The dragon's harem

Chapter 59 An Elf On The Hunt

Aella looked at the bartender yelling at the young men, ”You bastards with no manners. Fuck off to your houses.” He ran after them with a broom.

”Iʼm heading out,” Aella said, walking toward the door.

CLACK! Jack closed the door, looking at her, ”Itʼs almost nightfall. Do you want to go alone to the forest?” He stared at her face, ”Arad can survive, you know that.”

”No, he canʼt, and Iʼm not taking chances.” Aella glared at him, ”Move away.”

”No chance. Arad will skin me alive if I let you get yourself killed. Have some faith in your leader.” Jack stated with a passive face.

”We elves have a better night vision than griffons. Our chance is to kill it at night.” Aella replied, pushing Jack to the side.

”Aella, stop. Do you think a griffon will live alone? Your arrow couldnʼt even pierce its wings.” Lydia grabbed her hand, ”Jack is right. Letʼs prepare first. Make a plan and hire more people.”

Aella looked at Lydiaʼs hand, remembering the elves who died when her magic failed. ”I canʼt add Arad to them,” She mumbled.

”What did you say?” Lydia stared at her.

”Arad saved me twice, risking his life.” Aella looked at her with a smile, ”Iʼm going after him.”

A faint gust of wing rushed around Aella with her smile, rumbling quietly as the candles flickered.

”Damn it,” Lydia growled, ”Jack, weʼre going with her.” She stared at him. She then glared at the bartender, ”If you have ropes, please give us a handful.”

Jack scratched his head, ”We have more chances if we are together. I can understand that.” He sighed.

”Are you going to hunt the griffon in the middle of the night?” The bartender glared at them.

”Kind of,” Lydia replied, ”I wonʼt let this idiot kill herself. Will set a trap, bait them away from the nest first.”

”How do you intend on doing that?”

Lydia stared around, ”Griffons love horses, will bait them with horse blood and one of our mounts. We will buy time for her to grab Arad.”

One of the farmers stared at them, ”Use my field, itʼs close to the mountain, and I didnʼt plant this year.” He stood, ”There is a small cave to the east corner, hidden behind the bushes. You can use that to hide.”

The bartender handed them the rope, ”You will lose the horse.”

”The choice between a teammate and a horse is obvious,” Lydia replied, ”Itʼs our only way to avoid multiple deaths,” Lydia replied as they walked outside.

Under the sunset, Jack stared at the mountain. ”Will head for the field and set the bait. But the griffons might not scout till the morning. We have to bait them in first.”

”Leave that to me,” Aella replied, ”I will use wind magic to carry the scent to their nest, and when they catch and fly away, I will pull Arad right away.”

”Then all we need to do is make sure the griffons donʼt catch up on the plan and turn us into their next meal. Sweet.” Jack smiled, looking at the two horses. ”One of you lads is going out tonight, but itʼs for a great purpose.”

”Should we set to protect the horse?” Lydia said, looking around for a blacksmith.

”How?” Aella stared at her, ”The griffons have great sight. They will fly back to me.”

”We wonʼt fake it. The horse will stay as the bait, but we will protect it as anyone would.” Lydia smiled, ”Will attempt a kill if it was only one.”

”Letʼs get to work. Lydia and I will prepare. You got ready to save Arad.” Jack said, and Aella nodded.

***

Thud! Thud! Thud! Aella rushed across the forest, leaping from one tree to another. She kept focused on the mountaintop and looked for any large nest.

”Arad, please be safe.” She growled, holding her bow tightly.

CRACK! She heard something. The sound of branches trampled. Thud! Aella stopped, staring down from the thick leaves. ”Bandits?”

Several men in rusted armor sat around a fireplace, roasting a few rabbits as they drank. ”This village is shit, and no travelers, no merchants. The fuck do they live?”

”We need to move. Otherwise, we will eat rabbits for the rest of our lives.” Another man growled.

THUD! The moment the man stretched, an arrow stuck between his eyes.

”Weʼre being attacked!” The other men screamed, hiding behind their shields. ”The arrow came from that direction, be careful.”

Hustle! Hustles! As the leaves danced, an arrow came from the other directing, blasting a hole in the back of one of the Bandits even though he wore a helmet.

”Shit! Did you hear that? That wasnʼt the sound of a bowstring. It sounded like a fucking crossbow.” One of them growled, turning around and shooting an arrow at the leaves. For a moment, spotting two green eyes glaring at them.

BAM! BAM! BAM! An arrow flashed, striking the banditʼs one and hitting him in the throat.

”It deflects his arrow, be careful. We arenʼt facing a normal AGRAA!” Before he could finish, Aellaʼs second arrow took his eyes, and the third killed another man.

”Hide! They are picking us like rabbits!” The bandits curled together, forming a small shield fortress to protect themselves.

Thud! Thud! Thud! One of the bandits looked up upon hearing the footsteps on the wood, only to see Aella leaving between the trees with the crescent moon behind her. She aimed her bow down, mid-air.

”An Elf!” The bandit yelled as an arrow pierced his shoulder. Thud! Aella fell on him, pushing the arrow deeper into his chest with her foot.

The bandits screamed, seeing her land in the middle of their shield fortress, ”Kill the bitch!”

As the bandit dropped his shield, swinging an axe at her. Aella grabbed her steel bow with both hands, smacking him in the face. She then pulled her dagger, stabbing him in the throat and chest before turning toward the other bandits.

Two pulled their swords, but Aella opened her palm and lifted it, remembering the elves dying, slowly losing focus on her magic.

Just moments before the magic could fail, she the griffon taking Arad. ”Levitate!” She growled [Levitation] Aellaʼs spell activated, causing a gust of wind to lift the two adventurers a few feet.

”What?” The two growled, but Aella put an end to their life with two dagger stabs.

When another bandit attempted to grab her from the back, Aella slipped away and pulled her bowstring. BAM! She forced him to eat an arrow.

”You long ears!” A bandit swung his sword at her. CLANG! Aella attempted to block with her dagger, but he was strong enough to disarm her.

Aella used her two other hits to blind and break his windpipe. All of those ruffians arenʼt as fast as her.

^I might not be strong like Alcott to finish them in one hit. But they arenʼt strong enough to hold me.^ She killed another two in the blink of an eye.

”Why are you attacking us, you bitch?” The bandit leader growled, glaring at her from under his full-plate helmet.

”Griffons donʼt wander too far from their nest. Why was it a whole day trip away? Are you the ones who trained it to hunt caravans and travelers?” Aella said, staring at him with a cold eye.

”We donʼt know anything about that monster!” The bandit leader growled, rushing at her with a sword swing.

Swosh! Aella dodged his attacks, ”I donʼt care. You will never tell the truth anyway.”

CLANG! With a single swift move, Aella smacked him in the head with her bow, rattling his skull.

When the man stumbled back, trying to regain his balance, Aella jumped above his shoulders. Before he knew it, she slipped her bowstring under his helmet.

”Shit!” He growled, seeing his end.

Aella twisted her bow, wrapping the string around his neck. She then pulled the bow, divorcing his head and torso.

”This what makes our archers better than you humans. We can fight in melee with our bows.” Aella said, glaring at the leaderʼs twitching corpse.

After finishing all the bandits, she inspected their temporary camp for arrows and money, and she even found a map detailing the griffonʼs patrol routes.

”As I thought, even if they didnʼt train the griffon, they must know how to avoid them living in this area.” She grabbed the map and gave it a quick read under the firelight.

”Two griffons, a male and a female expecting the youngs in the summer. They even heard their scream this morning. Something must have happened.” She drew a route evading all of the griffonʼs patrols.

”With this, I can sneak in and pull Arad out without risking the beasts finding us.” She smiled, rushing away toward the nest.

As Jack and Lydia were getting the trap ready, they heard someone call them. ”Jack, Lydia, What are you doing?”

When they turned, it was Arad walking out of the forest.