“Why didn’t I make sure what type of griffin it was, if it wasn’t a flying type, then it could have only been a venomous or gas type. Honestly, I should have paid more attention and tended to my wounds,” Brown smiled. “At least Green got away.”

Brown was left powerless, her body nearly completely paralyzed. She was left at the mercy of the griffin, which slowly approached its incapacitated prey.

“I always thought I’d die fighting one of the great beasts or after becoming a great warrior, right now seems a bit early for me,” If she could, she may have even laughed. “I guess a griffin killing me isn’t too bad, they’re pretty renowned and are considered high ranked beast… What is that yelling?” On top of the hill somebody was screaming, and it was coming closer, “He wouldn’t, would he?”

Just like that, Brown saw Darius as he fell, the cloak coming off his face. From below, it looked like he had tears in his eyes as he jumped onto the griffin, propelling them away from Brown. The griffin, very confused at this point, decided to move wildly while trying to throw the unwanted passenger off its back.

“C-Calm down big birdy! No need to be upset.” Even though the griffin was moving crazily, Darius managed to hold on… for about 15 seconds. After that, the griffin decided to try something different. It heeled up and fell backwards, right on top of Green.

“That did not look good, Green are you still alive?”

The griffin had rolled off Darius as he gave a weak, “No” before it pinned his right arm under its talons.

Brown could only look towards Darius and ask, “You have any bright ideas?”

He stared at her for a moment before looking away, “No, not any bright ones.”

Darius grabbed the staff Brown dropped earlier with his free hand, yelling out, “Burn bird!” Leaving the staff to glow a much brighter and deeper yellow light.

Brown couldn’t believe what she was seeing, internally she was crying out, “The crystal in that thing is already about to shatter. How is he still able to get that much power out of it?!”

Regardless, a large plume of fire exploded out of the staff, terrifying the griffin. It, having already taken quite the beating, decided to cut its losses and ran away. Brown could only look at Darius in disbelief when he said, “All according to plan.”

Unfortunately, when he tried to stand tall and proud, a combination of exhaustion and the sudden realization that he was almost eaten, caused his legs to give out.

“Green, I get that you’re tired, but if you don’t mind, could you go get my bag on the other side of the stream? There’ll be a shot with an orange liquid in it; it’ll help undo my paralysis." Weakly, Darius gave Brown a thumbs up and left to do as she asked, though not without taking an extra look inside first. Bad habits.

Inside Darius found a ton more weapons, daggers, throwing knives, knuckle dusters, really anything needed to end a person. Darius made a mental note to not make this girl angry. Soon, he returned with the rucksack and the shot, giving it to Brown. It still took some time before she was able to move again.

“Still a bit stiff, whatever I’ll just have Amelia look at me later. More importantly, what brings you around to these parts Green?”

“Yeah, sorry I can’t tell you about that, instead why don’t I just introduce myself. I’m Darius, and I need to find my way to a place call… to New Dawn. Do you have a name?”

“You can call me Krista…ina.”

“Your name is Cristaina?”

“No, no, my name is Kristina, spelled with a K, I just got flustered for a moment.” Kristina tried her best to put on a friendly smile. "How am I still not used to my own name?!"

“Whatever, I don’t really care if you have an identity to hide. Other than that, could you tell me what business you had with the bird-cat?”

“He keeps calling the griffin that/ Is that what it’s called from where he’s from? If so where do people call a griffin a-” Then it finally hit her. “Oh… Oh! Are you from Journey? Which of the six islands are you from?”

“What?”

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Kristina was extremely excited and couldn’t believe her luck., “That’s so cool, nobody from Journey has come here since my Grand Auntie’s days… Are you okay Darius?” The color disappeared from Darius’s face as sweat flowed freely down his head. “Was no one supposed to know you came from Journey? Is that what you couldn’t tell me?”

Darius fell to his knees defeated, “Was it really that obvious?”

Kristina nodded her head, “Painfully so.”

Darius was left to wallow in his own self-pity; less so because of Kristina finding out his place of origin, and more so because he got caught so easily. As a professional thief, his pride was shaken.

As Darius continued to break down, Kristina had an idea, “He’s not bad with that bow, and he won’t have any bias against me. He’d be a real help in hunting the griffin. If it makes you feel any better, I can spot a lycan in a pitch-black room.”

Darius looked up with tears in his eyes, “What?”

“Did that not translate?” Kristina asked remembering the cultural barrier. “It means I’m real observant and good at spotting things. Just know I got your back.”

“Really? You’ll help little ol’ me. Finally, some good luck in this god forsaken place.”

“Harsh, this is still my home,” Kristina thought not altogether pleased with Darius’s comment before saying. “New Dawn is pretty far away, at least a few weeks travel. I can help you get there and make sure your origins remain secret, in return you help me with my quest.”

“First, I need to ask you a question.”

“Shoot.”

“Shining Twilight-” He stopped; Darius found that he couldn’t continue to formulate his words. Shining Twilight, he couldn’t be sure Kristina wasn’t linked with his enemies. He knew nothing about this foreign land, knew nothing about the foothold Shining Twilight held here. Darius knew he needed information, but he didn’t have anyone he could trust to give it.

“Are you with them?” Kristina asked suspiciously. “If so, then our little partnership should just end here. I don’t want anything to do with you guys.”

Maybe Darius was overthinking things, “You know about them? Are they a prominent figure here?”

“Yeah, well kind of. Honestly, I’m not incredibly sure myself. My parents and Grand Auntie used to talk about them a lot and never in a good light. I can’t say all the time, but they usually have good judgement. Are you not a member?”

“No, no I’m definitely not. What else can you tell me about them?”

“Not much to be honest. I know they have ties to Soaring Sun. They used to be a mercenary group until they made their way into politics… Oh, their leader, I think his name is Guile or something? Sorry, if that doesn’t really help.”

“No, you’ve said more than enough!” Darius felt ecstatic, finally a lead. A place called Soaring Sun, and the name of their leader, Guile. “My skills are at your disposal. What’s the job?”

“You met it.”

“The…The bird-cat?”

“Griffin and yes. They’re typically not that aggressive towards people, but this one attacks anyone it sees. It has also been ravishing the local crops and livestock for about six months. All previous attempts to subjugate the creature, well, you can probably guess.”

Darius turned to view the destruction the griffin left in its wake. The trees torn and shattered, its steps left imprints nearly a foot deep from its massive size, and he was pretty sure he could see another animal, something that looked like a large crocodile, that was crushed getting in the way of the griffin fleeing.

“Did you just say griffin? Like the mythical creature?” Darius questioned tentatively.

“Not very mythical considering you just saw one. I just need to know if you’ll help or not; we’re also running out of time. Chief already sent for Hunters a few weeks back. Won’t be long until they’re here, probably a couple of days, and I’d rather see the Griffin moved rather than killed.” Kristina didn’t notice Darius barely listening to her, it was only when he walked past her that she did.

“Darius, you okay?” She asked worriedly.

He responded with a smile. Eerie, considering how Darius was acting earlier, Kristina thought he’d freak out or at least complain. Instead, he calmly walked towards the nearest tree… and now he’s banging his head on it.

“I needed that, I really did. Alright! Let’s do it.” A little blood flowed down his head, but he seemed to be okay with it.

Kristina paused for a moment before she allowed herself to speak again, “Before that, we need to make a pit stop at Horizon. I think we could really use a healer and possibly a change of clothes.”

“My right shoulder does kind of hurt a bit,” Darius thought. “That reminds me, are you going to take off your cloak anytime soon? I’d like to know who I’m working with.”

“Right, sorry about that.”

Taking off her hood, Darius was finally able to get a good look at the girl. Fairly tall, she maybe half a head shorter than Darius and had lightly tanned pale skin. Her brown hair was cut short and full of twigs, paired nicely with her hazel eyes.

Kristina smiled as she caught him staring at her. “What, like what you see?” She gave a flirty pose in one part to tease Darius, and in another because she was curious how he would react. “If he’s some weird perv, I’ll refrain from taking him to meet Amelia.”

In response, Darius playfully punched Kristina on top of her head, “Ow, what was that for?!”

Darius turned around and stuck his tongue out at me, “Probably the same reason as you. I wanted to see what you’d do. So, where is the village, close?”

“About 10-20 minutes on foot.”