It was midday and Zeek felt as if Anders had explained her entire life story. She was sixteen years old and had come from the city of Revena to the North near the White Ridge. Anders had not traveled in a straight line as she should have made it this far South in only eight days of light travel. With her own assumption that she had been wandering South and running from goblins for roughly two months it just seemed a ridiculous waste of effort on her part.

All this and it was obvious to Zeek that Anders did not know how to maintain a course or really any of the basic navigational skills that a farm boy was taught. Zeek wondered how she would explore the forest along the trade routes without going astray during the yearly harvest festival pilgrimage. Zeek had only gone on the pilgrimage twice but his father had started every morning of the six day journey by waiting until Zeek had correctly established the direction they had come and the direction they were to head in. It didn’t seem so useful at the time but now it was clearly a memory and a skill he would cherish.

Anders continued to ramble on in a sing-song melody “I told the baker boy that if he put his puffy flour hands on my new dress one more time he’d find my purple venish-pointed shoes cracking his beloved jewel pouch to dust. And you know he actually smiled at that. So I did it, and turned to run before he let loose the two meanest looking mutts in the city. I ran for a good while too, until I crashed into Mistress Hues. After that day I spent my afternoons with Mistress Hues. She liked me so much she helped unlock my first core class. Guess what class?”

Zeek did not care one iota about her city-folk story or whatever class Anders had. Zeek promptly stopped, turned to the girl and placed his finger over her lips.

Anders continued mumbling against his pressed finger “Oh, that is strange. You're supposed to be enthralled with my every word and find it hard to concentrate on anything but me.” Zeek removed his finger realizing this entire time she was casting about magic.

“Do you have bardic magic or protection from sirens?” Anders asked, now actually seeming to look up at the boy more inquisitively and not as a play thing she had found.

Zeek simply shrugged his shoulders and internally considered that his protection from mental manipulation had played a part. Perhaps his irritation at her was the sense he would get when someone was attempting such a ploy.

Anders went quiet for a while after and soon after the sun rose to its highest point. Zeek began to look for fresh water. It took a few hours before the sounds of a creek reached his ears. Zeek and Anders spent a short period resting near the creek and filled the water-skin before setting off towards the village.

As they walked Anders' jaw fell into motion, however her ramblings turned to questions. “Knighty, how old are you? You look my age but then you act older and younger at the same time. I think it's not talking that makes you seem more mature and older.” Anders asked. Zeek flashed five fingers on both hands.

“Oh, Knighty, you're just a boy. What did they feed you? Had to be huffle-pig meat, the storekeeper Willard said huffle-pig makes a woman thick and a man tall. You're going to be a giant one day, I guess it would be good to keep you around.”

Zeek considered this as he continued through the forest. He did in fact eat a lot of huffle-pig meat. It was one of his favorites. With this his mind wandered to his mother's cooking. His belly gave a rumble at the thought of huffle-pig feet stew. Zeek pulled from his sack two strips of dried rabbit meat, handing one to Anders as they moved onward.

“Umm, so Knighty, where are we going? I’m all about getting out of this forest but is there going to be any food that's not dried rabbit? My mother always said a girl needs to eat her vegetables.” Anders asked after another hour of silence. Zeek reached into his left leather pouch for a map that his sister had given him and handed it to Anders.

Anders took the map and unfolded it and after only the briefest of reviews peered over the top looking at Zeek “Knighty, that’s not helpful, I can’t read this.” He reached over and pointed in the general area that he believed they were in and then pointed to the charcoal smudge, his sister had added, near a large river.

“Ah, I see we are here in the forest” She paused, looked around at the forest trees surrounding them and nodded “Checks out. And we are going to the black smudge near the Bagoose River.” she finished looking up to Zeek.

Zeek shrugged, pointed at himself then moved his right hand signing “Delayed” he then pointed at Anders and signed “Obstacle”.

Anders cocked her head to the side “Casting a country curse on me or something?” Zeek lowered his head and shrugged in annoyed defeat.

Zeek pushed their pace faster hoping to exit the forest before the sun set. He found that at a certain pace Anders kept her jaw still as she seemed to focus on her breathing and navigating the difficult forest terrain.

As Zeek and Anders pushed past the forest line, the setting sun was nearing the horizon. What captured their immediate attention was the screeching of a beast about a hundred yards ahead of them.

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A white headed griffin the size of a small horse was being attacked by nearly twenty goblins. At least one of the goblins spears had found purchase in the griffin, as the spear stood erect near the base of the wing.

The goblins have the numbers but the fifteen dead and dying goblins that littered the grassy hillside did not suggest this was a one sided fight.

Zeek was contemplating his options. This was an opportunity to both slay a weakened griffin and perhaps finish off any remaining goblins. The entire point of this adventure was to unlock a core class. Surely defeating a griffin and twenty goblins would show his determination and solidify his path.

Before Zeek could take action Anders had started to speak far louder than she should. He lunged towards her in an attempt to cover the obnoxious girl's mouth.

Anders side-stepped the boy and gave him a quick wink as she pointed towards the now stilled group. All eyes had shifted falling on Anders. Anders for her part was telling a story about the day she first bled and how she met her first best friend at the wash house cleaning her cotton rags.

Zeek was at first interested in the story as it wasn’t something he had heard of before. However, Anders pulled his saber free and placed it in his hands pushing the boy towards the enthralled group of listeners.

He hesitantly moved towards the group mentally cursing the heavy weighted suit that slowed his movements ever so slightly. Approaching the goblin group he could see many attempting to keep their eyes on him however with each word from Anders they would lock back towards the girl.

Zeek raised his arm and took his first swing at a goblin that stood half his height. The goblins head was nearly cut clean off but remained attached. As the goblins head dangled along its back it fell to its knees and then promptly crumbled to the ground.

The fallen goblin seemed to shake a bit of concentration back into the remaining group and Anders quickened the pace of her story. However, a dozen spears now angled towards Zeek. It didn't seem they could properly defend themselves as they were always a second or two late in their response to his movements.

In the back of the group the griffin had shaken off the effects and was tearing through the goblins. Within a few minutes the battlefield had only three still standing. Anders who had stopped her storytelling, Zeek who was squaring up with the griffin, and the griffin that was attempting to reach back with its beak and remove the spear in its wing.

Anders ran to intercept Zeek placing a hand on his shoulder. “No, griffins are prideful, let him remove it himself.” Anders said.

This confused Zeek as he had not considered helping the griffin. His goal was to unlock a class not make nice with a prideful beast. However, the moment had passed and Zeek bore witness to the triumph in the griffin's eyes as it pulled free the spear.

Anders began to kneel and placed what little remained of the dried rabbit meat she had in front of herself. Zeek stood behind her and locked eyes with the griffin as it slowly approached them. Zeek chose not to follow Anders example and instead stared back. In all honesty Zeek was very afraid it was one thing to fight a beast this large that was tired and weakened but that did not appear to be the case.

Zeek finally shifted his eyes down and the griffin seemed to enjoy this as it puffed its chest out and let loose a screech that caused Zeek to take a step back. The griffin took the small portion of dried rabbit meat as it nudged Anders head, seeming to tap in recognition of her offering. Then the griffin turned and after a few prancing steps it leaped into the air.

The griffin made it ten yards up before it angled to the left and fell fast towards the ground. A loud thud was heard from the other side of the hill.

Zeek and Anders ran over the top finding the griffin shaking its head as it pulled itself back onto its feet. One wing was now crumpled in a way that made both Zeek and Anders wince before they both slowly approached the dazed beast.

The griffin did not seem as majestic as it once did. Not only was one wing now bent horribly wrong but many of its feathers were ruffled and covered in dirt and stray bits of grass. The beast did not seem concerned at the approaching humans; it did seem to be in a hurry to smooth down its feathers while it also attempted to find a comfortable position to hang its broken wing.

Before they had reached the griffin Anders placed a hand on Zeek and turned him towards her face “Don’t kill it. It could have killed us both. You may have been the biggest ten year old in your village but you had no chance against it and it left us be. Don’t be a fool.”

Her words reminded Zeek of how his mother and sister often handled situations. He wanted to gain his core class as quickly as possible but perhaps there were other beasts to slay. However, his sister would be worried if he did not return tomorrow night.

Anders approached the now cleaned griffin and after an hour of gentle words a plan was hatched to help right its wing. It was unclear if the beast could understand them but it did focus its eyes on whoever was speaking. Considering the beast had spared their lives it was a simple thing to attempt to bind its broken wing so it could heal properly.

Zeek was tasked with finding sticks and stripped off his weight training suit, using his saber he cut the leather suit down into strips to securely wrap the broken wing. Zeek felt a bit under-dressed with the training suit removed. He finished his portion as he stood in his cotton under shirt and pants. They did not give much warmth but the season was early fall and the nights had not yet turned too cold.

Anders cautiously climbed up the griffin, all the while the griffin kept its eye on her. Once in place Zeek handed her the sticks and leather strips. With the last of the day's light fading Anders had completed the effort, as best as one could expect. Zeek was unsure if they had positioned the wing correctly but what was done was done.

Zeek informed Anders of his intent to keep on traveling to reach the village as they were only a few hours away. Anders agreed and they bid farewell to the griffin as they walked quietly through the night.