Here it was; all over again.  Skylong knew what he had to do; protect the woman and call for back up.<br/><br/>Stopping the horse?  He could sing to the horse, but he or she would not stop in time.  All he could do was run and jump.  This he did with not much grace; he ran to the side of Deryn; he had to be a little acrobatic.  He might crush her if he simply pounced on her to move her out of the way.  So, he wrapped his arms tightly around her, taking upon himself both his weight and her weight, hurling himself in the air, and ensuring that when he landed, he would take the brunt of the force.  He was only mildly embarrassed that the inertia of the jump knocked the wind out of him; he took a moment to catch his breath.  Now was no time to panic, but he would need a moment to recompose himself.<br/><br/>Song singing was an art among the elves; mainly because that is how messages were conveyed to the birds of the air, to the wolves and other animals.  Though he was far and his voice would only barely be heard from his tribe of wolf riders, yet the animals who were also caretakers of the woods would carry the message for him.  He hoped it was enough time.<br/><br/>He then looked up in the air; no gryphon would be allowed to die without other gryphons coming.  Who knew whether the creature was dead or not?  His brothers and sisters knew when one of their own was sick or in a malady, that was the way with all noble creatures.  "Spring was my sister" he said matter of factly to answer Deryn's question before cupping his hands, turning up to the sky, and singing a song in chant.  After a minute, he did the same in the direction of the woods.  Having completed it, he grabbed Deryn's hands to motion to her to follow him as they ran to the bloody site.  It was then that the importance of these events flashed in his mind.<br/><br/>"If you really are a kin to the gryphons, now is the time to communicate to them and to their friends who will arrive shortly.  You may be the only hope for diffusing this situation; but, if the creature is dead ... you'll have to prepare for battle.  No gryphons allow their own to be killed without retribution.  At least, that is the gryphons I knew before they left the woods."<br/><br/>The hunters did not seem pleased to see Deryn or Skylong.  Kneeling down, he examined the creature, but did not touch it.  Most frightened or bewildered creatures did not want to be immediately touched; it might scare them or create in them a desire to lash out in self protection.  The four arrows were made by an expert.  "Uhh, Deryn.  This is your cue."  Skylong approached forward, removing a dagger from his trousers.<br/><br/>He looked at the human in front of him, certainly more of them would come shortly to claim their prey.  He could only hope his call for backup would be enough.<br/><br/>"Not another step forward; this grypon was hunted in my woods.  Therefore, he is mine to protect.  I have called for a number of elves and wood animals to assist me.  Should you move forward, I shall have the unfortunate duty to slit your throat; then the hunter will become the hunted."<br/><br/>The human wore a royal insignia on the two shoulders of his chain mail.  He spoke up in what appeared to be a noble tongue.  "We have been paid by his royalty to exterminate the gryphons.  We figured, why  not cash in while we were at it.  What do you know about anything, pointy ears?"<br/><br/>Skylong turned around to see if Deryn was making any progress with the fallen creature.  "I know that even if I was the only one here and no one else came from the woods to help me, the other grypons would come to the aid of this fallen one.  You have put yourself in complete danger."<br/><br/>"That is what we were hoping; we knew hunting one or two of them would bring the majority of them out.  Now move aside, cub.  We have work to do."  More horses soon joined behind what appeared to be a member of this nobility party.  Now, it was approx 8 or 9 men compared to himself and Deryn.  Turning around again, the situation seemed dire.<br/><br/>"I won't ask this again of you, human.  Leave now, or I shall kill all of you."  The horses immediately rode into place, encircling both themselves and Skylong.  Their hooves were powerful; their bodies stood upright, and they were proud of the masters that rode them.  "You will have to kill me first" Skylong retorted as one of the archers of the group shot his first arrow, only slightly missing Skylong.