Book 2 C 29 Rise of the Griffin Rider

“He is so cute!” Ki'Diera cries in delight, her happiness is contagious right now, she is hugging the Griffin around the neck. Cindy and Aerleras also have big smiles and are petting the tamed beast, while Julie is healing its wing carefully, as to not cause it pain.

I eye the other 5 Griffin that have landed close by and are watching us with great interest. I sense from our new friend, that the 5 are no threat to us at this time, but it would be wise not to approach them.

“Thank you for that thought”, I say to the Griffin.

Julie looks over the wing and slowly stretches it out, “there that should do it, fully healed”, she says smiling to the Griffin. It stands up and shakes itself, relieving itself of the Girls gently then stretches both wings and gives them both a test flap. Satisfied it goes to Julie and nudges her gently with its face against her face.

“Hey no fair, he is mine”, Ki'Diera cries out in jealousy.

The Griffin walks over to her and does the same to her. Giggling in delight, Ki'Diera scratches it being the left ear and pushes her face against it's face.

“This is pretty amazing Scott, we can tame such amazing creatures?” Aerleras says in amazement.

“We got really lucky on that one, had it failed we may have had to put it down.”, I say to Aerleras with doubtful glance at the beast.

“I was not going to fail, I knew it would succeed.” Ki'Diera insists still petting and hugging her new pet.

“Shall we try to tame the others?”, Cindy asks looking at the five nearby.

“Not yet, let's give it some time and see how this one works out first. Maybe a few more levels under our belts and we can try again”, I say to her, knowing we will not get so lucky two times in a row, with such high level creatures. “We only have a 1% shot at it at best”

“Sigh, you are right, did you find out about the Dragon attack on the others?” Cindy asks.

“Yeah, Rick says a group of Elites got caught and killed by it.” I say to her sadly.

“Anyone we know?”, she asks fearing to hear the answer

“No, they were all new from the 3rd group of recruits. I did not get a chance to meet them yet.” I say to her.

“Marcus, Isaacs, Landon, Thompson, Jenkins, and Rowlings, I met them all and assigned them to the Elites,” Julie says sadly.

“I am so sorry Kitten”, I say to her and take her into a hug. “Maybe we can get them resurrected?” I say to her.

She shakes her head,” I doubt it, they were alone, no family here”.

“Sigh, this sacrifice is a pain in the ass at times,” I say to no one in particular, just thinking out loud.

“True, but at least we do have the option, and with more and more people pairing up now, I think it will get easier over time,” Julie says to me.

“Well, what say you, we head back to the Keep and call it day?” I ask, the Dragon experience was enough for us today, and I was still sore from the attack, tho my back was healed now.

“We are taking him back with us right?”, Ki'Diera asks, but it was more a demand than that.

“Of course we are, we also have a Rock Golem there now too.” I smile saying to her,” question is will he follow us?”.

I then get the impression, that if one of us rode on its back he would take that person to where ever they wanted to go if he can reach it.

“Well that settles that, let's go home then,”, I laugh and walk to the Griffin and pet it on the ear, it bends its head to me as if enjoying the scratching. “we will merge into one and all ride him ok?”

All four quickly nod and happily agree to that prospect, the thought of flying, tho a few were somewhat scared, but the thrill of flying, overrode that fear.

“This is Scott to Rick” I call over the radio, I did not have a designated name today, so went casual and called who I specifically wanted on the radio.

“Stand by for Rick”, says a voice over the radio.

“Copy that Standing by for Rick” I say.

After a short break,” This is Rick go ahead.”

“Rick this is Scott, clear the courtyard for guest, I repeat clear the courtyard for guest, and hold your fire”, I say to him smiling.

“Umm ok Copy that, holding fire and clearing courtyard for guest, can I ask who the guest is, over?” Rick says uncertain.

“Scott to Rick watch the sky and you will see, over” I say to him.

With that we merge into one and get on the Griffin's back, who then stretches out its wings and takes a running leap into the air. We quickly climb in altitude, all five of us are thrilled and excited by the flying and the wind blowing around us as we soar thru the sky. Getting our bearings, we direct the Griffin to the Keep. I look behind us and the five other Griffin are following us at a distance.

Giving the Griffin the directions with our minds, the Griffin begins to dive then levels out and lands, running into the courtyard coming to a quick halt using its huge wings to slow it down. It lets out a loud piercing screech to announce its arrival, we are near the entrance of the Keep itself. I look back and see all five Griffin have also landed inside of the south eastern corner of the walls.

I sense they are trying got establish if we are friendly or not and are watching their sibling with care. Advanced intelligence and sibling care, that is amazing

I know right? These guys are amazing

Oh I hope we can keep them all!

I am truly amazed at their close proximity to us.

I am just happy they did not eat us.

A crowd quickly forms outside as people come rushing out of the Keep and into the West gate at the sight of the majestic Griffin. Some start running towards the five.

“STOP! STAY AWAY FROM THEM, THEY ARE WILD!!” I yell with all my lung capacity stopping everyone in their tracks. That yell actually hurt.

“We need to keep the people away from those five, they followed us on their own,”, I say to Rick, as we jump off and split into our separate selves, who is walking towards us with an uneasy expression.

“Is there a suggested safe distance?”, He asks.

“I would say not to push more than 30 m maybe?” I say with an apologetic expression on my face.

“Not helping Scott, not helping at all,” Rick says shaking his head as he looks over the Griffin and finds the courage to touch it.

“Well at least they did not eat us at 30 m” I say to him with a weak smile.

“ok,, slowly folks, you do not want to startle him”, Julie says with concern

“Single file, everyone in a line” Yells Cindy.

The Griffin gives off a screech one that sounds annoyed. The other five give off a screech that sounds more like a warning. Everyone jumps back a the sounds.

“Ok that is enough, he has had enough attention for now,”, Ki'Diera now begins to shoo the people away protective of her Griffin. She had an especially hard time with the Ny'Har'en who were mesmerized by the Griffin.

Rick had two Elite stand guard by the other Griffin to keep folks away, it was not a popular duty, as the Elite looked more at the five Griffin with caution than the people trying to see them. The Griffin stared back at them doing the same, a standoff of sorts.

“Go to your family for now, that should keep these people at bay”, Ki'Diera says to the Griffin who happily gets up and head over to the other five. As he arrives the other five surround him, smell him , nudge him and press up against him, then they all lay down as one and sink their heads down on each others bodies to go to sleep. Almost immediately the entire courtyard turns into whispers so as not to disturb them.

We head inside and go to the Cafeteria, to grab a bite, and find it is fairly empty, no wonder with the Griffins outside. We grab our plates and make ourselves a tray of food and drink, then head over to the King's Table. Ki'Diera is talking excitedly about the Griffin to us, envisioning an army of Griffin Riders.

As she talks I decide to check my inventory to see what dropped from the Dragon. I see a dozen Green Dragon scales inside, Great more scales, we got hides and scales coming out of our ears, but we have yet to find a use for them. Then I see an odd object, a lance of some kind. Curious, I equip it. The large lance, 8 foot long comes into being, as I hold it upright. It is made it seems of pure silver, but it sparkles, reflecting the light from the many fractals along the lance.

Inspecting it closely, the craftsmanship is breathtaking, almost incomprehensible how something like this can even be made. The tip is solid looking, but again of the same fractal design, the point is sharp and clean.

I inspect the Item.

ITEM!UNKNOWN Lance.

Strange, just like the sword and ring I gave Ki'Diera, I could not identify them either.

“That looks rather interesting Scott, are you going jousting?”, Cindy remarks with a smile teasing.

“It is actually what dropped from the Dragon.”, I say to her still observing he Lance, “ and we got about a dozen Dragon scales too.”

“The Scales may be important, as have been most of the other drops,” Cindy says, getting up and walks to the Lance, looking at it. “Maybe Ki'Diera can identify it, like she did the others. Ki'Diera?”

Ki'Diera turns and looks at us and sees the Lance, “Yes Cindy?”

“Can you identify this?", Cindy asks and points to the lance I am holding, then takes her seat again.

Ki'Diera gets up and walks to the Lance, takes hold of it and stares, concentrating on it. Then she hands the Lance back to me, “No, it is not something I can use it seems.”

“Wait so in order to be able to identify something you have to be able to use it?” I ask.

“That has been the case in the past for me, yes.” Ki'Diera says.

“Then what about the regeneration ring, I am able to use it, but could not identify it”, I ask quickly.

“That might be because you did not have enough knowledge about it to do so, or you simply lacked the knowledge to understand it?”, Ki'Diera says to me as she heads back to her seat to finish her lunch.

“Hmm, who would have knowledge on lances?” I ask out loud. My thoughts drift on that, if this were 500 years ago I could go to a Knight and ask..........Knight, Alexander!

I get up quickly, “Excuse me my loves, I need to go see Alexander.” I say to them and depart. They each stare at me in kind wondering what was up at my suddenness, but dismiss it as they continue talking to one another.

I quickly track down Alexander, he is outside the Inner walls at the Elven Village. I run towards him and see him and several Guards are hauling several carts of fruits and vegetables from the Elven Village. He sees me running towards him and lets the cart down carefully as not to let anything fall out.

“Your Majesty is everything ok?”, He asks concerned, bowing and saluting, right fist to heart.

“Yes, all is well Alexander”, I say to him. “I need you to see if you can identify something for me.”

“By all means your Majesty, it would be my pleasure.”, he says.

I take out the lance and present it to him, “Ahh that is a beautiful lance your Majesty, I have never seen such craftsmanship like this in a weapon before.” He says slowly inspecting it closely from the handle to the tip. “Unfortunately I can non make out what kind of lance this is, it does posses magical properties of some kind.” He finally reports, and hands the lance back to me.

“That is a shame, it is what I got from the Dragon upon it's death”, I say to him now disheartened at the news.

“Yes your Majesty a congratulation is in order, you are the first I know of, for ever having defeat such a beast in all my years, job well done your Majesty, they will sing your praise for years to come, I know I will.” He says to me, proud of my accomplishment.

“Thank you Alexander, but if I had had a choice, I wold have avoided it entirely”, I say to him somewhat embarrassed.

“I believe most, if not all, would say the same, but alas I think you are the only to ever live and tell,”, he smiles to me.

I see the carts and am curious and ask, “Are those carts from the Elves?”

“Yes your Majesty, they have arranged that a apart of their harvest goes to the Settlement so it does not go to waste.” Alexander states.

“Did they not just plant the trees like a week ago?” I ask in amazement.

“Yes they did your Majesty, but it seems their growth takes on the seasons as well, so every year of growth also yields a year supply of fruits. So to grow the trees as tall as they have , well you can imagine how much fruit they have on hand now,”, he laughs.

I am amazed at the news, if that was the case, a single tree would supply us with 10 to 15 years or even more of its harvest till the desired age was reached by the elves, all in a single growth spurt.

“Very well thank you Alexander for handling this for us”, I say to him, as I begin to leave.

“It is no problem your Majesty, we adapted quickly to the Elves and their trait, it is the least we can do,”, Alexander says and grabs onto the cart again and begins to lead the other guards back to the Keep with their carts in tow.

“Who else can I ask about this lance?”, I ask out loud to no one in particular.

“You should try the Blacksmith your Majesty, if anyone would know it would be them.” Says Alexander upon hearing my question.

Of course, someone has to make it and who would understand such a thing better than someone who can make them?

I thank Alexander and head for the Blacksmith, it would be my first visit there. I sent the swords there by Rick, but never stepped foot in the place before, so it will be a first for me. Arriving at the Blacksmith I hear hammers pounding on metal and the sound of steam being created, The smell of oil and soot hits me as I approach the door.

I enter into a large room, the heat his me like a blow dryer in the face. There are several pits that are glowing from the heat inside them. I see several burly looking Ny'Har'en, 4 in total, working hard on projects of their own. The sweat is pouring off of them, as they stand next to their pits, hammering away at a sword or hammer laying on an anvil, then watch them as they dip the blades back into the fire to heat it back up.

I approach one blacksmith who is engrossed in his work and does not notice me.

“(Excuse me, I was hoping if you could help me)”, I ask the large muscular Ny'Har'en male.

“(Come back later, we are rather busy right now finishing this order for the King),”, Answers the male.

“(I am sure the King would not mind this)”, I say to him with a smile.

“(Whatever it is it will have to wa........)” He begins saying and looks to me, then his face pale and he drops to one knee head bowed dropping his sword in the process, “(Begging your Majesty's forgiveness, I did not see you Sire, how can I be of service!)”.

“(Please rise, Blacksmith, I would like to see if you can identify this lance for me)”, I ask him and take out the lance once more and present it to him.

He rises and looks curiously at the lance, inspecting every inch from top to bottom and back. Then he places the tip in the fire and waits. After a few minutes he pulls it our of the fire, it does not look any different from before, he touches the tip and his eyes go wide “(there is no heat)”, he exclaims.

“(Is that significant?)”, I ask of him

“(Very much so, all metal need heat to mold and temper them. You remove the impurities and strengthen the metal over time with heat. This metal carries no heat, in fact it is cold to the touch even after sitting in the fire)”, he says with a look of amazement., “(I know of no metal that can do such a thing, and this craftsmanship is beyond anything I could ever achieve.)”.

“(Do you have any idea what it actually is?)” ,I ask him with hope.

“(Hmm well I can see it's name, but beyond that no, the name is Dragon Lance)”, he says with a frown, not able to be of further assistance to me.

“(So we do not know if it is actually useful or not against Dragons?)”, I ask him.

“(I am afraid not, I can not tell you if it is a lance of dragon slaying or a lance for a Dragon Rider, or even a lance made for Dragons themselves.)”, He says shaking his head sadly.

I thank him and take my leave. It is then I see Lt Miller and some of his pilots.

“Hey Chief, gonna keep up grounded forever?”, he calls out to me.

“Hey Miller, with the new Dragon and now the Griffins, it might turn out that way”, I say to him honestly.

“That looks pretty cool in your hands, what do you have there?” Miller says in excitement.

“This is Dragon Lance we got off of the Dragon today, we are not sure what it does”, I say to him.

“May I see it?”, he asks me.

“Sure,” I say to him handing him the Lance.

“Wow this is really cool, it feels nice and balanced,” he says and seems to hold it properly,”With those Griffins and this lance we could be Griffin Riders, fighting those Dragons up there. Give me a magical mini Gatling Gun with infinite bullets on this arm and the lance on this arm, sitting on a Griffin high up in the sky, throw on some tough magic enhanced armor, it would have to be white, like the white Knights of course, ladies all love it, and probably be able to withstand a Dragons fire breath, add some armor for my Griffin to do the same, and........” , Miller falls silent suddenly. He looks stunned.

“Miller?”, I ask him.

“I ...I did it Chief, I got a new profession!” He exclaims in joy.

“You did?” I ask in disbelief.

“I got Griffin Rider, just as I said it with some enhancements!”, He says excitedly and then seems to open something in front of him. “Oh wow, it even has Griffin armor in here and my Armor, shit that is nice”.

“Miller that is amazing!”, I say to him happy at the new profession.

“Yeah let me put this shit on!”, he says and quickly tries to put on his Armor, I then have to step in and explain how to get the armor equipped and how to use his presets. His buddies are all quietly whispering in awe and amazement at it all. After about 10 min a fully equipped Griffin Rider Miller stand before me.

He is standing tall and proud at 6 ft in is shining new white armor, it is not metal as per the usual knight armor, but more ceramic looking, harder and sturdier. It leaves room for movement, especially having to sit in a saddle on a Griffin and move your upper body about. He has a white rounded helmet with a darkened visor on it, Almost like the Super Soldier version, however his only covers to the nose and stops leaving his mouth and chin free. On his left arm is a mini mana enhanced Gatling Gun, that shoots mana bullets rather than regular bullets. And in his right arm is the Lance I let him hold.

He looks at the Lance once again,” this lance is pretty amazing, the stats on it are are out of this world.” he says.

“You can read the Stats?” I ask once again in disbelief.

“Yeah it says +150% Str enhancement, +50% Damage to Dragons, Enchantment +5, base damage 1000 -1550 X5”, He says smiling at the Lance.

“Holy shit! That IS amazing”, I cry out.

He then starts to hand me the Lance back and I push it back to him, “It is yours Captain Miller of the Griffin Riders!”

“Captain?”, He asks.

“Well yes, you are now promoted to recruit and train others as Captain of our new Aerial unit, the Griffin Riders, Captain Miller! “, I say to him grinning from ear to ear, happy at this new turn of events.

“Yes Chief!” He says now grinning too, and salutes me, I salute him back.

“Now to get my Griffin!”, He says in excitement and runs to the six Griffins laying in a heap in the corner.

“Miller!”, I call out, but it is too late, Miller already started to tame a Griffin. The results was spectacular. The Griffin screeched a challenge while Miller stood and concentrated on it. The Griffin got up and walked towards Miller and Miller smiled proudly. The Griffin got in range of Miller then in the blink of an eyes swats him with it's front Talon, sending Miller high into the air and 20 m far unconscious to the ground. The Griffin turns and returns to the heap of Griffins and lays back down annoyed and closes it's eyes once more.

“Yeah Miller you are level 1 and they are level 225, not gonna happen.” I say shaking my head walking to him, “MEDIC!!” I yell out.