Slasher looked around calmly, seemingly indifferent to his surroundings and the students standing before him. A gentle breeze ruffled Slasher’s fur as he flexed his talons against the hard stone of the road.
“No, Slasher,” Nils admonished.
Long gouges were left where his talons had slid along the stone.
“And uh, I might’ve forgotten to ask you to pack your things. I’m going to need you to show me where Princess is.”
“But it’s next to a very large landmark. It should be very easy to see from the air,” Yaric said.
“Can’t fly in with Slasher. One, this wagon, and two, approaching a den with another griffon isn’t a good idea. Slasher will need to keep his distance when we get close.”
“We can be quick,” Lauren said, looking wistfully at Slasher.
“Don’t worry, you’ll still get to fly. I can’t imagine Princess setting up a den so close to this place.”
Yaric and Lauren had already turned around, so Yaric had to call back over his shoulder when they started to run. “It’s not; it’s at least two days at our speed.”
“That’s not very far!” Nils shouted back.
There were some weird looks when Yaric and Lauren ran back in through the gate they had just left, this time without the wagon, but Yaric just held up all ten fingers to indicate they would be back in a few minutes without slowing down.
Luckily, things like bedrolls weren’t needed at the inn, so everything was still packed away and could be picked up immediately. Yaric also took his sword and bow, though he didn’t take a quiver to actually make use of the bow. His only reason for taking it was he didn’t want to leave it in his room at the inn.
Lauren came out of her room just as he was about to descend the stairs, her partisan in her hand.
“I’ll get some food quickly. Can you leave Sven a message downstairs?” Lauren suggested.
Yaric had been in such a hurry that he hadn’t even thought of leaving a message, especially since Sven had spent so much time with the healer who had arrived. He was sure to want to stay so he could meet up with Lloyd.
Lauren was already bundling up some skewers beside a street vendor when Yaric left the inn, so they were on their way in minutes.
“How long do you think it will take to learn to fly on Slasher?” Lauren asked excitedly.
“I don’t know. Did you see any harnesses or anything? I don’t remember seeing any.”
“I didn’t notice.”
“Nils didn’t seem to think it would be a problem, so it can’t be too hard,” Yaric pointed out.
“I wonder if he could carry us together?” Lauren said, looking up hopefully.
“Well Slasher did fly all the way here with someone of Nils’s, ah, heft, on his back. I’m sure he could handle both of us.”
Lauren glanced at him accusingly while biting her lip to hide her smile.
It didn’t take long to get back to the gate, though one of the guards obviously recognized them as he stared at their bags with a stupefied look on his face. They were in too much of a rush to stop and explain, however, so he was left to his own assumptions as they ran out of the gate and started down the road.
Nils was already much further along when they caught up.
“Right, you two need to learn how to ride Slasher so we can get going,” Nils said, not even waiting for them to finish slowing down.
Nils chuckled when he saw their expressions. “What, did you think we were going to haul this thing all the way on foot? Who’s first?”
Yaric tried to step back to let Lauren go first, but for all her excitement earlier, she was now standing rather stiffly and examining Slasher from head to foot. There weren’t any harnesses of any kind.
“I’ll go first,” Yaric offered.
“Come on then,” Nils said, gesturing Yaric forward. “Alright, so the first thing you have to do is give Slasher the command that tells him to get ready. It will prompt him to stand so you can mount him or, in this case, warn him. You’ve never flown on him before, so he might get upset if you suddenly jumped on his back out of the blue. It’s only polite.”
Yaric waited expectantly for the unique command.
“You just say his name and then tell him that we’re going to fly now.”
“Wait, that’s… I just say that we’re going to fly now?” Yaric asked incredulously.
“That’s it. It’s simpler to teach a griffon to recognize when we’re simply telling them what to do, and using his name first prevents any confusion.
Yaric felt oddly let down, having expected a series of code words or sounds. Slasher obviously already recognized some of the words, because he was standing with his head cocked to one side and observing everyone carefully.
“Well, give it a go.”
“Uh, Slasher, we’re going to fly now.”
Slasher ruffled his feathers a bit and looked away, but otherwise didn’t react.
“That’s alright,” Nils said, “he’s acknowledged you. Now you get on.”
“How?” Yaric asked, looking at the tall griffon. There really was nothing but his collar.
“Just grip the sides to guide you, and jump.”
“Like, jump straight on? Up there?”
“Are you an arcanist or not?” Nils teased good-naturedly.
Yaric stepped up beside Slasher hesitantly and craned his head slightly in an attempt to see the back of the giant predator. His heart beating somewhat harder than usual, Yaric placed his hand on Slasher’s flank, bent his knees, and jumped, swinging a leg over as he did.
Slasher’s back was surprisingly soft, with very thick fur, and also very wide. It was an exceptionally stable seat for any rider.
“Alright, now grip firmly with your legs. You will struggle to grip with too much force at your level, so just hold on tight. Now taking off is easy; you’ll just repeat his name and tell him to take to the air. Once you do, Slasher will take off and start climbing.
“There are voice commands for once you’re in the air, but we don’t count on them because it’s sometimes hard to hear up there. Hold on tight with your legs, but grip his mane firmly, that will be how you communicate instructions. No, closer.”
Nils reached up to have Yaric lean forward and tuck his elbows in, so his hands were gripping Slasher’s mane just below his shoulders.
“It’s rather simple, really: pull left or right to change direction and push forward to go faster. Slower is harder for a griffon, but pull back to slow down some. Up and down is just shifting your weight; you’ll get used to it.”
Yaric felt like there was a distinct lack of instruction for controlling altitude.
“What are the voice commands for up and down?”
“Never mind that, chances are he won’t hear them, and they’re difficult to use anyway. It’s hard to convey how much you want to drop, or how fast. Just shift your weight. The command you really want to know is ‘land over there’. All you need to do is point where you want to land; he’ll see.
“Other than that, hold tight, be ready for his wings to touch the back of your legs some, especially on take-off, and be sure to tell him where to go. He will listen. Slasher is also trained to catch anyone dumb enough to fall. Oh! Don’t pull out any of his feathers, ’cause he won’t thank you for that!”
Yaric looked across the road to where Lauren was waiting nervously, though she was twisting slightly from side to side like she always did when she was excited.
“Hurry up, people are coming!” Nils called out.
“Slasher, take to the air!”
Slasher launched forward far faster than Yaric had been expecting. Raw power propelled them through the air with two giant leaps, each jump jerking Yaric back from the acceleration. Slasher’s wings snapped out with an audible crack.
The bouncing around instantly stopped as Slasher glided through the air, held aloft by his massive span. Both wings pressed against Yaric’s legs for a moment as Slasher started propelling them up, the sudden surge skyward feeling more like they were being pulled to where they belonged than the jumps Yaric had experienced on the ground.
Lauren’s excited shout faded away, replaced by the whisper of the wind through Slasher’s fur and feathers as they continued to rocket toward the heavens.
Spotting a large cloud, Yaric leaned forward slightly, instinctually adjusting the rate of their climb to a more gradual slope and steering them toward the fluffy white puff of condensation floating ahead.
Slasher’s powerful wingbeats propelled them straight through the cloud. Twisting around, Yaric watched as the turbulent air behind them churned and twisted the cloud into stunning spirals and erratic eddies. The cool air turned slightly damp while Yaric held out his hand to see the cloud swirl through his fingers, splitting and reforming behind his hand as he futility snatched at the air.
They burst out of the cloud and into the bright sunshine, replacing the misty fog with a clear blue sky, the vast expanse of grassland stretched out below. Distant smudges marked the locations of a few small villages, but nothing else broke the sea of uninterrupted grassland that stretched out to the north in gentle waves.
Yaric nudged Slasher downward and had to hold back his shout as the griffon shot toward the ground, making Yaric’s stomach lift as gravity’s pull disappeared for a moment, perfectly in time with the sudden increase in the wind buffeting his clothes and whistling through Slasher’s fur.
His adrenaline pumping, Yaric pulled Slasher to the left, causing him to begin a slight roll that dramatically changed their direction. In seconds, Yaric found himself facing the town again, the thin line of the road just barely visible far below, its scarcely discernable line disappearing long before it joined the wall.
Slasher must have felt Yaric’s exhilaration because he lifted his head very slightly and let out a cry, loudly declaring his ownership of the sky. They dove even more steeply, after which Yaric swung Slasher out in a wide turn, hopefully ensuring that no one on the road would see them. He then twisted back toward the road where he estimated the others would be waiting.
Swooping low, Slasher pulled up hard, pinning Yaric down, though the difficult maneuver was done so effortlessly that Yaric doubted Slasher even noticed his weight. The grass below them was a blur.
A slight pull to the rear was enough to get Slasher to gently flare his wings, slowing their speed as they approached the road. As it was, they were still moving as fast as an arrow as they shot over the road, almost a hundred meters further down from where he briefly glimpsed Lauren before they streaked past.
Banking gently, Slasher lost most of their extra speed while circling back. Still, Yaric was almost too slow.
“Land over there!” Yaric shouted, pointing to the road in front of Lauren.
In the end, Yaric wasn’t almost too slow; he was too slow. Or rather, Slasher was too fast. He flared his wings hard and reared back, pushing Yaric firmly into his soft fur as he slowed them down just enough to touch down on the road at a slight run. Yaric was still sitting up when Slasher turned around by himself and proudly pranced to the exact spot Yaric had pointed at.
Just as quickly as it had started, Yaric’s first flight was already over. He already wished he was back up in the air.
“Next time try ordering Slasher to land somewhere in front of you, not below,” Nils suggested with a smirk.
“That was awesome!”
Lauren looked more excited than Yaric, but perhaps that was because she was next.
“Your turn,” Yaric said, looking for an easy way off.
“No, wait,” Lauren hurriedly replied. She turned quickly to Nils. “Can two people fly on Slasher at the same time?”
“You can; you’ll actually have to later, but flying by yourself is different.”
“Don’t you want to learn first?” Yaric asked. He knew she wanted to fly with him, but it wasn’t like her to turn down a chance to learn something new.
“Yes,” Lauren said slowly, drawing out the word. She looked nervously at Slasher for a moment before she continued. “You guys flew really high. It’s not a problem, it’s just…”
“Oh,” Yaric said, surprised. Lauren had never said anything about heights before.
“It really isn’t a problem; I’d just prefer if I wasn’t directing Slasher the first time we go, you know… up there.”
“Hold up then, let me get this wagon closer,” Nils said. “I’ll send Slasher back for you two.”
Yaric found that getting off was much easier than getting on, though Nils jumped up effortlessly. Nils also seemed to be able to direct Slasher just as easily, as Slasher calmly walked over to the wagon, then, with a few powerful beats from his wings, lifted up into the air without any runup and clutched the front of the wagon in his talons.
Slasher hovered for a moment before climbing vertically with Nils on his back and the wagon dangling below them. Yaric and Lauren were buffeted by the wind.
“Should we start walking?” Yaric asked.
“I think we should probably stay here,” Lauren replied. “We don’t know how easily Slasher would find us if we weren’t waiting where he expects us to be.”
“They took our bags with them.”
Lauren seemed disappointed when she realized that their food was gone. “I guess we’ll just sit here then.”
Both of them lay back on the grass beside the road. They stared up at the sky while Lauren interrogated him about his flight, only pausing their discussion when the occasional traveler passed by. Neither wanted to answer questions about flying on a griffon.
It took almost two hours for Slasher to return, and both were dozing off in the sun when he did. They were roused by a sudden gust of wind just before Slasher landed in front of them.
Despite her trepidation, Lauren didn’t hesitate and immediately jumped to her feet with Yaric close behind. Jumping up Slasher’s flank was much easier the second time.
Safely mounted, Yaric held out his hand to Lauren. He was too high for her to reach, but she didn’t need to jump as high, and Yaric was able to pull her up and swing her around to sit behind him.
“Take to the air!”
There was no movement, but Yaric realized his mistake before Lauren could say anything. It obviously wouldn’t be a good idea to have a single command prompt every griffon in earshot.
“Slasher, take to the air!”
Yaric was ready this time. Slasher leaped forward as if he hadn’t even noticed Lauren, his bounding leaps going just as far. Lauren gasped and wrapped her arms more tightly around Yaric, pressing herself tightly to his back.
This time it was Lauren’s knees that pushed into the back of his own as Slasher spread his wings, gliding momentarily before a series of powerful beats propelled them into the sky.
Sudden calm took over as the gentle movements of Slasher’s wings gently rocked them and the sound of the wind filled Yaric's ears. Lauren had her face buried between Yaric’s shoulder blades, but he felt her lift her head in sync with loosening her grip around his waist. Slightly.
Nudging Slasher to the right, Yaric sent them on a more easterly course, with the evening sun positioned behind them and to their left. This route would take them slightly away from Princess and what appeared to be her territory, and over terrain they had never seen before.
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“This is amazing,” Lauren whispered, her chin on Yaric’s shoulder.
Yaric grinned and leaned to indicate that Slasher should climb. The clouds above them seemed higher than before, but Yaric still wanted to take Lauren through one.
A small village was visible below them, with fields around the cluster of buildings all arranged in a checkerboard and several additional structures scattered around. There didn’t appear to be anyone in the fields, or anywhere at all, but Yaric doubted they would be able to see anyone from this high up if the size of the buildings were anything to go by.
The instruction from Nils had been exceptionally basic, but flying on Slasher was unbelievably intuitive. In just a few minutes, Yaric had Slasher banking from side to side as they flew, with Lauren holding on tightly but laughing as they shifted to and fro.
A large wooded area also gave them the opportunity to dive. Yaric was expecting the dropping sensation when Slasher dropped his head, but Lauren was caught by surprise. Her reaction was precisely the same as it had been when they rode the water sleds in Lekton, though this time she was screaming right beside his ear.
The firm yet gentle breeze gave way to whistling as they dove, which was soon joined by the sound of their clothes billowing and buffeting between them as the wind speed continued to pick up. Far away trees began to edge closer, with individual treetops becoming visible.
Slasher’s wings snapped open as the trees were suddenly right in front of them. While the trees had slowly grown larger as they’d approached, the final seconds saw them seemingly surge upwards, but Slasher knew what he was doing, and his long experience with flight saw him take over and pull them out of the dive.
Leveling out so quickly pressed them hard into Slasher’s back, and once level, the three of them continued to whistle over the treetops almost as soon as they had dived. Frightened birds took to the air as they passed, reacting far too slowly with their sudden arrival.
Odd trees dotted the canopy, growing taller than the others and creating several obstacles. Slasher just banked from side to side as he had done before the dive, effortlessly weaving between the trunks as the different hues of green blurred below them.
Lauren nudged Yaric and pointed behind them.
Leaves and branches tossed about behind them in an expanding vee, like the wake behind a ship, the wind of their passing even managing to catch a few dead twigs and toss them into the air.
Slasher climbed once again, gliding at first, but then beating his powerful wings as they slowed too much for his liking.
Golden light played across Lauren’s face when Slasher began to spiral upward, her eyes constantly moving across the scene below them. Even her obsidian hair, streaming behind them in the wind, seemed to have taken on a golden shimmer in the light of the setting sun. Slasher’s fur and feathers seemed to alternate between sunflower yellow and burnished bronze, but the sun had yet to touch the horizon.
“What is that dark area?” Lauren asked, speaking loudly into Yaric’s ear so that he would hear.
Following her finger, Yaric directed Slasher toward the long dark patch that stretched across the plains before them.
It didn’t take long to get directly above what turned out to be a small river, flanked all along its length by thick trees and bushes. Dense vegetation was what Lauren had spotted from so far away, but already the surrounding plains seemed to be getting dark as well. High above them, the clouds that Yaric had futilely chased were now glowing a brilliant orange.
Yaric nudged Slasher toward the setting sun, hoping to see where the river went relative to the hill Princess was hiding beside. No one had mentioned any river in the area before.
“Look!” Yaric said, pointing below them. Large flocks of birds were flying far below them, often arranged in long, staggered lines. They were all flying in the same direction.
“I think it’s because of that!” Lauren shouted back in reply.
The river split up far ahead, then again, and again, creating a fan of smaller streams that spread out over an area that stretched beyond where they could see in the growing gloom on the ground.
The land beyond seemed like a mirror, perfectly reflecting the sky above them. Yaric knew they needed to head back, but he wanted to get over the wetland before they turned around.
Water and land formed a patchwork for as far as they could see. Nothing seemed to disturb the surface, as the reflection was so complete that the effect was almost disorientating.
Yaric put Slasher into a steep turn, banking so hard that his left wing almost pointed straight down. The force of the turn was enough to pin them on Slasher’s back, and so slowly, with a lot of hesitation, Yaric let go of Slasher and inched his way upright, until he was sitting up straight and looking over his shoulder and at the ground far below them. Lauren was pushed up by his movement, and he leaned back slightly to return the gesture as Lauren leaned even harder into him.
The clouds high above were now a brilliant crimson, mirrored perfectly in the pristine reflection below them. By this time, the ground looked almost purple, which only highlighted the reflection even further, creating bright red embers in the dark shadows below. Several larger patches seemed like molten glass, glowing so brightly that they lit up the reed beds that surrounded them.
Lauren still had her arms wrapped around Yaric’s midsection, so Yaric wrapped her arms with his in turn, while both of them silently took in the sight below them. Neither said anything as they watched the flocks of birds return to their nests to settle in for the evening.
Finally, Slasher seemed to have had enough, because he dropped his head unprompted and began a shallow dive. Yaric grabbed for Slasher’s fur in a hurry while Lauren clutched him tightly.
This was a much shallower dive, however, and neither were in any danger of falling off. Spiraling down also took much longer, but Slasher pulled up gently at Yaric’s command and glided over the water. This time it looked more like a genuine wake from a ship rippling out behind them, creating alternating lines of darkness and crimson. The water in front of them was nothing but crimson.
Lauren and Yaric both smiled when they leaned over to look down, only to see their reflections staring back up at them.
Sights and smells returned with their descent to near ground level. Thousands of birds surrounded them, and each seemed intent on letting the others know that they were settling in for the night. The smell of water and reeds saturated the air, but Yaric had to shield his eyes when they flew through faint smudges in the air, the tiny clouds of insects simply disintegrating against him.
Slasher beat his wings occasionally, with each wing beat sending them up a few meters to hop over small patches of dry ground and their accompanying vegetation.
Unfortunately it really was getting dark, so Yaric shifted his weight to get Slasher to climb, then turned him back toward the route where he expected Nils to be waiting.
Climbing back up brought them back into the last of the sun’s rays while Slasher raced through the air, his powerful wings propelling them forward so fast that it almost felt like they were in a dive again. He also seemed to know exactly where to go. Slasher changed direction slightly without any prompting, and Yaric let him go where he pleased.
Even they were in shadow when they finally arrived above Nils. It was so late that the ground was entirely obscured, with Nils only visible because of the fire he’d made, illuminating both himself and the small bundles of tall grass laid out in batches on the other side of the fire. The smell of woodsmoke reached them before they touched down.
“Glad you had the sense to do that on your second flight and not the first,” Nils said, not even looking over his shoulder when they landed.
“Do what?” Yaric asked.
Lauren bumped his hip slightly but didn’t say anything, and neither did Nils.
Yaric let it drop and scanned the small camp. There wasn’t much, just the wagon and a small fire. Additional wood was stacked nearby.
“Is the grass for lining the wagon?” Lauren asked, taking a seat opposite Nils.
“Yep. It will make things easier with the cubs.”
Nils was almost overly friendly most of the time, but he seemed to get lost in his own thoughts when sitting in front of a fire. He barely said a word, even after Yaric and Lauren realized that he hadn’t planned to stay out overnight and offered him some of their food. Nils was obviously used to being outside, given his occupation, and he seemed utterly at ease out in the middle of nowhere, but he spent over an hour staring into the flames while Yaric and Lauren had their own conversation on the other side of the fire. They tried to include him but gave up when it became clear that he didn’t want to talk.
Neither of them wanted to pry.
Eventually he did perk up, however, and Nils began rebuilding the fire while asking Yaric and Lauren questions about their studies. Obviously his questions focused on their classes with Lorelle.
“This is a possible career path, by the way,” he said, having listened to a description of their most recent lessons. “Finding creatures that need rescuing. Most of the time, the job won’t involve bringing something back to the Academy; we usually try to help them wherever they live. But it involves a lot of travel, and you need to put the needs of those creatures first. It’s not an easy job.”
“Is that how you started?” Lauren asked. “Looking for creatures that need help?”
“Not exactly. We don’t usually look for creatures,” Nils admitted. “Most of the time you follow up on tips and rumors. You’d probably be able to find a great many creatures if you knew where to look, but you’re not likely to just come across something that needs help. Besides, people are the problem most of the time. Hunting and the like.”
“How many people are capable of hurting something like a griffon?” Yaric asked. He’d felt just how powerful Slasher was, and he’d seen what Princess had done to those goblins.
“Most,” Nils replied, surprising both Yaric and Lauren. “It isn’t hard to lay out some poisoned bait. Or set traps. Don’t even need to kill them. Most creatures would struggle to survive if they’re left sick or wounded.”
“That’s horrible!” Lauren exclaimed.
“That’s why most who do the job are willing to put in the work that they do. You’d be surprised how many creatures are saved each year. And that’s just direct intervention. We do educational work as well, teaching people about the creatures so they don’t harm them in the first place. No one knows how much that helps, but preventing issues is better than solving them. Some of those people certainly become helpful to us when issues do arise. It’s where we get most of the tips from. Building up a network of sources in the right places can be the most important thing.”
“So you have a large network then?” Yaric asked.
“Ha, no,” Nils laughed. “I’ve been out of it too long. Networks need to be constantly maintained, or they disappear. It’s been over two hundred years since I worked with anyone out here, everyone would have passed on a long time ago. Well, besides Yota and Clay.
“Clay still sends me information on occasion, which I pass on. He’s a Wizard who left the Academy a long time ago. Makes a living by building in out-of-the-way places, places where bringing in the materials would be challenging and very expensive. I like that guy.
“Yota is just an old elf that never seems to die. I’d have sworn he was an arcanist who slipped through the cracks if he didn’t look like a dug-up corpse. Crazy old man. Haven’t heard from him in decades, but I can’t imagine him ever giving anyone the satisfaction of his death. He prefers to haunt others while drawing breath.”
Nils told them several stories of previous rescues, including back when it was his full-time job. Yaric wouldn’t mind helping when he could, but he didn’t want to do something like that full-time. He also suspected that there would be many failed missions. The thought of traveling all the way to some remote location, only to find that he was too late, wasn’t something that appealed to him. Faces of the squad leaders who had fallen flashed through his mind.
“I think I’ll go to bed before it gets too late,” Yaric said. “How do you want to organize the watch?”
“Simple,” Nils replied. “Slasher will watch; we will sleep.”
Yaric didn’t know if Nils preferred to sleep on the ground or simply hadn’t planned to spend a night camping, but Nils had no bedroll or any other camping equipment. Based on Nils’s previous experience, Yaric was sure it was the former, but he still offered. Nils just took the wagon in the end, while Yaric and Lauren set up their bedrolls near the warm glow of the remaining coals.
“Lina’s going to be relieved,” Lauren said quietly.
It was too dark to make out more than her silhouette, but she was clearly lying on her side and facing him.
“She’s been waiting for a while,” Yaric agreed. “At least she had enough food.”
Lauren snorted softly at the thought of Li Na’s food choices and shifted herself closer to Yaric.
Clouds had rolled in after the sun had set, completely obscuring the sky and leaving them in near total darkness. The only light they had came from the remaining coals, and the occasional embers when those coals popped or crumbled.
Yaric shifted closer as well, until they were using the same pack as a pillow. The dark felt soothing. Lying beside Lauren made his midnight run toward a goblin village seem like a lifetime ago.
----------------------------------------
“You two go ahead, I need to pull the wagon,” Nils said.
“We’ll pull it,” they both replied nearly simultaneously.
“No, Princess is already in distress; I don’t want all three of us arriving at once. Slasher will stay here, and I’ll follow behind you with the wagon.”
Yaric still wanted to argue, but Nils didn’t look like he would budge. Still, it felt weird to leave a staff member of the Academy to haul a wagon while they went ahead with nothing but their bags.
The morning was dark and overcast, with heavy clouds hovering seemingly just above their heads. No flashes of light or distant rumbles warned of an imminent thunderstorm, but that didn’t mean that it couldn’t begin to rain at any moment. The air itself felt thick and heavy, like a warm blanket.
Yaric and Lauren weren’t entirely sure which way to go at first, as they had landed at their campsite in the dark. It had been impossible to see much detail on the ground even before then, not to mention how different things looked from the air even when you could see. They did know the general direction, however, so they left Nils behind and began to run.
Only twenty minutes later they found themselves running across a faint path in the short grass, which they both recognized as one of the paths connecting the goblin villages. Following it brought them to the outpost nearest to the hill, and from there they soon came within sight of its stubby peak.
Yaric and Lauren walked quietly. The last thing they wanted was to disturb Princess just before Nils arrived with the wagon, even if he was likely to be a long way behind. Thick brush screened their arrival, but it also blocked their view of anything further than a few meters ahead, and all sound was masked as well.
The dense undergrowth grew lighter just before the clearing Princess had made during her fight with the goblins, making it easier for them to push their way through. Yaric could hear fast footsteps and light thumps just ahead.
Branches parted to reveal the clearing, where Li Na was running back and forth, occasionally jumping and waving an arm through the air as she did. There were no baby griffons in sight.
“Oh, hey,” Li Na said, spying the two of them as they stepped into the clearing.
Yaric didn’t miss the butterflies dancing around above Li Na’s head.
“How did the babysitting go?” Lauren asked. She hugged Li Na and stepped back to give her room.
“What babysitting? I play with the cubs when they’re awake, but Princess and Other Guy did everything. I’ve just been waiting around for you guys.”
“Did everything go okay with the cow?” Yaric asked.
Li Na shrugged. “I guess so? I thought it might hurt the cubs, so I left it near the last goblin outpost. Princess wouldn’t leave her little den though, and I didn’t know how I was going to get her to follow me, but Other Guy came back with big chunks of meat. He did all the work for me.”
“That worked out then,” Lauren replied hesitantly.
“Yeah.”
The three students began walking toward the bush Princess hid inside.
“Where are the cubs?” Lauren asked, looking around.
“Shhh! They’re sleeping,” Li Na admonished.
Princess stuck her head out of the bush, but she just blinked at them for a moment and pulled back.
“Are we going back now? And do you have any food?” Li Na asked.
“What? You brought a whole bag,” Yaric said.
“Yes, days ago. I’ve already gone back to that village to get more, but they’d run out of honey. And they only had cinnamon rolls?” Li Na complained.
“They didn’t have any bread?” Yaric asked skeptically.
“Yeah, they had bread. But nothing nutritious - gotta keep my energy up. Those cubs never stop.”
Yaric knew what she meant by ‘nutritious’, but he kept silent.
He didn’t get the chance to say anything anyway, as Princess suddenly stuck her head out again and began looking around.
“Oh, right, Nils replied to our message. He’s following with a wagon for Princess and the cubs,” Yaric said.
“So we’re taking them back to -.” Li Na didn’t get to finish, as Princess stepped all the way out of her bush and began looking around. She twisted her head several times, bringing her closer and closer to the students, until she locked on to Lauren and Yaric.
Lauren laughed as Princess nuzzled her head into Lauren, almost knocking her over where she sat. Then Princess did the same thing to Yaric.
“Do you think she can smell Slasher on us?” Lauren asked.
“Probably.”
“Wait, Nils brought Slasher with him?”
Yaric struggled to keep a straight face. “Yes, how do you think he got here?”
Li Na sat up straight. “Nils rode Slasher?”
“Why do you think Princess can smell Slasher on us?” Yaric asked innocently.
Li Na leaped to her feet. “You rode Slasher?! What?! When?!”
“Shhh,” Lauren said, trying and failing to keep the laughter out of her voice. “The babies are sleeping.”
“Where is he?” Li Na asked excitedly.
“Nils is leaving him further back. He was afraid Slasher would spook Princess with her babies around,” Lauren said.
“Or the other griffon,” Yaric added. Princess certainly seemed excited to smell Slasher on them. Yaric struggled to see her reacting negatively if Slasher arrived, even with her cubs hiding right behind her.
Li Na struggled to stand still while she peppered the two of them with questions. She even insisted on learning the flight instructions, though Yaric struggled to describe how he got Slasher to climb or descend.
The sound of cracking branches and something ripping was the first sign of Nils’s arrival. It was loud, and cubs soon began poking their heads out to see what was going on. The sight of Yaric and Lauren sitting in the clearing was enough to make them forget the ongoing noise, as they all bounded out of their hiding place and began pouncing on the hapless students.
Yaric had just realized that Nils was going to end up passing close by them when Li Na evidently realized the same thing. She spun in place and took off into the bushes to guide Nils to the clearing, leaving Yaric and Lauren to fend off the furball assault.
Princess was staring in the direction of the racket as it drew closer and closer, standing guard and preparing herself for a fight. Trees slid out and partially into the clearing as Nils appeared, huffing and puffing while he pulled the wagon through the path he’d made. Yaric was confident that the complicated spell Nils was using was the cause for the apparent exertion.
A wide track of cleared ground extended back from behind the wagon. The wagon itself carried a large pile of cut grass, along with one grinning Novice.
“There you are, Princess,” Nils practically crooned.
Princess trotted forward excitedly, her head flitting between examining Nils and scanning their surroundings.
The cubs quickly abandoned their game to chase after their mother.
“And all these little ones,” Nils said proudly.
Nils took the time to examine each one thoroughly, lifting them up, turning them over, and even casting a few spells while Princess looked on without concern.
“All healthy,” he announced once he was done. He did look more concerned when he examined Princess, however.
Her injured wing received some special attention, but he still examined her from head to foot, even going so far as to open her beak and inspect inside. Nils spoke much more softly when he was done. “You’re going to need some therapy once you’re healed, but we’ll get you sorted out. And a few good meals.”
“I fed her,” Li Na said helpfully.
“I heard. A whole cow. I’d hate to have seen what she would have looked like if she hadn’t had at least one good meal already.”
Li Na beamed in response.
Nils spread out the grass, then began trying to get Princess into the wagon. She wouldn’t budge.
“Come on girl, we’ll get you and these little ones sorted out. Come on.” Seeing her plant her feet, Nils tried a different tack and lifted one of her cubs into the wagon.
The baby griffon sniffed around for a few seconds, then dived straight into the grass and disappeared. Princess began anxiously looking between the wagon and her old den.
Nils didn’t get a chance to respond. A strong breeze buffeted the clearing when the male griffon came in to land, already glancing from person to person before it had even touched down.
“Blink? I never would have guessed it was you.”
Yaric looked back at Blink in confusion, while Blink just stood there and watched everyone. Unblinking.
Princess started to look distressed.
“Alright, it’s alright girl,” Nils hummed. He stroked her neck for a moment before looking past her. Without a word, Nils stepped back and strode into the tall bush where Princess had been hiding. Princess remained where she was, torn between the cub in the wagon and her old den.
Nils disappeared for several minutes. When he finally emerged, Nils was carrying a dirty bundle that he held cradled in a sleeve he’d torn off his own tunic. It was covered in sand, but the small, taloned limb that hung down made its identity obvious. The cub was distinctly smaller than the others, and it had obviously died days ago.
“She tried to keep the flies away,” Nils said quietly, brushing the body with his hand as he did and sending a cloud of dust into the air.
Princess was intently focused on the bundle, following Nils as he walked around the wagon with the bundle held out over the bed of grass. Nils placed it gently in the corner, where Princess began to nudge it with her beak.
She placed both of her front legs on the wagon simultaneously, leaving Nils with just enough time to run around to hold down the front end, then jumped up onto the bed of grass. Turning, Princess lay down, her head hovering protectively over the body.
“When will she realize it’s dead?” Li Na asked softly. Her voice had a slight tremor.
Nils started placing the cubs in the wagon as well, and everyone moved to help wrangle the playful furballs. They all moved quietly as they went about their job.
“She already knows,” Nils said. “She just hasn’t accepted it yet. Look at how she ripped this place up when fighting off those goblins; they must have got the cub right off the bat.”
The other cubs seemed oblivious as they climbed over their mother or dug through the grass. Exploring the new and exciting wagon was their only priority at the moment.
“I’ll need you three to keep the cubs from jumping out. They’ll get bored inside there.”
Princess had been cleaning her cub’s fur, but she soon paused to straighten her neck out over the body, stretching as far as she could. She slowly raised her head vertically as she let out a keening wail, the haunting sound echoing across the clearing before being broadcast to the heavens.
Yaric felt the hairs on his neck rise as Princess’s lament reverberated through the air. Even the cubs paused their games to stare at their mother.
Lauren wrapped Li Na in a hug, and knowing how Lauren herself would react, Yaric briefly wrapped his arms around them both, before breaking away to follow the wagon that had begun moving the moment Princess’s mournful cry ended.
Li Na stuck close to the rear of the wagon, while Lauren and Yaric stuck close to each other, following right behind Li Na. Blink followed slowly behind them all.
They needed to get Princess back to the Academy. The sooner they could get her back, the sooner she could begin to heal. And for now, all three of them could help make that happen.