Chapter 7: Fight and Flight

CHAPTER 7

To say that dangling in the air from a griffin’s leg was terrifying would be too close to dishonesty. To be sure, there was a sense of dread that prickled the back of my neck as the green, blue and red pastures skidded past below us, the poor griffin croaking and shaking in an attempt to throw off the four humans that decided to join him in his flight.

But as we cut through the air furiously, all the fears were blown away, nothing but a lone thought lingering in the atmosphere: we were flying! Flying with the help of a griffin no less; such an experience would only be tainted by the trivialities of fearing for your life.

“What now?” Remen screamed his words dispersed in the air.

“Wait for the beast to reach a hill or something,” I shouted back, “whenever the ground is not too far below us, just cut the damn rope.”

“That’s the plan? We’re going to die.” Remen cried as he looked down for an instant. He then closed his eyes and grasped the rope even harder. From where I was it seemed like he was about to start crying.

“Stop complaining and wait for the right moment.” Meili scolded him.

“Hey,” I yelled to her, “this is kind of thrilling is it not?”

She smiled and nodded.

“I’m afraid it is.”

As the griffin led us over the never ending stretches of trees and grass I began to panic slightly, there was always a chance that we would get tired and loosen our grip on the rope, not to mention that the griffin could do something unexpected at any moment. It was high time we made our landing.

System, I thought in my head Am I capable of communicating with this griffin?

As soon as the thought was formed in my mind, the reply came back.

[Negative] it said, [you are not in possession of the ‘Beast Thought’ ability.]

Damn it.

I looked around us when I spotted a relatively low sloping hill to our left. It was still low, perhaps too low to land but that might be our best shot at the moment.

Another problem was that the griffin was not moving in the desired direction, although it spun and twitched, it still flew straight ahead.

“Meili, can you do something to make the griffin fly to the left.” I shouted. “Use your fire to scare it into moving over there.”

I pointed to the hill and Meili looked over.

“I can try.” She said.

She held with one hand onto the rope as she unlatched one of those sticks from her belt.

“I can’t do it with one hand, Alti help me out.” She said as she dropped the stick below.

As Alti tried to catch it the stick swung past his fingers and was almost lost to the ground below, but luckily I had managed to catch it right before that happened.

“Hold it like that, please.” Alti said, even in this situation his soft spoken manner remained.

I held it up to him as he grabbed the other end and broke it off. A stream of red, almost pink fire burst forth on his end and I watched as he burrowed the burning stick into Meili’s calf.

“I am sorry.” I thought I heard Alti say.

The same kind of bright, pink fire bloomed from Meili’s free palm, almost like a blossoming flower as she directed the bolt above, near the griffin’s face. She shot the fire at a right angle and the griffin croaked once more, inching his body to the left. It was still too early to celebrate but things were looking up.

“Remen, be ready. You are up next.” I said.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

“I know, damn you.” He said as he went for his sword.

The hill grew bigger the closer we flew towards it, which relieved some of my anxieties. It might be big enough to catch us all in one piece, I thought, though I knew that made little sense.

Once the peak of the hill was below us I noticed that there was a pool of water there. It made no difference at this point.

“Go Remen.” I said.

“I was already on it.” Remen screamed, cutting the rope in one smooth motion.

We plummeted towards the ground; the blue sparkle of the pond grew in size as if rising up to meet us. With a thundering splash the four of us managed to land, the water cushioning our falls. I went below the surface for a moment, the silence of the pond taking me from all sides; it felt comforting, peaceful even.

The submersion lasted for a few seconds before my feet touched the soft, slimy bottom of the lake. It was just shallow enough. I pushed up, swimming towards the light that pierced the surface of the water. I got my head above water and the world of sounds returned once more. One of the first sight was the griffin, already far off into the horizon, he flew peacefully now, no longer bothered by the four humans that latched onto him just moments earlier.

I then spotted the rest of my party, their wet hair sticking to their equally wet faces. Meili shook her head and wiped the liquid from her eyes. Remen was some distance off, he flailed with his arms, gurgling water in and out of his mouth. It seemed like he was not a good swimmer though there was no real danger in a small pond like this. Alti was there too, he was making way towards Remen to help him. Next to me I noticed Remen’s sword, coasting on the surface of water with a silver glint.

“Something…blah,” Remen spat out the water, “…water.”

Alti grabbed him under the shoulder and held him up. Remen inhaled as much air as he could.

“I saw something underneath.” He squeaked.

Everybody was instantly alert. We looked around when we noticed the water behind me rising up. I remembered a similar lake that we came across earlier. There was a giant snake living inside. I shivered as all sorts of expectations rushed into my head.

The water parted as the green head of a creature came up. It resembled a snake, smaller than the one we had seen earlier but still big enough to swallow you whole. Its yellow eyes darted around, its pink forked tongue shooting out between its slimy lips.

“Damn it, I’m drenched, I can’t use my fire.” Meili said behind me.

I looked at Remen’s sword as it floated past me. I reached for it just as the snake launched its big head towards me, hissing angrily all the while. I grasped the hilt of the sword and swung upwards. I felt the blade pierce the soft flesh under its head, probing through its mouth, until the tip of the sword came up through the top of its head. It stuck its tongue out as I felt its weight pressing down against the sword. I managed to slay it. I pulled out the sword which was covered in purple liquid which I could only assume was the blood of the snake.

I turned to see my three companions look at me in shock.

“Grab this,” I threw the sword over to Remen.

He managed to catch it.

“Blargh, it’s covered in its blood, at least wash it first, you jerk.” He cried, dipping the blade in the water and whirling it around.

“Let’s get out of here before more surprises show up.” I said as I swam towards the ground.

The other three followed suit, planting their drenched bodies into the ground surrounding the pond. I wiped my forehead; no doubt there was a mixture of sweat and water there at this point, perhaps even a few drops of purple blood.

I turned and looked at the body of the snake which was floating across the surface of the water. Its white belly turned towards the sky.

[New species identified,] the system said, [you have just slain a Sea Serpent Minoris.]

[Would you like more information on the species?]

“No I’m good, thank you.” I replied in my head. I thought about something for a moment. “Hey, can I use that Belly of the Shadow ability on this thing?”

[No viable targets for the Belly of the Shadow at the moment,] Was the system’s answer.

I wished to inquire further but I was interrupted by Meili who moved closer to me.

“How are you holding up?” I told her.

“Much better than I expected,” she gave a weak smile, “I just wished to thank you, I want to say thank you for each time you saved our lives today but I have already lost count.”

“Oh don’t mention it,” I laughed awkwardly, “if it wasn’t for you I have a feeling I would be dead too, besides we still haven’t reached our destination, there are still so many things that could go wrong.”

That statement was far from a joke. As exciting as this new world was, the fact that there was danger behind every corner meant that the moment I got too relaxed or let my guard down, it could spell my doom. It wasn’t too far-fetched to say that this was a world where only the strong ones survived, sure that was valid in my old world too, but in a world where giant sea serpents were out for your life, the survival of the fittest hierarchy took on a whole new dimension.

“I don’t want to think about that too much.” She said.

“Fair enough, instead why don’t we just keep moving?” I said.

“Listen here,” Remen pointed his sword at me, “I will allow you to stick around while we get back to our guild but as soon as that is done, I don’t wish to see your face ever again, you are a magnet for danger. It’s like you are cursed.”

“I heard you loud and clear,” I gave a fake bow. “Until then, we keep walking.”

I got up as the other three began moving behind me. Remembering that I don’t know where we are going I stopped and turned to them.

“Please lead the way.” I smiled.