," the beast said with a voice that sounded like the barking of a hundred dogs.
"Are you?" Darius furrowed his brows.
"Aye the questing beast. Did you not request me from the lord of the wild?"
Darius was out of words. When he said he wanted the questing beast as a reward and use it as a sacrifice. He wasn't exactly expecting it the wake him up early in the morning with all of the enthusiasm in the world.
To be honest, he was expecting it run away and fear him.
He was going to kill the beast after all.
"You do realize that I will kill you as a sacrifice… right?" He asked with a worried expression. Scared that the beast doesn't even know what was going on.
"Why of course! Now come out here with ye sword and finish the ritual." The beast bluntly replied.
"W-what..." Darius was confused, to say the least, thinking how odd it was for someone to face death with such enthusiasm.
Hesitantly, Darius step outside. Tightly holding the subterranean sword in his hand.
"Hurry up lad, I don't have all day."
"Don't say things like that! I'm going to kill you." Darius said uncomfortably.
"After this, you won't have a day to live."
"I know, now hurry up." The beast replied.
"Wha! Why are you so enthusiastic about this?" Darius asked, still puzzled about the entire encounter.
"Because it was the wish of the lord of the wild." The beast told him, making Darius feel bad.
"He ordered you to go here and die? And you just accepted that?"
"He told me to find you and become the sacrifice for the devouring sword. But he told me that I have the right to refuse and if I did, he will send Kalla to tell you. And that he will find a replacement." The beast explained.
"But who am I to refuse the lord of the wild?"
Darius swallowed a lump in his throat. He hated this, all of them are just following Cernunnos.
Each word! Without a question asked.
"Why did you agree?" he asked.
"Because he is my god, he created him and I owe him my life."
"You may not understand at this point but we all have a part to play, a role to fulfill, a responsibility to assume."
"In the last life, I was a wandering beast that was hunted by the knights. In this life, I am to become your chosen sacrifice. In the next… I could be anything. But that is my destiny and I shall accept it."
"Stop following Cernnunos so blindly! Not just him but the so-called destiny you're speaking of! You have to fight for what you want." Darius pressed on.
"Odd thing to say for the creature you wanted to kill don't you think?" The beast pointed out.
Of course, Darius knows that it was odd, but he couldn't help it. The beast was just so willing to allow Darius to kill him that it was disturbing the ravenette.
"Just… are you not scared of death?" Darius asked.
"You're speaking as if I don't want this. But that's where you are wrong, I want this. I wanted to become your sacrifice. There is no greater honor than to become the sacrifice of the chosen hero."
He should have known, it was about the world tree again.
"I may be a beast, but in this life. I shall become part of your great adventure of protecting the balance of the realms."
His words create a bitter taste in Darius's tongue.
"I'm not the chosen hero, I'm not going to be."
"Ah but that is your calling, the world tree had spoken it. And soon, you will realize that it was a fate you can never avoid. Because they will come for you, allies and enemies alike. They will seek you either to pledge loyalty or attempt to kill you. But one thing is certain, you can never live the way you hoped you would." The beast explained.
"Now please Sir, I beseech you to take my life. And allow me to become your tool." The beast begged.
Darius stared at the beast with sorrow.
Melancholy swallowed Darius, it saddens him to think about the beast's pitiful choice.
With a heavy heart, he placed the surface against its head as if honoring a knight.
"In your next life, roam freely." He told the beast, who had nodded to agree.
"Thank you." The beast replied with a smile.
Darius may not know this, but the questing beast had been living in great sorrow.
Its life was nothing like before, when the knights still prefer to hunt him down. Chasing him day and night. The hunt gave him such joy.
But now, the questing beast we referred to as a legend. A creature that only exist in the pages of dusty books.
He missed it, the thrill of the hunt. The wind in his scaled and purrs as they chased him down.
But now, he was nothing but a beast in the wild. Wondering in the forest like a living shell of what he once was.
To him, it was better to become a sacrifice than to live an empty life.
With a single smooth slash, Darius cut the beast's neck. The head falling to the ground with a thud.
Moments later the beast started turning into dust. Only this time it was not in the color of rust, but rather in gold. It glittered in the air like specks of powdered gold. The body of the questing beast continued disintegrating right before Darius.
Floating away along with the cold morning breeze.