Golden sunlight temporarily blinded Morwyn as she stepped out into an unfamiliar scene. She blinked rapidly as she held the tent open for Hazel and squinted to assess their surroundings. From her short walk with Rennock the night before she'd known they were in hill country but the depth of darkness had concealed the surrounding terrain beyond a few yards. Now she saw that the gentle, rolling hills of the prairie had given way to steep and winding inclines that stretched up to the feet of the mountains looming not far to the east. The road they'd been following had degraded to little more than a stony dirt path between the massive boulders that littered the landscape.
“I know I was out for a while but I thought it would've taken longer to reach the mountains,” Morwyn murmured as she tied of the end of her freshly braided hair. “How did we get here so quickly?”
Hazel yawned deeply and nearly dropped her mess kit in the process. She clutched it tightly to her stomach and shook her head to clear it, her curls bouncing as she did so, then made a beeline for the cooks. Morwyn followed eagerly, her stomach growling.
“Don't know all the details since I was with you in the back of my wagon, but we've been moving almost non-stop since the giants joined us. This is the first time we've stopped for a full night and not just a few hours to rest the oxen. I wanted to stay put to treat you more easily, but Rennock insisted it was necessary.” Hazel paused a short distance from the food line and lowered her voice. “He seemed nervous and I've not seen that before. Frightened the wits out of me, to be honest.”
“I'm sure he had a good reason to push so hard,” Morwyn said distractedly as she watched one of the halfling cooks pull long strips of sizzling bacon out of a big pan to cool on a wooden serving platter. Her mouth watered at the smell and she struggled to keep from lunging forward to scarf it all down. Hazel grabbed her hand and chuckled as she led her to the start of the line. The others waiting for food shuffled back quickly as the halfling nearly shoved her in front of them.
“Go on, stuff your face. Just make sure there's some for the rest of us,” Hazel said with a tired smirk as she turned to make her way to the back of the line. “Find me when it's time to pack up?”
Morwyn began to protest then realized she was holding up the line. Lily, who had been at the front, covered her mouth with one hand to disguise a laugh. Morwyn quickly stepped back and gestured for the other woman to take her place again but Lily shook her head with a smile and urged Morwyn forward with a hand on the small of her back.
“Oh, I don't think so. I'm not risking her wrath.” The others in line murmured their agreement. Lily leaned in close and spoke again in a quieter tone. “It is good to see you well, Miss Shrike. We were all dreadfully worried about you, especially the boys, but seems Miss Willowbend worked her magic on you as she did with me.”
Morwyn nodded awkwardly as heat rose up the back of her neck. She was glad to see that though she had a large splint immobilizing her leg and walked with a shuffling limp, Lily seemed to be in good health and good spirits. A sudden guilt washed over her before a hopeful idea worked its way through.
“Indeed she has. I don't know what we'd do without her,” Morwyn replied as she quickly loaded her bowl with food and moved out of the way. “In fact, I've been so impressed I've asked to study under her. I'd like to be there when she checks you over before we move on today, if that's alright.”
Lily shuffled away from the serving barrels and handed Samuel a small plate. Behind her, George warned the boy not to spill his food as he ran off to claim a spot for the children to eat. Lily gave Morwyn a long-suffering look that melted into a smile.
“I wouldn't mind at all! More hands make for lighter work and this brace can be a pain to adjust.”
“More than happy to help,” Morwyn said, inclining her head and giving Lily a polite smile before taking her leave.
Despite their good humor, exhaustion was evident in the faces of the rest of the caravaneers as they went about their morning. They'd certainly been pushed hard the last few days. Rennock and the guards were conspicuously absent from the breakfast line so she made her way to the lead wagon. She found them conversing with Woda a short distance in front of the caravan as a flustered Trux translated for them. Without the aid of Rennock's magic the giants' language was once again unintelligible. Though she knew their grinding, guttural words were far more eloquent than they sounded to her untrained ear, being unable to understand it anymore was disorienting.
Morwyn approached slowly to avoid interrupting their conversation and leaned against the side of Rennock's wagon to watch on passively as she tucked in to her food. When her bowl was tragically empty and Morwyn began to walk toward them, Trux said something that made Argoth and the two giants roar with laughter while Rennock rubbed his temples in consternation. Eronir was nowhere to be seen.
With a sudden impulse to extract some revenge on her boss, Morwyn approached as quietly as she could behind Argoth's back amid their distraction. When she was still several yards away, Argoth's ears twitched curiously.
“Oh come on now,” the orc said without even turning to look in her direction. “You'll have to do better than that to get the jump on me.”
Morwyn grunted in disappointment. She thought she'd done a decent job at quieting her footfalls, but evidently his pointed ears were sharper than her own in more ways than one. She walked up beside him and crossed her arms while giving him a disgruntled side-eye. Trux sighed with relief when she saw Morwyn and approached in a huff.
“By the Beard, am I glad to see you. Maybe now that we're all here, I can stop translatin' flirty small-talk between Woda and Argoth. They've been drivin' me mad, those two. It's hard enough to get it right without their filthy banter.”
Morwyn stifled a laugh and raised a curious brow at her boss. The orc grinned and winked his one good eye... or simply blinked. It was difficult to tell between his brutish features and his other eye covered by a patch.
“Happy to help, but we're not all here,” Morwyn said, glancing about to the hills that rose around them in all directions. “Where are Eronir and Amrak?”
“Scouting ahead,” Rennock cut in with enthusiasm as if happy for any excuse to leave their seemingly awkward conversation far behind. “They left last night along with Yvonne and one of Amrak's hunters to secure our ascent. If all is well, we will meet them by this evening. Our route is prone to land slides as well as... other dangers. I believe the extra precaution is warranted.”
Argoth nodded in agreement and clenched his fists in unconscious anticipation.
“The giants have been quite helpful, especially Woda,” he said with a slight bow to the giantess that sat beside them. When she heard her name, she gave the orc a rather uncomfortably familiar smirk that nearly made Morwyn blush to witness. “We haven't had a lick of trouble since they joined us, and they've agreed to escort us to the first pass before they take their leave. It's a damn shame we couldn't convince them to stay on with us to the Vale.”
“I can teach you the language when we get home,” Trux grumbled as she rolled her eyes. “That way you won't need me to be your go-between when you come back here lookin' for love.”
Morwyn and Rennock shared a glance as the orc and dwarf began to bicker back and forth. The old wizard shrugged in defeat. Evidently this had been the topic of discussion long enough to wear the old man's patience down. Wishing to steer the conversation elsewhere, Morwyn caught Trux's attention with a quick wave of the hand.
“Will you please tell Woda that I'm grateful for the protection they've given to the caravan in my absence?” She gave a respectful bow to the giantess.
Upon hearing the translation, Woda grinned and clapped a fist over her heart before replying at some length in her grating tongue. When Morwyn didn't react to the words and looked about to the others for assistance, Rennock gave her a chagrined smile and stepped forward to the center of the group.
“My apologies. Woda says you are welcome, that she is glad you are alive, and that it is an honor to assist the comrades of 'the brave little-woman that was nearly squeezed into jelly'. Her words, not mine.”
The wizard clapped his hands together loudly, causing the others to flinch back in surprise as the noise and accompanying white sparks that shot out to each of their foreheads startled them. Morwyn felt the familiar tingle of the spell that he'd cast on them before approaching the giants for the first time, yet this display was altogether different than a simple poke to the forehead. She saw Woda rub her forehead with three fingers before looking down at her hand in confusion.
“Woda... can you understand me?” Morwyn asked hesitantly. A look of comprehension dawned on the giantess' face and she broke out in a broad grin.
“Indeed! You little-folk are full of wonders it seems. It is no surprise that such brave warriors flock to your cause when you are led by a mighty shaman such as Rennock. I am increasingly impressed by your clan.”
Rennock bowed his head with a gracious smile then immediately backed away in alarm with his hands raised as Trux rounded on him in a fury.
“You could've done that the whole bloody time?” she bellowed, her face turning crimson. “Here I've been, makin' a fool of myself every other sentence, when you could've snapped your fingers and made us all understand each other?!”
“First of all, it is my opinion that you did a tremendous job,” Rennock said as he continued to back away slowly. “And secondly, to cast this particular spell in this manner on so many at once is very costly and technical, requiring decades of study and a great deal of magic expenditure and-”
The rest of what the old wizard was about to say was drowned out by the combination of laughter from the others and the vile dwarvish swearing that exploded from Lady Trux. As she was able to understand that language too due to Rennock's enchantment, Morwyn's expression turned to one of bemused horror as she witnessed a tirade of curses the likes of which she'd never heard. Argoth howled, his laughter only drowned out by the booming chortle that came from Woda.
When she regained her composure, Morwyn wiped the corner of one eye and grabbed Trux's upper arms with both hands, pulling the fuming dwarf back before she could swing on their employer. She struggled to speak, out of breath from her first true, deep laughter in quite a long time.
“For what it's worth I agree with him. You did an excellent job translating for me, and from what I've heard I'm sure Argoth appreciates you as well.”
Morwyn thought Trux's head might actually pop off her shoulders when Woda gave her a wink and blew a kiss to Argoth, who mimed catching it and tucking it beneath his red sash. She released the dwarf and backed up to gain some distance in case Trux decided to load her crossbow or draw one of her long knives.
“You're all a bunch of louse-ridden, midden-jumping, ungrateful cu-”
“Alright, that is enough,” Woda said, clutching her stomach in mirth as her chuckling reverberated in their chests. “I think we understand how you feel. For our part, my clan is very impressed that you speak our language at all. You should be proud, it is not easy for little-folk to do. You and Morwyn were both vital to uncovering Hanor's treachery and returning our spirit stone to me, not just her.”
Ever so slightly mollified by Woda's praise, Trux kicked a rock and sent it flying down the slope before crossing her arms and glaring daggers at Rennock once more for good measure. The wizard shrugged in return and gave her an innocent smile. Morwyn shook her head in amused consternation. Despite her growing anxiety for what the future might hold, her companions never failed to brighten her mood with their mischief.
“When are we getting started today?” Morwyn asked, shading her eyes against the sun as she strained to make out the scant path that wound its way in switchbacks up the huge draw and toward a narrow saddle between the peaks high above. From her many years exploring the mountains of her homeland she knew that distance was difficult to judge when surrounded by such titans of nature. Even so, she thought it a stretch to reach the pass by nightfall, especially with wagons in tow.
“We'll head out once everyone's had their breakfast,” Argoth said as he followed her gaze up the slope. “They've earned a late start. We've pushed hard to get some miles behind us since we didn't have to worry about security with the giants around.”
Morwyn frowned as she thought of the rogue mage and looked to Rennock, who eased her mind with a subtle shake of his head. She sighed with relief and
“Understood. I'm going to help Hazel tend to Lily before we move out,” she said before turning to Woda and giving a respectful bow of her head. “Thank you again, Woda. I'm glad that our groups have been of assistance to each other. I wish I could have spent more time with you and your folk, but I was... indisposed.”
“Quite so,” Woda said with a serious nod. “Your wife was quite distressed at your injuries when we brought you to her, but it seems she was able to set you right. Please let her know that I am sorry, I should have intervened the very moment you revealed Hanor's betrayal with your magic. It would have saved us all a great deal of trouble.”
Heat rose to Morwyn's cheeks at Woda's casual assumption. She initially chalked it up to a quirk of the translation magic or a word in the language of giants that might have a broader meaning, but the amused look she saw pass between Argoth and Trux made her second guess.
“I'll be sure to pass along your apology,” she murmured, rubbing the back of her neck with one hand. She quickly turned to leave before her embarrassment became even more evident. Poorly stifled chuckles from Argoth and Trux followed her as she collected her mess kit from the bench on Rennock's wagon and made her way back toward the camp. As awkward as Woda's remark made her feel, Morwyn couldn't deny the twinge of warmth that blossomed in her stomach when she saw the smile that broke out on Hazel's face on her approach.