Gryff Boxset

by Sloss, Marcus

  “There is also the matter of the other nobility poking around. They were placated by a promise of an official announcement in a few days. Which is when you probably kill her husband and stick his head on a pike in his front lawn. Besides that, Nate knocked on the door at sunrise letting you know the men would be ready for the day minus a few who pulled guard duty last night. Oh, and more griffins showed up this morning. Looks like most of the Fernlan pride is here. A few took off right away, but I am sure they will catch you up.” Velia said while I ate both dishes with a fervor.

  “Is it normal to sleep this much after being aura healed? I notice I sleep a lot on Vin.” I recognized I had, in fact, been sleeping more than normal, something was different.

  “Yes, well I think yes. I have heard aura use results in tiredness. You probably used a lot of your aura to free that silly club. Then you broke everything besides your neck, ugh. I shudder to think of the three directions your right arm was bent before Drifa healed you. So I think it is normal, but Bella would know better. Speaking of her, I know she is prettier than me with better curves and I will never have large full breasts like Pipi but I am working on getting back to a healthy weight. I promise I will fill out just fine once I am not so skinny with curves in all the right places.” Velia said with a sad expression.

  I realized she was being self-conscious. Sure I could still see some bones protruding a bit when she was naked but it did not matter to me. So I went on a long lovely tangent about how she was perfect the way she was. That I would be happy regardless, but I supported her in finding the image she liked best and not to do so because of me. That seemed to reassure her of her doubt and she ran over and gave me a long embrace. The kiss that followed started to lead to other things when I stopped her. I had a lot to do today, and spending another hour in bed was not on my list.

  I politely declined her baby making request and geared myself in my light armor set. I had the two options with me but I remembered how bloody hot it was by the lava flow. No way was I wearing all that thick heavy leather and metal by that heat. I donned the light chest plate, leather kilt, shin pads, and my sword and shield. I grabbed Smasha and had Velia check my armor straps to ensure they were tight. Feeling somewhat prepared for the day, I exited the room.

  I walked out to the manor stables where I saw Nate and the men playing a game of dice. They were having a good time and looked ready to go with packs set off to the side. I talked to them for a minute to ensure they did not need anything before I arranged for our flight. Nate, Donnie, Kyle, Marcus, Brad, and Joey were geared up and ready to go, only waiting on me. He made it clear he wanted to fly from the Count's manor down to the barrier exit. He felt it would be too dangerous to walk the streets as a group unless we had the griffins for an escort. If we had the griffins with us why not fly, it was solid logic. I saw Lord Nova not far away talking rapidly with Traz and Dina.

  I approached the trio and waited for them to notice me or finish talking. It was but a few moments when Traz walked over.

  “Ah, politics. Glad I am a simple warrior Gryff. I will be your support today. Lord Nova has Dina and any griffin he can spare flying to every roost in this realm withdrawing all griffins to Fernlan. Congratulations, you are now the number one host of griffins in the Empire. Hurrah, right... Wonder how long your to do list gets now. Or how many assassins the Emperor sends your way. Fret not, we recognize our allies and I will be here to protect you. Sort off... Actually, you are a crazy impulsive warrior, so there will be little I can do, but you get the point. If we can help we will. So what is the plan, assuming you have one?” Traz asked teasing me the entire time.

  “I do, it is a great plan. Fly us to the gate, we leave the city, find the golems, then smash the golems and bring them back. Simple and easy.” I said.

  “You got a cart?”

  “No, but I will,” I muttered. “Nate! We need a cart!” I hollered.

  “There is one right there Gryff, by the shed, thought of that last night while you slept. And before the griffin bugs you about it, yes we have the proper tools and gloves to handle the bodies. We are only in need of you, your club, and your strength.” Nate yelled across the yard to me. Nate was a professional and it showed.

  “See! All under control, sometimes you merely need to hire the guy who can think.” I replied.

  “That is fair, alright I will start ferrying three at a time to the southern barrier exit point. If you will wait over there with the other humans this will take no time at all.”

  Traz made quick work of getting us to the southern end of the farm fields by the city barrier. His last trip was getting the cart down to us but he handled that by picking it up and flying with it. I hefted Smasha over my shoulder and took point as we walked down the trail toward the lava river. The path was once a road, encroached upon by the ever rapid tide of nature reclaiming the space. I frowned when I noticed we were kicking up a lot of dust as we traveled. I moved from the dirt path and walked over the shrubbery. The men took notice and followed behind me. The only thing that knocked dust into the air now was one side of the cart. Nate and Donnie pulled the wagon through the loose dirt.

  I was not paranoid or overly concerned about an imminent Horde attack, I did have Traz overhead watching us. The trees here were thin and sparse with small underbrush so it would be easy to see an ambush from above. We were higher in elevation than in Fernlan, making the early morning sun noticeably cooler. I enjoyed the quiet walk down the long road. A few of the men talked with each other. I saw Nate, Donnie, Kyle, Marcus, Brad, and Joey, this was verification that we had everyone we were supposed to. The rest were on guard duty or sleeping from performing watch the night before. Donnie swapped wagon pulling duty with me near the hour mark into our march.

  The light cart moved easily for the last half hour. Nate and I talked of his past. I learned he had three wives. He had his true love, which they had been together since a young age. He later married his brother Gregg's two wives when he died in the war. It was keeping the family together thing, and not a sexual relationship. He pressed that point but I was not judging. He grew up in Lakeland, and never wanted to leave. He liked how Lakeland had the ability to travel easily with the river and the woods that surrounded it. He spoke of how he had a house full of children. The oldest son, from him and his true love, had died during the war. Not to combat though, they were marching in a valley with steep cliffs and something triggered a rockslide. It killed a few dozen men, and his boy Ruffus was one of them. He held back tears but got through the story. I got to hear how Ruffus and he trained for years in the woods together, and that those were his fondest memories of his entire life.

  He said he wanted to move his wives and children to Fernlan, but was waiting until there was more to the town. He needed to be certain things would stabilize. He did tell me if Fernlan became the capital for the griffins he expected it to boom in population and I agreed.

  I got to hear a few of his backstories of surviving the war. Duke Riza had been his commander for the two years he was active, and the man had kept his troops alive through the thick of it. I got to learn how the Duke would win a battle then give up lots of territory in retreat when he knew he could not win. It made him unpopular with the higher nobles as the Horde continued to advance, but for regular troopers like Nate, he was the best. Knowing when to retreat and when to fight was a hard talent to master. Nate shared his opinion that he felt the area around Fernlan was about to get much busier with traps and ambushes. Word had probably gotten out about us killing a few orcs, goblins, and trolls. Especially if the Emperor was feeding the enemy information. So we talked over some plans that could work without Fernlan. There was still Xiq and Straddleback. That massive caravan was probably still on the move not far from the outpost.

  Our group arrived at the campsite with plenty of time before midday. I hoped we could get a lot done. We all drank some water to lesson our thirst from the march. I gulped down some more as I felt the heat wash ov
er me from the lava. It was not that bad this far out but definitely noticeable.

  “Okay, these things are tough but our targets should be simple minded. Our plan is to have one person on lure detail. When they get into my range I kill them with this club. The rest of the team is on dismemberment and loading. If we attract the attention of too may we retreat to here, this seems to be far enough for them to turn around. I don't think they like the bare dirt for more than a few steps. If they do chase us this far we keep running. If I hear of an attack coming our way from the Horde, I will call out 'Rally'. If you hear that word come back to this spot, we will use the wagon defensively. If it is an attack we can outrun we ditch the wagon and run for Malvia. Alright, let us gear up.” I said. I went over to the wagon and laid my sword and shield onto the bed. I would need all the free movement I could get. I noticed a few of the bolt launchers I had bought from Lakeland sitting with the supplies that had been hauled here.

  Donnie came beside me and grabbed some special gloves and an apron. “We brought a few bolt launchers, I found them the day before yesterday when Una told me to get a ranged weapon. I forgot to mention I used one to kill an orc out of a tree. They are great and when I told Nate how easy they were to use we brought a few for the trip. Won't help much with the golems but if we face any Horde should be useful.”

  I was happy to see them. I had gotten so busy I had been meaning to hand them out. I also wanted to test out my small ballista, I could not believe I forgot about it. Not really forgotten, I lacked the time to have fun with it. It would have only been effective against the ogre but in that case, time was of the essence. I made a mental note to myself to remember to drag it out to one of the gates to at least have it handy.

  “Alright Gryff, it looks like I am your decoy. I will grab a few rocks and see if I can’t get one of these lumbering idiots over our way.” Joey said to me.

  I followed him to where the dirt clashed with the edge of the black rock. He grabbed a handful of pebbles and we stepped onto the hard crunchy surface. My feet instantly felt the sharpness of the ground, my body felt the heat of the lava. This was an inhospitable place I did not wish to linger at. It seemed Joey shared my sentiment and jogged to find a golem to lure to me.

  It did not take long, I was studying the terrain when I heard a decent roar. Certainly not as loud as a griffin or an ogre, but it had some volume to it. Three of the golems were making a slow run towards my direction as Joey got behind me. So much for one at a time, this was probably not Joey's fault, and I wanted to make the best of the situation. I was up to the challenge of trying to kill three at once.

  The tallest one with the longest, fat, stone-like legs pulled in front of the shorter two. It was also on the most direct path to me meaning it would be a few minutes before his buddies caught up to him. I took Smasha off my shoulder and met the golem’s slow charge. I was expecting it to try to club me with a fist or kick me. Instead, it went for a tackle. They may be slow runners in comparison to a human but they could still leap quickly. I had to roll to dodge the golem’s outstretched arms that tried to enclose me. I exited from my tumble and took an overhead arcing swing. The club raced into the back of the creature who was flat on the ground. The ruby tip pierced the rocky shell of a hide and the back crumbled into pieces. It was a killing blow, there were a few after death twitches.

  I felt a little more confident as the next two trotted to me. I used the angle of attack to my advantage and got golem two to tackle golem one. These things had a bad case of tunnel vision and were single mindedly dumb. I killed them both while they struggled on the ground. A strong blow with the ruby side of the club to the head of each golem did the job cleanly. Well mostly clean, there was a bit of a lava type puss that seeped out of the wounds. If I had to guess that was why the carcass team was in protective gear.

  “Sorry my lord, I got the attention of the first one no problem, when he roared it brought these other two to us. I will keep trying for one, but I doubt it will be that easy. At least that weapon makes quick work of them. I heard a normal club with normal strength is not enough to crack the outer armor. Smasha is awesome.” Joey said.

  “Right, it is a tad heavy but I am loving it so far,” I said twirling the weapon. “Do your best to keep the numbers down, I will not berate you if you pull more than one. It looks like if you break the armor it is a death blow, I do not think they have similar anatomy to humans where we can suffer cuts and bleed. I think a bleeding blow is fatal. Go ahead and try to pull another single and let us see what happens.”

  While I waited for my next fight I talked to Traz who was doing slow circles from up high. He told me the only thing he saw was three warg riders some fifteen miles to the east. They were extremely far but roaming. The distant orc settlement to the south was quiet and nothing worried him for now. I then watched Nate, Donnie, Kyle, Marcus, and Brad begin dismembering the golems. They were using chisels and hammers to separate limbs. Same strategy for removing the lower half of the body from the top and then the head from the torso. It was a full team effort but effectively done. Maybe they had read up on how to do it or one of the friendlier guards had given advice. They seemed to be able to handle it no problem.

  A light roar caught my attention and Joey approached with two in tow this time. They were staggered in distance, giving me ample time to take them on separately. I let them come to me near the edge of the field to ensure the bodies fell close to the cleanup team. The first golem proceeded to predictably lunge at me, I dodged and brought the ruby down hard onto the neck. This severed the head cleanly. I still had almost a minute before the next one reached me so I separated the torso from the lower body. When the final creature reached me I dodged a tackle and struck a killing blow to the neck.

  “Keep em coming Joey. Nate, I am going to dismember these as fast as I can until I tire. Should help you guys keep up and Smasha separates parts in one hit. How many can we load on the wagon before we need to stop?” I asked the man as he was carrying an arm to the wagon.

  “I do not know, they sure are heavy. Every part can be used by the fire mages, including the goo in the middle. I think maybe a dozen then head back. Maybe two trips today. We will definitely need more carts, not sure how easy it will be to pull this wagon once it is weighed down though. I did not see any horses in Malvia, there might still be some animals we can use to pull. Guess we came a bit underprepared seeing as how quickly you can kill and separate them. How is your aura holding up?” He asked.

  “Huh, had not thought of my aura running out, I guess I would get tired and cranky. I did five hours of tree swinging a few times, so I can go for a while if the fighting is as easy as this. I am not exerting myself too hard here. I dodge easily then smoothly swing once to kill the golem who missed the tackle. I guess time will tell. Carry me back if I pass out, I am sure you won't mind.” I said with a laugh.

  A new roar brought a single golem. Joey got out of the way, and I back peddled away from the creature until it was closer to the wagon. This one did try to club me, which was different. The move was slow and easier to evade than a leap was. I disabled the monster with a club side blow to the hip. The golem staggered from the impact then fell when the leg gave out. I finished it off mercifully. Joey was already gone to get another.

  Multiple roars came our way as Joey pulled five over to us. He raced our way screaming profanities.

  “Sorry team, I got the attention of one which turned into two when I realized I was near a cave opening. Three rushed out behind me from a cave. The golems are so loud when they run I was able to notice them and avoid a horrid death.” Joey yelled to us.

  The five were too much for me to handle solo. Time to deploy more decoys.

  “Donnie, get the right most one to chase you. If it starts to catch up go towards the city. Joey keep the first two following you, Nate peel one of those. Watch out for each other, I will kill these two quickly then call you over as I am ready.” I said waiting for the first two
to pass me following Joey.

  Donnie shot a bolt launcher at the one I told him to. It pinged off the golem with no effect besides making the beast angry. The roar and shift in charge pulled that entire group of three to him. I was able to work with that. I charged the slowest golem of the three. It ran forward right behind its fellow creatures. I did a sideways swing into the lower back with the ruby point. It was a kill shot.

  I kept moving and reached the next golem who kept its back to me. I smashed the skull, and that produced a squishy popping sound. A tiny drop of the inner goo landed on my left arm and sizzled into my skin. The pain was intense as it seared deeper into my flesh. I was lucky it was a minor amount and still able to maintain my two handed grip. I kept going for the last golem that Donnie was avoiding.

  The young man saw me approach and turned my target so I got a clean shot at the back. I smashed out a leg this time to avoid any of the lava blood from splashing me. Then did a quick kill with a ruby strike. I took a deep breath and summoned the strength to sprint.

  I hustled to Joey and gave him a call. He saw me coming and tried to turn his golems for me. Unfortunately, both Joey and Nate's golems saw me as a bigger threat and converged my way. The one I was closest to lunged for a tackle, I avoided it with a roll to the left. The second golem clobbered me and sent me off my feet a short distance. I landed awkwardly on my left ankle with a pain that caused stars in my eyes. I hobbled when I realized I could put no weight on it.

  The golem who had hit me moved forward and tried for another sideways hit with an arm. I ducked under it by dropping to a knee. The arm swooshed over my head giving me an opening. I smashed the ruby end of the club into the chest of the creature. It grabbed the hole as it leaked and fell over dead. The last golem was on all fours trying to get standing when I brought Smasha down hard on the back of the creature's head. The fight was over.