Trillia and Amelia decided to take a break for a couple of days.

Amelia spent that time teaching Trillia more about how to play the harp. It was a good rest.

That break had mostly come because Mon'Tag was out on an actual scouting mission and wasn't due to return for a few days. The girls didn't really want to keep getting chewed up and spit out on the second-floor boss, so they decided to wait and ask for advice.

The camp had a lot more orcs in it as of late. Mostly coming and going and using this large encampment as a base of operations. The actual orcs inside changed almost constantly. It made Tormash's job a little more difficult, but the young orc was handling being Chieftain well.

Trillia wanted to make some time to see if he needed help with anything at some point.

She shook her head. 'Stay focused, Trillia! We've been over this. No more tangents.'

She mentally scolded herself as she walked through the camp towards the scout's area.

Quite a few of the scouts recognized her and gave her a smile and a nod. She was happy to return it. She went looking for the new scoutmaster.

It wasn't difficult to find him. He was a young orc, probably in his early twenties. Broad shoulders, teal skin and striking red eyes. A large mallet was sitting on the table next to him.

There were probably a dozen orcs in line to speak to him, so Trillia just added herself at the end and waited.

"What's the fuck is this?" The scout master growled the words as he hefted what looked like a badly mangled paw.

"All that we could salvage from the fucking thing. More and more of those thrice-forsaken tigers are crawling out of the ravine. Without the Grand Chieftain here, they are just running amuck!" The scout scowled back at him, sporting quite a few rather severe injuries.

"Former Chieftain!" The young orc bellowed and slammed a fist on the table. More than a few orcs in line flinched. "I don't give a damn what your opinions on the matter are. Tormash is the new Chieftain. Lady Amara has gone to take her rest. It is up to us to keep this camp safe. If you have any grievance over who the fucking Chieftain is - like that matters to us - take it up with the actual fucking Chieftain."

"Sorry, Kor'Stag. Still getting used to it. Didn't mean no offense." The scout bowed his head slightly.

Kor'Stag, who was apparently the new Scout Master, sighed heavily. "I'll tell the Chieftain that we're struggling to keep our borders clear. Maybe Ralrouk would be willing to help us patrol for a while."

"Ha! That fat oaf is too busy shackin up with the humans!" One of the scouts jeered. The other orcs in line went completely silent. The one that spoke slowly stopped laughing and looked around.

"I'll be kind today 'cause you're new. Don't shit-talk the Demonsbane Clan. Even the youngest of them is pushing level one hundred, and she isn't even a fucking teenager yet. If you wanna shit talk them, at least make sure they are here to defend themselves."

The orc looked down and didn't meet anyone's gaze. The next few orcs filtered through, reporting anything odd that was happening in their respective areas or that nothing odd at all was happening.

Kor'Stag finally caught a glance of her. "You! You're not a scout. How can I help you?"

Trillia's body was mostly hidden by other orcs, so he only really caught a glimpse of her due to the bright clothing she wore. "I can wait, Lord Kor'Stag. I understand you have duties to tend to."

"That's very kind. But I don't need someone who isn't a scout eavesdropping on scouts and causing panic. State your name and what you need." His tone was much deeper and much sharper.

That made sense. She was so used to being the 'Chieftain's Daughter' that no one cared what she heard. She hadn't exactly been a familiar face in the past couple of years. She bowed to the others and pushed ahead to the front of the line. "Trillia Demonsbane. Avatar of Lord Arlyss and Ambassador between D'Jamu and the Shattered Plains." Trillia extended her one hand up to the orc. The other orcs, especially the one that had just been insulting Ralrouk, only stared.

"In the future. Just cut the line Lady Demonsbane. Pardon my men's stupidity. We're all young orcs and have far more ba-...brawn than brains." Kor'Stag shook her hand. "How can this Scout Master help you?"

Trillia smiled wide. "I wouldn't dream of interrupting important business with something so casual. I am here to inquire as to Lord Mon'Tag's return trip. I have business with him. It's not urgent, so no need to interrupt his scouting mission. "

Kor'Stag nodded and shuffled some scrolls and parchment around before grunting. "Should be back yesterday..." His tone left Trillia a bit worried. "He's scouting near the ravine. Let me show you where it is on the map." Kor'Stag walked around the table and put a crate on the ground before walking back to his side and motioning for her to lean over the table.

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Trillia happily stood on the crate and looked over the map. Mon'Tag was scouting the usual cross-over point for Kin'Cairne caravans. "The old dog is skilled. But the ravine is treacherous. I'll get another scouting party out that way as soon as I'm able."

Trillia peered at the map for a while before shaking her head. "I'll go and check on him. My wolf and I can make that trip in a day or less. I'll search for signs of battle, and if I meet him on the road, I'll return with them. Otherwise, I'll return in two days."

Kor'Stag nodded. "I'll take the help. I'll have a scout party ready and head that way. Should the worst happen, you'll have backup. If not, they can detour and head to another location."

Trillia nodded and shook his hand. "Thank you for your time, Lord Kor'Stag. And thank you for defending my family. Loyalty means a lot to us."

Kor'Stag chuckled and nodded. "Tormash and I were in the scouts together for years. Ralrouk pulled us out of more terrifying situations than I care to count. I won't let someone bad mouth him while he's not around."

"But it's ok if he is?" Trillia grinned, already knowing the response.

"That's what we call a free show around here. Take care of yourself, Lady Trillia. As I mentioned before, the ravine is dangerous." Kor'Stag offered her a smile and motioned for the next person to step forward. Trillia bowed, hopped down from her crate, and set off to find Amelia.

It took her a few hours to find her friend snoring rather loudly on a rock near the edge of camp. Trillia couldn't deny that it was the perfect day to laze about and nap. She had summoned Ialu on her way to find Amelia.

As the two approached, the sleeping minotaur stirred and woke. "The old man back?" Amelia grumbled a bit and rolled over to shade her eyes from the sun.

"No. He was due back yesterday. I said Ialu and I would go and check on him. The Scout Master is worried something may have happened. My guess is that a member of his scouting party got hurt, and Mon'Tag won't leave anyone behind." Trillia fibbed a little. Mostly just omitted where she was going.

Amelia stared at her for a moment before nodding. "Well, Mon'Tag is far stronger than the two of us. Maybe they ran out of poultices or something and can't move the injured orc. Want me to tag along?"

Trillia shook her head. "No, that's ok. Ialu and I can make really good time. Plus, if anything does jump out that's dangerous, we can just turn and run away. Ialu's really fast. Especially if I give her an agility song." Trillia scratched Ialu's head, much to the wolf's delight.

Amelia closed her eyes and rolled back over. "Have fun, stay safe. See you in a few days." After a few seconds more, the snoring resumed.

Trillia grinned and climbed onto Ialu's back. Once the two were out of camp, she began playing music on her mini harp.

Ialu's speed shot up, and the two were off. Trillia mixed in resto chants while she kept the agility song up.

-=- A Day-ish Later -=-

The sound of lightning striking the ground drew Trillia closer. There was no rain and no flash of light. But the sound repeated itself constantly. She urged Ialu on. They had stopped briefly to get a few hours but otherwise had been running through the night.

Ialu's stamina and health were fine, but fatigue could still creep up on someone despite their resources being full. As the sound got louder, the thick stench of blood and rot began to hit Trillia's nose.

She didn't even need to urge Ialu to go faster. The wolf picked up on the scent long before Trillia.

A few minutes later, she came out of the forest and into a clearing. A dozen orcs lay beaten and battered - but alive - behind a figure clad in crystal and glowing. Every swing of his sword brought the sound of lightning crackling across the opening. Countless splattered corpses lay all around the figure.

Trillia's [Spawn Seeker] was going crazy. It had been tugging her for the past few hours, but now it was screaming at her, telling her to charge forward and slay them.

She saw more tigers prowling in the trees around the wounded orcs. As one began to charge, she and Ialu charged in as well. She raised the artifact on her left arm and let loose. A barrage of bolts slammed into the creature's side.

If it felt it, it didn't show.

It turned to Trillia with a snarl.

[Greater Shattered Tiger - Primordial Spawned Beast - ??] Corrupt-Mana Manipulation

Notable Traits:

Mana-Warped

Primordial Spawn

Limitless Mana

Mana Font

Child of Mana

Envenomed Mana

Trillia's eyes went wide. She urged Ialu to run. The wolf quickly changed directions at her master's request. The tiger seemed to take two great leaps and was already in range.

It swiped at them with claws that dripped a bright blue substance. Right before the claws connected with Ialu, Trillia blocked it with the artifact on her left arm. The claws slammed into the enchanted material and scrapped down. Trillia's arm was yanked out of its socket, leaving the artifact unharmed.

The force of the strike had also ripped her off of Ialu's back. Trillia let out a howl of pain, quickly drawing her rapier and thrusting it forward. Trying to stay clear-headed, she managed to activate all of its abilities.

That did hurt the creature, and it showed. Blood began to spill out of its chest. It hopped backward a few times and growled low at her, slinking its body close to the ground and trying to get a better angle on her.

Trillia readied herself, the pain causing her head to spin. Ialu was creeping up behind the tiger. Just as it was about to leap at her, it exploded into blood, bone, and gore.

The crystal-clad figure stood there with its blade in hand. With her mana-sight already active, she couldn't help it.

WARNING! You have attempted to scan a Deity!

You must have a deific ranking equal to or greater than a Deity to scan it!

[Deity]

Trillia blinked a few times. Through all of the blood, she finally recognized the armor.

Riten turned from her and went to smite another of the tigers. Yelling over the sound. "Heal your people. Call out if one gets too close, don't try to fight the mana-warped ones."

Trillia nodded and immediately began to do what she could. She started with the most injured-looking, pouring health potions in their mouths and using what little healing abilities she had available to her. Ialu was dragging all of the orcs closer together, so they were easier to defend and so that Trillia could better heal them.

As some of them began to wake up, Trillia filled them in on healing the others and letting Riten handle the tigers.

As she finished her last sentence, she heard Riten call out. "This one isn't a spawn or warped. I can't attack it!"

As he said it, another tiger charged past him and towards the orcs. Trillia blasted the thing apart with her crossbow. "Just heal! Lord Riten and I have the defense. My healing isn't good. Tell me if you run out of mana or stamina. I can restore both."

The orcs didn't argue. They either knew who she was or weren't about to argue with the person allied with walking death.

So much for staying out of trouble. Trillia grinned as her heart beat in her head and the pain of her arm throbbed.