Royal Griffon Ch.9

One thing that Nic could say about Harakin Aerie: whoever had designed it now had an enemy for life.

While its long, winding maintenance tunnels probably made perfect sense from an engineering standpoint, that was of precisely zero help to Nic right now. He’d lost count of the number of times he’d almost gotten stuck trying to squeeze past machinery or through a narrow gap. Exposed pipes were constantly threatening to burn him, had succeeded a few times, and more than once he’d come close to touching what he was pretty sure were live wires.

Worse, he had to do everything in a half crouch, the passages rarely large enough to accommodate his full height. Sometimes they were so small that he had to get down on hands and knees just to keep moving. His suit was almost certainly ruined by this point, but that was the last thing on his mind at the moment.

Complicating everything was the egg. Its oblong shape made the already difficult job of moving infinitely more awkward. He had to devote at least one arm to the task of carrying it, and when the passages got too narrow, he was forced to push it along in front of him like a ball. He’d wrapped it up in the remains of his jacket, hoping to provide at least a little protective padding. He had no time to think of anything better, not with bots hot on his heel.

The machines were everywhere, scouring the tunnels with their ceaseless scanning. They moved unpredictably, regularly altering their overlapping patrol routes so it was impossible to predict where they were going to go next. The only way Nic had found to avoid them was to keep moving. So long as he stayed on the edge of their detection range, his cloaking ward provided just enough cover to let him slip past unnoticed.

He assumed anyway. It wasn’t like he could test the theory, nor did he want to. Though given how fast he was burning through his tablet’s battery, he soon might not have a choice in the matter.

Entering another junction, Nic frantically looked down each passage in turn, trying to decide which way to go. For a change, each of the four directions looked clear, no sign of bots or even obstructions. He took the moment of mercy to stop and catch his breath, trying to gather his scattered thoughts into something resembling a plan.

He was in trouble, that was undisputable. For starters, he had no idea where he was inside the Aerie. He could be on a completely different level for all he knew, his movements having been directed entirely by necessity. The markings stenciled on the walls were no help, written in languages Nic didn’t know, the accompanying images meaningless to him. The only symbol he recognized was the red warning that the Seneschal had pointed out back on the landing pad. Only one of the tunnels was marked with it, dictating at least part of his future action. Nic supposed that technically qualified as a plan.

On the floor next to him, the egg began making cracking sounds, as it wobbled back and forth. It had done this a few times since he’d taken it, though thankfully had always stopped after a few seconds. The last thing either one of them needed right now was for a baby griffon to decide to start hatching in earnest.

“Easy, easy,” Nic said, patting the shell. “Not a good time.”

Another crack, still quiet but more focused than before. Like something had tapped on the spot Nic had touched from the inside. Despite everything, Nic felt himself smiling at thought.

A familiar whirring sound broke the moment. Nic whipped around to see a blue glow coming towards him from one of the tunnels. Cursing lightly under his breath, Nic picked up the egg and went to move on, stopping short when he spotted the same glow down his intended escape route. Turning to the next opening, he cursed again as another bot blocked his way.

Only one option remained, and it was the bad one. Breathing a steady stream of curses to all gods dark and dead, Nic began to move down the red marked tunnel. Luck granted him at least some mercy in that no bot appeared to stop him. The passage continued in a single, relatively straight line for some distance; the few branching paths too small for Nic to fit down. Thankfully the air remained breathable, at least for the moment.

Suddenly, the back of Nic’s neck began to tingle. Not badly, he’d felt far worse even just working on his lessons back at Greytower, but he’d definitely just passed the boundary of something magical. Good or bad he didn’t know but there was nothing he could do about it either way. For now, he had to keep moving and hope the bots hadn’t just been alerted to his presence.

He made it several more feet along the passage when he began to hear voices. Muted by metal and distance but growing steadily louder as he drew closer. Light appeared ahead, Nic freezing in panic but relaxing when he saw it wasn’t blue. As he crawled closer, he discovered it was lamplight shining in through a small vent, the gaps in the grill just wide enough for him to see out into the room beyond. While he didn’t recognize the location, he did immediately know the three goblins standing inside.

“We’re in trouble, so much trouble,” Gob said, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

“Bad, bad, really bad, super bad, double bad with bad on top and bad sprinkles,” Hob agreed, pacing in a tight circle.

“Shut it, the both of you!” their leader said. “I can’t think with all your nattering!”

Both goblins ignored the command, continuing to pace and panic about the room, speaking as much to themselves as to their leader.

“They’ll understand right, boss?” asked Gob.

“Yeah, they gotta!” said Hob. “Can’t steal something if it’s not there to steal.”

“I hear griffons eat you when they’re mad, snap you clean in half with their beaks.”

“Or that they clip your wings and toss you off the edge so’s you go splat on the ground.”

“And we don’t got wings boss! What are they gonna clip!?”

“I said shut it!” the leader snapped, both finally complying as he loomed over them. “And if you know what’s good for you, you’ll keep your mouths shut and let me do the talking! The bird brain isn’t going to be happy, and I don’t need you two idiots mucking it up.”

Bird brain? So, these weren’t the masterminds of whatever plot Nic had found himself tangled up in. These guys were working for someone. And going by the name the thieves were using for them, Nic could only think of a few possibilities.

The mystery immediately solved itself as a door slid open across the room. Both Nic and the goblins turned to watch a familiar griffon with grey wings stride through it. Sir Saku, if Nic recalled correctly from the introductions back at the party. He cut an intimidating figure, towering over the goblins like a mountain, a fact he was entirely aware of and leaned into. Everyone present, Nic included, shrunk back at the display.

“Well,” he rumbled, his translator rough and heavy with distortion. “Where is it?”

“We um,” the leader began. “We ran into some problems. Temporary problems! Just need a little time to-”

“Someone took it before we could take it!” shouted Gob.

“Wasn’t our fault, we can’t take what ain’t there!” shouted Hob.

“Please don’t eat us!” whimpered Hob.

“Or throw us over the edge!” whimpered Gob. “Or clip things.”

Sir Saku cast them both the same look one might give a particularly irritating fly. Hob and Gob shrunk away, firmly silenced as Saku returned his attention to the leader.

“What happened?” he demanded flatly.

“We did just as you told us,” the leader said. “Waited for the guard to leave and slipped inside. Didn’t see no one and no one saw us, but when we went inside, the egg weren’t there. Box was empty.”

Sir Saku growled, Nic unable to tell if it was him or his bad translator making the noise. It was effective either way, the goblins somehow becoming even smaller before him.

“You had one job,” he said. “My liege does not tolerate failure.”

Hob and Gob whimpered, grabbing one another in terror. Their leader looked ready to join them but managed to keep most of his composure.

“We, we can still get it,” he said.

“Yeah!” said Hob.

“Yeah, yeah!” agreed Gob. “Ain’t no thing alive that can sneak away from Gob, Hob, and Jeffery Steve.”

“You idiot!” Hob said. “We weren’t supposed to say our names!”

“We weren’t?” Gob asked, baffled.

“No!” Hob smacked him on the ear, making his companion paw at them in discomfort. “And it’s Hob and Gob, I’m first!”

“Says who!?”

“Says me!”

“Enough!” Saku growled, silencing the bickering. “Can you get the egg or not?”

“Well, that is to say, we…”

Jeffery suddenly trailed off as his ears began to twitch, tilting his head towards the ceiling as they listened intently. The egg had begun cracking again, just loud enough that an attentive listener might be able to pick up on the sound. Or a passive one with notably effective hearing.

Nic grabbed hold of the egg, silently willing it to stop but his touch seemed only to encourage the little one to press harder. Before he could do anything else, there was a sharp rending of metal as a knife blade pierced the wall, missing Nic by scant inches.

“There’s someone in the walls!” Gob shouted.

“Spies and thieves, spies and thieves!” Hob agreed.

Nic took one last glance through the vent to see Hob and Gob sprinting across the room, pulling metal hooks from their belts. Jeffery and Saku hadn’t moved, though the goblin leader still had his hand raised from throwing the knife.

“See?” Jeffery said. “Told you we’d find it.”

“Get them, whoever they are,” Saku growled. “Do not fail us again.”

“Aye, aye,” Jeffery said.

Nic was already moving before Saku had finished speaking, pushing the egg as fast as he could down the tunnel. More knives began to pierce the wall behind him, each missing by a terrifyingly close margin as he scuttled along. One got lucky and managed to graze his ankle, the sharp burst of pain making him cry out, though he managed to push through it and kept going. Just as he reached the corner, the vent cover came off, and Gob’s head appeared through it. Their eyes met for just a moment, a huge grin spreading across the goblin’s face.

“Little thief, little thief!” he chanted. “Come out to play!”

*

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