The crystal teardrop groaned beneath Liam, its wings finally beginning to shake free after crossing the continent. Like a wounded beast struggling to remain aloft. Shaky, patched with in flight repairs and held together more by hope than wood.
Turns out that being an engineer is difficult, who would've guessed?
Not Liam, who dipped the nose forward into another dive, angling downward. Wind whistled around the teardrop, clawing at the wings, flexing them a full four inches backwards. Although much of that flex was a failure of quartz adhered to wood.
“Great, if this keeps up I’ll have to get out and walk.” Grumbled Liam, scanning the land below–
–And catching the first glimpse of Talocandel. The sprawling, ancient heart of King Aldric’s empire. She shimmered in the darkening dusk, nestled between the Yrendel river’s mouth and a panoply of rugged forests. Roads spiderwebbed out of the city, giving Liam a convenient path to follow. Unlike most cities, Talocandel kept a reserve of firearms and canons. Weaponry that, while crude, was very possibly capable of shooting him down. Not wanting to tempt fate, Liam aimed for the largest gate and the widest road, angling the teardrop backwards so the fuselage could act as an airbrake. It was hard on the wings, but this was the last city he could fly out of. Monsters had grown thicker as he flew northwards, wyverns, angry birds, and the occasional flapping dinosaur were all solvable with a wind blade or lightning bolt. Or going faster. Generally going faster. But that wouldn’t be true for another gryphon. He needed to sail upriver with an armed force.
Talocandel’s slums sprawled out below him, an odd contrast of stacked wooden homes and the city of white marble walls. While much reduced by King Aldric’s early reign, they were now brimming with people, crowds gathered, always moving in bands. Just like they did in Sintra.
Monsters in the capital. Oh boy, this plague is too much.
‘Hey Quetz, can you hear me?’ Thought Liam, mentally connecting to his familiar.
‘Yes. Are you there yet?’
‘Hey, it took me 91 days. Are you in Talocandel? Cause I am.’ Thought Liam.
‘I’m close enough.’ Answered Quetzalcoatl.
‘Sounds ominous… Did you and that Euryalemorph hook up or something? You gonna have a whole nest of lil feathered hydras?’
‘That would be a bit difficult, as she is currently molting. Ya know, becoming an adult. Not something a toddler like you would ever know about.’
Liam snorted. The damn snake was roasting him!
‘Alright, where are the paladins? I spent way longer in the south than initially planned.’
‘Owen secured some ships, but got stuck “writing god-damned powerleveling reports” with Karnak.’
‘Haha, serves him right. I’m glad the paladins made it here safely. What about Thaddeus’ reinforcements?’
‘Those numbskull templars, they’re almost there. Said they’d be here a week ago, a week ago. Oh, gotta go, Karceia is waking up.’
‘Karkinos- Who? Thought Liam, but the line was already dead.
Probably for the best, considering his current airspeed just fell below a hundred miles per hour. Knights and conscripts began to point, shouting as a flying crystal teardrop tipped backwards a little more, just enough to catch the sun’s dying rays. Red light illuminated the city, an accidental disco ball aimed at the main gates. Which was supremely fortuitous, as it prevented several itchy trigger fingers from sending lead into Liam’s exposed belly.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
He conjured a vortex of wind, and plopped the teardrop right into its center. A nice soft landing pad. Or it would have been, if two of the wobbling wings hadn’t been immediately ripped off the craft and spiked into the endzone. The teardrop shot forward, tumbling through the air to plow into the dirt. Liam saw the ground rising to meet him and had a half second to cast. Preperforated crystal shattered, and the two remaining wings plowed into the dirt, crushing their contents. Mana condensed around Liam, just as he smashed into the ground, shattering his shadowshield and making him bounce off the cobblestones.
Dark mana burst, darkening the city gates. Quartz fragments hit walls and shattered, bouncing back towards Liam in a red glitter. And by some miracle he found himself standing on his feet. Battered, bruised, and entirely conscious.
“All you damn magi are showoffs! I ought to fine you for that stunt! You damned idiot! Just look at the gate, someone could have been killed!”
Liam winced, feeling every ounce of his cobblestone landing.
“Sorry sir, the wings weren’t supposed to come off-”
By the man’s bulging face, that wasn't the right answer.
“Won’t happen again.” Said Liam.
He raised both arms, and closed his eyes. Summoning all the things created by his mana to himself. Quartz glitter and four –pancaked– wooden wings floated to him, though he gave up on salvaging the quartz and made it flow into the road beneath his feet, conveniently fixing the crater from his failed landing. Though retrieving his smashed griffon nuggies was beyond hope. From start to finish the process took about a half hour, which was more than enough time for paladins, conscripts, royal knights, and the city guard to all come running. Each looking to slay the flying beast of light. Only to find a bruised dark elf, who was awkwardly trying to stuff odds and ends into various bags.
“Righty-o. I really am sorry about the mess, can you just point me to the church offices? You see, I’m a paladin in service to the fulminonimbus, on a special mission from Khereshetal.”
“A paladin! Without armor?” Grumbled the guard, loud enough for others to hear.
As if he were daring the nearest paladins to intervene on his watch.
“Armor is heavy, and as you can see,” Liam began, waving a hand over the quartz pothole that had once been a ship. “Flying is difficult enough!”
The guard blinked, trying not to smile.
“Damn zealots.” He muttered. “Show me your bolt and I’ll let you pass. If it’s seen propper worship.” Said the guard.
By bolt, he meant a small icon of a lightning bolt, in the classical double zig zag shape. It was similar to a crucifix, and all clergymen carried one, often using it as a key for their copies of the Teutonic codex. Which Liam didn’t have.
“Oh right, my bolt. I uh, tucked it away, most my landings have been a whole lot softer, but I wanted to keep it safe.” He said, looking down at his pile of bags.
Crap! Thought Liam.
He slid his hand into the bags, making a show of searching them.
“Well i’ll be damned. Are you the asshole who blinded the whole city?” Snapped a voice.
One that made Liam’s heart skip two beats. It couldn’t be.
“It was more like an accident…?” Said Liam, looking up to find a familiar redhead.
Velena, the flaming bastard of Vere, her red hair flowing around her shoulders, stood not ten feet in front of him.
“Holy shit Velena, is that a dress?”
“You asshole. What’s wrong with my dress?” Snapped Velena, lifting her hem and swishing it side to side, in a motion that Liam could only say was fluid, like dancing.
His jaw hit the floor.
“Guess Owen is a monkey’s uncle.”
That seemed to be a step too far, and three burning swords illuminated the gate, all pointed at Liam’s stupid grin. Red light reflected off the quartz road, suddenly reminding Velena who she was threatening.
“Ah, sir, I’m sorry.” She gasped, dispelling her flames.
“No worries, can you lead me to quarters? Wherever we are staying? Flying really takes it out of a guy. Its a bit like working in a vibrator warehouse, everything feels a bit overly shaken and certainly battered.” Said Liam.
“Vibrators?” Asked Velena, eyebrows pinching together in confusion. “Just how hard did you hit the ground? Actually, let’s go. Guys, help Lord Alhusam with his bags.”
A squad of felinids whisked Liam away, overseen by several Kheresh Paladins in strangely formal attire. Velena’s glare dispersed the onlookers. Leaving Liam to gawk at the city.
War had transformed the bright marble of Talocandel into a place full of hard eyes, and colder steel. Homeless beggars lined the streets, refugees slept in doorways, and every stomach seemed to rumble with hunger. Unarmored men carried spears and shields, most wearing the uniform of a kingdom conscript. Though scores of disparate forces seemed to be present. At least a dozen fulminonimbus heraldries were present, all bearing icons of different legions, and all felinids stood shoulder to paw with armored paladins. How those two factions had united so thoroughly was a baffling mystery, one that would have to wait until the next day.