Truth, Lies, and Silver Eyes (A Sequel to STRQ) [Book 2]

Chapter 36: Qrow

"Uncle Qrow, where did Summer go?" Deke asked me, as I was looking over his spelling words one morning.

"She's taking a little break right now. She should be back soon, though. Don't worry."

Deke didn't look up at me as he worked on his reading. "Oh okay. Is she your girlfriend?"

I abruptly stopped what I was doing. I wasn't expecting such a question. I didn't want to lie to him, and it was pretty obvious Summer and I were together.

"Yeah, she is," I told him.

Deme looked up at me and said, "Are you going to marry her one day?"

Stunned, I wasn't sure how to answer. I loved Summer of course, and I wanted to see us together for a long time to come. ...But did I really see myself marrying her in the future?

"...I'm hoping to, yes," I finally replied to him.

His eyes lit up a bit. "That's cute! You seem really happy around her."

I couldn't help but smile at him.
"She does make me very happy."

Deke was about to say something, when I heard a roar outside. I instantly grabbed my scythe that sat near the door.

"Deke, you stay here," I told him, "I think we might have some company."

Deke looked worried, "What's going on?"

"I don't know, but I'm going to find out. Don't leave this room, do you understand?"

"Okay. Be careful, Uncle!"

I hugged him before running out the door.
I didn't see anything at first, but I did hear the cries of Grimm nearby. Tons of them, too. I kept my scythe close and tightly gripped. Then I saw sharp talons rushing towards my face. Quickly, I slashed in front of me, cutting whatever had attacked me in two. I lowered my weapon to get a better look. It was a Griffon. And it was huge. I had fought them before, but none had been this big. It must've been at least twice as large as a normal one. It moved quick for its size too.

There were more where that came from. I could hear their growling and snarling. One charged at me from my right and I was just quick enough to slice its torso.

"Damn... these are moving too fast," I snapped.

As soon as I was back to my fighting position, another Griffon charged at me. Luck wasn't on my side this time. As soon as I moved, the Griffon had me pinned to the ground. Its sharp teeth tried several times to bite at my throat. It was taking all of my strength to keep it at a distance. Panicking, I punched the Griffon's eye in desperation. It cried out in pain and released me from its grip. I was quick to my feet and sliced the head off before the Griffon could recover. I didn't have much time to celebrate. There was dozens of Griffons circling around me, growling at snapping at me. There was something going on here. Griffons usually didn't travel in such great pack numbers. And they weren't this large and fast either...

"Salem must know," I whispered.

My panic turned into anger. Why couldn't Salem just leave us alone?!
I roared in anger as I began slicing through the Griffons as fast as I could. I got through some of them, but there was still much more to go. I was breathing heavily, but I was determined to kill these off. I needed to keep Summer safe. Deacon, too.

I was about to start slicing and charging again, when a bright light filled the area. I closed my eyes until the light faded. The Griffons were gone. The only remnants of them were the little flecks of light left behind.

"Are you okay?"

I turned around to see Summer standing a few feet away. She looked a lot better. Happier, too.

I smiled when I saw her. "Yeah. Thanks for the help."

"Glad I could help. Those Griffons were a bit big, don't you think? They moved quickly, too. I was surprised," she said.

I nodded and my smile faded. "Yeah... I noticed that, too. I don't want to jump to conclusions, but I think Salem knows we're here. And I think she's been waiting for us to be separated to make her move. She wants us to be apart."

"I... think you might be right. But we can't just leave. You know that."

I sighed. "I know. But I'm still worried. If Salem can send these Griffons... then she might send her subordinates, too."

Summer nodded. "Yeah. And they could possibly hurt Deke. We can't allow that to happen. Look, we'll figure things out when the time comes. Let's get back. I've missed Deke."

I took her hand and smiled a little. "Okay. Let's go. We can catch up on what you did on your little break later."

She kissed my cheek. "Sounds good."

We walked back to the house together. Deke instantly got up from his chair and ran over to Summer once he saw her in the doorway. He nearly knocked her down when he went to hug her.

"Hello, Deke! Did you miss me?" Summer asked, as she hugged him back.

I couldn't help but smile as they caught up. Salem wasn't going to hurt the ones I cared about. ...I was going to make sure of that.