Private Tales Chasing the Sky

[Samantha Black]

Her teeth were beginning to hurt for how tightly clamped her jaw was with contained anger. Over the last few hours the scenery had changed not enough. Those hills looked only marginally different from the ones she'd been staring at in the distance for two damn days, and they should have been appearing closer instead of the same distance away.

By now she was looking at every bush, every boulder protruding from the ground with suspicion and such intensity she might've been able to count every leaf or flek of quartz. If she didn't know any better they looked the sa-

"Fuck."

"What?" the Dreadlord asked, having been riding several paces back from him.

He'd stopped. Why had he stopped? Ral nudged her horse to walk up next to him, her narrowed eyes and furrowed brows making for a piercing gaze of blue in the dying light of the day. She followed his own gaze to the hoofprints and thought she felt her molars crack.

Took a few steps closer, dismounted, and kneeled to inspect the tracks closer. It could have been just any other horse, but it wasn't. The blacksmith's stamp left a recognizable shape in the impression of the horseshoe in the dirt. There was no mistaking it - these were her tracks.

A deadly silence fell over the woman as she sat there feeling the rage boil up from her heels, past her knees and into her gut before firing full blast up through her lungs. Ralene roared at the ground for several long seconds and then fell quiet again.

She slowly turned her head, not quite looking back at the orc, "Now do you believe me?"

 

[Hath Charosh]

Ralene roared at the ground for several long seconds and then fell quiet again.

Hath took a half step back. He had already lowered his weight just enough to be combat-ready. His left hand held a sharp skinning knife - one of the few belongings that had stayed with him for the past year.

His tusks were bared and he growled to return the challenge.

She slowly turned her head, not quite looking back at the orc, Now do you believe me?

He had been away from people of any sort for too long. Away from his own tribe, where he was no longer welcome. Away from outsiders, who rarely trusted a wild orc.

He had reverted to instinct. Instinct had readied his body for the fight at the sound of her cry.

Hath remained in place for a few seconds after her question. His conscious mind working it's way back to the surface over the instinctive survivor.

"Fine," he admitted. "We did not go in a circle."

He had never seen a kamaleon use magical tricks before.

"We need a..."

They needed a landmark, but Hath was struggling for the word.

 

[Samantha Black]

It had been many years since her temper and patience had been tested this much. Ralene did not feel good about it, but she was out in the middle of fucking nowhere with only a wild orc to witness. Were she surrounded by civilized peoples she might've kept herself in check more. Even still, sometimes it just felt good to yell ones frustrations.

"No, it did not feel that way..." she remarked mostly to herself at his comment on the circle. Her abilities to navigate foreign terrain had been well educated - perhaps not quite as honed as Hath who had been doing so for much of his life, but still.

Ralene Black did not get lost so easily. There was fuckery about and she was going to keep telling herself that until she proved herself right.

"We need a..."

This time she did look back to him, rising to her feet again and eyeing him with disgruntled curiosity, "...yes?"

The orc gestured with his arms.

"Map?" No, besides that was silly. A map would not fix what was happening here. Maps didn't make one go in circles while walking straight lines.

"Route? Sign? Summoning spell to find out what the fuck is doing this to us?" Ohh... why hadn't she thought of that sooner? Damn it all, if Alistair Krixus were here he'd probably have come up with it sooner. Ralene snapped her fingers and moved to one of her saddlebags, "I think I know just the thing..."

 

[Hath Charosh]

With every breath Hath allowed himself to relax a little more. Her cry had set his fight or flight instincts into motion and he was slower to come down from that state than he was to reach it.

Her frustration was not aimed in his direction. He made certain that she could see his open palms when the knife was back in his belt before he tried to show something sticking up above the landscape woth his hands.

A lot of communication between orcs was non-verbal, but even a human could recognise that cue.

The snap of her fingers seemed to be a surprisingly aggressive gesture to Hath. It was not something that orcs did. His eyes widened a touch, but he remained on the spot.

"What do you have in your bag?" he asked.

Hath was curious, but he stayed where he was. He did not want her to think he was moving to slit her throat by standing to look over her shoulder.

 

[Samantha Black]

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

The orc did not even believe her capable of hunting a dragon. Ralene wasn't terribly familiar with the broader world of the orc clans - the single clan she'd grown acquainted with seemed quite a bit more civilized than this one. Were they sexist? Was the fact that she was a woman part of his disbelief? Or simply that she was on her own and human.

Racism went both ways and she was learning more and more of this the longer she stayed out in the far regions. The Dreadlord Academy didn't teach them much about other races aside from those that were immediately relevant to their territories.

After a few long moments of searching through various compartments, she found her target: a tall cylindrical phial of dark liquid. Dragon's blood. Didn't like pulling this out except for emergencies, but given the state of her travel ... Ral wagered this was one of those times she could make an exception. Turning from her horse to give the orc a considering glance, she surveyed their immediate area and settled on her old campfire circle.

"Stay there," she told the orc and pointed to where his feet presently rested, "or you could get compromised into the spell."

Her boots shifted across the dirt, taking her to the long-cold campfire where she began to prepare her spell by pouring a thin trailed circled of blood around the firepit.

 

[Hath Charosh]

Hath did not know what that word meant, but he did not want to get anything into the spell. She was carrying a vial of blood. Darker than human blood, perhaps partially congealed. He remained rooted to the spot whilst recoiling from her preparation.

The humans were not wise like orc shamans. They did not practise magic that formed a harmony with the natural order of the world. Nor were they as old and intelligent as elves. They farmed land that could not be farmed because they did not listen to the stories of those that came before.

If they would stave themselves by over farming land that did not want crops, then Hath had little faith that they would take care with their magic to avoid doing themselves harm.

"Might believe it," he said, in a tone that suggested he wouldn't necessarily be happy about it even if he did. "Staying here."

She had the gait of a warrior. He would have recognised that, even if hadn't seen her fighting the kamaleons.

If Hath had noticed the phrase 'summoning spell' he would have already been running, not watching from a distance.

 

[Samantha Black]

Having drawn out the full circle, she stoppered and pocketed the phial, then crouched down to begin drawing symbols in the dirt. It took some time and a careful application of runes throughout, but after a short while she stepped out and stood back.

This was not a typical use of her abilities - these sorts of spells were better handled by the sorcerer types. Ralene's expertise lay in the short incantation that applied boons, strengths, powers, or wards and not on those that required long-form chants or diatribes as if read from a codex. Either way, what she'd crafted was a rudimentary but, she hoped, effective casting net.

Rather than summon the meddler directly, she was going to use the spell as like a spider's web and with a bit of luck ... she'd come up with a big, fat fly with a death wish.

The mage took in a deep breath and slowly set herself down on the ground once more, legs folded beneath her. With her left hand she made a fist which she pressed against the flat palm of her right. Eyes closed, breathing steady, Ralene began the process of speaking the intent behind the power. Old and ancient words barely used in modern day began to echo out from her like thunder from a lightning strike. The circle took on a bright red glow before flaring to life.

Unseen tendrils began to fill the air that Hath might feel around him like a sizzling of energy that filled the savannah when a big storm rolled in.

 

[Hath Charosh]

A low growl joined the rumble.

The hairs across his body stood on end. The pervading sense of wrongness of the magic being drawn together.

A string of curses were kept to himself. They rattled around his head even as he remained frozen on the spot. Hath wanted to demand that she explained her actions and he wanted to flee from this.

He was not afraid that he would ignore her advice. He was not so foolish as to risk breaking her concentration.

Hath was left with no other chance but to observe events playing out.