163. Fishing: Tabitha.

The next evening, we camped near a river. I saw Wiremu and Tāoke leave well before dawn with their fishing rod. I decided an early morning ride would be nice to see the dawn in. That just shows how much I have changed since meeting Wiremu three, or is it four years ago? Back then, I would never have got up to see the dawn. I would barely be getting to bed.

Dusk and I rode upriver. We passed Wiremu and Tāoke. Just as the dawn broke, I saw something really strange. It was a Griffon, but it wasn’t a Griffon. A Griffon looks like a mixture of a lion and an eagle. It isn’t that, as it is its own particular creature, but it looks like that. It has a lion's body with eagle wings and beak. They are not monsters, but they prey on monsters, so often become monsters by eating monster flesh and sometimes monster cores.

The first anomaly I noticed was the wings were crooked, and it couldn’t fly straight. I assumed it had been in a fight and had a broken wing. I was immediately thinking this could make a fantastic bond. Then I noticed the body wasn’t right either. There was no eagle-shaped beak, but a lion-shaped mouth, sort of. I regretted not having Farsight. Then I got a good view as it turned toward me and dived into the river. Dived might be a bit ambitious. Crashed might be a better word.

What I saw was this was no lion, but a Lionkin. I rode to the bank near where she went into the water, and while I was at it, I sent Nyx to get Wiremu. I stopped Dusk and dismounted as she pulled herself out of the river, a fish caught in her claws. I stayed well back as she ripped into the fish raw. She was obviously starved, and he had been for some time, going from her malnourished body. She was naked, so I could see how bad she was. It looked like she also had a broken ankle now that she was in the range of my Spatial Awareness. She knew I was there, but she ripped into the fish like it was her first meal for months, and it may have been. That raised some questions, as there is a lot of plentiful game around here that is not hard to catch, like the fish.

“Hello, my name is Skygge,” I said when she had finished, “you look like you need some help.” I reached into the saddle bag on Dusk and tossed her a small bag of trail rations I carried.

She sniffed it and then started eating more slowly than she had the fish, watching me warily.

“We have two good healers not far from here. One can fix that ankle easily. No charge.” I said.

“Catkin?” she asked.

“We travel with some Catkin, but the healers are human and dwarf,” I said.

Then I heard the sound of galloping horses. I almost sighed. What's to bet that the cat haters from yesterday were also the ones responsible for the wretched state of the Lionkin. The lionkin heard them as well and got herself to her feet, looking around for somewhere to hide. Her one good wing was being used as an awkward crutch for her ankle. I moved so Dusk and I stood between the incoming horses and the lionkin.

I knew this was going to go bad as soon as the poacher accuser cleared the rise and angled for us. There were only eight of them this time, and I decided not to give them time to monologue and accuse. Shadows rose from the ground tripping the horses and sending the riders crashing. Three of them had high agility, landed or rolled to their feet, and used the momentum to keep coming at me fast. A couple had broken limbs, while others were just winded. I did feel sorry for the horses, but you never let the enemy have the advantage if you can help it.

Two coming at me had hunting knives, and the other a spear. I drew my dual swords and went to work. They were fast with high agility, but my swords had the reach over the knife wielders. I parried the first attacker while simultaneously stabbing the second. I had to back up from the spear jab but positioned myself to kill the stabbed one. I sliced the other knifer fighter but took a flesh wound from the spearman. That would be fixed soon as I had my Siphon Constitution running.

The spear wielder used some Skill, and one of my swords went flying. I manoeuvred around the knife wielder using my Pickpocket and Sleight of Hand Skills to take his backup knife. That levelled both of them. I hadn’t thought to use them in a fight before. Slight of Hand went to Journeyman level finally. The three without broken limbs were picking themselves up and drawing weapons. It wasn’t time to draw Blacksteel yet.

Then an unexpected ally crashed into the spearman breaking his arm. It wasn’t the Lionkin, Wiremu or Tāoke. It was Dusk, and as her hooves smashed down on the spearman, I felt a mental tug. She wanted to bond. Oh, hell yes! She had been with me since our escape from the empire, and some of my best times were riding her like the wind. Our bond snapped into place, and it felt familiar and comforting, as well as energetic with the desire to run. Fast. She was truly becoming my Shadow Mount. Our coordination improved, and with my cutting and her hooves, the final knife woman joined the spearman, unmoving on the ground.

“Stop, or she dies!” Poacher dude yelled.

I knew without turning he had a knife at her throat, and she had a broken arm to add to her injuries. The other two were advancing on me, weapons drawn, and one of the ones with a broken leg had a bow aimed at me. Nyx had arrived back, and we just needed a little time. I warned Dusk to be ready, and I turned slowly as he expected.

“Drop your weapons. You Bitch! You killed my sister!”

I slowly lowered my weapons but didn’t let go of them. “If the girl is your sister, she needs immediate attention, and she may yet live,” I lied, knowing full well she was dead. I am a professional actress, and I figured the possibility of saving his sister would make him concentrate on that. I had my shadows hide the worst wound and move slightly under her clothes to make it seem like she had taken a shallow breath.

“Move away from her bitch. Joe, help her!”

I moved Dusk and myself to the side a bit, positioning us better. I still held the sword and knife. One of the guys rushed forward carelessly, and I gave Dusk the go-ahead. Her rear hooves slammed into Joe, cracking bones. At the same time, Nyx shadow spiked the archer's eyes, and an arrow slammed into the poacher dude. This arrow burned him to a crisp before he knew what was happening. As soon as the knife dropped slightly, the Lionkin threw herself into the nearby river. She may have burns to add to her list of injuries.

I disarmed the last healthy person and bound him in shadows for the moment. There was a blind broken leg guy, and one person who hadn’t got up after the horses went down. Joe wouldn’t be getting up again. Five of the horses were alright. The other three would have to be put down.

I picked up my dropped sword and walked to the edge of the river. When Lionkin girl came to the surface, I said, “It is safe to come out now unless you have burns that need longer.”

She stood up and limped to the edge of the river. Her wings were more of a hindrance than a help. I reached an arm down to help her up the bank, and she was wary, but she took it. She sat on the edge of the bank, back to everything, and just burst into tears. She has been severely traumatised. I sat beside her and put my arm around her. Because I had my back to him, the guy bound in shadows tried to break out, and the guy who had laid still after the horses went down decided to try to make a run for it. I ignored them both. The guy bound in shadows would run out of energy before he broke out of the shadows as I was syphoning the energy from him to power it. It was very efficient.

The guy who tried to make a run for it only got about three steps, and he had a 10m snake wrapped around him binding his arms to his body. When he struggled to escape, Tāoke tightened his coils, and my Hearing Aid heard more bones crack. Tāoke was now in his face, fangs ready to strike. I know I wouldn’t be moving.

The Lionkin pulled herself together when she heard footsteps. We looked up, and Wiremu was strolling along the bank. His bow was away, and he had a fishing pole in one hand and a string with four fish tied to it in the other. He looked just like a fisherman out to catch the early morning fish.

The lionkin started to struggle to get up, but I said, “Don’t worry, that is just my brother Sten.” She hadn’t looked around and seen Tāoke yet, so let's keep her calm for now. “I am guessing these people are the cause of your troubles?”

She nodded and pulled herself together even more and struggled to get up. I helped her but warned her, “Everyone not restrained is on our team.”

We turned, and she saw one guy bound in darkness, a guy bound with a snake and a guy who was blind, lying still in the mud with Dusk’s foreleg resting on his back.

“Wow.”

“Yes, but in our defence, there were eight of them. Shall we restart the introductions? I am Skygge, and this is my brother Sten. That is my bond Dusk, and that is Sten’s bond Tāoke.”

“And that dark stuff?”

“Pretend you didn’t see the dark stuff.”

“Right. My name is Lyla.”