Talion was staring at Nalia like how a troll would stare at its favorite club. With all the mud and dirt on him, he barely smelt like one too. Dyra didn’t blame him for staring at Nalia. Everyone seemed to do the same. What she just did was brave. Dumb? Yes. Dangerous? Also yes. But she had to admit, jumping right onto a griffin’s back took some guts.

“Is everyone alright? Dyra asked.

“I don’t feel so good,” was all Aigor said on the ground. His hog was poking Aigor in the arm with his snout.

“I need to find my horse,” Talion stated.

“I’ll help you track her down,” Dyra offered.

“I need to check on my horse,” Nalia said. “And make sure Aigor’s gonna survive.”

Aigor groaned, still not getting up.

“May as well help out,” Reiha said, getting off her horse. The hog ran up to Reiha, sniffing her leg. She promptly ignored it, going to kneel down towards Aigor.

“I think she went this way,” Talion said, pointing to his left.

Dyra scanned the ground. Almost immediately, she spotted a pair of horse prints in the mud, leading towards the grass.

It would’ve been a sight to see for a traveler. A tiefling, human, orc, dwarf, and elf, most of who were covered head to toe in mud, fighting a griffin. If someone had told Dyra months ago she would be here, she would’ve thought they were insane, and laughed in their face once they brought up the gods. But that’s life, right? The unexpected always seems to happen.

“This is gonna be a pain to wash…” Talion muttered to himself, mud still dripping off his clothes and armor.

“Got any more surprise spells on you?” Dyra joked. “Possibly anything cleaning-related?”

“Not a bad idea. Wish I -” a sharp gasp escaped from Talion. His left foot sunk into a small ditch of muddy water. In an instant, Talion tripped, falling face-first on the ground with a loud smack. “Dammit!” he shouted out loud. “Fucking-dammit - why is there so much goddamn mud...”

Dyra couldn’t keep it in. Hysterical laughing overtook her. The only thing she could do was laugh until she started coughing. Even if Talion wasn’t exactly amused by what happened, it was funny seeing him stumble back up on his two feet.

“This horse better be nearby,” he grumbled.

They continued on a little way. While Talion was busy trying (but failing) to wipe the mud away from his body, Dyra had her eyes on the ground, tracking the horse prints through the thick grass.

“Where are you from?” Dyra asked Talion, who is now trying to get some mud out of his ears and hair.

“West of here,” Talion said.

“Not many towns further west of here,” Dyra stated.

“That’s because I’m technically not from Trinal. I was born in Lindoria.”

“Oh?” questioned Dyra, surprised.

“Mhm. I’m… I’m from…” Talion sighed. “Vladya.”

Something about that name rang a bell in Dyra’s head. Vladya… She remembered hearing something about that town a long while ago. It was situated right on the border. It was famous for its gold and silver mines. But then, something happened.

“Vladya,” repeated. “Wait -” That’s when it all clicked: it was a ghost town. Long since abandoned after… “Oh my gods, you -”

“It’s been a long time,” Talion interrupted. Dyra realized it was best just to end it there.

Silence filled the air, the only sound present being the pouring of heavy rain.

The grass was replaced by pebbles as they drew closer to a pond.

They were met with a few horses grazing nearby, some standing close to the water, others just grazing near the shore.

“Over there,” Talion pointed.

Talion’s horse was preoccupied with slurping up some water. Her nose was almost submerged in the pond.

“I guess we’re lucky that she didn’t go too far,” Dyra stated.

“Yeah,” nodded Talion. He then took a step forward, reaching up his hand.

“Over here,” he said kindly to the horse.

The horse looked up at Talion, tilting her head to the side, seemingly curious, but wary.

“It’s just me,” he continued. He held out both hands as if showing it to the horse that they weren’t a threat. “We got rid of the griffin. It’s gone now.”

The horse trotted back up to Talion. “There we go,” he muttered.

He walked over to the side, thrusting himself up and over the saddle.

“Ready to head back?” he asked.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“You seem muddier than when you left,” Nalia said as they arrived.

“We got the horse,” Dyra said.

“Then we should get going as soon as possible,” Reiha told them. “Rain’s not letting up, and we still have a job to do.”

“You all can go ahead of me,” Dyra offered. “I’ll catch right up.”

Everyone got back on their horses - and hog. Dyra pulled out her dagger as they all went down the road. She walked up to the now-dead griffin, leaning her glaive against its side and kicking it as hard as she could to move its head. With one hand, she opened its mouth.

“These teeth are giant,” she said to herself.

It was almost impossible to saw one of them off. It felt like trying to cut a long in half with a butter knife. It was even harder to catch up to everyone else. With the amount of time it took to cut one of the griffin’s teeth out, the rest of the group managed to gain some distance.

As she rode further down the path, she thought to herself: “Vladya… It happened, what? Seven years ago?” Dyra was just a child then, which meant Talion was too. She wasn’t able to learn much from the adults around the tribe. Most of what she could pick up was through hushed whispers. All she knew was that there was some kind of massacre. Not by bandits or invading monsters, but by the elven army itself. Those who were sworn to protect their lands at all cost. Dyra shook her head. Talion didn’t talk about it much, which meant Dyra didn’t want to think about it either.

Just off in the distance, she saw their forms. Dyra’s horse sped up until she caught up with them.

“We’re getting close,” Nalia said, pointing at three wooden road signs which lead in separate directions. On the top, leading straight forward read Frent. The bottom one, which leads back the way they came, read Direwood.