Life on the hill

The next day, Lecter flew to the hill on his griffin. He made sure to be there as early as possible. The twins were already up with their father in the open field behind the house. Farther away from them was a thick forest.

Lecter met with two men that introduced themselves as uncles of the twins. Annoyingly, they kept referring to him as Agnar's 'new form of entertainment'.

The three men made chills run down his spine. He was cautious about his every movement so he wouldn't upset them. His imagination went wild each time he thought of what they would do to him if angered.

Squash him under a rock. Separate his head from the rest of his body, send him home with broken bones. He dreaded every thought. Even though they would most likely do neither of those things.

Before midday, Lecter would be free to leave or stay if he chose to. Only three times a week was he allowed to set foot on that hill.

The twins dealt with a harsher version of their father's brutal training. All three men made sure to push them past their limits everyday. Break and rebuild. The amount of blood loss, fatigue and broken bones in a week increased greatly.

"This is your version of fun, uncle?" Kiyan asked Raymond who only smiled at him.

"Pick up that sword and come at me again," he said. Kiyan, whose skin was designed in cuts, picked up his sword that fell out of his hand and went at his uncle again.

Raten on the other hand was with One-eye. In each hand he held two daggers. He wasn't covered in cuts like his brother was. But, the little ones he had were deeper than that of Kiyan. Using the last ounce of strength in him, he went on the attack again at his uncle who held nothing but a single kitchen knife at hand.

As days passed, they saw their father less and less. While looking for ways to break the curse, he ventured into a guild. The Raven's guild. The most powerful guild in the kingdom and one of the strongest in the empire.

Raven's guild, among others, were solely focused on hunting magical beasts around the kingdoms they were based in, though they had other duties.

Not many knew what the beasts were used for. There were rumours of the beasts being harnessed for power. People would capture them dead or alive and absorb their abilities. But only few are able to do so successfully. Those who could tame the beasts kept them.

The guilds had strong men and women, most of them having great knowledge of Qi and magic. The guilds, now more than ever, have been active because of rampant movement of these said magical beasts into human settlements. Acting fast, they try to stop it before it becomes a big problem.

One day, Agnar returned with what he called his long lost precious child, Wolverion.

Wolverion was a magical wolf-like beast. It was about five hundred and thirty-six centimeters in height and two hundred and fifteen centimeters wide. Its fangs were thick and long, too big for its mouth that it had to stay slightly open.

It had three green eyes and large powerful bird-like wings grown on its back. Though, instead of feathers on them, the wings were covered in fur. One flap of them can cause a wind strong enough to send people flying.

It had strong muscles making it look even more menacing. Its tail was long and fluffy, soft if you dared to touch it.

Lecter was in their home when Agnar showed up with the beast. While he fainted, his griffin shifted in fear but stood in front of him to protect him if there was trouble. The twins were frozen with fear or was it awe..? It's not easy to tell what emotion they're feeling.

They just kept staring with mouths hung open, while Raymond and One-eye happily climbed atop the beast.

"Wolverion, where have you been?!" One-eye said while laying on its soft fur. The beast wagged its tail in joy as it was being gently rubbed by the three men.

"You missed us too, didn't you?" Said Raymond.

"What on earth is this monstrosity?" The twins wondered. They weren't surprised that those men were acquainted with such a horrific creature. They were actually shocked that something of this manner existed.

"You two don't remember him?" Agnar asked.

"We've met him before?" Kiyan raised a brow and Agnar just nodded.

"Quite a few times, actually."

After the little introduction, the beast shrunk itself to the size of a puppy and just played around. It went from menacing to adorable very quickly.

Raten splashed cold water on Lecter to wake him up.

While the three lads were left with the miniature beast, the three men were discussing something else.

"Since my rank has gone up, I am able to get information about a whole lot. It seems he doesn't believe I'm dead yet. They're recruiting more wizards into the empire's army. The knights are cooperating as well."

"The knights? Then it must be the doing of that bloated betrayer." One-eye clenched his fist.

"You rose quickly in that guild Agnar. Don't get yourself caught. At least, not until the curse is broken and you have retrieved your powers." Raymond said, warning him to be cautious.

"Speaking of retrieving my powers, I've found a way to get them back, but I need your help." Agnar said.

"What would you have us do?" One-eye asked.

********

The shrunken, harmless looking creature nuzzled up on Raten's lap while the three young ones chatted away.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you both but I ran into Jarett and Chandrel some days ago." Lecter said.

"Who?" The twins asked.

"The two boys you both fought on the town's square." Lecter tried to jog their memory. It had been months since that day, the twins had forgotten all about it.

"So?" They asked.

"Well, they happened to see me leave with you two that day and asked if I knew you and how they could meet you. In short, they want a rematch." Lecter said.

"I would like to fight that overly tall lad again." Raten rubbed his chin with one hand and gently caressed the fur of the beast on his lap with the other.

"But, we're not stepping down from this hill anytime soon." He said.

"Then I shouldn't have told them you both will see them tomorrow afternoon in the town's square?" Lecter said nervously.

"You shouldn't have," Kiyan said.

"This does mean that you will fight them when you can leave home?" Lecter asked.

Just as they were about to answer, their conversation was stopped as a presence was felt. Three very strong presences.

"Chubby, you should leave now, these two are about to get busy." Said Agnar. As soon as he spoke, Wolverion flew over to him and rested on his shoulder.

Lecter sighed.

"See you tomorrow then." He bid goodbye and left.

"What is it that you want us to do?" Kiyan asked.

"Fight beasts," Agnar answered with a wicked grin.

The twins inhaled deeply and then exhaled as if knowing this was going to happen.

"Fight, survive, and win."