Chapter 476 - Natives and Griffins

Was a bit pushed for time getting this one finished so I might need to add some polish tomorrow. It felt good when I wrote it though so I hope you like it.

The griffon closed the distance fast enough that Hump only just had the time to utter the words of his spell before it was upon them.

“Shield.”

A barrier of dense essence manifested around them in a dome. The creature seemed to sense it as it veered away from them, twisting through the air and redirecting toward the island below.

Celaine took aim, her arrow streaking silver as she loosed it at the creature’s back. There was a gush of wind as the creature beat its wings, the air bright with the white essence of wind, sending the arrow off course.

And then the griffin was amongst the trees, sprinting through on its strange combination of talons and padded feet.

“That thing is fast,” Emilia said. “Faster than me maybe, at least when its in the air. Beautiful though. Almost seems a shame to kill it.”

“It is a shame, but they are vicious creatures as I told you,” Dylan said. “There’s a reason they were hunted to extinction.”

“Why is that?” Bud asked.

Dylan looked at him, his lips forming a thin line. “If I remember correctly, they had a preference for young children. They would swoop down on them while they played in village streets, then fly them away, never to be seen again.”

“Well that makes the choice easier,” Bud said.

A shout came from in the trees and Hump glimpsed a figure amongst them, keeping the griffin back with a bronze shield that resonated with essence. The man had dark brown skin, even compared to the Nelishi, and hair like copper.

“They look human,” Celaine said.

Bud was at Hump’s side, searching. “We need to get down there.”

“We could jump,” Hump suggested.

Everyone looked at him.

“That’s a long way down,” Emilia said. “Are you sure you’re ready?”

“Would I suggest it if I wasn’t?” Hump was slightly offended at the raised eyebrows that followed. “I’m ready,” he insisted. “Not ready for flight magic, maybe, but I can get us down there.”

“We can all get down there,” Bud snapped. “It’s getting down there without going splat that’s the problem.”

“I can probably do that too.”

“Why do you always need to add ‘probably’?” Dylan said. “You know its never helpful.”

Hump shrugged. “I don’t want to set unrealistic expectations. Besides, you’re my friends. I want to be honest.”

“You understand that in this case, the alternatie is we all go squish?” Dylan said.

Hump glanced over the edge of the island, judging the distance. “Nah. I’d go squish. The rest of you would most likely live.”

“Fantastic.” Dylan shook his head.

“If he says he can get us down there, he’ll get us there,” Celaine said.

“Thank you, Celaine. Now I’m going to start because you lot will keep chatting until we let these poor people die. If you don’t want my help, feel free to make your own way down.”

He didn’t wait for further discussion, taking out the Book of Infinite Pages and activating a new spell he’d been working on.

Embrace of the Wind

Alteration | Ritual | Tier 2 | Range: Short

Description

Currents gather around your taget, wrapping them in a protective shroud of wind. Their descent slows dramatically, as if carried by unseen wings, reducing their falling speed to a gentle drift and preventing damage from most falls. While active, the target can steer slightly in midair, drifting a short distance.

It was part of a spell tree building up to true flight magic, though judging from the difficulty so far, Hump wasn’t convinced he would be able to make it that far anytime soon. His affinity with wind essence was poor. Even the Tier 2 ritual spell was a chore to cast on so many people, while True Flight was Tier 7 spell, the very limit of his current capabilities.

He activated Embrace of the Wind over the group, then gave them all his most confident nod. “Time for a leap of faith.”

“You always make fun of faith,” Bud said.

“What I very occasionally make fun of is faith in the gods,” Hump siad. “Faith in me is absolutely fine. Though, seeing as you’re so unsure…”

Hump turned and leapt off the edge of the island. The air rushed past him, whipping at his face and ears. He fell much faster than he expected. Nisha swooped down with him, an eagerness to her that he hadn’t felt since she had last flown with the wolf dragon, Igni. There was a thrill in her simply being in the air with him, and that gave Hump enough encouragement to ignore the fear of the fall and really take in the sight.

The island came up beneath him faster than he thought, though he managed to land somewhat gracefully. The others arrived around him. Dylan, in his Aspect of the Ape form had no issues, and Emilia and Celaine were already moving ahead by the time Hump was standing up straight. Bud, on the other hand, landed with a heavy crash, his army clinking as he groaned on the ground, rolling onto his back to catch his breath.

“The wind did not embrace me!” Bud wheezed out angrily. Dylan helped the knight to his feet.

“I may have undershot the essence a little with all that armour on you,” Hump said, already following after the girls. “Come on. You didn’t go splat. You’re fine.”

They moved quickly, dashing through the thick forest undergrown. Emilia and Celaine had already cleared them a path, and with the shouts and essence of battle ahead, it was easy to find their way. From what Hump could tell, the people under attack were likely bronze ranked adventurers, or at least, this world’s equivalent. The amount of essence they drew upon felt fairly week, but it was enough to hold off two powerful monsters, at least for now.

The group of natives stared at them in shock. They were standing over an injured companion, one of their people working to heal them with a number of advanced looking artifacts. Behind them was a carriage of some sort, but it was made of metal and floating in the air atop a stream of essence.

Hump broke through the treeline a few seconds after Bud and Dylan. There were six of the natives, four standing defensively around an injured comrade. One of them—a woman—was bent over the wounded figure, working furiously with a series of intricate, glowing artifacts that pulsed with complex enchantments. Behind them hovered a strange metallic carriage, floating mid-air on a current of shimmering essence.

To their front, the battle raged.

Celaine and Emilia had rushed out in front of the people under attack, Emilia engaging in a battle between rapier and talons as one of the griffin’s unleashed a flurry of blows at her. The sound of steel filled the air, before the creature was forced back by one of Celaine’s arrows. Hump searched for the other griffin, then sensed essence gathering overhead. A tempest was building.

Their archer loosed arrows, but they were lost to the storm, even more so than Celaine’s had been. A powerful ability, but far from anything Hump couldn’t handle.

The only problem was the distance.

“Dimensional Snap,” Hump barked. He appeared amongst them in a blink, stunned faces staring at him. “Shield.”

As a hail of wind blades descended, his barrier formed around the whole group and their transportation. They struck hard and fast, but Hump poured essence into the areas taking the most pressure. Above, the creature let out a frustrated screech.

The man with the bronze shield shouted at Hump in a language he didn’t understand.

“I don’t understand,” Hump said. “Do you speak Alveronian?”

“The holy tongue,” the man said in a thick accent. “Yes. Be wary of the griffin’s magic. It will grow more powerful.”

It moved to help its bonded mate, when Dylan lashed out with his vines, reaching for it like tendrils. It managed to dodge, flying higher into the sky.

Meanwhile, Bud joined Emilia to pin down the first. Together, they harried it back, giving it no chance to escape. Celaine launched a barrage of arrows from the side, causing shallow wounds across its body, but its feathers and hide were tough.

When it finally stumbled, Hump saw his chance.

He poured his essence into Grasping Hand, forming a fist large enough to wrap around the griffin’s torso. With his left hand, he reached out and grabbed it, the hand of stone mimicking his actions. Caught, it writhed and screeched in his grasp, desperate to escape.

Bud leapt into the air, Wings of the Frostfire Paladin forming from his back, launching him up. He cleaved through the griffin’s neck in one great swing, the head toppling forward, ice crystalising over the wounds before even blood could spray.

Above, the other creature let out a screech of pure fury.

“Run!” the man screamed. “It will die for its vengeance.” When Bud didn’t move, the man grabbed Hump’s arm. “What is he doing? Your friend cannot take it head on.”

Hump glanced up at the power. It was strong, but not to the point he was worried.

“Don’t mind him,” Hump said. “He can handle himself.”

“That’s a griffin,” the man said.

“That griffin’s about to meet the Frostfire Knight.”

The storm turned to lightning, though they weren’t the target. It struck itself, feathers conducting the lightning until its entire body was crackling. It dove for Bud, then vanished, appearing suddenly before the knight, talons outstretched.

Bud managed to raise his sword in time. The moment he did, ice exploded forward, encompassing the front of the griffin. It tried to crack free, but Emilia was already at its side, her blade shining red as she pierced its heart. The griffin let out a long breath, glaring furiously at Bud, before it collapsed to the ground.

Talk erupted between the group of natives. Hump turned to them to see a very scared looking woman whispering quickly to the man with the bronze shield. The others joined in, only to go silent when the woman trying to heal their fallen companion suddenly shouted over them.

Now those were words that transcended any language. “Shut up!”

Dylan walked over and knelt beside the injured man, approaching slowly to avoid startling the healer. She eyed him suspiciously.

He looked up at the man. “Can you tell her that I’m trained in healing magic and can help to restore his strength?”

The man with the shield frowned, glancing at Hump once before nodding and speaking to the woman.

Now that Hump wasn’t fighting and had a chance to look at the man, he realised just how tall they all were. Even the women were as tall as Hump. Another had the first man’s copper hair, while the others were different—white, blue, and green. The kind of hair Hump hadn’t seen in his world naturally, other than the elderly of course. Each wore a complex series of braids, decorated with rune-marked beads of various metals. Hump could sense the power in them, as he could their weapons and equipment. Each carried artifacts—while not unheard of to Hump, to see so many on a bronze ranked party was unusual.

“Who are you people?” the man asked. “I have never seen your kind.”

Hump straightened, brushing dust from his robes. “No, I don’t suppose you have. I suppose introductions are in order. I’m Wizard Humphrey, and with me are my party members, Celaine, Bud, Emilia, and Dylan there is helping your friend.”

The others gathered around him as he spoke.

“I am Acalin,” the man said, placing a fist to his chest in greeting. “I must thank you. Without your help, we would not have survived.”

“No problem,” Hump said. “Happy to help. What were you doing out here anyway?”

“The griffins have moved into this territory recently and attacked a nearby village. We were sent to make them leave, only, our instructions spoke of hippogriffs, the weaker cousins of these creatures. We were underprepared. It is fortunate that you arrived, but I do not understand from where. Why do you speak the holy tongue? And why are you all so small and pale?”

“We’re small?” Bud asked, pointing at himself. “Me?”

The man took a step closer using his hand to measure Bud’s head to the bottom of his chest. He nodded, face completely serious. “Yes, small. See?” He repeated the gesture a few more times.

There was a beat of silence.

Hump couldn’t help it. The laughter exploded from him. “There! That’s how it feels. I think I’m going to enjoy this world.”