Chapter 21-2

This was one of the few cities where a giant griffon flying overhead with a half-dragon on his back only drew a few curious glances. Finding a place for them to land was a bit trickier, but eventually they found a square that was empty enough for Zakhin'Dakh to land in. Once they were settled, the griffon-rider leader gave them one final warning about making trouble and left them to their business.

Almonihah found it difficult to keep his big friend going forward. There were so many interesting things for him to look at everywhere that he kept stopping to watch them. That, combined with the irritation many people expressed at having a giant griffon blocking half of the street, was enough to put the half-dragon in a rather sour mood.

Eventually, they reached the first shop Almonihah wanted to visit. It was still here from when he and Zrathanzon had visited it many years ago, but it was run by elves, so that wasn't much of a surprise. Zrathanzon had called them the 'finest fletchers in the Northern Continent', which was enough for Almonihah. He vaguely recalled them being rather pricey, too, but he still had a lot of dragon treasure with him, and he wanted the best for what he wanted done. 

It was when Zakhin'Dakh stuck his beak in the shop after he walked in that Almonihah realized he'd probably need to make different arrangements for his friend for the day. He was probably going to be spending quite a while indoors, and the big griffon simply wouldn't fit in most places. That, combined with his curiosity and how easily he got bored, seemed like a recipe for certain disaster. He wished he'd thought of this earlier—he might have been able to talk the griffon-riding guards into doing something. As it was... 

Finding something safe for Zakhin'Dakh to do took far longer than Almonihah would have liked. He'd have to keep this in mind for the future. Eventually, though, he was able to return to what he was doing with only some worry of what his big friend was up to. In addition to ordering some special arrows, he purchased some more potions and even an little enchanted bag, that was much larger on the inside than on the out. Dragon treasure could buy quite a bit.

The trickiest part, however, would be finding passage to the Southern Continent for them. While ships made the perilous passage from Midport to Ferdunan regularly, they didn't often carry giant griffons. Just figuring out how to keep Zakhin'Dakh fed on the way was going to be difficult, and convincing a captain that he wouldn't eat the crew (not to mention convincing the crew of that) would likely be even harder. Not to mention Almonihah would have to watch his friend carefully to make sure his curiosity didn't interfere with the smooth running of the ship.

For the time being, Almonihah just looked around the docks, refreshing his memory of what Zrathanzon had said about them, and seeing what had changed. His arrows would take some time to make, especially the enchanted ones, so he had time to look around before trying anything. He had a few gems in hidden on his person that could probably convince the right captain to go along with him, but he wanted to make sure said captain wouldn't try to rob him on the way. There wasn't any hurry, so he'd rather take the time to do things right.

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Yeah, and I haven't been in a hurry to do this, either. I was hoping to be done with this book by the end of the month... maybe by the end of the year I'll be done.