Isekai Jobhunting   von KatouHasegawa
                         (Jobhunting in another world)
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                           Kapitel 5: Griffin Attack
                           -------------------------


Durin pushed Daniel toward a bunch of wooden crates that were stacked on the
side of the platform next to the recording circle.
“Griffins??” Daniel did as he was told.
“You know, the winged cats... Just stay here.”
Durin hurried into the tree, grabbed a sword and readied his wand, then he took
off, flying up above the tree tops. 
Daniel risked a peek from behind the boxes while still keeping a tight grip on
the magic page with the fire ball spell. A group of armed fairies dispatched
from a neighbouring tree and hurried into the same direction as the Alchemist.
Shortly after they disappeared, the sound of the ringing bells stopped and was
instead replaced with battle sounds.

Curious as he was, Daniel wondered what griffins would look like. And as soon as
he finished that thought, a griffin crashed through the the branches above him
and landed almost directly next to him, missing him by only a few inches. It was
a mighty, grey beast, the size and looks of a lion but with the head of an
eagle, large wings and a feathered, long tail. The griffin laid there
unconscious from the fall but still breathing. On its side it was wounded,
loosing quite an amount of silver blood. Daniel was stunned by the animal as he
had never seen anything like it before. The last time he encountered a lion was
in the zoo and that was decades ago. Soon, the griffin gained its consciousness
again and tried to get up. 

He had to think fast now! Should he try to run to the door to his right and
escape before it noticed him or should he stay quiet and hide behind the boxes?
Approaching it didn't even cross his mind. Instead he just stood there, frozen
in place, unable to move as his thought ran amok.

The griffin's tail twitched. The beast head turned around, tilting to the side
and inspecting the creature beside him. It growled deeply. Daniel didn't dare to
make a move, not even to breathe, staring back at it. Right into the griffin's
dark brown eyes which studied him intensely. 
“Calm down, ok? I don't want to harm you...” 
The animal opened its beak and let out a nerve breaking scream, so loud that
Daniel almost fell over. He started panicking and promptly used the fire spell
which formed in front of him, putting a barrier between him and the beast.

The griffin spread his wings aggressively. It tried to stand but the wound
prevented it. With a hissing sound it snapped at the human, while blocking the
flames with its wings. Daniel barely evaded, hiding behind the wooden boxes
again, trying to put something, anything between them. The upset animal lashed
out with its tail, hitting the crates and sweeping them away. 
Then it jumped forward to bite him but suddenly it froze, only inches away from
Daniel's face. 
A shining ray of light had dropped down from above as a golden, sparkling spear
ran through the griffin's body, piercing its heart. With a whimpering, coughing
sound the beast shivered one last time and life left its eyes. 

Daniel sank onto his knees, now the shock took its toll on him.
“Are you alright?”
A slender fairy in a long white dress covered by a golden armour flew down and
retrieved the spear. She had bronze-coloured hair, braided to a strict up-do.
Daniel hesitantly stood up.
“Yes, more or less... Thank you, you saved me.”
The fairy who could now see the human in his full size gasped and immediately
pointed her weapon at him.
“What happened to your wings??” 
As she came closer, the alerted expression on her face changed to a mix of
disgust and fear.
“No... I don't recognize your face... 
Who- No... What are you?!”
Daniel felt like the most despicable thing on earth when he saw how she looked
at him. Slowly, he raised his hands, trying to calm her down. 
“I'm... new here. I'm an acquaintance of Florette and Durin. He brought me
here.”

The fairy raised her brows while neither letting her guard, nor her spear down.
“You know Durin? Are you a strange creation from this lab? I don't sense any
magic from you...”
“I'm not a creation... Do I really look that strange to you?”
“Now that you say it... You look a bit like an elven miscarriage. Without the
pointy ears.”
Daniel grumbled. “I've heard something similar that before... You're just like
Fay...”
“You know Faylenn, too?? And more importantly, how are you so close with each
other that you can call him by his nickname already??”
She angrily waved the spear in front of his nose.
“Sorry, did I hit a nerve? Are you jealous?”
“Jealous? Me? No way! A Royal Guard doesn't have such emotions! Anyway! You
should be grateful that I saved you!” She gave him a criticising look. 

“So... Where's Durin now?”
Daniel pointed up.
“Hmph. I'm gonna ask him about you. You stay here!”
She retracted her spear and rushed to the tree tops, disappearing as fast as she
came.
'It's not like I can fly off anywhere like you can...' He shook his head and
inspected the dead griffin. The mighty beast laid on its side. He brushed
through the soft fur and the feathers. There was still some leftover warmth in
them. For some reason he was reminded of Midas, his dog which was waiting for
him at home.

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