Armies of the Dragon (Book 2 after Warriors of the Dragon)

The Turned

They were able to steal a few horses and they rode to the Northern edge of the city before making their way up the rocky road and turning off towards the dragons.

"Sorin!" Sephira called as she dismounted and looked up to him. "I think you should stay with the dragons." He frowned like she expected and glanced at Craven and Rauka before looking back. "You don't look or sound like an orc and fight too much like an elf. I think you'll give me away."

"Yeah, she's right." Malina agreed.

"You don't fight like an orc either!" He accused Sephira. She raised her eyebrow.

"You can trade places with me." She offered slyly.

"Can't I pose as half human, half orc as well?" he asked lamely.

"How many human-orc hybrids do you know?" Sephira asked Craven and Rauka.

"Sephira will have an easier time against Azaesel since she's female. He probably wouldn't be interested in having another male that looks too similar to him." Craven guessed.

Sorin took a deep breath because he knew they were right.

"I can link with you at greater distances than I can send images to Caius." Sephira continued. "The dragons need to keep as far away as possible so they aren't noticed."

"How far?" Leuthil wondered.

"Two leagues?" Sephira guessed, making Leuthil's mouth drop open.

"You can contact each other that far away?" He asked.

"I'd be able to signal you and maybe you could come closer for me to be able to send more information or get images to Caius?" Sephira guessed. She could tell Sorin was nervous about that distance and he knew she could get hurt if they were a few lengths too far apart. He knew she was willing to take the risk, but he knew he'd end up staying closer than she'd like.

"You're right, but I don't like it." Sorin growled, getting down from the horse reluctantly.

*

They made their way down the path as the dragons took off to the west and took a longer, less travelled route to Thule. It would take about a week to get to Thule on horseback and Leuthil planned on having Isis contact Sephira twice a day to check in so they could make sure they were staying within range.

It was the second day, when they came across an encampment of about one Centri. Sephira and the orcs tied their horses and then hid to spy on the Nimbi. They moved around normally, eating, making fires, and gathering firewood like any normal army. Most of them were human, but there were a lot of orcs as well. Sephira guessed a mix of turned and non-turned Nimbi and she eyed a few orcs that were near the edge of the large group of about 100 soldiers.

"We should wait until nightfall to grab them and just watch to see how they act." Craven suggested.

"Yeah, that sounds good." Rauka agreed.

They spent the day observing interactions between Nimbi and turned Nimbi. It seemed, the turned Nimbi were able to speak normally, but only to answer questions from their non-turned cohorts or commanding officers, who they noticed were all Lightning Territory subjects and not stolen soldiers. Sephira started ruminating on where she should say she's from if they ask. She had only been on the outskirts of Lightning territory before the war and she decided she knew the villages near orc territory and chose one she stayed in on a mission to the Southern 'Spirit' forest, South of the Hessian desert.