Flint looked up at the voice which seemed to be hidden in one of the huge oak trees that filled the forest. As Flint stood in the shade of that huge oak tree, she was reminded of the forest she had spent her life in. The trees were the same. Huge monstrosities extending their large branches housed in rough, brownish bark topped with hand sized leaves rounded along the edges to form nodules. A slight creak from one of the near by ancient trees woke Flint from her reverie, and with a confused expression, she looked toward the voice. "What are you talking about?" she said to it.

Romerio, curious about the man-thing which was not that had spoken to him like a wolf, was sniffing around the small girl around ten summers. She was cute, like most young children, with blonde hair near white falling about her shoulders and intense blue eyes that looked strangely intelligent and innocent at the same time. She wore a deep blue cloak which did much to hide most of her body only allowing bits of her silken, sky blue dress and a shadowy visage of her face to show. After sniffing and satisfied that he could recognize the man-thing which was not, the shaggy, gray wolf sat on his haunches. Valirie giggled and began to lavishly pet him. "Good boy," she said, her voice filled with child like wonder and joy. After a little while she turned to the youthful woman standing some distance away from her and said, "Miss Flint, me and my brother here felt a presence of power not to far back. Is that person an old man? You know with all white hair, long beard, wrinkly face, a little stooped over..."

"A presence of power? An old man? No, I didn't see any old man..." Flint replied.

'Looks like we have to go back the other way, ah well. I'll race ya!' Garith said filled with excitement at the opportunity to race and hopefully beat his sister in another race. Racing was fun after all and Garith enjoyed the pounding of his wings and the rush of air over his emerald green feathers. Garith began to call forth his soul fire from the depths of his soul.

Just as it began to pour forth Valirie spoke to him, ‘Wait, let's ask her to go with us.'

‘Why would we want a HUMAN to come with us? Maybe the wolf, wolves can be good company, and he could hunt for us.'

'Well the wolf too, but miss Flint because these people seem to think that little kids are weak.'

'So? We are strong. I'll change into a griffin and you can change into a big dreg...' Garth said.

'Remember what Malock said? He doesn't want us blowing our cover till we have found the orb.'

‘Oh, now that you mention it, I _do_ seem to recall him saying something along those lines. It may be useful. But don't humans hold females in a similar regard?'

‘I think its different if they carry weapons.'

‘Okay, but I think you should ask her. I don't like talking to humans; they're normally so dull.'

‘Well she's not quite human, more like a beast master. Besides Clyde is sort of a human too.'

‘Okay, okay. Maybe she won't be quite as dull as most humans. You are still going to have to ask her though.'

"Well?" Flint said, leaning against a tree waiting for the thing, a child most likely, to answer her question. Romerio like most wolves that are not hunting was bored and so after Valirie had stopped petting him had decided to lay down in the shade. He rested his head on his paws and closed his eyes.

"Umm, you can come with us, if you want," Valirie asked, shyly

"Uh," Flint said, flashing a look toward Romerio. He wagged his tail once and let out a short bark. "Okay." Flint agreed.

"Oh thank you, thank you," Valirie said, still with a hint of shyness in her voice. I think that was cute enough...

"No problem."

Valirie smiled at Flint and thought to her brother.. Come on down and don't change. It might scare her off.

'Ya, ya, ya,' Garith thought. He dropped down right besides a now bewildered Flint. "Good day," the other twin said cordially to the young woman now right next to him. Garith bowed grandly flourishing his deep, forest green cloak as he did so. His pastel green tunic and leggings peaked out as he bowed. He straightened once more drawing his cloak about himself hiding both his clothing and his fair features. His hair was blonde like his sisters and unlike his sister his eyes were a piercing green. After a short time had transpired, he went on to introduce himself. "Garith al Blackmoon, Lord High Commander of the Shadow Corp, Twin Heir to the Throne of Sable, Third Circle Magus of Lunar Magic, and Caretaker of the six isles in the Quantra Dimension, at your service," he introduced himself grandly.

Flint thought of curtsying but decided he wouldn't get the joke and just nodded at him. "Nice to meet you," Flint said.

Garith nodded a little, put out that the human had not been impressed, then again it was hard to impress such beasts. He walked a short distance away from the human and dropped down to sit in the shadows of one of the primeval white oak trees. He pulled his deep green cloak more tightly about himself and sulked.

Flint wondered briefly about what had upset the boy and then turned toward Valirie. "So Valirie, where is it we're headed?"

"Umm, a place called Windmount."

"Lets get going then."

"O-"Valirie started to say.

"-kay" Garith finished almost absently.

Flint shook her head in disbelief, then thought about what had just happened. "You two are close. I could probably ask one a question and the other could answer. Amazing," she said, slightly awed.

"What can we say; we're twins," they answered in unison.

Garith got up off the dusty earth and the group of four headed off with Romerio trotting happily behind. It took them an hour to reach the edge of the forest.

While they were traveling through the plains, Flint decided to ask about her shape shifting condition. "So, how does one change?"

"Huh," Valirie said.

"What are you talking about?" Garith finished.

"Well you said I was a shape shifter, so how does one alter their form?"

"A true lycanthrope has the innate, biological ability to. Others can do it magically. And then there are, well, people like me and Garith," Valirie lectured.

"What do you mean exactly?"

"For a true lycanthrope, altering form is like breathing. It's natural and doesn't need to be explained. Mage's and wizards or magesses and wizardesses cast spells to alter their form either permanently or temporally, which is unnatural. And then, like my sister said, there are us. We use sort of a combo of the above two. We have the potential to, but because of our size and the forms we take, the excess matter and energy has to go somewhere. When we change we either convert energy from the ether to matter or vice-a-versa. Its still natural, but it takes training and _skill_ to do," Garith said looking intently at Flint from the shadows of his cloak.

He was still sort of mad at the human named Flint and still sort of leery about speaking to it, as he humorously referred to Flint.

"Then there's some who can only alter to a specific species or size. For example, there could be a shape shifter that can only change into animals, other that can only alter into types of trees, etcetera." Valerie added, more finishing Garith's line of thinking than anything else.

"Okay, so what kind am I?."

"Well, We're not sure. You could be like us, but we'll find out soon enough." Garith said smiling almost cruelly inside his dark cloak of green.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well, we'll test you."

"Oh," Flint said, a little skeptical. After all they were still kids...

"Miss Flint, I think there are bandits up a head,"Valirie said, totally changing the course of the conversation.

"Thought I saw something." Flint said calmly.

Valirie flashed an image of Romerio looking around. Romerio, a wolf, understood and went to have a look. He soon returned flashing back an image of Bandits. "Romerio agrees with us," Garith replied.

Flint looked over to Romerio. He was, now, growling softly at something in some near by bushes. The shaggy wolf looked up at Flint.

She nodded to him and he took off, again.

"Grah du drakish!" some creature rasped as Romerio began barking and snarling at a bush.

Soon after a bunch of yellow skinned creatures, taller then the twins, but shorter then Flint jumped out of the bushes.

The were stocky creatures that looked to be made out of chunks of limestone. All of the muscular creatures carried wicked looking axes. The blades of the black shafted axes were circular and an oily, ebony colour. If it was at all possible, the blades seemed to be oozing a kind of thick, slimy sludge.

One of them swung one of the evil axes at the shaggy wolf who agilely dodged the blow. Another was trying to catch Romerio.

Flint aimed an arrow, whispered a few words in the spidery language of magic and suddenly her nocked arrow was aflame with a pure, silvery fire.

The flame did not seem to touch the arrow, but as she let loose the now flaming arrow, it speed toward its target. When the arrow connected with one of the beasts trying to attack her friend and companion, Romerio, It screamed in pain and fell to the ground. The flaming arrow protruding from its head.

Flint turned bringing up her arrow and releasing at upon one of the yellow creatures trying to attack her from behind. The arrow struck one of the horrible, yellow creatures in its chest, but it simply shook of the blow and continued rushing at her.

Romerio came out of no where, leaping upon the creatures back, knocking it down. The wolf snapped and snarled at the creature. The rest of the creatures backed off a bit. About ten of them were left, four were dead, and one wounded.

"You pretty good for a human. But you no stand chance against our might, if you give us all shinys you have. We let you live," one of the creatures said. It was slightly bigger than the rest. Instead of wearing nothing, it had on a battered vest of rusty chain mail and a huge silvery ring in its noise.

Flint narrowed her eyes. "I don't have any 'shinys.' "

"You lie, me hate lie people. Me kill you now." The leader took a step towards her. His band, oddly stayed motionless as if they were statues created by some mad artist. This was, after all, the leaders challenge.

Flint readied her bow and raised it at the leader. "You move another inch, and you will be the first to die!" Flint casted the spell of haste upon herself, already feeling it increase her dexterity and speed. Her heart began to race and once more she readied an arrow aflame with pale silver.

"Trapie al clua," the leader said to the rest of his men.

"Grapie, grapie," his men replied.

"You smart. Maybe me not kill you."

"Your stupid if you think I'll fall for that trick. Prepare to die."

The leader stood there for a second thinking about what Flint had just said. "Ah a funnie, hehehe," he said and started to laugh. It was more of a bubbling than pure laughter His men looked at him and he explained what had just happened. His men started to laugh as well.

Flint glanced over at the twins who stood, looking calmly at the leader.

Valirie and Garith turned first to her and then to each other. They shrugged and walked over to the leader.

"Little ones!" the leader of the yellow skinned creatures shouted. His huge, tusk like teeth, yellow, were fully exposed as he did so.

"Grundel!" both of the twins shouted in unison.

"Darath dul?"Valirie asked.

"Trustar al di tru opius guld?" Garith asked.

"Gran und Gran," the leader replied.

"Rally? Ilare um ropo apo?"

"Gran, little ones," he replied.

"Valirie, Garith what's going on?" Flint asked. She looked from Valerie and Garith with a tiniest hint of confusion. She lowered her bow a bit.

"Well it appears that Malock sent these orcs along to scout out this area and find out our progress. He says that you acted honorably in your fighting and that you are very funny, for some reason. Orc humour, don't ask.

Also that we are welcome at his fire tonight, which I might add is quite an honor," Garith said, a hint of a smile on his shadowed lips. Garith was fully enjoying the confusion his human guardian was having, no matter how small it was. Not so high and mighty are we, now?

Valirie didn't bother to respond; she had long since grew used to Garith's peculiarities.

Flint put her bow all the way down and said loudly with accusion. "Then why did that attack us?"

Garith looked at Flint and opened his mouth. "They didn't. They-just, wanted.."

"To attack us and take our stuff?" Flint finished.

"No." Valerie put in. "They, um well. You see Miss Flint.." She paused.

Flint smiled at the desperate looks on the twins' faces as they tried to explain the orcs' actions.

The leader motioned with a large meaty hand for them to follow and then disappeared back into the surrounding plant life. The twins followed and Flint as well. Romerio bound after Valerie and Garith. He seemed quite content to follow the man things which were not. The camp, as it turned out, was not that far away. There were about twenty more orcs at the camp.

A small fire was already going and various animals already hung over the huge spit in the middle of the camp.

The orcs lounged around, speaking in their odd language.

Some seemed to be recanting the joke Flint had unwittingly told. Others gathered around the spit, drooling and trying to help a rather large, fat orc who was trying to cook the food. The orcs themselves, with the exception of the cook and the leader, wore loin clothes and their axes strapped to their strongly, muscular, yellow backs.

Others still slept noisily in the shadow of the small grouping of pale golden and bright red maples that the grove was made up of.

The twins were talking to the leader and another person over by an outcropping of rocks. Flint decided to walk over to the twins. She idly wondered where a group of such creatures could have come from and who exactly these two, young, people whom she now found in her company were.

"So she says, ‘Move again and die!'" the leader said laughing. Twins chuckled and the strange shadowy figure did as well.

"Where is this Flint," the shadowy figure asked in a quite, raspy voice.

"Right behind-" Garith started.

"- you, Sir Richard,"Valirie finished, and both twins started to laugh. The leader of the orcs joined in soon after.

He seems to be a jolly fellow, Flint silently remarked to herself.

The shadowy creature, Sir Richard, turned and looked directly at Flint. Romerio, for some strange reason howled and growled. when the man turned. Flint didn't fear the man, and yet felt she should. Maybe man was not the best way to describe the creature before him.

She had heard about the undead before, and knew that he was one of them.

He had a dark cloak draped over his shoulders.

Underneath that dark cloak, shadowy armour gleamed almost evilly. It was a solid piece of black steel, which went from his neck all the way down to his legs. Fully covering, or hiding, his body. It was sculptured to his body though like an extra layer of skin. His face was oddly handsome, in a strange, perverted way. His sunless white skin was stretched tightly over his face. He had high check bones and a sad look in his curiously normal looking blue eyes.

"You choose this one to protect you?" Sir Richard asked skeptically .

"We needed some one, and she was near by," Garith said, an a casual offending tone. "Too bad she's human, though," he added quietly.

"And she is a shape shifter,"Valirie added to Miss Flint's defense, shooting a dirty look at Garith..

We have the wolf too," he said almost as an after thought.

"Yes I've noticed. Malock will be quite interested in her, there are so few with the gift alive, anymore. Does she have any lunar aptitude?"

"Like we'd know," Garith retorted, again in an insulting manner.

"True," Sir Richard rasped, either ignoring or accepting the tone with out raising question to its source. "Malock will have to be notified, though."

"Nice to meet you too," Flint said, sarcastically.

"Indeed," Sir Richard said, ignoring her tone. "I will enjoy meeting you again, but for right now I have things that I must attend to. Good day young miss," Sir Richard said.

He bowed to Flint and then walked away from the campfire and into the purply twilight of the sun's setting.

"Me too must be doing things, good day miss," the leader said and shambled over to some of his troops.

"Such unique people, eh sis?"

"Yes I agree Gar."

"Who were those people?" Flint asked.

"Well the yellow person was," Garith started to say.

"By human translation ‘he who leads with a mighty heart and brave mind. The other guy, who sort of looked like he was made of shadow was,' Valirie said.

"Sir Richard." Garith finished.

"But who were they."

"Oh, well "he who leads with a mighty heart and brave mind" is the leader of this pack of orcs," Valirie said helpfully.

"And that other guy, Sir Richard, is a death knight. He is in charge of the force which will be here for awhile," Garith said in an off handed manner.

"Okay, and why are all these people here again?"

"Well Valirie maybe you should answer that one..."

"Well, you see miss, umm miss Flint, ah well we can't really tell you. Ya that's it; we can't tell you, top secret business like,"Valirie said with a cute child smile. "It's not really all that important anyway. Right Garith."

"Yep, quite boring really. Anyway, we have to prepare for our journey to Windmount. 'night." Garith finished saying.

He gathered his green cloak about him and lay down right there.

The whole thing was almost comical, but Flint got the feeling she had missed something.

After a little thought she came to the conclusion that it didn't matter too much. But one thing still nagged her. "Wait." Flint said.

"What?" Valirie asked.

"What about the test?"

"What test? What is she--oh! The test...Gar?"

"We'll give it to you after we've gotten the orb and only then." Garith said, his tone quite grown-up indicated that there was no room for discussion.

"Why not now?" Flint asked, challanging him.

"Because we don't fully trust you." Garith said. Valirie gave him a stern look. "Well, I don't."

Flint stared at Garith for awhile, then lay down and fell asleep.

"Wake up, Miss Flint." a soft child like voice called.

Flint's eyes were open and gazing up at the clouds when Valirie peered down at her. She blinked several times. "Ready?" Garith asked, energetically, challenging Flint in a way.

At his tone, Flint smiled. "Been since sunrise." She said.

Garith scowled slightly and then for some reason smiled.

"Hey, Flint you want to play this game. Its real fun, and it should be easy for some so powerful such as yourself."

Flint glanced at him. "Don't you think your a little old for games, Garith?"

"Not this one!"

"Heh, if you say so. What is it called?"

Valirie looked directly at him and slightly shook her head.

"Maybe later, after your test," Garith said with another wicked smile.

Flint had already gotten up at that point. She smiled at Garith. "Okay, if you want to chicken out." She grabbed her handcrafted bow, slung her deer skinned quiver over her shoulder and started walking. The twins followed quickly and Garith ran ahead.

Romerio, after a little stretching of his body and a long wolfish yawn, had trailed after them. The orc leader ran after them on stubby, bright yellow legs down the grassy knoll they had just gone down. He shouted a little to get their attention. He seemed to like to shout. He tossed the twins a couple of bags full food.

From what little Flint had learned of the strange culture of orc's, she would not be surprised to find it full of rabbit and deer. If they were lucky, the orc's might have remembered to fully cook the food in the bags. Both twins looked at each other, and then at Flint. "I think you should carry this. We're little kids after all, and these bags are just too heavy for us to carry." Garith said, sarcastically.

"Too much work for you, huh Gar? Can't handle it, huh?" Flint asked. She revised her opinion of those two. What they were she still had no idea, but they definitely were not children.

Garith scowled again and kept his bag. "Dankul!" The twins said in unison to the leader. Valerie gave her bag to Flint. They set off, lead by Garith. He was in an exceptionally energetic mood today, though it was dampened a bit by Flint. "This way!" He called. It was always "Over this way," "Down here," or Flint's personal favorite "This way!"

After the end of an extremely tiring day and Valirie pointed at the peaks of Windmount. "Look. We're almost there!" She called, also with excitement thickly in her voice.

"Yep." Garith replied.

"Mmm hmm." Flint said, laying down. "Get some rest."

The twins lay down and fell asleep almost immediately, but Flint stayed up, gazing at the mountain and thinking of her parents, her rogues, and the elder whom she called "grampa."

She missed all of them.