by Marcus Sloss
The griffins were landing on the two dead sandworms for a rest. It was unique to see the thirty foot creatures perched on the corpse of their victim. I let out a loud cough and the team returned back to work. The dozen or so trees contained enough caterpillars to fill two small jars. Based on the tiny vial I bought off Baron Strin in his book shop I was fairly confident we were done. Even so, with our lengthy travel time out here, and the Empire dry of this supply, we would stick it out. Not to mention the griffins wanted to clear the island of hostiles.
“Janice are you powerful enough to use that pearl I gave you last night?” I asked and Addilyn snickered contorting my words in her perverse mind. “The one the mer… lobsterman brought. Actually, side note, and a bonus of being a proclaimed Emperor. The lobster tailed humanoids are hereby known on Vin as The Mer. Score, always wanted to do that. Make it happen Addilyn.”
“As you command my lord,” Addilyn said with a sarcastic curtsy.
“I could summon a rain, why though my lord?” Janice asked. “I could use half the pearl and apply a five minute shower if that’s what you were thinking? The griffins have begun to ripen in odor…”
When she said this all the griffin turned to look at Janice. She tucked her shoulders in, failing to hide from their gaze. Lord Nova flew over us. “Hand me the pearl tiny human. I will test it myself,” Lord Nova said and I translated. The griffin landed and Janice wisely did not complain as she inserted the white circle under his vest. “You want to know what motivates us Gryff, things like this. Blood, battle, and magic. Thank you for the entertainment.”
He stayed on the ground and blue magic burst from him. Not good… Then he pulled a lot of it back in somehow. That I had never seen before. As the magic raced for the sky clouds formed as white fluff and transformed into an angry black layer. The ocean was sucked up as the overhang filled with moisture. Then the rain fell.
It was a refreshing, chilly, and pure rain. I held my watersack out for collection. The team welcomed the cool rain as did the griffins. The blood splattered as it the leaked down onto the sand from the carcass. I saw a few curious monox poke out of the treetops noticing the commotion of battle had died down. A few scurried across the sands to pilfer some fresh meat. I noticed a few griffins glance at them as they darted across the sands.
Not a wise idea even with the cover of rain. The two monox were swallowed in one gulp as a sandworm popped out of the ground. It never did a massive leap or long jump. It knew from the vibrations its targets were monox. The griffins pounced and missed the target. The sandworm returned at the new vibrations to launch a new attack. A third fight broke out. Lord Nova finished his spell casting and leaped into the fray. This worm was fighting from his hole and not exposing his body. It was making for a challenging fight for the griffins until Nova placed himself in a good position and launched a lava stream into the creature's head. There was twisting and shaking until death won and the third worm died. The griffins grabbed any surface they could and worked to haul the dead monster out from its hole.
This triggered a fourth worm to erupt. There was a pattern here. One you had to be on the sand. The second was the larger the vibration the more intense the breach of the surface. I saw Traz snatched in the grips of the new threat. He was the bait for his fellow griffins. Traz was not Lord Nova, he cried out from the pain. His body was freely bleeding from many punctures and the suddenness of the attack left him without instant healing. The green aura did flow around him and the torment became manageable as he stopped screaming. He suffered through it as the team of griffins tore into the sandworm. Blood spilled, sections were clawed off, and eventually, the fourth victim joined its brethren dead on the sands.
Again I found myself holding a canteen lost in the moment. I was solely focused on the battle. “Okay, we got fresh water. When it stops raining we head into the jungle. Janice, can you use a sleeping spell on the water around here? I want to catch these monox and add them to my stock around… inside Fernlan now.” I asked.
“That is an easy one. I keep the seeds handy, they grow between mushrooms on the forest floor in the south. Readily available and cheap to get. You will knock out some monkeys and birds too. But they will wake up a bit groggy and recover fine.” Janice said as she opened a pouch on her belt. She found what she was looking for and her eyes lit up. “Not as awesome as casting a rain spell but it does feel nice to be useful. It is funny, in the mage community we are looked down upon as the water cleaners with little applicable magic… Who is laughing now Darcy? Pretentious fire mages… No offense Victor, you are great.”
We all had a light chuckle, including Victor. The rain eased and then stopped. I swigged a large amount of water, capped my supply, and tossed it into my bag. “Here is the plan, bypass everything until we find a river or pond. Sleeping spell it, then backtrack to here collecting the caterpillars. Which you fine Vin folk call tree worms. I would assume we are the largest predators here, but stay on guard.”
“I will take point,” Lazra said and entered the rainforest.
We trailed behind the archer as he hacked us a path with his sword out. The griffins became quiet as they were resting before continuing. I was not certain how much aura they were burning to fight this way but it seemed they were fine. Also, this island could only sustain so many of those large creatures. The way Elan explained it, these were hunted by humans. That made me think they were fed by humans mostly and a few were luckily killed. If they tunneled over here I was curious how many were able to survive. Elan’s story made me think the migration was a decade ago. While we trooped through the jungle I noticed a lot of new growth.
Lazra paused us not even fifty feet into the trees and called me forward. I trampled some bushes and pushed aside some vines to make it to the front. When I did things began to make sense to me. Lazra has stumped upon two sandworm skeletons locked together in a final battle. There were hideous marks on the rib bones showing a battle that ultimately was to the death. The decay was long gone and all that remained were these skeletons. That probably explained the explosion of trees and bushes.
“I think, and this is merely a guess – that when the sandworms retreated here they ran out of food. They then fought each other and many died while the strongest survived. As they cannibalized they fertilized the ground and their structural skeleton helped turn sand into the jungle floor. Add in constant rain and you get lush trees and vibrant colorful bushes. I would guess they survive on the creatures who overpopulate these trees. There is only so much room for the monox or monkeys. Those kicked out have to scurry across the sands to seek new islands or the mainland. Well, those are eaten exactly like the two we saw die earlier.” I said feeling confident in my theory.
“You might be right,” Nate said while inspecting the bones. “If there are only a dozen or fewer sandworms then very likely. I bet we are the first humans in a generation to step foot onto this island.”
“Carry on Lazra, find us some water please,” I said and the marching continued.
“I kind of want to fight those sandworms, they would make a worthy skull to mount in my dining hall,” Fwar said as we walked deeper. “I know… I know… Before you all scold me, I understand the fallacy of the idea. It doesn’t mean I don’t want a skull. Might even get Gryff to bribe the griffins for me. Maybe offer them babysitting hours for their young from my wives.”
The griffins assaulted my brain as one. It was so disorientating that I walked face first into a tree and busted my nose. Lord Nova silenced them and then apologized. Fwar came over and healed my pride as much as my sniffer. I shook the cobwebs from my brain and went back to walking.
“You can have all the damn skulls Fwar. I think the griffins value us more to entertain their children, then as food suppliers. I can attest I adore the trio of terror but do not miss them. Give them some time to clean all the vitals out and they promise to cleanse the skull with fire. You will have to honor your word with any griffin that goes through the effort for you. Better hope th
ose babies like your wives, and your wives don’t murder you in your sleep.”
This did not dissuade or discourage Fwar one bit. He gave a hearty laughter and smashed his hands together in joy. “I gladly accept… Water in front.” Fwar said.
I walked around Tammy and Donnie to find Janice casting a spell at the water’s edge. Her chant came to a conclusion and she reached down to eject the spell from her finger into the water. The few fish I could see did not fall asleep. Must have been immune. Janice left the waters and returned to the group.
“Give it an hour or so. Most creatures this small will fall asleep almost instantly so some may drown. Seeing as how they are natural predators of our target species I don’t see the harm in removing some. Most will be passed out around the water. Where shall we start climbing Gryff?” Janice asked.
“Halfway back to base camp seems enough space,” I said pointing back the way we came. “We will form teams of two. One climber and the other on support as well as on lookout. Should get more than enough. Hopefully, we will not need to venture out here any time soon again.”
A loud crash sounded and a whoosh of air blew back the trees. Fifth dead sandworm more than likely. I was curious as to how many they would find. A few minutes later as we retreated away from the tainted pond another resounding noise of a heavy weight slamming into the earth. Six.
I called a stop for my team and partnered up with Donnie. We all had jars in our bags from earlier and Donnie volunteered to climb up first. The palm tree variant had very few branches but the fronds hung down low. I set my knee and shoulder for Donnie to climb up to aid him up the tree. This worked well. Donnie filled half a jar on the first tree. He knew more or less what to look for now so we avoided the second tree and found a nice extra large nest under the next set of fronds.
Once again I helped him up and he tossed me down his full jar. I lobbed my empty jar up to him and he continued to scoop the little worms in with a stick. I watched him balance his weight on the top of the tree. Donnie would then bend over to use both hands for collection. It was a precarious situation and the more I looked the more I grew anxious. I was certain someone would fall sooner or later. At least if they didn’t break their necks we would get to see Fwar in action.
While I waited patiently at the bottom I was impressed with how he had integrated with the team. He stopped bitching and moaning. He also exercised on his own before bed. I did that too, with sex instead of running recently. Which led to me zoning out thinking of Amber naked. Then I pictured all my wives naked. Donnie waved a hand in front of my face ready to move onto the next tree. I hoisted him up again.
I admit I was still distracted by thoughts in my imagination of Pipi and Amber kissing at home without me. It was a darn shame I was not there. It was also an error on my part.
“Look out!” Donnie shouted from above. I was thinking he would be plunging out of the tree from a loss of balance. Instead, I saw a green snake falling for my face as I looked up. I never had a chance to dodge. The fangs sank into my cheek and I wretched the snake from my face. It tore my cheek open and then sank its long fangs into my hand. I applied aura into my arms and ripped the asshole in half.
Dizziness caused me to stumble and I landed on my chest on the ground. The left side of my face down against Vin. I heard screaming in the background. Shortly after I felt the healing energy tingle into my body. My vision was fading and I saw Fwar crumble beside me. I couldn’t move and my mind was screaming at the enclosing darkness. I saw a few people scattered as a griffin barreled into the ground. Then madness consumed me with torrential pain as a griffin’s healing ruptured through my body.
I knew this pain and I laughed at it as I was swallowed me into blackness.
CHAPTER 12
I was expecting endless pain so thorough I begged for death. Instead, I was seated on a comfy chair of feathers that floated. There was no room or background at all – which added to my confusion. It was blank beside me and the chair. After a few minutes passed like this I decided to take a nap. I shifted deeper into the feathers and closed my eyes.
“That is dangerous for you to attempt. If I were to fall asleep in a hostile god's chambers I would be violated if not killed.” A voice said.
I opened my eyes and saw an old woman. Not an old hunched over and evil type. A maternal grandmotherly type. She had a sweet smile, but her eyes gave her away. She was up to something. The gray hair and relaxed body language did not fool me, because her gaze was deadly. I decided to be polite, if this was a god's chambers I could be in a lot of trouble.
“I am afraid you have me at a disadvantage kind stranger. My name is Gryff, may I know yours?” I asked and the old woman paced until a chair lifted her. She floated to a few feet in front of me and I sat up with my legs dangling.
“I am Unforina, Gryff. I have met your species before. I even had a few dealings with you humans. They mostly end up breaking a contract and turning to dust. Since I answered a question it is my turn. Why are my shamans sending you to me for initiation? Not once but twice. No living being has ever knowing submitted to my torture regiment twice. Well, willingly anyway.”
I grimaced at this. If you could cycle a mind through that torment over and over it would surely break it. I now knew who I was dealing with and needed to tread carefully. This could work to my favor though.
“When I like to disclose things I prefer them to be honest. How about we trade questions until we tire of it? We sign a contract dictating only honesty. Missing information is considered a grey area or else we could be here forever.” I proposed and was sent a contract from the contract god herself. The yellow magic twirled my way and I picked at it. I drew it apart and studied it. This raised an eyebrow from Unforina. I cared not though, the bitch had tried to add an escape clause. “Tsk. Tsk. It says you can start an answer truthfully then twist it however you like. I saw the swirl of the fine print.”
She widened her eyes in shock. I flicked the contract back at her and when it hit her… She yelped. Now fright covered her face. I seized on the moment and lunged. I snatched her wrist and applied pressure as I pushed forward. I felt her bones shatter in my grip and she screamed out. My right fist connected square into her nose and her head shot back from the impact. I followed her down and smashed her face until her jaw was exposed. A solid blow to the knockout point and she went unconscious.
Seven hells, never saw that coming. I had my purple aura, figured as much when I could see the tendrils of the yellow magic. The question became where was I, and how did I get back to my body? I did not have to wait long.
A figure materialized in the most intricate set of black and golden armor I had ever seen. He stood hundreds of feet tall with a large double headed axe on his hip. When he gazed down upon me over Unforina, he noticed my hand around her neck. He laughed and then he shrunk. He quickly shifted in size to be seven feet tall.
“A demigod in our presence… It has been millennia since such an occurrence. And you got the better of Rina. Well done! Don’t do anything hasty. I will give you a rewarding contract for her life. She can be a right bitch and a pain in the ass, but us seven need each other.” The man said as he walked around me while I held Unfornia, or Rina as he called her, by the throat. “Forgive my manners, I rarely speak to new faces. I am Wargnextravexor. My minions refer to me as the god of war or simply Warg. It is beneath me to correct them. I still lavish their praise regardless of the slight. And you are?”
“Gryff. My minions call me friend and I am no demigod.” I said with certainty.
“Tell me of your father and mother, please. There is a chance I am incorrect but it is highly doubtful – seeing as how you have nearly killed a god from another universe that predates this universe. Do you comprehend what I said?” Warg questioned with a raised eyebrow.
“I think I do. She is over six billion years old, and I can harm her. Okay, why not. My parents died when I was young…” I was going to go over my tragic orphan back story when he paused me.
“Do you like the ice?” He queried.
“Nope, hate the snow.”
“Do you crave to care for the land and animals?”
“Does fishing count?” I said and he shook his head no. I did like to have animals but I rarely dotted on them or tended to fields.
“Do you have a need to be organized?”
I paused… Uh yeah. Of course I did. Who didn’t need to be excessively thorough in achieving one's goals? Shit… I gave it away.
“Oh, this is a real treat. Preception had a child. In all my years… and the mother was a human. Probably seduced him while he was in hiding. Let me fill you in on something. This universe was not always ruled by us seven. It was ruled by another group of five. We call them the retreating five. They call us the invading seven. Both of us are correct. When this universe was barely a billion years old we left ours. Gods can reproduce but our cycle times are infinitely slower. I was in my mother’s womb for eons and eons of your time. The upside is when I was delivered it was not through a body but through a celestial creation. I spawned into the fully developed god you see now. I admit I was immature back then, and also, I was not alone. The universe I came from god’s war with such ferocity children and pregnant spouses are often ripe targets for vengeance. Our seven mothers fought on the same side. A few young gods, among thousands of gods, pitted against thousands of others.
“The seven of us arrived here at our parents’ wishes to gain experience and help the main universe’s war efforts. We were ordered to conquer this universe and ramp up production. We were given a few trillion of the Horde as our tool for dominating planets. We used them efficiently and ruthlessly to establish a foothold here. As you can expect the five residential gods to this verse saw us as invaders when we portaled in close to the universe’s bang point. As it spiraled outward so did we. The five gods that lived here were an oddity to us. They were natural and not sent from the universe of the gods. They are similar, yet different. All gods can die. All gods are immortal. It is contradicting, but a reality. You can kill her. She will never come back, in fact over the billions of years she has wished us to end her a few times. Such are the struggles of an immortal.