Chapter II
Travelers
Jayk closed the door behind him and began to march down the stairs towards the base of the tree. The entirety of Concordia was built around the insides of a large tree. On each ring were plenty of buildings ranging from residential homes, commercial shops, and governmental offices.
Spiraling down the insides of the tree was a staircase in which Jayk began to climb down. He passed by multiple Deer and Caribou on the way down, some of them giving him dirty looks. He was used to it, by the time he reached maturity, the residents began to trust him more. But they knew he was still a meat-eater, and sooner or later they believed he was going to crave the taste of flesh.
Jayk neared the bottom layer and spotted two familiar figures. It was the traders from Zebrafica. They were arguing over what looked like a small red amulet with a unicorn head and a pair of wings. Jayk reached the ground floor and swiftly made his way to the pub. Pretending to not show any signs that he was interested in the shifty drunks, Jayk sat nearby their table, close enough to listen.
"Alicorn amulet, one of a kind, worth a hundred bits." The zebra said, somewhat drunkenly. He took a sip from the large tankard in front of him.
The elk that sat on the opposite side of the table stroked his beard. "What's the catch?"
The zebra shrugged. "There may or may not be an unknown enchantment placed on it."
"And you have no idea what it is?"
"Trust me, it's a great bargain."
The elk thought for a second. "Fine, I'll take it." He reached into a satchel that laid on the floor next to him and pulled out a small money bag. The duo shook hooves and exchanged goods, storing them away for later use. The abada that earlier arrived with the zebra entered the pub and took the elk's seat.
"Howdy, Jayk!" A voice gruffly yelled, startling Jayk.
"What the- Oh, hey Gunther."
Gunther was Jayk's only real friend. A pronghorn who grew up with Jayk the night the gryphon arrived at Concordia. Gunther placed a silver platter in front of Jayk. On it was a small pizza topped with mushrooms and olives, a large tankard filled to the brim with warm apple cider, and a blueberry muffin.
"Dig in, mate." Gunther said, leaning back in the chair next to Jayk. "It's on the house."
"On the house, eh?" Jayk said. He grabbed a slice of pizza and took a bite out of it. "Thanks."
"It's nuthin', don't worry about it."
The duo sat in silence as the gryphon feasted on his birthday dinner. A mother deer and her child trotted up to the bar and rung the small bell. Gunther excused himself and marched up to the counter.
"How can I help ya?" He said, folding his front legs on the counter.
The mother smiled. "I heard this place has the best muffins in town."
Gunther nodded. "Indeed we do, ma'am. Unfortunately, we're all sold out until next fall."
The mother's foal started to tear up and stutter.
"B-but I wanna m-muffin!" He cried.
Jayk looked at his muffin, feeling bad for the child. It may be his birthday, but not giving the muffin to the child would just be selfish. He lifted the muffin and tossed it into the air several times.
"Hey, kid." He said, holding the muffin out with his claw. "Take it."
The foal walked over and carefully took the baked good. "Thank you."
Jayk smiled and took a sip of cider. "Eat it like it's the last one ever."
The mother thanked Jayk and the duo left the pub, one with a mouthful of muffin. Right before they stepped out, a seductive whistle echoed throughout the room.
"Now that's a deer!" The zebra trader yelled after the mother. She gave him a disgusted look and trotted out the pub.
"Oi," Gunther said. "Get off her back!"
The zebra stood up and walked over to Jayk's table, dragging his abada friend behind him. "You guys should learn to mind yer own business." He said, leaning on the table.
"You should learn to have some respect." Jayk said.
The trader narrowed his eyes. "Well, if it isn't the meat-eating bird I've heard about."
"Braig!" The abada said. "Enough of this nonsense!"
Her horn glowed yellow and the same aura enveloped Braig. He was dragged back to his table, grumbling. She returned with a disappointed look on her face.
"I'm sorry about him, he hasn't been making his average amount of money lately."
"Visitors like him are always dropping in." The pronghorn replied. "Name's Gunther, this is Jayk."
The abada bowed her head. "Arlene. It's not everyday we see a gryphon around these parts."
Jayk nodded. "My adoptive parents found me as a baby, floating in the river. At least that's what they told me."
"That's unfortunate, never meeting-"
"Hey! Bartender! Get me some mead!" Braig yelled, hitting the table.
As Gunther got up, Arlene motioned him to sit down. "He's had enough."
"I heard that!" The trader said. "Get me some mead!"
"You're not gettin' anything!" Gunther yelled back.
Braig's chair screeched as he stood up and marched back over to the table. Arlene began to force him back with her magic, but Braig continued without trouble. He leaned towards the two friends.
"Get me something to drink."
"No." Gunther said.
"That's it!" Braig lifted his left hoof to throw a punch, but was caught off guard when Jayk shoved him into another table.
"Get outta here!" Jayk managed to say before being tackled by Braig.
The duo continued to fight until two guards managed to pull the drunk traveler off of the annoyed gryphon. A larger figure approached Jayk and examined him. It was Lord Argon, ruler of Concordia.
"You're late," He said. "Come with me."