If Wiremu wants to keep his lava a secret, he will have to stop using it.

We passed through Jeklo fine. Modrica and Težka caused a stir, so the word is out, but there were no problems. There was an Orc Duke in charge, and I think there were Clan ties to the Duchess. Jeklo is a mining town, mostly iron and coal, but a smattering of others. They mostly export steel, which makes it a smelly place full of coal dust.

After Jeklo, it is over the mountains and onto the rolling plains to Beitemark. It is the mountains where we got stuck. This huge out-of-season storm came through. The wind and hail were bad enough, but we were high enough in the mountains to get snow. The trail turned to mud and then ice. It didn’t worry Oske or Težka, but the pack animals were suffering, and when the second wagon slid near the edge of the trail, our Caravan Master Selma called a halt in the nearest spot her scouts could find. We jammed the wagons in, making a corral for the animals in the middle, trying to keep the wind off them. The wind is the killer.

Everybody huddled in or under their wagons. Fires wouldn’t light, and the temperature plummeted as night fell. Wiremu was as wrapped up as the rest of us, but he didn’t seem affected much. Snow just seemed to melt off him, and he was always standing confidently on the ground, not slipping on ice like the rest of us. This storm could last two or three days, and we could lose pack animals or some of the younger members of the caravan. There were a couple of older members as well who wanted to join us at Jeklo to get to Beitemark.

The first night Wiremu wandered out just past the Catkin wagon. He acted like he was looking for something, although it wasn’t with his eyes. He quickly was out of my sight in the sleet, but my Spatial Awareness tracked him. He didn’t go far, but it was on the upwind side of the caravan. The wind eased a bit, and the stone moved, forming what looked like the mouth of a cave. It wasn’t very deep a cave, but it didn’t have to be.

He went to Selma and mentioned finding the cave to her for the young and elderly. I followed, and my Hearing Aid Skill was on the increase, so I heard her mutter to her scout about it, and he shook his head. I investigated the cave; it was warmer than it should be, and it was like the heat was coming from the stone. It was big enough for 8-10 people if they squished in. They squished. It provided enough shelter to get a small fire going, and some of them had hot food.

The Catkin were snuggled in their wagon with the lion cubs, although they had grown tremendously in the 4 weeks it took to get to Jeklo and the 2 weeks spent there. We were now a week on the road to Beitemark. It would be another five to six weeks before we got to Beitemark, and the cubs would be cubs no longer. They are almost full-sized now, although they still act like cubs. Cōmpēṟi is starting to grow his mane.

The pack animals and the draught animals for the wagons were going to be an issue. They were huddled together in the centre of the wagons. I saw Wiremu weaving among them, dropping small glowing stones. He did that three times during the night, and we didn’t lose any. The storm was worse the second day, and we rotated people into the cave for a hot meal. Wiremu kept up the heated stones. I think he was levelling a skill. I saw him tuck one in with the sleeping children.

The wind moved direction the second night. Somehow it never got far into the cave. The sleet eased to a cold biting rain. That kept up all the following day, easing in the evening. We were back on the road on the fourth day, having lost no one and no animals. There were several people who found that suspicious. Everybody was glad to be back on the road.

Five days later, the mountains were behind us, and we were on the rolling hills all the way to Beitemark. There were a lot of open grasslands interspersed with rivers and forests. Beitemark was known for its ranchers. They mostly herded bison and deer, but there were also sheep, cows and horses, and some more unusual specialist species. We would come across more and more ranches the closer we got to Beitemark, but this was an ideal training area for the lions. Wiremu insisted all the Catkin with bonds come, so this forced Anni and Mayakku to go as well. They would be out every second day and sometimes would not return till late in the evening. Anni and Mayakku were exhausted, but their fitness improved, and they started to enjoy it more.

Cōmpēṟi is going to be a big boy. His shoulders already come up to Mayakku’s chest. The catkin were shorter than humans and generally of lighter build, so I wouldn’t be surprised if Mayakku could ride him soon. That wouldn’t be the case for the others because the female lions were smaller, and Appā, Mtualil and Anni were larger catkins.

I occasionally went hunting as well. I went alone at night on Dusk, practising silent riding and refining my stealth skills. We were heading into hostile territory, and I hoped I wouldn’t have to revive the Black Butcher, but I was going to be using the skills. Modrica was going to be a target, and we were not going to sit and take it. I expected blood to flow.

I literally sucked the life out of small animals to level my Syphon Consitution and Syphon Energy. They couldn’t move, bound in shadows, my energy being replenished through the syphons. I was literally hunting how Nyx would. I sparred hard with Modrica, and we would go hunting together with Težka. Težka and Modrica weren’t built for stealth, but we practised shrouding them in shadows and muffling their sound. Nyx practised mimicking Težka and Modrica. I couldn't Mimic Težka, but I could mimic Modrica using my Body Image Skill. We fooled many around the campfire, and my Orcish finally got to Journeyman level, which meant I was fluent.

When we went hunting, I noticed it wasn’t just Težka ripping into the prey with Claws, but Modrica was as well. Težka was not the fastest, but with the Earth or Shadow Affinity, we could slow or corral the faster prey. We were training hard and becoming even more in sync.

We were only about a week out of Beitemark and seeing more ranch buildings and some fenced areas. Traffic was picking up on the road as well. We had already passed one rural village. It was near dawn, and I was riding Dusk with Modrica riding Težka next to me. My Shadow's embrace was shrouding us and muffling our sound as we were heading back to the caravan. We came over a rise, and I spotted the lions ripping into a deer for breakfast while the Catkin stood nearby. They were obviously heading out for a day of hunting and training. I couldn’t see Wiremu, but Tāoke was hidden in the grass near the Catkin. I couldn’t see Tāoke, he was fully camouflaged, but to Nyx and my Elemental Senses, Puia shone like a sun. Nyx reached out through the shadow, and they acknowledged each other. The Catkin were oblivious to all this. Nyx and Puia were basically opposites, but they coexisted peacefully enough. We had found no way to hide Puia from this sense, but it would be very rare for someone to have this. It was probably a small risk.

Then my Hearing Aid picked up the sound of many galloping horses. The catkin and lions heard them at the same time, which gave me a measure of how my Hearing Aid was levelling. About fifteen horses crested a rise and veered toward the catkin. The lions got defensive of their meal. I noticed the riders were armed for hunting. They slowed as they neared and spread into a crescent facing the catkin.

Appā stepped forward to greet them. He was purposefully empty-handed. Appā is easy to underestimate, but he is an experienced and seasoned Warrior with the Sentry Specialisation and, I think, very close to gaining the Hunter Class. He had a lot of high levelled fighting Skills.

“Good morning,” he greeted them.

One of the lead riders spat on the ground, and I hear him curse quietly, “Animals.”

If it was loud enough for me to hear, it was loud enough for the Catkin to hear. None of them reacted, which shows me they were used to prejudice.

Appā cocked his head to the side as if puzzled why they had not greeted him back. The person next to the one who cursed eventually said, “We got a report of lions hunting our herds, so we came to clear them out.”

“As you can see, the only lions here are our bonds. We haven’t seen any other tracks.”

“That deer is part of my herd!” accused the one who cursed. “You are poachers!”

Appā remained calm and said, “There were no markings, no ear tags, no branding. It was a wild deer.”

“Are you calling me a liar, you animal?” he was raising his voice. It was partly an act to wind everyone up to attack. I am a professional actress. He is not. I was considering if we needed to show ourselves to back up the Catkin. I don’t like to see them bullied, but I also know they are quite capable, and there are eight of them. With ourselves, Tāoke and I assume Wiremu in bow range, we could kill them all, but it is a lot of people to go missing from a ranch. There would be an investigation. They think they are in a position of power, but they are really not. How do we get them to back down without undermining the authority of the Catkin?

“Not at all,” Appā said, “but you are mistaken. You wouldn’t be calling me a liar, would you now?”

I hear someone in the crowd mutter, “Never trust a cat!”

Appā didn’t react to that but held the eyes of the one who accused him. I don’t know how he did it, but he didn’t move a muscle, and he suddenly gave the impression of a cat about to pounce on a mouse. He still steadily held the guy's gaze.

The guy broke eye contact and said, “We will be watching. Nobody will steal from us!” he whirled his horse around, and the others followed his lead. They trotted back the way they came.

With a line like that, I am very tempted to try to level my Burglary Class at his house. I won’t, but it is tempting. He would just blame the Catkin. We backed off and went around the Catkin without them sensing us, I think.

This is going to be a challenging city for the Catkin. Hopefully, it is just some backcountry yokels. After all, Kirghiz is the next city down the road, and that is a multi-species city.