Isla was looking at me intensely with those blue eyes of hers. "You? A god has given YOU a mission to stop the orcs?" She really knew how to accentuate the word.

"First, I didn't even know orcs were here until a few days ago. My quest or mission is more about the god than it is helping with the orcs."

She had found some bandages and was taking care of her leg but found the time to look up for a second. "And how exactly are you... going to stop a god?"

"Unfortunately, I can't tell you. Other gods could read your mind... wait, are elves immune to mind spells?" For a moment, I was glad I might have someone to tell, yet keeping only Alira in the dark would be a little cruel.

Elves didn't seem like great liars. She had a face that seemed to ponder whether to lie or tell the truth. "We have high resistance to mind spells, yet I doubt it could stop a god," she said, sighing as if admitting it made her feel lesser somehow. "Are you saying you are immune to any mind spell?" she finished.

"Yes," I said. No point in beating around the bush.

She looked at me again, this time with renewed determination. "I don't know why I believe this absurd tale without proof, yet I do. I wish to help you in your mission." Looking at Alira, she continued, "No offense, if the fate of the world is in the balance, I can't leave it in the hands of just two humans."

At least she was honest—a little racist, but honest. That was a surprise, in all fantasy, elves had a tendency to speak in half-truths and be as vague as possible. "Thank you for the vote of confidence. Still, we did save you. You'd think you'd be more appreciative of these two humans."

"Oh, I am thankful, however until I see more proof, I'm going to go on luck rather than skill. Again, no offense." I actually smiled at the audacity.

Alira, on the other hand, seemed to be on thin nerves because of the pain. "You can't just say 'No offense'"—she tried to imitate Isla's posh accent—"then go on to say offensive things."

"Yes..." Isla was in thought for a moment. "My teacher did mention humans are sensitive." Looking at Alira, she continued, "Though I didn't realize it would be this bad."

Seeing Alira's shocked face, Isla raised her hands in a placating gesture. "Again, I do not wish to offend. I am merely unfamiliar with human interactions. Elves are more direct." she said with a smirk still present on her face.

Wondering if she could take criticism or just dish it out I asked "If you are so above us, do tell how they captured you?"

Her smirk vanished in an instant, clearly a sore subject. "I'm an illusionist, and usually, if I am not moving, nobody can spot me, yet he somehow did."

There was a silence, but I wasn't going to break it. Alira, though, wasn't as patient. "He?"

Isla shifted to straighten her bandaged leg. "The one who united the orcs. He came through a portal, and I thought I was so lucky at first getting to see and hear him."

"Is he an orc as well?" Alira asked.

"Yes, honestly I expected him to be more fierce, he's actually pretty average for an orc except he has red skin while the others are shades of brown."

"So you can hide yourself, but other than that, what are illusionists capable of?" I was a little curious what else she could do.

"I can't tell you that, only elves can be illusionists, at least good ones, so we have to keep some trade secrets."

I scoffed at the idea, "You do realize if you come with us, we'll see you do illusions eventually"

She nodded, "By then maybe I will trust you with some of my secrets"

"And you say he saw you?" Alira asked.

"My illusions are usually perfect, though the moment he looked my way, it was like he knew." She hit the ground with her fist in frustration.

"Did you hear any information before you got caught?" If he was there, it had to be important.

"Not much. He kept talking about needing more coal. Why he needed so much, I don't know. Maybe it's cold in the orc cities." She laughed at her own joke.

"Coal isn't really worth mining unless you plan to use it for steam." This was bad, very bad. Alira looked at me and said, "I know I'll regret this, but why would you want to make steam?"

"You have water wheels here?" It was a simple design they must have used them.

"Yes," came the answer.

"Steam is used to power engines, like a water wheel without the water." Alira looked unconvinced.

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"The basic idea is you burn coal, heat a tank of water, produce steam under pressure, which goes through a pipe and turns a piston connected to what you want to move."

"It must be more complicated than that," Isla said, looking at me with a hint of respect. "We tried it, however wooden pistons were useless, and metal ones expanded with heat, making the gears misalign. My grandfather tried but gave up."

"I did say it was just the basic idea. You need high-quality steel and a double-acting piston. Other than that, I don't remember much." I had her interest now.

"Your world has moved beyond steam engines?"

Alira smiled. "Oh, they're much more advanced. They even reached the moon?"

"If you're trying to laugh at me, I am not that gullible" she said while crossing her arms.

Alira smile became even more broad and looked at me and nodding to tell her "She's not making it up, on my world we reached the moon."

"Are steam engines that powerful?"

It was my turn to laugh, "Sorry for laughing, but going to space using steam engines, I don't think I ever heard that idea." trying to compose my self i continued "We discovered more powerful engines, no one is getting to the moon on steam engines"

Alira seemed pleased to bring the elf down a notch. "Anyway, we should get moving. The ice helped, thank you."

She stood up and picked up the backpack. "We can discuss the implications of orcs using steam on the road."

"Let me help you with the backpack. You need to minimize shoulder movement." After helping her, Isla was trying to get up.

"How's the leg?" I asked.

"The ice really helped. The swelling is almost gone. Now that I've bandaged the ankle tightly, it should have more stability." She waved her hand, and a crutch-like illusion formed.

"Is the illusion solid?" I asked.

"Obviously," she rolled her eyes. "Why would I make it if not solid?" This was going to be a long trip.

With Isla hopping along and Alira keeping it light, we made terrible time. Still, as long as we put some distance between us and the ambush site, things were good.

The only thing worrying me was the red orc's world. If it had better technology than Earth, I no longer had any advantage. He had an entire nation behind him, plus the time he had to set all this up. It must have taken years to bring the industrial revolution to orcs.

Maybe magic could speed things along, though. I had to hope they were just starting. Since they still needed coal and were willing to find it on another continent, it wasn't as smooth as it might seem. I thought about facing him. If he had years to combine technology and magic, it would be beyond dangerous.

My only hope was that he wasn't a mage. But he had to be smart to do all this, so my money was on him being a mage. If he united the orc clans, it wasn't done diplomatically. He would be very dangerous. I needed to step up my game and think of new spells.

Well, the portal was a start, as we sat and ate dinner I let the girls talk, and I tried to think how I could approach this. It would have helped if I had seen it beforehand, visualization and all that, but you make with what you can.

First it was the way it worked, turning to Isla "Before entering the portal could you see the destination?"

She thought for a moment and said "Yes, it was a little blurry I guess"

OK, so maybe a tunnel like a hole in space time. Theoretically, it was possible. I tried to imagine everything, a hole, a circle, a sphere, nothing worked. After two hours or so, I could feel a headache forming.

"I don't like it when you frown" Alira said, "You tried the portal spell I'm assuming?"

I nodded, "All I got to show is a headache."

Smiling she reached and kissed my forehead "Maybe it will help"

"I can feel it dissipating already" still since it was on my mind "Isla can you describe how it looked when they cast the spell?"

"I wasn't really paying attention, you know how it is, last minute indications.First maybe it was a small point then it became a small circle that grew larger until I had enough space"

"That actually helps, gives me a starting point."

"Glad I could help."

I tried imagining punching a hole through space with a clear destination in mind. Assuming less distance meant an easier time, I tried to think of a place close enough that I could really see in my mind's eye.

I first tried to look at my surroundings, even so it just all looked the same. The only idea I had was the ambush side. I had vivid memories about that. Since it was getting darker, I still had some time to see if I could make something happen.

Focusing on the caravan, especially where the ridges were on the ground near the wagon. Meditation was not my strong suit, as quickly as the images came into my mind they slipped away. At one point I thought I saw a flicker, but the excitement brought me out of the moment.

Trying again, I managed to create a point that didn't fizzle out. Both Alira and Isla were watching me with interest.

Suddenly I felt a pull on my point and it started to grow in size.

"No way, congratulations..." Alira started to say but I cut her off.

"I'm not doing it" I shouted

In the span of a few seconds it became the size of a person and cleared to reveal a red orc surrounded by orcs, and the portal only offered a narrow view of the area, there must be much more.

The orcs immediately threw projectiles through the portal, but they vanished and never reached our side. The red orc said something, and they made way for him to get closer.

"So your portal goes only one way, I'm assuming?" he asked in a most polite tone

"Were they not supposed to?" it didn't even occur to me, they would work both ways.

"Ahh, so not a matter of skill but simple incomplete information. And you pushed through all by your self, impressive"

"Thanks, I guess." what was I supposed to say.

He looked at me with his intense eyes, as if trying to gleam some information from my posture or manners. I actually thought to cast a spell through the portal, but who knew the side effects, things tended to explode when unstable.

"So what do I call you? Or do you prefer red orc?" I smiled.

"You may call me Zarnak" He said while smiling "You don't even seem to be that impressed of your achievement, most here think it's impossible, so that means you must be from another world, like me" he was good, to get that from a look, the guy was smart.

"So you are? I'm guessing mage as me, since your world is technological advanced..."

"Since you're so good at guessing, I'm thinking of a number between one and ten," I said, trying to throw him off balance since he seemed way too confident.

"Making jokes like that to powerful people would normally get you killed quickly, so you must be really formidable if no one has managed to shut you up so far." This guy was really starting to freak me out; he was like Moriarty, and the problem was, I was definitely no Sherlock.

He continued, "So a powerful mage from another world that frees my prisoner, strange, the gods should have mentioned you."

"What in the world..." I muttered as I realized he was getting dangerously close to the truth. Turning to Alira and Isla, I shouted, "Get back!"

When they did, I fired a Lightning Bolt at the portal.