There once was an orc, big and green,

Whose fashion was far from pristine.

With patches and tears,

And tangled-up hairs,

He wasn't the best ever seen!

Goldie Honorhide.

"Ivan. Time to turn human," Yoboc said as he rushed back to us.

I was in my bear form and pulling the sled. All the while, I was practising with my aura, trying to lessen the weight of the sled. In other words, I had wrapped my aura around it and was trying to reduce the effect of the Earth's gravity on it.

The sled was piled high with hides, scales, bones and ore, along with a section of meat I kept frozen. The safe was buried deep under it all. I reached the harness with my teeth and pulled the quick release, then transformed into my humanoid form.

Yoboc tossed some trousers at me. "Human, not humanoid. Lose the fur and tone down the teeth and claws. There is a hunting party of orcs heading this way."

I did not like my human form. I pushed on my Transform skill to make it happen. I did not like being without my fur. Technically, I still had my fur. It was part of me, and my transform skill changed things, but it could not make things disappear. My fur was just reduced to skin level. I stood there naked. A large black skinned human with no fur. 2.6m tall, which Yoboc tells me is something the old folks call eight-and-a-half feet high. He never did say whose feet that measurement was based on. Meters are better.

There I was, 2.6m tall, black-skinned, with bulging muscles that were obvious because I had no fat. I needed more fat. I put on the trousers, which were shorts for me. I guess Orcs were like dwarves and had a thing against exposed genitals.

I was bare-chested and bald. I have not gotten the hang of lengthening only the fur on my head. I would never pass as a human, but I didn't need to so much. There were human-like creatures out there, and when I get to a lore society, I can look some up and pretend to be that.

It was only necessary that I did not appear to be a Polar bear-kin. Now we had Makara with us, and her Shark Mer form would stand out wherever we went, especially this far inland. I just needed to stand out less than her.

I slipped my belts on with my axe and knives. The others were checking their weapons, and Yoboc slipped away into the trees again with his bow. The Orcs might be friendly, and they might not. There is no law out here in the wilds.

I unhooked Felix from the sled so he would not be confined if there was trouble. I picked up Goldie's alternative straps and pulled the sled as Makara pushed.

About fifteen minutes later, two orcs step out from the trees in front of us. We stop, and I let go of the straps. I hadn't heard or smelled them. By the look of them, I felt I should have smelled them even if they were downwind.

I examined them just as they examined us. They were the tallest sapients I had ever met, which meant they were slightly taller than Makara. I was taller by about a handspan. They were solid and well-muscled. It looked like they didn't get enough fat in their diet, either. Their skin was green, but the one on the left was lighter than the shorter one on the right.

Their lower jaw protruded further than ours, making room for two tusks, one on either side of their mouth. The tusks varied in size; the lighter-skinned, larger one also had bigger tusks. Their nose was large and flat. They both had black hair, but the larger one had long, matted hair tied back with some string. The shorter one had shaved the sides of his head, and he had one long strip of hair down the center. Neither of them had beards like the dwarves.

They were dressed in well-worn and patched hunting leathers. They each had large hunting knives and a spear, which was good. If they had swords with them, they would be more likely to be bandits than hunters.

Goldie stepped forward to speak to them, her two-handed war axe in her hand. That was not a hunting weapon. We definitely looked strange to them. A dwarf, a Mer, and some form of human who was wearing only trousers and a belt with a patch over one eye. Makara had a spear, and she tossed me the other spear. She had her knives, but I had my axe, which was also not a typical hunting weapon. We could be the bandits. We were definitely strange, pulling a sled where there was no snow.

They were suspicious, and rightly so. I focused my aura, and it spread out to about forty meters. I spun it around the area. One, two, three, others with similar equipment and similar worn and patched clothes. My sweep did not detect Yoboc, even though I included the vertical component. I wonder if they have an archer or two out there.

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"Morning," greets Goldie.

"Morning," responds the large orc. His voice is deep, and I remember hearing a dwarf say that some of the sounds in the Orcish language are below the range of normal dwarven hearing. This orc is speaking Common.

"My name is Goldie, and we are lost. Could you tell us where we are and the nearest town?"

The big orc turned and spoke quietly to the other.

"Where are you heading?" the smaller one asked. On a closer look, this one was female. Her leathers hid her breasts, which was the only difference I could see. Her voice was also deep, if not as deep as the other one.

They didn't introduce themselves. That is not a good sign.

"Our ultimate destination is Jern, and our Kin will be expecting us." Goldie spun a tale mixing truth with lies. There are many types of truth-sensing skills around, and while it is unlikely one of these hunters has one of them, it is always best to mix it up.

"Jern is a long way away," she said. "Are you citizens of the Kingdom?"

I guess that is a fair question, considering the Mer is obviously a part of our group. According to Yoboc and Makara, there are Mer who are citizens, but not many. The Kirghiz Kingdom is predominantly Dwarf, Human, and Orc. There are minorities of Mer on the coast and Beastikin to the south, as well as a scattering of Gnomes, Elves, Avion, etc.

"We are a mercenary group doing business with my Kin in Jern. I am registered with the Obalno Guild. These two are from different guilds, but we are one team."

"I don't believe you," said the larger one in a challenging manner. "You are hiding something, and I don't even know what you are," he said, pointing at me. "You are not human. You don't smell human."

"We are hardly going to reveal all our secrets to random strangers in the wilderness now, are we?" said Goldie, like that was the most obvious thing. "We are mercenaries on contract. There are confidentiality clauses." She held up her Mercenary ID token as proof.

I guess Makara had a contract, so that wasn't a lie. I was learning a lot here.

Goldie continued, "We can pay a fair price for some supplies, and Ivan here lost his pack with his clothes and needs some. We have some pelts to trade as well."

Goldie was trying to be friendly, but I was worried we looked like a target. The shorter one spoke quietly to the larger one. I strained my Hearing Aid but didn't catch what was said. I think Goldie probably did as she said, "It is possible we might know of a location not far away where there is gold." She picked a small nugget off the sled and tossed it over. "What might that be worth to you?"

The implication is if you treat us as unfriendlies, there is nothing. Then, I realised she was talking as much to the hidden audience as to the two visible ones. Trade and possibly riches if you look after us.

The big guy growled a low rumbling sound, and I felt I was not hearing the full extent of it. The smaller, darker one said, "I am Rozika, and this is Vojo. We are from a small village about half a day's walk that way. We would be honoured if you would fight us."

I am sorry, what? I put my hand on my axe.

"It will be our pleasure to spar with you," said Goldie, and she emphasised the word, spar.

I realised this was a translation issue. Spar and fight must be very similar in Orcish, or maybe her common was not so great. I was like that with dwarvish. Thank you, Goldie. That could have been a problem.

Then Goldie grinned, "May the best dwarf win."

The female Rozika chuckled, "You wish. Do you need a hand with that thing?" she indicated the sled.

"Not going to turn down an offer of help," Goldie said.

This seemed to be the signal that everything was good, and the others also emerged from the trees. The last one to emerge was one I had not seen, and he was carrying a massive longbow. He came out with Yoboc, and they were comparing bows and draw strength.

We were all introduced, and they had the carcass of a doe and three rabbits, which they added to the sled. Rozika poked our meat. "How do you keep it frozen?"

"It is a skill Ivan has," Yoboc said, "but it is not an affinity, so he can't thaw it after."

"We have a fire that can do that," Rozika said. She looked at me, "Can you freeze our meat?"

"Sure," I said, "but it is best to skin and butcher it first."

They didn't take long to skin and butcher the carcasses. I touched each one when I froze it. That had been Yoboc's idea. A touch-based skill was more believable.

We set out. Rozika set up a rotating roster to push and pull the sled, and I got the impression that the orcs thought it was an interesting exercise. I had assumed Vojo was in charge as he talked first, but it is clear that Rozika is actually the Head Hunter.

Vojo kept glancing at me and sniffing. I couldn't tell if he was trying to work out what I was or thought I was a threat to him. Maybe it was both. They weren't friendly looks. I looked around and noticed he was the largest orc here. Is it just because I am bigger than he? Why would that matter? He takes orders from Rozika.

I need to watch and be careful. Orcs seem to be an extremely physical race, and looking around, they seem to like fighting and physical challenges.

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