Gryff The Griffin Rider Page 26

  ​ “Yes, Gryff. And thank you, Mina and I had a very nice time in Lakeland. The armor is very excellent, thank you. I spent some gold on a better sword and shield that came with a matching sheath and pattern. I also bought a few nice bags. Here is one for you. There is rope, a hook for climbing, a torch, fire starter, and a few other things the merchant said would help any adventurers.”

  ​ Well, I am... I should have gotten one of these myself. I must have missed the vendor or maybe he went into a local shop.

  ​ “Awesome find Donnie, I appreciate it. I will get armored up myself and then strap it my back. Fearless Company, eastern gate. See you soon.” I said then went back in to get fully geared up for the day.

  ​ Ready to go I exited the Inn and saw Zack talking with Elan out by the town center. I jogged over and approached the two.

  ​ “Morning Zack, Elan. Here are the plans I approved. Start with another inn, give it a name too besides Inn. Then work on a bathhouse. Once I get the roost approved that will take priority. I am going to speak with the griffins. If you see a griffin following you around like a puppy, it is to help with aura. If you think it is for food, well you probably are also right, they eat more than I do. So find Fae and Patti, and build me a city under the earth. Oh quick question, is Dais underneath the stables? If so can we build the stables underground and utilize the fields above ground? I was thinking you wouldn't want the animal smell around Dais, and also a smaller ramp for daily movement would make more sense. Maybe only ten feet under the earth for the stables. ” I talked in coordination with my hands. I dove down and circled a landing area, it was all overdone and not followed. I still felt I had tried hard to convey my words with my gestures.

  ​ “Thanks for the paperwork, I will get started building. I will go over to the griffins in a bit and see who follows me. As for the stables, yes they are above Dais, but it is not a big deal. They are over the proposed business zone. We can make a level only ten feet deep, would probably only take five or six goblin hearts. I would place it on the low priority list though, most things are wild. The stabled animals like the ducks, sheep, runtlets, and rabins are all in decent homes at the moment. What I do recommend is adding a large storage section under the griffin landing pad. That way you have one central point where things are stored. The dig outs are spread out and hard to organize.”

  ​ “Fair point, consider it approved when you can actually get it done. Alright have a good day, I look forward to seeing the progress. If you need something I want you to bother this guy or post something to the bulletin board.” I said pointing to Elan.

  ​ I gave them each a wave and I was gone. I passed the Inn again and went down the ramp to the western fields. I stopped by the first dig out to do a quick check on Lydia, who was still in labor. The only thing they wanted was some water. I went to the well and got them a fresh bucket. She thanked me and said she thought any hour now. I left her to it because I was not sure what else I could do to help. Phen was on standby if he needed to do birthing stuff. Not my field of work.

  ​ I entered the second dig out that housed the entrance to Dais. Instead of running down to where the griffins were I called out for whoever was going to be my scout for the day. Traz came flying up from the dimly lit bottom and landed beside me. He was saddled and ready to go.

  ​ “Morning Traz, we are going to recon the northern gate and see if any orcs were left behind. Then we will go over and scout the eastern gate. There are two ripe smelon trees over there I want to get plucked before the fruit goes bad. Then off to the oat fields. After that, we will give a report to Una, then north to scout the orc settlement and then west of that to find the village Xiq. It should be a fun filled morning of flying and looking for bag guys. Any questions?” I asked.

  ​ “No, I am happy to get in the air and away from the roost debate. It is going to take Lord Nova to get them to come to any consensus. Some do not want a below ground roost, others want it deeper. Some want it tall, others wide. It goes on and on. I want a space for my mate and I to make some cubs, then a nice place for the cubs to learn the ways of the past. It will be hard to teach them to hunt with the rules of the peace accords. See, even I am going off about it. Let us leave the drama here and fly shall we .” Traz said then lowered himself so I could get on easier. I thought of bringing Deb when the little monox scurried to me and up on my armored shoulder. I wondered if they had some telepathy, or if it was coincidence.

  ​ I was firmly seated when Traz shot us out of the dig out and into the blue clear cloudless sky. You almost would have never known there was a storm until you looked down. The fields were flooded, the river at its highest point yet. Everywhere I looked there were pools of water from the heavy downfall of yesterday. People moved through the village going about their tasks. Trees were being chopped down, fields worked on with Rabins, the streets cleaned, and old buildings being torn down. I saw a sawmill being setup, as well as the fire from Dennis' forge producing smoke. I saw the bow targets set at the end of a range a lady was practicing at. The village was alive and well, growing and improving. That made me feel proud of it as we flew north. The covered crate of food sat where I had left it yesterday. I had Traz bank a turn and fly slow over Elan who was still outside the town center. I told him to bring the crate into the village and put the food to use, either in storage or today's breakfast and tonight's dinner.

  ​ We got to the spot where the young orc had paced all yesterday, his footprints heavy from his back and forth movements. Last I had heard he was there before sundown, now he was gone. We spotted three scouts left behind and saw clear signs that the main force had vacated the area. Traz moved use high and slow over the eastern gate. We passed into the barrier and back out, I was not sure how high it went but apparently, a few hundred feet up and the barrier still existed.

  ​ We had reached the boar trail and turned south toward the smelon tress when Deb let out a screech and pointed. It was hard to see so Traz glided lower. The trail now had a few traps on it and about a half dozen orcs watching them. They spotted us and I had Traz do a wide sweep of the area to try to find a second back up force. There were only a few sporadic youth scouts, and no big force to aid this half dozen if we attacked them. We checked the oat fields and saw a few grazing deer and one of the young war boars. Traz got excited about that and wanted to ditch the day's plans. I convinced him to turn us to the eastern gate to make our report.

  ​ Una was waiting there with her men and Donnie. Eleven total, all ready to fight. I had Traz land right beside Una to tell her of what we saw.

  ​ “Donnie knows this area semi well. You keep going east until you hit a wide boar trail, not even a hundred feet south of that is a squad of six orcs waiting in ambush. They saw us, but there is no large backup for them anywhere close that we could see. There are sporadic scouts in the area left behind by the main orc force of last night. They may come to the fight if the sounds of the battle reaches them. I want nothing more than to join you but I have orders from the King and Duke to scout Xiq. I am going to leave this one in your hands Una. Have Jak waiting here for any potential injuries from the fight. Even if it hurts your pride send for Bella if you exhaust Jak's healing and need more. Any questions?” I said.

  ​ I wanted to go so badly with them but they were my hired help. I had other things to accomplish this morning. Sometimes you have to miss the fun. Oh well.

  ​ “We got this, my lord. Go do your scouting, between my men, and Donnie's knowledge of the area we will be fine. Danny, that ass of a man right there has a monox also, so we should be able to pick them out no problem and avoid the traps.” Una pointed at the only guy with a monox. It was pretty easy to identify which one Danny was. “I will ambush the ambushers if they decide to stay after being spotted, if not we will disarm the traps and return with the smelons. I will send a runner for Jak, you go scout.” Una said in a formal manner.

  ​ “When you swap out with Nate and the Knights of the Frontier, have them take the
horses to the oat fields. Donnie knows where it is on the map, fifteen minutes east of the smelons across the creek. We saw some deer and a young war boar in those fields. Have them try to get a kill. Or you can feed the horses if you finish the ambush, and fruit picking quick enough. Good luck and may the gods bless you all,” I saw Una's face contort at the thought of handling the horses, I bet she chooses not to rush.

  ​ I pulled ever so gently on Traz's saddle and we were off. I wanted to see the fight but if Una, played it right it would be a while before any actual battle started. I told Traz to fly over the goblin and ogre nest south of the village. I had him take it nice and slow so we could see if there were any fresh footprints in the wet ground. There were no signs, so we proceeded to head north. If my day ended early, I would head down here and set up more fishing lines.

  ​ We flew over the battle spot with the ogre, a few wolves were roaming the area teamed up with some monox. Deb chirped at them but I doubted they heard her. Then we flew over new territory for me. There were endless pines, ferns, and underbrush. The only thing that broke up the monotony was the partially overgrown northern road. We spotted the odd scout, and a few orcs hunting. The new chief who retreated back to his settlement had probably realized he now needed a new food source.

  ​ It took an hour to see Xiq silhouetted on the horizon. I had discussed it with Traz on which to scout first. He said Xiq over the orc settlement because they tended to be less active midday due to the bright sun and heat. So we went northwest and followed the road. What I did see of Xiq worried me. A square wall used to protect the village homes and businesses. The wall had severe damage to it and many holes in its defense. Signs of battle were evident even this far out. There were burned farmhouses and abandoned farm fields all around the village. That told me this place relied on farmers for its existence at one point. The fields still produced some vegetables fighting against wild growth. The entire village looked neglected and abandoned.

  ​ I saw two tall buildings like Fernlan, the difference was these here in Xiq where burned remains of once proud structures. How they still stood was beyond me. The entire village was burnt, obviously a victim of a raid or multiple raids prior to the peace accords. I was surprised this desolate settlement made the barrier allowed list. We flew into the barrier and felt the tingle of passing through. I had Traz fly low and slow. The barrier was far into the farm fields as if it were larger in size than the barrier at Fernlan. There was good space here to use for food growth but no one tended the land.

  ​ “I don't like this, I know it is protected but I see no signs of life,” I said to Traz as we slowed and constantly scanned for people.

  ​ “I see a dead body hanging from a rope over by the inn. I will take you over there, maybe you can find out what happened to the people here .”

  ​ We landed and I hopped off with a thud. The eerie quiet here tensed me with unease. I went to the inn and looked over the hanging body. It was picked clean of meat, a skeleton on a rope. The clothes tattered and piled on the ground having fallen off his body probably from the birds eating him. I guessed it was a man based on his clothes. I picked up his pants and searched for a pocket or a belt. There was nothing. I entered the inn through a door that hung slanted with its bottom hinge broken.

  ​ A hole in the roof provided sufficient light as I studied the room. There was dust and dirt everywhere. The tables and chairs burned husked that matched the rest of the building. I felt uncertain about how far I should proceed due to the risk of the structure collapsing. I pushed on to the bar and the floor creaked and groaned in protest. Behind the bar, liquor bottles were stocked, not taken by the raiders or villagers. I was studying them when I saw a notebook resting on the lowest shelf. I opened it up and realized it was a ledger for the bar. I flipped through the pages until it became a short journal.

  ​ I read the passage out loud for Traz to hear.

  “It has been over four years since the war started, we never imagined it would come this far south. We thought the rumors and stories were exaggerations. As time went on more men stopped coming north, more men stopped returning south. Nati my wife pleaded with me to go south, she heard the river city of Lakeland had tall walls and the opportunity to flee quickly if things kept getting worse. I ignored her believing everything would be okay.

  ​ “The first raid was beaten back, a few orcs stealing livestock. To my shameful regret, I did not flee with the others. I refused to surrender the Drink N' Sleep. I spent four years working day and some nights for the money to buy this inn. It stood against a simple raid and it would stand against another I told her.

  ​ “I was wrong, so very, very wrong. The next raid, I took paps sword and shield off the wall and fought. Nati fought by my side but we were driven from the inn. Our girls were taken, poor Tiffy, and Lina. We tracked the orcs back to their camp desperate to free our girls. What we saw made me lose all hope for humanity. The orcs were eating our young. Tiffy was brought to an altar and her head smashed in by a massive orc with a club. Lina was next in line. Nati screamed in defiance and charged the Horde, tens of thousands of them vs my single wife. I had frozen, unable to move my legs, my wife took a spear through the chest as my youngest Lina was brained on the altar and piked to be sent over the fire pit. I stumbled back to the Drink. The remaining surviving villagers asked me what happened and if we were getting our young back. I told them the truth. I told them to flee, run hard, and run south. It was too late for me. If you read this, run south. Do not stop until you are all the way to the southern sea of Venisis. May the gods send me to my family?”

  ​ I finished the last passage of the dead man's tale. I slammed my fist into the counter and shouted in rage. My blood boiled with anger. Then I inhaled a deep breath and tucked the book into my belt. It would be sent to the Duke, a reminder to a man of the war, what the Horde was. Evil, and to defeat evil, you must sacrifice. This village was a ghost town. I would rebuild it with the griffins, the help of the realm, and have twelve more soldiers to aid in our enemy's destruction. The best I could do for the dead was get vengeance.

  ​ I exited the Drink and vaulted onto Traz. We did not speak, he heard every word, and he was a veteran of war himself, with dark images of his own. We flew east to the orc settlement high in the air, it took us a half hour before we saw the signs of the city.

  ​ I was expecting a village, but this was about five times larger than Fernlan. The only thing it lacked were tall buildings. It expanded with outward growth instead of going up. There were no walls like a human city would build. There were spiked fencing, the exact kind used to pen in the war boar. They were easy to move as the city expanded, as simple as making some more. There were two ways in, north and south. A stream ran not far away that traced itself from a tall mountain in the distance to the river. The color at the start was crystal blue, the end where the city expanse stopped was dark brown. Even hundreds of feet in the air there was an awful stench.

  ​ Wargs were being ridden by a patrol of thirty orcs that circled the camp. Warriors trained and fought. Female orcs hauled water, cooked, and mended armor. Hides of animals stretched out drying against wooden support beams. The tents numbers in the hundreds, scattered everywhere with fires randomly placed around them. It was a bustle of green humanoids that I wished I could drop a hundred griffins on.

  ​ Our arrival had not gone unnoticed. Traz saw it before I did by the way he swerved. A shaman from below hurled a fireball at us. It swirled the air as it passed through the shield for the city. The fireball missed and we hurried to get out of range. I had never seen an orc shaman at work, I knew right then I did not want a ranged fight with one without surprise. We had seen enough to send a solid report. No way could I assault this city with thirty six men. The only way to make them bleed was to hit and run. Even then they had cavalry. I would send my full report to the Duke and get his thoughts on the matter. We left the area and headed south towards home.

  ​ We had only flown for a few minut
es when Traz and Deb spotted something off to the east. A mighty caravan of Horde was pushing south. The train of orcs, carts, goblins, and animals was so long it went north and never stopped. It was an endless tide of the Horde. My guess was another Horde expansion moving south into the wild lands to build a new stronghold. I saw enough to add to my report. We left the snaking trail of the enemy and headed towards home once again.

  ​ I was excited to get back and hunt some orc scouts. I was thirsty for the blood of my enemy. It took a good hour's flight to make it back into Fernlan and past our barrier’s tingle. We landed at the Inn, where I thanked Traz. As hard as my murder boner was, I needed to get this news to the Duke as soon as possible.

  ​ I raced down the stairs and into my room. Bella was still organizing, she even had Mina helping her. I told her I didn't want to talk about it when she saw my anger. I calmed her by saying Fernlan was fine but news from Xiq was bad. I wrote my report right away. I included the notebook, a map drawn by hand of the orc city, and detailed the caravan, and my thoughts on what to do with Xiq. The moment I was done I went to our landing area for the griffins by the western field fire pit. Lord Nova was there in a huddled meeting with the other griffins. There was some arguing going on when I approached.

  ​ “Ah, Earl Gryff, pleasure to see you. We were debating this roost you want to build. It is a first to have one built the way we want. To be honest, we're a bit at odds on how it should be done. The main argument we have is above or below ground. We all want freshwater, easy food access, and a large space. A training yard and play area for our young. Then a space for us to learn catalyst magic in private. Yet flying down into the ground has hazards on its own, not to mention we love sunbathing. We ...” Lord Nova was saying when I paused him.