Chapter 35: ROAD HAZARDS
The griffin struck at midday.
We'd stopped to water the horses at a stream crossing, the first clear water we'd seen in miles. Yennefer was refilling waterskins while Geralt checked the road ahead. Ciri crouched at the stream's edge, splashing cold water on her face.
I felt it before I saw it.
The Ciri-Link pulsed with sudden warning—danger, above, now—and I was moving before my conscious mind processed the threat.
"DOWN!"
My tackle took Ciri off her feet as the griffin's dive carried it through the space she'd occupied a heartbeat before. Talons the length of daggers raked the air above us, close enough that I felt the wind of their passage.
We hit the ground hard. The impact drove the breath from my lungs, but I was already rolling, dragging Ciri toward the nearest cover.
[THREAT DETECTED: GRIFFIN — LEVEL ???]
[COMBAT STANCE: ENGAGED]
Horses screamed and scattered. Geralt's voice cut through the chaos—sharp commands that meant nothing to the panicked animals. Yennefer's hands blazed with gathering power.
The griffin banked, its massive wings stirring the stream into spray. Eagle head, lion body, feathers gleaming gold and brown in the winter sun. Beautiful in the way all predators were beautiful. Deadly in ways that beauty couldn't hide.
"Ciri, move!"
She scrambled toward the tree line while I drew my silver sword. The weapon felt right in my hands—balance perfect, edge honed to surgical sharpness. Geralt's spare blade, borrowed but not foreign.
The griffin dove again.
This time I was ready.
[ABILITY: NULLIFICATION — TARGETED BURST]
[SP: 230/230... 210/230...]
The field expanded in a focused cone, washing over the griffin mid-dive. The creature's flight magic—whatever instinctive power kept something that large airborne—stuttered. Its dive became uncontrolled, momentum carrying it forward but trajectory failing.
It crashed into the stream with a sound like thunder.
"NOW!"
Geralt was there before the word finished leaving my mouth. Silver flashed in the spray as he closed distance with the thrashing creature. His blade found the space between wing and body—a deep cut that sprayed blood across the churning water.
The griffin screamed. Not the hunting cry of a predator, but the sound of something in pain and desperate.
It recovered faster than expected.
One massive talon caught Geralt across the chest, throwing him back toward the bank. His armor took most of the impact, but I saw blood on his sword hand when he landed.
My turn.
I charged through the stream, water dragging at my legs but not slowing me enough to matter. The griffin spun to face this new threat, its eagle eyes tracking my movement with predatory focus.
[SP: 195/230... 180/230...]
I hit it with another Nullification burst as I closed. The creature stumbled—wings failing, coordination disrupted. My silver sword found its flank, carving a line of red through golden feathers.
The griffin's counter-strike came faster than I anticipated.
Talons raked across my chest, tearing through leather and finding flesh beneath. Pain flared bright and immediate, but my momentum carried the attack through. The blade bit deep into the creature's shoulder joint.
[DAMAGE RECEIVED: -40 HP]
[HP: 390/430]
We separated, both bleeding, both measuring the other. The griffin's left wing hung at an awkward angle—my strike had damaged something critical. It couldn't fly anymore. That made it more dangerous on the ground, not less.
"Cole, flank left!"
Geralt's voice. I moved without questioning, circling toward the griffin's wounded side. It tried to turn, to keep both of us in view, but its injured wing made movement clumsy.
Yennefer's spell hit it from behind.
Fire bloomed across the griffin's back, not enough to kill but enough to distract. The creature wheeled toward this new threat, exposing its flank to Geralt's charge.
Silver found the space between ribs. The griffin screamed again—shorter this time, weaker. It lashed out with both talons, catching nothing but air as Geralt twisted clear.
I came in from behind.
My blade took the creature in the neck, severing the spine with a strike that used all my strength and most of my remaining momentum. The griffin collapsed into the stream, thrashing once, twice, then going still.
[COMBAT COMPLETE]
[XP GAINED: 850 — GRIFFIN (FIRST KILL BONUS)]
[TOTAL XP: 850/3500]
[MONSTER KNOWLEDGE: GRIFFIN 25%]
I stood in the churning water, chest heaving, blood running from the talon wounds to mix with the stream. The griffin's corpse lay between us—magnificent even in death, its feathers catching the light like spun gold.
"Everyone intact?" Geralt's voice was rough but steady.
"Minor wounds." Yennefer moved to check on Ciri, who'd emerged from the tree line with her own blade drawn—ready to fight if needed. "Cole?"
"I'll live."
The scratches across my chest burned with every breath, but the damage was superficial. Nothing the healing factor couldn't handle given time.
Geralt knelt beside the griffin, examining the corpse with professional interest.
"Good coordination. The Nullification—that was the key. Grounded it when it needed to fly."
"Seemed like the obvious play."
"Obvious plays work." He produced a knife, beginning the process of harvesting useful components. "Feathers sell well. Claws too, for alchemy. No point leaving value behind."
Practical to the end. That's the Witcher way.
I helped with the harvesting, learning as I went. The griffin's feathers came away in sheets when you knew how to cut them. The talons required more effort—thick cartilage and sinew that resisted ordinary steel.
Ciri worked beside me, her face still pale from the adrenaline of the attack.
"You saved me. Again."
"That's the job."
"It's more than a job and you know it."
I didn't argue. She wasn't wrong.
[CIRI-LINK: EMOTIONAL RESONANCE — GRATITUDE/AFFECTION]
Yennefer gathered the horses—all four had scattered but none had fled far. The sorceress's expression was thoughtful as she watched us work.
"The beast attacked without provocation. Unusual for a griffin this time of year."
"Hungry maybe." Geralt didn't look up from his task. "Winter's hard on everything."
"Perhaps." She didn't sound convinced. "Or perhaps something drove it from its territory."
The implication hung in the air. Voleth Meir's spite had sent monsters against Kaer Morhen. Could her influence extend this far?
"Either way, it's dead now." I finished collecting feathers, packing them carefully in a spare saddlebag. "One less threat."
"Hmm." Geralt stood, wiping blood from his hands. "We should move. The kill will attract scavengers."
We rode out within the hour, leaving the griffin's carcass for whatever wanted it. The stream ran red behind us, slowly clearing as fresh water washed the blood downstream.
Lambert would have loved this.
The thought came unbidden, bringing a smile I didn't bother hiding.
"Something funny?"
Ciri had moved her horse alongside mine, close enough to talk quietly.
"Just thinking about Lambert. He's going to be furious when he hears we killed a griffin without him."
"Are you going to tell him?"
"Oh, absolutely. In detail. With embellishment."
Her laugh was worth every scratch and bruise.
[RELATIONSHIP NOTE: COMBAT BONDING — GROUP +2]
The road continued south. Behind us, the forest settled back into winter silence, the violence of the attack fading into memory.
Three more days. Then we find out what Yennefer's been leading us toward.
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