Monster Hunter World: Monsters and Magic

by Blackdrag-rose


First Contact

Grogar found that the next two weeks, or thereabouts since he was sure it was more like thirteen days, were filled with the same routine for him and the rest of his group, where he would get up, join everyone for breakfast, and then go about his day, which involved either training with the wooden weapons or his actual metallic staff, which just so happened to be the length of a great sword's blade, so he could get used to the weight and not have it bother him when he and Patches were out in the field. He also found that every couple of days everyone showered before hitting the dining area for breakfast, as there was an area of the ship, one he didn't know about, that allowed them to clean themselves off so they didn't smell and stink up the place, which was understandable and discovered it was separated into two halves since the ladies didn't like the idea of sharing it with the men, or at least that was what he gathered. So it appeared that two washing areas had been made, one for each gender based on what he was seeing, though it wasn't all that bad and he emerged from his time in the area smelling better than he had been over the last few days, not to mention cleaner as well, before he dried himself off and put his attire back on so he could join the others in the dining room, where the Felynes had already started serving those that had washed themselves before him and the others. The only one he didn't see head down to that area was Sherry, but when he saw her in the dining room she definitely smelled like she had cleaned herself off, meaning she must have done it before anyone else did, not that the others were even surprised by that fact since some of them liked to be done with the deed before the rest of the crew took their turns.

Grogar, on the other hand, suspected that it might be more due to the secret that Sherry was keeping from them, the one that only he knew about and hadn't told anyone else, mostly since he was studying her for any additional changes to her body or her personality, but for the most part she seemed pretty normal, to which he turned his mind towards the food and focused on what he would be doing for that day, training with Aiden and the other Hunters while making sure his magic was as strong as it could possibly be. There was no telling what might happen in the future, even though the trip seemed like it was going to be rather easy and have nothing eventful happen, which was just fine with him since it would be best if nothing eventual happened, not until they discovered the area that the rest of the Commission called home and joined them, as he was eager to meet Commander Shepard and start his work on figuring out why the Elder Crossing was happening in the first place. He knew that everyone else in the Fifth Fleet, on the ship he was on and all of the others, were eager to make landfall, join the rest of their comrades, and continue working towards their end goal, especially since he could tell Aiden and the others were constantly talking about the New World, what they might discover, and the event that was the reason they were heading towards the island in the first place, the Elder Crossing that has confused the Guild for forty years and has made them interested in what sort of answers they might find, and if they didn't find any answers than a sixth fleet would be joining them in ten years, when the next Elder Dragon made the journey.

He also learned a bit from watching Patches move around, something that gave him an idea as to what the Felynes were capable of when they put their minds to it, especially since they carried those Vigorwasps with them so they could heal their Hunters and had a few other items, or gadgets as they called them, that were designed to help their allies with their hunts, regardless of what sort of foes they fought in the field. One interesting thing he discovered was that Erica and the others didn't even question where he came from, where he suspected that the Elder Crossing was on their minds right now and that they would ask him questions once this mystery had been solved, so he didn't have to worry about that anytime soon and focused on learning all that he could about this world and what it had to offer him. In addition to what he normally did, training with the other Hunters and figuring out how much of his magic he had access to, he made sure to speak with the Barnos that were flying around the ship and the rest of the fleet, mostly because they were interested in the fact that he could speak with them and could understand what they were saying, to a degree, and saw them in an entirely different light than what the Guild saw them in. Speaking with the Barnos gave him an idea of what was under the sea, as in the monsters that might be below and around them, though for the most part it seemed like there were just a number of fish that the small wyverns liked to hunt whenever they were bored, and if the fleet forgot to feed them, which they hadn't done so far, they would just capture some fish and eat them when they got hungry.

The other reason he chatted with the Barnos was because they might be able to see Zorah Magdaros from above, as they flew through the air and whatnot, though while none of the small wyverns seemed to know where the Elder Dragon was, which was interesting since the Captain of the ship insisted that they were following it, they did tell Grogar that the fleet was getting close to the New World, meaning that sooner or later they would see the monster they were following and then start their investigation... they just had to be patient and see what the next couple of days had in store for them and the rest of the fleet.


As it turned out the thirteenth day of Grogar's stay with the Fifth Fleet was met by a massive storm, one that seemed to stretch out as far as the eye could see, preventing them and the Barnos from really seeing anything and caused all of the Hunters, Handlers, and Palicoes to stay below deck, as the crew would take care of the ship and get them to the New World without delay, which basically meant they were stuck in the dining room for the foreseeable future. For the most part that didn't upset the various individuals that would be fighting the monsters in the near future, as they just sat down and had some fun while they waited out the storm, even though that meant the Felynes that were in the kitchen would be making and serving food with fewer breaks than what they were used to getting, where Grogar found that they seemed fine with what was going on and didn't complain at all. Hunters and Handlers were telling stories to those who might not have heard any of them before, even though Grogar was sure that everyone might have heard most of these a few times, and a few of them were even reading so they could be ready for when they reached their destination, given that they still had some time before the New World came into view and they could figure out where they were supposed to dock. Grogar was also fine with it, since it allowed him to hear what everyone's strengths and weaknesses might be, as well as some hints on how to fight the monsters in the Old World, since he was assuming that most of the ones they would be meeting soon had to be new to the Guild, even though he could be wrong since they had no information from the fleets that had been sent to investigate the Elder Crossing, or at least that was what he had been told about the situation.

He still found it odd that in all of the years that the Guild has spent trying to solve the Elder Crossing, not to mention all of the people and resources they were spending to accomplish that goal, they didn't have a solid answer and seemed far away from solving the mystery, making him wonder what in the world was going on and, at the same time, all the more eager to figure out the truth of the matter, before he noticed Erica and Aiden walking over to where he and Patches were sitting, the usual table the five of them sat at, when Sherry was with them anyway.

"Yo, Grogar! Did you hear the news yet?" Aiden asked, where he sat down in one of the seats that was around their table and sat a mug down on it, while at the same time Erica sat in the other one that was beside him, leaving the fourth and final seat for Sherry, who was currently helping the Felynes carry food out to some of their friends, though it was easy to tell that the excitable Hunter was excited about something, "The Captain said that we should be reaching the New World in the next hour or two, which is ahead of schedule, meaning we can leave this storm behind and finally get to work on figuring out the mystery of the Elder Crossing!"

"Really? We're that close to the New World?" Grogar inquired, though at the same time he closed the book he had been reading and considered what he had been told, as he had assumed that it would be some time before they reached their destination, on account of the storm, though this meant that they could finally start their mission and he could meet the one who invited him to take the place of Sherry's Hunter, the one Erica called Commander Shepard, "That's good to hear... because while traveling across the sea has been fun, if a little redundant at times, I'm eager to figure out why the Elder Dragons make the Elder Crossing every ten years."

"I've seen how you've poured over everything you could get your hands on," Erica commented, referring to all of the books and scrolls Grogar had been reading in his off time, when he wasn't practicing with his weapon or his magic, which she and the others were still getting used to seeing since they were only familiar with the monsters of this world being able to wield the elements in the manner that he claimed he was able to do, before she returned to the subject that she wanted to ask him about, "so tell me, what's your opinion on why the Elder Crossing happens?"

"Given what little we know about it, save for the fact that every ten years the Elders seem to flock to the New World, its hard to give a definite answer," Grogar admitted, because while he was used to the monsters of his home world, and how some of them had predictable reasons for why they acted the way they did, he found that the various Elder Dragons acted in a way that was both familiar and different to him, which was rather exciting when he thought about it, before he returned to the question he had been asked, "Personally, I think there is something special about the New World and it's calling all of the Elder Dragons to it, or just a few at a time, though we'll have to get our hands dirty and see what the true answer is, regardless of how long it takes us to figure out the Elder Crossing."

Erica and Aiden nodded their heads, showing that they understood what he was talking about and that they agreed with his assessment, though as they did that Grogar noticed that Sherry emerged from the kitchen with a full plate of food that she helped deliver to once of the tables, but not a few seconds later something caught her attention as she rushed over to one of the nearby windows so she could use the binoculars in her headpiece so she could see something that was outside, to which he got up and walked over to where she was standing.

"Do you see anything?" Grogar asked, not that he was expecting her to be looking at the New World given the angle that the ship was traveling in and the supposed area that the island rested in, though even as he said that he glanced out the window and stared at the storm that was still raging around them, making him wonder if their allies in the New World were dealing with this as well, even though he noticed Patches had rushed over to their side as well, no doubt interested in what they were talking about.

"No, but the waves are getting rougher," Sherry replied, where she shifted the device that was resting over her eyes for a few moments, no doubt keeping an eye on what was going on outside the ship as she tried to figure out what was going on and if they had to brace for another bout from the storm, something that was entirely possible when she glanced at what was around them, before she pushed the binoculars up and stopped when they rested against her forehead, just like they usually did, "that either means that we're going to make landfall soon, and join the rest of the Commission, or we're going to have some unwelcome company... I'm hoping for the former."

Grogar started to open his mouth, so he could respond to what Sherry was saying, though that was the moment that the ship rocked and everyone stopped what they were doing as they braced themselves, just as a plate of food fell to the floor due to no one reaching for it, before Sherry rushed towards the stairs that would take her to the deck and Grogar quickly followed after her as Patches joined him. It didn't take them long to get to the deck and step out to the area that all of the sailors were working in, where they found that the ship had to be hitting some rough waves, which they expected to find given the storm that appeared to be dying down even though the waves didn't seem to match that at all, before the area in front of the ship burst upwards towards the sky, like a geyser had been opened below them. That was followed by Grogar discovering something interesting, as it appeared that they might have hit some sort of magma structure that was now growing out of the sea itself, though it started to unfold into something massive that caused him to pause for a few seconds, especially since it was much larger than he was expecting it to be, where he came to the realization that they must have hit Zorah Magdaros, or rather it had raised itself out of the area it had been traveling in and was ready to make landfall in the New World. They were also the unlucky ones, as their ship was the only one that was being lifted out of the water as the Elder Dragon rose to its full height, though when Sherry moved it snapped him back to reality and he dashed after her since he had the feeling leaving her to her own thing was a bad idea, even though the diagonal nature their ship was taking on, due to what the monster was doing, made it hard for them to move as they got closer to the front of the ship, especially when it shifted for a moment.

As the ship took on a more horizontal stance he and Sherry were forced to brace themselves as they grabbed onto a few pieces of the ship, like some railing or the wood that was near the very front of the ship, though at the same time they were the lucky ones as Patches' grip on whatever he had grabbed onto failed and he fell off the ship, where Grogar found that he likely landed in the water before the ship shifted and both he and Sherry fell off it, even though he used his magic to make sure they had a soft landing. Of course they landed Zorah Magdaros' shell, where he landed closer to the water and found that Sherry landed somewhere that was higher than where he was currently standing, though he paused for a moment as he stared at the area he was in, where he had to assume that he was on part of the Elder Dragon's leg or back, a very dangerous place to be since he had no idea what Zorah would do next. One thing he discovered was that the wall to his right was cracked in places and he could see bits of magma on the other side, meaning that the blackened stone that was all around him appeared to be keeping it inside and not letting it flew freely, even if some of the magma must have been flowing freely at one point due to the hardened formerly molten rocks to his left, which formed a barrier of sorts to keep someone from falling off. That part was rather odd when he thought about it, since he was sure an Elder Dragon's body wouldn't form something like that, especially since it gave Hunters a number of areas to run around and created a couple of spots for things, like their ship for example, to get stuck in, though he also knew that there was a chance that he was wrong and all of this was perfectly natural, before he shook his head and focused on what was happening, knowing he would have time to think about this later.

After that it only took him a few seconds to notice that their ship was resting on part of Zorah Magdaros' back, where it appeared that it was stuck where it had landed, and that there happened to be a rock wall of sorts nearby that would allow him to climb up to an area that would give him a better look at the ship, so he could see if there was anything he could do to knock it loose and return it to the sea so Erica and the others could continue towards the New World, which caused him to turn and run over to the wall. Fortunately, based on what he could see, the rock wall seemed to be hardened, which did make sense considering it was actually hardened magma, so that meant he didn't have to worry about magma blasting out at him while he climbed it, to which he carefully looked at the wall before finding a number of indents that he could grab onto and used them to start ascending towards the upper area that was above him. He found that it only took him a few moments to climb up the hardened wall, where he quickly pulled himself up onto another section of the outer edge of the Elder Dragon's shell, something that allowed him to see that there was another section of the path that lead even higher than this point, likely leading right to the shoulders and maybe even Zorah's head, before he spotted Sherry standing not to far in front of him, right in the middle of the area he had climbed up to.

"Oh, Grogar, thanks for the save," Sherry stated, raising her voice since there was a decent distance between them at the moment, which was why Grogar started to rush over to the area that she was standing in so they could move forward and get off the Elder Dragon, since he knew that being here, with no weapon or anything, was a bad idea, especially when it might lash out at those that were on its back at any moment, before she glanced at the ship, "Do you think you can move the ship off of Zorah Magdaros' back, without it noticing what you're doing?"

"I should be able to, provided it doesn't turn towards us," Grogar replied, as there was no way of knowing just how the Elder Dragon would move once it had fully risen from the water that it had been traveling under, especially a beast of this size, though when he reached Sherry the part of Zorah Magdaros they were standing on shuddered as the monster shifted its stance, or just shifted its body, causing the ship to come loose from where it was resting and started to move towards the two of them, to which he grabbed onto his partner and hauled her further up the path so they were out of the way when the ship hit the area they had been standing in.

Their vessel ended up falling over the edge of the Elder Dragon's body and hit the water that was all around them, and Grogar rushed to the edge to make sure everyone was safe from such a thing happening, though based on the movement of Zorah Magdaros and how it was moving away from the fleet he and Sherry had no choice but to ascend to the highest point, which would be the head. The reason behind that decision was due to the fact that Grogar spotted some Barnos up in the area in question, like they were circling around the powerful creature that had surfaced or something, and he found that Sherry, who followed his gaze and discovered what he was looking at, agreed with him, to which they moved out of the area they were standing in and headed for the massive hardened molten wall that was at the end of the path they were being forced to take, given the magma that occasionally blew out of parts of the Elder Dragon's body, almost like it was trying to keep them from going into certain parts of its body. Of course their plans changed a little as Zorah Magdaros changed from a crawling position and started to walk on two legs, forcing them to shift their course towards the path that would let them climb up part of the Elder Dragon's back and then reach the area that served as its head, even though they had to pause for a moment so they could shift their own stances so they could climb up what had been a walkway of sorts a few seconds ago, and once there was enough ground to cover both of them started to move. In addition to all of that they had to stay away from what seemed to be open magma vents or something, which had little bursts of magma that really didn't flow anywhere, rather it appeared it might be a defensive mechanism that was designed to hurt whoever or whatever could be on the monster's back, so they had to be mindful of where they climbed so they could avoid being blasted by a short burst of magma, which Grogar knew would be unpleasant if it happened to either of them.

A few minutes later, after climbing up Zorah Magdaros' back, Grogar and Sherry came to a stop when they reached its head and glanced out at the part of the sea they were in, which looked like they might be at the end of it due to an island that the beast was getting closer to, and all of the ships were regrouping on the monster's right side, leaving the pair on top of the Elder Dragon's head, where a few Barnos were flying around, either scared about something or just observing the power of such a beast, since it appeared that the storm was ending and some might think that it was due to Zorah Magdaros emerging from the water.

"Its good to see that these guys are still up here... even if they don't like me all that much." Sherry said, where she took a few seconds to wave her arms in the air like she was trying to shoo away the couple of Barnos that were close to her, as one of them was in the middle of trying to peck her for some odd reason, something that Grogar assumed was related to all of the monster bits he had been studying when he studied her in the past, but seeing all of the flying monsters caused an idea to form in his mind, to which he glanced at his partner for a few seconds.

"Come on, I've got an idea." Grogar stated, which was when he rushed towards the top of Zorah Magdaros' head and reached it before the monster reached its full height, though it wasn't long before Sherry joined him and they looked down at the area that was in front of them, one that appeared to lead to either the monster's nose or a brow of some kind, and he was in luck, there just so happened to be a few Barnos flying around the front of the monster's head, which meant his plan just might work out for them.

In that moment he jumped forward a little and used the curved nature of the area that was between them and Zorah Magdaros' nose like a ramp or a slide, where Sherry followed after him not a few seconds later, though when he reached the end of it he jumped off and spun so he could face the direction his partner would be in, which was the moment all of the Barnos started to fly away and he raised his slinger, allowing him to loose the hook that was attached to it as he aimed at one of the small wyverns. What he did was latch onto the feet of one of the Barnos, which shrieked for a moment, but as it started to fly away Grogar was able to catch Sherry as she replicated what he had just done, and with the two of them hanging onto the rope that was connected to his hook they were able to ride to safety, or at least that was the plan until the wyvern changed course and flew towards the Elder Dragon. That gave them a rather good look at the monster they had been following, as it seemed to be a massive walking piece of magma and slag, one that took on the shape of a rather large monster that could likely wipe out a town on its own, despite how slow it moved when it was on two legs, and they flew by what appeared to be a beard or something that was made out of hardened magma. Fortunately the Barnos only wanted to give them a closer look at the Elder Dragon, or at least that was what Grogar was assuming it was doing, before it departed from the monster and headed towards a forest as the dark clouds finally broke and the storm truly ended, all while the massive beast made landfall on the New World and started to march towards whatever its destination was, even though the pair stared at Zorah Magdaros for a few moments, before finally turning their attention to the island that they had been sailing to for a good length of time.

From what they could see the New World consisted of a massive forest that had a rather large tree, one that was far larger than any Grogar had seen in the past, though from where they were positioned it was hard to tell what was down there, like monsters or distinguishing features, despite the fact that Grogar was sure he knew where the ships were going due to the large ship that appeared to be resting on some large rocks off in the distance, before his thoughts were brought back to what they were doing as the Barnos, not used to transporting people, staggered and crashed into some trees, and that meant he and Sherry hit the ground not a few moments later.

"Okay, that wasn't the best idea in the world, but at least we're not on Zorah Magdaros anymore," Grogar said, where he brushed himself off for a moment, as they had passed through some trees thanks to the route the Barnos took while it was dropping out of the air, but for the most part it appeared that he had emerged unharmed and, from what he could tell after looking at her for a few seconds, the same could be said for Sherry, before he glanced at the path that was in front of them and noticed something interesting, "Is that a camp I'm seeing in front of us?"

"Yeah, someone must have set it up a while ago," Sherry replied, as she was looking at the cloth tent, which was set up to be shaped like a triangle of sorts, a random chest that looked like provisions could be stored inside it, and a makeshift eating area that came complete with a miniature cooking range, which was just a dome covering the flames, before she rushed up to the tent as Grogar looked around the area so he could figure out what was going on, though it wasn't long before she emerged from the tent and held a book out towards him, "I think we might be able to use this, so we can figure out where we are and where we're supposed to have arrived with the rest of the fleet."

"Well, fortunately it has a map inside it," Grogar stated, though he did find Sherry's words to be a little weird since he was assuming she was more familiar with how the things in this world worked and it almost looked like she didn't know all that much, once more making him think back to his monster theory, before he opened the rather thick journal that Sherry had found inside the tent and looked at the map that was in front of him, something that revealed that the area of the New World that they were in was called the 'Ancient Forest', and then he smiled for a moment, "and, based on what I'm seeing at the moment, we should be able to follow the path on the map and reach the area that the rest of the fleet were able to reach... hopefully Erica, Aiden, Patches, and the others are alright, especially after what happened when Zorah Magdaros rose out of the water like that."

"Sounds like a plan to me." Sherry said, where she looked at the map for a few more moments, so she and Grogar had an idea of where they were going, before she nodded her head and he closed the journal so they could move forward, where he made sure to carefully store it away as they left the camp that they had discovered, a camp that had no rations and no weapons for them to take, to which moved out into the Ancient Forest so they could see what the New World have to offer them and the rest of their friends.

The first thing they found, after leaving the area that was around the camp, was a sight that allowed them to see the large ship that was the landmark they were looking for, before they glanced down into the clearing which was in front of them and found some Aptonoths, cow-like monsters that had leathery gray skin and black stripes on their backs, minus the usual cow features, with a two-pronged crest on their head and a flat spiked tail, though they were docile and didn't mind the pair as they walked into the river filled area that was in front of them. The next thing they noticed was that there was a large log of some kind that was blocking the way forward, which meant that they needed to access the other path that was to the left of the main path, and Sherry was the one that discovered the problem, though while Grogar was sure he could lift it with his magic he decided to let his partner lead the way while he kept his eyes on the monsters that were all around them. While they walked Sherry told Grogar that she made sure the Scoutflies, the critters that lived in all of the containers that the Hunters and Handlers carried, in metallic cylindrical containers, memorize her scent in the off chance that they got separated or something bad happened to either of them, even if they were usually used for tracking monsters and finding the areas that they called home. That was when they came to a stop and discovered a wall of vines that blocked the way into an underground part of the massive tree they were walking under, though when they reached it Sherry started to force her way through the vines so they could get into the area that was inside the tree, to which Grogar assisted her and they walked into the new area she was leading them to.

What they discovered was an area that appeared to have a path that cut through the top of it, or at least that was what Grogar thought about it due to the tree stump it was connected to, though as they looked around the area they were in a number of small wolf-like creatures, as in they walked like wolves would, that had a more lizard-like appearance due to the light green scales and the blue and reddish stripes that were on its body, along with small tails that looked like what lizards had and a few spikes on their back. The lizard creatures actually emerged from all the bushes that were around the area that Sherry dropped down into, like they were ambushing prey and they looked like they were eager to eat something, or someone for that matter, which was the moment that both Grogar and Sherry recalled something from their readings and jumped up to the level that held the vine covered entrance and dived into one of the bushes that were nearby. It was a tactic that seemed to work on all monsters, meaning that if someone dived into some bushes the monsters, even if they saw the direction their targets went in, would somehow lose track of their target or targets and become confused, often resulting in the monsters leaving the area and that was what they were planning on, so they could leave while the lizard-wolf creatures were distracted. Of course, even though that was the plan the pair were trying to put into motion as they waited in the bushes, one of the creatures poked its head into the bush and stared right into Grogar's eyes for a moment, where he moved one hand to stop Sherry from doing anything that might startle the creature, even if his partner seemed to be frozen, while the other hand was raised as he rested it on the creature's nuzzle, as he was going to try something he had considered after his first encounter with the Barnos.

They remained like that for a few moments, just staring into each others eyes, before one of the other creatures paused and hissed at the rest of it's pack, causing the others to stop for a time, which was when the one that was in front of them pulled its head back and hissed at the creature Grogar assumed was the leader of this pack, allowing them to watch as the pack turned around and disperse as they departed from the area, all while the one in front of their bush stood there for a few seconds before it beckoned for him and Sherry to emerge.

"Thank you. You didn't have to do that, but you saved us from a hairy situation." Grogar said, speaking to the lizard-wolf creature for a moment as he and Sherry carefully emerged from the bush that they had been hiding in, mostly since they wanted to make sure the rest of the creatures were gone and that it wasn't trying to play them into revealing themselves, all so the rest of the pack could attack them from behind or something, but it seemed like the creature was acting like an ally and helped them by moving its pack to another area.

The lizard-wolf hissed for a second, in the sense that it was saying something like 'no problem', before it headed over to another vine wall that seemed to lead somewhere else and pushed its way through it, to which Grogar and Sherry did the same thing and discovered that there was a rocky ramp of sorts in front of them that ended in a short cliff they could drop down, to which the creature used some rocks to jump down to the lower area while they climbed down the vines that were attached to the edge of the area and reached the other side of the blockade they had spotted earlier. From there the three of them continued towards the landmark that Sherry had spotted earlier, even though Grogar was a little surprised that their little friend was sticking with them despite the fact that it was leaving its pack behind, but decided that he would worry about it later, once they were with the rest of the Commission and their friends, so they could figure out what their plan of attack was to crack the Elder Crossing. Not even a minute later Sherry noticed some tracks in the ground and took a moment to study them, where Grogar did the same as his Scoutflies flew over the track, one that definitely looked like a larger version of the lizard-wolf that was following them, meaning there had to be a larger lizard-wolf in the Ancient Forest and that it would be a bad idea to run into it without letting the others know that they were alright, even though Grogar was sure he might be able to hold it off if they saw it. With the track studied Sherry continued moving towards an area that had another track, one that was also blocked as well and meant they would need to do something about the log that had fallen in their way, but Sherry got ahead of him and started to study the track in question, giving him a chance to study the beach that was nearby before he worried about the tracks.

Not a few seconds later a much larger lizard-wolf, which was three or four times larger than the one that had joined them, rushed out of the area it had been hiding in and knocked Sherry backwards, allowing it to pin her down after she turned to figure out what had struck her, and Grogar noticed, as he rushed at it, that the monster had a mane of some kind on its back, though that didn't stop him from readying his magic as he drew closer to the area that his partner and the monster were in. Before he had a chance to arrive in the area that his target was in a man jumped down from an area that was above the greater lizard-wolf and landed on the beast's back, giving him the chance to see that he happened to be wearing the armor of the Commission, which he recalled some of the others on his ship wearing, and he happened to be carrying one of the greatswords, a massive weapon of bone and metal, though his hair was short and spiked a little in the middle, sort of like Aiden's hairstyle. Instead of attacking the monster that it was riding on, like Grogar was thinking he would do, the man actually rode the beast like a mount for a moment and directed it right into the fallen log that was blocking the way forward, smashing the log to pieces and opening the way for them to leave the area as he jumped off the creature and Sherry, now freed from being pinned to the ground, rushed over to where the man was standing, who was beckoning for her and Grogar to follow him, which was what Grogar and the smaller lizard-wolf did. Of course they weren't the only ones that did that, as the greater lizard-wolf rushed after the man as he and Sherry fled from the area, where it appeared they were heading for a gate that seemed to be made out of metal, wood, and bone, though as the greater lizard-wolf reached the gate it was stopped by the arrival of a much larger and angrier monster that lashed out at it.

The newcomer was as tall as the gate that was behind it, its legs were strong and had deadly looking talons that might hurt if it kicked someone, its arms were short while the claws were still sharp enough to do some damage, the coloration made it look like it was a cross between a dinosaur and a vulture, and it had a thick tail that was likely bad to be hit by, which was why Grogar and the smaller lizard-wolf rushed forward as the vulture-dinosaur engaged the greater lizard-wolf, by biting into its neck and started to thrash around with the monster it was fighting. Grogar found that he had to go under the larger monster while it was distracted, which was what he did as it thrashed its target, though as he and his little ally got near the gate the vulture-dinosaur tried to smash them with its thick tail, where he used a magical barrier to protect them from being hit and used the force of the attack to propel them through the opening that the man was keeping open. Once he and the lizard-wolf were on the other side of the gate the man cut the rope and sealed the gate in seconds, meaning that the way into the area the Commission called home should be safe for the foreseeable future, and right now it looked like the vulture-dinosaur was content to remain inside the Ancient Forest, as it dragged the body of its target, who was either unconscious or dead, back into the forest so it could eat it whenever it wanted. Of course the man looked at what was on the other side of the gate for a few more moments, just to make sure the monster didn't come back to the gate and attack them when it dropped off the monster it was carrying, before he sighed and beckoned for the pair and their new friend to follow him, meaning that they didn't have to worry about the vulture-dinosaur coming back to bother them for a time.

Grogar nodded his head as he, Sherry, and their new friend followed the man into the area that was beyond the gate, as it was time for them to meet up with the rest of the Commission, not to mention the rest of the Fleet that they had been separated from some time ago, meet the man that was called Commander Shepard and was respected by the others, and learn what they were going to do first in their quest to uncover the secrets of the Elder Crossing and the Elder Dragons that flocked to the island every ten years.