Orion brushed the dirt off his coat, stood up, and rolled his shoulders. The soreness from Wukong clone beating him still lingered on his body. He felt as if he was beginning to learn something, but he couldn't tell, though all the pain
Just as Wukong cracked his knuckles getting ready to put Orion through another rigorous round of training, the temple doors cracked open. Susanoo stepped in, his expression stern,
"The is a gryphon not far from here," He said, folding his arms. "Roaming the outer forest"
Wukong's eyes lit up." Amazing!" he shouted. He turned to Orion with a wide smile."Next part of training- You're going to kill it"
Orion's heart dropped."Wait, what? Kill a gryphon? Are you serious?"
"I'm always serious", Wukong said, completely unfazed
"Don't you think you're doing everything a bit too fast?" Orion protested. I just fought a clone and got rag-dolled across the entire courtyard. And you still haven't even told me why you and Shiva keep saying that I 'smell of stars'."
Wukong waved a hand. "Later. You'll understand when the time comes."
He threw a set of weapons long bow with silver etched limbs and a quiver of black-feathered arrows, followed by a sheathed longsword with a warm but elegant hilt. Orion caught them awkwardly, allowing the sword to scrape on the floor.
"Try not to die," Wukong yawned, already flopping back onto a sun-heated slab of stone. In a few seconds, he was fast asleep.
"Unbelievable"
Orion looked at Susanoo. "Any actual advice?"
Susanoo nonned once. "Listen to the call of the blade."
Orion blinked. "The... what?"
"It will make sense soon enough"
The forest loomed ahead like a sleeping giant - its canopy dense, the underbrush whispering secrets with each breeze. Orion stepped carefully, the bow slung to his back, sword sheathed at his side
He tried to remain focused.
Since the moment he met Susano, since the sky cracked, since gods and monsters became real, something had changed inside of him. He wasn't terrified. Not really.
He was alive.
For once, Everything had meaning.
He has been thinking about other humans, wondering how they would adapt to the current situation, but he set that aside, deciding to add it to the list of questions he had for Wukong when he gets back.
He crept forward, knees bent. moving like a shadow between the trees. The forest was alive with distant birds' calls and the soft rustle of wind stirred leaves, but Orion tuned it all out his heart thudding, focusing all his senses.
He slipped once, His boot crunching a twig beneath the moss
"Damn it," He muttered, PRessing against the bark of a near by tree
The sound stopped.
Then- a rustle
Low. Heavy.
He peeked from behind the trunk
There it was.
The monster loomed ahead. a combination of a bird and a lion/ its leonine body bulged with muscle beneath its golden fur, thick like a jungle cat. Feathers of dark bronze and soft ivory adorned its wings, kept tight along its back but twitching with redness. Its head- an eagle's- sat sigh and sharp, crowned by a crest of dark feathers, with piercing amber eyes searching the woods like a predator that knew it wasn't alone.
Orion took a deep breath.
He ducked low again.
"Okay... not impossible. Just suicidal."
He pulled an arrow from his quiver, notched it, and exhaled slowly. He only had the most basic archery experience from doing it as a child, how he was going to kill this monster he had no idea. Remembering Wukong's advice- vague, cryptic, and annoyingly unhelpful- but one thing stuck:
Don't die
He rose just enough to line up his shot.
Aim small. Breathe. Now.
The arrow soared, slicing through the air, grazing the creature's shoulder.
The gryphon let out a thunderous scream. IT spun with terrifying speed, talons eating into the dirt as it charged like a bullet with its wings.
"Oh, Come on!"
Orion bolted, weaving between trunks as trees splintered behind him under the force of the monster's charge. HE drew another arrow mid-run and fired without aiming, hitting the beast's wing. IT faltered for a moment, screaming again, pressing on, eyes blazing
"WHY IS IT ALWAYS ME !"
Braches tore at Orion's arms. His lungs burned. But his mind races faster.
"I can't match it in strength. Fine. Let's get smarter.
He veered left. duckoing under low-hanging vines. and emerged into a narrow clearing flanked by sharp falls, stone cliffs with uneven terrain on both sides.
He turned sharply. The Gryphon is right behind him
He drew his sword.
It felt different this time, like the sword was alive as he was gripping it . The hilt thrummed softly, like a heartbeat syncing up with his own. The blade seemed lighter than before. Waiting.
The griffin lunged
Orion didn't run.
He slid low beneath its arc, slashing up as he passed beneath the beast's chest, planting his sword in its underbelly. Blood sprayed. The monster began to shriek in pain. stumbling mid-air.
Orion rushed up a jagged rock, his boots slipping before he found any grip. The gryphon was turning to charge again, slower this time.
"This had to end"
Orion drew an arrow and aimed.
"Come on," He whispered. " Just one more."
He released.
The arrow sailed through the air.
Right through the Gryphon's eye.
The beast convulsed, screaming its final scream before collapsing into the clearing with a loud crash, its wings twitching before its body finally went still.
Orion stood over it, blood and sweat dripping from his hands, gripping his sword even tighter.
"I... genuinely did it!"
His chest heaved, and he looked down at his sword. IT was faint, barely audible- but something stirred in the back of his mind. not a voice, not a thought.
A whisper.
It spoke not in words but in instinct.
The call of the blade.
Just as Orion began to process what he had just done
A twig snapped behind him
He froze.
Footsteps.