In one day, he had built an embarrassing track record of falling right into the mud. Not only did he reek of sweat and stink, but he was also covered head to toe in it too. So when they arrived at the tanner’s store, he stayed at the entrance in order to minimize the amount of mud he dragged along the floor. It must’ve been a sight to see for the poor tanner; a group of five very muddy and exhausted armed mercenaries all dragging mud and dirt through her floor.

The first thing Talion learned from Hendri, the tanner, was why no one bothered to deliver the shipment. There had been reports of a griffin attacking travelers trying to come into town. The same griffon they had just killed. The reports had scared everyone out of their minds, so much that everyone refused to leave town. So when Aigor, who could still barely move after being slapped into a speeding horse, told them they killed the monster - Hendri looked as if a massive weight was lifted off of her shoulders.

Talion gave the note to Reiha, who was the least muddy out of all of them, who in turn gave it to Hendri. After briefly glancing at it, she pointed them to the direction of the stables where the shipment was being held.

A few minutes and a short conversation with the stablekeeper later, they were back on the road. The shipment wasn’t as big as Talion had expected. It only took Nalia’s horse to drag it along with them. Luckily, the rain had been letting up. With hope, they would be dry by the time they got back to Direwood.

“...so there’s a forge. Right under the fort?” Talion asked Aigor, after realizing there’s yet another part of the fortress he has yet to see for himself.

“It’s hard to find, but yes, there is. Wouldn’t have found it myself if it wasn’t for Chaos.”

“Man, I feel like I’m gonna die of old age before I see everything in that fort,” Talion said under his breath.

The ride back was much easier than the ride to Frent, especially thanks to the lack of a griffin trying to get its next lunch in. By the time they had returned to the edge of Direwood, the rain had turned into a light drizzle and the dark gray clouds were starting to let up.

There were a few people roaming outside, doing menial chores or talking to others. However, some of that stopped abruptly as they rode down the streets. They seemed to look at Talion in the group in some sort of confusion or slight awe. Thinking back, Talion realized witnessing five armed mercenaries, most of who aren’t even human, was probably a strange sight to see to someone who lived out in the middle of nowhere.

When they arrived at the cobbler’s, Talion was the first to jump off his horse, soon followed by Aigor.

Thankfully, Ravine stepped out of the store. Talion felt bad enough dragging tons of mud and dirt through Hendri’s.

“I cannot thank you enough,” she blurted out in a jumbled mess of a sentence.

“We’re happy to help,” Talion said. He was about to raise his hand to shake hers, but he quickly remembered how dirty his hands were.

“The gold is wherever your headquarters is. He…” she said the next part of the sentence in a hushed tone. “He… Your boss already came around and collected it. And don’t worry, this secret is safe with us. ”

Nalia nodded. “Speaking of which, how’s your husband? Feeling any better?”

“He’s finally getting some sleep. Thankfully. I’m running things while he’s crashed on the bed.”

“We won’t leave you out here for too long,” Dyra said. “Do you want us to move the shipment to another location?”

“No, it’s alright. I’ll have some people move it elsewhere.”

They said their goodbyes as Nalia went to untie her horse. While waiting, Talion found himself yawning. It wasn’t like any small yawn, either. Something about traveling all day long and then fighting a griffon exhausted him. Dyra seemed to have felt the same, slightly supporting her weight against her horse. Aigor, on the other hand… Poor guy was out of the game - for lack of a better term. He was laying as much as he could on his hog, not speaking much at all.

“I’m ready to go when you guys are,” Nalia announced.

They slowly made their way back to Fort Direwood. As their horses made their way along the long, seemingly endless pet of the canyon beside them, Talion felt his stomach rumble.

“I hope there’s some food when we get back,” Talion muttered.

“Where does the food even come from?” Nalia asked. “I have yet to see anyone in the fort besides us.”

“I don’t know,” Talion replied. “Magic?”

“Magic can’t create things out of nothing, dipshit.” Nalia responded.

“Wow, who taught you to use such harsh language? How about next time we use nicer words?”

“Yeah? Well you can-”

“How about we don’t finish that sentence,” Dyra interrupted.

“Yeah, whatever,” Nalia said. “But seriously, who in the world makes all the food?”

“Maybe one of the gods?” Talion said.

“I doubt they would take the time to actually cook, well, anything.

“Are you saying gods can’t cook?”

“No, all I’m trying to say is that-”

“Wow, that’s pretty… Umm… Racist isn’t the right word, is it?

The fortress came into view, and Talion couldn’t be more glad. Home sweet home, he thought to himself as his stomach growled even more.

It felt like it took ages just to cross the gates. But once they did, they dismounted their animals, leading them towards the stables. As Talion led his horse into her stall, he found plenty of hay and a large bucket of water waiting for her.

“Looks like someone got lucky,” Talion said quietly, patting his horse on the neck.

He went back out, locking the stall behind him.

“Somethings happening to the door,” Reiha stated.

“What?” asked Nalia, who just walked out of the stall next to Talion’s.

“I opened the door and… Now there’s a blue forcefield.”

“Walk through it,” Talion told her. “See what happens.”

“Is that a good idea?”

“What’s the worst that could happen?” Dyra asked.

“Could it be a portal?”

“It’s not a portal,” Talion and Nalia said simultaneously.

“Fine,” she said, turning back towards the door.

Reiha stayed still.

“What’re you waiting for?” Aigor asked.

“What if it’s a trap?”

“A trap?” Nalia repeated. “Here?”

“We don’t know who’s been here since we’ve left.”

“There’s only one other guy who would come all the way out there,” Talion said. "And He isn't exactly mortal."

"And how do you know that?"

"Do you want me to bother Him by asking if this thing, which is obviously not a trap, is a trap?"

Reiha didn’t have a response. She sighed, looking at the door. Aigor gestured her along. She took one step forward, and then another. And then, she hopped through the door, her eyes closed shut.

“See?” Talion said. “Nothing happened.

Reiha opened her eyes. “Wait, I’m clean.”

“What?” Reiha asked.

“I’m clean. I had some mud on me but it’s gone. I’m completely dry too.”

“Me next!” Talion shouted, stepping in front of everyone else. He took a step through the doors, and instantly he felt something that could only be described as lukewarm air blow all over him. When he found himself inside, he patted his body up and down. Not more mud, no dirt, nothing at all.