“More like she doesn’t want to lose another weapon to the enemy.” Lith grunted. “Any idea how to get to Deirus’ Grand Duchy before it’s too late?”
“Give me a moment.” The Shadow Dragon contacted her siblings from the Organization, checking on their current position.
“I’m the closest to your destination and I’m getting closer by the second.” Nelia the Frost Griffon was using Chaos Steps to pierce through space and Life Maelstrom to further extend the range of her spells.
Each Steps allowed her to cross hundreds of kilometers at once, crossing two regions in a few seconds.
“Ready when you are.” She said while conjuring the Eldritch melody and the black pillar that came with it.
“Incoming.” Zoreth did the same and the other three hybrids followed suit.
Their pillars resonated with each other, detecting Nelia’s signal and using it to pinpoint her dimensional coordinates. A hole in space appeared, its edges pitch-black and spinning like a buzzsaw, releasing sparks as they moved.
“Get in.” The Shadow Dragon said and Lith complied, crossing half the Kingdom in one step.
“Whoever you are, thank you.” Lith gave Nelia a deep bow. “Are you coming with us? We could use a Griffon and your Life Maelstrom.”
“I can, if you don’t mind the Distar region falling under the Undead Courts.” The Eldritch cocked her head to a side. “Your friend Brinja has sent so many members of the Corps away that there are few guarding her.
“If the Courts get their hands on her private Gate and the amulet that activates it…”
“They could go anywhere!” Lith completed the phrase in horror.
“Yeah. It’s a huge power move meant as a distraction, if you ask me. Compromise your home to force you to choose between duty and family. That or Thrud really doesn’t want to be disturbed.” Nelia said.
“Do you need reinforcements?” He asked, making her laugh.
“How precious of you.” Nelia caressed Lith’s head. “Thanks, but no thanks. The presence of others would just limit the strength I can safely employ. I could use a good meal, though. Traveling so much made me work quite an appetite.”
“You got it.” Nandi nodded and conjured the surrounding world energy before feeding it to the Frost Griffon.
It worked akin to Invigoration, making her recover all the lost mana and stamina.
“That hit the spot. Thanks, Nandi. Before you go…” Nelia released several small bolts of silver lightning, powering everyone up. “Sorry I can’t do more, but recharging Life Maelstrom takes time and I must save enough to ensure the success of my mission.”
“Thank you so much.” Solus gave her a deep bow.
“You don’t even know me yet you boosted me no less than the others.”
“Don’t mention it, kid. You are important to Lith and Lith is important to Father. It’s more than enough for me. Dragonspeed.” Nelia said before turning around.
“Dragonspeed to you too!” Solus managed to say before the Griffon disappeared at the horizon.
“Let’s move before the Life Maelstrom fades out.” Zoreth bolted forward while being careful not to exceed her normal speed in order to preserve the precious silver lightning.
‘Solus?’ Lith asked.
‘Agreed.’ They both used Spirit Domination to stabilize the Life Maelstrom and keep the Abomination’s black cores from feeding on it during the rest of the flight.
‘Nice move. Can you teach it to me?’ Zoreth asked via a mind link.
‘Sorry, Hydra bloodline secret.’
‘Never mind, then.’ The Shadow Dragon shrugged but used her Dragon Eyes in an attempt to crack the mystery anyway.
Lith held his communication amulet in his palm, using its map to find the last known position of the Golden Griffon. They flew at high speed so it wasn’t supposed to take them long to find it.
Alas, they succeeded way before they thought.
‘Guys?’ Theseus asked from the backline. ‘Is it me or is there something on the horizon?’
‘It’s no hallucination, I see it as well.’ Zoreth focused her eyes forward instead of on Lith. ‘Yet it’s weird. I’ve been here several times in the past and this is supposed to be part of a huge forest. There have never been buildings here-‘
‘Fuck me sideways!’ Lith stopped abruptly, forcing the entire group to a halt.
‘What’s the problem? What do you see?’ Bytra knew that few creatures had better eyesight than Phoenixes and that Lith had inherited that trait from Salaark.
‘That!’ There were no words to describe it so he just shared his vision via the mind link.
What to the others looked like a thin mountain or a tall building was actually the Golden Griffon. Except that its form was no longer that of a castle.
It looked like a colossal Royal Fortress armor that reached 100 meters (328′) in height. Every part of its body was dozens of meters thick and shone like gold under the sunlight.
It carried a feathered mantle on its back that Lith knew from experience had to be a pair of folded wings. To make matters worse, the Golden Griffon was walking forward, crossing great distances and causing a small quake with every step it took.
‘Father of All Dragons protect us.’ Zoreth froze on the spot, feeling like a puny insect for the first time in her life.
‘How can something that big even move?’ Solus asked in disbelief, doubting her own eyes.
‘Tower magic.’ Bytra’s reply sent a shiver down everyone’s spine. ‘Can’t you feel it? The world energy is way thinner than usual even at this distance.’
‘She’s right.’ Nandi tried and failed to conjure the elemental power via the bio-crystals in his hands, chest, and forehead. ‘That thing is sucking everything in its surroundings for kilometers.’
‘Is this the reason Thrud’s troops are everywhere? Did she empty her barracks to relocate the academy?’ Solus asked and she couldn’t have been more wrong.
The people who lived inside the Golden Griffon were still there and experienced no discomfort from the movement. Quite the contrary, they were a key component to the cursed artifact’s might.
The power core of the academy sucked the world energy, but that would have never been enough to fuel such a titan away from a mana geyser. The academy channeled whatever energy it had through its body, using the people inside to amplify it.
As Tyris had explained to Lith, the difference between a mana and a power core was paper thin. The effects of the Unwavering Loyalty array made even that boundary disappear.
By altering the life force of its students, the Golden Griffon could use them as auxiliary cores that fueled its abilities no matter the form the academy took. Thrud’s white core, her Generals’ violet cores, and even the blood cores of her undead prisoners were at its disposal.
The trick that allowed Thrud to relocate her troops at will came from the tower-like nature of the Golden Griffon that Bytra had recognized. After imprinting a mana geyser once, Thrud could use them as relay points for the academy’s Gate network.
This way, she could send and retrieve troops not only from a Warp Gate, but also from every mana geyser she had ever occupied while conquering the different regions of the Griffon Kingdom.
