The Griffon shook its head to clear its daze, regaining control of its descent. With a mighty fp of its enormous wings, it changed direction and swooped upward. Brushing against the jagged rocks below, it snatched one up in its uninjured foreleg cw. Scraping its cwed rear legs over the stone ground to powerfully push off and unch itself back into the sky.

  “It’s just never that easy,” Dink muttered, hanging suspended by a branch from the broken Harpy nest above. While Dink watched the Griffon gather momentum, Wart climbed up the length of his arm. With a small hop, the Myconid burrowed inside the warren of sticks forming the nest, wanting no part of the battle to take pce. “Wise decision.”

  Dink snickered in amusement before swinging the dragonbone sword up and effortlessly lifting himself from the hole. Standing in the centre of the off-kilter nest, Dink investigated the shattered egg shells leaking yolk, seeing only one left. The Harpy flock circled overhead screeching at each other in distress. They were unsure of what to do after seeing their attacks couldn’t harm the Griffon at all. One swooped down and dumped its burden next to Dink.

  “Oof!” Harmon grunted, knocking the air from his lungs. The lightly armoured veteran nded heavily with a thud, snapping protruding twigs as he rolled to a stop. Pushing himself to his feet, Harmon edged slightly away from Dink, still not trusting being in close proximity to a monster race. “Hey mate, this wasn’t part of the deal. I’m grateful you held yourself back on the road and all but I think it’s time we part ways. You’ve just fucked that big bird right off and I want nothing to do with it.”

  “Coward,” Dink smirked with a wink. Saying nothing more, he simply stepped backwards, leaning into a trust fall through the hole at his feet.

  Dink’s mad cackle echoed through the mountains. The look of surprise on the Griffon’s face was priceless as it unexpectedly came face-to-face with a bck Goblin wielding an oversized cymore hurtling towards it struggling to elevate with the boulder in its cws.

  The Griffon tried to veer to the side and out of the way but was slowed by its cargo. Dink unleashed a sonic ssh before shielding the dragonbone sword horizontally in front of him. The strike nded first, disorientating the Griffon’s vision but otherwise doing no harm. That allowed Dink to sm his weapon in between the Griffon’s huge beak to create a makeshift muzzle. He used the momentum of his fall to maintain his grip on the hilt and swing around into a rider position on the back of the Griffon’s feathered neck.

  It bucked and thrashed, crashing into the sheer cliffside, knocking loose a shower of stones. The Griffon snapped and gagged, failing to dislodge the sword from its maw or the fearless Goblin from its back. Dink grinned before ruthlessly smming a fist into the side of the Griffon’s head. The beast’s wings buckled from the force of the impact, its eyes briefly rolling around in their sockets. It smmed into the cliff a second time, unintentionally dropping the boulder in its cws.

  “I’ll say this to you once, and one time only. Submit or I will tear your brain asunder,” Dink threatened, speaking in the arcane tongue.

  The Griffon stopped trying to fly and clung to the rockface, Dink dangling from its scruff. It seemed to understand his words instinctively, growing unnaturally calm and no longer trying to spit the dragonbone sword from its gullet. Dink reached inside his consciousness and forcefully stimuted the aura of the bck Dragon residing within his mana pool, allowing it to leak out and emphasise his words.

  “Mew!” the Griffon suppressed its pride and yielded. It had reigned supreme inside its territory until now, carved out by defeating countless challengers. None of that mattered after sensing imminent death radiating from a predator more dangerous than anything it had ever encountered in its significant lifespan.

  “Good kitty,” Dink praised, ruffling his hand through its feathers to pet it and pulling the sword from its beak. He sheathed it on his back, merging it with his flesh and returning the draconic mana tattoo sigils to their pce along his spine.

  ***

  Dink rose to the sky while standing on the Griffon’s back. He watched the Harpy flock scattered in various directions with wry amusement.

  It would be fantastic if I were able to keep my new pet. Griffons like all Roc bloodlines, can’t leave the mountains for long. Outside their territory, they’ll become sickly and weak until they eventually die. A quirk of their ancestry. It can probably get me to where I need to go, I can feel Murkuk getting closer through our bond. But he’s still a week’s travel away on foot. The Griffon will be invaluable in saving me some time. I wonder why Estra isn’t accompanying him…

  Dink mused to himself as the enormous Griffon fpped its powerful wings to lower them into the Harpy nest. Wind buffeted and scattered dried animal bones and other debris leftover from Harpy hunts. Dink didn’t flinch as he recognised a lot of the bones closely resembled Humanoid remains. Harmon had already scavenged a blunt and rusted sword from among the nest’s intertwined branches. He shielded his face from the galeforce wind, crouching low in a shadowed corner of the nest to avoid detection from the Harpy flock overhead.

  “You’re absolutely full of fucking surprises, Dink Leathertongue. Is that our ride out of here?” Harmon asked, standing up from his hiding spot.

  “It looks to be that way but not just yet. I’m going to enjoy myself and rex for a little bit first. Hehe,” Dink replied, hungrily licking his lips and peering up at the beauties circling overhead. The moment Dink disembarked the Griffon and his feet made contact with the nest, Wart sauntered over and nestled against his leg. Dink stooped down and scooped the mushroom monster up to pce him on his shoulder before turning to speak in the arcane tongue to the Griffon. “Remain close. Aid me ter in my journey and I shall reward you with an upgrade to your lowly bloodline. No one else will ever be able to encroach upon your territory.”

  The Griffon preened and regarded him with keen interest, digesting his words. Making a decision, the proud beast lowered its head in agreement. Pushing off with a mighty leap, the Griffon unched into the sky, scattering the Harpy flock once again.

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