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Between Winters XIV.

By Glycanthrope

I'm still trying to turn the story into a decent audiobook - I'm stubborn that way, and you can hear the chapter at :

https://www.sofurry.com/view/975626

Errin Steelsong was not an easy dwarf to scare. He had fought scores of the underground dwellers that lurked in the vitellium mines, carnivores that preyed on careless miners. Still, he would be happy to laugh in their mutated faces - if only he had ever been known to laugh.

He had come down with the blood-cough twice and had beaten death both times, fair and square. He had even shaved off his beard once, just to see what his face looked like. Errin was a dwarf of little fear but now, nineteen human end elven representatives all turned their heads and stared at him in the hall of fort Jaansworth, and his first impulse was to stroke his long beard over and over.

"Errin, We're all waiting for your decision", said Sir Knight Theobald, who was the friendliest of the knights by far, when it came to dealing with the dwarves.

He spoke in a naturally soft baritone that made people feel at ease, yet he was also prone to making long and ponderous speeches that turned ease into drowsiness.

Errin Steelsong took a deep swig from his pewter mug and cleared his throat.

"We're out!" he said, and a shocked rush of murmur rose and echoed through the old halls. "The dwarves are resigning from the alliance."

"Errin!", cried Thobald. "Please reconsider. This could very well be the final and decisive battle of the entire war."

"We dwarves do not consider an ambush on an encampment a proper battle". The dwarf brandished his axe and let it drop onto the long table where it dug an unsightly groove into the wood. "-when we fight an enemy, we'll meet them in the battlefield."

"The rebel civilians will be given plenty of warning to leave the camp before the actual attack", the voice of Sir Forwan creaked through the hall. "I can assure you".

The dwarf rested both hands on the table. "We will not fight along the men who put the entire peacekeeping council to death", he said and stared each of the human and elven representatives in the eyes, one at a time.

"But Errin", said Theobald in his most soothing tone. "That whole incident with the badgers was the action of one lowly ranking officer. Surely you will not judge the alliance by the actions of a single, misguided individual."

"Then attack the rebel camp if you must", said the dwarf. "Dwarves will not stand in your way;

• but we will not stand beside you either".

The old trading post of Iuna's Blessing rested at the mouth of a ravine known as Quemt pass. Three leagues long, the ravine snaked its way through the Voiceless Summit ranges in north-eastern Namairith and led into Kisanti territory.

This route trough the mountains served as the main connecting point between the two countries for centuries, and Iuna's Blessing was a popular watering hole for traders and their horses alike. It counted a population of over two hundred villagers of all races in its glory days.

Later, the lands beyond the mountains became neutral territory shared between the Kisanti tribes and the wolves of Fenrir. The Kisanti felines moved south, and they opened a new trading point near the capitol of Ra'gesso. The wolven traders of Fenrir continued to use the pass until they established a more convenient route along the northern mountain range.

Years went by, and the number of traders passing this way declined for every season, until Iuna's Blessing was abandoned and forgotten.

But now, centuries later, the old trading post saw a surge of new life. Minotaurs, centaurs, Fenrir wolves and badger-kin moved in and were busy repairing the old buildings, raising livestock and ploughing the fields before winter set in.

Was it all worth the effort? Would the alliance finally turn its attention to the orcs, or would it pursue the rebel races with the same relentlessness and cruelty that the taurs and the badgers had already felt at Broken Horn and Badgers Rest?

The worried rebels pushed such thoughts aside, several times every day and continued their work, for Iuna's Blessing was a welcoming place; fresh water flowed in plenty from the melting glaciers, and the soil was rich. It was a good place to stay for the winter -maybe even for good.

---

Rhania rode in the company of elven archers. They jested with her and with each other; their spirits were high, and they were nothing like the human greyrobes. The uniformly dressed mages only spoke to anyone outside their own group when necessary, and when they did, they clarified they were superior to every other unit, for no other unit was trained by General Arbinger himself.

The elves were friendly towards Rhania and they made her feel at ease, but her mind kept wandering back to the wonderful weeks she spent with Snowheart in Badger's Rest. She had lived in fear and confusion for the past few months; going from prison to Niblondis, from Arbinger to Silent Windfall, and all the time she knew that Musclefang's assassins could lurk in every dark corner. Ted Arbinger arranged for her release from prison, and now that she rode among his troops she felt protected against the orc's hired killers.

Arbinger began to invite her into his tent when they made camp for the night. She felt alone and longed for company, and the visits had been nice -to begin with. They talked about the days back in Oakenford and about their work with Victor and Sebastian, and Arbinger opened bottles of Kisanti wine.

Rhania did not like wine much; it caused her head to spin and made her feel uncomfortable, so Arbinger drank most of the wine; he did not seem to mind. Only, the drinking made him angry, and he held long monologues about the evils of the rebellious orcs. Then the monologues turned into angry rants that scared Rhania.

Every night he would send a soldier to her tent with the message that "General Arbinger requested her company", and every night she would oblige and head off to his tent for another night of angry outbursts.

The soldiers trotted, wheeled and marched along the old road towards Iuna's Blessing. It had something to do with the war -Rhania knew that much, but she had been out of circulation for so long she had almost lost track of who was fighting whom -and why.

Apparently the orcs were still the enemy, and Iuna's Blessing was an orcish outpost -she gathered that much from Arbinger's rants. Fine! She thought, Arbinger had a major grudge against the orcs, but they were no friends of hers either. She lived in constant fear of another attempt on her life, and if the planned attack on the rebel outpost could make the orcs call off the assassins, then she was all in.

Assassins also haunted her dreams in vivid nightmares. She dreamed of hired killers with broken backs, who squirmed on the ground and cried for help, while Snowheart dropped heavy boulders on their heads to shut them up. She would wake in terror and almost prefer to spend time with the ranting Arbinger than going back to sleep. It wasn't so much the assassins that frightened her in the nightmares; it was the look of joy on Snowy's face as he lifted the rocks above his head and held them there, before...

She shook the images from her mind and cursed the orcs; not only did they haunt her at daytime; they also tainted the memories of the one she loved. The last time she had seen Snowheart, he stood on a hilltop, waving at her as she rode off towards Oakenford. She envied him the peaceful life he now led in Badger's rest, and she longed for his embrace, and for the way his paws stroked her fur when they sat together by the fireplace.

One more mission, just to keep Arbinger happy, and I'll ride back to you, She thought._ I'll settle in Badger's Rest and join Sloe in her workshop. From the corner of her eye, she noticed some of the elves snicker at her as she daydreamed, but she was beyond caring. _We'll have a litter; f_our or five kits with red fur and stripy faces_.

---

They reached Iuna's Blessing by nightfall. From a distance they could make out the torches on the lookout posts and Ted ordered them to make camp a few miles to the west. That night, Arbinger called for her company as always, but for once he did not make his usual rant, and he was surprisingly pleasant to be with.

"You're a fox," he stated the obvious. "-and the only one in the entire company who can sneak into the camp without notice".

"Are you asking me to spy on the orcs?"

"I want you to take a peek around. Make a note of what resistance we can expect, and what types of guard. Any information that can make our mission easier."

"I'm not a soldier," she said. "Never was. I'll do this one for you Ted, but then I'll be heading back to Badger's Rest".

The words struck Arbinger like a whiplash. He stopped talking and looked as if Rhania had slapped him.

"I don't..." he breathed deeply. "I don't want you to go."

Rhania barked a short laugh. "You got me out of jail, Ted. You're a good friend, but we live in two different worlds."

Arbinger cut her off, and his eyes grew narrow and insisting.

"I said! - I don't want you to go."

"I'm not one of your soldiers," she snapped back. "I'm your friend, and you are asking too much."

"-but, you are the only one I can trust," he said. "Your kind never let me down."

---

The next morning, Arbinger came to her tent and brought a flask with him. "This will protect you".

"A potion?"

She uncorked the flask and sniffed at the contents. To her surprise, the liquid inside had no scent. Now, that's unusual, she thought, for most potions she helped Victor brew always carried strong herbal smells.

"What does it do?"

"It'll help you go unnoticed," said Arbinger.

"Invisibility?"

"Invisibility cheats the eye; this one blinds the nose".

Rhania poured a few drops on her tongue.

"It's absolutely tasteless, like water."

"That's the whole point".

She drank the potion and waited for a few seconds, and then the world went grey. Something's not right, she thought. S_omething is missing_.

She looked at Arbinger, who was now busy unpacking more potions from a large crate. "Make sure that everyone gets one of these", he instructed one soldier.

Green grass, brown tunic, blue sky. The colours were in place as they should be. She then focused on the soldier and the colours he radiated. Orange fumes came from his mouth with every breath and with every heartbeat. His heartbeat was fast and his breath was shallow; he was nervous in the company of the general.

Her eyes caught Arbinger rummaging through the crates, but when she saw his colours, she turned her head. The few times she allowed herself to use her seeing ability on Ted, he didn't look like anyone else. Tongues of dim red and purple shot from every pore but the flames did not radiate outwards as with everyone else, but inwards towards a blackness inside, as if all energy was sucked into an insatiable void in his heart. She did not like to look at him that way, but at least she knew that her seeing ability was still there.

Then it finally occurred to her what she was missing:

-she could no longer smell herself.

She caught the scent of wet grass and unwashed humans, of horses and saddles and cooking - but she was missing from the landscape of scent herself.

---

Rhania made her way up the wooded slope that led to Iuna's Blessing, one careful step at a time. She knew that the orcs would not catch her scent, and being a fox it was easy for her to blend in with the foliage. Kids play. A _guard tower stood at each corner of the trading post. The timber was fresh, and they had been erected only recently. To her surprise, she found that the guard towers were all unmanned, and she was free to sneak all the way op to the stockade itself. _It's not usual for orcs to be this sloppy with security, she thought and inched herself closer to the main gate.

She peeked inside the gate and saw a group of five minotaurs cleaning fishing nets, and she could hear them discuss different ways of netting river bass. Funny, she thought. Shouldn't they talk about war or something? The soft padding of paws approached her, and she ducked behind a cluster of barrels for cover. The sound of two sets of paws came and went, not hooves -which ruled out taurians, and orcs too because orcs wore boots. She looked out from behind her cover and saw a badger mother passing by with a young cub, both carrying baskets of onions and small pumpkins. _The orcs must have taken them prisoner. _If only Snowheart and Ashford had been here, they could help her free them from their capturers.

Rhania concentrated on their colours, and she saw vibrant hues of yellow and blue. They are happ_y? She thought. Maybe they weren't prisoners at all. Finally, curiosity got the better of her, and she left her cover behind the barrels. _They can't catch my scent, and if I'm discovered I'll run like a ferret out of the abyss. Then she stepped into the open courtyard.

She walked among centaurs and minotaurs, badgers and wolves and the odd Kisanti; all engaged in everyday activities, just as if they were all back in Oakenford. The only thing missing, were orcs. But this was supposed to be an orc outpost?

Nobody offered her any more than a passing glance as she crossed the courtyard freely. Two badgers sniffed her as she passed them, and she smiled at their confusion. That's right, you can't catch my scent. The badgers only smiled back at her, then continued with their activities, and Rhania felt less like a spy than ever.

I belong here more than I do among Arbinger's troops.

She walked the main road that spanned Iuna's Blessing from the west to the east, where the road continued into Quemt Pass. Wooden buildings on both sides of the road counted both residential and trade houses, but most were still under construction.

Three centaur children were busy playing a game involving acorns on a grid they had drawn in the soil. Sweet Inaris, she thought_. They are playing Moonzone, _and her mind wandered back to happier times, when she played the same popular game with the other cubs of her tribe. She basked in the sweet memories, just by watching the centaurs at play. Then one player moved his squirrel out of the birch towards the tempting moon square.

"No, don't put it there!" she burst out. "She'll corner it with her owl in the next move". The centaurs looked at Rhania with some surprise at her unsolicited advice. "There's room for one more player," said the centaur. "There's only three of us, so you can team up with Ritara".

Just one game, she thought. _I've got time for one game. _She rubbed noses briefly with her new teammate and joined their game. "I'll play the fox", she noted. "How fitting". She took the piece representing the fox and placed it in the square next to the sun. It wasn't the most interesting opening position, but it had been years since she last played the game.

"We've got the perfect setup for a vomian slide," she showed Ritara. "We'll make a feint by moving your stoat into the oak square at the lower left. Then we'll..."

Rhania suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder, and reality came crashing back: the troops, the orcs; Arbinger was about to attack, and she was a spy. But I want none of this; I only want to be back in Badger's Rest. She spun around to see who had interrupted her few moments of happy innocence, and she looked into the eyes of the only one in Namairith, who could recognise her -even without her scent.

It was Snowheart.