Even from a distance, I quickly noticed the heat turning even more oppressive than the summertime should have accounted for. The smell quickly told me what was going on, the air was saturated with Fire Astral Power, essentially overpowering the magic I was using to keep cool. As such, it wasn’t that it was getting warmer, maybe a degree or two, but that my magic was pushed back. It didn’t feel like a malicious attack, more like someone simply putting their surroundings under their power, in a show of confidence and dominance.

But I wouldn’t let myself get dominated that easy, certainly not by some orc. I began pushing back, limiting myself to a small radius around myself but that area was mine and I was defending it. At first, it was easy, merely needing a bit of focus on my part, until we got close enough to see the imposing Orc-Woman, built quite similar to Sigmir, just as wide and powerful but not as tall. Our eyes met across the distance and I felt like sparks were flying, a wordless challenge joined by a forceful push into my territory. Sigmir, walking next to me, instantly felt the pressure I was put under and was getting ready to strike the woman down, or at least try to. I forced myself to reach out, gripping her arm, both to draw strength and confidence from her and to restrain her. Getting into a fight in the middle of an army would be foolish and thus far, the other woman looked more interested in a contest, not in a fight.

And contesting I did, drawing power from the Ice I had circulated in my vicinity, circulating the magic I had used to create it in the first place to fill my surroundings with magic, giving me a slight edge. But at the same time, I quickly understood that I would lose, not quickly but certainly. Part of it was that the other woman had larger reserves, part of it was the simple fact that I was pushing against the environment, the sweltering heat around us helping her.

“Do you want my help?” Lenore asked over our mental bond, flying nearby.

Part of me wanted to decline, to finish and win the contest on my own but I simply didn’t see a way to do so, not without using external resources, mainly ripping Astral Power out of people around me with Blood Magic. I might be able to win but the cost was not acceptable. Getting help was better, especially if the alternative was to lose.

“Yes, I would appreciate it.” I admitted, pushing harder to keep the territory around me from melting away in the heat. The seconds dragged on, while I was pushing out more and more power, to keep myself from being overwhelmed, feeling the first pearls of sweat form on my forehead, partially due to the heat but mostly due to the magic needed to keep my territory. Finally, I felt Lenore land on my shoulder, quickly moving into her Hallow and adding her own power to mine.

Instantly, I was able to breathe a lot easier, together we could match the orc, despite the environment helping her a great deal. Lenore’s presence also allowed me to pay attention to my surroundings, other than the ongoing magical contest. For a brief moment, I considered to push back, to take over the area as the Orc had done earlier, to assert my dominance but I could feel a warning from Lenore, reminding me that we were not looking for a fight.

Instead, I simply looked around for a moment, noticing the looks of awe on the orcish faces around us, the quickly fading look of worry on Adra’s face and the barely repressed anger visible on both Sigmir’s and Rai’s faces. Pulling some more Ice Astral Power into my body, I schooled my face into a cold, serene mask of pure disregard, trying to demonstrate just how little I thought of the previous contest.

“Greetings. Dura Firebringer I presume?” I greeted, giving a nod, not wanting to seem submissive but giving at least some respect. For a similar reason, I didn’t bring up that we had been promised we wouldn’t be harmed or attacked and what she had done was certainly impolite enough to be considered an attack by some people.

But it was funny to see the moment of pure surprise on the Orc-Leaders face, that I was now calmly holding my magical ground, with enough mental resources left to talk to her. For a moment, her eyes closed and her brows scrunched up, as the pressure around us dropped significantly, the orc forcibly pulling back her power. The look of discomfort on her face mostly confirmed that she hadn’t acted in malice, but in laziness. It wasn’t a good look, at least in my opinion, but then I felt that containing and controlling one’s magical power was the way to go, unless it was needed to complete a task.

“Indeed I am. Greetings to you.” she said, her eyes darting over to Sakgu, obviously wanting an introduction, to restore some sort of normalcy to a meeting that had started anything but.

Sakgu quickly rallied her mind, stepping forward and gesturing towards us, trying to act as if the previous event hadn’t happened.

“Warleader Dura Firebringer, I present to you a group of adventurers who are travelling this area. Meet Adrastea, Rai, Sigmir and, finally…” Just as she finally turned to me, a shout interrupted her.

“Morgana?!” a surprisingly loud, shocked gasp caused silence to descend again, drawing everyone’s attention to one of the orcs who was just pushing through to the front of the crowd, staring at me.

For the second time, nobody truly knew how to react, especially the Warleader seemed to be a little confused. But she hadn’t reached her current level without learning how to deal with surprises and unexpected situations, so her confusion lasted for mere moments.

“I greet you, travellers from afar.” she said, apparently deciding to simply ignore the outburst, focusing on our group.

“I have to apologize for the rude greeting I have given you, Morgana, was it? I was merely surprised that a spellcaster of your caliber would enter into my corona.” she explained, her tone far from apologetic but also without any implied challenge, merely a friendly, polite tone that one might have heard from any newscaster or politician. Now, it was my turn to act on spotty information, trying to figure out which of her words were important, which were merely platitudes.

The word that instantly sprung to my attention was that she spoke of her corona, not aura or domain, corona. If my memory served me right, that described the outermost part of the sun, barely visible but hotter than the deeper layers, making me wonder if there was a significance. I had a feeling there was, but what it was, I didn’t know.

Faking a friendly smile as best as I could, I replied, trying to give her the same polite yet meaningless tone she had used with me, while also ignoring the earlier interruption, even if I was rather curious who could identify me from my looks. It almost had to be a Traveller but their disposition towards me was unknown.

“I understand, think nothing more of it.” I verbally waved her apology off as the meaningless words it had been. “We were told that you are looking for some Centaurs, who might be connected to the groups further east and willing to trade for information. We had some run-ins with the Centaurs of the Altin Urda and can share some of our experiences with you, even some geographic information, if you are interested. After all, they will soon be closer neighbours than you might like.” I added, not quite explaining what I meant, merely throwing the statement out, to make her more interested in what we knew.

“Yes, I certainly would be interested. The centaurs have changed their behaviour the past few months, I would like to know why Maybe the information you know can shed some light. I, too, will extend an invitation to travel with us for the rest of the day and in the evening, we can trade. Unfortunately, we cannot rest for a long time during the day, otherwise our prey might escape.” she explained, causing me to nod in understanding while trying to figure out a way to deal with her, partially because my conversational abilities were rapidly approaching their limits, partially because she had started to eye me in an intense fashion that I was distinctly uncomfortable with.

“Harms, you seem to already know our visitor from afar. Why don’t you reacquaint yourself during our march, I sadly have to make sure that our formation is kept and remain ready to deal with returning scouts. But I’m sure the two of you have much to discuss. Sakgu, why don’t you stay with them, to make sure their journey with us is smooth and without trouble?” Dura Firebringer ordered, looking over to the previously ignored Orc, giving me the name of my fellow Traveller. At least it was a name I knew and didn’t think a Traveller that would be instantly hostile. Hopefully.