Stolen by the Rebel King
Chapter 130: The Griffin’s Nest II

Chapter 130: The Griffin’s Nest II

Drusilla let rip a terrified, high-pitched scream as she backed away as much as she could. She scrambled across the floor, moving back as much as she could. Her weapons were useless― they merely tickled the beast, doing no damage to the adult griffin.

In dejection, she chucked her bow and arrow so as to better use her hands to run.

When the griffin slammed one claw down onto the dirt, Drusilla barely dodged by rolling away, her dress caked in a thick layer of mud, leaves, and grass from her awkward maneuver. However, that had also trapped her quite literally between a rock and a hard place.

Her piece of clear quartz had also fallen from her pockets from that roll, tumbling a distance away and out of reach. Drusilla was now backed into a corner with nowhere else to run.

"Atticus, we have to do something!" Daphne cried out, her hand clasped over her lips as they watched everything go down.

Alistair had gone off to who-knows-where to hunt down the first adult griffin― if they didn’t step in, Drusilla might actually die!

"I honestly can’t be arsed," Atticus grumbled under his breath.

In the meantime, Drusilla yelped when the griffin clawed down once more. This time, she ducked, the beast’s talons combing through her hair and barely missing her scalp. Her pristine hairstyle fell out of place.

The animal also managed to get a good few strands off her head as well from that swipe. Daphne could see a couple of golden strands of Drusilla’s hair stuck on the griffin’s claws that caught the scarce light.

"Atticus..." Daphne trailed off. Her heart felt like it was about to fall out of her chest.

She might’ve just recently found out what a bitch her precious half-sister was but ultimately, Drusilla had been the only one to show her kindness back when she still stayed in Reaweth’s royal palace. How much of it was genuine and how much of it was just for show was a whole other matter together.

Daphne just didn’t want her death on her ledger.

"If you’re not going to do anything," she said, moving out of Atticus’s protective stance, "then I’ll do so myself."

They couldn’t afford to wait. Daphne knew that Atticus was more than capable of handling one griffin by himself, even without magic. She, on the other hand, was definitely no match for the animal. However, if he was unwilling to save Drusilla, perhaps he would be willing to save her.

Atticus cursed under his breath, roughly yanking Daphne back in place.

"Alright!" He conceded, moving out of their hiding spot. "Stay here and don’t get seen."

"Thank you," she said, breathless and teary.

"I have no clue why you would want to save someone that so clearly wants you dead," he grumbled.

With that said, Atticus quickly brandished his weapon, moving forward to strike.

Sensing the intruder, the griffin unleashed another ear-splitting roar, and its eyes narrowed into a fierce glare as it spun its head back, its gaze landing on Atticus. Without hesitation, it lunged forward, its wings carrying it effortlessly through the air.

Atticus steeled himself for the impending clash.

As the griffin descended, it unleashed a flurry of talon strikes and beak snaps. Atticus expertly darted and rolled, narrowly evading the deadly attacks. He struck back with his weapon, aiming for the vulnerable spots between the griffin’s armored feathers.

The beast let out a terrifying screech of pain as Atticus’s sword managed to jab through into its flesh. It swiped forward right as Atticus ducked back, creating distance between himself and the griffin. He now stood in between the griffin and Drusilla, so that the latter was protected behind him.

"King Atticus?" Drusilla gasped in surprise, her voice shaky.

Disbelief colored her face pale. For the first time since Atticus had met her, he thought he caught genuine tears streaking from her eyes― whether it was from fear or gratefulness, he couldn’t be too bothered to care.

"Stay out of my way," he harshly quipped back.

Without waiting for Drusilla’s reply, he lunged again, fiercely striking the griffin with his weapon. The blade of his sword carved through the griffin’s flank and elicited a shriek of pain from the animal as it desperately fought back. However, Atticus was relentless. He raised his weapon again and again, striking down whether he knew it would hurt most.

To hell with the requirement of having an intact carcass. It was difficult enough to kill a griffin as it was, much more while making sure minimal damage was done to the beast.

With one last final blow, the griffin fell to the floor, collapsing with a weakened cry as it breathed its last.

Atticus panted heavily, frowning as he stared at his dirtied clothing. He flicked his sword in disdain as he gestured for Daphne to come over so that they could pocket the griffin before Alistair could return.

However, he was not prepared for the blow that tumbled right into his embrace. A head of blonde hit him right in the chest, arms coming to wrap around him. It took him a moment to register before he realized that it was a woman who had just plummeted into his arms and not another animal that had to be slain.

But his wife wasn’t the one that had her arms wrapped around his torso in a death grip.

It was his sister-in-law, that shameless woman that he would’ve rather gotten killed by the griffin.

"Thank you, King Atticus!" Drusilla sobbed, her tears and snot mixing in with the blood that already thickly coated his top. "You saved my life! If it weren’t for your bravery, I would’ve died for sure. How can I ever repay you?"

Atticus couldn’t control the grimace that had quickly wormed onto his face. He was feeling pretty disgusting already with the grime that clung to his clothing. Now that snot was added to the mixture of blood and dirt, how was he supposed to hug his wife close if she needed protection? Daphne would surely be disgusted!

"Don’t flatter yourself." Atticus scowled. He pried Drusilla away from his body, finding it took much more effort to separate her from him than it did to kill the damned griffin. "You’re just in the way of my hunt."

Daphne, who had watched as Drusilla basically pounced onto Atticus like an animal in heat, frowned as she quickly left her hiding place and walked over to where they now stood. She had removed the pouch from her tunic and was ready to put it over the griffin when a hand suddenly gripped her wrist, stopping her from moving any further.

"What do you think you’re doing?"

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