After speaking with Moliira Valnar had decided what better way to hone his ranger skills than to scout out a few of the orc tribes in the Northlands. On the one hand he gets experience in tracking some of the easiest humanoids to track and the bonus is that there were probably a few merchants that would pay handsomely for information regarding the movements and locations of the tribes of violent orcs. It was the epitome of a win-win situation and Valnar was going to take advantage of the low risk/high reward opportunity here, even if they caravans were heavily guarded, which he doubted, the guards/mercenaries hired would welcome the advantage that advance notice would bring. Valnar was now racing across the Steppes on Pebble his stone grey warg tracking a medium sized orc tribe through the rolling hills covered in swaying grasses.

Valnar had picked up their trail earlier that morning, it was certainly hard to miss as it seemed anywhere that they went went orcs were determined to stamp out any living thing that was caught in their path. They had no consideration or thought for the future that was a seedling that would potentially bring with it additional plant life or animal life or even that it may grow fruit that could be used as sustenance. To Valnar orcs personified selfishness, there was no thought of the future and very little for the past, they were constantly living in the present and whatever emotion happened to possess them at that time. Valnar shook his head as he bent low over Pebble's shoulder, "It's too bad I'm not a little more capable with a blade or that we had brought another along to help us destroy these orcs. Everywhere they go they upset the natural balance of things and no one would mourn the loss of twenty or thirty so orcs eh Pebble?" Pebble growled low in his chest, a rumbling that Valnar could feel through his mounts back. Valnar smiled, "I agree completely."

The miles sped beneath them as the sun crawled across the sky, the weather had been beautiful so far but there was what looked like an early winter storm brewing further to the North that may hit them towards evening. It wouldn't be this bad so late in summer but it would still drop enough snow to dust the grasses and few trees around the Steppes, nothing uncomfortable at all. As night began to descend Valnar noticed specks of light in the distance signalling that the orcs had stopped for the night and were going to be in this same spot for possibly a couple days considering how many fires they had going. Valnar was grateful for the stop though, it was one thing to ride a horse all day long and it was quite another to ride a newly acquired warg all day long.

Valnar took a few hours to scout the area around where he planned to stay the night, it was on the shore of one of the many lakes that dotted the Steppes and there was a river that led out to the marshlands several miles distant. After being sure that there were no immediate threats nearby Valnar and Pebble returned to the small group of trees on the shore of the lake and, after taking a quick drink from the lake, settled into the surprisingly comfortable tall grass underneath the trees. Valnar would not risk a full on camp fire this close to the orcs, if he could see theirs he was fairly certain that their scouts would see his, but he did pull out a leather pouch from his pack. The copse of trees suddenly came alive with the smell of pipe leaf, Valnar couldn't wait to get it lit and enjoy a quiet smoke under the stars and in the quiet of the Steppes. A long stemmed wooden pipe quickly followed the packet of leaf and in a matter of moments Valnar had an ember glowing inside the bowl of his pipe and a serene look on his face. The stars reflected perfectly in the lake creating the illusion of a dual night sky and that Valnar was floating between them both, Pebble lay next to him with his large head resting on his paws as he contentedly slipped into sleep.

It was a perfect night and Valnar would probably be up quite late still before sleep ever found him. Valnar breathed gently against his pipe bringing the smoke into his lungs and then letting it out again, the first few snowflakes from the gathering clouds began to fall. Valnar closed his eyes a moment and probably would've fallen asleep sooner than he would ever admit had it not been for Pebble suddenly moving that woke him. Pebble was looking toward the South with his ears pricked forward, Valnar too sat up from the tree he had been leaning into, "What is it boy? There an orc?" Valnar whispered. He hadn't thought the orcs would post sentries this far away from camp but if they were planning on staying in the area a couple days it may be a scout searching out possible food sources such as the many herds of antelope in the area. Valnar reached down slowly and surely and grabbed his falchion that was laying at his side, he had to be ready for whatever it was.

A sign left her lips before taking a sip of milk. Katerina’s eyed the board behind the bar. Orcs had been in the north-lands. A bounty set on their heads. Looking down at her noticeable pregnant belly, she looked back at the board. Feeling as if she was five months pregnant, it was harder for her to pick up jobs. She could only fight for a bit longer before she couldn’t any longer. After the baby was born, she wouldn’t have to double think. 

Frowning to herself, she thought of the deal that she made with the Goddess of Luck. In a month, this baby would be hers. Bringing her hand to her belly, she ran her hand up and down. She felt guilty for having made the deal, but the baby was not really hers. Slamming the cup down on the bar, she tossed a few coins out onto the wooden top and ran up the stairs behind her. Entering her room, she smiled at her two daughters playing on the bed. Their giggles filled the room. 

Upon seeing their mother, they smiled at her. “Hey mom!” They both said at the same time. Walking over to them, she sat on the end of the bed. “Hey girls. There is another job, its in the highlands near by…..” Before she could finish her sentence the two girls frowned. “But mom you’re pregnant. You can’t go.” Kiyomi whined as she crawled over the bed to her, and put her arms around her mother. “Sweetheart, yes I can. This will be the last one.” She said while kissing her child’s head. “I have to leave right away, Alexander will take care of you both.” With a hug and a kiss for her children, she turned to Alexander, the five foot tall tiger, that was laying on the floor beside the bed. With a scratch behind his ear, she smiled at him. 

“Protect them.” 
“I will, you know this.” 
“I know, but-.”
“It makes you feel better to say it.”
“Yes…..” 
“Alright.”

After the tiger nudged her hand, they all said their I love you's, and the wolf demon left her daughters in the care of a tiger. 

---

After a day's ride, nightfall had soon took over the skies, and Katerina reached area the orcs were last seen. Jumping off her horse, her black boots hit the grassy ground. “Get out of here, Athena.” She patted the horse's neck, and started to walk off into the darkness. Soft growls erupted behind her. Not bothering to glance back, she knew who the growls came from. Her six wolves that have been with her for as long as they have been alive. 

The smell of more wolves in the area hit her nose. That was why they were growling. Holding her hand out, she moved it downwards, motioning for them to quiet down. They were on the hunt. The orcs had to be out there somewhere. It had been a long time since she had faced an orc. Pirates had dominated her life for the past few years. “Skum… The lot of them..” She thought to herself as her eyes danced around the trees. Katerina always was more than happy to kill pirates when they did harm to people. Orcs on the other hand, always did. They didn't think they could do anything more than kill. She would slay them tonight…. As soon as she caught scent of where they were. 

Moving farther into the forest like area, the cloaked figure’s feet stayed silent as she walked along the grass. Not even stepping on a twig of a leaf. Her wolf senses always helped her to be more quiet than a human. Stopping for a moment, she felt something around her. Someone? Something? She wasn’t sure on the smell that floated to her nose, but it was in front of her. Using her wolf eyes, she spotted the man in the tree. He wasn’t an orc, or anything that she had smelt before. Or have but not in a long time. 

Walking silently up to his location by the lake, she could smell the smoke now as she drew closer. His hand was slowly moving toward his weapon. Holding back a sigh, she wasn’t in the mood to kill anyone but the orcs. He was only in a defensive position. She then decided to speak, “Hello.” Katerina’s voice was smooth against the coolness of the nice. Quiet, but loud enough for the man to hear it. Inhaling again, she smelt them. Orcs.. They were nearby. “Orcs.” She said as she shot out her hand to the side, her sword appearing in a puff of cold smoke. 

Valnar, pipe still in his mouth, brought his falchion up as soon as the mysterious woman had spoke, lowered it and brought it back up again upon her summoning her weapon. "Hello, my name's Valnar." The drow had been near snoozing before Pebble had woken him and he cursed himself for being surprised, "I've been hunting Orcs for most of the day, are they close?" Pebble grunted and growled nearby, obviously anxious with Orc in the distance, to top it off full and fluffy snowflakes had begun to fall. Valnar removed the pipe from his mouth and tapped the ashes from the bowl before replacing it in his pack. To think him, an aspiring ranger, caught nearly asleep and smoking while sleeping which could have caused a forest fire, Valnar felt pretty ashamed.

In the distance, where the orcs fires twinkled in the night, the sound of screaming and shouting reached the trees where the drow and woman now were. Some unholy celebration was taking place in the Orc camp, some disgusting and revolting act of victory over something was being honored. It wasn't so much the sounds from afar that concerned Valnar, the woman seemed on edge and more importantly, to him, Pebble was nervous as well. It was never a good sign when a warg got nervous.

Valnar pulled his fur trimmed winter cloak closer about him as the wind picked up, it was going to be a long night after all, "I didn't think they were going to have scouts and we're too far away for sentries. I think we should move up and examine what is going on, sounds like they're in the middle of something that needs to be interrupted." Even thinking about bringing some sorrow to a few Orcs made Valnar happy, especially considering the damage to the landscape he'd seen with Moliira.

Katerina’s eyes turned back to the man hearing him speak. “Hello, Valnar. Names Katerina Silverstein.” She replied, knowing it was polite to say her name. It really wasn’t the time to talk when orcs were near. Her sword was out, just incase they got the jump on the them. The comment about the orcs left Valnar's lips, making the wolf demon nod. “You’re right.” She said calmly. With the wave of her hand, the sword disappeared. She couldn’t walking around with a broad sword in her hand, she didn’t want to make any unnecessary noise.

A whistle left her lips and her six wolves appeared from the woods. They soon stood behind the wolf demon. “Go. Search the woods around the camp. Kill any scouts for us.” Katerina commanded of her wolves. A growl left Shadow, making the wolves around him move. He was slightly larger than his fellow wolves, and black. Slowly, he moved from the clearing and into the wolves after his family. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to leave his alpha around a stranger, but with a nod from Katerina, he disappeared.

“They will take care of any scouts for us, so we can just concentrate on the camp.” The wolf demon nodded into the words towards the camp. She didn’t know whether to trust the man before her, so she had to stay on her guard. For the orcs, and the stranger named Valnar.

As they moved closer towards the orcs, the occasional orc was dead on the ground. Their throats ripped out. “Good Wolves.” Katerina whispered knowing they would hear her. Her eyes turned to Valnar, and nodded toward the camp they finally closed in on. Standing within the darkness, she was ready to attack when he was.