Early the next morning, as the golden rays of the sun began to shine through the windows of the homes in Glory Hill, Denzik was packing up his wagon and preparing to depart when Anikara walked around the corner of the tavern she had stayed at. She was dressed far more modestly today, wearing a pair of black leather boots, worn black pants and a thick coat made from a deep blue leather like material. Denzik was wearing the same outfit as the day before, only now his green cloak was held in place by a pin of black iron, with a small emerald in its centre. His short auburn hair was wild and spiky, unlike the slicked back appearance he had sported the day before.
"Trying to leave before I could join, are you?" Anikara said, trying to sound as dignified as possible and Denzik tightened the straps holding the roof of his wagon on.
"Not at all, I just wanted to be ready when you got here. You're a bit earlier than I expected." replied Denzik while he moved to the front of the wagon and began securing a gigantic bridle, made from the rope he had bought the day before.
"What on earth are you going to do with that, pull the wagon yourself?" She asked as she walked up to him and gave him a small pouch, "And this is for... last night."
"Thank you very much, madam," Denzik said, accepting the pouch and checking its contents. "This is a bit more than what three sessions are worth, isn't it?"
"Think of it as a tip then. Also, I want to ask you something," she began, until Denzik cut her off.
"Let me guess, you want me to take you with me, so that you can experiment with that giant crystal and you can write a paper on it? So you can finally gain the recognition of the council of elders in the mages guild?" he said as he crossed his arms and waited a few minutes for a response. When he got none, he continued, "I don't much like the mages guild, but I don't have any problem with you tagging along. I'll even let you study the gem, but I'll need some kind of deal with you for that to happen. It isn't cheap to use, as you well know."
"I do, that was all the money I had. Ok, what do want from me?" she sighed, knowing that she wouldn't like the answer.
"Nothing much, I just want your help with my work. Before you start shouting, I won't force you into anything you aren't up for. I mostly just need your help with day to day stuff; errands, repair work and keeping my magical devices running. And if you want to, you can help out with the sex as well," he explained and with that he held out his hand for her to shake.
Anikara assessed his offer for a few moment, before taking his hand and shaking it, her pale, smooth skin contrasting with his strong, rugged palm.
"Now that that's settled, let's get going!" Exclaimed Denzik, before bringing his fingers to his mouth and letting out a piercing whistle.
Before Anikara could ask what was happening, a deep rumble came from outside of town. Another rumble followed, forming a beat that shook the very ground. Anikara looked in the direction that the noise was coming from and her jaw dropped. A beast so huge, so massive that it dwarfed most of the houses in the village thundered across the wooded plains that surrounded the village. As it came up alongside them, she saw that it wasn't quite as massive as it first appeared, but it was still huge nonetheless. Three meters, she estimated its shoulders reached. It had a massive head that jutted forward from between its shoulders, with a single enormous horn reaching upwards from above its nose and two small, black eyes that shone with a surprising intelligence. The beast had a small tail and a thick brown coat that was mottled with battle scars.
The monster let out a roar as gargantuan as its body and lumbered over to Denzik, who smiled at the beast and stepped forward to give it a bear hug around its neck. It grunted and rubbed its nose against Denzik's chest, who rubbed the fur between its eyes. Suddenly, the beast seemed to notice Anikara and it walked over to her, snorting as it did so. It looked her in the eyes for a few seconds, before facing her and licking her arm.
"It looks like Nirak likes you!" laughed Denzik as Anikara tried to fend of the huge head that was rubbing against her.
*
A little over half a day later, they were sitting on a bench at the front of the wagon that Denzik called home as it rolled along a road that lead towards a mountain range to the west of Glory Hill. The front of the vehicle was similar to that of any other cart or wagon, only much larger, with a collection of bags, sacks and chests sitting behind the wooden bench with a red leather cover that they rested on. Anikara was just waking up from a short nap and was staring at the ragged brown fur on Niraks back. She looked over at Denzik, who was looking over a very worn map.
"So where are we off to now?" Anikara mumbled, rubbing her eyes.
"That's what I'm trying to work out. There's a fork in the road up ahead; if we turn left we can go to an orc village called Arhinarg, if we turn right we can head towards the dwarven town of Copper Cliff," he said, not taking his eyes off the map.
"I've never been to either of those places. Which one do you want to go to?" she asked him.
"Well, I've never been to Arhinarg, but I've always gotten along well with the orcs. They love fighting, partying and fucking, so I always do good business at their villages. But I also have some friends in Copper Cliff. Plus if we go that way, we can go through the Dawn Pass to Fort Bloodstone," he mused, before exclaiming, "That decides it then, we're going right."