231. Base Busting: Wiremu.

My main job was to make sure nobody escaped to raise the alarm. The best spot for that would be on the roof of the wyvern barn, where I could see most things, and I was reasonably confident my bow could bring down any escapees. Everybody here had wings, so escape would be by flying.

Rodion’s job was to kill as many people quietly as possible. I was better at that, but I also needed to keep an eye on the griffon. The griffon was the most dangerous creature here. If the griffon got loose, Rodion was to come back and help. He left most of his dogs here.

Before we got to killing, there was the looting. Normally you would loot after the killing, but we weren’t planning on leaving anything standing, and I already knew where the main safe was. I didn’t try to open the safe, as I would destroy any paperwork in it. Rodion and I just ripped it out of the floor and carried it out into the bush near where we climbed up. Then we hid it.

As we were about to go our separate ways, I suddenly stopped. “Tāoke is hurt. They have engaged the wyvern.”

“Can we get back in time?”

I shook my head, “It will all be over in the next hour.”

“Then let's do this quick and get back to them,” Rodion said.

I nodded, “At least we know where the wyvern is and won't get surprised by them.”

We started to jog our separate ways. The quickest way for me to get to the roof of the wyvern barn was through the internal stair access. I entered the barn and froze. That was unexpected. On one side of the barn was a depression dug into the dirt floor lined with fur. In the centre of this depression were two eggs. They had to be wyvern eggs. They were about the size of my head. I had no idea how fragile they might be, but I knew they would be worth a massive amount of coin. I could see the army snatching them up for combat bonds. I grabbed some fur and wrapped each egg individually and then together in a larger fur. I took off running, stashed them with the safe, and ran back. I checked the middle barn, as eggs for bird bonds are also popular. Three nests had eggs, but I had to kill an owl. That will alert whoever its bond was. I wrapped and stashed the eggs closer and raced up to the roof of the wyvern barn as a noisy fight erupted in the base.

Time for action. I readied my bow and created a stone spear. The griffon was stirring. I was annoyed I wouldn’t be able to check for griffon eggs. Do griffons lay eggs or give birth to live young like mammals? I didn’t know. I did know there was only one live griffon in the barn. Puia rose from the ground outside the barn, split into two small spider-type creatures and moved to the wall of the griffon barn on either side of the doorway. Puia’s job was to burn everything to the ground, starting with bringing a burning barn down around the griffon. The wooden walls started burning.

The noise of the fight increased with the barking of dogs, and then an Avion burst out of the tree canopy and headed to the griffon barn. My arrow clipped his wing, but he managed to right himself, and the griffon screeched. The barn was well alight, and suddenly, the flames in the doorway blew out, and the griffon barged out. As it came through the door, I triggered one of the Puias to fall onto its back. The other Puia was to move through the buildings, ensuring they were all ablaze.

The griffon screeched again, this time in pain as Puia burned its back. I put an arrow in its chest and shot at the incoming Avion again, missing this time. All my arrows were imbued with poison. The Avion changed direction and came at me, dodging my next arrow. The griffon turned and spread its wings to come at me as well, but the dogs were snapping its legs, distracting it. I decided to ignore the Avion and put a full Venom Arrow in the Griffon. I then shouldered my bow and picked up the spear I had created.

The avion was too smart to fly straight into a spear and landed on the other side of the building. I was too smart to let it get sorted and threw darts at him as I advanced. One of them hit. I was a bit sad I couldn’t pre-make lava darts. However, the poison should be building in his system.

He came at me with a sword. From his stance, I picked up he was used to having a light shield as well, but he didn’t have it. He must have given the griffon stronger instructions as it ignored the dogs and flapped its wings to attack me. The dogs had done their job, though, as a Howling Stun came from Rodion, and he combined his Sprint with his new Shield Charge, knocking the griffon off its feet, then laying into it with his sword.

I was fully engaged with the Avion. I could tell he wanted to go and help his bond, but one small hesitation and I would have him. My spear had the reach on him, so I pressed forward with relative safety. He used his wings to dart around, and that surprised me the first time, but my armour and Snakeskin stopped any real damage. If he had had his shield with him, I think I would be the one pressed backwards. I surprised him by making a lava dart, and it lodged in his wing and started burning. His wings helped his manoeuvrability, but they were also bigger targets.

Rodion and the dogs were getting the upper hand on the Griffon with Puia’s help. The Avion was getting desperate to help and surprised me with a Screeching sonic attack before leaping off the building and diving toward Rodion. I was expecting a desperate move, but the sonic attack was a surprise. It was blunted a bit by my Hearing Aid, but seconds matter in these things. The Avion was almost on Rodion before my spear struck him square in the back. All of us have been practising our Throw Weapons Skills. I grabbed my bow and put a Venom arrow in him as well, and the griffon was going berserk. I started putting arrows in it as well. The fight was largely over, and Rodion finished the Griffon off to get his second Monster Kill.

Two of Rodion's dogs were injured and would need attention. He fed them half a healing potion each and let them feast on griffon guts. I let Rodion dig out the monster core and harvest the feathers and other non-perishable parts. I went searching for any remaining treasure and helped finish setting the buildings alight. I found a few minor coin stashes and a few nice pieces of armour. The armour was made for Avions, and while it would sell well, we were going to have enough trouble lugging the safe back. I threw the armour into the fires.

I went into the wyvern barn and grabbed the better furs before setting it alight. I was going to need to make something to carry the safe with. I wrapped the furs around some sturdy poles, and we could carry it together, or one of us could drag it. We also needed some way to carry the injured dogs and the eggs. I guess if the eggs broke, we could always scramble them for breakfast. It is probably good Tāoke is not here as he loves eggs.

Tāoke is Regenerating fine, and I have the sense they defeated the wyvern. However, he has concerns about Kelda. That has me worrying. I want to get back as soon as possible. Do I take the time to open the safe, or do we just carry it back as it is? The safe is not of a type I have seen before and is a solid block of spiritual material. Even the door didn’t have the weakness I expected. I decided to carry it back and let a proper workshop at it.

Rodion carried the two dogs while I carried the eggs. To get the safe to the bottom of the hill, we decided to toss it off the cliff and see what happened. If it contained anything breakable, it would be broken. Unfortunately, the safe itself didn’t break. There were some dents, but it was very well made. It didn’t rattle too much, so we put it in the sling and headed back to the city. It was going to take us well over a day to get there, even with a more direct route.

When I looked back after the sun had come up, there was black smoke visible, making the location obvious. I didn’t see any flyers heading there, but there were clouds around, and I was more interested in making good time back than watching the sky.