“So, we are in agreement to work together until we reach Narristo?” Phraan asked, their eyes flickering between Adra and myself. Adra and Olivia had negotiated with them while they had been cooking and continued to do so during lunch, though I had only paid very cursory attention, most of my attention focused inward, considering the things Jendar had shared with me.

“Yes, we agree to that. We shall do no harm to you, or yours, during our travels and consider you allies and companions.” I replied, channelling a bit of the persona I imagined sitting on the Throne of Ice I had crafted in the past, a queen fitting the Frozen Spire. That the pluralis majestatis worked just as well to indicate that it was the decision of my group was just fine.

Travelling with these people was a test of sorts, it was one thing to keep the magic that concealed active while with my party, just to keep Olivia from feeling uncomfortable, but I wanted to see if I would be able to keep others from noticing in the first place. If I failed out in the wilderness, with nobody but a few adventurers around, the consequences would be a lot more manageable than if it happened in the middle of a town. Hell, it would give me an idea of the consequences in the first place, as so far, Olivia’s reaction had been the one to react the most, but why that was, I could only guess.

In addition to having them as test-subjects, they could act as guides and having an additional spell-caster to discuss magic with was quite welcome,

“Great.” Phraan nodded, a smile on their lips. I was still trying to figure out their sex, it was an idle curiosity, as their figure didn’t give a clear indication, and their sharp facial features could belong to either a male or a female, the fact that they were a wood-elf not really helping as the images I had seen of elves had been uniformly ambiguous. Unless I was willing to outright ask, or peep, I doubted I would ever find out.

“You said you crossed the White Mountains, right? How many Manticores did you encounter?” they asked, sounding genuinely interested.

“Let me think for a moment.” I asked, thinking back to the various encounters, especially the confusing, last battle.

“Twenty? Twenty-five? Thirty at the most, a mix of Young Manticores and their adult version.” I told them, getting a nod in return, but I was quite certain that the look on their face was one of surprise. That surprise was clearly visible on Hafta’s face helped my perception.

“Impressive.” the centaur muttered, reigning in her earlier expression of dislike, into something more neutral. Most likely, she was now fully aware that we were more powerful, unless she decided to risk offending me by doubting my words.

“And troublesome. Hopefully, they won’t try hunting you down further, there have been tales of Ancient Manticores following those who killed their brood for years, hunting them with incredible tenacity, to the point that they were willingly attacking major settlements, just to get to a single person inside.” Phraan added, causing a gasp of shock from Hafta.

“What?! We might be in danger?” she exclaimed, looking as if she was about to bolt into the trees, running for her life.

“Of course we are in danger, we are out in the wilderness.” Gren threw in lackadaisical, very much unconcerned with the prospect of a pride of Manticores swooping down from the sky.

“We fought a group of them just a few days ago. Since then, we haven’t seen any more, but who is to say if that stays that way. In any case, there are few better places to meet them than a forest, as the trees limit their maneuverability to a large degree, forcing them to approach as a regular lion would, only one with added weak-points, their wings are relatively fragile.” Adra explained, getting nods from both Phraan and myself.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“Or are you scared, ready to run away, pony?” Adra asked, sounding a little nasty about it.

No need to be hostile, friend.” Olivia quietly admonished her, though I was certain everyone had heard her.

“Before we met you, we had some uncomfortable encounters with other Centaurs. But it wouldn’t do to put the troubles we had with those on her shoulders. She is, after all, just one of many, just like I would never accept blame for anything another Elf did, not even if that elf was of the same tribe as myself.” I reminded all of them, getting a nod from Adra, while Hafta and Phraan were frowning.

“Trouble with Centaurs you say?” Phraan asked, again with a single eyebrow raised.

“East of the Turan-Mountains, one of their groups is trying to expand their territory but please, don’t ask me which group, I barely cared at the time and I certainly don’t care any longer, not with two large mountain-ranges between them and us.” I explained, hearing Sigmir chuckle at my dismissal of a potentially massive military.

“Well, you are correct, those matters are far away and unlikely to impact us directly. Though, it gives me an idea where you are hailing from, I was curious about that. You come from further east then, not from the northern forests?” Phraan asked, their hands going to their ears for a moment.

“I am a Traveller, so there is no place I hail from, no tribe that claims me or any silliness like that. I am Morgana, nothing more but certainly nothing less.” I explained, after considering addressing myself in plural once again. But no, that would be a little too arrogant, even for the role I wanted to play in the future. If I even kept using that role, while sitting on a Throne of Ice tickled me in ways I couldn’t quite explain, a Throne normally required a Kingdom, or maybe Queendom in my case, which meant people, which was something I had very little interest in dealing with. Not unless Lenore and I could create my subjects, either by summoning spirits of Ice or Darkness, or by raising undead or something along those lines. Enslaving a population with Mind Magic would also work, but given the traits the Dark Moon had added to my Mind Magic, that seemed a little unlikely. Anyway, no subjects with actual agency and the problems that came with that, not for this Queen.

“How curious, a being not born from anyone, but the Divine. Does that make you a Deity as well?” Phraan asked, their lips now curled into an amused grin.

“What if it does, what if it doesn’t? As I said, I am who I am and I certainly don’t have worshippers or such silliness.” I replied, a shudder going down my spine. That would be as bad as ruling over people, only that a deity could hardly use that nice phrase, “Off with their heads.”. Though, they might smite someone, or put curses on them, so in that regard, I might even qualify if I managed to grow in power. The idea brought a smile to my face, as it was such a fun idea for the future, once the game was fully released and I had the time to pursue it. Especially as deities could sit on a Throne, without having to deal with politics, at least if they had the right portfolio, maybe I could incorporate Solitude into it, or maybe a palace on the Moon, or in a land of Ice, those would feel thematically right and sounded like a lot of fun.

“Before we drift too far into that direction, why don’t we talk about the route to Narristo?” Olivia asked, a pained look on her face. It only served to widen my grin even further, there was a small part of me that delighted in pushing and prodding her, trying to figure out the limits of both the power of the Gods and her patience. It was all in the name of science of course, as knowing if pushing a servant of the Gods in a particular manner, maybe one related to their chosen deity, could deprive them of their power. For example, making a Cleric of Baldr angry enough that they couldn’t commune with their peaceful deity seemed rather possible, though I wasn’t sure if that could be made to work the other way around, to make a cleric of Thor too calm to contact the raging Storm. More research was needed, as always.

“Certainly.” Phraan agreed, giving Olivia a nod and me a smile. “The route should be quite simple and reasonably safe, we only headed out this far to make sure no dangerous monsters were encroaching on the surrounding area. Patrol, you know?” they added, before starting to describe the terrain we would have to travel through to reach the Ancient Road, which would ultimately take us to Narristo. At least if we continued heading that way, as it would be the opposite way we ultimately wanted to go.

Decisions to be made, but later.