Ch. 77 - Quest Complete (Patreon)

We landed in a clearing about a hundred metres from the town gates, our wings folding away as we touched down. The familiar tingle of glamour magic washed over my skin as I concealed my demonic features beneath an unremarkable human facade.

"Ready?" I asked.

The others nodded, their own disguises settling into place. Faith's white hair darkened to brown, her horns vanishing beneath the illusion. Isabella's aristocratic features softened into something more common. Only Aria seemed to pout slightly at having to hide her purple eyes.

We walked through the gates and back toward the guild hall. The streets were busier now, merchants packing up their stalls as the afternoon edged toward evening. A woman hawked roasted nuts from a cart. Two children chased each other between the buildings, shrieking with laughter.

The guild hall felt warmer than before, the afternoon crowd thicker. I pushed through to the desk where a different clerk sat—a middle-aged woman with greying hair tied back in a severe bun.

"Quest completion," I said, setting the pouch of ears on the counter.

She peered inside without flinching, then counted quickly. "Fourteen. Standard goblin extermination?"

"Yes."

"Party name?"

"Inferno."

She pulled out a ledger and made a note. "Eight silver for the completion. Seven silver for the ears." She counted out fifteen silver coins and slid them across the desk. "Good work."

I divided the coins between us—four each, with the last three going into my spatial ring for shared expenses. The money clinked together in my palm, light and insubstantial. I had no idea if this was good pay or terrible. The coins were worn smooth, their edges rounded from countless transactions.

We stepped away from the counter.

"So what now?" Aria spun one of her coins between her fingers. "Two hours until sunset. Seems a waste to call it a day."

I glanced toward the quest board on the far wall, its surface covered in parchment notices. "Let's see what other trouble this place has. We can handle it ourselves. Like our silent friend with the goblins."

"I like the way you think." Aria grinned.

Isabella moved toward the board without comment. Faith followed, Durendal's weight visible in the way she held her left side.

The notices varied wildly—missing livestock, suspected bandits on the northern road, a merchant seeking guards for a caravan. My eyes skipped past the bronze and iron requests to the silver tier.

Faith tapped a notice near the top. "Griffin. Nesting in the western hills, harassing travellers and villagers alike." She looked back at us. "Think we can take one?"

"Bah." Aria waved dismissively. "It's nothing compared to ancient liches or vampires."

"You have a point," Faith admitted.

Isabella studied the notice for a moment longer. "Then it's settled."

We turned to leave just as the door opened. The armoured man from the cave stepped through, his helmet scanning the room before he moved toward the counter. He didn't look in our direction.

Outside, we headed for the town gates.

"He was surprisingly fast," Aria said.

I frowned. "What?"

"We flew here. He went on foot." She jerked her thumb back toward the guild. "Yet he only arrived a few minutes after us."

"Strange indeed," Isabella murmured.

Faith shrugged. "Perhaps he had a horse. Or some other mount."

"Let's not worry about him." I picked up my pace. "We're not staying here much longer anyway."

"What about the book?" Aria asked. "The one about Durendal?"

"Too late now. We'll get it next time we visit this realm." The western hills were visible in the distance, silhouetted against the lowering sun. "Right now, we have a griffin to hunt."

We passed through the gates and into the grasslands beyond. The town fell away behind us, its walls shrinking with each step.

Aria stretched her arms overhead. "Finally. Something with teeth. Well, beak—but you know what I mean."

*

Once we'd cleared the last of the outlying farms, I let my wings unfold. The membrane stretched wide, catching the evening air. Faith and Isabella followed suit, their forms shifting as demonic features emerged.

Isabella reached down and hooked her arms under Aria's shoulders, lifting her into the air. Aria's legs dangled as they rose.

"Think we'll get to fight in the air?" Aria called over the wind.

"Probably." Isabella adjusted her grip. "Which means you'll need to stay on the ground."

"Don't worry about me." Aria twisted to look up at her. "My wings are too small for long distances, but I can manage combat. Plus I've learned the flight magic."

Isabella's brow furrowed. "Then why am I carrying you?"

"Because I love being carried by you two."

Isabella released her.

Aria's yelp cut through the air as she dropped. I jerked forward instinctively, but purple light flared around her body before I'd moved three metres. She shot back up toward us, arms crossed and lower lip jutting out.

"That was rude," she said.

Isabella smiled. "You said you could fly."

"I can!"

"Then fly."

Aria huffed but stayed airborne on her own, the purple glow pulsing faintly around her wings.

I banked slightly to avoid a thermal. The ground rolled beneath us, grassland giving way to rockier terrain. "I've never fought in the air before."

"Neither have I," Faith said. "Unless a fighter jet counts."

I turned to look at her. "You fought in a fighter jet?"

"No." Her expression remained perfectly neutral for three seconds before cracking. "But I wanted to see your reaction."

I angled toward her and bumped her shoulder with mine. She wobbled, caught herself, then bumped back.

"Aerial combat isn't that difficult." Isabella's voice carried the certainty of experience. "Not against animals or monsters. Follow what I do and let your instincts guide you. Your body knows more than you think."

The hills rose ahead, their slopes dotted with scrub brush and the occasional twisted tree. Shadows pooled in the valleys between them, lengthening as the sun dropped lower. I scanned the ridges, searching for movement or the telltale shape of a nest.

Nothing yet.

"How do we even find it?" Aria asked. "Just fly around until it attacks us?"

"That's one approach." Isabella pointed toward a cluster of larger hills to the northwest. "Or we look for signs. Griffins nest high. They need clear approaches for diving."

I adjusted course, angling toward the area she'd indicated. The wind shifted, carrying a faint scent of something musky and sharp. Not quite bird, not quite cat.

Faith wrinkled her nose. "Do you smell that?"

"Yeah." I breathed in again, trying to place it. The scent thickened as we drew closer to the hills.

Below, white shapes dotted the rocks. Bones. Some still had scraps of hide clinging to them.

"There." Isabella gestured toward a crag near the summit of the tallest hill. A dark opening marked the cliff face, its entrance wide enough for something large to pass through.

I circled lower, keeping my distance. The bones littered the slope beneath the cave, scattered across a hundred metres of scree. Recent kills mixed with older remains, the white standing out against the grey stone.

"Definitely the right place," I said.

Aria drifted closer to me. "So do we just... knock?"

"Or wait for it to come home." Faith's hand rested on Durendal's hilt. The sword's eye remained closed.

I studied the cave mouth. No movement. No sound beyond the wind whistling across the rocks.

"We wait," Isabella decided. "Find a position where we can see the approach and have room to manoeuvre."

We descended toward an outcropping about fifty metres from the cave, its surface flat enough to land. My feet touched stone, and I folded my wings away.

The sun touched the horizon, painting the sky in shades of orange and red.

Somewhere in the distance, a shriek echoed across the hills.

*

The shriek came again, closer now.

I pushed off from the outcropping. "Let's go."

My wings caught the air as I climbed. Faith and Isabella flanked me, Aria trailing behind with her purple glow pulsing.

We banked toward the sound, flying low over the ridgeline. Another shriek echoed across the valley, sharper this time. Eager.

The wind shifted.

I gagged. Rot hit the back of my throat—thick, cloying sweetness mixed with decay. Like meat left in the sun for days.

"What is that?" Aria's voice pitched higher than usual.

Faith covered her nose with her forearm. "Something dead."

Isabella's expression tightened but she didn't slow. "From the same direction as the griffin."

We crested another hill. The smell intensified, coating my tongue. I breathed through my mouth and immediately regretted it.

Below, the terrain opened into a broad field dotted with rocks. The griffin circled above it, wings spread wide as it rode a thermal. Its lion haunches gleamed bronze in the fading light, forelegs ending in wicked talons. The eagle head turned slowly, scanning the ground.

"What's it doing?" Aria asked.

"Looks like it's getting ready to hunt." Isabella watched the pattern of its flight. "Scanning for threats before it commits to a kill."

Faith's hand dropped to Durendal's hilt. "Let's surprise it."

I studied the field below. The griffin continued its lazy circles, but I didn't see anything moving. No deer, no livestock, nothing that should draw a predator's attention.

"Something's wrong," I said. "There's nothing down there to hunt."

Aria pointed. "What about that?"

I squinted toward a white shape near the centre of the field. For a second it did look like a sheep—pale wool, the right size. Then my eyes adjusted and the details sharpened. Too still. Too perfect. The proportions were off, the texture flat.

"It's a dummy," I said.

Isabella's wings tilted, changing her angle. "So either somebody laid a trap for our griffin, or they're using a lure to keep it away from actual livestock."

The griffin completed another circle, dropping lower. The rotten smell had to be coming from the dummy. Meat spoiling in the sun, probably smeared across the fake sheep to draw the griffin in.

"What do we do?" I asked. "Sweep in and kill it now? Or let it take the lure and see what happens?"

"Let's kill it." Aria's glow brightened. "I don't want another boring resolution like the goblins."

Faith nodded. "We're leaving tomorrow anyway."

Isabella looked at me. I studied the griffin's flight pattern one more time. It had committed now, wings pulling tight as it began its dive.

"Alright," I said. "We go now."

I folded my wings and dropped.

Wind screamed past my horns. The field rushed up to meet me. I tracked the griffin's descent, adjusting my trajectory to intercept.

Faith and Isabella fell beside me, their forms dark against the orange sky. Aria's purple glow streaked behind us like a comet.

The griffin's wings flared as it reached for the dummy.

I crashed into its back.

My claws dug into feathers and muscle. The griffin shrieked, the sound splitting the air three inches from my ear. Its body twisted beneath me, massive wings beating as it tried to throw me off.

Faith slammed into its left flank. Isabella took the right. The weight drove it down, wings folding at awkward angles.

We hit the ground together.

Dirt exploded around us. I tightened my grip on the griffin's shoulders, feeling muscle bunch beneath the feathers. Its head whipped back, beak snapping at my face.

The dummy lay ten metres away, reeking of rot and flies.

The griffin screamed again and bucked.

*

The griffin thrashed beneath me, talons scoring the dirt. Its wings beat once, twice, trying to lift us off the ground.

Faith drove her knee into its ribs. The creature wheezed.

"Pin the wings!" Isabella called.

I shifted my weight, claws sinking deeper into the shoulders where muscle met bone. The griffin shrieked and twisted its neck, beak snapping inches from my face. Saliva sprayed across my cheek.

Aria landed on the griffin's head with a laugh. "Finally! Something that fights back!"

Purple energy crackled around her fists. She drove one into the griffin's skull. The beast jerked, eyes rolling.

"Don't kill it too fast," Faith said. She gripped Durendal's hilt, the red eye on the pommel gleaming. "I want to see what this thing can do."

The griffin's wings flared. Power surged through its body—not magic, just raw animal strength. It threw itself sideways.

I held on. Faith stumbled back a step. The griffin's talons found purchase and it launched skyward, dragging me with it.

Wind tore at my face. The ground dropped away.

"Lily!" Isabella's voice echoed below.

I tightened my grip. The griffin climbed, wings beating in desperate rhythm. Blood slicked my palms where my claws had punched through feathers.

Aria shot past, purple trailing behind her. "Where do you think you're going?"

She slammed into the griffin's side. We spun in the air, sky and earth trading places. My stomach lurched.

Faith appeared on the other side, wings spread wide. Durendal's blade flashed crimson in the dying light. She drove it into the griffin's flank.

The creature screamed. Its wings faltered.

We dropped.

I let go and caught the air with my own wings. Faith pulled Durendal free and peeled away. The griffin tumbled, blood trailing from the wound in its side.

It recovered twenty metres from the ground, wings snapping out. But the injured side buckled. The griffin listed to one side, struggling to stay aloft.

"It's trying to run," Isabella observed. She stood in the field below, arms crossed. "Should we let it?"

I glided down to land beside her. "Aria would never forgive us."

"True."

Above, Aria harried the griffin like a purple comet. She'd dart in, land a strike, then spiral away before the beak could reach her. Each impact drew another shriek.

Faith's movements sharpened. She'd close the distance, Durendal would flash, then she'd fall back. Testing. Learning. The blade seemed to drink the blood that coated it.

"She's enjoying herself," I said.

Isabella nodded. "It's good for her. She needs to learn to fight like we do, not like VCD taught her."

"You think she's adapting?"

"Look at her face."

I did. Faith's expression held concentration, yes, but beneath it—joy. Raw and unfiltered. She wasn't hunting a monster. She was playing.

The griffin tried to climb higher. Aria wouldn't let it. She seized one wing and yanked. Feathers tore free. The griffin spun, losing altitude.

"Ten souls says Aria kills it," Isabella said.

"You're on. Faith has the sword."

We watched. Aria drove both fists into the griffin's spine. The crack echoed across the field. The griffin convulsed, wings seizing.

Faith swooped beneath it, blade raised.

"Wait for it..." Isabella murmured.

The griffin fell. Faith met it halfway, Durendal carving through the breast. The red eye blazed. The griffin's shriek cut off mid-note.

They crashed together into the dirt.

Silence.

Then Aria's laughter rang out, bright and wild. "Did you see that? Did you see that?"

Faith stood, pulling Durendal free. The blade dripped crimson. She was breathing hard, eyes bright. "That was..."

The griffin twitched once, then stilled.

"Fun?" I offered.

She met my gaze. A smile curved her lips. "Yeah. Fun."