by Logan Jacobs
“Ohhhhhhhh, right, that.” The dwarf sighed. “Fine, but I want the next turn.”
“You can all try a little later,” Maaren laughed, “but it’s going to take some work. He has to trust you first, and the bond I have with this creature is stronger than the one it would have with anybody else.”
Maaren turned back to the beast, and it bowed his head at the hunter. She walked over to the creature, swung her legs over the thickness of his neck, and hoisted herself up until she sat snugly between the two large, brown wings.
“Giddyup!” the half-Fae called out happily, and the creature responded with a chirp.
The griffin took a running start in the direction of the van before he leapt into the air and flapped his wings. He must have had some pretty strong wings because the force from his downdraft nearly knocked us onto our asses. Kal, Ariette, and I craned our necks to watch as Maaren and the griffin flew over the van and up into the night.
“That was cool,” Ariette breathed with wide eyes. “The Phobos might be deadly, but I’ll admit that I’m kind of liking this mission.”
“Yeah,” I chuckled, “me too.”
We made it back to the guild in record time. Kalista was extremely excited at the prospect of riding the griffin, and it showed in her driving. The dwarf whipped around every corner she had to take, and she had the pedal practically on the floor the entire time. I had to keep a firm grip around the basilisk egg, and I tucked it into my stomach like a football so that it didn’t fly across the van and shatter into a million pieces.
“Thank goodness we’re finally here,” I said the moment we screeched to a halt in the guild parking lot. “I needed a shower ten minutes ago.”
“Yeah, you do,” Ariette gagged out. “Or maybe a bath in tomato juice. That’s what they do when you get covered in Boggart’s breath.”
I’d been so focused on the basilisk egg, I hadn’t noticed that the blonde beauty was huddled in the corner with her nose pinched shut.
“I see the real reason you stayed behind last night,” I teased her. “You just didn’t want to go down in the sewers again.”
“So sue me,” she replied with a snarky shrug, and then she dashed out of the van. I leapt down after Ariette and quickly threw my towel in a nearby trash can. There was no saving that thing now. It would probably reek of sewer and shit for the next thousand years.
“Ariette!” an annoying voice called out from a nearby van. It was Arendor. As regular as clockwork.
The elf sighed and kept walking forward as she pretended she hadn’t heard the greeting, but Arendor was determined to get a response.
“Ariette!” he exclaimed again as he caught up to us and gave me a once over. “Milton, did your mother never teach you how to shower?”
“Did yours?” I asked snarkily. “I don’t know about you, but by the time I was taking showers, I was old enough to know it was weird for my mom to be in the bathroom with me. I’m assuming you didn’t get the memo?”
“Such a tongue,” Arendor whistled. “So foul, this one here. And I’m not just talking about his smell.”
“You know what--” I started angrily, but Ariette cut me off.
“Arendor, what do you want?” she said with a groan. The elf made no attempt to hide her annoyance, but the lanky guild member didn’t take the hint.
“Just, uh, just wanted to say hey,” he replied, and his voice suddenly sounded nervous as he kicked at the dirt.
“Welp, mission accomplished,” I muttered. “I guess you can be on your merry way now. Meanwhile, Ariette and I are going to take a nap.”
“And hopefully a shower,” the elf mocked and plugged his nose. “I could probably smell you from all the way across the dining hall.”
Kalista stepped out of the van, saw the tall elf, and let out a loud and dramatic sigh. “Arendor,” the dwarf barked, “don’t you have a sewer to raid?”
I hid a snicker behind my hand and tried not to look as giddy as I felt. The annoying prick was going to have to go traipsing through the gunk and shit, just like I had. Only instead of it being an epic adventure filled with heroics, he was just on cleanup crew.
“Yes, you’re right, Kalista,” he replied, and then he straightened his spine like he was an overly important king before he turned to Ariette. “I will see you later.”
“Blech,” Kalista spat as she watched him trod off. “That one cannot take a hint.”
“Come on,” Ariette chuckled, “Let’s hit up the dining hall. I’m starved.”
“Oh, me too!” I exclaimed. My stomach rumbled just as I finished as if to emphasize just how hungry I was.
“Uh-uh,” Kalista said as she snatched the egg from my hands. “We’ll take this to the guild’s animal department. You need to shower.”
“Fine.” I sighed before I turned to the women and shot them a charming smile. “Either of you care to join?”
“Not like that,” Kalista asserted and stomped off into the guild. “I’m a hopeless romantic, remember?”
“I second that one,” Ariette replied as she wrinkled her nose. “I’ve had enough sewer stench for one day.”
“Suit yourself.” I shrugged. “Where’s Maaren? She’ll need to shower too, and I bet she wouldn’t pass up the opportunity…”
“We’ll be sure to send her your way when she gets here,” Ariette lied. “Now go clean yourself up.”
I whipped around and started to march toward my room, and I made sure to wiggle my butt sexily so Ariette knew just what she was missing.
Apparently, even Storm did not want to touch me when I was covered in this much sewage. I stepped through my bedroom door to an excited yip, but the puppy stopped short of me when her heads got a whiff of my stink. The cerberus wrinkled her three noses and retreated to her dog bed in the corner with a cough.
“Fine,” I said to her. “I was just out rescuing your friends, and you don’t even want to say hi. How rude!”
I walked into the bathroom, tossed off my clothes, and then started up the shower. The moment it wasn’t freezing cold, I jumped in, and it was very satisfactory to wash off the stinky disgusting muck. When I was all clean, I dried off quickly and then threw on my most comfortable gray jogging pants and a black t-shirt. My growling stomach reminded me that I was starving, so I headed off to meet my friends in the dining hall.
It was mid-morning by that point, and the sun was high in the sky as I walked briskly through the halls. My stomach grumbled at the anticipation of food, but I tried to look calm and nonchalant as I strode through the busy building, full of the bustle of morning guild life.
I entered the dining hall, grabbed a tray, and made my way over to the only familiar face I knew.
“Hey, Milton, I heard you guys had another adventure in the sewers!” Sal exclaimed when I got to the front of the line.
“Yeah, we did,” I chuckled. “A very messy adventure.”
“I heard that, too,” he replied jovially. “You’ve got the cleaning staff very angry with you. Did you know they told me they might have to run your clothes through an industrial sanitizer just to get them back to normal? I’d steer clear of the cleaning staff, just to be safe.”
“Thanks for the warning,” I said as Sal shot me a wink and slid me a rack of ribs.
“Anytime, Milton,” he proclaimed before he turned to the fairy behind me.
I picked up my tray and turned toward my table and nearly collided with a young elf who had decided to stand directly behind me. I managed to swing my tray out to the side and save the food from crashing to the floor as I stumbled back a step. The elf didn’t say a word or move as he stared at me with wide brown eyes full of shock.
“Um, sorry,” I said hesitantly as I sidestepped the elf. “You okay?”
“You’re the Racmoth,” he breathed in response. I was taken aback for a second as I’d never heard anyone use that term besides my team and the dragon.
I nodded slowly. “Yes,” I replied. “I am.”
“Thank
you,” he cried out awkwardly before he turned around and dashed toward the back of the line. I shook my head at the odd experience and walked over toward my team.
Maaren sat down moments before I did, and per usual, Ariette and Kalista were already there. Maaren had tied her wet hair up in a loose bun that accented her high cheekbones, and her expression was exhilarated.
“The strangest thing just happened,” I said as I sat down. “This elf just called me the Racmoth, and he said thank you. And then he just took off.”
“Maybe he was starstruck,” Kalista shrugged. “That’s what happened to me when I met my favorite movie star at that little sandwich shop down the road. It was like I just froze up and couldn’t think up a sentence to save my life.”
“It just seemed like he knew something,” I replied as I picked up my fork. “Maybe I’m just paranoid, I dunno.”
“People talk, HC,” Ariette said. “It was only a matter of time before everyone started to pick up on all the strange stuff that’s happened recently. And some Fae believe in those scrolls. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out you’re the Racmoth after reading that prophecy.”
“I guess you’re right,” I acknowledged. I was acutely aware that a few Fae stared at us as we ate, and the hairs on the back of my neck prickled with the attention.
“You guys need to eat fast,” Maaren said enthusiastically. “I want to take you down to the stables. Wait until you see what that griffin can do. I’ve named him Jake, by the way. The retrieval team went to pick up our prisoners, so we have a little time to kill until they get back.”
“Jake?” Ariette quirked an eyebrow. “That’s kind of a--”
“That is a boring name,” Kalista blurted out as she chomped down on a cob of roasted corn. “Why not something like ‘Deathbeak’ or ‘Goldenrod’ or ‘Falcorn?’ Now those would be some badass names.”
Maaren’s face fell. “Well, I don’t think it’s so boring,” she muttered quietly. “My favorite childhood stuffed animal was named Jake.” She frowned. “He was a lizard with bright pink spots. I used to sleep with him every night until I was a teenager.”
“Damn,” Kal mumbled with her mouth full. “Then you really shouldn’t name him Jake. I’m not gonna even go there with the ‘riding’ jokes...”
“Kal!” Ariette cried out and shoved her elbow deep into the dwarf’s breast.
“Ow,” the hacker mumbled as she rubbed her left breast. “No-no space, Ari. Off limits. ”
“I think Jake is a nice name,” I said to Maaren, which earned me a soft smile, “and I’m not alone in the testosterone department anymore, which makes it even better.”
“But Milton,” Maaren said, suddenly seductive, “I thought you liked being the only male? You get all the ladies that way.” She shot me a wink and pouted her lips in a way that brought a sexual fire into my belly, and I flashed back to the image of her underneath me, completely naked.
“I guess he’ll just have to learn to share,” Ariette replied in a sultry voice. Man, they were both after me today, and I loved it.
“I don’t do that so well,” I shot back as I quirked my eyebrow charmingly.
“You are aware you’re talking about a griffin right?” Kal said seriously as she bit down on the last bite of her corn. “Look, I’m not one to judge what people do in the privacy of their bedrooms, but….”
“Not like that, Kal!” Ariette quipped at the dwarf. “We’re just flirting with Milton, that’s all.”
“What else is new?” Kalista shrugged and dabbed her face with a napkin. “Now, if you guys don’t hurry up and eat your food, I’m going to take that griffin on a test drive without you.”
“Okay, okay,” I replied as I put my hands up in surrender and bit into my ribs.
As always, the Fae food was amazing. My taste buds danced as the perfect blend of smoky and sweet hit my tongue. The tender texture of the meat melted in my mouth, and I tore into that rib like there was no tomorrow. The barbeque sauce stuck to my lips and my fingers, and I had to use a wet napkin to wipe it off. Even then, the flavor lingered on my lips, constantly reminding me of the delicious meal I’d just eaten.
Kalista waited anxiously as the three of us ate, but Ariette was taking her sweet time. When she finally placed the last bite of her ribs onto her pink tongue, Kalista nearly yanked her out of her seat and dashed off down the hallway.
Maaren and I looked at each other, shook our heads, and then bounded off after them. When we got behind the back of the guild, Kalista froze and turned to Maaren.
“You don’t know where to go, huh?” the hunter asked with a smirk. “Come on, I put him in the stables for now.”
We followed the half-Fae out to the fields where the guild kept a pasture and a stable with horses. The field was brown in the summer sun and surrounded by a tall wooden fence. Attached to it was the stable proper. It was a tall red building with an old-fashioned tin roof and straw spilled out from the front and created a makeshift path over the dirt.
Jake was in the first stall, and he let out an excited squawk when he saw Maaren.
“Hey, dude!” She giggled as he leaned his massive white eagle head over the stall door. His eyes blinked shut, and his head tilted to one side as Maaren reached her hands out and stroked from the top of his head to his beak. That yellow beak was curved and ended in a sharp point. I had no doubt that thing could rip someone apart if the griffin wanted to.
“Ummmmm, so here’s what I don’t get,” Ariette said as she stared at the eagle head with wide eyes, “that thing was a baby a day ago.. How is it so huge?”
“Have you never learned about griffins?” Maaren asked in genuine surprise.
“I’m not all that much of an animal person,” the elf responded. “Though this mission is bringing me around to the idea.”
“Oh, okay,” Maaren sighed. “Well, griffins are really gentle creatures, actually. As long as you don’t make them mad, obviously.”
“Obviously,” Ariette muttered. “I don’t think any creature in the world is kind when they’re pissed off.”
“But anyways,” Maaren continued, as if she hadn’t been interrupted, “as you saw, the mom was huge. Male griffins are actually quite a bit smaller than females, so Jake will probably only be about three-quarters of his mom’s size. For the first five months, their growth is fairly slow. But then, between five and seven months, they grow rapidly and mature until they’re full grown by seven months. Kind of like puberty in a human male. Except, without the stinky B.O.”
“I’ll have you know, I wore cologne when I was in puberty, so I smelled like fresh rain,” I shot back proudly.
“Please tell me you didn’t use it as a substitute for taking a shower,” Kal said as she patted my chest lazily. “That’d be even worse. Now, let’s get back to the important stuff, please.”
Maaren opened the stall door, stepped backward out of the stable, and Jake followed her happily. As I stood right behind the griffin’s huge back paws, I could see how big he actually was. I was pretty sure that somehow, he’d grown even more in the few hours I’d been away from him. His body was so tall that his shoulders came up to the middle of my stomach, and the top of his head was even with mine. At his height, he was already a few feet taller than Kalista and inches taller than Maaren. Only I matched his height.
His massive brown wings were folded into his back, just behind his shoulder blades. As we stepped out of the stables, Jake opened his wings and shook them out. Kalista and I both gasped at just how large they were. Up close, it was clear he had a wingspan of about fifteen feet. I thought back to the sight of his huge mother and realized that he still had a lot of growing to do.
“Milton, do you want to go first?” Maaren asked me. Her eyes were bright as she nuzzled Jake’s head, and he blinked his alert golden gaze at me.
“Sure,” I said with a nonchalant shrug and stepped toward her. “You know me, always the first one to try something new.”
I pushed down the slight b
ubble of nerves that threatened to come up. Jake may have been like a pet to Maaren, but he was still a wild animal.
“Put out your hand, flat and palm up,” she instructed. “That’s how you show submission to a griffin.”
I shot her a questioning look, but she just nodded at me in encouragement. I took a deep inhale through my nose, met Jake’s intelligent golden eyes, and put out my hand as she’d instructed.
Jake’s eyes held mine for a moment, and he didn’t move. They were huge, and gold, and almost hypnotizing. Flecks of darker gold swam in his irises. He blinked, and I watched as his third eyelid blinked across his irises. Then, ever so slowly, he lowered the hook of his beak to touch the center of my palm lightly. He stayed like that as he stared at me.
“Am I supposed to move now?” I said softly with a questioning look to the hunter.
“He’s saying he trusts you,” Maaren said. She turned to Jake and let out her own bird-like squawk which he returned quickly. “Okay, he says you can ride him!” she exclaimed giddily.
“So do I just, I don’t know, get on him?” I asked as I stepped around Jake’s side, unsure of how to ride him. I’d never even been on a horse before, let alone a giant half-eagle half-lion creature that could fly. The butterflies in my stomach perked up again as I stared at Jake’s massive shoulder muscles rippling under his feathers.
When I hesitated, Maaren came up behind me, shoved her hand under my ass, and pushed me up like a spring in one swift motion. She gave my rear a light squeeze as I landed snugly in between Jake’s shoulder blades and tucked my knees in behind me on either side of his wings.
“There you go,” Maaren said with a wink. “Now you’re all saddled up and ready to ride.”
“Is that a double entendre?” I asked coyly, but the blue-skinned hunter just grinned.
Ariette had her eyebrows quirked in amusement as she watched me shuffle to get comfortable, and Kalista just stared at me in awe.
“So what now?” I asked. “Do I have some sort of verbal command I give him or what?”