The sound of crashing footsteps filled Larry’s ears, causing his stomach to drop and the hair on the back of his neck to stand on end. His mind had already plotted an escape route before he consciously considered it, but the plan was quickly abandoned when the heavy footfalls were accompanied by a familiar voice.

“Hold up, wait a sec!” Javier’s slow drawl put Larry at ease, just enough to keep his feet underneath him and not hide or run away. After working his way through some brush, Javier joined Larry in the small section of woods, just a few hundred feet away from camp. “Shoot, you know Vidar’d wring your neck if he caught you sneaking off alone.”

“Yeah, stay in pairs. It’s fine I just have to piss, nothing’s out here anyway.” Larry scoffed and turned away from his companion facing into a nearby bush.

“Well that’s what you think. We’re heading into griffon territory.” Javier looked suspiciously at the trees above them, eyes darting from branch to branch and examining the spaces of empty sky between them. Larry quickly followed his gaze, his face suddenly reading full of concern.

“Wait, are you serious?”

“Yeah, could be anywhere now. They hunt at dusk, are attracted to campfire smoke and all. Wouldn’t be surprised if one was nearby right now..” Suddenly, Larry felt two large paws clawing at his shoulders with a guttural growl roaring from behind him. He yelped and dropped as quickly as he could. He crawled through the brambles, ignoring the dozens of sharp cuts on his cheeks. He heard the sound of crashing branches and the cries of birds fleeing the area. His ears filled with the deep thud of something heavy meeting earth. His eyes focused solely on the path he had plotted out just moments before through a thicket and back towards camp. Only then did he remember he’d left Javier behind and hazarded a quick glance despite his fear. He turned around and through the leaves and thorns saw Javier doubled over laughing.

Larry slowly stood up in the brush. “That’s not fucking funny.” He spat as he said it, but seeing the tears from Javier’s eyes and just how far he crawled in such a short period of time made the corners of his lips rise into a smile in spite of himself. “It’s not very nice to scare someone who you know has a full bladder.”

“You’re right, I’m sorry.” With a wide toothed grin Javier held his hand out to pull Larry out of the brambles he trapped himself in. “But you should’ve seen your face.”

“Whatever. Just make sure no owlbears or drakes sneak up on me.” Larry turned from Javier, finally able to relieve himself while Javier watched his back.

“Nah, there ain’t nothing out here. Griffons ain’t this far south. Owlbears and drakes stay by the mountains as close they can. Just your average bears we gotta worry about. Well, and crazy cowboys. Or 20 foot tall iron men. Or rogue horizonbacks.”

“Yeah I get the idea.”

“Or bloodthirsty giants. Or wizards that’ll knock you off your feet with so much as a word.”

“Yep.”

“Or cityslickers with soft hands.”

A beat passed. Then another. Larry finished his business and slowly turned back around to Javier, still facing the opposite direction. “Now what in the hell do you mean by that?”

“Oh, it wasn’t no insult or nothing. I just never noticed ‘til I had to help you outta that bush.”

“Soft. Hands.”

“Yup. You get thick skin working. You don’t seem like you done a lot of that.”

Larry pushed passed him towards the direction of camp. “I’ve worked plenty. Just not your kind of work.”

Big Clyde took another large chunk out of the wide tree trunk before him. Only two bites in and the tree was already leaning ready to fall. As Big Clyde chewed the splinters in his large maw, Vidar pulled the ropes tied near the center of the tree, pulling it away from Big Clyde and the camp itself. With a grunt and a loud crash, the tree fell right where they had planned in a small clearing.

“Your jaw is formidable, beast. Even with my own axe this tree would have taken much greater effort to fell were it not for you.” Vidar didn’t look at Big Clyde, instead cutting the large branches from the trunk and placing them in a small pile.

“Mmmmm.” Big Clyde growled, pleased with his work and his dinner. There didn’t seem to be much Big Clyde wasn’t happy with eating, no matter how supposedly “edible” it was.

“Before dawn tomorrow we will return to the trunk and segment it so we may carry it with us to our next camp. For tonight I believe the branches themselves will suffice for warmth and our dinner.” He used the ropes and a blanket borrowed by the cowboy to create an makeshift sledge with which to haul the fire wood, tying it around Big Clyde’s shell. He didn’t seem to mind as he growled with contentment once again.

Until, for just a moment, Vidar could have sworn he heard a gravelly, ancient sounding voice repeat. “Dinner…”

He looked at Big Clyde, who had stopped chewing for the moment, though was standing still awaiting the signal to return to camp. Vidar mulled over the many things he had seen and heard of through his travels. Talking animals weren’t an impossibility, though the only way he knew this was possible was through a spell cast by a wizard and it only lasted a short period of time. Surely their wizard wouldn’t frivolously cast this, if he would even know this spell to begin with. Though it did strike him as odd how intelligent Big Clyde seemed to be. He’d met many well trained war beasts, but none that could understand abstract concepts and could act accordingly like this horizonback. Surely this wasn’t true of all horizonbacks? Maybe the goblins were onto something after all. Maybe the cowboy was a better animal trainer than Vidar gave him credit. Maybe this turtle had more going on beneath its thick shell. Maybe it wasn’t worth asking too many questions.

He should know the limits of this creature’s intelligence, however. He could be a valuable asset to their next contract with his mighty jaw and thick hide if he can understand the basics of combat strategy. Especially when put next to the frustratingly paradoxical pacifist warforged and stubbornly weaponless cowboy. Not to mention the coward and his disappearing acts. Vidar sighed. “We have our work cut out for us, beast.”

Sledge dug a small hole in the center of the clearing. Roughly 2.4 feet in diameter and 6 inches deep. His large metallic hands working slowly but efficiently through the sandy dirt. “Is this size fit for a fire?”

Vebradu looked up from his grimoire and assessed the hole. “Hm, yes, I do believe it will be suitable. Admittedly I don’t have much experience with these things, so we’ll double check with Javier when he returns.”

Sledge stood to his full height and looked at the tree line where Javier had followed Larry into the woods just moments before. “Why must we dig a hole for fire? I do not recall doing this in Jaimelgar.”

“I don’t think we have to. It prevents fires from spreading out of hand if the area is too dry. But I’m not sure when dry is too dry. It doesn’t seem like it’s rained here recently so I think it best to be safe than sorry.”

“Ah, and it was raining in Jaimelgar. This makes sense.” A soft buzzing emanated from Sledge’s head, a gentle whirring of calculations. “My hygrometer indicates a humidity of 84%, though this only measures the air. There is no telling what the wood is like now though I believe it would be safe to assume a wildfire is not of concern.”

“Interesting. We should consider this tomorrow night, save you the effort.”

The two sat in silence for a moment as Vebradu returned to writing. The sounds of the woods surrounded them. They could hear the crash of a tree falling and the squawks of birds leaving the area fearfully. The faint notes of conversation carried on the wind from where Javier and Larry entered the forest. While unable to feel the breeze or smell the pine needles, there was still a certain kind of peace that came with returning to the wilds. While Arkannon was where Sledge was created, it seemed much less like home than living with the druids did. Besides, over the years many memories from this time had been written over or corrupted from his years of disrepair. Sledge suddenly became aware of the damage he had taken in previous days and began working through his daily maintenance. He ran internal tests ensuring everything was working correctly, that his ocular prisms were calibrated properly and his various joints were clear of debris. While going through his list of diagnostics to run, he almost missed Vebradu speaking in a hushed whisper.

“Hey, before everyone else gets back, do you mind if I check on my orb?” He leaned in close to Sledge and eyed the tree line.

“Certainly.” Sledge opened his chest compartment and found the small #347CCE sphere. He grabbed it to present to Vebradu, but he stopped him before he could do so.

“No, no, I just wanted to see it. I’d rather not brandish it needlessly.”

“Understood.” Sledge closed his compartment hiding the orb once again. “Though if you don’t mind my asking, why should this remain such a secret?”

“It.. isn’t a secret. It’s just a magical item that could.. be used in very destructive ways if in the wrong hands. It’s best to not risk anything.”

Sledge nodded. “Better safe than sorry.”