Chapter 27
Oskar pulled up the water with help from Touwon and Penny, and they sat in the nervous jitters of pre-battle.
They camped about an hour’s walk from the Gryphus Lair, and waited on the creature to return from hunting. When they saw it go overhead, they’d need to be ready to move. From what they’d been able to ascertain, it never stayed in one place long. Even home.
They didn’t relax, but stayed ready to move as they hydrated. Oskar’s Wayspring Efficiency kept him topped up, but the water was refreshing, nonetheless. The magic of the Wayspring water was incredible. It reminded him of getting lactated ringer IVs in the Marine Corps, but obviously better.
Those things made you feel like a million bucks. But this magic water? I could get used to this.
It seemed kind of obvious to enjoy drinking water in a desert, but this stuff was special, and it had been obvious at the first taste.
Nearby, Penny shrunk back into the sand, and a feeling of dread suddenly permeated the air. The group slowly laid back against the dune wall and froze as the enormous bird circled overhead. There was a moment where he reconsidered the idea of even attempting to fight this thing, but then the creature came into view.
The Gryphus looked so much worse than the last time he’d seen it. In fact, it looked like if it landed, there wasn’t any possible way it could ever lift off again, but the part of him that was finally coming to understand a little about this world knew that it would. Despite the monstrous creature looking rotted through, it still radiated power.
This world didn’t work like his world.
Well, my old world. For all I know, this is the only world I'll ever see again.
Oskar blinked and exhaled as the creature finally moved out of sight in the general direction of its nest. The group moved wordlessly. The Dorn Collective was as ready is it was going to get with full bellies and waterskins, and they walked silently. According to Fox, he could now keep from sloshing his water like a stupid pink. Oskar took some offense to the pink, not because of the color - pink is awesome - but because he was mixed and usually maintained a respectable tan. Maybe colors were a bit advanced for Crocs.
The heat slowly intensified as they walked. Over the next hour, the wind seemed to angle more and more in their direction, and the smell quickly became eye-watering. As they neared, though, even the awful smell took a backseat to their impending battle. The smell and nervousness left a heaviness in his gut that he was having trouble ignoring.
Earlier, they’d lightheartedly decided if things went south, they’d all head in different directions and the survivors would meet back at their last water camp. It had been said in jest, mostly, but with the understanding that the directions would be followed.
It's important to have a place to meet up in case we get separated or injured.
As the slowest of the bunch, Oskar thought himself the most probable bird food tribute. He was just glad they’d been able to find the bird's lair. Identical sand dunes and desert super planets with two suns were not on his list of land navigation classes he’d taken in the Corps.
The group slowed and got even more careful as they neared the nest. They walked carefully, avoiding the bones of prey that littered the ground more consistently as they walked. As they closed the distance to the opening into the valley, however, they felt a predatory stillness in the air and knew they'd lost any element of surprise. The bird had noticed them somehow.
As they turned the corner and peeked into the clearing, Penny dove under the sand. Oskar barely had time to register the larger piles of bone and the opening to a strange cave of some sort before the Gryphus Vulture slammed into the ground where Penny had been, sand flying outward.
Unfortunately, they flew outward, too. The sickening, rotting gusts of the wings, silent until after the thing had struck the ground, blew all three of them into a tumble. Adrenaline and imminent danger was the only thing that held the contents of their stomachs in as the smell hit them full on.
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
Oh wow, oh no. How is this smell even possible?! He thought.
It was impossibly bad. Nausea threatened to overwhelm him, complete with a watering mouth and a tightening in his throat.
Forcing himself into action, Oskar pulled back his arm to strike, but he was at an awkward angle, and a disgusting thought occurred to him.
This thing looks bloated and smells like rot on steroids. What if it pops like a gangrene filled water-balloon?
In that brief moment, the Gryphus Vulture was back in the air, circling out of sight.
Sand and wind swirled violently in the air behind it, carrying with it the permeating scent of rotted meat and shimmering colors of Sora, but... greasy somehow.
Beside him, he saw Touwon slide a hand over the kurang in his opposite hand. It sparked, and the inside of the blade lit up with a flash of blue fire.
Unlike Oskar, Touwon didn’t hesitate as the bird swept back overhead.
As the kurang launched after the bird, Oskar noticed the resourceful Kobold was wearing a gas mask of sorts.
Seriously? Dude can’t share?!
Touwon grunted with frustration as the kurang didn't stick, but went harmlessly through the rotting wing and circled around to return to Touwon’s hand, despite the Kobold having launched himself up the dune after the Gryphus as it again took flight. Oskar threw himself after the bird, feeling the effects of the small amount of control he’d gained over Sora.
He was glad his lunges were becoming a little more “lunge-ey” in response to his control over the wind improving. There was more maneuverability as well, but he'd focused mainly on speed and power. His current lunge took him a respectable, but unexpected distance, and he barely avoiding spearing headfirst into the dune that sloped upward in front of him. He'd been forced to catch himself as he saw the bird once again disappear over the nearby dune before either of them could react. Fox leaning into the wind further down the crest of the dune, pointing out the Gryphus, who was now circling back around. It leveled out and then dropped enough to disappear below another dune in the distance.
“This stupid thing is not gonna give us a clean shot, is it?” Oskar yelled to Touwon, who answered him with a withering stare.
The Kobold muttered something that Oskar didn’t need translated because he knew it was something like “Did you expect it to?” followed by another that word Oskar just knew he was going to want to memorize for future use.
Oskar worked to still his thoughts, his eyes on the sky as he waited. He was listening, feeling, and using every sense available to him. His mind was in overdrive as he slowly gazed around, his Goggle’s Battle Mode dimming irrelevant information as it too scanned the area.
This time, when the gigantic bird appeared, Fox launched herself upward with what was obviously a skill and connected a cut to the base of its healthier wing, much to Oskar’s surprise. The bird slowed just a moment, giving Touwon a chance to connect with his own attack, and he watched the kurang slam, and stick, into the base of the wing near where Fox had landed her own strike.
It didn’t seem to do much damage until the mighty bird flapped its giant wings to escape upward. Flames shot all the way down the healthy wing from the kukri imbedded in it with an audible roar of fire. Oskar stared for a second before the Gryphus let out a piercing scream, twisted in the air and shifted direction to escape.
It's my turn, you big... uh, bird.
// Brilliant. Just brilliant. //
It flew low and fast in a tight half circle to gather speed as Oskar angled himself up the dune with a scramble and yelled, “No you don’t, you hollow boned pecker!”
// Better. 6/10. But seriously, be careful. //
He launched himself at the beast before it could clear the dune and disappear. Oskar struck spear first with a crash, embedding the spear deep into the Gryphus’ massive chest.
Thank God, it didn't pop.
It immediately thrashed about, though, and let out a piercing screech of agony. Oskar winced but kept hold of the spear as the sound shattered through him. His world went white, and warmth soon trickled from his ears, but he held fast, partially on instict.
Stupid, dangerous instinct. The scream might not kill him, but the fall certainly would.
Now that they were over the dunes, hot winds buffeted him, making it impossible to think straight. It wasn't a total loss, though; just before the scream busted his eardrums, he heard Touwon yell that word again. It definitely meant what he thought it did. He was sure of it now.
As the bird struggled to maintain its climb, Oskar shoved the spear in deeper, both to make sure the bird was going to die and to make sure the spear didn’t come free and dislodge him midair before the job was done.
He was hoping some instinct of the bird would make it glide to get away rather than dive to certain death. He was wrong. The bird called out again, a sound Oskar felt more than heard. The bird had activated a skill of some sort, because too sudden to react to, a purple ring of lightning flickered down its body. It launched further into the sky with an incredible burst of speed that lasted a few breathless seconds. The lightning didn’t seem to have any direct effect on him, and Oskar held on for dear life as the Gryphus Vulture rocketed upward until the air became thin.
// I distinctly remember telling you to be careful. This isn't careful at all. //