The Elder Scrolls: The Battle for Gryphus

by Urimas Ebonheart

Chapter 13

The Elder Scrolls: The Battle for Gryphus
Chapter 13

I stand up and walk over to Rainbow. "Let's get started! First, I'm going to see how well you can fight hand to hand... er, hoof to hoof," I tell her.

"Sure," she replies with another yawn.

I raise an eyebrow at her. "You know what? We'll wait for a few hours until you're fully awake," I tell her.

"Yeah okay, I'm really not a morning pony, that's more AJ's thing," she says and flies up to a low cloud.

I chuckle and wait for Fleetwind, Honour, and White Star to come up on deck. Ten minutes later, they arrive.

I walk over to them and get their attention. "Good morning, I have something to tell you three," I say to them.

Honour looks at me confused. "About what?" he asks.

I kneel down and motion them to get closer. "We're planning to attack the catacombs in a few days to get to Razor Beak, but me and you lot, along with rainbow and Discord, will attack from a secret passage and ambush Razor Beak from behind while the main forces distract them from the front," I tell them quietly.

"But why us?" Fleetwing asks.

"Because I know you more than the others. You're quick and a good scout. White Star can help heal any wounds we may receive. Honour is strong and reliable. Dash is fast and I've taught her some magic, and Discord is... well... Discord," I tell her.

"Sounds about right," she replies with a smile.

"Alright then, I'm going to go test Rainbow on her melee abilities," I tell them. "You two keep an eye on the ship, I don't want anyone not with us rummaging around in there," I tell White Star and Fleetwind.

They nodded and went about their own business, I then look at Honour. "Want to spar while I wait for Rainbow to finish her nap?" I ask him.

"Sure, I want to get better with my greatsword anyway," he replies.

We head off to the platform where it’s got more space. I draw my sword and wait for him to do the same, the other guards gather round and start mumbling to each other, I can even hear a few placing bets on the winner.

After a few seconds of staring at each other, I charge forward and swing at his head. He levitates his sword and parries the blow, he then rotates his sword and swings at me. I jump back and point my left hand at him and cast a small Sparks spell (90%).

He uses his sword as a lightning rod and blocks the spell... Oops... Now his sword has static discharging from it. I Roll to the right as he swings his sword down at me, the electricity in the blade discharges on the platform. I quickly get back onto my feet and thrust my sword at him. He parries it again and a small shock travels down my sword and into my right hand. The scales reduced the pain but still make me clench my fist on my sword’s grip (95%).

I quickly thrust my left foot at him and kick him squarely in the chest. He slides back a metre and then tackles me before I could recover (93%). We roll for a few metres and I throw him off with the momentum.

He gets up quickly and keeps his distance. We start circling each other while I can hear the other guards cheering for each of us.

He charges this time and swings at my feet, I jump over the blade and drop kick him in the face. "GAH!" he yelps and staggers back.

I quickly get up and tackle him, I wrap my legs around his waist and hold my sword at his throat. "Argh... Alright, you win," he says and I let him go.

Some of the guards grumble while others cheer. I help Honour up and sheath my sword. "Not bad, you're getting better. We'll have another match tomorrow," I tell him.

"Sure, I'm still getting used to fighting by levitating my sword instead of using my hooves," he says as he levitates his sword around.

"True, but once you've mastered it, you'll be a powerful warrior," I tell him.

"Compared to you, I've got a long way to go," he says with a sigh.

"You're young, there's plenty of time," I tell him and he smiles at that.

(100%)

Our conversation is interrupted but a loud snore followed by a snort. We look up to see Rainbow's right hind-leg hanging off the cloud she's on. I chuckle and look back at Honour. "Can you do something for me?" I ask him.

He looks at me with a raised brow. "What?" he asks.

"Can you teach the other earth ponies how to do the levitation spell? It would really give them an advantage in the upcoming fight. Would also allow you to practice some more," I tell him.

"Oh, sure. I'll use the same method Moonbeam taught me with," he says and walks off. I spread my wings and fly up to Rainbow.

She's laying on her back with drool dribbling down her left cheek. Her wings are flapping lightly as her forelegs lightly kick. "But I wanted to race her first!" she says in her sleep and flops over onto her right side. Unfortunately, she rolls off the cloud with a yelp.

I dive down and catch her before she hits the ground. She's breathing rapidly as she looks around. "What the buck just happened!?" she asks.

I chuckle. "You fell off your cloud in your sleep and I caught you, might I suggest a bigger cloud next time?" I tell her.

She frowns at me and jumps out of my arms. "Yeah yeah," she replies and lands. She stretches and shakes herself like a dog would getting water off itself, It's rather adorable.

(100%)

"So about those Lessons?" she asks.

"You awake enough for it?" I ask her teasingly.

"Falling off a cloud in your sleep wakes you up faster than Pinkie's super sugared cupcakes," she replies and cracks her stiff neck a few times. "So what are we doing first?" she asks as she walks over to me.

"I want see how well you can fight barehanded before I decide anything," I tell her.

"Okay!" she says and stands on her hind-legs and starts punching with her forelegs. "Bring it!" she says.

Ain't she confident. I raise my hands up into a defensive position. "I want you to try and land a hit on my head or stomach, you have ten tries before I start throwing my own punches," I tell her.

She grins confidently. "I'll only need one!" she replies and dashes at me with her wings. By Talos she's fast! I barely lean away from her first swing at my head. Instead of stopping or backing off, she then swings her left hind-leg at my stomach and I block it with my right arm. That's two.

She then leans back and flaps her wings, bringing up her right hind-leg making me lean back and fall on to floor as her hoof just misses my chin. She flies up a bit and lets gravity pull her towards me. I quickly roll out of the way and get back onto my feet.

As I'm getting up, she flaps her wings again and tries to punch me with her left foreleg. I block it with my right arm and duck under her right foreleg's swing. That's six.

She growls in frustration and lunges at my face with her right foreleg. I block it with my left arm and raise my right leg to block a kick from her left hind-leg. That's eight.

I jump to the right as she turns around and tries to buck me with both hind-legs. That's nine.

She screams out in anger and flaps her wings and tries to tackle me. I flap my wings and jump over her. She goes head first into some barrels and groans as she wobbles onto her hooves, and that's ten.

She turns around with a really angry expression but 'eeps' when I run towards her and stop my right fist just an inch from her muzzle.

She stares at it cross eyed and gulps. I pull my fist back and she sits down and sighs. "Not too bad," I tell her. "Have you had some training before?" I ask her.

"I learnt some karate in Cloudsdale for a few months, and well... Going around saving Equestria also helped," she replies.

"I see. You did great at the start, but you let your frustration get the better of you, making you sloppy," I tell her.

She frowns, but doesn't say anything for a few seconds. "So what do you suggest I do then?" she asks me.

"Instead of letting your frustration get the better of you, let your anger and rage fuel your attacks. When I get angry, I put all my strength into my attacks so that even if they block it, they'll at least take some damage, and I'll also ignore any pain and aches and continue to swing until my enemy is down," I tell her. "But considering you're light and fast, I recommend you do hit and run attacks. Like you did against that first dragon we fought."

"You want me to fight like a coward!?" she yells at me.

"No, I want you to fight to the best of your abilities. You're not built for strength, you're built for speed and precision. Hmmmm, wing blades and foreleg blades would be good weapons for you. You can fly by an enemy and cut them quickly and fly off to another target," I tell her. She frowns even harder. "Look at it this way. If you were to go against a trained minotaur or an earth pony like you did against me. What do you think your chances of winning would be?" I ask her.

She grumbles and looks down. "I could still kick their flanks..." she mumbles.

"Oh? Could you now? I wasn't even using my sword and yet I still beat you without it. You'd be fighting against foes with hammers and spears," I tell her.

"Alright fine! You made your point..." she says with a grumpy expression.

"I believe you'd make a great scout. You're fast and agile, you should be focusing more on those attributes than your physical strength," I tell her.

"So what do you want me to do now then?" she asks looking up at me.

"Go to the ship and get fitted for light armour, wing blades, and foreleg blades, then we'll see how well you can fight with them," I tell her.

She salutes and heads back to the ship and I wait for her to come back while looking around. Ponies and griffins are walking around loading and unloading from other airships docked at the platform, even some cannons are being fitted onto some of the merchant ships.

I notice Honour with some other earth ponies who look excited as he teaches them how to levitate. So far only one of them is barely lifting a mace.

About ten minutes later, Rainbow returns in what looks like light chainmail armour with katana like blades strapped to her wings and forelegs. She looks herself over and shakes herself, I guess to make herself more comfortable.

"Okay, so now what am I doing?" she asks in an annoyed tone.

"I take it that your armour isn't comfortable?" I ask her.

"No... It's riding right up my flanks!" she replies and pulls at the armour behind her. It does look a bit tight on her.

"Wasn't there any larger sizes?" I ask her.

"No, the bigger ones are already being used," she tells me.

"It'll have to do for now then. Okay, I want to see how fast you can fly with that all on," I tell her.

"Yeah yeah," she replies agitated and starts flying.

She takes off towards the castle and flies around the highest tower and then makes her way back. She lands and shakes herself again, only took her eight seconds there and back.

"Alright, now I want you to try and hit me with one of your leg blades," I tell her and stand in the middle of the platform.

She looks unsure but takes off nonetheless. She starts flying towards me and I lean to the left and avoid the blade, but she misses by miles.

"Rainbow! If you're worried about hurting me then don't! This armour is more than sturdy enough to handle those blades!" I yell at her.

She hovers for a few seconds and nodded. She flies out and rushes me again, I duck down and lean to the right as the blade glances on my left pauldron.

The force was still enough to make me lose my balance and I fall on my back.

Rainbow flies over me. "Oh my gosh! Are you alright?" she asks with a worried tone.

I chuckle and get back up. "I'm just fine, Dash," I reply. "You see? With your speed, you managed to hit me this time, and with that speed, you hit harder as well," I tell her.

She looks like she's deep in thought. She then looks at the blades on her legs and wings. "I guess so... but it just isn't my style," she says.

"Listen. War isn't about playing fair or being nice. You either kill or be killed, you fight better with speed instead of pure strength. I fight better with brute force more than speed or magic," I tell her. "What magic I do have, I use to give me an edge to allow me to use my sword better."

"So I could also use magic to my advantage then?" she asks.

"Yes, you could use your Sparks spell against a flying opponent where the shock would lock up their muscles, thus causing them to fall," I tell her.

She frowns in thought again. "Alright. So what do you want me to do now? Practice some more with these?" she asks, pointing at the wing blades.

"Yes, ask one of the pegasi guards to teach you how to properly use them. I need to start preparing for the attack myself," I reply. Speaking of the attack, I tell Rainbow about the plan and her involvement in it. She grins at the chance to take the fight to Razor Beak, seems she's still pissed about the attack on Canterlot.

I Spend the rest of the day exercising and practising with my sword.

---

Three days pass by as we get ready for the attack. Rainbow has gotten better with the blades and even the guards are stunned at how good she's become. Two of the other earth ponies can now levitate their weapons, but the rest are still learning.

I learnt to cast the Frostbite spell and had a rematch with Honour. I still beat him, but he's getting a lot better with his Telekinesis.

Rainbow also learnt the Frostbite spell with me. She's also used to the chainmail armour now, though she still complains that it's riding up her ass.

Discord surprisingly is practising his magic equipped with robes and a golden staff with Twilight's head on the top of it... I asked why and he replies that it was a gift for Twilight, but she didn't want it. The staff then spoke saying Twilight was just jealous of her and huffed... I just walked away with a blank expression and went back to training after that.

The reinforcements arrived from Canterlot and Odahviing let them through the barrier. One of the ships was damaged from a dragon attack and they suffered only ten deaths from the attack, but the dragon got away.

We now have a force of one-thousand two-hundred griffins, three-hundred ponies, one dragon, and four minotaurs. Thirty of those ponies have already been trained in basic restoration magic, and not all of them are unicorns as well.

We're gathered in the Throne Room, ready to start the attack. Iron beak and his Generals are gathered around a map of the Catacombs.

"Our scouts have reported no-one going in or out of the Catacombs over the last three days, and with the barrier up, none of them could have teleported out," one of the Generals says.

"Here's where we'll be entering from," Iron beak says and points to five locations. "While we attack from the front, Farengar and his group will attack from the secret passage here and assassinate Razor Beak," he then says pointing to the royal cemetery. "Any questions?" No one spoke. "Then let us begin."

Author's Note:

The battle begins.

Comments

[Danny Eclipse]

Are you going to continue this series or is this the end of this story?

[Urimas Ebonheart]

6242444 I'll probably write another chapter after the next Terracana one.

[Danny Eclipse]

6243621 Ok.

[The Crimson Reaper]

Discord surprisingly is practising his magic equipped with robes and a golden staff with Twilight's head on the top of it... I asked why and he replies that it was a gift for Twilight, but she didn't want it. The staff then spoke saying Twilight was just jealous of her and huffed... I just walked away with a blank expression and went back to training after that.

OUR GLORIOUS LEADER, TWILICANE! HATH COMETH! THE MESSIAH OF CHAOS HATH COMETH!!!