Gryff Boxset

by Sloss, Marcus

  “What happens next?” Velia asked as she stood on my other side holding my arm.

  “We hold the Count hostage until we finish what we came for. We let the city calm for today and hope for a peaceful night. Tomorrow we go kill some lava golems and get the catalysts we need to light our town. When that is done we leave without further bloodshed if able. Hopefully, more griffins are sent from Fernlan when the pride from here arrives there. We need the backup and to spread the word. Every roost within King Devon's realm needs to be evacuated. We can host them all for a while. We still have a lot of meat from the ogres, trolls, and goblins we killed. Then we find a way to take away the Emperor's power.

  “But that is for another day. For today I would like to shop for some books with my lovely new wife. Maybe our captured host will be gracious enough to show us around this fine city. Do you have a few guards of your own you would like to bring that are loyal to you?” I said.

  “Oh shopping, my favorite. I have one certain guard who would lay down his life for me if you know what I mean. He is weaponless and right over there. That handsome young man is named Carl. Carl come over here please.” Tami said loudly to the guard. He jogged over in his armor blushing madly at being called out by the Count's first wife. “Be a dear Carl, I am to escort our guests around the city and I require your protection. Promise me you will be on your best behavior as you always are and I will get you your weapon back.”

  He made a pledge I found acceptable and I let him get a weapon. I did not want to bring a full party with us but at the same time, I needed some protection. I called out to Nate and had him assign Frank and Kyle to me. When we were grouped and ready to go I made introductions. Once everyone was acquainted with each other we left the manor for the cities business area.

  We had made it a few homes away from the manor when Lady Tami looked over her shoulder for anyone following. When she saw it was clear, she spoke.

  “You are going to kill my husband correct?” Tami asked.

  “Why would he do that, the Count has surrendered and is no threat.” Carl blurted out.

  “Oh you are so cute Carl, there is a war about to start. The less yes men the Emperor and his son have the better the odds are for the other side, which Earl Gryff is on. I did not ask you to judge you or for an actual answer because I know that. I ask for the follow-up question.” Tami said.

  “Can you come with us after he is dead, and the answer is yes!? You and Carl would be most welcome in Fernlan. It is vastly improving and has good people.” Velia said with excitement trying to upsell our home.

  I chuckled at how the conversation unfolded with me being spoken for.

  “I agree with my wife, you both are more than welcome and if you have anyone you recommend for immigrating they are welcome also. We fight the Horde and treat griffins with respect, we ask you to do your part. It may take time to figure out where you can do the most good but I am okay with that. If it is not a good fit, we will help relocate you.” I said explaining the offer.

  We had made it to the center of Malvia, where the road circled around a large fountain. The fountain had water that flowed down the sides while the top was a decoration of a twenty foot tall statue of a man. In the statue's hands was an eight foot long two handed club. The mallet end of one side of the club came to a point with the largest ruby I have ever seen that was molded into the tip. I noticed I had stopped walking to study the sculpture of the man with the weapon.

  “That is the legendary hero Malv, the founder of this city that was once only a small outpost. He was one of those ultra rare heroes of history who had a purple aura. Come let me show you the inscription at the bottom of his feet above where the water falls out. He had this fountain created as he died of old age, the water mage he hired was able to keep the fountain going forever using some spell lost to the ages.” Tami said.

  She walked us over to the inscription when Velia began to read it aloud.

  “Here rests my mighty club Smasha. I slew ten thousand golems with this weapon of power. One day another will be worthy of taking it from my stone hands. Maybe that man is you, or maybe that woman is. No tricks allowed, only with brute strength do the spoils go to the victor. May it serve you as well as it has served me. Malv the Golem Slayer.” Velia ran a hand over the inscription with a finality.

  I inspected the handle and it was only a little bit thicker and longer than my greataxe I had left in Fernlan. I could definitely hold the weight of the shaft, the clubhead worried me a bit. It was easily the size of my torso in thickness. The width was five feet from the tip side to the rounded backside. If I had to guess it probably weighed a thousand pounds. The question was how to get it. It was on top of a fountain being held firm by a stone statue.

  “It is a trick, no one ever has removed it and no one ever will. Every year some drunk fool breaks his neck climbing up the fountain trying to pull it free. The amount of arrests we make when some thief gets the bright idea to try to pry that gem out of the club point is high too. Not to mention there is some protection spell against tools, do not try that, it gets very messy and very bad for the person using the tool. It is as if Malv wanted the residents of Malvia to be frustrated with temptation while he was long dead. I do find it... Hey, what are you doing?” Lady Tami said. She cried out the last line in surprise as I did a high jump.

  I got myself onto the feet of the statue and used my grip on the club’s shaft to stabilize my balance. Luckily I had lots of experience at heights with little to balance myself with. I placed both hands on the weapon and walked up his legs until the bottom of my feet rested comfortably against the statues hips. If I did pry this club free I was going to go flying. So there I was positioned horizontal at least fifteen feet above the ground when I hesitated.

  “Umm... Lady Tami, I am always short a blasted healer. I am fairly certain I can get this club free, is there a reliable healer nearby we could fetch in case I get hurt?” I had to turn my head to look down to ask.

  “No healer can heal a broken neck but anything less than that there is a master healer here visiting at the moment from Cern. A master Drifa I believe, is fleecing the local nobility of their coin to teach green magic to their children. If I summon him he will charge you even for no healing.” Tami said.

  “Yes, can you get one of these fine citizens walking by to go fetch him? I will gladly give them a silver for their time. Velia, hand Tami a silver so we can hurry up and get Drifa here. The man owes me anyway, I overpaid for Jak. Guy is into widows more than combat. Nice enough man, I need a healer who will go into the wild lands with me though.” I said complaining. I was a little irked by the fact I was always short a healer. No way was I taking Bella into combat. Maybe Drifa came to Maliva with some journeymen to show off to potential clients how amazing his teaching skills were.

  I was lost in thought again when someone from the crowd called out. “Hurry up and fall you, idiot.” Now that was not nice. Time to put on a show while I tried to get the club free without injury. I was bored and why the hell not.

  I removed my feet off the statues hips, twirled my hips and wrapped my calves around the club handle. I played a beat in my head that got my body moving. My shirt was loose and became a hazard as I was upside down. So I undid my shirt and let it fall to the ground, Velia rolled her eyes and I winked at her. I got catcalls from a few of the ladies that passed by. I used my upper body strength to do a handstand. I hand walked up the stone arm until I was upside down on top of Malv's head. A few one handed pushups and then I did a half flip to land back down by the hands that held the club. I wanted to see if that would jar the club loose, but it had no effect.

  Upright with a decent footing I walked up the weapon until I was at the very end of it. I wanted to test if I could leverage the club head and my weight to make break the weapon free. I prepped my legs, found my center and jumped as high as I could. I went twice as high as any normal man could and when I landed on the club I shot my legs down with as
much force as I could.

  Nothing.

  The weapon had a bit of give but those stone hands did not budge to let the weapon free. I tried again, and again. I saw the tiniest of slivers begin to form on the third jump. I was starting to think this Malv guy was a cheat. I was told my purple aura was impressive but here I was using my legs with all my power and having little to no effect.

  Drifa arrived demanding who summoned him. Velia quieted him when she told him he would get paid and to watch for now. I walked down the weapon and got back into the position I had earlier. My feet were on Malv's hips his weapon firmly in my grasp. Before I started I gave the warning to be careful below me and to give me space in case I violently fell.

  I slowly strained as I leveraged the weapon. I used my back, biceps, and thighs to pull with everything I had. I thought I was going to tear my arms out of my sockets when I heard a thundering crack sound. I relaxed my strained muscles and saw that tiny sliver was now a large tear in Malv's stone wrist. I got back into position like before and I did a mighty yank instead of a slow steady pull.

  To my joy and terror, I went flying off the statue with the club in my hands. The joy lasted for about half a second as I twisted my body to take my eventual impact with the hard road. My back made contact and it was excruciating. I screamed in pain and let the club go. It flew until it buried itself into a wall twenty feet away. I hit my head hard as I tumbled across the road.

  I drifted in and out of conscience until I felt that warm awkward tingle flow through my body. My broken body, because that was what I felt I had busted, mended itself together. I was feeling the cobwebs of getting my bell rung when that eventually cleared. Drifa swore at me as he nearly collapsed.

  “By the gods, you crazy man, do you know how much it takes to heal a man with purple aura. No wonder Jak says you always let him pass out when he heals you. At least you are making a man of that timid boy.” Drifa said.

  I rose to my feet and raced to the wall. I grabbed my new club and swung it onto my shoulder. I had done it, sure I had nearly killed myself but that was nothing new. Velia slapped my chest hard, scolded me, and then handed me my shirt. Apparently, I had to make it up to her later for nearly seeing me die. I hoped Smasha was worth it.

  “Well done Earl Gryff. Never thought I would see that… Really any of it, the ordeal was quite the performance. The actual removal of the weapon will join the legend of Malv. You are a very interesting person. Let us continue with our walk to the bookstore before the crowd mobs you.” Tami said.

  I pulled Drifa along with us as we left, asking him for a combat healer. He mentioned he had a friend who was currently in Tent Crossing serving King Horus who might have some more adventurous students. I thanked him for his heals, and asked him to inquire about those combat healers for Fernlan. Velia paid him a gold coin and he almost argued when he saw it was a standard one and not one of the pure ones I arrived with. I shooed him away as we continued down the road into the business section.

  The streets were clean as if a fire mage came by every night. When I asked, that was exactly it. Malvia was known for having a lot of fire mages due to its proximity to the close fire catalysts. It was a natural gather point and the exact reason we were here too.

  Velia and I went into the local book store, while the others waited outside with Smasha. It was musky, dark, and there were books everywhere. Velia browsed the novels, while I looked over the nonfiction. We had brought some gold with us so we had enough to spend freely. I loaded a dozen books onto the counter when I saw the catalyst on shelves in the back. A young man worked the counter, said his father owned the shop. We haggled for a while when he got overwhelmed and went to get his dad.

  “Evening. I am earth mage Strin, and this is my humble shop. I had the lad watching the desk while I caught up on some rumors. Apparently, the Count is having a marital dispute, and Smasha was freed by some crazy tall... So it is true?” Strin asked figuring I was the crazy tall man.

  “I am Gryff and this is Lady Velia. Yes, to the freeing of Smasha part, I guess the Count is having marital disputes too but that is not for me to discuss. Lady Tami is right out front patiently waiting for us but I doubt she would divulge much. I came to buy these books, whatever books interest my lady, and all your catalysts for sale.” I said and pointed to the back shelf that held a few containers and jars on it. “I see one vial of tree worm blood, ten jars of crushed ant chitin, and four tubes of termite paste. I will buy more if you have it. We are building up a frontier village into a town and it is draining a lot of resources. Could always use an extra earth mage, the three we have been nonstop busy.”

  “My son here Timmy is seventeen, learned all he can from his dad. I would be happy to cut you a deal if you get him some real world earth mage experience. Everything you see is what I have for sale. Say fifteen gold for these catalysts and the books.” Strin offered, I countered with fourteen and we shook.

  “You are a man of learning, how come there were no more people with purple aura? It seems like Malv would have had many children.” Velia opined while browsing the books.

  “Well, that is a good question, when humans arrived on Vin four hundred years ago there were no mages. They were born into the population in the second generation, for reasons unknown. Malv was one of the very few to be documented as a purple aura mage. Well, not a mage, more like an aura warrior. The texts that talk of his time mention that he favored... Hmm. How do I say this without offense? Well, he did not favor the company of women. He bore no children and his aura line died out with him. There are a few stories of other purple aura warriors over the years but none as grand as Malv's tale. I take it Gryff freed Smasha from the statue, then he probably has the extra strength, agility, and stamina. Very interesting, you should have someone follow behind him to write your tale at some point. It would be a sought after reading.” Strin said to us.

  “Wait, four hundred years. How can this place only be that old? I need to find the time to study more of the origins of Vin.” I said trying to fathom why a simulated world would have such a short history. It gave my brain an itch that I wanted to scratch but I hesitated for now. Next rainy day I would read all these history books and get some answers hopefully.

  “Some things are a mystery beyond us mortal men. I wish we all had more time to find the answers we seek. I thank you for your business.” Strin replied.

  Velia came up with a stack of books and handed Strin the fourteen gold. While I was lost in thought, Velia mentioned we would take Timmy back to Fernlan with us in a few days and to be ready for when a runner summoned him. We thanked him for his time and exited the store.

  Our group grabbed a snack from a cart and headed back to the manor. We passed the manor gates where Nate and a griffin stood watch. Things were quiet and under control. I asked Lady Tami which room would be best to rest in while dinner was being prepared and she guided us to a large room. We would be staying in the visiting noble quarters, lavish, and excessively decorated.

  I had Frank place my books on a counter by the bed, next to where I had propped Smasha up against it. Velia added her books to the pile and I went about securing the room after Frank left. I closed the balcony and took a thin rope for the blinds to lock the balcony doors shut. I then shoved a heavy dresser in front of the only door. I was shocked no one attacked us on the street and figured our luck was based on the rapidness of today's events. That tonight when it would be reported the Count was hostage there might be a freeing attempt or an attack on me. So I did what I had to, I secured us into our room so we could not be surprised while busy.

  After I finished pushing the heavy dresser I turned around to find Velia naked. She was a marvel and I was beyond excited. Her naked body was smooth, clean, and alluring. Her small firm breasts and flat stomach gave way to her ripe hips. I stripped off my clothes and closed the distance between us. A long sweet kiss landed on my lips. I picked her up off the floor and carried her gently onto the bed.


  I had desired Velia for a long time and there always seemed to be something that prevented this, but not this time. I went down and licked her swollen moist vagina until it was wet. She pulled at my hair.

  I got on top of her and slid my throbbing cock into her. Her slim lips parted and absorbed my whole manhood with a firm squeeze. I kissed her neck as my thrusts were timed with her hip movements. We got into unison for a few minutes until we climaxed together. It was sweet and passionate. I kept my softening cock inside her until I plopped out. I knew she liked it rough but this was our intimate moment.

  Tired from the healing, combat, and stress of the day I felt a nap coming on. I tucked my head into her shoulder and passed out.

  CHAPTER 12

  I awoke the next morning feeling starved, my stomach rumbled angrily. Velia had opened a window shade and was reading a book in the early light. She had her heels tucked by her butt as she relaxed on a lounger. I propped myself up on my elbows.

  “Good morning, I can't believe I slept through dinner. Are those our chests? How did you get the dresser moved to get the door open?” I asked.

  “With great difficulty, I thought for certain I would wake you a few times. I ended up taking out most of the drawers to get the weight down. There is a warm breakfast for you and a cold dinner by that nightstand.

  “Lady Tami has been a gracious host. She asked to let the other wives and children that she thought were no threat go and we allowed it. There was a small angry group that came to the gate this morning at sunrise. They were demanding the Count explains the death of their loved ones. It was the family members of the guards who died. They were handled by Lady Tami and a sister wife of hers. They were not able to calm them completely but gave them some closure. She blamed it on a misunderstanding from King Devon and that restitution would be paid to any who could prove kinship to the deceased. She actually went into the Count's treasury and handed out gold for each dead guard. She expects the rest of the families to trickle in for a payout.