Tsaimath

Chapter 368

This time, it was my turn to watch Sigmir slowly wake up and I felt a smile creep up on my face, simply because it looked so adorable. Once more, I was struck by the immense contrast, that a person so powerful, so wild, as my Sigmir could look so calm and peaceful in their sleep and upon waking up. There was no tension or vigilance on her face, just a simple contendness, especially when she took note of her surroundings, a smile curling her lips.

“Good morning.” I told her, reaching...

Chapter 367

Looking up at the stars, I had to chuckle to myself. Preparing and eating dinner on a small stretch of sand in a bend of the river had given me some time to actually think and make me realise just how ridiculous the idea was. Visions of me, dressed in tight, black clothes and masked with a balaclava, trying to sneak into the headquarters of Pantheon Entertainment in an attempt to hack their servers to allow me to stay with Sigmir, or maybe liberate her from their servers, bringing her into so...

Chapter 366

Waking up cuddled up to Sigmir was always a pleasure. Her smell, the warmth of her arm wrapped around my back, the solid muscles cushioning me, they all worked together to give me a sense of content peace. As I squirmed a little, just shifting my position while rubbing myself against her body, I heard a soft chuckle from above my head, making me look up, straight into Sigmir’s smiling face.

For a few minutes, we just stayed like we had slept, not feeling a need to talk, not feeling a ...

Chapter 365

Once I was finished with the mundane tasks of maintenance in my apartment, I went back into the capsule, lying down on the comfortable gel-backing and closing my eyes. I was still confused and a little unsure about the recording I had watched earlier, the actions taken by Lenore and me together and my memories of them. Focusing on the memories brought some of them back into focus, especially regarding the runic formation used on the centaur, not enough to understand what exactly we had done b...

Chapter 364

“We will accompany you then, as your guests.” I accepted Dura Firebringer’s suggestion after a moment of consideration. There was a part of me that was cautious, maybe paranoid, because of the look on her face but a long-honed instinct within me was smelling a chain-quest, an opportunity to advance the power of my group some more. In a way, the night-raid had been an eye-opener, even a reasonably large battle with an accompanying quest had merely given me about a full level. On the othe...

Chapter 363

By the time the last orc was reasonably well, the sun had fully risen above the valley, bathing us all in its burning rays. Part of me wanted to simply pull back the covers, so to speak, to conjure up enough mists and clouds to block the hateful light but sadly, I did not have that power, at least not yet. But it would be a worthwhile goal to aspire to, the ability to make myself comfortable. What better goal could there be, than the ability to change the world into something more to your lik...

Chapter 362

When I started to channel power into the downed orc’s body, I almost instantly realised my mistake. The first effect my power had was that his teeth started to chatter, reminding me that I had been careless, that my Astral Power was always tinged with Ice and, as I noticed when paying attention to what I was doing, Death-Magic. The amount was small enough to keep the additional damage small and minor, especially as it had occurred to the freshly healed tissues, only causing some pain to the...

Chapter 361

The contrast was stark and that my spell had done more than just conceal the area was incredibly obvious. The whole valley was covered in grass with a few shrubs visible, at least where Dura Firebringer and her explosive spells hadn’t burned that away, but the area where the mist had been was… not. There was no green in sight, not a single blade of grass, only dirt and not even a healthy-looking, deep-brown dirt. To me, it looked more like the dust you would see on construction-sites, ste...

Chapter 360

Waking up was not fun. The alarm going off in my head managed to jostle me awake but I still felt like my mind had been hit by a truck, sore and like my head was a number too small for my brain. I didn’t want to get up and would have preferred to simply stay cuddled up to Sigmir, resting on her chest but at times, needs must. This was one of those times, if I wanted to maintain the image I had tried to project towards the orcs. Looking unfazed by the battle of the night, ready to go again a...

Chapter 359

We carefully made our way around the valley, paying attention to our surroundings. We had no way of knowing whether the wolves in the forest had all joined the attack on the orcs or if there were some left, just waiting to take a bite out of us. Prudence and vigilance was what would keep us alive, so it was used in spades.

It also allowed me to see the valley from different angles, or rather, not see it. The mist Lenore and I had conjured up was still lingering, despite the fact that my...

Chapter 358

Watching Adra and Rai start their climb into the valley, I had to nod to myself in approval. The climb would normally be easy, especially if you had dry ground and good lighting. They had neither, turning the steep slope, broken up by rocks, cracks and roots into a treacherous obstacle that needed to be navigated with care.

“Let me up.” Lenore finally told me, the indignity of being carried like a babe too much for her to bear. She was a prideful bird, demanding to return to my shou...

Chapter 357

As we were contemplating the sensations we received from the centaur in our claws, the howling of wolves added to the pandemonium of the region. The previously calm and quiet night was now anything but, especially as the orcs had begun their attack earlier, that much had been obvious thanks to blazing explosions. Some bolts of flame had even tried to penetrate the mist but failed to do so, their heat quickly fading in the cool, clammy fog.

With the wolves howling in the background, we t...

Interlude: Of Ice and Fire

Two centaurs, lightly armoured and with weapons at their side rest comfortably near a fire, not quite keeping watch but being awake and aware to raise the alarm, if one of the outer guards raises a disturbance. Around them, tents made from canvas create an orderly camp, with clear paths for swift movement and organisation. At the edge of the camp, almost hidden by the darkness of night, the rising slopes of a valley are visible, hiding the camp within.

“What is that?” one of the cen...

Chapter 356

After looking our new body over for a moment, we decided that we needed a name. There was power in names and we were neither Morgana, nor Lenore. We were both, yet neither, a whole that was greater than the sum of its parts. Our moment of contemplation lasted for a mere moment, knowledge of the urgency of our mission driving us to simply take the name of the Raven’s Shadow, abbreviated to the Raven, as name and title for us. It would suffice.

Looking up, we realised that the world had...

Chapter 355

After a light meal, a shower and a little exercise, I logged back into Road to Purgatory, a grin on my face. I couldn’t wait to see what the night would bring, whether my plans would come to fruition, whether the magic Lenore and I had cooked up would work as designed. Testing yourself against the unknown was a thrill I was enjoying greatly, a challenge similar and yet unlike any I had ever experienced. Before, when playing Craft of War, I had enjoyed mapping out the many, albeit ultimately...

Chapter 354

The negotiations had been fast and furious, both sides trying to get useful concessions, while keeping in mind that time was of the essence, that we needed to make use of the night, if we wanted to get things done. They quickly agreed that the plan that kept both groups separated was the better one, that bringing a group of unknown elements into the middle of a difficult battle was a good way to get everyone killed. I could live with that, liking the other plan better anyway, mostly due to th...

Chapter 353

“So, tell me, what is the situation? I’ll assume you made camp early for a reason?” I asked, needing to know the tactical situation to make informed decisions.

“The Centaurs made camp, maybe an hour ahead of us. On the face of it, they made a major tactical mistake, moving into a valley, a quite steep one. My scrying revealed a few guards on the ridges but they are few and far between, posted on their own and relatively easily dispatched and silenced, if necessary.” she began ...

Chapter 352

I had to give it to the orcs, they were disciplined. While they were individually relaxed during their march, the scouts and other parts of their formation were serious and vigilant, ready to spring into action at a moment's notice, buying the troops the time to react to a potential threat. In addition, despite the relatively rough terrain, the speed they put out was quite fast, nothing truly special for individuals but for a small army, moving in a loose formation through a forest, I was imp...

Chapter 351

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 ...

Chapter 350

Talking to another spellcaster was always interesting. In the case of Dura Firebringer that was particularly true, due to the opposite nature of our powers and approach, something that allowed me to compare and contrast her ideas and concepts with my own.

As such, it was late in the night when Sigmir and I finally returned to our camp, long after Adra had finished telling the orcs everything we knew about the centaurs, about their tactics and movements. Sigmir had remained quiet during ...

Chapter 349

“What a mess, indeed.” Dura muttered, once I had fully explained what I had seen, even if I had been vague on my methods.

“I know you and your group planned to travel onwards tomorrow but would it be possible to remain with us for a day?” she asked, after thinking for a moment, giving me the impression she had been making a quick decision.

I, in turn, shared a short look with Sigmir, who had been by my side the whole time. There was a frown on her face now and, over our li...

Chapter 348

“Did you notice?” I asked Lenore, slowly disentangling my mind from the scrying-construct we had created and used to observe the centaur-camp. It had worked quite a bit better than anticipated, either thanks to having experienced flight, albeit from inside my Hallow, or because I had crossed the second Divide, increasing my abilities. Or it was an effect of my new class, with its boost to my Darkness-Magic, that was another possibility.

But be that as it may, I had been able to quie...

Chapter 347

In the evening, it became apparent just how serious the orcs were about pushing their speed. They kept going, even after the sun had mostly set, marching on in the twilight, only setting up a rudimentary camp just before the light had truly faded. And even then, they mostly split into smaller groups, quickly setting up a small fire to get at least some warm food, but no tents, no fortifications, nothing. We had set up our own camp a little away from the orcs, not bothering to do more than we ...