Redmane found the Seal in the heart of the forest.
It lay at the bottom of a thickly wooded basin, perhaps a mile wide and half as deep, suggesting the place may once have been the site of a great impact. And like the Seal of the Sphinx, it was housed in an ancient building of black stone. Though this was less a building and more a complex. Perhaps it had once been an arboretum or a botanical garden. It was like a castle wall, making a ring around something in the center.
Whatever that something was in ages past, Redmane could not say. But he knew what lay before him this evening. A circle of giant rune-etched bones, containing a roiling mass of power. Crimson, like the others. No sooner did he lay eyes on it did its pulsing seem to sync with the beating of his heart.
It knew he was here. And it brought forth its guardian.
As Redmane stepped through the membrane of force shielding the power of the Seal, so too did the Gryphon take shape before him. It had the head and forelegs of an eagle and the hindquarters of a lion. The tail of its leonine half ended in a tuft of golden fire, the source of the aura enveloping its whole body in a nimbus of warm light. Its eagle-wings spanned wide, with tawny feathers tipped in white, and its talons were jet black, long and sharp as sickles.
The Gryphon’s amber eyes met Redmane’s, and it let out a call that echoed throughout the whole basin.
Thol the Gryphon
Monster Type: Primordial
Level 200
The Gryphon reared back, unfurling its massive wings and taking flight, and Redmane called forth the wings of the Manticore to join it in the air.
His heart raced as he climbed.
Another Seal within reach. Another fifth of his true self.
When he returned to that legion encampment before the city of Taracon, he would lay waste to it himself.
There seemed to be no limit to how high the Gryphon could climb, so long as it remained within the confines of the complex below. It soared higher and higher and Redmane followed, striking only when he was certain he could reach.
It was the opening move of an aerial dance. Redmane's claws slashed through the space between them, projecting cutting waves that cleared the distance between them in a heartbeat. But the Gryphon rebuked those projections, its own talons sheathed in golden light.
The Gryphon's wings beat with powerful strokes, propelling it wherever it wished to go with great power, while Redmane arced around it with sharp turns and sudden dives, like a mockingbird harassing a crow near its nest. Redmane dove at it from above and below and from either side, making the most of the maneuverability of the wings of the Manticore.
Evidently the Gryphon grew frustrated with this.
It turned toward him and exhaled a stream of gold fire, a blazing cone Redmane dodged by rolling to the side, feeling the heat pass close to his face. They spiraled around each other in the open sky, and when Redmane came about for his next pass he gave the Gryphon a dose of its own medicine.
Venom Breath
Gnosis: 1436
The Gryphon was too close to avoid it. Redmane soaked it in glowing purple as he flew past, but even though it clearly damaged it — he could see the singed feathers and burnt flesh beneath — the Venom effect seemed to pour off its body without effect, like water rolling off a duck’s back.
Wrath (1)
No Venom. Very well. Better to find out these things early.
The Gryphon banked sharply, using its powerful wings to arc away from Redmane and then gain altitude over him, positioning itself high above him. At the apex of its ascent, it tucked its wings in and dove with incredible speed, and as it descended the Gryphon extended its talons, now glowing with intensified golden light, and at the same time it let out another piercing call that reverberated through the air.
Gryphon’s Dive
Redmane grinned and surged upward to answer force with force.
Lion’s Lunge
Gnosis: 1421
The Gryphon's call mingled with Redmane's roar, and when the sounds merged they created an oddly harmonious note.
Then they struck, and a shockwave rippled outward from the point of collision.
Corpus: 12,344
Wrath (2)
The force of their meeting sent both combatants reeling backward, tumbling through the sky. The Gryphon's wings flared wide, struggling to regain control as it spun away, while Redmane simply fell for a few moments, punch drunk from the impact. He shook it off, flipped himself upright and beat his wings beat furiously to stabilize his descent.
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But the Gryphon was already diving again.
It swooped in, talons extended and glowing, cutting through the air with lethal intent. Redmane twisted his body to avoid the full brunt of the attack, but the Gryphon's claws grazed his side, leaving a trail of searing pain. The Gryphon's momentum carried it past Redmane, but it quickly banked around for another assault, its eyes locked onto its target with the unwavering focus of a bird of prey.
Corpus: 10,208
Wrath (3)
Redmane’s lip curled in a snarl and he streaked through the air at the Gryphon, who awaited him patiently, stationary for the moment. Redmane understood why when the Gryphon gave a sudden forceful beat of its wings, creating a gust of wind that struck him like a physical blow.
The impact sent him reeling, struggling to maintain his position in the air. The Gryphon followed up with another wing buffet, using the turbulence to keep Redmane off balance.
Then the Gryphon unleashed a stream of golden fire from its beak, the flames roaring toward Redmane, who twisted and dove, narrowly avoiding the full force of the fiery breath. But the edges of the flames licked at his wings, leaving scorched flesh in their wake.
Corpus: 8959
Wrath (4)
If that was a glancing bow, he’d prefer not to know what it felt like to be engulfed in the Gryphon’s flame.
Or perhaps he would…
Wrath (0)
Enhanced Fire Resistance (4)
Redmane steadied himself in the air. The Gryphon came at him with another Gryphon’s Dive and he swooped away from it, but slower than he could have, and wider out, the maneuver carrying him around to the perfect distance for another breath attack.
And the Gryphon did not disappoint. It reared back, chest expanding as it gathered energy for another blast of golden fire.
Flames surged forward like water from a breaking dam.
Redmane did not dodge. Instead, he propelled himself straight into the fire, wings beating with force.
It blinded him. He swam in light. But even though the flames engulfed his body completely, he felt the fire rolling off his skin, his enhancement sparing him from fatal damage.
Corpus: 7822
Wrath (1)
It would be a fair trade for this.
Lion’s Lunge
Gnosis: 1391
He struck three times.
A claw across the trachea. One down the side of its head. The third from underneath, an uppercut slashing it from its chest to the bottom of its beak.
The impacts tore through feathers and flesh. Arcs of glittering blood flew through the sky.
Wrath (4)
The Gryphon was wounded but far from deterred.
It closed the distance between them with a powerful beat of its wings and the dance was on again. And this time it was bloodier. Redmane and the Gryphon banked and dove and swooped at each other, claws and talons clashing or swiping through empty air, each exchange a near miss by either combatant, even as the speed and aggression of their maneuvering increased.
A part of his mind stressed caution, but the scent of blood spurred Redmane’s hunger for more.
The Gryphon fought as if it were truly the lord of the skies. It was no mere beast. The mind of a canny warrior lived in that body, a mind which could learn from previous errors, spot patterns and exploit them, set traps and bait specific responses.
It aimed a precise slash at Redmane's torso, at a speed and angle it had used several times already.
Redmane blocked it as he had before, but the block opened his left side for an instant. Which is when the talons of the Gryphon connected there, raking across his stomach and ribcage and leaving deep gashes. Redmane reeled from the impact, blood flying from his wound, struggling to correct his position in the air as the Gryphon circled back for another strike.
Corpus: 6525
Wrath (5)
Without pause, the Gryphon beat its wings to create a powerful gust, hurling a wall of air directly toward Redmane. The wind hit him like a battering ram, knocking him even further off balance and sending him tumbling through the sky.
Then it dove in close to deliver another blow, its talons glowing with a nimbus of golden light.
Gryphon’s Dive
Redmane’s gaze centered on those talons.
If they struck him full on, it could be the end.
Even a fleeting thought of this was enough to spike his fury. He growled as it burned in his chest.
Wrath (0)
Might +50
The Gryphon’s talons struck and he met them with his own. One hand on each. The impact sent out another ripple of force as Redmane and the Gryphon, now locked together, began to twist and tumble in freefall.
Another stream of golden fire poured over Redmane, and this time the fire engulfed him more fully, the heat searing his skin and wings. Redmane twisted and turned, trying to escape the inferno, but the Gryphon maintained the pressure, keeping him trapped within the fiery onslaught as they wheeled through the air, joined by the claws.
Corpus: 3200
Wrath (1)
It burned. But he yet lived.
Might would avail him.
Redmane flexed his arms. Then his back and shoulders, and his trunk. With effort he twisted their positions around so that he had the top position and the Gryphon was beneath him, his legs locked around the beast’s body as if it were a mount and Redmane was the rider.
Which freed his hands, to deliver claw after claw after claw.
The first struck its shoulder, shearing through muscle and tendon alike.
Wrath (2)
The second shattered the wrist of its wing, rendering it useless.
Wrath (3)
The third raked down the side of its face, putting out its eye and rending the side of its pristine beak.
Wrath (4)
He could feel the beast trying to buck him off. But it was useless. He was the stronger of the two, and with more stacks of Wrath to spare, he drove the point home.
Wrath (0)
Might +40
Redmane felt a wild exultation.
He was stronger in this moment than he had ever been before.
He wanted to go back to Taracon right this instant and go on a rampage, leave legions of Numantian soldiers dismembered in a pile, their bodies torn to pieces like the bloody ruin of their camp. He would tear down the walls of the city of Taracon and topple her towers, and then leave her ruins as a cautionary tale for any who may dare to follow in its example.
Behold the fate of those who try to conquer his world.
As Redmane and the Gryphon plummeted toward the rapidly approaching ground below, he reached down and wrapped his arms around the beast’s thick neck. Then he pulled with force, and there was a loud, wet crack.
The Gryphon’s came up sharply. Its neck snapped. And it moved no more.
Redmane let go of it just in time to spare himself the damage of the fall. The Gryphon’s body fell to the earth with a thud, its wings splayed out at its sides, as he flapped out his wings and coasted to a gentle landing beside it.
As he looked down upon his fallen prey, the crimson points of his eyes gleamed with hunger.
PATREON
