Lured

[Vanalis]

Vanalis tentatively approached the eerie cave before her. Whatever was calling to her was inside, and she had to have it. She didn't even know what it was, but she had to have it. It softly beckoned to her, pulling at her, tempting her. Its call was irresitable. Whatever it was, it would be hers.

Vanalis's sense of danger was screaming at her to turn back as she cautiously moved towards the black entrance of the cave. Nothing would stop her from claiming her prize, though. She crept onwards, the leaves and twigs crunching beneath her feet.

A pair of eyes glowed in the darkness to the elf's right. Vanalis stopped and drew a sharp breath. Slowly turning her head, more and more pairs of eyes opened up in the dark woods around her. As she stood motionless, stunned with fear, indecision threatened to be her end. Before she acted, one set of eyes lunged forward and the rest followed.
Panic took over Vanalis as she took off away from the ravenous wolves that pursued close behind, drooling for a bite of her flesh.

[The Wretched]

A sinister, ghastly smile crossed the wretched creature's face as he observed the unfolding scene from deep within his cave. He had hoped the girl would make her way into his cave so he could tear her apart, but watching the wolves do the same would be almost as amusing. Unfortunately, it had been awhile since he had slaughtered an innocent passerby brave enough to venture into his cave. And the Wretched needed to kill. Desperate for more bodies to destroy, the creature had developed a new spell to lure any wanderer in the forest to his cave with an uncontrollable desire for a non-existent treasure. This girl, the first victim of his new terrible spell, proved that it did indeed work very effectively, but the wolves chased her off. Though The Wretched enjoyed nothing more than to kill humanoids and hear their screams and frantic pleas for mercy, killing animals was satisfying, too. The wolves would suffer a similar fate to their meal-to-be after they finished with her. The thought of killing excited the hideous creature. He laughed with a monstrous roar, the black, formless tendrils shifting unpredictably in his gaping mouth. Eager for blood, he disappeared in a cloud of blackness, his terrifying laughter still echoing throughout the cave and out into the forest. His forest.

[Taver]

He hurt. Every inch of him was in pain. Even his feathers hurt. He wished he could land, but the forest sprawled out below did not look welcoming. He wasn't an expert in magic, but he could still tell when there was evil about. He scanned the horizon again, looking for some sign of the Tower. He must have taken a wrong turn, or misunderstood the directions. There was no Tower in sight, just unending forest. He'd decided to fly in one direction and stick to it, hoping that would get him out. However, the warm glow of the setting sun to his left told him that the sun was nearing the horizon. What little thermal activity he could find above this godforsaken forest would be gone with the sun.
Taver was a small gryphon, so at least he didn't have as much mass to haul up in the air. But, he was from the Falcon Clan. His wings were not suited for long, soaring flights, and they were letting him know. He needed to land, prepare for the oncoming night...

Sudden noise below carried to his sensitive ears. The silence of the rest of the forest made this new noise stand out all the more. He dove lower, trying to see through the thick canopy foliage. The sounds of a chase...Branches snapping, the crunch of leaves. He turned his head, trying to hone in on the source of the sounds. Behind the crashing was the soft whisper of a predator. He was nearly at canopy level with a horrifying roar shook the forest. Instinct screamed at him to flee, but at that moment he caught sight of a humanoid running frantically through the underbrush. Only a short distance behind was an entire pack of wolves. There was no way a human could outrun wolves! He saw an opening between tree branches and shot through, screaming a battle cry. Seventy-five pounds of speeding gryphon hit the lead wolf at fifty miles per hour. He heard the crack of a rib and hoped it wasn't his own. It took a second for his head to clear. Definately not a good idea.. Taver looked up at the five remaining wolves. They had stopped, confused, at this latest development. But it was clear that he was outnumbered, and though he was taller, they were more massive. Still, maybe he could distract and buy the human time. He screeched at the wolves, then dashed to a tree. Claws sunk into bark as he climbed. He could feel jaws snap at his tail feathers, but he was too fast.
"Ha! I'm faster than you dogs! Did you see that? Come and get me, you curs!" He spread his wings and tried to keep their attention on him.

[Vanalis]

A yelp sounded out. Though surprised, Vanalis didn't waste any time turning to see its cause. She was getting out of there. She continued at a sprint for roughly another fifty yards before she concluded that the wolves had abandoned their chase, at least momentarily. Curiosity forced her to turn around to see what had distracted them from her. At first, she only saw the wolves surrounding a tree, but she soon spotted what she assumed to have been her savior. A gryphon scrambled up the tree. Why it had come down to get the wolves' attention Vanalis could only guess, but is seemed it was her turn to return the favor. She made her way back to the scene as stealthily as possible, getting within range to unleash her magic on the distracted wolves. The wolves, fortunately, were still firmly intent on ripping the gryphon apart, so the elf had a clear opportunity to do to the wolves as she wished. Gathering a sufficient amount of energy, she created a giant scythe of air in front of her, then blasted it forwards towards the wolves. The concentrated air sliced clean through two sets of legs before losing energy and dissipating. Vanalis shot a second blast of air, which killed a third wolf before they had time to shift their attention to her. Realizing that the elf was the present threat, the remaining wolves charged at her, eager to avenge the fallen members of their pack. Vanalis was ready this time, though, and took control of the enormous tree roots beneath the wolves' feet. Feeding her power into them, they grew with astonishing speed and wrapped around the wolves' legs. They yelped as their momentum slammed them into the ground. But, rather than killing the wolves that wanted so badly to devour her, Vanlis let them be. They could no longer cause her or the gryphon that saved her any harm.

The elf approached the gryphon while staying a safe distance from the entangled wolves. They growled and barked furiously at her, but they could do nothing else. She wasn’t sure if the creature could talk, or understand her, but adressed it anyway. “Come on, let’s get out of here!” She was still thoroughly terrified, adrenaline pulsing through her veins., and this forest was the last place she wanted to be.

[Taver]

Taver could only stare in amazement as the woman he had saved came back to help with the wolves. She wielded magic as a weapon, expertly subduing the beasts in seconds. He knew offensive magic existed, yes. But it was the first time he'd seen it used. The gryphon community at Sanctuary stayed away from fire magics as a rule, and the water magic they depended on never seemed so dangerous. But to see air and nature used in battle...! It was really interesting. Gryphon mages tended to use air and light magic when fighting - fire was too dangerous near feathers.
He, too, possessed the magic gift. However, circumstances....Circumstances made it too dangerous for him to learn with the gryphon-mages of Sanctuary. So he had set out to find the legendary Mage's Tower, where perhaps they could teach him the focus and control needed to use his gift. Mabye...maybe this human-mage could help him. She was a mage - maybe she'd BEEN there! He gryph-grinned at her. "Wow! That was amazing! Neat trick with the vines." Taver spread his wings and jumped down. "My name's Taver. I'm going to the Mage's Tower. Who are you? Are you a mage? Why are you in this forest?" He pranced excitedly, as if there was too much energy in his small form.

[Vanalis]

Vanalis was far too scared to answer the numerous questions thrown at her. All she said was "We'll talk later! Let's go!" before taking off. If the gryphon had any brains it would do the same. Despite her fear and eagerness to be out of the woods, Vanlis couldn't help but be intrigued by the gryphon. She had never seen such an animal that was as intelligent as it seemed. The gryphon was beautiful, too, especially when he had spread his wings for a brief moment. With any luck, they would both make it out of the forest alive.

Vanalis stepped out of the terrifying forest into a grassy field and inhaled the fresh air. It felt so different from the air in the forest, where she could almost taste the evil. In any case, she was relieved to be out of that damned placed. Feeling relatively safe, Vanalis stopped a fair distance from the edge of the forest and turned back to see if the gryphon had made it out. She certainly hoped he had. She hadn't really thought much about his safety while bolting through the forest...