The explosions roused the defenders of Aricia. As Gilda passed overhead, she could see movement down below; rows of griffins started forming a defensive line, both at the town walls and the rock fences that were being set up outside it. She guessed the centurions were taking no chances after the two explosions; she couldn’t blame them.
It was getting dark by the time she reached the last picket and Gilda was surprised to see Imlay there as well. He was accompanied by five Marines, all riding the newly modified wagon with the big fifty-cal mounted on its new placeholder. She landed nearby.
“Good evening, ma’am,” Imlay greeted her professionally. He glanced at the town before going back to her. “Am I to assume the previous situation has been resolved?”
“In a manner of speaking,” Gilda replied, not wanting to go into further detail. “What do we have? Marco said it could have been a mine.”
“He’s right,” Imlay said. “We’re about to investigate right now. Want to join us?”
“Lead on, Corporal.”
Gilda took five scouts with her as they took to the air. There wasn’t much ground to fully stretch their wings, but at least high up in the air, they could see if there was anyone coming their way. Not even half a league away, the wagon stopped and three Marines dismounted. One was at the fifty-cal and Imlay took out a rifle that had a mounted tube that allowed him to see far away.
Scope, Gilda suddenly remembered.
Even without an order, the five griffins with her began to scout the area. She gave them credit for their initiative, but then again, those assigned to picket duty usually had to operate without a centurion or officer present. Still, after suffering Bricius’ stupidity, it was nice to see more professional griffins.
Landing behind the wagon, she saw Imlay give her a nod before looking back around through the scope. “See any bad guys marching to us?” he asked.
“Nothing,” Gilda confirmed. She looked at the deceptively empty fields ahead. “Your mines, if I remember correctly, act like some sort of lethal sentries, right?”
“More like traps, ma’am,” Imlay replied. “They don’t really tell if what they killed was an enemy or not.”
“How many did you plant?”
“Not a lot,” Imlay admitted. “There’s a limit on how many things we can bring via Storage Gems, and we had to pick which weapons to pack.” Then, he frowned. “And we don’t want to put too many of them. They are highly dangerous, especially when we’re no longer fighting.”
Gilda frowned as well. “If it was the Cloven, they now know that this place is trapped.”
“It’s mostly a good thing, ma’am,” Imlay said as he finally lowered his rifle, apparently satisfied there was no present danger. “If they march here, they’d have to wonder if it’s worth risking bringing their forces to an obviously trapped area, or go around it.”
“Ah,” Gilda said, understanding. “The mines will either serve their intended purpose, or have the Cloven maneuver around it, most likely splitting their numbers.”
Before anyone else could reply, she heard a griffin call for a signal. Imlay himself seemed to tap on the side of his helmet, a common sight of him receiving a message via the very useful comms. He straightened up, gave Gilda a look, and said, “Looks like they found something.”
As the signal didn’t sound far away, she opted to walk with Imlay. On their way, she kept stealing glances at him, hoping her actions were discreet. They weren’t.
“Ma’am, something on your mind?” Imlay asked, not even slowing his pace.
It took a moment for Gilda to compose herself. “I just had a talk with Marco.”
“Oh? Regarding what?”
She hesitated for a moment before replying, “Our apparent mutual… attraction to each other.”
To her annoyance, he smiled. “About fucking time.”
Gilda stared at him for a moment. “We just started a conversation, Corporal. There is nothing more to it than that.”
Imlay’s grin didn’t fade. “My boys and I have a betting pool. I think Mr. McClain and Ms. Fields as well.” He gave her a oblique glance. “And I believe if it wasn’t for the fact that you are their CO, Centurion Giraldi, Mr. Gletscher, and Ms. Nydia would have joined the bets as well.”
Now she felt annoyed. “I remember. And I don’t like being pushed, Corporal.”
“No one is pushing you, ma’am,” Imlay replied.
Gilda stared flatly ahead. “I seem to recall some of our conversations specifically trying to induce me to confront Marco,” she accused, anger lingering in her tone.
“Ma’am, there’s nothing that I have said that was dishonest,” the Corporal said calmly. “And if I implied anything, I’m just glad that it got you both to see the obvious.”
Gilda felt her anger deflating. “Obvious, huh?”
“While I cannot speak for you, I noticed Marco has been gazing at you for quite a while,” Imlay said. “He also has a great measure of respect and admiration towards you, and it’s grown to the point that I don’t consider it just friendly. Watching you two interact has been rather, well, warm. And almost anything that seems to involve Marco gets your utmost attention. So, yes, it’s pretty obvious, ma’am.”
Gilda sighed. “This is going to distract me, I just know it.”
“It won’t,” Imlay stated with such conviction that it made her stare at him. “Ma’am, you have grown as an officer to a degree that I’d say you’re a natural—professional, knowing when to listen to advice, and decisive when need be. Plus one other factor that you may not have realized.”
“And what’s that, Corporal?”
“Marco won’t let you be distracted,” Imlay replied. “He seems to be like a playful guy who has no worries. However, when shit comes down, he buckles up. He seems to know when it’s time to joke or when it’s time to get serious. He knows that you have a job to do, and respects you enough to know when to leave you be. I bet if you get distracted, he’ll say something to light a fire under your ass to get you moving. Respectfully, ma’am.”
Gilda chuckled. “Well, then I shouldn’t disappoint him then. At least, not until we establish what we are to each other.”
“That’s the spirit, ma’am. Now let’s go establish whether the mines fried an enemy.”
One Marine and one griffin greeted them as they arrived. Gilda looked around, expecting some sort of crater. The explosion did look like the result of a weak lightning bolt hitting the ground. She expected upturned earth and a small fire. What she got instead was a slightly burned, slightly disturbed grass. Another thing she noted was the fact that the disturbance seemed to favor one direction.
There was one body, though—a Cloven Trooper, with its shell body bleeding green from many holes. She blinked for a moment, studying the corpse. She half-wondered if she found some sort of theme or principle on human weaponry, that they seemingly favored punching small holes in their enemies until they went down.
“That doesn’t look right,” Imlay muttered.
For a moment, Gilda wondered what he meant, and glanced at where Imlay was looking. It was a small crater, positioned just slightly left of the center of explosion.
“Do you mean the crater?” Gilda asked. “I mean, it looks slightly off, but that’s normal when something explodes, right?”
“If it were a normal mine, yes,” Imlay replied, approaching the crater, slowly. “The Claymore was designed specifically to let out a controlled directional explosion. The only way it’d create a crater is if my boys were drunk and planted it the wrong way.”
“No way, Corporal. No one was fucked up during that day.”
Imlay just nodded, not looking at the Marine who spoke. He knelt and placed his hand into the crater, pushing at its scorched surface. To Gilda’s surprise, it gave way.
“That’s no fucking crater,” Imlay muttered. “Ground’s too soft, and it’s not even wet.” He began to scoop out the dirt, and it came out somewhat sandy. Gilda froze, recognizing it.
“That’s a Diamond Dog tunnel,” she said.
“Oh, you’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Imlay said. Before he could say any more, though, the sound of trumpets came from behind them. The Marine and Imlay looked towards Aricia, a little confused, but Gilda and the griffin with them recognized the signal when they heard it.
“A defensive line is being called,” Gilda said. “We’re under attack!”
Imlay nodded. “Go ahead, ma’am. We’ll make our way back, maybe find a good place to flank them.”
Gilda nodded back, then looked at the griffin with them. “Can you understand Equestrian?” When the griffin nodded, Gilda ordered, “Stay with the Marines! Keep an eye on the sky for them and relay any information you can.”
The griffin saluted. “Yes, sir.”
Launching herself up in the air, she took flight, keeping her sharp eyes on the ground to see anything that could help her. A moment later, she was joined by the four other griffins, and in formation, they began to make their way to the town.
Thankfully, there weren’t flyers in the air, which in itself seemed odd. If the Cloven began their offensive, she should have seen them by now. As she passed by different pickets, more and more griffins joined her flight. After passing the picket group nearest town, she finally saw the attacking body.
Cloven Troopers were coming out of the many newly formed holes from the ground, and in numbers big enough that the ground seemed to be growing black-green scales that writhed forward like a wave. It crashed against the immovable full might of the griffin shieldwall and she was close enough to see it in action. Steel wall met against the Trooper’s spiked limbs and claws steadily before the shields shifted to the side, just for a second, allowing enough space for a spear to push through, stabbing any of the nearby Cloven. Before they could retaliate, the shield shifted back, closing any opening.
It wasn’t a perfect defense. Some griffins were too slow in putting their shields back into formation, allowing Cloven to grab a griffin, either the spear holder or the shield holder, and toss them behind their line, only to be ripped to shreds. She felt lucky she couldn’t hear them scream.
Other times, the Cloven couldn’t do anything more than wound them. Some just continued back to formation, disciplined enough to not let minor wounds break their defenses. Those more seriously disabled were pulled back from the defensive front with a replacement griffin taking place with renewed vigor.
After a moment, the centurions shouted a signal. The shields suddenly pushed forward, throwing the frontline Troopers off balance, and the shieldbearers flew in motion, taking the air, and flying backwards, while the shieldbearers behind them stepped forward to meet the enemy.
“Those with crossbows, with me,” Gilda ordered. “Those without, make sure none of the Cloven sneak past the defensive lines.”
Almost half of the griffins with her broke away. The rest readied their weapons.
“Aim for the middle of the groups!” Gilda shouted. “Disrupt their charge! Aim! Fire!”
Bolts whistled through the air, and their aims were mostly true. The Trooper advance slowed down as some Cloven stopped dead in their tracks, while the rest were injured enough to slow them down. The Troopers behind didn’t seem to react to the slowdown as they just stepped over their dead and crushed the too-slow injured.
“Again!” Gilda shouted, reloading her crossbow. “Aim! Fire!”
The Cloven slowed down again, enough to allow the defensive line to take a step forward. After one more volley, they slowed down again for the defenders to take another step. And another. Gilda glanced at the holes where the Cloven were scrambling out, gaining more speed as more and more poured out. Gilda looked towards the midline defenses and saw a few griffins flying to support them. She hoped there was a mage there to decimate their numbers.
Then, a roar of familiar, yet almost deafeningly loud, gunfire erupted on the other side of the Cloven lines just near the tunnels. She spotted Imlay and the Marines with him shooting their rifles on the Cloven’s flanks, killing them quickly. However, it was the fifty-cal that once more performed the lion’s share of the work as it tore through the Troopers in a way that no normal rifle could. With how fast the Troopers died, she could have believed that the Marines were killing them by the hundreds.
That was all it took. With the sudden slowdown of the Trooper offensive, the shield wall converged forward, pushing the frontline Cloven off-balance before landing killing blows with swords and spears. Those still alive suddenly found themselves behind the shields, on the ground, and meeting Gryphon steel and claw.
Imlay and his wagon moved to a better position, their weapons continuing to bring down death until the Cloven movement ground to a halt, unable to push through.
Then the mages came flying in. Ten of them called forth fire that hammered the remaining Cloven with utmost lethality. Gilda had to close her eyes for a moment as the sudden brightness in the building darkness blinded her. By the time she opened them, she saw only a few Troopers alive, most of them half burned and missing their limbs, yet still trying to walk forward as if it didn’t matter.
Another trumpet called, signalling that the mages were about to bring down lightning. Bracing herself, she and those with her covered their ears and closed their eyes. A flash of light and a loud boom overwhelmed her for a few seconds and the air seemed to push away like a wave. She felt herself float slightly upwards to the left.
Opening her eyes, she saw the full extent of the magical attack. The mages brought down lightning to the holes in the ground, piling the openings with dead burnt Cloven, temporary sealing the holes.
When no Cloven emerged a few moments later, the mages began to converge near the entrances and called forth more magic. Slamming their staves down on the ground, she watched as the earth seem to ripple and shake. Afterwards, the holes completely disappeared, as if they hadn’t been there in the first place.
Gilda sighed with relief. Aricia’s first defense was a victory, though part of her felt worried. For one, she still couldn’t believe the Cloven hadn’t brought their Flyers against them. Looking at the burnt corpses of their enemies, she only saw Troopers. Where were the Cloven Rams? Considering how effective they were against defenses, she would have thought they would be present as well.
Maybe they didn’t fit in the tunnels, she thought.
Tunnels… she looked around again and realized there weren’t any Corrupted Diamond Dogs in the horde. Where were they?
There was movement in the line. She saw a few centurions pointing towards Aricia, some directing the mid- and rear-line defenses to an orderly retreat. When she gazed back at the town, she felt cold fear settle in her stomach.
The town was on fire.
“To Aricia!” Gilda shouted to the griffins with her.
When Gilda’s group arrived at the town’s skies, she realized that it wasn’t the town that was on fire, but a few buildings. Even better, they were the buildings mostly away from the residences.
She looked a the street and saw fighting. The Auxiliary Guards and even the volunteer defenders were warding off any invaders with surprisingly good teamwork. She saw a few earth ponies bucking Corrupted Diamond Dogs and Troopers, making them fly right at the ready Guards and their spears. The Cloven were running through the streets in a scattered and disorganized movement, unable to regroup due to the defenders. In fact, it looked like they were completely overwhelmed.
Gilda frowned. It was all too easy, by half. Missing elements of the Cloven’s offensive outside the walls? The rather disorganized movement of the invaders? Something was up.
She looked at the burning buildings, something clicking in her head. She knew those places. Then it hit her. Those buildings held their supply of food. Distraction, she decided. The offensive outside the town and also the invasion near the residences were just distractions.
She looked at her group, which surprisingly had gotten even bigger. She half-wondered where those numbers came from, and then realized they were sky-griffin Guards. They must have rallied to her in the absence of centurions.
“Spread out and sweep to those buildings!” Gilda ordered. “Search for any Cloven and kill them before they take more of our supplies! There, there, and there!” Then her eyes widened when she saw the Inn on fire. Turning back at her group, she pointed at two nearest griffins and finished with, “You two, with me.”
Gilda didn’t even wait for the salutes and charged towards the Inn immediately. As she neared, she could see movement in front of the building. The Inn itself didn’t appear to be burning, as the source of fire seemed to come from behind it. Nevertheless, the Marines hadn’t taken any chances and had organized an evacuation, leading the humans and the other Inn’s inhabitants outside. Signalling her group to follow her to the back, she saw where the fire was coming from.
It was the two other wagons that were being worked on. It seemed the Cloven thought of them a big enough threat to burn them down.
A flicker of movement caught her eye. Focusing her sight, she saw holes in the ground and almost a dozen of Diamond Dogs running, surrounding something. She flew in closer for another look, and her heart froze when she saw Marco and Raleigh being herded to the center of the Corrupted.
She didn’t know if she shouted an order, but might have as the two griffins took out their crossbows and readied them. Gilda herself took aim, but realized they were too far away to aim accurately and could endanger both humans that were surrounded. So, she had her group dive in a V formation. Once they were close enough, they aimed for the closest Diamond Dogs and fired their crossbows. None hit the heads, but they weren’t aiming for that. The force of the fired bolts was enough to knock a few of them down, leaving the rest vulnerable to their charge.
Three griffins bowled through the group of Corrupted with enough force to bring almost a whole section down, opening a space enough for the humans to escape.
“Marco!” Gilda shouted.
She saw him look at her in surprise, but he didn’t need any more motivation. Nodding, he ran towards them. Only him, though. Raleigh, it seemed, froze and collapsed in the center of the group. Marco also noticed this and ran back for him, grabbing on to his arm.
The Corrupted that were bowled down finally stood. They turned to face the trio of griffins and swiped their claws at them. Gilda and the griffin on her left dodged. The one on the right was too slow, and two claws caught her on the neck and face. The smell of blood spread sickeningly through the air.
“Marco!” Gilda repeated as she took out one of her bolts and slammed it towards one of the Corrupted’s head before dodging its partner’s retaliatory strike.
“Fucking get up, Raleigh!” she heard Marco shout. “Go! Go! Agh!”
Gilda bent her knees and used the full weight of her body to push down another Corrupted, and just in time. As it collapsed, she saw Marco being held by one of the Corrupted. Raleigh, apparently having had enough, practically dashed through the space she had just created, screaming as he sprinted through the rear door of the Inn.
For a moment, Gilda thought Marco was done for. With a simple swipe of a claw, the Corrupted could have slit his throat. It didn’t however, and began to drag the human towards one of the holes. Marco appeared to be rummaging around his waist, making Gilda half-wonder what he was doing, until he finally found the dagger Fortrakt had given him. Unsheathing it, he drove it into the Corrupted’s head, downing it instantly.
The rest of the Corrupted chased after Marco, but he scrambled away quickly and dodged their arms. Gilda took another bolt out and stabbed a Corrupted in the eye and shouted, “Hurry!”
Marco finally passed by her, but it was too late. It seemed the Corrupted realized the escape route, probably after witnessing Raleigh run through it, and barred the path with two Diamond Dogs. Marco glanced around him and went for the the tent where his makeshift kitchen was. Before Gilda could even ask what in the crows Marco was doing, she heard a scream to her left. Glancing to that direction, she saw the group of Corrupted finally overwhelming her last griffin companion, using their teeth and claws to rend him apart.
Then, their empty dead eyes turned to her.
“Get down!” Marco shouted. Gilda obeyed, ducking down from her standing position.
Gunshots rang out. Some of the Corrupted Diamond Dogs took a few steps back as if receiving a strong buck to their chests. Gilda looked at Marco and saw him with a gun, smaller than whatever the Marines usually used, and silver instead of black. His hands shook after every shot, but after maybe the sixth shot, they steadied. His shots became less sporadic, slower, but surer. She glanced back and saw that his next two shots hit two of the Corrupted’s heads, taking them down permanently.
“Gilda! I’m reloading!” he shouted. Glancing back at him, she saw one of his arms under the grip of the gun, taking out a magazine—if she remembered the term correctly—before reaching in his backpack. She hadn’t noticed that until now.
Gilda scrambled away, took out her crossbow and loaded a bolt to it, notched it, and fired. It missed the head, hitting the neck, but it was enough to push it back. She heard a click, and then Marco fired once more. She scrambled as fast as she could, keeping herself low as she made her way to Marco, loading another bolt. As she reached his side, Marco gave her a nod, in which she returned, and both began to fire their respective weapons to the nearest enemy.
The Corrupted seemed to have had enough and began to run towards them. Marco replied by firing faster, but he was no longer hitting their heads. Gilda was able to fire two more crossbow bolts, bringing two Diamond Dogs down. However, they were still coming.
“Marco, hold on to me,” Gilda ordered. It was a risk, trying to carry him, not knowing if she was strong enough to lift him for flight. If she couldn’t, she was prepared to at least throw him over the wall behind them, away from the Corrupted.
The rear door of the Inn suddenly burst open, revealing Doc. He saw them, then shouted, “Hit the deck!” before he aimed. Marco pushed Gilda down.
The gun he carried was, again, different from what she had seen so far. Like the rifle, it was long and black, but its end opening was slightly bigger. The sound it made was loud, but not as loud as she expected—rather than the familiar roar of thunder, it was more akin to a heavy book being slammed hard to a table. However, there was no denying its lethality.
The first shot took down two Corrupted standing near the door. The rest of them stopped, realizing there was now someone behind them, and as if realizing a greater threat, they all turned to face Doc and ran to him.
That was the last mistake they ever made.
Doc calmly took another shot, taking down one Corrupted after another. Sometimes, he got two, like his initial shot, and at one point, much to Gilda’s disbelief, got three. By the time the eighth shot rang out, there was only one Corrupted standing and was moving sluggishly, still moving towards him.
Calmly, the Doc began to reach for one of his pants pockets. Unlike the gun Marco or the other Marines had, it didn’t have a magazine. The bullet looked different as well, larger and more cylindrical, colored red and bronze. Shoving it under his gun, Doc took one final aim and made his last shot, sending the Corrupted down.
“Hey Flip-Boy, you alright?” Doc shouted after a moment.
“A little deaf, but yeah!” Marco shouted back.
“Glad to hear it!” Doc said with a grin.
Marco just grinned back before sighing, relaxing on the ground. Gilda felt his hands hold on to one of her claws. She gripped the hand, feeling oddly comfortable as they stayed silent for a moment.
“Thank you,” Marco said.
Gilda just nodded. She couldn’t find the energy to speak. Weariness seemed to settle in her bones, and there was a tempting notion to just go to sleep. However, she remembered the attack on the town, and that there were places that needed some organization to fend off the attacks.
Before she could stand, though, she heard the victory signal trumpet loudly in the air. She stared at the evening sky with some disbelief, then sighed with relief.
Gilda and Marco were completely silent as the Auxiliary Guards finally came to the Inn, with the former staring at her two griffin companions, feeling sadness and anger wash over her. A lot of the rage was directed to the Cloven, but some seemed to channel inwards, making her feel guilt. She had led those two griffins there, and they paid the price for it.
She glanced at Marco, who looked at the whole aftermath—the burnt wagons, the dead Corrupted, and the unrecognizable griffins. She looked to his hand, staring at the gun that had bought them time, his index digit off the trigger. He shook his head after a moment, then shivered, maybe remembering the experience.
Gilda couldn’t blame him.
“See?! See?!” Raleigh’s voice shouted behind them. “This is what I meant! This is why I wanted a Marine guard all over this… this lawbreaker!”
“Mr. Raleigh,” Imlay’s voice replied, “we’re looking at a long night ahead of us. The Cloven will surely come back soon. We don’t have the manpower for it.”
Gilda turned and saw Raleigh, his face twisted in an ugly expression as he approached them. Imlay looked somewhat annoyed as he followed. Doc was a step behind them.
She flicked her wing at Marco. He glanced at her with a questioning gesture, and she motioned towards the three humans approaching. He turned, saw them, and sighed.
“You think yourself above the law, Lakan?” Raleigh demanded. “Do you think this whole thing's a joke?”
“What is it this time?” Marco asked tiredly.
“Don’t ‘what’ me! Bringing a gun here!? Do you even remember that it’s illegal to bring one to Equestria? Well, you can kiss your ass goodbye. Once the Ambassador hears all about this—the duels, the guns—he’s going to fucking deport you back to Earth, maybe back to that little backwater place where you clearly belong. Corporal, confiscate his weapon, and give it to someone responsible.”
“As you say, Mr. Raleigh,” Imlay replied flatly.
Raleigh smiled, apparently satisfied, and walked away. Gilda couldn’t believe that, just earlier, she witnessed the same smug human screaming as he ran.
Imlay looked at Marco, then extended his hand forward, silently asking for the weapon. Gilda wondered if Marco was going to protest, but he just shrugged. Pointing it downward, he extracted the magazine, and pulled the upper slide backwards, a motion that looked like a notching in a crossbow. She saw a bullet jump out of an opening on the slide, and without preamble, Marco offered the weapon, still facing down, to the Corporal.
“SIG P220,” Imlay declared as he took the weapon, studying it. “You did buy this legally, right?”
Marco bent down to take the bullet that fell out. “Chris’ gift, and yes, it was transferred to me. And before you ask, yes, I have a concealed carry permit for that.”
“Not that it matters here,” Imlay replied. “It’s illegal for you to bring this to Equestria.”
“Corporal, I’m a little confused,” Gilda spoke out, getting the attention of the three humans. “As this is Gryphon, not Equestria, I don’t see any problems.”
Imlay looked at her. “Do you have laws in regards to guns, though?”
“From what I’ve seen, a gun is mostly just a weapon,” Gilda replied calmly. “And as per Gryphon law, citizens and visitors are allowed weapons. Who to use them against is what the bulk of the law concentrates on, but having a weapon here is not really a problem.”
“Even if that’s true, Mr. Raleigh is technically the one leading the expedition here, and he’s given me an order,” Imlay said softly. He looked at the gun once more. “You modified it with a molded grip, and from the look of the barrel, a weight compensator as well?”
Marco nodded.
“Surprised you didn’t just go for the Sport version.”
“I’m the kind of guy that likes to do his own work,” Marco replied with a shrug.
“Know the basic safety rules?”
Marco didn’t even need to think about it. “Point at a safe direction, it’s loaded even when it’s not, keep finger off the trigger—”
Imlay raised his hand, stopping him. “Okay.” He looked at the griffins carrying out some of the Corrupted corpses. “As Mr. Raleigh said, I will take this handgun and give it to someone responsible.” Without another word, he offered the gun back to Marco.
Marco looked at him for a moment before nodding. “Thanks. Raleigh’s not going to like this, though.”
“Yes, well, I’m pretty sure I can survive his disappointment,” Imlay said with a shrug. “Though I want to know how did you get that past Portal security.”
Marco took the handgun and gently placed it back in his bag. “Storage Gems. Chris got some samples, so we put what we needed in the gems before crossing the portal.”
Imlay nodded. “And since it’s mostly humans doing the search, they don’t really look into common gemstones.”
“It helped that the fact that the gems working on Earth wasn’t common knowledge,” Marco added, “and that they weren’t detected by the metal detectors or even the X-Rays. On the other side of the Portal, we weren’t even searched.”
“You are one lucky and devious son of a bitch,” Imlay said with a wide grin.
“Thanks,” Marco replied with a nod.
“Though you kept saying ‘we’ and ‘they’,” Imlay noted. “Is that suggesting you have more than one gun, and you aren’t alone in bringing them?”
Marco shrugged. “And they say Marines are stupid. I’m glad you’re proving them wrong, Imlay.” Then, he turned around and walked back towards the Guards removing the Corrupted corpses. Gilda wanted to say something but couldn’t find the words.
Imlay frowned. “What do you think, Doc?”
Doc snorted. “Raleigh’s becoming unstable.”
“He’s scared,” Imlay replied. “He’s not getting a handle on it. But I wasn’t asking about him. Flip-Boy. Is he in…?”
“Shock?” Doc finished the question for him. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he is. He was almost killed, then had to shoot someone. I’m hoping he doesn’t have any Diamond Dog friends.”
Gilda looked at the two humans. “What do you mean?”
Imlay looked at her. “Ma’am, how would you feel if you killed a griffin, pony, or human, even in defense?”
Gilda looked at him for a moment before shaking her head. “Terrible. Angry, maybe? Probably guilty.”
Imlay nodded. “I don’t think Marco shot anyone until today, and he’s close enough to see the aftermath of his actions. He’s probably justifying in his head—self-defense, that the Diamond Dogs were already dead, etcetera. But it doesn’t matter how many valid points he’ll come up with, he’ll feel horrified.”
“Hopefully he’ll go through the mindset that it was a necessity,” Doc said. “He’s not a soft city boy. Remember those dinners? Most of the animals he brought were alive, and killed some of them personally before having them butchered. He knows how to get his hands dirty, probably because he grew up at the—” and Doc raised his two hands, two fingers each pointing up, before curling them downwards, twice, “—‘backwater’ farm.”
“Yeah,” Imlay nodded. “Third-world tough.”
Gilda looked at the still-form of Marco. “Can we help him?”
“Have him sleep for now, to lessen any fatigue,” Doc enumerated. “I would also have him surrounded by friends who can understand the situation, and have them build his confidence from there. Make sure that he has someone to talk to as well. I’d probably offer him a job to help with the injured, balancing the scales in his head. Hell, let’s go the full way, and have someone gently critique his performance, and how he can do better.”
Imlay nodded. “Basically, give him something to hold onto to lessen the shock, but still present in the background to allow him time to work through it instead of ignoring it.”
“I’ll talk to Fortrakt,” Gilda said. “I don’t know if Chris and Tara can help with this one.”
“Mr. McClain and Ms. Fields won’t be good choices,” Doc agreed. “He’ll most likely feel ashamed and won’t open up to them.” He looked at Imlay. “If we were less busy, I’d ask if you’d allow some of the Marines he’s close to also build up his confidence.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” Imlay replied, but looked at Gilda, smiling. “I’m pretty sure he’s in good hands, though. Or claws, in this case.”
“Hope so,” Doc muttered before moving away. “Alright, Corporal. Work calls.”
“Thanks, Doc,” Imlay replied, watching the other human go. After a moment, he saw Guards wrapping up the two dead griffins that accompanied Gilda earlier. “I’m sorry for your losses, ma’am.”
Gilda just nodded, unsure what to say.
“And thank you as well,” Imlay continued. “Without you, Mr. Raleigh and Flip-Boy would have died.”
“I’m not so sure about that,” Gilda replied, a little more quiet than usual. “One of the Corrupted was able to get hold of Marco earlier, its claws near his—” she swallowed “—his neck. I thought the worst, but instead, it just dragged Marco to the hole they made.”
Imlay stared at her, hard. “Are you sure, ma’am?”
Gilda nodded. “I think we can establish that you humans have garnered the Cloven’s interest.”
“You think that by taking us, they can see how we work, how we fight?”
“Cloven did the same to griffins a thousand years ago before they attacked,” Gilda confirmed.
“I’ll tell my men to be careful, then,” Imlay said, frowning. “I’ve also heard from Giraldi, and there’s something he felt you should hear.”
Gilda nodded at him, straightening up. “What does the Centurion have to say?”
“Cloven pulled a page out of our book, ma’am,” Imlay replied. “Distracted the main force, and went straight to our weakness. Our food stores are mostly burnt up, though I heard we were left enough for a few more days. The problem is the water.”
Gilda frowned. “What do you mean?”
“They tainted the water wells with some sort of poison,” Imlay clarified. “I heard that they are bringing the mages to try and filter it out, but if the Cloven attack soon…”
“We’ll be fighting dry,” Gilda finished, shaking her head. “This is bad. We can fight maybe weeks without food, but without water, we won’t last days.”
“We do have an emergency water supply that we’re happy to share,” Imlay offered. “However, it’s not going to cut it. I heard the First Spear is planning to send out flyers to nearby streams and see if they can get water from there. He’s also plans to send out scouts around to see if the Cloven would come running at us and from where. I guess he’s just waiting for your approval.”
“First Spear knows the job better than I do,” Gilda nodded. “I’ll meet up with him later so this can be done as soon as possible.”
“My Marines and I will help as well,” Imlay said. “We’ll move out once we get a location of the vanguard. With just one wagon, though, we’ll be forced to change our tactics to pure hit-and-runs.”
“Slow down the march,” Gilda realized.
“Give time to get the water needed and consolidate our defenses,” the Corporal nodded. “You in, ma’am?”
Gilda nodded. “If I’m not needed anywhere, yes.”
“Glad to have you onboard,” the Corporal smiled.
Gilda watched the Corporal leave, giving orders to some of the Marines helping the Guards gather the bodies. She saw the wrapped-up body of one of the griffins carried away, then looked back at Marco. He was still staring at the scattered bodies of Diamond Dogs, as well as the other wrapped griffin corpse. One of the guards even gave him back the dagger he used earlier and he just nodded his thanks. She took a deep breath before walking to him.
Marco turned to look at her, nodding in greeting. Together, they looked at the scattered corpses. Gilda opened her beak, but closed it after a while, unsure on what to say. When she finally decided on a comfortable opening, she was beaten by Marco before she could say it.
“I’m sorry about the two griffins.”
Gilda nodded. “They did their jobs well. They’ll be honored, I’ll make sure of it.”
“Doesn’t make you feel easier, does it?” Marco asked in a dull tone.
Gilda frowned, wondering if Marco was talking about her or himself. “No, it doesn’t. Once we win, I’ll have to write letters to the families that died, and give them words of comfort on how they did Gryphon proud.”
“Will the families feel it justified for the cost?”
“Most of them will,” Gilda replied. “The soldiers that died have become part of a history of a tradition that spanned almost a thousand years of strife and struggle, a part of a whole that defended the Kingdom in its direst, in service of those who couldn’t fend themselves. May the Ancestors guide them to the stars.”
Marco smiled sadly, nodding.
“I also want to thank you as well, Marco,” Gilda added.
“Why?” he asked, glancing at her.
“Why? Because you saved my life, you dweeb,” she replied, rolling her eyes.
“I wouldn’t have let any of you die,” Marco said quietly. “Not if I could have helped.”
“I know,” Gilda said. After a moment of silence, she added, “Though for future reference, if you want an eagless to like you, you should have better aim.”
Marco turned to her, confused. “What?”
“Fighting for her defense is all good, but you have to show better skill,” Gilda continued. “You have long days of of practise ahead before you can become that bedwarmer you talked about earlier.”
Marco looked at her, stunned, before a grin made it to his lips. He shook his head in disbelief, then nodded at her. “Long days, eh?”
“Yup,” Gilda replied without hesitation. “Not just aiming, but fighting as well. No decent eagless will allow her intended to be useless. Fortrakt will help you train.” She paused. “Me too, if I can.”
Marco nodded, smiling. “Well, Fortrakt is already helping. But your help is, well, it would be great to have you… help.”
She paused again, before continuing, “We’re here for you, Marco. You know that, right?”
“Yeah.” He hesitated. “Thanks, Gilda.”
“Don’t mention it. Now come on. You look like you need sleep. ”
As they walked back to the Inn, Gilda asked, “You had that—what did Imlay call it? Handgun?”
He nodded.
“So, you had it with you the whole time?”
“In my bag, with a Storage Gem. I got another Gem for the magazines and ammo. That’s where I got the one I showed you before.”
She remembered that. “I’m a little surprised you didn’t start pulling that out after our little tussle in Arnau instead of the baton.”
“I can beat someone back with a baton,” Marco explained.“If I shoot someone with a gun, they probably won’t come back. I thought that was a little too extreme of a response.”
Gilda smiled. “While I understand and appreciate it, as a griffin, I would have felt somewhat flattered if someone brought a powerful weapon to ward me off.”
“Really?” Marco asked, looking at her. “To want a Round with a guy you fought in a duel, and now flattery when someone brings forth a lethal weapon against you. Griffins are weird.”
“Is that a good weird or bad weird?”
Marco grunted. “A bit of both. I guess I have a lot to learn about you guys, huh?”
“Undoubtedly.”
Marco suddenly grinned. “Think Nydia will help me out on that?”
Gilda growled and responded with an immediate, “No.”
Marco laughed. He earned a wing slap for that.