Gust of Wind

Swelling in size, Ganishka announces that he intends not to kill Griffith but to hold him prisoner and torment him. Griffith answers only with mockery. On cue, Grunbeld and a cluster of towering apostles smash the pillars supporting the roof and heave the whole ceiling skyward, catching the emperor off guard. The apostles fling the roof away entirely, and Silat and his Tapasa scramble for fresh footholds.

Griffith remarks that he can smell salt on the air. Almost at once a powerful gust sweeps the field, and Ganishka, whose body is made of fog, must snap back to human shape to keep from scattering. The strain buckles his legs, and when he raises his head he realizes he has dropped to his knees directly in front of Griffith. He cannot tell whether the wind was Griffith's doing or blind luck.

Griffith proposes that the emperor pull his forces back, laying out the deadlock between them: fog leaves Ganishka untouchable, yet a strong wind unravels that form, and while the fog protects him from capture, being scattered would strand his army without a commander. Griffith suggests they each withdraw and stage their true battle at Wyndham instead. Energized, Ganishka rises and seizes the offer. The Kushan sound the retreat and pull away from Vritannis. Silat departs alongside them, glancing back as the Band of the Falcon closes ranks and cheers their leader's triumph.

Ganishka threatens to capture and torture Griffith rather than kill him. Grunbeld and the giant apostles tear the roof off the mobile palace. A sea wind forces Ganishka out of his fog form and onto his knees before Griffith. Griffith explains the stalemate their respective conditions create and proposes both sides withdraw to resume the fight at Wyndham. Ganishka eagerly agrees, the Kushan sound the retreat from Vritannis, and the Band of the Falcon celebrates Griffith's victory.

Part of the Millennium Falcon Arc, this twenty-one-page chapter debuted in Young Animal issue five on February 23, 2007. The wind that undoes Ganishka is left deliberately ambiguous, hinting at Griffith's uncanny fortune without confirming any direct power over the weather.