Apparently, orcish was a good language to curse in. The invective spewing from Dura Firebringer after I explained to her our theory about the centaurs being just one part of a larger force was impressive, the translation-ability I gained from Lenore working overtime to not only translate the words but also the underlying concepts, allowing me to understand nuances that normally would have been hidden to me. At the same time, I noticed that the fires the orcs had set up to cook breakfast over were starting to be affected, their flames jumping and sparking. Even the very air itself was getting infused by her anger, heat and sparks creating an illusion of fire, forcing Lenore and me to work overtime to keep a pleasantly cool air around my group.

“You should not shoot the messengers, Shaman Firebringer.” I coldly stated, trying to take the wind out of the angry orc’s sails. For a moment, she glared at me, the air around me flaring up even stronger, and I felt myself pressured once more. Luckily, it lasted only for a moment, not long enough to overwhelm Lenore and me, not together, the orc closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, reigning in her emotions.

“I apologize, again. You are right, attacking those bringing unpleasant information only causes people to hide such information.” she sighed, before speaking in a serious manner. “Thank you for bringing your observations to me, I will take them under consideration. However, we have our missions and it will be carried out, to the best of our ability.” she stated, her voice loud and confident, projected to carry to the other orcs.

“That said, I would appreciate it if you would stay with our group, I might have an offer for you later today. I need to confirm what you told me yesterday night, before planning further.” she added, speaking in a quiet, carefully pitched voice that only we and maybe her closest advisors could hear.

Giving a glance to the others, I could see that Ylva wanted to stay, an expression mirrored on Sigmir’s face, even if marred by a bit of concern. Adra and Rai seemed relatively indifferent, making me think that their only interest was in power that was to be gained here. There might be a major quest to be gained, one that made another day following behind the orcs worth our while, even beyond getting revenge for Ylva.

In addition, I had a quiet hope that we might be able to catch an even more powerful black wolf, allowing me to repeat the draining-spell that had allowed Ylva to cross the first Divide. It seemed a little too easy, catching and draining a wolf, but it might help her on her path to and across the second Divide. Even if not, the chance to study and experiment on what she had called Divine Blood was something I had on my personal list, simply because of the awe-inspiring audacity. I wanted to know how far I could go on Mundus, how far I would be able to push. And what better boundary to push against than the one between mortal and divine?

“I think we can stay with you for another day.” I allowed, giving the orc a nod. It was interesting to see the difference between the confidence she projected to her people, while obviously not having it in a smaller setting. A setting that, for some reason, seemed to include us, despite being outsiders. Or maybe because we were, she didn’t need to bother trying to motivate and lead us, we were here for our own reasons, reasons she would only care if they came info conflict with her mission.

She nodded back, before turning to the fire that had quietly been growing behind her and focused on it. I felt Lenore’s interest perk, while she looked at the shaman through my eye, using her own vision to augment what I was perceiving.

Once again, my own senses told me little of quantitative nature, but I could taste the heat of the sun on my tongue, like gargling pure, hot-chili sauce, distinctly unpleasant and painful, making me long for a glass of milk, I didn’t have any on hand, but at a gentle prod from Lenore, I decided on the next best thing, using my Ice-Magic to create a glass while filling it with Liquid Moonlight and taking a sip. The cooling sensation was instant, but a little too powerful, forcing me to take control over the Astral Power in my mouth, to keep it at a pleasant level.

But while I soothed my palate from the influx of foreign magic, Lenore’s sight proved, once again, to be a superior tool for analysing magic. While I wasn’t able to comprehend the method used, I was able to watch as Dura Firebringer reached into the fire with her magic, infusing it and using it as a medium to call something forth. It was something I wouldn’t be able to duplicate, certainly not with fire, but made me curious. From what I was able to gather, she was creating shells from pure fire, almost something similar to Eternal Ember, just not as stable, while binding something into it, in the process of creation. Those had to be the spirits she had talked about, spirits of fire, or the sun or something like that.

Lenore was just as curious as I was, wondering about her own existence, a mix of spirit and flesh-and-blood, just like Ylva was. It was something we had never talked about, but seeing Dura Firebringer create spirit-golems in front of us made me wonder. It also made me wonder about the spirit-golems we had been given, the horses we had for half a year, and the difference in craft. Those horses, in their active state, had been indistinguishable from real horses but the birds made by Dura were obviously less sophisticated. Sure, they had the general shape of birds, but it was obvious that they were crafted from magic and, even as they took to the air, I was able to watch them slowly degrade. They wouldn’t last for more than a day but then, they were not made to last, just a quick and easy way to scout out her enemies. I filed my observations away for later, wondering if I would be able to copy what she had done. There had been something lingering in the shadows, maybe there was potential hidden there. But that was experimentation for later, when we were not in the middle of an army.

“It will be interesting to see what those things can find out.” I said, musing mostly to myself, taking another sip of Liquid Moonlight, finding the freezingly cold experience to be quiet interesting and pleasant. Maybe I should make it a daily ritual, my own, personal morning beverage, better than any tea.

“The Shaman will have given them orders to look for the wolves, hopefully they are smart enough to make them work.” Lenore replied in my mind, amused at my antics, while studying the way I was keeping the magic I had ingested from harming me. It mostly worked because it was my magic and I already had Ice Astral Power flowing through me, allowing me to recirculate most of the power involved. Not that most people would be able to discern that, only seeing me drink something that would kill most people in short order, if they were able to realise what I was drinking at all.

Dura, quite obviously, was able to understand what I had in my mug, her eyes going wide in an almost comical display of surprise when she turned around, after sending off seven of her bird-shaped spirit-golems. Trying to project an air of nonchalance, I simply took another sip, swallowing the freezing liquid while reabsorbing it, not letting it cause any trouble. The gesture had the desired effect, her eyes went even wider than before, before she managed to get her face back under control, barking orders at the other orcs to break camp and get ready to move.

“We will move in fifteen minutes.” she said, a slight quake in her voice, as I, quite deliberately keeping eye-contact, drank my mug almost empty, leaving just a rest behind. Once it was only that rest, I magically shattered the mug, turning it into a cloud of diamond dust, swirling around my hand, while the liquid moonlight spilled on the ground, freezing a decently sized patch, maybe a meter across.

“Certainly, we can be ready by then and follow behind.” I agreed, before turning around, walking back to our camp, just to make sure we didn’t leave anything behind.

“Do you think we could one-up those sorry things she calls birds?” Lenore asked in my mind, intent on showing the shaman just who was the better spellcaster. She had us in levels and combined with the environmental advantage she enjoyed during the day, that gave her the edge in raw power. The fact that she had a teacher gave her an edge in tradition, her spells having been developed over generations. But neither Lenore nor I were willing to concede in any other aspects of magic, both of us wanting to demonstrate her that her fire would be snuffed out in the endless, freezing night.