Gryff The Griffin Rider 3 (A Fantastic Harem)

by Marcus Sloss

“This is Death, Death this is Gryff. Death is my mount. I wanted to give you a different horse than mine, trust me I did. None of the spares were big enough. Therefore you get the best of the best. He is fast, quick thinking and a right asshole to the Horde. Loves to bite the ears off. Kind of his thing. If it is you or the horse. Save the horse. He has been with me for over a decade.” Duke Riza said as he pet his friend Death.

  I checked myself over to ensure I was ready to fight. I had my weapons minus the greataxe. The two crossbows. Dagger and short sword on my hip, javelins on my back with my shield. I felt I was as ready as I could be. I stuck a foot in the stirrup and then launched myself onto the horses back. I clasped my face mask closed with a twisting lock and then nudged the stallion forward. We worked our way to the front. Dvaren divisions organized, not quietly. It could not be helped though. They were all in heavy metal armor. It would take a miracle to silence all that.

  I had the dvaren form a left and a right flank. There were seven hundred thousand of them spread wide in rows of a dozen deep. The center was the four thousand knights on horseback. I had us in the center for a reason. If we need to charge something we could break out of the wall of soldiers and the line could collapse on our hole. That was what Halsad had recommended as well until there were routing to chase down anyway.

  There was a clear sky tonight that let the temperature drop quickly. I observed the moon illuminate the chilly night. Even this far north there were frosted breathes escaping the troops. The horses neighed restlessly and dvaren stood stoic and silent. We were merely waiting for the signal. The fifty griffins we were marching north spread out behind our lines and were napping.

  I saw Donnie ride up beside me. Where he got a horse from, I did not know. I had hope he stayed behind in Fernlan. This was as good a time as any to address the issue.

  “Welcome to the party, Donnie. I am promoting you. From Knight the Count. You will become the manager of natural resources for Fernlan and the surrounding area. Which includes the Saquin Mountains. Congrats!” I said with a zing while not raising my voice.

  “I remember you told me one time that a lord promotes only to burden that poor soul with more work… Yup, those were your words. Oh hi, Duke Riza…” Donnie retorted. Both Nate and Riza snickered at this. “I will manage your mines then. If my wives found out I was skirting an opportunity for a stable job without battle I may not wake up the next morning. Well, at least I was here for this historic moment. The portal to Vin finally closes. Then we clean up the mess. What happens after?”

  “Then Gryff invades ripe targets to free slaves or loot souls to buy slaves.” Nate sighed at this. “The problem is… and I learned this myself, griffins cannot teleport.”

  “If that is true then you will face tough challenges going forward. The griffins will win us victory here. It is all but a matter of time. You jumping onto foreign planets to hit the Horde will be drastically different. I dare say fun.” Duke Riza said.

  Donnie nodded with this. “If you want to pull me out of retirement you know where to find me. In a mine hoping some goblin didn’t split a seam somehow. To be honest those dvaren handle most of the work anyway. I merely help with supplies and ensuring they get the extra help they need. It is sad to see the team broken up. I do understand it though. No more twelve member teams are needed. It was time to expand. Hey, Mina heard you are getting forty million more humans. With the vast majority being females. You going to end up with wife six to twenty?”

  “More like eight to twenty five. I married an elvath and a dvaren this morning. Hell, even Nate is supposed to be marrying an elvath. How did that go?”

  “Wait… Don’t turn this on me.” Nate said while patting his horse. “A dvaren. I didn’t know they were interested in us humans. I think a lot of them are cute.”

  “General Halsad come on over.” I wave the dvaren over from where he chatted with some troops. “Do you find human women attractive?”

  “Aye. I do. The elvath not so much… To dainty and thin. A few have some meat on them though. I guess since I am a young again I thirst to make more youngins.” He said while threading his beard between his meaty fingers. “Why do you ask?”

  “These fine soldiers think it is odd I married Queen Nautica. I find her lovely. She is pretty, curvy, and regal.” I said to them and I saw a few eavesdropping dvaren nodding. “Am I going to have to establish some marriage laws in the Empire?”

  “Probably wouldn’t hurt,” Duke Riza chimed in. “Especially when you continue to grow. There are going to be some isolated slaves out there who will fundamentally disagree with crossbreeding. If you set the law they can only whine. Actually, you should set it in law.”

  “I agree.” General Halsad echoed his sentiment.

  An elvath walked up from the griffin she was riding. “For a billion years we were forced to mate or disintegrate with all the vile creatures of the Horde. Some not so vile. Like this handsome young man. Did I hear your name was Donnie?” The elvath smiled and blushed at my friend. I think Donnie was being picked up as we waited to fight. Yup, for sure. She was holding his hand in both hers and his eyes were wide like a lost puppy. “I am Cherry. I would be interested in getting to know you better after this is all over. Oh… And general Halsad. That lady back there is Glorii. She said a stout of ale in the Tipsy when we get back. So maybe we can get past some stereotypes and move forward as one. Raise that jaw young soldier. I have been around for a long time Donnie. I will be there when this is over. Ogle me later when I am sandwiched between your wives.”

  She spun with this and Nate let out a long low whistle. Duke Riza chuckled with me and he slapped Donnie's back. We were going to give the young man a hard time, but that elvath knew the war was about to resume. She timed it too well not to have known.

  From up high in the sky yellow, orange, and red plasma fell fast. It was as if it had been released at ten thousand plus feet. At first, I thought it was incredibly inefficient as I watched it fall from the pull of gravity. Then I saw it hit shields. Somewhere there were shamans fighting the magma as it consumed the aura protected to the shield. If I had to guess there were numerous shamans struggling. A few mages flung fireballs deep into the night trying to find our griffins. The first bubble burst from collapsed mages or orders being called out to save aura. The light that shone in the air let me see elvath raining down arrows. Fewer fireballs arched into the night sky from the ground. The griffins were testing to see if a new shield was erected by an occasional fireball every few seconds. I had watched it long enough.

  “General Halsad. I want a drum beat so loud and proud it will echo for our grandchildren to hear. FORWARD MARCH!” I bellowed with an air spell.

  The beat of the drums reverberated and a song erupted. The dvaren marched forward as our horses slow trotted to keep the line as straight as we could. It was dark as we stepped over broken terrain. I knew the Horde could see well in the dark and prepared… I had an ah-ha moment.

  Yes, do not judge me too poorly. I actually packed three vole torches. I spun to find Cherry and Glorii on the griffin behind our line. I tossed the three vole torches up to them. I indicated a sparking motion and then left and right. I think they got it and it was certainly too damn loud to talk. Time would tell. I trotted back to the front of our formation.

  The drums and the war song were deafening. I felt my hearing fade as my bones felt like they were rattling. I glanced into the dark night to see a few fireballs bypass shields without any resistance. Finally, a sixth circular ball of flame hit a weak shield that vibrated. It was clear the shamans down there were losing this war of attrition. The griffins were air casters themselves, they knew how the spells worked and how extensive it was to maintain them while taking fire when they dropped. I had to give it to the griffins they were being far more patient than I was.

  Another shield collapsed and the pattern repeated. More light lit the sky up as the shields were tested again, and broken again. I was momentarily blinded by vole torches being lit
from behind our lines. The elvath girls figured the lights out. The griffin they were riding had the lights stuffed into the back of his saddle top side up. It would illuminate the area while not blinding anyone else. Thankfully the ladies were strapped in. I saw the griffin fly to the right end of the line and pass of a torch to the elvath on its back. They then soared back over us to get to the left side. They handed off the third light and it was like magic. We could see almost as good as during the day.

  I leaned over to my dvaren general. I pumped my arm up and down twice. I was trying to signal I wanted to step up the pace. He did not get my reference. I decided a different strategy might convey my message better. My left palm was turned up and I made my index finger and middle finger into running legs. This he got. The trumpeter beside him hooted out a note. The drums shifted to a quicker pace. We started to jog. In front of us were orcs starting to form a line to block our advance. A single griffin strafed that line with golem fire.

  The first five ranks deep of orcs were burned alive. The next few ranks were blistered and wounded. They fled in desperation which caused those behind them to rout. A large ogre calmed his troop. I pulled a javelin from my quiver on my back. I saw the ogre stumble as a few elvath arrows struck his chest. I hurled my projectile with an excess of aura. I missed his center I was aiming for and instead caught his thigh. I definitely hit an artery as the light from the torches displayed spurting blood. The ogre joined his troops in running from us. The difference was he hit the ground dead a few feet later.

  Our formation continued to advance at a jog. We had five miles to cover. At this pace probably forty minutes or so to make it across the large fields, then across the nicely paved road to the harbor, and up a slight incline to the destroyed portal. The only thing in our way was sporadic formations of Horde wishing they could be anywhere else than on Vin at the moment.

  On a whim, I sent out a blanked enslavement contract. I saw a few dvaren give me a side eye at this. I ignored them. Hundreds of thousands of fleeing orcs in front of us froze. They accepted and walked toward our lines. The tens of millions of Horde mostly rejected my attempt, but these ones converted quickly. They desired to survive. I ordered them to approach our formation and to pass between our ranks. They were then ordered to wait between us and FOB Watchtower.

  I saw the griffins finish of whatever semblance of mage defense the enemy leader was fielding by the portal. They lobbed fireballs suddenly in mass. Almost two thousand griffins let golem fireballs rain from above. Our formation slowed as our troop shielded our eyes to avoid the blinding brightness. The enemy tried to fight back but it was over at this point. The fireballs never stopped even as the Horde shamans ceased to return magic in reply. The enemy leadership was decimated.

  As one the griffins halted their barrage. The sky grew dark beside our vole lights. The only noise I ever heard was the drums that thumped into the night so thunderously it drowned out all else. We were nearing a field of trolls. I grabbed Halsad’s attention and had my fingers walk. The beat slowed. I then quickly slid my hand in a spin in front of my neck. I wanted the music stopped. The horn blurted out loud and then silence.

  “Halt formation!” The war horn sounded its call and we stopped. “ Air shields forward and above.”

  I saw the mages form our half shields. Then the griffins buffed them. I wanted to test my pink magic but decided to not test it before a charge. The last thing I needed was to pass out from messing with magic I did not understand yet. There would be plenty of time later to learn magic.

  “Forward MARCH! No drums. I want them to hear the ground fighting our feet. QUICK TIME MARCH” I bellowed across the lined with air magic. My orders were heard and obeyed.

  A new ogre stepped forward into the front of the formation. He was focused on us as we trotted forward. He ordered a volley into our shields. Wrong decision. Lord Nova swooped down from the night sky. The griffins had arrived with the cover of the night. Instead of fire and ranged combat they dove into the ranks of the enemy.

  “We will lift when you close the gap. Sound the charge Gryff.” Lord Nova said to me.

  “CHARGE!!!” My troops did not hesitate and those of us on horse kept our line from arrowing.

  The ogre commanding the trolls was dead at Lord Nova’s feet. The enemy was flinging arrows, spears, and javelins into their own ranks hoping to bring down some griffins. The problem was they had left before those projectiles landed. Instead, they were killing their own troops. The trolls were horrid melee fighters to start. They were disorganized, wounded, and their leader dead. We hit them hard. So hard the front ranks never slowed.

  “DO NOT SLOW!!!” I commanded.

  We tore deeper into the enemy ranks until a second ogre organized the back half of the trolls. He hesitated to release his volley in fear of being dove on. My fifty griffins sent torrents of flames across the front lines of the enemies as they awaited to fire. Their hesitation resulted in their incineration. The ogre sprinted ahead of his troops and ran for our charging formation.

  I let Death fall back as lances were leveled at the ogre. Duke Riza and five knights skewered the ogre before he ever got a swing completed. The lance that pierced his heart shattered from the impact. After he fell the trolls routed. We hunted them down as they ran. I once again extended a contract of enslavement. Those that accepted stood still and then casually walked toward our lines. My troops, for the most part, let them pass to the back. Some of them were slaughtered as they walked forward. I was not certain what my goal was by enslaving the enemy. I was certain they were not worth much. Maybe I could execute them by a soul stone to at least get more value out of them.

  The thought vanished as were plowed into the remaining trolls. The first half had collected into the second half and now we were in the thick of them. A few swung swords or bows up at me. I chopped relentlessly down with my short sword. Death bit an ear off a troll trying to defend itself. The troll reached for its bleeding wound and I caved in its skull with the pommel of my sword. Forward I went. I hacked the next troll fighting the masses to getaway. My sword cleaved into collar bone and I easily slid it free of the dying foe. The next I sliced into the neck and followed this by a thrust to the face. I killed, then I killed some more.

  Suddenly the drumbeat tightened and I heard screaming. We were getting closer to the portal now and a cavern opened up in an ambush. Massive icraws with ogres on their backs charged up a ramp and out onto the battlefield. At only twenty feet in front of us, they decimated the trolls that were in between us. I ordered the cavalry back so the lined could close. I hoped that shields and pikes would halt that charge. I was not sure how much men on horses would help. The front dvaren tightened their formation in anticipation. I saw the griffins burning a field of orcs and trolls not far away.

  They noticed our plight too late. The icraws stomped over the trolls and smashed into our lines. Dvaren flew hundreds of feet as might paws and ogre clubs were swung with power. The formation broke and I charged to plug the hole. The knights followed me in on a reckless attack on the foe. We formed an arrow and reached the ogres. A large club raced for Death and I. I leaped off the horse and ran up the ogres arm who stared at me in shock. My sword entered his eye as he clubbed Death hundreds of feet. Riza was going to be pissed I got his horse killed.

  I rode the ogre as he went limp and slid from his icraw mount. I grabbed the reigns that controlled the ice cat and yanked myself onto the animals back. My pull also got the deadly creature to turn. It was confused as I tried to control it. The issue was it kept swatting at men and horses. I had enough of this and drove my sword into its skull causing its legs to collapse.

  I leaped off its dying body as it crashed to the ground and rolled under another icraw. I ran my sword into its belly and raced for its dangling balls. The belly parted open and guts spilled out. I went running for the next target when a griffin crashed into it. There were only a dozen ogres on mounts left and they were being encircled and dive bombed by griffins. There w
ere too many allies in the mix to firebomb the enemy.

  I ran to the next ogre that was struggling against a griffin and drove my sword into its ear. That stilled the massive enemy. I had to roll under an icraws paw and felt my back erupt in pain. A claw had ripped my torso armor in half to the right of my spin. My skin was flayed open and I was in a bad position. The cat turned to pounce on me when it was tackled by a griffin. The resulting tangled mess was a ball of furry.

  “Healing please!” I said as loud as I could. A griffin thudded beside me and I felt the torment. This time I welcomed it and never passed out. I madly laughed at this new revelation. My chest armor was destroyed. It never fit that well after I grew from Lily’s buff. Even with the alterations, it was still not the best. I tossed the shredded remains to the ground and had to leave behind my shield as well as javelins due to the broken straps.

  I raced to find my next foe and found that the fighting around me had stilled. I noticed our formation was consolidating and went to see where I could be the most help. I found Donnie not far away ignoring a griffin trying to heal him. He had a broken leg and was coughing blood from his left side being crushed. He was sliding weakly on the ground towards me. I overrode his apprehension of a griffin healing because to me his wounds looked fatal.

  “Griffins if you see a human dying heal them even if they don’t want the pain. I can bring them out of the torment with contracts. Across the battlefield, a few cries rang out. That damn ogre charge had halted all our forward progress. Donnie screamed out in pain as he was healed. I rushed to him and gave him a contract of friendship. When he accepted and returned to his body I poured green aura into him. I promptly ate dirt from exhausting what tiny amount of green aura I had to help him.

  I shook the irony off at having caused more than a few healers to faceplant while healing me. It was fitting I experienced it now also.

  “Need a green mage on me!” I bellowed and sure enough, Uqsie arrived moments later. My next call out was to inform those running my way to keep healing where they could. “Healer acquired.”