36: Galvonson
The journey was slow; the terrain was rough; the wagons were overloaded due to the villagers; and the horses were struggling. According to Jen, we were still at least two days away from Boltron, but it would be at least a day before we’d have some form of safety from the Galvonson. However, that really depended on where its nest was located.
After roughly an hour of travelling along the rocky path, we heard a screech on the horizon. I couldn’t help but feel on edge. I couldn’t see the bird, but the tension was thick.
“Jen, what are the chances of this one being the same one we saw in the forest?” I asked, curious if that monstrous bird was what we’d be facing.
“Pretty high, I would say. It would actually make some sense. It likely was in the forest to get branches for its nest and angered the Ents. However, if that’s our foe, you need to be very careful, okay?” Jen said, looking seriously at me. I nodded, not really having anything to add.
Another screech cut through the air. It sounded closer, but I still couldn’t see the bird. A moment later, I noticed the wagons were coming to a stop. On the right-hand side, we had a sheer rock face leading up the mountain. I watched as a stone wall rose from the left side and arched over to meet with the rock on the right, essentially creating a stone tunnel. A moment later, Hari and Milo came racing up the caravan.
“It’s coming from behind, Jen! Liane! To arms!” Hari called.
As Hari and Milo arrived at the back of the column, they dismounted. Liane had vanished almost immediately, and Jen had her bow nocked and ready for combat.
“Trev, the front is sealed. Do not let anyone run out of this tunnel, or they will almost certainly die. Do your best,” Milo said as he shrunk the opening of the rear tunnel to just large enough for Jen and her horse to fit through.
There was an eerie silence for a moment before an incredible boom rang out, followed by the very ground itself shaking.
Looking up, I saw a cut in the stone itself before Milo sealed it again. Moments later, a screech rang out that even hurt my ears. I couldn’t believe how loud the creature was.
“Milo, bring it down if you can!” I heard Hari yell, before watching Milo cast a spell I had never seen before. It was like two giant swords of air crashed down from the sky itself.
The Galvonson clearly sensed it, as I saw it dodge the blades, keeping itself in the air just off the main road. It was massive. I never really appreciated how large it was.
The bird itself was larger than the wagon without its wingspan.
I heard some crying from behind me as I watched the fight unfold outside the tunnel. Clearly, the kids feared this creature, and who could blame them?
A second later, an arrow glowing green shot forth, hitting the bird directly in the wing. It moved far too fast for it to dodge. As the bird focused on Jen in its rage, Milo took the opportunity, and a spike of stone shot out from the ground directly below.
It was aimed directly at the body, but the bird moved barely to avoid it. Instead, it clipped its other wing. The bird let out an incredibly loud screech before I saw it flap its wings in the team’s direction. I couldn’t see the attack, but the ground erupted in a cloud of dust as a thunderous boom tore through the air.
By this stage, Cee, Troy, and the five villagers who stayed on foot had come to the rear end of the tunnel.
“They asked that you not go out there. They said if you do, you will almost certainly die,” I yelled over the sounds of intense battle to the group, trying my best to hide the fear and tremble in my own voice.
Another boom, followed by what I could only describe as a screech of pain. The dust had not cleared yet, so I could not see what had happened. Then there was a thud as something heavy hit the ground—hard.
“It’s down! Hari! Liane!” I heard Milo yell out, barely audible over the sound of the creature.
Then came the sound that could best be described as metal on metal. The dust cleared a little, and I saw the Galvonson on the ground, but it was no less potent as it lashed out at Hari with its massive claws. I saw its wings looked heavily damaged—feathers were ripped out, and it was bleeding heavily.
A moment later, it beat its wings again, rearing up. It almost looked like it was trying to take off. I witnessed Hari being sent back, barely keeping his footing, taking the brunt of a blow on his shield. Milo didn’t fare so well. He raised a stone wall in front of him, but it was immediately shattered by the creature’s attack. I saw Milo get thrown several body lengths backwards, landing hard on the ground.
“We have to help!” one of the villagers yelled out as we watched the scene unfold.
“We can’t; it will be suicide,” Cee said sternly, his sword in hand, already in a combat stance.
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“I can’t just stand here and wait,” the man said before I watched him run out, a small short sword in hand, heading towards the bird. With Hari blown back, recovering from the strike, and Milo still on the ground, the bird had him in its full attention.
“Wait!” I yelled out, but it was too late. Hari tried his best to intercept, but as soon as the man made it in range, it wasn’t even close. He didn’t even get to land his blow before he was cut down by the bird’s claws.
“Fuck,” I heard Cee curse. “I said it would be suicide.”
The rest of the villagers seemed to take the message to heart after that and backed away. Even Troy had left to return to the wagon, leaving Cee and me at the opening to the tunnel.
Milo was back on his feet, but I could see his robe was stained with blood from the last strike. Hari was back in melee with the creature. The whole time, Jen had been shooting arrows into the creature. They had all found purchase, but so far, it didn’t seem like it was having any effect.
A moment later, I saw the bird rear back, then Liane appeared, hanging off its back with her daggers stabbed into the side of its neck. She held on, barely keeping herself from being thrown off. Another pained screech came from the creature as it looked like it was trying to flap its wings, kicking up clouds of dust and dirt as a result.
“Don’t let it get away!” Hari yelled, pushing forward with his own sword, but it deflected off the bird’s claws.
I saw another blade of wind come down from the sky, and it looked like it pierced right through its wing before fading away.
The creature shook itself violently, throwing Liane off. It caught her with its wing, hitting her hard against the sheer rock face. As the bird turned to follow Liane and finish the job, an arrow struck it directly in the eye, causing the creature to turn absolutely enraged.
It started shooting out whatever attack it had with its wings. Blast after blast was sent forth, crashing into the rock face. Milo and Hari were rapidly setting up whatever defences they could.
I saw Jen rushing towards Liane before dust overtook the scene.
There was boom after boom as the creature continued to fire off blasts from its wings.
Finally, I heard another thud, followed by what could only be described as a weak cry from the creature. As the dust cleared from a breeze, which I had to assume was Milo’s doing, I saw it. The creature was impaled on the ground through its neck by a giant rock spike. What shocked me was that it still was not enough to kill the creature, as it struggled under the stone to free itself, the ground turning red as blood soaked into the dirt.
I saw Jen carrying Liane in a princess carry, rushing toward us at the stone entryway. Putting her down just inside, she took out a red potion and thrust it into my hand.
“Trev! Make her drink that. We need to finish this,” Jen yelled as she nocked her bow with another arrow and ran back out.
I immediately bent down, opening Liane’s mouth and pouring what I had to assume was a health potion into it. When I looked up again, I saw Jen standing on top of the rock spike that was piercing through the bird, charging up what looked to be a massive arrow. She fired it, and the arrow hit the Galvonson directly in the back of the head, stopping it in its tracks.
With that, it appeared that the bird was dead. Before I could even breathe a sigh of relief, Hari appeared at the entrance, anger written all over his face.
“Trevor, what happened? I told you not to let anyone out here!” Hari said angrily, staring hard at me.
“I... I’m sorry. I tried to stop him!” I said, not sure what I could have done short of tackling him myself. I was saved by Cee, however.
“He was told it would be suicide to go out, but he chose to run out anyway. Nothing the boy could have done,” Cee said, still holding his sword in hand.
Hari let out a long sigh. “It’s okay; you’re right. It’s not your fault. I’m sorry for yelling,” he said, looking down at Liane, who was just coming to after being knocked unconscious.
“We need to move before the other one shows up. Cee, could you help get Liane into a wagon? Trev, long shot, but I don’t suppose you can store the corpse?” Hari asked.
“I can try,” I said, not really sure if a creature that large would even work.
I left the entryway to the stone tunnel, and it was so much worse out here. I could see the large gouges in the road and the rock wall from where the creature had been lashing out.
As I got closer to the Galvonson, I truly saw how large this creature was. Its beak was larger than my head.
Once I got into range to store it, I was surprised to see that it actually worked.
Would you like to store 1x Adult Galvonson for 5 mana? Yes/No
In an instant, the bird vanished, followed by several arrows and two daggers clanking to the ground.
“That’s a handy way to get some arrows back,” Jen said, looking tired as she picked up Liane’s daggers. Another screech was heard, and somehow it sounded louder than the last.
It was followed immediately by a blast. The shockwave threw me back, my back hitting the rock hard, causing me to lose my breath. I coughed as I inhaled a lungful of dust and dirt.
You have suffered 94 damage!
With a crash, a Galvonson larger than the one they had just killed landed between me and the stone tunnel entrance. Hari and Milo were both on the opposite side of the creature, and I had no way to get back to the safety of the tunnel. I couldn’t even stand from the shockwave of the blow, and to make matters worse, just the shockwave was enough to cause me to lose nearly 50 percent of my health.
“Trevor! Get back!” I heard Jen yell to me as she took aim with her bow, standing between me and the creature.
I saw the Galvonson facing towards us, raise its wings as it reared up, preparing the same attack I had seen blast through Milo’s wall and knock Hari back.
I watched in what felt like slow motion. This is it, I had no defence, I thought to myself. Then, as the creature reared back and was just about to unleash its attack, there was a blur of darkness. I couldn’t even tell you what I saw. One second, the Galvonson was reared back to cast its attack, then—thud—its head hit the ground.
Not the whole bird, just its head. Its decapitated head.
“How...?” I barely got out as the body of the creature fell to the ground.
Then I saw it; we all saw it.
The Shadow Cat had decapitated the Galvonson in a single blow.
As I looked on, I saw the cat standing next to the head of the bird, looking directly at me. Again, its piercing green eyes stared straight at me. It didn’t move; nor did anyone else. Then I heard Jen say something. I didn’t catch it, but then she said it again, a little louder, not looking away from the cat or making any movements.
“Trevor, food. Give it some food or something.” She half-hissed at me.
In my bewildered state, not knowing what to do, I pulled out the leftover Juvenile Phase Spider and placed it on the ground in front of me.
In the blink of an eye, the cat went from the head of the Galvonson to arm’s reach of me, where it started sniffing the meal. Even as it bent down to smell it, its eyes never left mine, that piercing green cutting through me like it could see my very soul.
Then, as suddenly as it came, it was gone, along with the Juvenile Phase Spider.
There was a long moment of silence as I just took in the scene in front of me. That silence was broken a second later by Milo.
“What the fuck was that!” he yelled.