Anika figured that she had time before she needed to log out for the day, so she made a few preparations by planning her route and making sure she had food and drink for the journey to Belhaven. She also spent some time with Fenris. The two of them hardly knew each other, and she was planning to ride on Fenris' back, all the way to Belhaven, so making sure that this would work seemed like a good idea.

She went outside the city walls and summoned her wolf. Fenris was hungry, so they spent time hunting, and it became clear to Anika that this wolf was a force to be reckoned with. As soon as she was given the go-ahead to attack her prey, she went in at lightning speed and tore apart whatever she had caught. There was no chance for Anika to salvage any leather or fur from Fenris' kills, but the most important thing was that she was well fed and ready for the journey in the morning.

Sitting astride the Wolf was uncomfortable at first, and Fenris was not impressed with having Anika on her back. They took a walk without too much trouble, but as soon as Anika commanded her to run at a faster pace, she would fall off. She realised that all she had was the wolf's mane to hold onto and that most other riding animals were equipped with a saddle. As there was still time, she went back to the city and see what she could do about finding a seat that would fit. She met with a leather worker who had some saddles for sale, and with a few adjustments, Anika could create a saddle with a snug fit and took it for a test ride before logging out.

The journey to Belhaven went well. Fenris and Anika had to get used to each other for the first part of the trip, but the saddle she had fashioned the previous day held together well, and she only fell off the wolf twice, to begin with. One thing that slowed them down was Fenris's hunting instinct. She kept wanting to chase rabbits and other beasts in the wild, but Anika found that once she had let her hunt a few times, her loyalty rating improved and she put up less of a fuss when Anika wanted her to move.

It wasn't until the end of the first day that Anika got a feeling for Fenris' is true potential. Until that point, Fenris had not broken into anything faster than a trot. It happened when they crossed the path of a small militia of ogres. These things were three times as tall as the average person, ridiculously fat and flabby and they carried massive wooden mallets to thump their enemies with. It was Anika's fault, Loki had warned her that there was trouble up ahead, but as she couldn't see a way through it, she had stayed on the road so as not to lose any time. The ogres were a lot faster on their feet than should have been possible. They blocked the entire road, so when Anika and Fenris rode too close to them for comfort, they had given chase. This was when Fenris came into her own and showed what speed she was capable of. She bolted forwards allowing them to get clear of the ogres and kept up a good pace until they were out of sight. It had taken its toll on both of them, so they stopped early for the night, and she made sure that Fenris was well fed and rewarded for riding all day long.

It was shortly after midday the following day that they reached Belhaven. By Anika's reckoning, they had made it faster than they would have if they had been on horseback. Belhaven was a smelly fishing village with a small dock and a variety of boats harboured along the docks. The centre of Belhaven was close to where the docks ended, and there was a busy trade going on in the town square. She knew she needed to set her resurrection point at one of the taverns in Belhaven, but found out where the boat for Gliphos was leaving from before that.

To her dismay, she found out that the boat had already left for the day. The next one would be along at midday the following day, and the cost was one gold piece each way. Even if she had made it to Belhaven earlier, she wouldn't have been able to afford the trip. Now she was concerned with how she would get enough money by midday tomorrow to pay for the fare. Her best option as it was, was to spend the rest of the day hunting and skinning animals so she could sell them at the market. Medium animal skins and furs were going for about two silver apiece. So she reckoned it would take her quite a while because she would need to kill over 30 creatures to get enough skins to raise the money. There was nothing else to do but to get to work, but first, she needed to ensure that her resurrection point was set in Belhaven. Otherwise, she would end up back in Windfall city if things went wrong.

After paying for her room with the innkeeper, she was greeted by a shady-looking player. He wore a long leather trench coat and a woollen hat on his head. There was something not right about him, and it wasn't just his choice of clothing. He wouldn't look her in the eyes and kept checking his surroundings. She politely refused when he offered her a drink and told him she was too busy because she had to come up with enough money for the boat fare to Gliphos.

"Gliphos you say, interesting. What exactly are you going to Gliphos for? A player your level should do the storyline quests or at least grinding dungeons until they come out here."

She explained her situation as briefly as possible, it seemed to be the best tactic. She already knew what to expect, he would warn her that she would get killed by higher level players. But at the end of the day, it was her choice, and she was sticking to it.

"Interesting. I've got a deal for you, listen closely and you'll be happy that you met me today. I represent the League of Ash, so it's my job to recruit players to fight for our cause. I can certainly offer you the boat fare so you can be on your way tomorrow. That way you need not risk a situation where your animal skins won't sell, and you will be left waving the boat to Gliphos goodbye. All I ask in return is that you deliver some documents to my colleague in Bayfrost. It's a simple task, but since you are going that way, and I'm not planning to return for another couple of days, we both win. How about it?"

"Okay, I'm happy to deliver some papers for you, but I'm not interested in joining the League of Ash. My son is fighting for the other side you see, I don't think it would be a good idea for me to represent his enemy. On top of that, I want to stay neutral, I'm not here to play war games."

"As you wish, just do this little job for me, and we will be even. I wish you best of luck in finding your son."

Contract: Bayfrost delivery

Deliver the letters to Peter the Grim

Accept Yes/No

The format of the contract was different to that of the quests she had received and accepted in the past. It was clear what she had to do, but there was a load of small print she would have to scroll through to read. She accepted the contract without giving it much thought, but when she checked her system log she found a quite unsettling message;

You are now aligned with the League of Ash

Reputation with the League of Ash 0/1000

She looked up to get an explanation from the shady guy she had been speaking to, but he was halfway across the room, looking to make a fast exit.

"Hey! What's going on here? I told you I didn't want to join any faction. Did you trick me?"

The guy just shrugged at her and smiled smugly. She hadn't noticed before, but half of his teeth were covered in a silver enamel, it made his smile quite striking.

"Maybe, but I didn't force you to accept the contract. Feel free to make your own way there without it. Best of luck. Think of it like this, at least now only half of the players on Gliphos will be out to get you, the other half will leave you alone as long as your reputation is in good standing with them."

There didn't seem any point in arguing with the man. She was tired and needed to log out soon, anyway. Perhaps the best thing was just to accept her fate and be happy that she had a boat pass that would get her to Gliphos in the morning.