The driver of the carriage Ves’ra was allowed to use was quite talkative, something she found out the day after she joined the caravan. She was quite happy with the arrangement, her body wasn't made for walking days without end and her knowledge of the human’s language increased in leaps and bounds over the last days.

The driver explained the meaning of lots of words she knew but had no context of to her, for example the deer towing the carriage weren't actually deer - they were horses. Humans actually had names for every little thing, it was exhausting to keep track of - for example the huge wolf she killed in her childhood wouldn't be called wolf again, it was a direwolf - at the very least she could see where that name came from, meeting one was a truly dire circumstance.

They would arrive in the city of Lokervik, a really big village full of humans and other sapient creatures. Apparently the nearest fourteen human cities had some kind of bond - they called themselves the free cities. The alliance was mainly used to trade with each other, but they would aid each other should they be attacked by other humans.

That tibit of knowledge had been the strangest yet, apparently humans and others like them liked to kill each other regularly. And they didn't even want to eat each other - they just wanted a bunch of yellow and grey rocks and a few other equally useless things.

Furthermore the humans didn't seem to like each other at all, it was possible to starve and no one would do anything against it. That would never happen in her village! If one of them starved the rest would too. Everything could be obtained by trading these rocks, so she would have to get some. Though the caravan master promised to pay her for helping them repel human or monster attacks.

She had no problems with that, though she had yet to kill a thinking being - the strange green humans excluded, but they didn't count. The city they were travelling to - Lokervik - was one of the smaller human cities. She couldn't believe that - the driver said that ‘only’ a few thousand! people lived there.

She would only believe that if she saw it - there was no way to feed that many people in the grasslands, they would kill all creatures in a day’s walk within a week! Suddenly something broke her out of her thoughts, Arvog saw three humans in leather laying on a nearby hill, watching the road in front of them. Each had a horse grazing in the valley behind them, that didn't seem normal - she had been told having your own horse was quite expensive. She turned to the human next to her.

“Do rich humans like to watch others?” She asked.

“Hmm, well that depends, I heard some of the powerful merchants like to do that, apparently it lets them feel superior to us common folk. Why did you ask?”

“Because the three humans on the next hill watch us and you told me only rich people have their own horses.”

“What are they wearing?”

“I don't know, human clothes. A lot like the adventurers. They did paint them green though.”

“Damn. And here I thought this one would be a peaceful journey.” He turned towards one of the ‘guards’ of the caravan. “Tell master Curatha that the kobold spotted a few bandit scouts.” He turned towards her once again. “How did you spot them? I thought your eyes aren't nearly as good as a human’s?”

“I didn't, but Arvog did, it’s really hard to hide from him.”

“That's real useful to have, there aren't that many scouts who have a flying familiar, I hear you have to hatch them and most people don't manage to teach the birds how to fly.”

“Why not? It’s easy, you just have to reward them, and perhaps a little encouragement by throwing them off ledges.”

“I think that not something most people are willing to do.”

“You humans are strange. Do we have to worry about the other humans? They just spotted us. One of them is already retreating towards his horse.”

“We can't do anything then. Our horses are bred for endurance and not speed. Now that they know we are here it’s better they don’t know that - that way we have surprise on our side instead of them.”

“So if we kill them their friends will know?”

“Exactly. Maybe we are too big a target to attack, so I hope we’ll be in luck.”

The guard the driver sent away came back moment later, looking like he ran the whole way. “Can your familiar follow them back to their hideout? The master would like to know their location and numbers.”

“Yes, I’m sure he can, I’ll need to concentrate though, just in case they spot him.”

“How can you help in that case?”

“I can just magic with his energy.”

“You can? That's quite the rare ability.”

“Why would it? You’ll be able to if you want, at least as long as your familiar has enough energy to cast the spell. Further you will only have to shoulder the mental strain.”

“You’ll be a very rich person, there aren't many artillery mages, especially free ones.” The guard looked at her in envy.

“What's an artillery mage?”

“Someone who can cast magic through his familiar. Unlike what you assume it’s quite the rare ability to have.”

The bandit entered the road once they wouldn't be able to see him anymore, following it for a quarter day. The lone horse was quite a bit faster than their caravan, they would at least need another day to catch up. She saw several good campsites, most with remains of older caravans left behind, and the man left the road once again.

He rode through several valleys, until he was way out of the line of sight. Ves’ra spotted a strange amalgamation of several big trees, forming some kind of huge hut that he rode into. She knew trees - that wasn't natural even if found in a forest! The day was already nearing its end, so she cast a long lasting warmth spell on Arvog and told him to return. They only see each other on the next day, but she didn't want him anywhere near humans she didn't know, especially humans that preyed upon their own.

She returned most of her attention back on to her own body, only monitoring Arvog with a sliver of attention. They had already stopped for the night, and she saw the master of the caravan, the other mage as well as the leader of the guards and adventurers. They jumped up once she stretched her arms, exercising all the muscle pains half a day of not moving brought her.

“So what did you find? How many are there and when will they try to ambush us?”

“I don't know how many are there. And they’ll try to attack tomorrow night.”

“You should’ve counted them. Were they more than you can count?”

“No, I didn't see anyone. They had some kind of mage and he used his magic to grow a shelter with huge trees.”

“They have a druid? Damn. You couldn't see anything?”

“Nope, but the trees can hide a lot of humans. At least as much as you have.” The humans looked at each other, bleak expressions in their eyes.

“Are you sure?”

“I can't be, I didn't see anyone but the three from earlier.”

“That will be tough, but I think we’ll manage. What can your magic do? I gathered you are some kind of fire mage?”

“No. I'm a storm mage.”

“So I heard you are an artillery mage, can your familiar kill their leaders once the attack starts?”

“Yes, I think it’s possible if you give me a lot of fires, otherwise my magic won't be able to support him with flying. The hotter the fire the better.”

The mage nodded, speaking for the first time. “I can manage that.”

The leader of the guards spoke up too. “Let's get as much sleep as possible - we’ll need all the strength we can get.”

Ves’ra had to agree, if the worst case happened they would need to give their all, though she wasn't all that concerned about herself, she was sure she could escape from a bunch of clumsy humans.