“Roar!” the Griffon announced their arrival, terrifying the denizens of the woods.

  Galeforce wind unched branches into the trees that previously formed walls of Goblin huts, smashing them on impact. Murkuk was the only Goblin remaining in the clearing, sensing Dink through their bond. The rest had scattered and fled the arrival of the Griffon. Dink could feel his nervousness and immense pride at seeing him touch down on the back of an enormous flying predator.

  Murkuk stood up from his partially intact throne, righting his crude crown made of animal teeth and twigs. The Griffon tucked its wings and peered down at the Goblin from the corner of its avian eye.

  “Don’t eat him, that’s my pet,” Dink instructed, hopping from its back with a grin. The Griffon rumbled in acknowledgment. Lumbering down and curling its cws comfortably underneath it while closing its eyes to rest. “One moment.”

  Dink left the Griffon to reunite with Murkuk. Before he could drag the Goblin into an embrace, Murkuk dropped into a prostrate position at his feet. Dink watched in bewilderment as Goblins emerged from the trees to join him on the ground. He surveyed the countless bent backs with Goblins peeking gnces at him, tecomers hurrying from the thicket to throw themselves prone in submission. Murkuk climbed to his feet, turning to face the gathered Goblins.

  “Me, Chieftain Murkuk Bangstick. Him, King of Goblins, Dink Leathertongue, Dragon syer, rider of flying beasts,” Murkuk decred, raising his staff high to emphasise his words. Murkuk excimed and channelled mana into the arcane runes scrawled over his staff. Fire erupted from its length, igniting his throne in fmes. “Yah! We go now to fight the Eating Woods on other side of the big wall.”

  Dink watched, agape in complete amazement as Goblins rose from the ground, throwing their fists high in a deafening cheer. A collection of enthusiastic Goblins, retrieved sticks of their own. Dink thought nothing of it until fmes bathed the nearby woods in fmes, triggering a wildfire.

  Blight. Murkuk gave wild Goblins magic, is he mad?

  Dink recognised poorly imitated copies of Murkuk’s bangstick carved from random sticks in their hands. His eyes involuntarily glided down to between their crotch ying ft, their self-control of lustful thoughts for the ability to channel mana hidden behind loincloths.

  Dink’s eyes grew wide in disbelief as he realised the vast majority of the Goblins in the area spewed fire. A few lowered their heads in shame and disappointment, grabbing their bulging manhood beneath their loincloths with mixed feelings of missing out.

  Heartless and efficient. Murkuk created an army of fucking Goblin Magus. I don’t know if I should be proud or horrified. He wisely left a selection of breeders, they look to be the rgest and strongest. While he clipped the weakest to make them more useful…

  Wait a moment, King of the fucking Goblins? He’s built me an army that can enter the Expanding Woods without triggering a war. Incredible. Now I need to get them across the empire intact without fucking up everything in our path. If this is how they behave normally, I expect it to be like herding cats.

  “Blight, what have the Gods got me into?” Dink mented, pcing his palms to his face and pulling his skin taut to stare at the heavens. The Griffon rose to its feet, gring at the maniacal Goblins disturbing its rest. With a powerful beat of its wings, the Griffon extinguished the fmes before they could grow out of control. Simultaneously, it blew the Goblins nearest to it from their feet. “That reminds me, I need to fulfil my bargain.”

  Dink closed his eyes and reached out inside his consciousness, seeking to provoke the Dragon slumbering within his mana sea. With the Hags’ talisman confined within the branches of the demonheart tree, Akarad could be roused with effort.

  “Akarad, I have need of you!” Dink shouted inside his mind.

  His words peeled like thunder as lightning ignited the heavens of his consciousness with neurological activity. The chaotic waves of the endless sea froze immobile, the silhouette of the colossal Dragon opening its eyes within the depths.

  “What do you seek of me, Sword Saint?” Akarad replied, his enormous head cresting the water's surface.

  “The secret to gifting bloodlines. I have a debt I must honour to empower the Griffon that carried me here,” Dink said.

  “Kekeke, foolish Human, that is no secret. It is contained within your seed, such is also true for Dragons and the other primal races. To shape life, you must first embrace it. Fortunately for you, this creature already possesses a bloodline and cannot receive another without destroying it from within,” Akarad replied, his grumbling ughter stirring the glowing mana ocean into a frenzy.

  “Are you saying I must go back on my word?” Dink asked, his voice becoming dangerously low.

  “No, listen closely. Gift the Griffon a drop of your blood, I will use it to stimute and promote its Roc lineage. A Muck bloodline will be a simple task to complete. It is improper for a creature of the skies to be bound to one pce. Enough, leave me to prepare,” Akarad instructed, dismissing him.

  Dink opened his eyes, no time had passed on the outside world. He pressed his thumb between his sharp teeth, biting down hard enough to draw blood. The action immediately drew the Griffon’s attention. Draconic aura radiated from the droplet, transforming it into a vibrant golden colour. That colour shifted once more to cloud over with inky darkness to turn as bck as the abyss.

  The small wound on Dink’s thumb burned away into ash, revealing unbroken skin. With a casual toss, Dink flicked the droplet towards the Griffon. Its beak snapped forward to snatch the blood out of the air. Trembling engulfed its limbs, colpsing the beast to the ground amid intense convulsions.

  The surrounding Goblin tribe ceased their wild antics to escape out of reach, turning to watch in silent wide-eyed awe. The Griffon staggered to its feet, coughing and spluttering, and began to shed it’s drab tan feathers. Hulking muscle was bared, sinew moving and rearranging beneath its flesh. The Griffon’s body compacted in on itself, becoming sleek and dense, somehow becoming more imposing and majestic despite shrinking a size. New feathers, a mixture of vibrant crimson, pristine white, and shimmering bck, began to sprout.

  “Roar!” The Griffon reared on its hindlegs at screeched at the sky.

  Within moments, the feathers grew to full length and the beast unched itself into the sky. With a pump of its wings, its figure disappeared accompanied by the shrill whistling of cutting wind. Unexpectedly, the Griffon returned flying at incredible speeds, fring its wings to nd in the clearing once more. Tucking them behind its back, the eagle head stood proudly to silently regard Dink. It stretched its head towards him a moment ter, thoughts unknown.

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