The Sky Burial
The Cloud-Piercer Peaks lived up to their name. The path was a narrow ribbon of ice winding around jagged spires that disappeared into the white mist above.
Isolde was shivering violently. Her breath came in white puffs, and frost clung to her eyelashes.
"It's... freezing," she chattered, wrapping her cloak tighter. "We are ten thousand feet up. The air is too thin."
Cain walked ahead of her, hands in his pockets. He was perfectly comfortable. The Warlord's Pelt regulated his body temperature, keeping him at a cozy 98 degrees regardless of the blizzard.
"Walk faster," Cain said over his shoulder. "Cardio warms you up."
"I can't... feel my toes," Isolde wheezed.
SCREECH.
The sound cut through the howling wind. It wasn't a natural bird call. It was the battle cry of a War Griffin.
From the clouds above, six massive shapes dived. They were armored in gold, ridden by the Sky Knights—the elite aerial guard of Solus.
"Ambush!" Isolde screamed, diving behind a rock.
The Griffins strafed the mountain path. The knights hurled lightning spears.
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.
The ice shattered. The path behind Cain disintegrated, falling into the abyss below.
"Surrender, Heretic!" the Lead Knight shouted, circling back for another run. "There is nowhere to run! The sky belongs to Solus!"
Cain stood on the edge of the precipice, looking down at the thousand-foot drop. Then he looked up at the circling birds.
"Run?" Cain scoffed. "I hate running. I prefer carpooling."
He waited.
The Lead Knight dove again, aiming his lance at Cain's chest. The Griffin picked up speed, a golden bullet screaming toward the target.
Cain didn't dodge. He crouched.
He engaged the Ring of Burden for traction, cracking the ice beneath his boots.
At the last second, Cain jumped.
He didn't jump away. He jumped up.
He leaped twenty feet into the air, clearing the lance tip. He collided with the Griffin mid-flight.
THUD.
Cain landed behind the saddle, right behind the terrified knight.
"Excuse me," Cain whispered in the knight's ear. "Is this seat taken?"
The knight panicked, trying to draw his sword. Cain grabbed the knight by the back of his armor and threw him.
"Get off."
The knight screamed as he plummeted toward the snow-capped peaks below.
The Griffin bucked wildly, realizing its rider was gone and a monster had taken his place. It spun, rolled, and tried to bite Cain with its beak.
Cain grabbed the Griffin's feathers with one hand and punched it in the back of the head with the other.
BONK.
"Behave," Cain commanded.
The Griffin squawked, dazed.
The other five Sky Knights watched in horror as their leader was ejected and his mount hijacked.
"Shoot him down!" they yelled. "Blast the bird!"
Lightning spears rained down.
Cain leaned forward, grabbing the reins. "Okay, bird. Let's see if you can dodge."
He yanked the reins hard to the left. The Griffin banked, narrowly avoiding a bolt of lightning.
"Too slow," Cain criticized.
He reached into his inventory. He pulled out the Twin Vipers (the chain sickles).
"Let's make this a dogfight."
He stood up on the Griffin's back as it flew. He spun the sickles.
He threw one. The chain extended fifty feet, wrapping around the leg of a pursuing Griffin.
Cain yanked.
The enemy Griffin was jerked off course, crashing into another knight mid-air. Both birds tangled and fell out of the sky in a ball of feathers and cursing knights.
"Two down," Cain counted.
He steered his Griffin toward the remaining three. He flared his Killing Intent.
The enemy Griffins sensed the apex predator riding toward them. They panicked. They broke formation, ignoring their riders' commands, and fled into the clouds, terrified of the man in the black coat.
Cain patted his Griffin's neck. The beast was trembling, flying straight and true out of pure fear.
"Good bird," Cain said. "I think I'll keep you."
He flew back to the mountain path, hovering next to the rock where Isolde was hiding.
"Get on," Cain shouted over the wind.
Isolde peeked out, staring at the hijacked war beast. "You... you stole a Griffin?"
"I commandeered it," Cain corrected. "Hop on. It has heated seats."
Isolde climbed onto the saddle behind him, clutching his waist for dear life.
"What are we going to call him?" Isolde asked, looking at the terrified creature. "Something noble? Stormwing? Goldfeather?"
Cain reached into his pocket and pulled out a strip of dried beef jerky. He tossed it into the air. The Griffin snapped it up instantly.
"He likes food," Cain noted. "I'm calling him Snack."
"Snack?" Isolde groaned. "That is a majestic war beast!"
"He's transportation," Cain said, snapping the reins. "And if he stops flying, he becomes lunch. Hence, Snack."
He pointed the Griffin toward the horizon, where the golden spires of the Capital were visible in the distance.
"To Solara, Snack. And don't stop until we hit the palace."