Gryff the Griffin Rider 2

by Marcus Sloss

  I decided not to interrupt the crew while they got us underway. I was useless here. Sure I could learn later but it was best to let the trained men handle the tasks at hand. Once we were clear of the harbor rocks and on the open ocean, a rowing song was sung. I bent over the window to gaze down at oars that smacked the water. I was worried the longboat that was meant for hauling large amounts of fish would struggle. It shot out from us with its extra masts of sails and additional rowing slots. Dvaren were stout and strong. Wouldn’t surprise me if their determined willpower got us to the tundra early.

  The cold air overwhelmed the lava ball and I closed the windows. I locked them firmly in place and ensured there was nothing loose in the cabin. I grabbed a few books from my chest that piqued my interest. This was the boring part. I got some (sort of) alone time. I found a storage chest bolted to the floor by the bed. I removed my armor as the Nexa and Ahris watched. When I was naked I closed the chest to ensure my gear was stationary and then climbed into bed.

  Nexa rolled over me to put me in the middle and I handed the elvath books to read by torchlight that illuminated the space behind us. My book was a tale about three adventuring brothers we were discovering Vin. I got past the first chapter when the ladies traced fingers over my body. They were smirking with lustful eyes. The covers were tossed back to reveal our three naked bodies. My penis hardened quickly.

  Ahris rose from her side and placed her bouncy tits in my face. I tossed the book to the floor as Nexa sucked on my cock. Ahris shifted to place her pussy over my face and I smelled candy. When I licked her little clit, I tasted candy. Interesting. I got her nice and wet while I felt Nexa teasing my cock with her tongue. When they shifted, Nexa waited on the side and Ahris moved to mount me. I did not fit at first. She circled her hips and I felt something I had never experienced before. Her vagina vibrated as she slowly inserted me into her.

  Ahris locked eyes with me to ensure I saw her gasp as she plunged me to the hilt. I was enveloped in her tight tunnel. I grasped her bouncing tits as she worked my cock. The vibrating, tightness, and motion were extremely pleasurable. I felt her pushing me as deep as she could when she got into her rhythm and climaxed. I joined her as I released my load. I pumped and pumped, then softened.

  “Eight hundred thousand years since I got to climax on a male. Do not go repeating we are sex starved. If you can go again, please help Nexa achieve orgasm next. She has waited longer. Our peak cycles are not due for another two hundred thousand years. Part of why we are here with you is on the slim chance you can impregnate us.” Ahris said as she rested on top of me. Her large tits squished into my chest.

  “How about Nexa in the morning? It was a long day. Come snuggle Nexa,” I said.

  The ladies let me drift off and soon I was asleep.

  ∞∞∞

  The next five days became a routine with little deviation. Early morning sex which was followed by a meal. The elvath never intimately touched each other which was fine. Their vibrating pussies were the best. I would have to hide that fact from my wives. I then ate a salted jerky breakfast and smelons. After that, I would then go to the oars. This was then followed by someone arguing with me about doing manual labor until I pulled rank. I would work through lunch. The other ships could notice when I was rowing our boat. We turned a casual trip into a race. When we would outpace the other ships too far I was removed. I would eat a snack, read a book, write a letter, and help where needed. Then a communal meal was held on the deck itself if the seas were calm, if not it was in the stinky hold where men and dvaren slept. We would tell stories while we ate and the time would pass until I retreated to my quarters. More reading and more sex.

  On the sixth morning a “Land ahead!” Was bellowed out. I exited my quarters and went to the bow. I was learning nautical terms so I wouldn’t be so useless. In the end, I was never allowed to do anything of importance. Ahead of us was indeed the Vartin Tundra. The issue was it was all cliffs here. The small fleet turned east and sailed the coast. Two hours later we anchored not far off the icy shores. Ice chunks flowed around the boat as we stayed firm.

  Loading the Tightseam was super easy compared to loading our gear on the dingys. In the end, Captain Varew ordered us to stop quibbling. Stack the stuff we wanted to go on the shore in a central point on the deck. We were launched to the rocky beach and our gear was rowed to us in small portions. It was a slow process but we managed the sled and were ready to venture onto the ice shelf.

  The dvaren were overloaded with tasks and were hauling a lot more stuff to the beach. They were doing designated jobs with a proficiency that made it look easy. One handed out snowshoes, while another prepared a sled, and a whole team was working on large cages. I was thinking we would sleep the babies and kill the parents. I went to Captain Snomer who was overseeing his troops.

  “Are those for adult icraws?” I asked and he nodded. “My source said they could not be tamed.”

  “Not tamed and not worth stones is a big difference. Wild icraws make fantastic arena combatants. They are rare to start with, then harder to capture and get to market healthy. We can fit a lot in those cages if you do not want the parents then so be it. The youngens sell for more but the parents still sell well. What parts do you need?” Captain Snomer asked.

  I waved Janice over. She shivered up beside me. I withdrew a lava ball from my bag and dropped it onto the rocks. Janice shot her hands over the heat. Snomer shook his head at this.

  “The ice cats or icraws we need teeth and claws. Even from dead bodies works. Janice mentioned something about a seed we need. Then yetis we need dead. We have to harvest the heart, tongue, and brain. You find any seeds yet?” I asked Janice and she pointed to some shrubs a few feet off the ground grown in a seam on a large rock. “Perfect and those too. Look Captain Snomer I can attest this is your element. I am out of mine. I mainly came because right now it keeps me out of the chaos of dvaren designing a city. New elvath changing our society, and a pack of babes ready to have babies. So I will certainly defer to your expertise. We are here for profits first. Everything else is great for a catalyst for our mages. With that being said what do you recommend?”

  A dvaren informed his captain he was ready to move out. “There are no tracks here but I can smell our prey they are so thick here. Follow us, stay in the back until you see how we operate. If we get snuck up on or flanked divert to help.” Captain Snomer said as I recovered my lava ball.

  I walked back to our sled, then plopped a set of snowshoes to the ground. Donnie was latching onto the harness when I kicked him off. I strapped myself to the sled and moved our team into a line behind the dvaren. They were already lashed up to the big sled with large cages. These dvaren were efficient. I looked to see if the elvath were coming and no more dingies worked the waters to the shores. My guess is they were staying on the boat.

  There were no songs or joyous banter, merely some humans and dvaren ready to battle. It did not take long for a herd of yeti to find us. I got my first good look at a yeti. It was a twelve foot, white haired bigfooted monster with a humanoid skeleton. It was fast with sharp teeth and clawed hands. These were not going to be fun to fight.

  I unstrapped from the sled and staked the harness into the tough ice. No need in having our sled slide away. My men and women drew shields in preparation. I called a loose formation while I stood on the sled to view the battle. A dozen yeti had enraged at the dwarves and were charging a line that formed instantly. Shields locked with a battle rhythm being smashed out into the frosted air by loud drum beats. Axes slammed into shields challenging the foes. With their lines set, the more noise they made the more enemy they attracted. Before the first dozen hit the line I already saw more pouring out of caverns further south. We had hit a nest.

  I quickly hopped down barked out orders. “We are going to extend the left line. This is killing only, do not try to capture. Inside the caves should be young we get to toss those into cages. Keep the formation tight. Mages in the back. Your primary goal
is to stay alive. Listen to my commands.” I ordered and we left the sled behind to move up.

  I could see the yeti pouring out in wild abandon. They never slowed as they poured from the caverns. The original dozen yeti were locked in chaotic fighting. The dvaren lines condensed to handle the incoming charge. The drumbeat changed again, further consolidating the lines. Bolt launchers stood on top of sleds and rained death upon the yeti. We raced to the front. It was slow moving to reach the left flank.

  The drumbeat shifted again this time forming three walls with the sled as the backstop. The yeti crashed hard into the dvaren shields that were unyielding. The battle lines hit and the yeti were kept at bay. The formation was solid in its placement. The drumbeat shifted again. Heave, heave and strike. The slaughter against an untrained wild foe had commenced. The third row of dvaren were long pikes that kept any yeti from trying to get over the shield wall. It was extremely effective.

  Moving across the icy wasteland in flat snowshoes was terribly slow. I had to hold back to not outpace my team. We hit the left line of yetis from the rear. There was no surprise, the enemy had turned to face us. Travis, Lazra, Brad of Lakeland, Brad of Swiftstone, Donnie, and Markus formed the shield wall.

  “Brace!” I shouted as a few peeled off to charge our line. “Poe, corridor!” A left and right wall protected our flanks. “Victor up!” I bent a knee and Victor loaded himself on my shoulders. “Freeze! Retreat! Fire!” Janice cast a hold. The shield line fell back and Victor used his height to light the yeti on fire. This broke off their attack from us. They ran around on fire without any clue how to put it out.

  “Fast march forward!” We closed on more on the left flank pressuring the dvaren. The shield lines of our allies were holding fine. The ice steamed with the blood of the yeti. I saw a few retreating with major wounds. One died trying to return to the caverns. I decided to let Larza take over. “Commands Lazra.”

  “Shield wall charge! Stop! Center part! Fire!” Lazra commanded Victor to release another torrent of flame.

  The left side of the yeti charge had faltered. It was now collapsing. I was shifting to run down some of the yeti when a crossbow shot was called out. I dropped to knee targeted a feeling yeti and released my bolt. It hit her in the lung. I let my crossbow fall to my hip while I yanked my sword out. I charged to where my target had slowed.

  I poured aura into my body and I shot across the ice. There was so much power I broke the snowshoes. The yeti heard my advance too late. I slid my blade across her stomach freeing steaming guts to hit the ice. I sped past her and found two yeti with wounds retreating. I caught the first one quickly and side swung my one handed sword into his back.

  I lost my footing from this and shot across the ice rapidly approaching the second yeti. I was sailing across the ice so fast I passed him. I dug my sword in to arrest my momentum. The yeti saw me on my ass working my way to my feet and charged. I dug my feet in before he arrived and shot toward my opponent. We collided with my sword plunging deep into his face and out the top of his head. We crashed to the ground and I lost my sword. I scrambled for my weapon and freed it. The enemy yeti had broken in full retreat right for the caves I was standing in front of.

  I raced to place myself at a side angle. When I was perpendicular to my retreating foes I hit them from the side. I poured speed into my body as I was looking to maim my targets. I never slowed as I avoided any direct combat. I was working my way down the line severing hamstrings or slicing the back of thighs. The dvaren beat was getting louder as they kept in formation hounding the foes. I must have wounded another dozen when I sprinted closer to the caverns and repeated my process. This time they stopped to address me and I simply shifted away from them. I was too fast and they could not adjust. As I went around they were hesitant to give me their backs.

  An alpha roared at me while I waited for my allies to force the foe to turn again. I yanked my last loaded crossbow off my hip and squeezed at the large target. My bolt zoomed out from the twang of the releasing rope to sink into the yeti’s neck. The yeti collapsed to its knees. Its subordinates worked to help save their leader. When they got the bolt out, the alpha spurted blood a few times then fell face first dead. They gave me their back with this and I charged again.

  Every leg I could cut, I did. The yetis slowly worked their way to the caverns. A few dozen outright got away but I turned to finish off the ones strewn about. The wounded yeti had longer reach than me so I decided on a tactic fairly quickly. I was reached for when I got close. This was countered by a shield block with a downward swing to remove the offensive appendage. When they held the severed stump close it was a sword to the neck or face. My blade rarely got stuck in the neck so that was my primary target. By the seventh kill in this fashion, I had the speed and timing of the yetis down. The slaughter was only amplified as the dvaren and my team ran over the wounded.

  There was a pause in the fighting as it was time to head into the caverns. I grabbed my water out of my bag and drank greedily. I drained the entire canteen. I snacked on some jerky while waited for the troops to consolidate.

  Captain Somner and I held an impromptu meeting. “Good work there. The flames are nice. The speed of an icraw certainly helped you cut them down. I lost two. Looks like yours are still standing. There has to be a food source close by. This far south seals more than likely. The yetis are prey for the icraws when out alone. If we stage enough enticing yeti meat we will get some icraws to come to check it out. But really, we want to be close to a reliable food source to lure the most out that we can. I say we scan around before diving into those caves. There could be a whole other nest right around the bend.”

  I knew he was an expert. If they weren’t here we would probably be sailing the coast trying to pick off the loan yeti with a harpoon or setting traps. After seeing how big and savage these creatures were down here on the ice I did become curious as to how they got so big.

  “Well, my troops will start on clean up. While your scouts scour the area. We will be removing the heart, tongue, and brain. No idea how you like to process the meat but my mages can freeze it. Actually, can you instruct me how to handle the bodies most efficiently?” I asked Snomer.

  “Let me send over our corpse processor, I have a lot to deal with and he can give you fine details to get the most out of the bodies. Wait for us, even if you finish cleaning the dead and become bored.”

  Captain Snomer left me at that point. I waved my team over who shuffled in the cold. Speaking of that, since my body had stopped pumping adrenaline and my sweat from exertion was cooling I began to shiver. A dvaren retorted in frustration at his boss in the distance and worked his way to us.

  “Well done team, did anyone get hurt? No… great. We were lucky these yeti swarmed dvaren lines. He said he only lost two which is incredible, they were outnumbered at one point. Since there is a lull in fighting we are going to do what we came here for. We are on clean up detail why they poke around for another fight. I see everyone is cold so open your bag, layout your leather, and place the lava ball beside where you are working. Teams of two per body once this super happy dvaren explains what to do.” I said to the team who were huddling together.

  “I heard that human. I am Master Processer Tribeard. I did not believe a slave master would clean up kills, but it is not my place to judge. I have skinned thousands if not tens of thousands of these. We start with the fur, then work the joints. We normally spill the organs and guts and break the ribs. Head, hands, and feet all get left behind. Now Snomer said were here for the specific parts. He said the brain. It is hard to get and best to retrieve through the face. Why the brain?”

  Janice raised her hand and spoke. “The brain is the key in water purification. Well, it is a full tongue and a portion of the brain. We only need one brain for every ten tounges, the ratio is actually like one in twenty, but I am not going to be that person who did the math wrong and we cannot purify water. The heart is a coverall catalyst. I can freeze items, fling gouts of waters, an
d even snow in caverns. Yeti hearts are worth a lot on Vin. If the brains become too much it is okay, we have all our cities on purified water already. Expansion and villages are where they are needed most. Before you ask. The icraws claws are freezing while their teeth allow me to pull water from the air. The seeds of those bushes I mentioned earlier will help me frost and light freeze. To do big stuff I need bigger animal parts. There are rumors of the creatures further inland but no one travels even this far. It is always the coast.”

  Tribeard thought on this then got to work. He kneeled over a dead yeti with a cut hamstring and the remnants of a ruined neck. Almost as if someone had thrust a sword through it… I wonder how many I had killed. I gazed upon the field that was easy to see where the fighting had been. The red drastically contrasted the snow. There were at least two hundred piled up by the main fighting then another hundred strung out. I went back to watching Tribeard do his work when he spoke up.

  “The Horde never cared if we drank shit water. It was always a large process for us. Many of our elderly and young die from poor water until we can get a new filtration system established. It is hard when you can be sold on a whim. I will tell the men. You will have your brains. They will see the value as worth the extra effort.” Tribeard paused as he said this. His frosted breath steaming the air. “They are easier to skin with cold bodies but let me show you this one warm. You can do it a few ways. I like to split them down the front. Then rotate the cut to the inside of the legs. See this axe?”

  Tribeard drew a short one handed axe off his belt. He then removed the feet above the ankle and the hands halfway up the forearm. With three chops he decapitated the corpse. He piled the parts, then went back to his dagger. From the open neck, he peeled back some skin with fur to slice downward. Once the seam was established he sliced down to the crotch. The penis and large balls were removed and tossed in a separate pile. Then he went down the inseam.