— Wyvern pass —
[Length : 200km] Main road through a ravine wide enough for a convoy to traverse. The walls to either side offer cover from the wyverns, ironically making it harder for them to access their prey. It takes a merchant convoy
The trading route to Herdial.
The gap between two railheads for steam trains that cannot be bridged while the wyverns run amok.
Merchant convoys would have to bridge it.
Hikari drew her bow.
Wyverns circled the skies above the caravan, raining fire down.
Ria hugged her boot tightly.
The rest of the caravan huddled against the ravine walls.
They took their horses with them.
The most important part of the convoy was also the wyverns' favorite food.
Their wagons were covered in fireproofed skin.
Hikari released her bow.
Miss.
But the wyverns around it were thrown off course.
It creates a brief pause in the bombardment.
"Now, my lady!"
Ria ran towards the ravine wall.
A RazenHeir knight covers her with his shield.
Hikari stands her ground.
Her lady hid against the ravine wall so she could move freely.
The wyverns swoop in for another barrage.
Hikari dodges.
She blocks a fireball with her arm.
Her wyvern skin resists its own flame.
She draws her bow as the wyverns pull up.
Release.
Miss.
Draw.
Just as the wyverns were pulling out of the ravine.
Her arrow hits the wyvern's back.
It was knocked off course, spinning out of control.
Hikari draws her sword and dashes towards it.
The beast crashes against the Ravin wall.
Her arrow did not pierce the wyvern's back.
The force of her arrow only knocked it off balance.
It shakes off the stone.
It flaps its wings and takes off.
A volley of daggers pierces its right wing.
The beast shrieked in pain.
It stumbled mid-air.
But it had to land.
A knight as tall as it appeared behind it.
With a roar, it swings its tail.
The hardened skin on its tail makes it a formidable weapon.
It felt like it hit a rock.
It staggers.
The sound of boots skidding.
It opens its mouth.
Flames gather.
The wyvern skin knight bares her sword.
The RazenHeir flames flicker.
The wyvern releases its flames before they are fully formed.
Hikari blocks it with her arm.
The wyvern lifts its claw.
But it was too late.
The giantess knight drives her flaming sword through its throat.
It shrieked.
Its voice was broken.
Boom. It swings its claw, but Hikari dodges.
It turns to sweep with its tail.
Hikari backs off.
A volley of fireballs from the wyverns diving down.
Hikari guards.
She stares into a wyvern's teeth.
She slashes her sword right into the middle and feels it cleave through flesh.
The beast shrieks.
It staggers, but it can still fly off.
The wound to its mouth doesn't stop it from flying.
She dodges another wyvern's claw.
The pack pulls up out of the ravine.
Hikari turns back to her prey.
It was struggling to maintain its balance.
The RazenHeir flames burn away at its insides.
It staggers.
Thud!
It slams its claw into the ground.
Hissing as Hikari approaches.
Thud!
Thud!
Hikari stops.
She raises her sword, winds it around her neck.
She swings with all her might.
It cleaved through its neck.
…
"Good work, Lady Wyvern Bane!"
Several rugged men armed with carving knives swarmed over the dead wyvern.
Like a well-oiled machine, they took apart the wyvern like furniture.
The wings were first chopped off.
Then the claws.
They made incisions at even intervals along the main body.
Straight-line cuts creating an even grid.
Ria stood behind Hikari and watched.
"Fans of yours? Lady Wyvern bane? I didn't hire them."
She nudged the giant boot.
"They just follow me."
They removed the skin in sheets of equal size.
The fat was scraped into jars.
They chopped the lean meat into slices that would fit into a cart.
The blood drained into jars.
The bones were broken apart with hammers,
They were to be ground into powder anyway.
Then the organs.
Carefully handled.
Each was placed in a jar filled with salted water to preserve it.
Finally, the wyvern's core.
Glowing with deep golden orange.
A special chest was prepared.
The men used steel shovels to carry the burning core.
They held their breath as they lowered the core into the chest.
The foreman, tanned muscles, a rugged grey tank top fraying at the sides, both arms tattooed.
He walked up to Hikari and held up a piece of paper.
His helper pushed the cart of lean meat and wyvern skin behind him.
"Good work. Please sign here." He held up a paper and a palm-sized ink press.
It was big enough to fit Hikari's finger.
The wyvern skin on her hand rolls back.
The giantess bends down.
"Hold on. Let me see that."
The sudden, soft, invisible, high-pitched voice took the hulking man aback at first.
He noticed the short and skinny Ria staring up at him.
"This is not for children; run along now." He dismissively waved his hand at Ria.
Then one of his henchmen whispered in his ear.
His expression changed.
"Ahem. Forgive my rudeness, Young Lady RazenHeir. Shame on me for forgetting that the esteemed lady of the house has a modest stature."
Ria held out her gloved hand. "I'm actually of marriageable age, I'll have you know. The paper, please."
The man rolled his eyes, nervously tugging at his collar.
"For our carving services, the RazenHouse accepts that they would research the meat and skin of the wyvern. The remainder of the wyvern will go wholly to the carving house."
Ria tears the paper into two and glares at the foremen.
" So, this is how you have been ripping off our knight."
"Well- I'm sure we can…"
The foreman nervously wipes his sweat.
"The price of their services need not conform to the exchange rates in a place several dozen miles from here. As I see it, they were merely creating value from a slain wyvern that your knight would have discarded anyway."
A smartly dressed young man.
His voice was meek, so he had to project it.
Short, modestly built like her.
He was only half a head taller.
Ria turned to face him.
"So you admit that their claim on the share of the spoils is actually far more favorable than that of either the Moradlae or Herdial grand exchange. Far more favorable than the rates of carving houses in the adventurer's guilds."
"I am merely stating that we have yet to appraise the goods."
The young man shrugs.
"I already have. The cart of skin is worth 2000G on the Herdial Grand Exchange and at least 1500G on the Moradale Exchange. The fat, conservatively, 2500G. The horns, 1000G. The fresh organs: at least 4000 G. On the other hand, the meat would have to be consumed tonight, so let's say 50G, a full meal for an entire convoy. The core could fetch well over 5000G. I have done many transactions to ascertain that number."
Ria retorts.
"I stand by my point. You don't seem equipped to carve up a wyvern and transport it yourself. And if you leave it, it would just become salvage. Free for any passerby to claim."
"'Not equipped to transport, you say. Bring it out!"
The RazenHeir foot soldiers removed the rigging from a cart and pulled off the tarp covering it.
Gasps rippled through the onlookers as they revealed a huge bag carved with the spire city's symbol.
The young man took a few moments to recover from his astonishment.
"Pptttttffff," he let out a mocking laugh.
"A subspace pouch? Please. That is the stuff of legend."
"Oh? Yet you know of it. You don't believe the RazenHeir house has the connections to obtain such an artifact?"
The boy rolled his eyes uncomfortably, glancing back at the carvers' glares.
"Even so, the cost of maintaining its enchantments would far exceed the sale of the wyvern parts. You would be taking a hefty loss to prove a point."
"What could I do, the negotiations are breaking- aaahhh!"
Hikari pinched the back of her cloak and lifted her.
The armor pieces on her torso opened, swallowing Ria before sealing back together.
The carvers and onlookers were silent, their jaws wide open at what they just witnessed. Noses were bleeding, and pants were under pressure. None could utter intelligible words.
"Rip off?"
The foreman flinched, sweating profusely.
"Uh.. I suppose… I haven't been quite forthcoming with you…. "
…
The rest of the journey was uneventful.
They reached the town at the end of the ravine.
The guards glanced at Hikari and let the RazenHeir convoy through without incident.
The town was bustling with activity.
Herdial troops in their light brown uniforms were everywhere.
Drilling. Cleaning their muskets.
Steam tanks lined up along the road.
Massive hunks of steel with wide tracks.
They were up to her stomach.
She's not confident she could lift them.
Troops load coal into a steam core installed on its back.
They loaded crates of supplies from the side.
The gunner cleans the cannon installed on its top.
It looks like an invasion is being prepared.
An officer walked up to them.
"The hearthstone emblem," Ria whispered.
"Ah, you must be the RazenHeirs. Please, allow me to show you to your allotted campsite."
"Could we see the sealed letter?"
"Of course." The officer took out a sealed envelope and handed it to Ria.
They reached their camping area. It was little more than an open ground marked out by wooden stakes.
"I guess they were serious about us bringing our own tentage equipment."
The RazenHeir troops unpacked their equipment.
A mobile forge, kitchen, triage tent, and rune workshop.
All to support Hikari, with a dozen scouts and another dozen riflemen to guard the encampment.
Three knights as Ria's personal bodyguard.
Hikari sets up her tent.
It was tall enough for her to sit upright in a meditating pose.
She still needs to stabilize her mana flow from the titan shard.
An hour later, she heard Ria's voice coming from outside.
"Hikari! Shall we cook the wyvern meat?"
Her stomach growled.
"Sure"
The wyvern meat cracked and sizzled over the fire.
Hikari sat in front of it, laser-focused on every minute change in texture.
The smell of spices, the dripping fat. Her mouth watered as she impatiently poked the meat with her throwing dagger.
Ria sat down beside Hikari, who was still focusing on the wyvern.
A few minutes passed.
Suddenly, a hissing sound rang out. Hikari immediately snuffed out the flames.
Using her throwing dagger, she carved out a piece and dropped it into her mouth.
Ria watched her every movement.
She sensed bliss from the giantess.
"It's ready."
Ria stabbed her knife into the roast.
It was tough.
Hikari lowered her plate.
She cut a piece, pressing down with the blunt side of her knife to soften it.
Ria accepted it.
It was soft enough for her front teeth to sink in.
They ate.
She felt a little guilty watching Hikari eat heartily.
Even as a noble house, getting enough meat to feed a giant her size would be a challenge.
She snuggled up to Hikari.
Badum! Badum! Hikari's overwhelming heartbeat as she leaned on her leg.
It was warm.
"Ria. What now?"
"I'll be meeting the general. As for you, rest as much as you can. I think you will be fighting a lot really soon."
Hikari bites into her steak, yanking out a piece that was the size of Ria's chest.
Ria was still struggling with hers.
She cuts up her steak into thinner slices, beating it with her knife to soften it further.
"Ria."
"Yes?"
"The pouch."
"Shh!" a sharp whisper. "The ruse won't work anymore if you tell."