The next day came with a bright sun the seemed to cook the very air we were breathing. Helena was in high spirits. I had her cast her first true spell. Mages had long ago figured out that new apprentices should not be given spells of the destruction when the first start out, so I had Helena cast Tenser's Floating disk and carry a log upon the magical platform. She laughed as she did so. It was an infectious laugh and it helped lighten the hearts of my compatriots. I guess it lightened mine as well, since I could feel her joy thanks to my medallion.

"Let us put the firewood on the wagon, now," I said to her. "We need to start off."

Helena, still smiling floated the log over to Godfrey who grabbed it and stacked it with the rest of our firewood. We quickly mounted our horses and began our trek once more. In due course, when the sun was almost overhead, I came up besides the wagon being driven by Amenaruu and Helena. Helena, under Amenaruu's directions was holding the reins and learning how to drive a team. I was pleased she was taking to heart my advice on learning new skills.

"I am learning to drive a team of horses," she announced with pride in her voice.

"So I see," I replied. "That is a useful skill to have."

"Are you going to make me your apprentice?" She asked bluntly. "I have fulfilled the conditions you set forth."

"You have done so," I agreed. "But I will tell you, being a mage is no easy path, and being a mage's apprentice is worse."

"Are you saying you will not keep your promise?"

"Not at all," I replied. "I will honor my word. But be very sure you want this."

"I am not making some young girl's fancy," she replied seriously, "I will accept my responsibilities as an apprentice with great seriousness."

As we had moved across the plains, the grass began to change from the tall grass we had started with to short, scrubby grass. Soon we would see the peaks of the Camber Mountains showing above the horizon. In the distance for now was some scrub trees next to a thin watercourse.

"We will stop and eat at the next stream," I announced loudly to my party and then I turned to Helena and said, "We will formalize your apprenticeship when we stop."

Amenaruu gave me a beaming smile as well as Helena as I moved my horse away from the wagon and came up besides Chai and Dimitri who were speaking about some misadventures we had had in the past, misadventures that were only funny now that time had passed and had not been funny at all at the time. I joined in the conversation and laughed alongside of them until we reached the trees and Dimitri and I led the horses to the water to drink and Godfrey made a small fire to cook our midday meal.

"Are you sure about making her your apprentice?" Dimitri asked softly so only I could here.

"Yes," I replied.

"What changed your mind?"

I pointed to the medallion I had been given by Argenta and said, "With this I can read people's emotions, if they are strong enough and even their thoughts if they are unguarded. Of course, Chai's mind is so disciplined, that I cannot read his mind, and your own strong will keeps me out of your head, not that I want to be in a place like that, and I only try to perceive thoughts if I detect that someone is alarmed, like when that fox scared you the other night when you went to relieve yourself."

Dimitri ignored my grin and asked, "What does that have to do with the girl?"

"When Gerrex, you, and the girl came to my aid after the manticore attacked me, I detected the girl was genuinely concerned about me. That goes a long way in me trusting her."

"It still seems strange that you would take on an apprentice, especially a young maid," Dimitri pointed out. "Since Leeana's death, I would bet my life that you had not spoken for more than a few moments with a woman unless it involved some business transaction."

I looked at my friend and I did not deny what he had said, but I answered him this way, "I am not marrying the girl, I am only going to teach her magic. Things have changed, what once was, is no longer, and we must adapt to our reality or we will perish. I believe will have need of new allies and it is best if we make them as formidable as possible."

Dimitri looked at me askance and said, "It is not like you to speak in riddles."

"Am I doing, so?" I asked. "I do not mean to be cryptic, but things will be made clear soon enough, I think."

We returned to our compatriots and all of the men who were not on guard duty were sitting near the fire waiting to fill their bowls with whatever Godfrey was making, except for Amenaruu who was making his midday prayers. Helena was standing there with him, her arms raised up in supplication, mimicking the priest's movements. It seems our Stygian priest had made a convert.

I watched Helena silently. Her faded blue dress was stained with sweat under the arms and down the back. Her brown hair was pulled back in its normal ponytail leaving her face free to face the sun, her soft brown eyes closed against the brightness of the midday sun that illuminated her face with a peaceful glow, or maybe it was simply the glow of newly made believer. A smile was upon her pale, somewhat thin lips.

Amenaruu finished his prayers and asked Helena quietly if she understood what he had done and why he had done it. She nodded her head eagerly and the priest smiled. Then they saw me and Helena began to bounce up and down with anticipation.

The taking on of an apprentice is not a complicated process. I had written a contract that outlined her duties and then we both signed it and the priest also witnessed the signing to make it official. I then, using a variation of the Wizard Mark spell, wrote my personal rune on her forehead. The rune would stay until one of us died or until she earned her staff.

"You are now my apprentice," I said to her formally and she smiled at me, and I could not help but smile back. "From now on, pitch your tent next to mine. I may have need of your assistance at any time. I applaud you learning how to drive the wagon, now tonight I want you to question Chai about his homeland and his Chan Temple. Learn as much as you can about that part of the world, since a mage never knows when they will need that knowledge. Practice you meditations daily."

"As you say…Master," Helena added the honorific clumsily on the end.

"I think am too young to be a 'Master'", I said.

"You are not that young," Helena replied cheekily.

"It has been but a handful of minutes since you became my apprentice and already you are wanting to try my patience."

"I only promised I would do what you tell me to do," she replied, "I did not say I would make this easy for you."

"Hellfire!" I said as I shook my head and walked away.

The night brought little relief from the heat. The rest of the party was outside catching whatever breeze there might be as I sweltered in my tent. I could hear my people talking, especially Helena whose feminine voice was distinct among the men's voices as she talked to Chai. I wished I could join them, but I had things to do. I sat on the ground, the small magic mirror in front of me and began to calm my mind.

Some hours later, feeling like I had been baked in a wet oven, I emerged from my tent very satisfied at my progress. I went over to the water barrel on the side of the big wagon and drank deeply of the tepid water. I wiped my mouth with my sleeve, knowing it would dry quickly, and I searched outward with my mind trying to detect anyone, or anything, will ill intent toward us. Only I had been attacked since we lost Karl and the mercenary. It felt as if we were overdue for such a strike. Perhaps the precautions we now took were making them balk at coming at us. Every night, I used my Move Earth spell to create ramparts to protect us. I had not taken the form of a hawk since my injury, but I thought I needed to scout around, it would help me sleep. I found Dimitri and whispered in his ear and then moved toward the holes we had dug to relieve ourselves but before I reached them, I changed my form into a great horned owl and took off into the night sky. This time, I paid attention to what was above me as well as to what was below me. I returned almost an hour later. My compatriots kidded me about taking so long to relieve myself and I just said it was Godfrey's cooking, which got them to laugh. I then went to bed under the small wagon and slept soundly.

Two days later we saw the tallest of the snow-capped peaks of the Camber Mountains in the distance. For the next two weeks, they continuing revelation would mark our progress. The sighting of the mountains lifted our spirits since it was the first real sign of progress since we ventured onto these plains.

Gerrex returned to the camp about mid-morning to tell us of a tribe of Orcs who were camping where the old road forded the Scallic River, a narrow but deep waterway that had cut its way into the plains. We would have to cross there or divert for many, many miles to the south.

"Gerrex," I said in his language after I called him a short distance away from the others, "I have not questioned thee about thy people, it is thine own concern, but I must know if these Orcs are thine enemy."

Gerrex only grunted and said, "These Orcs are not known to me or my former clan. I have heard of them, but have never encountered them before."

I chose my next words very, very carefully. "My friend, it is known to me that an Orc's loyalty to his clan is the most important of all things and that without a clan, an Orc is considered to be disadvantaged."

Gerrex snorted with cold mirth and replied, "Thou mean that an Orc without a clan is considered to be nothing more than what horse dung lying upon the ground does to man."

"Is this going to be a problem for thee?" I asked.

"I will bear their insults for the sake of the party," Gerrex replied with a shrug. "But I do not know why you call me nallcha, friend."

"I called thou my friend for that is how I consider thee," I replied. "Thou are someone of honor. As a human, I judge the honor of Gerrex only, and I care nothing about your clan. Thou are someone I can trust. I have few enough friends and people that I can trust these days. I think I will need all the allies I can find before long."

Gerrex looked at me, his small pig-like eyes trying to read my face. I looked him in the eye and met his gaze. After some time, he nodded his head in what I assumed was agreement since he did not try to strike me down for speaking about what must be very personal to him. Orcs are slow to give loyalty, but once they do, it is absolute. It is the basis of their society. For Gerrex to have broken his loyalty to his clan must have been something extraordinary must have happened for an Orc would rather cut off his own legs than break with his clan.

We went back to our friends to prepare for our meeting with the Orcs.