Chapter 84: The Shattering Pt. 3

Chapter 84: The Shattering Pt. 3

Aegis pulled the reins to steer the wings of the gryphon westward. The strength of the wide heavy wings flapping reverberated back across the body of the gryphon, causing a strange forward jerking motions that Aegis wasn’t ready for. Moreso, he was not properly holding onto the gryphon as he pulled the reins back and accidentally told the Gryphon to fly upwards.

The gryphon listened to Aegis' unintended instruction and flew straight up with a few violent flaps of its wings, causing Aegis to lose his seat and slide backwards down off of the rear of the gryphon in a free fall. Panicked, Aegis desperately grabbed out to stop himself from falling out of the sky, managing to find the gryphon's tail and wrap his hands around it tightly. The gryphon did not take kindly to this and curved its beak around with an angry squawk, snapping at Aegis hand with a piercing bite of its beak, forcing Aegis to let go of the tail. The weightless fall through the night sky was awakening fears in Aegis he didn’t know he had as he felt the wind rushing against his back, watching the ground of Hrath’mir get closer and closer.

You take 156 329 Bludgeoning damage.

You have died.

Resetting Dungeon...

Dungeon Reset

Aegis sighed in frustration as the dungeon reset and watched the opening dialogue play out again.

“Ok, it’s a bit harder than I thought.” Aegis grumbled as he waited for the gryphon to land again. Once it had, he approached the take off with much more caution. Aegis had a sense for how to ride a gryphon thanks to his riding skill, but no practical idea on how to control it. A horse was simply direction and speed, but the gryphon had an upward and downward component to it, and on his second attempt, Aegis accidentally told the gryphon to do a maneuver where he plummeted out of the sky into a nosedive and was propelled forward off the front of the beast into the top of a Hrath’mir tower, dying painfully.

Whenever he thought he was getting the hang of it, he’d accidentally do a movement that triggered a maneuver in the gryphon he wasn’t expecting.

Level Up!: Riding has reached level 31!

An accidental barrel roll sent Aegis flying off the side of the gryphon. A cartwheel maneuver sent him plummeting of its back out of the sky. A sudden midair break with the wingspan spread wide caused Aegis to fly forward over the head of the gryphon.

Level Up!: Riding has reached level 34!

He knew deep down he was on the right track, but the way his riding experience was going up felt different. When he’d learned beginner skills, each level seemed to enhance his knowledge thanks to the games assistance, but now, as he gained these intermediate levels, it felt like every time he personally figured out something about controlling the gryphon, he gained a chunk of experience. Instead of the skill level showing him what he could do, it was beginning to feel like what he could do was being shown by the skill level. That being said, it was a longer journey to learn how to ride a gryphon than Aegis was anticipating. He couldn’t have thought of a better circumstance to train it though, with the ability to recover from dying instantly. Despite the dungeon not granting him combat experience, he was able to take advantage of the dungeon option to teach himself how to fly a gryphon.

Level Up!: Riding has reached level 41!

After nearly a day of Aegis repeatedly failing maneuvers, asking the Eirene soldier for tips, and practicing flying it, Aegis was able to stay on the back of the gryphon regardless of its maneuver, and slowly got the hang of what was triggering it to do certain movements.

Level Up!: Riding has reached level 45!

Aegis made one last flight to confirm he was ready to continue with his attempts at completing the quest. He hopped on the back of the gryphon at the start of the dungeon and flew it down into the 2nd level of Hrath’mir, carefully navigating the gryphon to weave around the towers and other buildings, then cautiously landed on the north wall beside the Zeus Commander for practice, before soaring back up into the sky and jumping off of the gyphon to intentionally fall to his death for a reset. He’d grown accustomed to it now, and though he wasn’t completely free from a fear of fights, his brain had come to terms with the fact that he was in a game world and despite its realism, the consequences were minor, particularly in this dungeon’s environment.

When the next reset began, Aegis waited for the gryphon to land and the soldier to tumble off, then, with confidence, he mounted the gryphon and flew it westward.

He soared over the soldiers manning the outer walls western gate as they looked on over the fields, expecting an army to approach, but there was none. Aegis continued to fly a great distance, to see the city of Hrath’mir disappear from his view in the distance as the terrain shifted to a forest, and a mountainous region.

[Avatar of Fear(Elite) - ??] was above the blobs name, and the Avatar of Eirene had her hands overtop of it, glowing with light, as if she was torturing it.

“What’s going on?” Aegis asked the soldiers as they held their ground at the edges of the dome.

“The Avatar of Eirene used her bravery and the light of the stars to contain the Avatar of Fear here, where no one is afraid of him. He is weak and powerless. We only hope that by stopping him here, the forces of Hrath’mir stand a chance against the remaining three.” One of the soldiers explained. Aegis understood, they’d done well, but he knew the outcome.

“It won’t work. Hrath’mir will fall regardless. The other Avatars have gotten too strong.” Aegis explained, which caused it the Avatar of Eirene to open her eyes.

“You are spreading fear, be careful with your words.” She said coldly to Aegis as he watched the bloblike Avatar suddenly pulsate and grow in size.

“Avatar of Eirene, if we can get you back to Hrath’mir, can you do this to the other Avatars of Darkness?” Aegis asked as he looked at the blob with disgust.

“It’s taking all of my strength to contain him and his forces of darkness. Perhaps I could help, but that would mean releasing him.” She motioned to the blob, and Aegis could see the great amount of strain she was under on her face.

“So this isn’t it...?” Aegis said to himself curiously as he watched the reapers soar away, chasing after his gryphon over the forest through the transparent white dome. He was still missing something, but he felt like he had all of the puzzle pieces, he just hadn’t placed them together properly. It was then, as he looked up at the swarming reapers, that he once again saw the two stars shining above. Aegis, and Lindor.

“Eirene stood against the darkness, but not by fighting. She’s the reason the islands stay in the light...” Aegis mumbled as he paced, repeating the basic description of the game world that he’d read in the game’s manual, and thanks to that, he realized the answer. “Eirene did it. Eirene is the reason this world is Shattered.” Aegis said out loud. “Avatar of Eirene, there is no way for us to win this battle. Hrath’mir falls, that’s why there isn’t an island called Hrath’mir. But protecting the rest of the world from these avatars, and the abyss, is something you can still do. That’s how we survive.”

“What are you saying?” One of the soldiers said worriedly as the Avatar of Fear pulsed violently, making odd bubbling sounds as it grew ever so larger.

“I’m saying that the Avatar of Eirene has to shatter this world. Surround the remaining kingdoms with the light, raise them up out of the darkness, so that it can’t reach them.” Aegis explained to her, and though the other soldiers were afraid, she seemed to agree with Aegis and looked at him with a light nod. “Can you do something like that?” He asked her.

“It may be possible to call down the light of the stars, but I would need the aid of prayer, from many voices, all at once.” The Avatar responded as her focus on the Avatar of Fear wavered and the light dome around them started to flicker and weaken.

“So you need to get back to Hrath’mir, where the Great Prophet is? He said he was able to pray to the other priests across the land.” Aegis replied.

“Yes, perhaps all of us together would be able to pull down the light of the stars onto this world and protect it from the darkness, but, doing something like that cause leave permanent and irreversible damage to both this world, and Eirene.” The Avatar replied anxiously.

“It’s either that, or lose everything.” Aegis shrugged to her.

“Will we make it back in time?” One soldier asked.

“It’s impossible, there’s too many reapers.” Another said as he motioned to the swarm still circling outside the dome of light.

“The moment the Avatar ends her spell, the Avatar of Fear will be unleashed once more.” A third one commented.

“You’re right.” Aegis said as he put his hand to his chin. "The city falls so fast, and we’re so far from Hrath’mir, the only way to get the Avatar back in time is if we had an army of gryphon riders...” Aegis said, and as he did, he remembered one final detail from the start of the dungeon. “Or, an army of something else with wings,” he said as he placed the final piece of the puzzle down in his mind. “I know how to clear this quest.” A big grin came over his face, and he held his arms out wide while stepping out of the dome of light, allowing the reapers to violently tear him to shreds in a matter of seconds.