The OP MC 2 Read online

  “I understand,” the older man sighed. “But you must understand a father’s worry.”

  “You have to understand how safe she is with me,” I pointed out. “I am the God of Time, after all.”

  “My apologies, Sebastian,” Elrin said. “I didn’t mean to offend you.”

  “No offense taken,” I assured him. “I just want to be very clear. Elissa is mine now.”

  “That’s right, Father,” Elissa interjected. “I am Sebastian’s wife, I will go where he goes.”

  “I understand.” Elrin nodded slowly, and his eyes locked with mine. “I trust you to keep my darling daughter safe. You and only you. Keep her close.”

  “I swear,” I promised with vehemence, and I meant it. I would destroy anything that even thought about hurting my beautiful bride. “Elissa will be safe with me.”

  “Then I suppose it must be done,” Elrin said. “We will make sure you have everything you need for your journey, of course.”

  “Thank you,” I said, and I inclined my head. “I also want to make sure the town’s defenses are in good shape. I don’t expect to be gone for long, but if another horde of kobolds shows up, I want you all to be prepared.”

  “We will make sure the town stays in one piece until you get back,” Jax assured me with a firm nod.

  “Absolutely,” Torya added. “Don’t worry, Bash, we will be okay without you for a little while. Go see the duke and get this whole mess figured out.”

  A loud screech suddenly echoed from across the town, and the sound of flapping wings filled the air. A dark shadow swooped across the feast, and judging from the size of the shadow created by the moonlight, the creature was at least ten times the size of a bald eagle.

  I craned my neck up to the sky to get a better look, and what I saw made my breath catch in my throat.

  It was a fucking griffon, so I guessed when I got a full view of the Ford F-150 sized lion-eagle monster.

  “A griffin!” Mahini confirmed my suspicions with a gasp.

  “What will we do?” Elissa asked as she grabbed my arm.

  The griffon flew over the town and landed on the outskirts where the battlefield had raged a few days before. The bodies had all been removed and the gear scavenged, but the smell of death and blood still lingered. It seemed like this vulture-like creature had been drawn by the recent battle, and it screeched again in a threatening manner as its hackle feathers raised up like a bearded dragon.

  That was going to be a problem.

  “You won’t need to do anything,” I told my wife and the townspeople gathered around us. “I’ll handle this little guy.”

  “Uhh… little?” Jax cleared his throat.

  “Yeah,” I said.

  I tried to remember everything I knew about the beasts from movies, books, and video games from my old life as I resigned myself to another battle with an unknown threat.

  Being a god had its responsibilities.

  Chapter Two

  I immediately left the party to grab my armor and weapons, and Mahini trotted by my side as she quickly shifted from celebration mode to warrior woman vibe like she was sliding on a familiar pair of boots. Her face held a determination that bolstered my own confidence. I was the God of Time, I could handle a griffon.

  Well, eventually, anyway.

  I didn’t have time for doubts, so I shook off my insecurities and tried to remember everything I could about the mythical creatures. They’d come up plenty in the movies, books, and video games I’d consumed, but I’d never expected to face one in my own life, so I hadn’t been paying as close of attention as I now wished I had.

  As far as I understood, griffons were a hybrid. They had the head, wings, and front legs of an eagle, and the hind legs and tail of a lion. The image of a griffon had graced shields and banners of medieval kingdoms, and they were often considered to be incredibly important in Greek mythology. I knew some legends said they were the king of all magical creatures, and others said they connected the heavens to the earth. They were powerful, magical creatures, and excitement coursed through my veins at the thought of seeing one up close and personal.

  It didn’t take us long to reach our destination, and I shot through the front door like cops raiding a drug house. Then I pounded across the floor to retrieve my gear. I pulled on my armor, but before I was completely done, Mahini appeared at my elbow and took a strap from my hands.

  Mahini’s deft, experienced fingers made short work of my armor ties, and she cast a scrutinizing glance up and down my person looking for loose buckles or crooked pieces. When she’d found everything satisfactory, she gave me a solemn nod, and then she handed me my feather sword.

  “What do you plan to do with this creature?” the desert goddess asked me.

  “Same thing I always do.” I shrugged. “Kick ass and take names.”

  “You truly are a fearsome god.” Mahini shook her head in awe, but her piercing blue eyes flashed with fear. “Many would not even be brave enough to face the beast alone.”

  “I don’t want anything to happen to the town on my watch,” I explained with a smirk. Then I tweaked her nose lovingly, and she wrinkled her face up with disdain, but there was a smile in her eyes.

  “Will you allow me to join you in battle and fight by your side?” she asked with an earnest expression on her beautiful face.

  An idea floated through my mind, and I nodded absently. “Yeah, yeah, of course… Oh, and bring your bow and arrows.”

  Mahini nodded in response and then turned to retrieve her ranged weapon. She was handy with a bow, and I’d remembered a video game where I’d fought a griffon, and the projectiles had been essential to the battle.

  The Witcher series of games had been one of my favorites for a while because it let me escape into a fantasy world while still looking like a badass fighter dude. I was glad I’d played it now, since it was one of the few games that gave you an up-close look at the mythical griffons.

  Once Mahini and I were ready for a fight, we left our house and trudged across the town to what was quickly being referred to as The Battlefield. I’d fought against so many soldiers and kobolds on the outskirts of Bastianville that it seemed like any space outside the town’s perimeter was a battle ground. Our armor clattered, and the scabbard of my sword smacked against my side with each step like a metronome.

  Several townspeople cheered me on as they made their way to Elrin’s house to avoid the ire of the griffon. I caught sight of Elissa in the crowd, and she fought against the flow of bodies to get to my side. My beautiful redheaded wife stood up on her tippy toes and quickly pecked me on the cheek, and then she grinned broadly when I gave her a questioning look.

  “For good luck,” she explained with a smirk. “Not that you need it. Thank you for protecting the town, Bash.”

  “I’m not going to let anything happen to Bastianville.” I winked.

  “Then I’ll see you afterward,” my wife said. “I’ll give you a post battle reward.”

  “I like the sound of that.” I grinned broadly as my blood automatically heated at her words.

  It didn’t matter how many times I made love to her, I was always ready to go at the slightest innuendo, and Elissa threw them out often.

  Until then, I’d just have to go, kick a griffon’s ass, and save the town.

  Again.

  Once the line of townspeople had moved toward Elrin’s house and away from the edge of town, I created a new save point. There was no way I could enjoy the feast all over again if I knew a battle with a griffon was looming in the future.

  I anticipated an epic battle, and I wanted my save point to be as close to the action as possible. No reason to waste a bunch of time if I didn’t have to, and I was the God of Time, so I didn’t. The tingling sensation that stimulated my entire body every time I saved or loaded a save faded slowly, and I took a deep breath.

  Time to fight.

  I paused on the edge of town and scanned the dark skies with Mahini at my side. The fl
ickering light of torches behind me did little to illuminate the battlefield, so I couldn’t see the griffon anywhere. The smell of blood permeated my nostrils with the cloying scent of copper, and the ground was dark where I’d ended the lives of Lord Loser’s tiny army. I gripped the hilt of my sword in my hand, and the leather strips comforted me with their presence against my palm.

  Then a screech pierced the air so loudly that my ears rang.

  I tracked the sound to my left and felt the gust of wind that accompanied the flurry of wings in the corner of my eyes. It was fast, and it easily swept through the air above our heads like it was taunting us.

  “Mahini,” I said as I laid a hand on her arm. “Try to shoot it with your bow so it will land.”

  “Okay,” she agreed immediately, notched an arrow to the string, and took aim.

  I heard the swish sound as she released, but it was too dark for me to see if it landed.

  Suddenly, the griffon dropped from the sky above like a dive bomber and latched onto the warrior woman with its hind claws. Mahini screamed and thrashed as the griffon lifted her up into the air, but a moment later they were both out of sight.

  Shit.

  Chime.

  I reloaded to my save point and listened to the flapping wings in the darkness for a moment while I considered what to do. I still wanted to attempt to shoot it down from the sky, since my admittedly dubious knowledge said that was my best bet, but I wasn’t about to lose Mahini in the process.

  “Mahini,” I said as I turned to the woman I loved. “Try to shoot it with your bow, but stay out of range of its talons, it’s going to try to grab you from the sky.”

  “Okay,” she agreed with a little bit of shakiness in her voice.

  “Don’t worry,” I assured her as I laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

  Mahini lifted her chin, and her eyes were full of fire when they met mine. “I am not afraid.”

  “I know.” I grinned.

  That was more like it.

  Mahini took aim once more, and her arrow flew true because moments later I heard the pained screech as the arrowhead pierced the beast, and I was almost knocked over by the wind buffeting from its wings as it tried to maintain altitude.

  The wind stopped, and I peered into the shadows to see where it had landed. Then a scream abruptly came from behind me, and I swiveled to see the dark silhouette of the griffon lifting someone from the village up into the sky.

  “Alright, take three,” I chuckled.

  Chime.

  I wasn’t going to let anyone be kidnapped by a mythical creature even if it took a million tries. I tried the bow idea a few more times, but every single time an arrow hit the griffon, it would in turn seize someone from the town. It took Mahini a third time, and my stomach reeled when I watched her fall from the sky since the fucker was only taking its victims up high enough for gravity to finish them off.

  I needed a new tactic.

  So, instead of asking Mahini to shoot the creature with the bow, I tried to do it myself. The warrior woman was much more skilled with the weapon than I was, but I still notched an arrow to the string just like she’d shown me.

  It took me three more attempts to manage to hit the griffon with the bow. Then it appeared out of the shadows with a loud screech, and it buffeted its wings to reposition itself in midair so it could grab onto my shoulders with its rear claws and lift me into the air.

  “Shit!” I gasped as I was yanked off my feet.

  The air burned my face as we shot up into the sky, and the sound of its flapping wings filled my ears until it blocked out all other sounds. The sickening feeling of having nothing but air beneath my feet was nothing compared to the expectation of what was to come.

  Then the griffon dropped me from the sky, and I fell through the air at a dizzying speed. Just as I was about to crash to my death, though, I heard the mythical creature screech.

  Die, mortal fool! the griffon yelled in a voice full of rage.

  Holy shit, it could talk? And I could understand it.

  The deep baritone voice sounded like it was inside my head, like a telepathy sort of thing, but it had a masculine ring to it and a timelessness that boggled the mind.

  This changed everything. In every single game I’d ever played, if something could talk to you, then you were supposed to convince it of something, solve a riddle, or tame it in some way. If there was an opportunity for dialogue, I had to take it, if for no other reason than to say I’d talked to a griffon.

  Then I slammed into the ground with concussive force, and everything went black.

  Chime.

  Time to switch tactics.

  “Stay back behind the town perimeter,” I informed Mahini. “If it’s attacked, it will try to capture someone from the town.”

  “How do you kn--” the warrior woman started to ask, but then she shook her head to dispel the awed look in her eyes. “Never mind.”

  I laughed and squeezed her around the shoulders. “That’s more like it.”

  Then I turned back to the town and found the nearest torch, and I quickly crossed the distance to the flaming wood and ripped it from its holder.

  I wanted a light so I could walk out into the shadows on the edge of town.

  I held the torch out in front of me to light my way as I crossed over the land bridge on the outskirts of the town. I could hear the flapping of wings up in the shadows of the sky, and I wondered how I was going to start a conversation with a mythical creature.

  Saying ‘hey’ didn’t seem to cut it, but I didn’t know what title the beast would prefer. If it could talk, then it was intelligent, and I’d watched enough Harry Potter to know it was easy to piss off a half eagle creature.

  “I am the God of Time,” I announced in a loud voice. “I demand you land in front of me so we may discuss terms.”

  As the griffon swooped down from the sky and hovered in the air in front of me, I finally managed to get a good look at it in the flickering light of my torch. It was a russet brown around its legs, and the golden lion tail swayed back and forth behind it. The beast had a fluffy mane around its eagle head, and its wings ended in a hooked talon. The front legs of the creature were like a raptor’s, and its talons looked razor sharp.

  Then I made eye contact with the mythical beast, and for a moment it seemed like time stopped. I saw ancient wisdom in its amber eyes, and an intelligence I wasn’t expecting.

  The creature regarded me coolly, but the rage and hatred it felt were palpable.

  I inched forward carefully while I maintained eye contact, and once I was a few yards away from it, I dipped down into a low bow.

  Foolish mortal! the beast screeched again, and then it charged forward and snapped its beak around my head.

  Chime.

  Okay, no bowing.

  I shook off the unsettling feeling of my death and returned to the outskirts of town with Mahini. I once again urged her to stay back and away from the battle, and I approached with my torch in hand.

  “I am the God of Time,” I announced in a loud voice. “I request an audience with you!”

  You do not look like a God, the griffon replied with shock in his baritone voice. Yet you wish to speak with me?

  “Like I said,” I answered, “I am the God of Time, and I know all things.”

  I do not believe in your false prophecy, the griffon said in a haughty tone. I have seen many imposters come to this land and fail to live up to the title.

  What did this creature know about me? Had he witnessed and remembered my previous failed attempts?

  I shook my head to dispel my thoughts. No point worrying about it now. The griffon hadn’t behaved differently with my first several attempts, so I didn’t think it was aware of my powers, and I’d just have to play it by ear.

  “I am not like any other,” I informed the mythical creature. “I am here to protect this village from all who would cause these people harm.”

  A
hefty challenge, the griffon said with an amused snort.

  He had a sense of humor, and relief washed through me as I realized I could charm the beast. Anything that could joke around would be open to conversation, I just had a really good feeling about it.

  “Indeed,” I allowed with a small nod. “That is why I am here, though. Why are you here?”

  I smelled the battle. The griffon fluttered down from the sky and planted its feet on the ground. The earth shook beneath me, and I nearly toppled over, but I managed to keep upright. Then the mythical creature made a movement with its wings that resembled a shrug and turned its amber eyes sideways to peer at me. Am I smelling your kills?

  “Yep.” I straightened my shoulders a little as I thought about how I’d single handedly taken out an army of around fifty men. “Anyone who threatens my people will meet a similar fate.”

  Ominous words, the griffon retorted, for someone who shall soon perish.

  “So, your plan is to kill me?” I raised an eyebrow. “Then what?”

  You deserve death for denying me my treat, the griffon spat, and it flapped its wings in an angry motion that whipped dirt filled air across my face like a thousand needles. I demand my offering.

  “So, you’re wanting to eat the remains?” I grimaced with disgust. “Can’t you get a better meal than that? You seem capable of hunting.”

  I am capable of more than your puny human brain could comprehend! The griffon roared with rage and took to the air once more. How dare you question my ability?

  “Come back down so we can talk,” I requested in a loud voice as I craned my neck to trace the beast’s flight path.

  The griffon circled above my head for a while, but it seemed he was too insulted by my question to return to our conversation, so I sighed and reset to my save point.

  “Stay back inside the town perimeter,” I explained to Mahini. “I’m going to try to talk to it.”

  “Talk to it?” Mahini’s eyes widened in shock. “How do you kn--never mind, you’re the God of Time. Of course, you can speak to griffons…”

  “Griffons are actually pretty funny,” I teased with a wink. “Back in a jiffy.”