Chapter 33
The griffon's beak crashed against her shield and the monster pulled back, the curve of the beak pulling down the ridges on the shield. Kiara stumbled forward and had to use her sword arm to protect her face. She hissed out her pain and swung wide, leaving a shallow cut on its paw. She then followed up with an overhead slash that gashed through its frontal shoulder.
Several crackling beams shot past her. The first slammed into its shoulder, creating a large blast. As it flinched, two more crashed into its chest. The blasts were smaller but they pushed the griffon off the plateau. However, with the flap of its wings, it stopped itself from falling and it rose up into the air. But, instead of coming back to attack her, it flew past them. Surprised, Kiara spun around and watched the griffon ram into Aloe.
"Argh! Get off!" the succubus yelled.
At the same time, she saw one of the larger griffons assaulting Temma and knocking him over.
"Kikiriki!" she cried shrilly as she charged towards it.
Forewarned, the larger griffon leaped back a little and dodged under her sword swings. Unfortunate for it, it let Temma get up and with a loud, "Die!", he picked up his glaive and thrusted, sending the blade through its chest. As it reared up and fell over to its side, he grabbed the shaft of the glaive and plunged it deeper, killing it.
The other larger griffon let out a loud scream as it noticed the other dying. Distracted, it wasn't able to dodge the other attacks sent its way. Leda's eldritch blasts to its neck. Botan's claws raking over its face. Stabbings from Lamy's spirit sword and Nene's rapier. A blinding flash of light to its eyes. It died unable to fight back from the onslaught. Meanwhile, Civia helped Aloe to kill off the last one.
Kiara slowly walked over to the heavily breathing knight and placed a hand on his shoulder, asking, "Feeling better now?"
"...No, but I, at least, avenged her," he admitted after a pause.
"Er, everyone? Better look at this," called out Civia, "We have a problem."
Everyone crowded around the large nest. There was worn armor and rusted, crumbling weapons right outside it. The inner part was lined with old feathers and old bones. Gold pieces were scattered everywhere. And in the center of the nest, was a lone egg.
"Umm, what do we do with this?" asked Nene, breaking the silence, "Do we take it with us?"
"If we are, we better take turns keeping it warm," stated Kiara, "Or if you want to cook it..."
"Come to think of it, maybe this is a blessing in disguise," interrupted Leda aloud, "Casa was getting old. While you may want to keep her around, wouldn't a griffon be better as a mount?"
"...I… it is not that the thought does not sound appealing… but I have no such training to handle a griffon," the knight replied after a long silence, "And I do not know anyone who knows how."
"Maybe we can ask Risu or her elders for advice?" suggested Polka with a grin, "Since they know a lot about the wilds, they can help."
"It does sound like a good idea," he mused. Then, he said, "Very well, we shall take it with us."
"I'll watch it first," declared the chef as she clambered in and picked it up, "Maybe try and pick out as many gold pieces as you can from the nest too."
"Hurry up and get on with it then," urged Aloe eagerly.
After Kiara got out, egg in hands, Polka and Botan went in to scavenge around for gold. They were able to pick up around a hundred pieces as well as a surprising amount of gemstones. The gems were handed to the team of five to keep while the knight kept the gold.
"Future expenses," advised the lightning genasi, "For the griffon."
They retraced their steps to the path, where they rejoined the one-eyed creatures and continued on their way. Thankfully, nothing else accosted them save cold winds and the sun's rays. Slowly, the sun went lower and lower. The party got a little worried as they hadn't found a branch in the path for quite a while now. They then came upon a rope bridge traversing over a sizable gorge.
"Huh, the expedition built this," stated the chef as she referred to the map, "Hmm, I think it should still be usable enough." She then motioned to follow, "C'mon, we can go two at a time. Follow me."
True enough, it was still usable. The rope has yet to fray and the wood has yet to break. But, by the time they had successfully crossed over, it was quite dark. Several torches were lit and passed around. It took another hour or so before they made their way to another cave and settled down for the night. They still kept watch, if only to make sure the one-eyed creatures didn't do any funny business. Once again, other than taking turns looking back at them while they guarded the entrance, they didn't do anything else.
Setting off in the morning, they continued on their way. The party followed Kiara's map diligently and they eventually reached another plateau, which seemed unnaturally made. On the opposite side was a big path going up another mountain… made of clouds. And it led up to a… huge house on a cloud. The party just stood there in awe at the sight.
"Woah," muttered Nene in awe, breaking the party's silence, "It looks amazing."
"This is the first time I've seen such a thing," added Civia as the party walked onto the plateau and looked around.
"I feel like I'm looking forward to meeting this cloud giant," stated Leda, "I wonder how he made this."
"Agreed. This will be a novel experience," affirmed Temma with a nod.
"...Does anyone hear that?" asked Lamy, her ears suddenly twitching.
Everyone looked around but not seeing anything. Then, Kiara looked up and shouted frantically, "Botan! Catch!"
The surprised lion girl caught the griffon egg while the chef ran and pushed Nene out of the way. A second later, a large boulder crashed into her body as she flopped on the ground.
"KIARA!" shouted the party in horror as they ran over to push the boulder away. They took a few seconds to collectively push the boulder away. It rolled off to one side, its point of impact… surprisingly devoid of blood. Instead of a body, they found ashes in the shape of the chef, her clothes, and equipment. There was a strange lump under her clothes. Nene stepped near it and reached inside to grab it. In her hand was a medium-sized, pulsating, egg-like thing. It was orange and red in color and emanated a blazing warmness from it.
"What in the world is this?" asked Nene as she held it in her hands.
"Fire bird! Fire bird!" shouted one of the one-eyed creatures, "Seen it! Seen it!"
"Fire bird… this strange egg-thing… you don't mean… is she a phoenix?" asked Civia in astonishment.
"...EH!?"
"Why are you here!?" bellowed out a voice.
They looked towards the house and saw a sky-blue skinned giant with smoothly-combed silvery hair and iridescent blue eyes. He was barefoot but wore a simple but finely made shirt and pants colored blue and green. He had a cloud-white cloak draped over his shoulders to complete his outfit.
"Leave. I have no interest in entertaining guests today," he continued to shout out.
"Wait! Please, we come seeking trade," called out the bard, the first thing coming to mind was what Kiara hired them for.
"Trade!? I see no goods anywhere!" he bellowed back, "If you wish to deceive me, you better come up with better lies!"
"Sir, please, if you would allow us to approach and explain better-"
"Enough, you will leave now or I shall shower you with rocks," the giant interrupted the knight.
"WAIT! Please, we need to help our friend! She is a phoenix!" shouted Civia, desperately not wanting the rest of the party to get into further trouble.
Silence.
"Fine, you can approach. But make any funny moves and you're getting booted off the mountain," he threatened as he gave them permission.
The party quickly picked up Kiara's things and immediately hurried over, Botan and Nene clutching their eggs carefully. As they approached, the giant raised an eyebrow at the one-eyed creatures following them.
"Why are these nothics following you?" he asked as he pointed at them, his voice rumbling like faint thunder.
"Ah… they were brought here by some mad summoner," replied Nene after some hesitation, "They decided to follow us after we mentioned we were trying to meet you."
"Hmph," he sounded with a frown. Then, he said sternly, "I am Svasdir. What is this trade you want?" Then, catching sight of the pulsating egg-thing in the bard's hands, he added, "And is this the phoenix you are talking about?"
"Er… well, she is that one that wanted to talk to you about trade," replied the lore bard.
"And of course things must be difficult," he grumbled. With a loud growl, he headed towards his house while saying, "If that is the case, come. We will have to keep it hot to bring her back."
The party quickly hurried after the giant. After he opened the door and allowed the party to go in, nothics included, he shut the door. They were amazed. While a little threadbare, it was still a little amazing. There were two other doors inside to two other rooms. A fireplace on one wall, logs crackling warmly. A huge sturdy chair and table set in front of it, with intricate carvings along the armrests and the table edge, inlaid with gold leaf. On the wall hung a huge tapestry woven with vibrantly colored threads depicting a scene of some sort of fight. There was also a large, ornately carved wooden mask. It reminded them of the performance masks that actors of plays used. It was half smiling, half frowning. It was gilded with silver with gold trimmings. On the table was a golden candelabra that bathed the room in its candlelight.
He pulled out the chair and stated while he sat down, "Go place the egg in the fireplace. It should be warm enough."
As Nene did so, he spied the griffon egg in Botan's hands and asked her, "You there. I see you found an interesting egg. Did you intend to find it or was it happenstance?"
"Er… well... " she sounded as she looked to the others. Turning back to the patient giant, she replied, "Well, they took Temma's horse and after chasing them… we had to fight them. They died. The horse died. And now we have this egg."
"We are going to raise them to replace Casa," spoke up the knight, "While I do not begrudge her death any longer, I still wish for recompense. Hopefully, they will serve me just as well as she did."
"I see. Have you any idea on how to raise such beasts?" the cloud giant asked as he lifted a large silver mug to drink from.
"I must be honest, I do not," he admitted. Meanwhile, Nene placed Kiara's egg in the fireplace itself, which began glowing and pulsating upon contact with the flames. Then, she hurried back to the group, who were listening intently to the giant.
"Hmph, I suppose I can bestow on you some information while waiting for the phoenix to revive," Svasdir mulled over, "I do not know when the egg was laid, but when it hatches and goes through the motions, you must spend at least six months with it. You must personally exercise and train it during that time for it to get used to you and the equipment you wish to use to ride it. This is to strengthen the bond between rider and mount. Then, when it is half-grown, there must be at least four months of intensive training with the same equipment on you riding it. It needs to get used to your weight and whatever armor you are intending to wear. A daily routine needs to be planned for those months and you must follow it to the letter or you may lose any progress you made in limiting its wild nature. Once at least two months of the training is complete, you can try and fly on the griffon as part of the training to get used to aerial mobility. Hmm, what else… ah, during that time of intense training should be when it would be needing a lot more meat than normal, perhaps even a horse. Best be ready to pay a lot of gold to have a steady supply unless of course, you know how to conjure some out of nothing."
"That is… a lot to take in," the knight stated before bowing, "Thank you for your advice. I shall endeavor to follow them the best of my ability."
"That's a lot to take in, sir," said Civia respectfully, "Have you reared griffons before?"
"Hmm, I have. Not anymore," the giant replied, suddenly looking a little somber.
"If you don't mind, what happened?" she continued to ask.
He took another drink from his mug and stated, "Ah… I lost a bet… well, several bets with my brothers. Thus, I am reduced to this. At the very least, I still have my tomes and knowledge." Then, he smirked as he continued, "But, I will surely win everything back with interest the next time we meet up again. Ho ho ho, I have several things up my sleeves for that. Hah!" He tapped the side of his head as he said so.
Their eyes blinked in response, not knowing what to say to this revelation. The giant noticed them doing so and said, "Hmph, anyway, I don't see why you'd care. My affairs are none of your business."
"Sorry, sir. Erm… how long do we need to wait for Kiara?" asked Polka.
"The phoenix? Hmm, give the egg a few hours and she'll be reborn," he informed them. After some thought, he asked, "Why does she want to talk to me? I cannot think of anything of the sort a phoenix would want to ask of me, trade or not."
"Well… she mentioned something about asking to trade for a giant chicken," Nene stated politely.
He barked out a laugh and finished his drink. Then, he replied, "Gods, I've never heard of such a thing in my long life. Hah! Phoenixes wanting my chickens." Seeing that none of them are laughing, he asked, "You are serious?"
"Unfortunately," confirmed Temma.
Svasdir shook his head in disbelief. Getting up, he then headed to one of the doors and went in. At a glance, they could see something of a storeroom with another door leading somewhere else before the door closed again. Not knowing what else to do, they headed to the fireplace and sat down in front of it. They savored the warmth of the fire, remaining that way for a few hours until they heard a crack coming from the fireplace.
AN: Hello again, readers. Welcome back. So, they took down the griffons with ease. Very unfortunate that Casa is dead, but apart from the spoils from the nest, they find a griffon egg. Now, as we see later on, it would be a difficult thing to rear a griffon. But, it still hasn't hatched so they can still plan around it. Then, they reach the cloud giant's home. Not a castle, just a house. the big guy lives alone.
And then Kiara gets a boulder.
I mean, after looking up on cloud giants, they toss boulders as warning shots. So... who knows how the boulder will sail through the air.
Anyway, a bit too late now. However, they must contend with the cloud giant who saw what happened. Now, I read that cloud giants like showing off their wealth. Exquisite jewelry. Fancy made masks. Luxurious smelling perfumes. Extravagant-looking clothes and decor in their houses. I also read that they like making wagers and bets. So, here is Svasdir, who used to have a lot of riches and a full flock of high-grade griffons, which he lost over several wagers he made with his brothers. He is still considerably rich but most of his belongings gone in his house.
Thus, this helps to stir up some conversation between him and the party while they wait for Kiara to come back.
Next chapter, Kiara comes back and we find out if Svasdir has any giant chickens or not. Thank you for reading and have a good day, dear readers.
Omake: Back to The Office
The dreary, eerie green lighting lit the dark surroundings outside. The inside of the office was no different. A simple wooden desk was the centerpiece of the room with a used candle holder on one side and a stack of papers on the other. Calliope raised the glass of wine to her lips and took a dainty sip. She breathed in deep as she swirled the red liquid around before letting the intoxicating drink flow down her throat. Placing the glass on her table, she let off a sigh of relief. She had finished her paperwork. Finally.
"Geez, thank goodness I'm done," she muttered as she glanced over to the smaller table next to the desk. Three other stacks, neatly arranged on it, she looked at it with disdain.
"I think that's the only thing I don't like about my job," she mumbled as she took another sip, "Fricking paperwork."
Suddenly, she felt a link forming in her mind.
"Mistress? Erm, we have a problem."
"...Please, no more paperwork for the day," she droned back mentally.
"No, of course not. It's just that..."
"Well, out with it then. I haven't got all evening," she retorted grumpily. Seriously, why can't those ghosts get to the point already?
"...The phoenix is here again. She is on her way up to your office."
"...What?"
"The phoenix-"
She immediately cut the connection. She got up from her desk and headed straight for the door in haste. She used up so much of her pay on repairing her door the last time that bird decided to die and visit her. She was not going to have a repeat of that. She immediately unlocked and flung the door open wide.
"CALLI!" shouted the phoenix as she sailed through the doorway in all her fiery glory... and landed face-first on the floor.
The apprentice reaper sighed and greeted, "Hello, shitty bird. Why are you dead again?"