Chapter Two
I immediately left the party to grab my armor and weapons, and Mahini trotted by my side as she quickly shifted from celebration mode to warrior woman vibe like she was sliding on a familiar pair of boots. Her face held a determination that bolstered my own confidence. I was the God of Time, I could handle a griffon.
Well, eventually, anyway.
I didn’t have time for doubts, so I shook off my insecurities and tried to remember everything I could about the mythical creatures. They’d come up plenty in the movies, books, and video games I’d consumed, but I’d never expected to face one in my own life, so I hadn’t been paying as close of attention as I now wished I had.
As far as I understood, griffons were a hybrid. They had the head, wings, and front legs of an eagle, and the hind legs and tail of a lion. The image of a griffon had graced shields and banners of medieval kingdoms, and they were often considered to be incredibly important in Greek mythology. I knew some legends said they were the king of all magical creatures, and others said they connected the heavens to the earth. They were powerful, magical creatures, and excitement coursed through my veins at the thought of seeing one up close and personal.
It didn’t take us long to reach our destination, and I shot through the front door like cops raiding a drug house. Then I pounded across the floor to retrieve my gear. I pulled on my armor, but before I was completely done, Mahini appeared at my elbow and took a strap from my hands.
Mahini’s deft, experienced fingers made short work of my armor ties, and she cast a scrutinizing glance up and down my person looking for loose buckles or crooked pieces. When she’d found everything satisfactory, she gave me a solemn nod, and then she handed me my feather sword.
“What do you plan to do with this creature?” the desert goddess asked me.
“Same thing I always do.” I shrugged. “Kick ass and take names.”
“You truly are a fearsome god.” Mahini shook her head in awe, but her piercing blue eyes flashed with fear. “Many would not even be brave enough to face the beast alone.”
“I don’t want anything to happen to the town on my watch,” I explained with a smirk. Then I tweaked her nose lovingly, and she wrinkled her face up with disdain, but there was a smile in her eyes.
“Will you allow me to join you in battle and fight by your side?” she asked with an earnest expression on her beautiful face.
An idea floated through my mind, and I nodded absently. “Yeah, yeah, of course… Oh, and bring your bow and arrows.”
Mahini nodded in response and then turned to retrieve her ranged weapon. She was handy with a bow, and I’d remembered a video game where I’d fought a griffon, and the projectiles had been essential to the battle.
The Witcher series of games had been one of my favorites for a while because it let me escape into a fantasy world while still looking like a badass fighter dude. I was glad I’d played it now, since it was one of the few games that gave you an up-close look at the mythical griffons.
Once Mahini and I were ready for a fight, we left our house and trudged across the town to what was quickly being referred to as The Battlefield. I’d fought against so many soldiers and kobolds on the outskirts of Bastianville that it seemed like any space outside the town’s perimeter was a battle ground. Our armor clattered, and the scabbard of my sword smacked against my side with each step like a metronome.
Several townspeople cheered me on as they made their way to Elrin’s house to avoid the ire of the griffon. I caught sight of Elissa in the crowd, and she fought against the flow of bodies to get to my side. My beautiful redheaded wife stood up on her tippy toes and quickly pecked me on the cheek, and then she grinned broadly when I gave her a questioning look.
“For good luck,” she explained with a smirk. “Not that you need it. Thank you for protecting the town, Bash.”
“I’m not going to let anything happen to Bastianville.” I winked.
“Then I’ll see you afterward,” my wife said. “I’ll give you a post battle reward.”
“I like the sound of that.” I grinned broadly as my blood automatically heated at her words.
It didn’t matter how many times I made love to her, I was always ready to go at the slightest innuendo, and Elissa threw them out often.
Until then, I’d just have to go, kick a griffon’s ass, and save the town.
Again.
Once the line of townspeople had moved toward Elrin’s house and away from the edge of town, I created a new save point. There was no way I could enjoy the feast all over again if I knew a battle with a griffon was looming in the future.
I anticipated an epic battle, and I wanted my save point to be as close to the action as possible. No reason to waste a bunch of time if I didn’t have to, and I was the God of Time, so I didn’t. The tingling sensation that stimulated my entire body every time I saved or loaded a save faded slowly, and I took a deep breath.
Time to fight.
I paused on the edge of town and scanned the dark skies with Mahini at my side. The flickering light of torches behind me did little to illuminate the battlefield, so I couldn’t see the griffon anywhere. The smell of blood permeated my nostrils with the cloying scent of copper, and the ground was dark where I’d ended the lives of Lord Loser’s tiny army. I gripped the hilt of my sword in my hand, and the leather strips comforted me with their presence against my palm.
Then a screech pierced the air so loudly that my ears rang.
I tracked the sound to my left and felt the gust of wind that accompanied the flurry of wings in the corner of my eyes. It was fast, and it easily swept through the air above our heads like it was taunting us.
“Mahini,” I said as I laid a hand on her arm. “Try to shoot it with your bow so it will land.”
“Okay,” she agreed immediately, notched an arrow to the string, and took aim.
I heard the swish sound as she released, but it was too dark for me to see if it landed.
Suddenly, the griffon dropped from the sky above like a dive bomber and latched onto the warrior woman with its hind claws. Mahini screamed and thrashed as the griffon lifted her up into the air, but a moment later they were both out of sight.
Shit.
Chime.
I reloaded to my save point and listened to the flapping wings in the darkness for a moment while I considered what to do. I still wanted to attempt to shoot it down from the sky, since my admittedly dubious knowledge said that was my best bet, but I wasn’t about to lose Mahini in the process.
“Mahini,” I said as I turned to the woman I loved. “Try to shoot it with your bow, but stay out of range of its talons, it’s going to try to grab you from the sky.”
“Okay,” she agreed with a little bit of shakiness in her voice.
“Don’t worry,” I assured her as I laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”
Mahini lifted her chin, and her eyes were full of fire when they met mine. “I am not afraid.”
“I know.” I grinned.
That was more like it.
Mahini took aim once more, and her arrow flew true because moments later I heard the pained screech as the arrowhead pierced the beast, and I was almost knocked over by the wind buffeting from its wings as it tried to maintain altitude.
The wind stopped, and I peered into the shadows to see where it had landed. Then a scream abruptly came from behind me, and I swiveled to see the dark silhouette of the griffon lifting someone from the village up into the sky.
“Alright, take three,” I chuckled.
Chime.
I wasn’t going to let anyone be kidnapped by a mythical creature even if it took a million tries. I tried the bow idea a few more times, but every single time an arrow hit the griffon, it would in turn seize someone from the town. It took Mahini a third time, and my stomach reeled when I watched her fall from the sky since the fucker was only taking its victims up high enough for gravity to finish them off.
I needed a new tactic.
So, instead of asking Mahini to shoot the creature with the bow, I tried to do it myself. The warrior woman was much more skilled with the weapon than I was, but I still notched an arrow to the string just like she’d shown me.
It took me three more attempts to manage to hit the griffon with the bow. Then it appeared out of the shadows with a loud screech, and it buffeted its wings to reposition itself in midair so it could grab onto my shoulders with its rear claws and lift me into the air.
“Shit!” I gasped as I was yanked off my feet.
The air burned my face as we shot up into the sky, and the sound of its flapping wings filled my ears until it blocked out all other sounds. The sickening feeling of having nothing but air beneath my feet was nothing compared to the expectation of what was to come.
Then the griffon dropped me from the sky, and I fell through the air at a dizzying speed. Just as I was about to crash to my death, though, I heard the mythical creature screech.
Die, mortal fool! the griffon yelled in a voice full of rage.
Holy shit, it could talk? And I could understand it.
The deep baritone voice sounded like it was inside my head, like a telepathy sort of thing, but it had a masculine ring to it and a timelessness that boggled the mind.
This changed everything. In every single game I’d ever played, if something could talk to you, then you were supposed to convince it of something, solve a riddle, or tame it in some way. If there was an opportunity for dialogue, I had to take it, if for no other reason than to say I’d talked to a griffon.
Then I slammed into the ground with concussive force, and everything went black.
Chime.
Time to switch tactics.
“Stay back behind the town perimeter,” I informed Mahini. “If it’s attacked, it will try to capture someone from the town.”
“How do you kn--” the warrior woman started to ask, but then she shook her head to dispel the awed look in her eyes. “Never mind.”
I laughed and squeezed her around the shoulders. “That’s more like it.”
Then I turned back to the town and found the nearest torch, and I quickly crossed the distance to the flaming wood and ripped it from its holder.
I wanted a light so I could walk out into the shadows on the edge of town.
I held the torch out in front of me to light my way as I crossed over the land bridge on the outskirts of the town. I could hear the flapping of wings up in the shadows of the sky, and I wondered how I was going to start a conversation with a mythical creature.
Saying ‘hey’ didn’t seem to cut it, but I didn’t know what title the beast would prefer. If it could talk, then it was intelligent, and I’d watched enough Harry Potter to know it was easy to piss off a half eagle creature.
“I am the God of Time,” I announced in a loud voice. “I demand you land in front of me so we may discuss terms.”
As the griffon swooped down from the sky and hovered in the air in front of me, I finally managed to get a good look at it in the flickering light of my torch. It was a russet brown around its legs, and the golden lion tail swayed back and forth behind it. The beast had a fluffy mane around its eagle head, and its wings ended in a hooked talon. The front legs of the creature were like a raptor’s, and its talons looked razor sharp.
Then I made eye contact with the mythical beast, and for a moment it seemed like time stopped. I saw ancient wisdom in its amber eyes, and an intelligence I wasn’t expecting.
The creature regarded me coolly, but the rage and hatred it felt were palpable.
I inched forward carefully while I maintained eye contact, and once I was a few yards away from it, I dipped down into a low bow.
Foolish mortal! the beast screeched again, and then it charged forward and snapped its beak around my head.
Chime.
Okay, no bowing.
I shook off the unsettling feeling of my death and returned to the outskirts of town with Mahini. I once again urged her to stay back and away from the battle, and I approached with my torch in hand.
“I am the God of Time,” I announced in a loud voice. “I request an audience with you!”
You do not look like a God, the griffon replied with shock in his baritone voice. Yet you wish to speak with me?
“Like I said,” I answered, “I am the God of Time, and I know all things.”
I do not believe in your false prophecy, the griffon said in a haughty tone. I have seen many imposters come to this land and fail to live up to the title.
What did this creature know about me? Had he witnessed and remembered my previous failed attempts?
I shook my head to dispel my thoughts. No point worrying about it now. The griffon hadn’t behaved differently with my first several attempts, so I didn’t think it was aware of my powers, and I’d just have to play it by ear.
“I am not like any other,” I informed the mythical creature. “I am here to protect this village from all who would cause these people harm.”
A hefty challenge, the griffon said with an amused snort.
He had a sense of humor, and relief washed through me as I realized I could charm the beast. Anything that could joke around would be open to conversation, I just had a really good feeling about it.
“Indeed,” I allowed with a small nod. “That is why I am here, though. Why are you here?”
I smelled the battle. The griffon fluttered down from the sky and planted its feet on the ground. The earth shook beneath me, and I nearly toppled over, but I managed to keep upright. Then the mythical creature made a movement with its wings that resembled a shrug and turned its amber eyes sideways to peer at me. Am I smelling your kills?
“Yep.” I straightened my shoulders a little as I thought about how I’d single handedly taken out an army of around fifty men. “Anyone who threatens my people will meet a similar fate.”
Ominous words, the griffon retorted, for someone who shall soon perish.
“So, your plan is to kill me?” I raised an eyebrow. “Then what?”
You deserve death for denying me my treat, the griffon spat, and it flapped its wings in an angry motion that whipped dirt filled air across my face like a thousand needles. I demand my offering.
“So, you’re wanting to eat the remains?” I grimaced with disgust. “Can’t you get a better meal than that? You seem capable of hunting.”
I am capable of more than your puny human brain could comprehend! The griffon roared with rage and took to the air once more. How dare you question my ability?
“Come back down so we can talk,” I requested in a loud voice as I craned my neck to trace the beast’s flight path.
The griffon circled above my head for a while, but it seemed he was too insulted by my question to return to our conversation, so I sighed and reset to my save point.
“Stay back inside the town perimeter,” I explained to Mahini. “I’m going to try to talk to it.”
“Talk to it?” Mahini’s eyes widened in shock. “How do you kn--never mind, you’re the God of Time. Of course, you can speak to griffons…”
“Griffons are actually pretty funny,” I teased with a wink. “Back in a jiffy.”
“What’s a jiffy?” the warrior woman asked with a confused look.
“I’ll tell you later,” I replied, and I tweaked her nose to make her wrinkle her face in the adorable way that warmed my blood.
Then I grabbed my torch and went out to my chatting spot to call for the griffon to land.
“I am the God of Time, and I demand an audience with you!” I called up to the heavens like I was summoning lightning, and I was rewarded with the now familiar feeling of the beast’s wings buffeting as he hovered above my head. “That was fast, thank you.”
You claim to be the God of Time, the griffon said, and his voice rang loudly through my head. Prove it.
“You came here because you smelled the corpses on the battlefield, and when you failed to find a quick meal, you were going to set your sights on the villagers in the town behind me.” I shrugged. “I’m not going to let you hurt anyone who is under my protection, so how about we talk some terms for peace instead?”
You desire peace? the griffon snorted. Only a coward would refuse to fight.
“I am not refusing anything,” I countered in a firm voice. “I merely do not see you as a threat until you breach the terms of our agreement. If you break our deal, I will gladly kill you.”
You may attempt, the griffon replied coolly. But you will fail.
“I want both of us to get what we want,” I continued, and I ignored the mythical creature’s attempt to harry me. “To do that, however, I need to know what you want.”
I wanted to devour the flesh of fallen mortals, the beast said as he did the shrug like motion with his wings. As I find none available, I will take your life as sacrifice.
“Don’t get your hopes up,” I laughed. “I don’t fail often.”
If that is the case, then you would not mind performing a trial by combat against me, the griffon said in an ominous voice. If you fail, your remains will be the snack I was denied. If you win, I will leave your town behind.
“What would the rules of this combat trial be?” I asked as curiosity got the better of me. After my previous attempts to rush into battle with the beast, I wasn’t as confident in my ability to defeat it as I was letting on.
Still, I knew I could do it with enough attempts, so I wasn’t really worried.
You come to talk with a full set of armor and multiple weapons while I only have the strength of my body to wield against you. The griffon peered at me with an angry amber eye. You will remove your armor. First to make a strike will win the trial.
“What are your terms?” I asked with an arched eyebrow.
If I win, then I get one human sacrifice, the griffon replied nonchalantly.
“I cannot agree to that,” I said as I shook my head vehemently. “I will not sacrifice the lives of my people.”
Then surrender yourself as an offering, the griffon countered with another shrug. His voice was callous in my mind, and I gritted my teeth as I wracked my brain for something else I could offer the creature.
If he would only be satisfied with human flesh, the only one I could put on the table would be my own. There was no way I would sacrifice one of the people I’d sworn to protect, but it wasn’t like I was going to fail anyway, so in the end I agreed with a nod.
“Fine, one person if you win,” I sighed and removed my helmet to run a hand through my hair. “Now, for my terms. If I win…”
Suddenly, my mind swam with possibilities. I didn’t know what the limits of the griffon’s power was, but I wanted to take full advantage of this opportunity. Maybe I could get some sort of treasure or magical gear from it. I had to at least try.
“If I win, then you shall join my cause and fight by my side,” I finally decided to say.
I refuse to be tethered to a human! the griffon roared before he let out a blood curdling cry and rose into the air with violent flaps of its huge wings. They probably spanned twenty feet across, and the wind they kicked up was enough to make my eyes sting. As the griffon soared up into the air, I realized I’d messed up by asking for too much, and it didn’t intend on listening to me anymore.
Well, fuck.
Rather than wait for it to attack either me or someone else in the town, I decided to reset to my save point and try again.
Chime.
“Stay back, I’m going to attempt to negotiate with it,” I informed Mahini as I retrieved my torch, and she gave her usual reply about me being a god.
I repeated my intro and got the griffon to hover in the air in front of me once more, but I modified my request for him to join me.
“If I win, then you shall come to my aid whenever I call you,” I demanded with confidence.
Foolish human! the griffon’s voice spat inside my head. I am not a beast of burden to heed the call of man. I am a sovereign lord over the creatures of this land, and I will not comply with the demands of lesser beings.
Lesser being, huh. So much for enticing him with my godhood.
“What do you have to offer a god, then?” I asked in a haughty tone. “You come forward with your demands for blood, but you have nothing to wager in return.”
My entire essence contains more power than you could ever fathom, the griffon scoffed. My existence is the living embodiment of power, strength, courage, and wisdom. What do you have to offer me, you who calls yourself a god?
“You came here in search of a meal,” I pointed out. “Yet I am the lesser being for standing up to protect my people against an oversized vulture.”
It took less than a second for the griffon to fly forward and literally bite off my head.
Chime.
I should have known better than to call the mythical creature a vulture, but I was starting to lose my patience, so I took a deep, steadying breath before I grabbed a torch and told Mahini to stay back. Then I went out into the battlefield with my flickering light to call forth the griffon for what felt like the thousandth time.
“I am the God of Time, and I demand you show yourself!” I called into the shadows outside my circle of torch light.
The griffon came to hover in front of me again, and the look of rage in its amber eyes reminded me to slow down and talk calmly.
What human has the power to demand anything of me? the griffon asked in an offended tone.
“I mean you no harm unless you harm those I protect,” I began in an even tone, and I furrowed my eyebrows as I gave the griffon a steady look straight in the eyes. “My name is Sebastian, and I am the God of Time. You are scaring my people.”
Your people stole my meal from me, the griffon hissed with a cat like glare. I demand a sacrifice to replace the corpses no longer remaining on this field.
“I say we have trial by combat,” I suggested to speed up the process.
Very well. The griffon regarded me coolly for a long silent moment. No armor. First to strike wins. When I am victorious, I demand one human sacrifice to replace what was stolen from me.
“I agree to your terms,” I said with a small nod. “However, I will win this challenge, and when I do, you shall give me something magical as a reward and leave this town never to return.”
I shall give you a drop of my blood if you happen to land a strike, the griffon countered with a rumbling sound that reminded me of a purr. There is magic in every piece of my being.
“Then I want more than one drop,” I argued. “I’d need a vial full and some feathers and a talon or something.”
Your demands are too high. I shall find my own sacrifice. The griffon beat his wings, and I raised my arm over my head to protect my face from the ensuing wind storm.
Chime.
I’d asked for too much, but once I’d learned that everything was magical on his body, then I’d wanted a little bit of everything. I had to get something for my efforts, though, so I just needed to figure out what his lowest agreeable amount was.
Torch. Mahini. Announce myself.
“I demand a trial by combat,” I said.
The griffon repeated his terms and conditions for his victory, and this time I modified mine to some of his blood whenever I wanted it. The griffon again refused.
Chime.
I tried a different tactic and got more information out of the beast before I laid out my terms. I learned the creature had a nest at the top of a high mountain, and he was mated to a female. They’d lived together for hundreds of years, and they ruled the animals and creatures of a thousand-acre area. The griffons molted occasionally, so feathers were the easiest thing for the beast to give as a reward. Talons were shed with growth, but being immortal beings, they didn’t grow very much, so the creature was more hesitant to reward me with his old nails.
I was sure I could use the rewards to enchant armor and weapons in the future, and if they were truly as powerful as the creature said, then I would have some of the strongest gear in this world. All I had to do was get him to agree to some kind of unlimited amount, and then I would be satisfied.
I tried several more times with various degrees of success. The thing that offended the griffon the most was to place him in a subservient role to myself, but he also didn’t enjoy it when I had an overly submissive approach to him.
Finally, I reset for a final time, and I had a clear idea of what he would agree to.
Chime.
“I demand a trial by combat,” I announced with steely resolve. “When I win, you shall give me your fallen feathers and talons, and you must leave the people and cattle of my village alone.”
Very well. The griffon stared at me with an unreadable expression in his amber eyes for a long moment. But I would not be able to deliver them to you as I am no messenger for inconsequential gods. You would have to retrieve them yourself.
“I agree.” I nodded to seal the deal.
Lay your armor to the side and choose a single weapon, the creature commanded as he flapped his wings to lower himself to the ground. Apparently, I’d earned his respect enough for him to land. Or he was more powerful on his four legs than with his wings.
Either way, I’d already agreed to the terms of the trial by combat, so I began to strip off my armor.
“What are you doing?” Mahini hissed from behind me. “Don’t take off your armor! What’s it telling you? How can you speak griffon?”
I shushed her and waved a hand to gesture her back. “I got this. Don’t worry.”
I could tell she wanted to argue with me, but she did as I said, so I turned my attention back to taking off my armor.
Once I was wearing only the leather padding, held my feather sword lightly in my right fist, and the torch in my left, I turned to face the beast with a determined expression. Then I focused on the moment to create a fresh save spot since I didn’t want to redo our conversation and lose the terms he’d agreed to if I died.
Who was I kidding, I would surely die many times, but that didn’t matter. As long as I didn’t give up, I would win this trial, and then I could use the magical properties of his feathers and talons in the future.
I squared off against the griffon, but it flapped its wings and rose from the ground to sail through the air above my head. I’d chosen my sword, so I couldn’t use a bow, and my mind raced through my options.
I could shout at him to land, but he didn’t have to listen. I could swap out my weapon for a bow and then stick with that the rest of the trial, but when the griffon swooped down close to me, I decided to just chuck my sword like a spear and hope for the best.
The griffon spiraled around my blade, and it flew in a harmless arch before angling back toward the ground. I heard the deep rumbling purr of the winged beast as I dashed across the distance to retrieve it. My blade had landed with the tip wedged into the dirt, and the pommel waved from side to side from the residual vibrations.
I jerked my blade free and swiveled to find the beast charging toward me at a low altitude. In the last moment, the creature pulled its wings backward to hover with its rear claws extended. The griffon tried to rake its claws against me, but I rolled in a somersault and narrowly missed its strike.
Then I jumped back up onto my feet and thrust my sword into the air as the beast tried to rise higher into the air, but I missed by an inch as the griffon pulled itself up into the sky.
Maybe I needed to get the first strike in before it took off from the ground?
Chime.
I reset to my previous save and didn’t hesitate to rush forward toward the griffon. The gust of wind kicked up by the beast’s buffeting wings slowed my progress, and I swung my sword blindly into the ensuing dust storm.
I didn’t hit anything, and the next thing I knew, I felt the searing hot pain as the creature’s talons dragged across my torso. Blood dripped down my chest and pooled onto the ground at my feet.
Chime.
I spun my blade in my hand as I charged forward, and I anticipated the wind gust before it came. I held my free arm up over my face to protect my eyes, and I ran as fast as I could while angling to the side to avoid the brunt force of the air current. The griffon hovered a few feet above the ground, and it flapped its wings with purposeful motions to kick up even more dust, but I hurled my sword forward toward its exposed abdomen.
Foolish human! the creature screeched as it caught my blade in its eagle-like talon and then angled it toward me.
Oh, shit.
Chime.
I wasn’t particularly fond of throwing my sword at this point, but I didn’t have a lot of other options unless the griffon landed on the ground, so I paused for a while as I watched the winged creature lift off the dirt and rise into the sky.
Maybe he would land after a short while?
My mind went back to everything I’d learned about fighting winged creatures. The dragons in the Elder Scrolls games would land after a while, but it still helped to have a bow and arrow. I knew I needed to avoid the griffon’s razor-sharp beak and deadly talons, though, and its hind claws were just as murderous.
As the griffon flew through the air and circled around in front of me, it angled its wings slightly to the side to pull into a landing. I analyzed its direction and velocity and realized without my armor I would be a lot harder to detect.
So, I dropped the torch and dashed forward as my eyes adjusted to the darkness. Once I was roughly in the spot where the griffon would land, I squatted down and held my sword at the ready.
I heard the flapping of the beast’s wings, and I waited until the wind whipped around my face. Then I thrust my sword upward while also jumping up with all the strength of my contracted legs.
The beast flapped away and easily dodged my attack, but its feet skidded along the ground about ten feet away from me as it tried to regain altitude. I chased after the creature and attempted to slice off its tail, but the flicking appendage seemed to predict where my attacks were coming from, and it avoided every move I made. Then the griffon lifted off the ground with a powerful bound of its hind legs, and at the same time the magnificent winged beast spun in a circle with his wings held tight against its body.
It unfurled its wings and caught air to hover a few feet out of reach of my blade, and then I felt the stern gaze of its amber eyes on me.
“I am getting closer!” I laughed, and then I reloaded to my last save point.
I was making progress, and I was fairly confident in my plan to sneak up underneath his landing spot. Even though the creature could probably see better in the darkness than I could, I knew the nearby torch would cause some shadow blindness as well.
Chime.
I dropped the torch again as I ran forward to the spot where I knew he would land, and I readied my sword in my right fist. When he came swooping out of the sky, I waited a little while longer, until I could feel the feathers fluttering through the air against my face. Then I once again leapt upward, and I twisted at the last moment to send my body flying into a spiral much like the griffon had during a previous attempt.
I was about to congratulate myself on my success when I felt the hind claws of the powerful beast clench into my unarmored shoulders. The long feline nails dug into the leather padding that was my body’s only protection and ripped open a huge hole in one swift motion.
I managed to avoid being dragged up into the air, but barely, and I plopped onto my feet with a sigh of relief. There was no way I was letting this griffon get first blood on me, and this was the closest I’d come.
I was almost there.
Chime.
I dropped the torch and rolled forward in a somersault to the place where the griffon would attempt to land, and I waited in anxious silence while I tracked the movements of the beast. It flew through the sky with a whistle of feathers, and then it screeched and dove toward me at full speed.
I cursed under my breath and jumped up to start running, but the creature was on me in a matter of seconds. The beast landed with all four legs onto my back and knocked me to the ground. The air expelled from my chest in a painful burst, and my shoulders screamed in agony beneath the griffon’s weight.
Chime.
I needed to get the upper hand, so I tried my previous idea of waiting in the landing spot, but every other try the griffon would suddenly charge. On the attempts the beast didn’t impale me in the back, he managed to dodge my upward thrusts with ease.
I took a few deep steadying breaths to recenter myself. It didn’t matter how long it took, I was going to win this challenge.
Chime.
Chime.
Chime.
I tried too many times to count, and sweat dripped down my face in torrents. My short brown hair was saturated, and my muscles ached from the physical exertion each time I chased him across the clearing. The griffon was a different kind of opponent than ones I’d faced before in that it didn’t always do the same thing. It seemed to run through a series of randomized actions, but it was harder for me to predict what move to make next.
I soon began to pick up on the telltale signs of when the griffon was going to charge, and I got to where I would reset at the slightest sign of the beast swiveling toward me.
Chime.
Chime.
It felt like I’d been dancing this duel for ages, but I was far from ready to give up. There was a way to beat the flying monstrosity, I was sure of it, and I was going to figure it out.
I was enjoying the challenge, and I was full of confidence after what I’d already accomplished in this world, but I was definitely looking forward to the end of the fight and collecting my well-earned reward.
Chime.
I tossed the torch to the side, but I paused for a moment before I dashed forward. It was the slightest change from my normal pattern, but I had a feeling something needed to vary in order for me to beat the puzzle.
The griffon was truly fearless as it charged at me from the sky, and the rage burning in its amber eyes made my pulse quicken with nervous energy. I tumbled out of the way as the talons drug against my back padding, but no blood was drawn.
Still, I wanted to nail this challenge to the wall with a hundred percent completion, so I reset to my save point and tried again.
Chime.
This was going to be the final attempt, I just knew it, or at least, I hoped so. The beast had just charged at me, so I had a strong feeling he would attempt a landing during this run through.
I only needed to be patient.
I dropped the torch, paused for a moment, then dashed forward to the memorized location. After so many hours spent fighting this beast, this unremarkable piece of earth would forever be etched into my memory as the griffon’s landing spot.
I heard the sound of its wings, and then it screeched from the air.
Where are you, human? it bellowed, and the words rang inside my head as if he’d shouted into my ears.
Then the wind picked up, and I knew it was close to landing. I waited a little while longer since I wanted to be sure I could drive my sword deep into its underbelly, and once I felt the fluttering of wings in the air around my face, I knew the time had come.
I leapt upward with all my might and drove my sword home exactly where I wanted to.
Silvery gray blood pooled from the wound and coated my feather sword to the hilt. The griffon cried out in pain, and the high-pitched sound reverberated through my ears without words. It was a screech of surprise as well as agony, but to me it sounded like victory.
As I stood there panting and congratulating myself, three feathers floated down and landed on the ground by my feet.
I’d done it, I’d drawn first blood on the griffon, and I didn’t have a single scratch on me.