“The guild says you seek a dangerous sect who might be hidden in our forests.”
“It’s not ‘might’ anymore, commander. We found them, or at least a hint of their power. And they’re not merely hiding in a forest, but in a town called Furubiro. If true, hundreds of your people are in danger. To confirm it, we need to surround the town with as many soldiers as I can attain on short notice. A unit of griffins can follow a dragon easier than horsemen. How many do you have?”
The rider of the kingclaw said something in his language. It sounded stern, but it could have been shrugged off as a standard military tone.
After saying something succinct in his tongue, Kinzo asked me, “How certain are you that the sect you seek is where you say it is?”
“We can sense a power only they use. They do not know we carry such an ability, but unless we physically enter the village, we cannot confirm with our own eyes. Being a dragon knight is not enough to defeat this enemy, so I need the help of your men. Help me and I will promise to return the favor with another.”
“A favor? This sounds like a matter for my fath-” He cleared his throat. “The general.” The kingclaw rider interjected. Presumably repeating his elder’s concern, Kinzo asked, “You would defy Wregor incursions?”
“To an extent. Listen, details of what I am or am not willing to do can be done between me and your leaders. Until then, I’d think you would have the more immediate interest of expelling an enemy already in your lands and threatening harm on your people. Unless the general is less than a day away, I cannot wait to deliberate with others while the Advent have a chance to grow stronger or flee. So, can you help me now? Or do I need to go across the river and find Wregor warriors who would be glad to invade this kingdom?”
“You dare threaten us?!” said the kingclaw rider.
A hissing snarl left Aranath, getting the griffins above to squawk and the two below to rear up.
When the griffins calmed back down, I said, “Your choices are to either earn a dragon knight’s favor or back him into a corner. Which one do you choose, commander?”
Taking a breath, Kinzo said, “You’re obviously quite serious, dragon knight. I do not wish to have… How do you say it? Rancor? Animosity? Uh, yes, I do not wish to have animosity develop between Jegeru and the first dragon knight in centuries. I will help you, but I fear this fortress does not keep many griffin riders. Most of what you see now is our entire aerial force. They are swift, but we only employ them for scouting missions. However, if you are willing to wait awhile, I can have another forty or fifty fliers here from our stronghold to the south.”
“How long is this ‘awhile’?”
“We have a, uh, I believe you call them Unburdened? We have one here that can speak instantly with Zhenshu’s own Unburdened. If the griffins fly at full wing, then I give them less than two days to reach us.”
“Two days, huh?”
“Or else I can only provide you with less than fifteen griffins. Not much of an army.”
“No, it’s not.” I looked back at Aranath. “What do you think?”
Grumbling first, he replied, “In my experience, griffin riders are not the most durable of warriors. We will need as many as we can acquire.”
“Very well.” Turning to Kinzo, whose whole mien widened at hearing the dragon talk, I said, “Two days, commander. If they are not here by then, then I must go back with what you can give me. Regardless, send them to Furubiro once they arrive.”
Retightening his face, he replied, “Of course.”
“Something else. I realize you and your fellow commanders will not enjoy the idea of Wregor learning you are surrendering much of your aerial forces here, but I recommend sending both your Wregor neighbors and your kinsmen a message. Tell them a dragon knight is borrowing your forces to battle a common enemy, and that he hopes to hear Wregor did not overreact to a temporary vulnerability. Understand?”
“I understand. Our words will stay careful. Anything else?”
“No, commander. We will wait out here until the griffins arrive.”
“Out here? You are welcome to stay within our walls.”
“Thank you, but dragon knights find enclosed spaces uncomfortable. We’d rather be able to summon our partners at all times.”
“Oh, I see. If that’s what you want. I will have to keep a few of my men nearby, then. In case you need something.”
“And to keep an eye on us, I’m sure. It’s all right, commander. Just tell them to keep their distance.”
Kinzo regarded his advisor. The elder imparted all the decision making to the commander with a glib wave of his hand. A foreign tongued order was given to the whiptail rider as the commander remounted the kingclaw. She responded by flying up to the rest of her unit while the kingclaw flew back to the fort. The griffins overhead then descended and landed a hundred yards away between their garrison and my group.
After joining me on the ground, Clarissa asked, “Why aren’t we inside a dry room right now?”
Answering for me, Gerard said, “We can’t trust everyone inside the fortress.”
“You sound as paranoid as the guild master. What are the chances the Advent bothered converting someone in this place?”
“It’s not even this particular place,” I said. “The commander in Zhenshu could be the one to order us killed or apprehended, and I don’t want to be caught inside a small stone room surrounded by instant enemies. So, label me paranoid if you want, but I won’t risk anything complicating our mission when we’ve made this much headway.”
“It’s fine, Clarissa,” said Odet. “I would show trust, but Mercer has a point. We can’t jeopardize so much for a little comfort.”
“Yeah, yeah, I get it. It’s just dumb that the Advent have taken away even that little comfort from us. Can you at least ask them to give us a live chicken? Or a pig! I like pig’s blood.”
“We’ll see what happens,” I said, unsummoning Aranath.
We trained to pass the time and ease our unease, careful not to waste too much energy. When it became my turn to rest and watch our backs, I noticed for the first time that most of the griffin riders appeared to be women. I assumed they were chosen for their light bodies and easier-to-hide frames in scouting missions. This probably meant they were better casters than hand-to-hand fighters, but I had no idea what their training consisted of. If they were to be my allies, I suppose I had to find out.
Telling the others my intent, Gerard volunteered to be the one to invite the leader of the griffin unit—or someone who spoke the shared tongue—to speak with us. The green knight jogged up to the pack of griffins. He returned with the same elfin woman and her whiptail from earlier. She stayed on her griffin, but gave me and my group a small bow.
“What’s your name?” I asked her.
With a stilted tone a strict tutor instilled in their defeated student, she answered, “I am called Eu-Sook Hara, sir.”
“How long have you been a griffin rider?”
“All my life, sir. My mother trained me as a young girl. She rode for Jegeru as well.”
“Have you seen action?”
“Yes.”
“Do your riders trust you to lead them?”
Pausing for a second, she replied, “Yes.”
“Good. I want you and your riders to trust me as well. I don’t want to send your people to die for me. We are to fight together, and if we are to do that well, then we should learn how we like to fight. Don’t you agree?”
“Of course, sir.”
“What spells and weapons do your riders use?”
“Are weapons are light. Short spears and swords when we must use close range attacks. Most of us prefer to use wind spells and wards for speed and to escape.”
“I see. Our enemy is strong, Eu-Sook. Their goal is to give power to an ancient being that could become as powerful as an eidolon. If direct attacks are not your forte, then you and your riders should do your best to use your speed and wards to evade their assaults
and waste their energy. Strike only when they are weakened or left open, and even then from a distance. My dragon and companions will do our best to decimate whatever defenses they have, and attract their most powerful attacks. That’s when your people take advantage. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir. We will lend you support, not the other way around.”
“Correct. What of the griffin unit in Zhenshu? Are their strengths the same as yours?”
“They have more kingclaws. Though they are slower fliers, they are also bigger, stronger. Same for their riders. They carry longer weapons and cast fiercer spells. Best for breaking through entrenched positions.”
“Even so, their aim should be much the same as your own. When there are openings to attack our enemy, it should be the kingclaws that attack first. Your foremost instinct should stay as a support role. Part of your unit also needs to protect any innocents that might get caught in the middle. In any event, I can’t say what to expect from the Advent. I don’t know how many there are or what they can summon. We’ll have to sneak in as close as possible before making our presence known.”
“Sneaking we can do well.”
“Glad to hear it. Tell your people I am thankful for their help. We are foreigners to one another, but dragon knights treat all warriors who fight with us as our own kin. Assure them that their lives will not be treated lightly, understand?”
“Yes, sir. I will pass on the message. Is this, is that all?”
“Yes, that will be all for now.”
She bowed and turned her griffin to go.
With beast and rider gone, Odet said, “You’re becoming a better conciliator, if you don’t mind me saying.”
“I don’t, but I’m stealing from someone else I consider a master.” She was about to smile in gratitude, but I spared myself her sublime gift by slapping Ghevont’s back and saying, “Come, scholar, you must teach me more about manipulating minds through precise word choice.”
The first half day of waiting passed along at a steady rate. It was the next day that turned out to be a grind on our forbearance. The morning rain did not help the mood any. By way of the Unburdened, our fort received word from Zhenshu that they had sent a griffin unit north. I now had to wait and see if that message was a possible stalling tactic or if the army on wings had been sent for another purpose.
All this time waiting did have me learning that some of the griffins appeared to have been born on Orda, so no summoning spell needed to hold them to this realm. Since griffin riders on ships did not have the luxury of space, it made sense that Alslana sailors had to summon their beasts. Griffin riders with the advantage of land only needed as much room as a large horse would.
On the other hand, griffins bred in Orda rarely grew up to be as strong or healthy. Griffins ate meat and plant life different from Orda’s, meaning they were not as well adapted to the food our world provided. It was thus never a bad idea for several riders in a unit to lure mounts from their own home realm.
Summoned or not, the wait for griffin reinforcements ended three or so hours before dawn. The partly cloudy dark concealed the details, but coming up from the south looked to be three waves of griffins four dozen strong. Seeing their fellow riders and winged companions on the ground, many of the newcomers landed near the gaggle while the others headed for the inside of the fort.
After being left alone for half an hour, two griffins trotted toward us. One belonged to Eu-Sook. I suspected the scaled armor rider on the kingclaw to be the leader of the Zhenshu unit. The short, balding, husky man introduced himself as Captain Norimitsu Shao. Like his female counterpart, he stayed on his griffin as he spoke with us. Whether a habit or a culture thing, I had no problem with it. After all, being saddled on a dragon would give me plenty of opportunities to talk down to other people.
The conversation went similar to the one I had with Eu-Sook, though the captain exuded more bitterness about taking battle advice from someone as young as I. Summoning Aranath should change his attitude some, but the newcomers needed a little rest before they were ready to fly again. The commander came out from the fort with barrels of fish and raw pork to feed the war animals, another reason leaving griffins to hunt in their own realm was a resourceful idea.
Captain Shao’s deference for me expanded eighty fold when I summoned Aranath in the mid-morning sun. Sixty-two griffins would not stop squawking until they were obliged to follow the dragon into the air. The bird-mammals flew most happily at a thousand feet up. Aranath soared a few hundred feet above them, thus well below his usual tier. Speed wise, Aranath’s slower glides turned out to be the comfort range for most of the griffins.
Since we were assured a full night’s rest before reaching the town, I sometimes forced my allies to push themselves to keep up with my partner’s regular haste. Despite being war griffins, their endurance did not equal an adult dragon’s, so we had to find places to land and rest for half an hour three separate times before I needed to dispel my summon early in the evening. Still shy about being so near our new allies, my group stayed detached from them, though not as far as last time. We used the tree line rather than distance as our safeguard.
Our journey could end by noon the next day if we woke up early and pushed ourselves again. However, we agreed previously to take the second day slow. Everyone would only be weary if we pressed ourselves and infiltrated Furubiro forthwith, so we needed a few hours of respite before moving in. Once we inhaled that breather, I wanted a group of us to sneak into Furubiro and gather information. Keeping all that in mind, we ate and slept without putting much of a limit to each, starting our second day of travel well after the sunrise.
Dissimilar to staying stationary by the fort, flying toward the Advent pacified me. In truth, if people I cared about were not with me, I would feel more excited than anything. Nonetheless, an itching tickle going up my left arm’s teeth told me that my enthusiasm for a fight could be closer to the surface than I wanted to admit.
Aranath found the same grove we had hidden in by the late afternoon. I didn’t know how he could discriminate between the other adjacent groves, but it turned out to be familiar when we landed next to it. The flock half a mile behind us soon caught up to us. The two griffin leaders met with my group to get the details of our approach figured out.
“We can’t consider details without more information,” Odet pointed out to the captain. “There are still too many variables. How many Advent are in Furubiro? Is the nismerdon even there, or only remnants of its magic? Are the residents Advent supporters? How do we save as many innocents as possible?”
“And we can’t sneak in to get details until it gets dark,” I said. “We have to assume everyone in Furubiro is a potential enemy, which means even Jegeru riders could be attacked on sight, so stealth is key. When the time comes, my group will join with Eu-Sook and her best scouts. We will enter the town and learn what we can. Until then, captain, your mission will be to surround Furubiro and use your experienced discretion to react to the most immediate need, whether that be sending in reinforcements or aiding innocents.”
“As you wish,” said the captain. “But if I hear nothing from the infiltration team by midnight, I will go in with full force.”
“That should be enough time. For now, everyone do what we can to prepare for battle. I don’t know exactly what we’ll encounter in there, but I do know we have a dragon on our side, so leave the scariest shit to me.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
A frail layer of clouds diffused the oceanic moonlight beaming down from a low half-moon. Eu-Sook and two women as small as herself jogged on foot with my group toward western Furubiro. Under slightly different circumstances, I would have only brought Clarissa’s eyes and Ghevont’s staff with me, but that left Odet and Gerard too isolated. Not to mention the princess would insist on coming anyway, which would force Gerard’s hand. So, no matter how one justified it, everyone was destined to come. Hence, if I was willing to put all my group in harm’s way, I had to bring a
few extra warriors for added security.
The trees stopped veiling our penetration a mile outside Furubiro. The land here was a flat field for a crop that had been picked clean already. We hopped over a simple wooden fence that should have confined cattle or horses, but no animals dawdled here. Gerard did a good job of stifling the rattle of his armor, but jumping over fences and stopping with any abruptness clanged parts of it together. I planned on leaving him behind if we got close to any adversary with ears.
The vampire’s eyes led us to a straw-roofed barn, a building secluded from the rest of Furubiro. Peeking around the corner, she whispered, “I see three people… Can’t even tell what they’re wearing, though. Could be anybody… Wait! One of them definitely has a spear. Oh, and a tunic that glossy has to be armor of some kind.”
“Ghevont?” I asked.
He stared at the staff’s crystal, which everyone saw had a dark green gleam to its casing. “The reaction is conforming our suspicions. Furubiro is certainly the epicenter of the nismerdon magic, not the woodland. Strange, there’s as much ambient prana here as in Gremly, yet I would not be able to sense it without the staff.”
“Uh, won’t the Advent be able to sense the crystal?” asked Clarissa.
“The nismerdon aura should be useful in shrouding our own crystal’s presence. As long as I do not cast spells with it, it will not be noticeable. Indeed, any enemy or allied detection spell should also be negatively affected by the interfering aura. Again, as long as we refrain from casting spells of our own.”
Clearing her throat, Odet said, “Thank you for the insight, Ghevont, but please speak a little quieter. Let’s not get too enthusiastic as we work to solve our predicament.”
“Ah, of course. Forgive me.”
“Forgiven,” I said. “Come on, let’s get closer.”
After a few seconds of checking, the vampire dashed for the next nearest building, a home twenty yards away that turned out to be four individual buildings. Each small, reddish brown structure made up the side of a square so that a shared courtyard of sorts formed in the center. Muffled voices came from the western building, so we only stayed long enough to make sure another of our sprints would not be seen.
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