We waited for full darkness, and then we waited some more. The Griffons did not seem to have a common sleep period like the Hornbills. Some were napping, others flew off to hunt, and others ran and jumped like cats to hunt through the trees. Griffons were coming and going all the time.

  I had had a nap when we first arrived in the hollow of the branch, and Tāwai watched, and then we swapped. Griffons would pass often, and I kept still and used an Observant Eye to pick up the patterns of how they moved and what might trigger them to find us.

  They are strongly visual, but their sense of smell and hearing is fairly acute as well, from what I could tell.

  “I am not sure we can get past these,” I whispered to Tāwai.

  He cocked his head and chirped, “Try?”

  “We need an escape plan.”

  He looked at me. I examined what I had to hand. I wish I knew more wards. I could use the ones I had as distractions, but that was about it. The griffons looked more intelligent than other monsters, and that lessened the effect of any distractions a lot.

  I had a lot of looted equipment. Orange Ape’cot hide boots, Rat Fang daggers, etc. Nothing looked useful except maybe the spider silk. The trouble is that it is fragile. It didn’t bother me much, so it is not going to bother the griffons.

  In the early evening, I snuck out to examine escape routes. Down was the obvious one, as gravity is my biggest issue. This time, I used Map to map the area well, so at least I had a plan. I used the spider web ring to secure some of the wards at points for distraction purposes.

  I felt very underprepared. Griffons were not dumb Hornbills. They were smarter, stronger, and more vicious, as agile as the big cats. They had the best sight, hearing, and smell of the eagle and the lion. They are probably faster, stronger, and more agile than me.

  What are my advantages? Light and Shadow. I am pretty certain I can move unseen and with Spectral Cloak. Shadow Stealth lowers the body temperature, and Muffle Sound and Tāwai’s Air Manipulation, we can hide sound, smooth air currents, and, to a lesser extent, reduce smell. Will it be enough?

  The Griffons are tougher than the hornbills but not so closely packed together, and there are fewer of them. I am not sure how many there are yet.

  If we are discovered, we will be at a serious disadvantage. I can’t fight them, even one-on-one. Assassination is not workable for me on something like a griffon. I doubt even Myantha could make silent kills.

  This is a bad idea. The question is whether the risk is worth the reward. I don’t know what the reward is, except my Intuition says it is the most valuable thing in this area. What are the criteria that make it valuable? It is my intuition, so it is valuable to me.

  My life is also valuable to me, and the risks are huge. Tāwai wants to try. I would try if I were more confident I could escape if I were discovered. When I am discovered, is probably a better way of putting it, as the senses of the griffon definitely put a timer on our stealth.

  When we did the run against the hornbills, the four of us could kill individual hornbills quite quickly, and we only had to fight to a fortified backup team. I deviated from the plan and almost killed myself.

  Here, I have no backup team and no safe position to run to. The safest place would be the base camp, which is a long way away. I will run out of mana and stamina if I can stay alive that long.

  I am seriously thinking it is not worth the risk. My close call with death has definitely made me more cautious. I was starting to get a very uneasy feeling about this.

  If I knew more wards, I could build a safe space, but I can’t do that yet.

  “It is too risky,” I whispered to Tāwai.

  “Might be boss bonus?” he chirped quietly back.

  I investigated more with my intuition, and it went up a level. Does that mean it agrees that it is? More likely, I am just using it in a different way, looking for a specific thing.

  That is tempting. There is a good chance it is or could be part of the bonus for the boss quest. If the main challenge was split into shards, then it is logical that the bonus part would be as well.

  That is tempting. A good thief knows when to walk away from a job, but … but… this is a trial. Is there some way to beat the trial? Trials need to be beaten in both the ways that phrase can be taken.

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  My feeling of unease was growing. I looked around. Observant Eye saw something in the corner that it recognised. I turned and looked up where it had caught the glimpse. Two eyes and a beak were staring at us, and the lion's body was crouched, ready to pounce.

  “Move,” I yelled, startling Tāwai, then launched myself away with an Enhanced Jump.

  The griffon pounced at the same time and barely missed me. The griffon let out an almighty screech at missing its prey, alerting all the other nearby griffons.

  I saw Tāwai launch and throw Wind Blades at it as he performed something like a barrel roll to escape the snap of the beak at him. The Wind Blades just seemed to slide off the feathered neck of the griffon and did zero damage.

  I used Feather Fall to lengthen the arc I was jumping so I could reach the next branch, but all the nearby griffons were coming, and I was helpless in midair.

  The nearest griffon had launched itself at me with a snap of its wings, and I saw four clawed paws coming at me. I switched off Feather Fall to change my direction, but it wasn’t going to be enough. I had visions of my fall with the Hornbills all over again. I am going to have falling nightmares for a long time.

  This time, I knew the location of the branches in this area, and with a short burst of Light Speed, I was suddenly near the branch but travelling too fast. Cat Reflexes and Acrobatics had me absorbing some of the momentum with my legs and then launching me into another Enhanced Jump.

  I had to be very cautious of the amount of stamina each jump cost and the amount of mana I had to power the mana-hungry Light Speed.

  Then something triggered in Map, and it was like it was in my consciousness, and I knew where all the branches I had mapped earlier were and the distances and details without bringing up the Map itself. Text flashed in my vision, but I didn’t have the time or concentration to read it further than New Skill Acquired, Tactical Map 1 ….

  I partially missed my landing because of the annoying text and stumbled off the branch rather than jump. I tumbled and caught a horrifying view of several griffons diving at me. The Tactical Map updated with the number and their current trajectories, although as I lost sight of them, the map couldn’t update when they changed their direction. However, the trajectories gave me an out to another branch, and I used Light Speed to get there.

  When I tumbled, I saw Tāwai flying like a mad parrot to avoid the griffons chasing him. He was pushing his Swift Flight and his Acrobatic flight to stay ahead of the griffons and out of reach. He was trying to head to me. My Tactical Map showed where he was, and it updated his position and kept it in my view. It must be because we are bonded. I wonder if it is the same for a party?

  It is a shame the Tactical Map doesn’t update for our attackers. I need to keep them in sight to have their positions. Wait. The griffon had mana. I cast Mana Web (sensing), and all of a sudden, the Tactical Map updated with all the mana sources in the web.

  This, unfortunately, included the trees. As the skill levelled, there might be more control, but now it distracted me, and I landed hard and rolled uncontrollably. Then, pain stabbed in my back as a griffon got its claws into me, ripping through my cat-hide armour. I rolled again, which meant it didn’t manage to get a grip on me, and I stabbed it with Lightreaver as it flew over. I didn’t draw blood, but I didn’t have time to use a skill with the strike.

  A second was coming at me, so I used Charge to go at it, and it couldn’t adjust its trajectory fast enough. Shadowbane cut a leg, and I almost used Rainbow Assault, but I decided to save my mana to escape. It would give me an extra use of Light Speed. Then the Griffon was gone, and another came at me from a different angle.

  I was running along the branch when the icon on my map that was Tāwai, merged with a griffon icon, and it started falling rather than flying.

  I leaned on Dash and Free Runner and then Enhanced Jump with a two-second burst of Light Speed, and I reached out for his unmoving form. I missed grabbing his body and only snagged his wingtip. The wing was broken already, and if he were conscious, this would have been agony.

  I got an arm around his main body with his broken wing jutting out at an awkward angle, and then claws pierced my back, and I was jerked in another direction as the griffon that grabbed me extended its wings after its dive and headed for a branch.

  Its claws ground painfully against my ribs and a thigh. The wounds ripped and tore as the griffon’s wings strained to take the weight to the next branch. I reach my arm down and used Cutting Light to release my leg. It sliced through the claws, and my legs dropped down with talons still embedded.

  The loss of grip on my legs puts too much weight on the front claws, and they are ripped out as I drop. My back and leg are bleeding profusely, and my leg has dark claws still under the skin.

  I use Copy Image to have us continue to fall as I Light Speed to a small branch with Light Manipulation around me. They found me before when I was in my Spectral Cloak, but it was hunting us. This should give us a moment's reprieve.

  I feed Tāwai a weak health potion, which is the only type I have. I regret not getting a healing spell I can use on Tāwai as he has to be awake to use his Heal Wounds, and even then, it won’t fix his broken bones. I tuck him under my jacket and tie him there so I can use two hands.

  I use Lightreaver to cut out the talons in my leg and scull a potion myself. Then I took a weak stamina potion as well.

  The griffons are already starting to circle, looking for us. The fact I am dripping blood is going to draw them here.

  I checked my Tactical Map and used Enhanced Jump and Feather Fall to head to another branch that no griffon was heading towards. My leg spasmed as I landed, and my back was raw, and I rolled the momentum away. I ripped my shirt and used it to bind my leg, so it stopped bleeding.

  I then dropped over the edge of the branch to a lower branch as a griffon landed where I was sniffing the air.

  My Rejuvenating Aura is at work, but I have it on gently as I don’t want to alert the griffons. I cast Self Clean to remove as much blood as possible and run along the branch as I Jump for a higher one. This always going down is predictable, but there is very little I can do about it.

  I run along the branch, pushing on Dash and Free Runner again. I got to the trunk… or maybe it was just a vertical branch. I was about to climb when a griffon landed behind me and stared straight at me.