As I traded bolts and fireballs with the orcs, I continuously absorbed the copious mana of my fallen foes and freely used it to trigger various magical seals in order to help my bear to stabilize its wounds and regain its strength. Besides, my poisoned crossbow bolts needed some time to start working.

A couple of minutes later, the orcs decided to advance slowly towards the building my bear was hiding behind, and I didn't stop to distract them with bolts and fire spells. My Imp also showed up for a moment and shot a few fireballs. That further slowed the orcs. During this time with the help of my fairies, my bear regained some of its strength and prepared to meet the orcs.

They approached in a tight mass, clutching their weapons tightly, and when they saw the bear they paused for a moment. Much to their surprise, my bear turned its back on them and ran off on all fours towards another building, and I shot another bolt at them. The orc leader decided he didn't like this game and ordered his group to attack me instead.

This is what I was waiting for. The moment the orcs started towards me, I steered my bear towards them, knowing that it was capable of moving at very high speed, and so it cut into their ranks, which were not fully prepared to meet it, and went into a fighting trance.

I knew my bear was going to die for sure, the question was, how much damage it was going to inflict before that.

I used up all my reserves of strength and mana and also attacked the orcs. Their numbers were not high, and many of them had wounds on their bodies from my bolts.

During this time, the elves approached hesitantly and some of the more skillful among them, threw spears and knives and even stones into the melee.

Almost immediately my bear began to lose its strength, and I could feel the many wounds on its body. I knew its end was near, and I prepared myself to escape this place if necessary. I had set a few simple traps of low stretched ropes, and if things went awry, I had a few alchemical bottles capable of improving my speed for a short time. From my previous encounters with orcs, I knew I was faster than most of them, especially the smaller and weaker members of their race.

When my bear finally fell and disappeared in a puff of smoke, I started counting the surviving orcs. It was hard to tell which ones were combat capable and which ones weren't. Their surviving leader looked at me, a “strange” humanoid creature, perched on a strategic spot on the wall near the dense forest and concealed behind his huge shield, slinging heavy crossbow bolts and capable of fire spells, and then looked at the battered and tired captives and made a decision. I desperately sent my imp off to fire the last of his mana reserves and I also cast a few weaker fire spells.

A group of eight orcs stormed the elves, who didn't last long and quickly fled after receiving heavy casualties. On the ground, several more orcs were clearly visible, alive but wounded. I gripped my crossbow and set about stalking the orcs.

However, it soon became clear that the elves had not defected from the battle, but had returned to reunite with the remaining captives. The latter had taken advantage of the commotion to gather more weapons and advanced towards the camp's exit.

The orcs did not despair, but boldly pounced on the captives. This time the elves stayed bravely together and met the orcs' attack. I managed to fire one last bolt that stuck in the back of the largest orc - the leader of the group. He staggered for a moment, looked at me viciously, and braced himself on his saber. I reloaded my crossbow and finished him off with another bolt. In those ten seconds, the orcs managed to take the lives of several elven captives.

The battle continued for several more bloody minutes, during which the elves, at the cost of several lost lives and many wounds, managed to finish off the last orcs.

Then, I slowly approached the group of elves.

Their leader stepped forward and bowed slightly, then four younger elf women touched her, and I saw with the help of my imp's sensitive magical vision how they passed their mana between them.

The forelady made a few strange gestures and after a while I felt a slight pressure in my soul. Memories unpacked in my head and I realized that the elf was trying to speak telepathically to me with the help of her magic.

"That's interesting," I thought, and let the telepathic connection happen.

"Hello savior, my name is Agradela. The deep memory of my clan will remember your kindness and repay you accordingly."

I tried to consider her message - "Ha, in this opening, this elf girl insisted on raising her price, both with the promised reward and with the 'memory' of her clan. No empty talk, plain and to the point," I observed.

"Hello Agradela. My name is Meridin Zlodar. Recently my clan has also encountered these orcs and I am here to learn more about them." I decided to state mine demands.

"Meridin Zlodar, if you want to learn more about these orcs, you can stay with us for a while. I promise to tell you everything you want to know about them."

"Before I come with you I want to know what your plans are, now that you're free?" I asked as I considered her offer.

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After a short deliberation, Agradela answered me:

"The orcs will soon find out about their losses and organize a pursuit. We must hasten away from this terrible place. Then we will head for the lands controlled by the elves. The road will be long and hard, fraught with many risks. And even in the best case, it will take us at least three or four days to reach our lands."

I also thought about my own plans. I knew this was a very interesting opportunity to learn more about this world. It was not just a display of curiosity, but a well measured strategic decision. A decision that was going to cost me a lot of time.

"So what if something happens, I'll just die and eventually revive in the camp. I'm only risking myself, but the whole human camp benefits," I reassured myself.

Then I promised to join the elves and help them escape.

We talked for a few more minutes then Agradela broke the connection and gave a few commands to the group of elves. They dispersed and began searching the camp for food, weapons, clothing, blankets and other supplies. I joined in as well, collecting the more interesting items from the orc bodies, and later in one of the storerooms I found some fish, meat, berries and nuts. I left the elves to harvest what they could, and I stowed the rest in my ring. I also stowed away a lot of firewood, various tools and interesting items, and a few small souvenirs.

After a brief reflection, I took out some of the healing potions I had, and gave them to Agradela.

"These are weak healing potions. Give them to the most wounded elves."

"Thank you very much Lord Meridin." The elf girl bowed and took the potions with both hands.

After the elves fed and rested, and I absorbed the abundant mana released after the battle, we set off led by a group of elves armed with orcish weapons. I had summoned my fire hounds, something that made a strong impression on the elves.

"You're a pretty strong wizard." tested my reaction to Agradela.

"I can use these animals to help us better navigate the forest and protect us from predators. They're also pretty good in a fight.” I replied, deciding not to reveal more about me.

Agradela looked at me thoughtfully and then we entered the forest.

Over the next hours, we walked slowly and stopped often for short breaks. I used this time to practice my skills.

In the morning, before the sun had even risen, a thick fog descended, further slowing us down. So we stopped for a longer rest.

I had noticed that the elves had only a few leather bags of water, which they guarded carefully. So I pulled some water from my ring and offered it to the refugees. They were extremely grateful, and Agradela looked at me thoughtfully again. I got her attention with gestures and after we connected telepathically I asked her:

"Agradela, can you teach me that telepathy spell of yours?"

"I can try. But before that, you need to know a lot more of the necessary principles for working with the mana. I'm not sure how many of them I can show you. And I don't think we have enough time."

After a short conversation, it turned out that I indeed didn't really know the necessary principles and so I wouldn't be able to learn the spell. We did, however, go on to talk extensively about orcs, elves and their relationships.

"We've been at war with them for as long as I can remember," Agradela explained, wrapped in several blankets as she warmed herself by the small fire in the mist. "They often raid our territories and destroy our hunting parties. They are like a plague that kills and enslaves all races on the island. In turn, the orcs also fight amongst themselves, or are enslaved by the stronger clans. Orcs are not good servants, however, and their notion of loyalty is rather vague."

Our conversation continued with Agradela, and sometimes other elves talking, and me carefully taking notes. I received much interesting and valuable information, and Agradela promised to show me maps of the orc territories.

"However, their camps change frequently. The Orcs are not united among themselves and there is always one or another military leader who fights for more strength and power. Orcs are extremely prone to bloodshed and such clashes are frequent."

"You should have told me about this earlier. We could have disguised the camp as such a raid."

Agradela thought for a moment and then continued.

"While it wouldn't be impossible, such a thing takes a lot of time. But maybe you were right. I hadn't thought of such a possibility. When the mead turns sour, it's too late to plug the hole in the barrel."

"When the wind blows in the leaves of the trees, some of them inevitably drift into the sky," I decided to reassure her.

"Hopefully our leaves will fertilize the native trees and not burn in someone's fire," Agradela added.

"The fate of the leaf was ordained a million years ago. In the end they always fall, blown by one wind or another."

Agradela looked at me with her big eyes and shivered despite the fire beside her.

"Can we possibly stop the wind?" she asked me slowly.

"Are there no animals that have made it their strength?" I replied and after a short while added. "If what you told me about the orc is true, I think you're likely to find an ally to help you fight the orcs."

We then proceeded to talk on various topics and it wasn't long before we were slowly making our way through the thick fog.

I walked in front, guided by my hellhounds, and cleared our way with the help of a sharp orc saber. The elves followed me, in a long line.

Immediately behind me was Agradela, who was often eyeing certain trees and plotting our direction.

Sometime around noon, my hounds encountered a small group of orcs. We stopped and started discussing what to do. I let the conversation run for a while and finally when I made up my mind I joined in.

"We can't risk letting the orcs live. They may find our trail and warn the other orcs in the area. We'll have to take the risk and attack them."

"Easy for you to say," one of the elves chimed in. "You don't have to think about the lives of your wounded and tortured friends."

"Is that so?" I said as I looked into her eyes. "Then what am I doing here? Maybe it would have been better for me if I hadn't attacked an entire camp with orcs last night. After all, I didn't have any wounded friends to think about then either."

The elves talked among themselves for a while and agreed to attack the orcs.