Gryff The Griffin Rider 3 (A Fantastic Harem)

by Marcus Sloss

  “You will not. That was left out on purpose. You should have asked for more money, I am worth ten times this. Now I can retire in peace from you at least. Something even a demigod failed to achieve.” The old cyclops said.

  Now that was funny, both Nate and I burst out laughing. We laughed for a good five minutes. “Well played sir, well played. Do you have any competitors that you want out of the business? I would love to raid some elvath or more dvaren.”

  A new contract was extended. It was a bounty system. He provided the information. If a successful use of his knowledge achieved a raid by me or mine, he was paid. It was one million soul stones per target. I accepted the contract for both of them.

  The old cyclops indicated the young female. “Orish here may look young but is a few thousand years old. My granddaughter has been to many, many, elvath worlds. Part of a delivery and pregnancy scam I ran. To be honest the scam was, in fact, a remedy that actually worked. Honey in tea would help lower the cycle time and increase the pregnancy rate.”

  An elvath scoffed, then admitted it was true. I saw Roz walking around surveying the battlefield. She was called over and gleaned the locations.

  “We are about ten percent done. All resistance has been eliminated that I know of.” Roz said.

  “Perfect. I have a date with Warg that may take some time, then I want to go sleep in my Fernlan bed. Take a different portal just in case Nate. A single portal to Fernlan western balcony please.” I asked as I peeled myself from the chair. “Before I forget Nate, these chairs are amazing. Take that one with you and get a factory going. Make it an Emperor’s priority. The citizens will thank me soon enough.”

  “Good luck Gryff,” Nate said as he hefted his chair.

  I patted him on the shoulder and stepped into the blackness.

  ∞∞∞

  Plot twist. I was indeed pulled into a new plane. Except it was Bucie the goddess of chemistry who waited for me. She was in an elvath body with a fancy dress that revealed little. I smiled at seeing her in what looked like a wedding dress.

  “Blasted white,” Bucie commented as if she were reading my mind. “I struck a deal with Maurta. You were to be pulled to see Warg, Torn, and Rina. Marku is with me on this one. Here is our alliance contract.”

  Tendrils of yellow contract magic reached me and I studied it. They would support me if I asked for help. They were not bound to it. I was assigned the same limitation. I could or could not help them. Generally speaking, it was useless. Except Bucie and Marku thought it was worth a try. I did not accept it or reject it.

  “I killed Raxrune less than an hour ago,” I said and Bucie frowned. “Strangest thing. He said they were coming. He could not say who they were, can you?”

  She shook her head no. “I can tiptoe around it. There are no more champions for you to fight of ours. See that was easy enough.”

  “I would figure an arrival of reinforcements would embolden you. I am a tad perplexed you want an alliance. Am I missing something?” I asked while I stared down at Bucie.

  “Know that even with the way things are going we still want to keep our options open. We are not all powerful mighty gods. I can terraform planets and do a few things with chemicals. Some are deadly, most are easily avoidable though. Marku hates Warg, honestly, I do not know who likes him? Maybe Rina… I think she likes the punishment more than the punisher.” Bucie paused and gave a slight chuckle. “He is going to be furious you killed Raxrune.”

  “Got anything else for me?” I asked with a sneer. I was getting tired of the half answers.

  “I… we would like for you to close the universal portal. Some of us would like to establish a peaceful order. That is assuming you do succeed in the daunting task ahead of you. A universe in which there is no retreating or advancing gods. Only harmonious ones. Good luck champion of Lily” Bucie said with a sad smile and snapped her fingers.

  When she was gone I spoke into the air. “Hedging your bets, I cannot fault you for that.” I snapped my fingers thinking of Fernlan.

  ∞∞∞

  Warg was beating Rina as he smashed his fist into her mangled face. I did not care until I saw her power being ejected from her core. I studied it before I stole it. It was a violation of the white. Tricky gods.

  “Stop or I leave,” I said and he paused. “Waste another moment of my time and I disappear. I do not think you will get another opportunity from Maurta.”

  “Where are my fleets you worm,” Warg seethed and threw Rina to the ground.

  I laughed, a deep thundering chuckle.

  “So weak and insignificant. You are pathetic Warg. That is why you are forced to toil down here…”

  “I will have vengeance for Raxrune and my fleet.” He started to ramble and I stuck fingers in my ears. The baby noises I made caused him to draw an axe and sever Rina’s arm.

  “Okay, that was awesome. Bet you will not remove her head and heart.” I said and she pleading looked at us both. Nope, no mercy from me. “You got no balls Warg. God of war my hairy ass crack. Your champion died to a fucking flame mage like a joke. He at least let me execute him with honor though.”

  “You are right. If I kill Rina, our society would unravel. No new contracts,” He started to ramble again. I rolled my eyes and ignored him.

  I turned to Torn who was sitting patiently. “Anything to add before I leave?” The god of weather shook his head no.

  “You summoned me here to what watch you beat Unforina. Neat…”

  “We were going to offer you a truce. Until I found out my fleet is gone.”

  “Come to Vin, King Aves will gladly show you where your fleet went,” I said in a challenge. I snapped my fingers and thought of Fernlan.

  ∞∞∞

  I slept through the rest of the night, past morning, and into midday. There was more Bella and Trish fun until I grew tired and Siena squalled in our bed. Bella slept with her, unlike the other wives. She asked if Siena could come when it was time to sleep. After a bit of mommy pleading to daddy, I caved on the condition my daughter behaved. For the most part, she was a golden angel while sleeping with momma. It was little things like this that made me love Bella so much. She was an amazing mom.

  When I awoke I rolled out of bed and saw a clean noble outfit waiting for me at my table. The curtains were drawn shut. The ladies probably left after the sun rose. I shimmied into the pants and went to where my belt hung from a peg. I strapped it on and ensured my dagger and sword hung from my body. I went to the bed and dove into the oversized white tunic.

  Ready for the day I pried back the curtains and opened the door. The cold air hit me and I wanted to slam the doors shut. I saw Virtue sitting there reading a book with Aroxa. They both pointed to the sky. I exited the room onto the balcony expecting to see a new towering structure or King Aves extracting punishment on Skia.

  “Seven hells,” I muttered. There was a planet in the skyline. A small orb of blue and green. “I know that planet don’t I?”

  “Indeed. Your guests should be in the dining room having lunch with your wives. Care if we join you for this historic moment.” Virtue asked and I shrugged in acceptance.

  I went through the room and into the hallway. There were more guards than normal and even Nate waited outside the dining room. Donnie stood on the other side and gave me a smirk as I passed them by. Inside seated at my table were Glowvia and Gravin. Glowvia’s dress spun white. She raised an eyebrow at this.

  Gravin held a finger up while he finished chewing. “Your contract is still valid through Gryff even if you left the seven officially. Old contracts could easily be violated if you could simply change something about yourself. Thank you for taking us in per se. Good to see you nephew.”

  “And you uncle. Entria looks lovely in our skyline. Why the sudden change?” I asked.

  “Warg figured I was a turncoat… Not entirely wrong. I did not outfox him by giving up where his fleet was going. Perception deduced that ages ago. It was all a trap and he has been defeated. It
is only a matter of time until he is replaced, recalled, or removed.” Glowvia said and then sipped some wine.

  “He was killing Rina when I left him, he was only teasing her in the release. She is far too grand of an asset. I hope Bucie and Marku are hiding. They are the expendable ones. Let me introduce two friends of mine. Come on in Virtue and Aroxa. Virtue has met Sion.” I said and got the reaction I wanted. Gravin spurted wine all over Glowvia. Her bouncy elvath tits shook from him trying to clean the garment. I think the dress was real because she frowned at being covered in wine.

  “Say again,” Gravin said while getting his hands swatted away by his wife.

  “Sion did not die. He was partially reborn. He goes through a cycle of sorts. Sion grows from his remains still there inside the planet. Then he slowly gains a semi consciousness, muddled confusion mainly for a few hundred years. A thing he can speed up if he has someone to torment with his drooling confused state. He then realizes as he grows, he cannot maintain and improve past a certain point. As he fights to become a full god again he dumps excess energy into the planet. When he finds someone he can sacrifice himself to, in the hopes of improving that being and therefore validating his purpose, he dies. Except he cannot die and is born again without the knowledge he has done this a few times.” I said as Virtue agreed. Both him and Aroxa exchanged greetings with the gods.

  Amber, Addilyn, and Yvette entered to join us. I had been missing Yvette. Tonight was her night.

  “Can I see him?” Gravin said as he stood quickly. I think he was expecting for me to take him to some secret dungeon or something.

  “Absolutely, he would love to see you. Reach into the core of the planet and…” I said and Gravin disappeared in a blinding flash. “Welp… I call not it on rescuing him in five minutes.”

  “What did Gravie do?” Glowvia said with an edge of concern in her voice. “I have been alive for eons. That is the first flashing disappearance.”

  “Only time will tell. I am ninety nine percent certain Lily even tried to save Sion. Maybe Gravin… Gravie…” I chuckled and Glowvia grinned. “Maybe he will have better luck. Yvette, Amber, Addilyn… You three look stunning. Is it my birthday that got you looking so lovely?”

  Addilyn perked up and jumped while clapping her hands. She rifled through her bag until she produced a calendar. A wife on the cover for each month. Hand drawn by elvath artists. It was swanky, and I loved it. I flipped through it and a few of the wives went topless. This was seriously amazing. I excused myself and instead of racing around the table leaped over it and crashed into Addilyn. I healed her and then covered her in kisses. I laid it on thick when I started to tickle her. She loved every second of it until she mentioned she needed to pee. That was code for stop or I will kick you in the balls.

  “Alright. I will properly place myself in my seat. Donnie, Nate, sit down. There are three seats open. Roz go get me Urshoe now or I will pry your fingernails off. Oh, Roz… I was an excellent evil overlord last night. I showed no mercy to Raxrune, he died without legs or hands. It was marvelous. Okay, story over, hurry along.”

  Nate sat himself and a plate of fish was served. “It was true. Not very marvelous though. What is on the agenda today Emperor?”

  “Boring meeting stuff, but it has food, friends, family and now a goddess,” I said that and gave a salute to Glowvia. She was super pouty and looked like she might cry. “Fine, I will look down into the core… Do not look yourself ever, he may kill you inadvertently.”

  I rose from my seat and laid on the ground. My mind needed to calm, things were a little hectic at the moment. I reeled in my emotions and focused on my core. I shot my awareness into the core and was halted.

  “Gravie poo bear that hugs a lot is okay and will be fine for a while. Check in once a day for her.” With that Gravin broke the connection. I peeled myself off the surprisingly clean floor and seated myself.

  I muttered at the stupidity of repeating what he said. “Gravie poo bear that hugs a lot is okay. Then said to visit once a day. Feel better?” I asked and Glowvia nodded. She went back to her wine. I think I was entertaining her to some extent. Urshoe walked in with her unique eye and seated herself. “Been over a week. How is Ooney Bay?”

  “Good, we have been steadily collaring the slaves and trading them out. We are down to mostly orcs and goblins now. Since you decided to work on freeing species considered rebellious to the Horde I have done the same. There are foxumi, branki, loncri, and even a few of the rare bearfrii. Of course, we cannot afford elvath but I have found some for sale in the mid ranking slave markets. The bay is growing more prosperous. Every ship returns home but a few mention big monsters. I had a few hundred thousand wopax moved over. They are helping fish the big creatures and the deep ones. Let me see… Oh, Lord Nova… That griffin and Hai are unstoppable. They bring me Horde slaves every day. More march in to be swapped out. It is really incredible. It is funny too. Someone is buying for massive armies because our slaves hit the market and are gone for top stones too.”

  That was indeed good news. “I greatly desire to meet these new species. I will have to visit tomorrow when I have free time. Tonight we have another dvaren raid. This one is planned on a brewing planet, it is about time we added some alcohol to our empire. Roz come in here. Take Gravin’s seat for now. Sorry, Glowvia no offense intended.”

  “Oh… By the creator, this is great. Things get stale when you are the one who has to do everything. It is nice to be an observer and this wine is terrific.”

  “From a purple berry grown right here in Fernlan,” Amber commented while sipping her own wine. Lila would be sleeping good tonight. “We will go with you on the Ooney Bay tour if you would allow it. Maybe another warm walk.”

  “Yes, I hear you created a mountain… I was going to tell you I am pregnant and you…”

  I got covered in wine projected in shock. I wiped my face and went to glower at Glowvia when I notice she was gone. Glowvia was studying Yvette intently. She looked fine to me.

  “All these years… You feel his strength already don’t you?” Glowvia said as she pulsed aura trying to detect the baby.

  “Two billion years never carried a baby to term,” Yvette said wiping away tears.

  I saw Linzy peek her head in. Busted. Maybe she wanted to be busted. “Lady Linzy as your emperor I order you to enhance that baby.” I watched as Glowvia and Yvette looked up in shock at me. Linzy did not hesitate and placed a hand on Yvette. Poor girl winced as she squinted her eyes in fear of what was going to happen. When she opened them her belly was swollen. Seven hells. I felt their power from here.

  “Twins…” Virtue said, even he could sense their power. “Blessed by the gods themselves.”

  “Wahoo! And to think you were worried.”

  “Husband I want to smack you so hard. The last five times I allowed the magical growth, I miscarried. The other three natural pregnancies miscarried also. You will finally give me children. So no slap. You can stick it in my butt tonight.” Yvette said while raising her nose in the air.

  Donnie choked on his food. Nate thumped him on the back and the young Count ejected a chunk of fish. “Aye Donnie. The ladies sometimes give it up as a special treat, some enjoy it later in life.”

  This brought giggles from around the room. I waved my hands down to calm the laughter.

  “Tell me of Livina. How is the city progressing and the elvath handling the transition?” I asked Yvette.

  She was lost in excitement though. “Dumb people asking for stuff we cannot give. Let them figure a few things out themselves. Better yet you have an expert who can probably help them way more than I can that happens to be standing over my shoulder.”

  I could tell she was being short because she wanted to celebrate.

  “Almost done then we can go for a family walk at Rocven Mountains. So pretty there. Roz how is it going with Rakmar. Any updates?”

  “He has delivered a few bags of stones, not much. We sent him some wagons and bibles. He is sti
ll waiting on his cousin's farm purchase to get through escrow for you war turtles.” She said with a wink. Donnie didn’t get it, thank the creator Nate covered his mouth in time. No one violated my rule of saying war boar. “The paperwork is legit though an issue. The cousins owed more than he admitted which is not Rakmar’s fault but it is a problem only solved with time.”

  “Funny how that works. Okay, enough business for now. Let us round up the wives and babies. Virtue if you would be so kind as to help send Donnie and his family as well as Nates to the landing pad north of old Baku. I assure you we will probably take longer to get there.” I said to them. I saw everyone was smiles and Aroxa went with them. “Roz head downstairs and rouse the duchesses. Tell them everyone is invited for a nice walk. It should be less than an hour and last only an hour.”

  ∞∞∞

  It was a lot of work to get everyone prepared and ready. I figured if I could do it for combat I could do it sometime for us. The road was empty until we got inside the dvaren hold. A sign hung from the massive arches that read (To be determined). I grinned at that cheekiness. Who had climbed up there for that? The main passage was cleared besides a division of guards. All the rescued slaves were inside the tunnels that led to side halls. I had a company escort us as we walked out into the savannah in a large group. When the trip was all over there were many kisses, hugs, and crying babies sent home for rest.

  Virtue waved goodbye to Aroxa who went home and joined my side. “Let me show you something. No massive guard unless you want to take some ogres. You will need to play as my slave if asked, I doubt it will be brought up though.”

  I nodded and told everyone we were going on a secret mission and I would be back soon. It was insisted that I bring someone and when criteria was mentioned Roz joined us. Virtue was fine with that and created a portal. Roz went first and I followed her in.

  ∞∞∞

  There was a different feel to a distant portal. This one was somewhere far from Vin. I was able to verify that immediately when the skyline was dotted with other planets orbiting the same sun. I was on a portal landing platform that led to ticket booths. No way. There were no orcs or trolls here. Goblins were cleaning up messes. My first guess was this was an amusement park for the Horde. Except I only saw a few children. Roz clapped in excitement when she realized where we were.