"Keep up, young Mogrim!" A dwarf shouted in my direction. "You're marching alongside the Stormfall Clan, we won't wait on you just because you're the thane's son."
We were about fifty miles and a week out from the mountain. I hadn't fallen behind once but the adult dwarves sometimes felt the need to keep me on my toes.
"Hmm." I grumbled under my breath before noticing my pack felt heavier than it should have. In fact, heavier by about the weight of a catgirl and her equipment. "Yuki, can't you walk on your own?"
The catgirl who was half napping on top of my pack merely yawned. "I could, but it's so much easier to let you do all the heavy lifting, Mochi."
"I've told you. My name is Mogrim. Mogrim!"
"Nya, Mochi's a much cuter name. As for walking, you haven't noticed for the past two miles. You can keep going until we make camp." Yuki seemed disinclined to either call me by my correct name or get off. I made a few grumbling sounds, hitched my pack up and just kept going. Why the heck did I have such a soft spot for cats and cute girls?
"Ha!" A familiar harsh laugh interrupted my mental grousing. Etrig shifted closer to us from his position in the line. "Beastkin are so weak they can't even march alongside dwarves. The ancestor gods knew what they were doing when they crafted us from stone and fire."
"I can march purr-fectly fine." She retorted to the twenty year old dwarf, scrunching up her nose. "I'm just tired from saving your dwarven ass from two demon ambushes yesterday." She sniffed the air in a sudden alert manner, her ears perking up. "Clan Leader, there's three demons that way. Hiding in the bushes."
Clan Leader Gradhogord issued orders to a few dwarven warriors who split off from the group. They returned in a few minutes, grinning and holding three demons' horns. The horns were important since they would be counted at the end of the journey and be used for bragging rights as well as political influence among the other clans in the Warrior's Guild.
"See. I work hard and deserve a nap. You do nothing, and get to walk." She oozed an air of smug satisfaction.
"Grr." Unable to retort Yuki's verbal prodding, Etrig turned to me. "Why do you allow the beastkin to leech off of you like this? She even wears your amour and clothing. It is much more honorable to stand on your own with your own clan."
It was a good question that deserved a good answer. Why had I kept Yuki around so long? Part of it was that I couldn't get rid of her. Not that I wanted to. The other part...
"Hmm. I suppose it's because she's quite handy to have around. She can detect monsters and demons long before I can, meaning I can sleep soundly at night on the surface. She can also lure them to my position so I can fight from a defensive position. Also, she can sometimes be friendly to be around."
"Only sometimes?" Yuki huffed from her spot on my back.
"Those sound like excellent qualities in a fellow warrior." Etrig grumbled. "But I would never allow a short lived race to disrespect me in such a manner. It goes against my warrior spirit and pride as an inheritor of the name of Stormfall Clan to even contemplate it."
The youthful warrior began a long spiel on the dwarven warrior spirit, along with a harangue on some of the greatest fighters in the Stormfall Clan's history and their weapons. I zoned out after the fifth repetitive tale of a mighty champion winning a battle against impossible odds and going to the Halls of the Ancestors in honor. Yuki fell asleep after just the first story.
However, Etrig's rambling was cut off when the head of the dwarven column stumbled into an unexpected clearing. It wasn't the usual lack of shrubbery from demons or monsters trampling the brush like we usually found, but a proper hidden village! Houses, cooking fires, wells, the whole nine yards.
"Beastkin! Scouts!" Clan leader Gradhogord bellowed in fury. "Why didn't you alert us of this village? We may have stumbled into a fracking ambush. Wazzocks!"
Yuki woke up and yawned, completely unbothered by the warrior's wrath. "Don't blame me. We're downwind of this place and I was scouting in the other direction yesterday." The dwarven scouts grumbled about demons blocking the area surrounding the enclave. Leaving Gradhogord no one to blame.
"Spread out." He ordered. "Make sure beastkin and demons aren't hiding in the bushes."
"They are. Beastkin, that is." Yuki stretched and jumped off my pack. She then began yelling something in the beastkin tongue. If I had to guess, she was broadcasting our peaceful intention. At least I hoped that's what she was saying.
The cat version of the beastkin tongue sounded like a lot of meowing and various other feline noises. Not something that a dwarf ever would, or could, make. Nor effectively comprehend. Believe me, I had tried over the past two years.
In response to Yuki's call, over a hundred beastkin emerged from behind trees in every direction. Each one of them had arrows nocked and pointed towards us. As good as our dwarven crafted armor was, we would be arrow porcupines within minutes if we had to fight our way out of this encirclement.
"Beastkin, translate for me." Gradhogord ordered, his body and voice tense. He likely had come to the same conclusion I had.
"Nya, I'm not just a useful beastkin." Yuki grumbled as her cat tail swished back and forth. "I'm sometimes purr-fectly friendly. Sometimes." She nonetheless translated.
I wondered what made her so cranky when she'd just been napping. A tall wolf beastkin growled something at Yuki in his language. Sprinkling various barks and growls into his speech.
"Chief Haiku says thank you for killing the demons." Yuki said when the wolf man finished speaking. "But he wants to know what dwarves are doing here outside of your mountains."
"Inform him that we are hunting demons for the glory of the Stormfall Clan!"
Yuki turned back to the wolfman and just said, "Mrow."
Somehow I doubted that was the correct translation. But we were short on options. Development on the mana powered Universal Translator had been put on the backburner since Yuki had learned Durninn.
The wolfman seemed to get the point and barked something else. To which Yuki replied "Because he gives me yummy food!" She realized that she had spoken in Durinn and said it again in beastkin tongue.
Every single beastkin's ears perked up at full attention when she mentioned food. I felt like the intensity of their stares on us had doubled or tripled.
"Yuki." I stepped forward. "What did he ask you to make you talk about food?"
"Hmm? Oh, he asked why I was with a bunch of dwarves. So I told him that you were super nice and gave me lots of yummy food."
As she was explaining, the wolf beastkin stepped up to me. Yuki translated everything for me. "Mochi. Friend of Yuki. Do you have any spare food that is untainted by demonic miasma? We will gladly trade for it."
"Chief Haiku." The clan leader stepped between me and the wolfman before I could correct him on my name. "We are on a journey to slay as many demons as possible. Clan Stormfall does not have any supplies to spare for the purpose of trade."
This prompted an intense negotiation between the chief and the clan leader. Yuki became very annoyed translating long before the discussion was over.
"I see." Chief Haiku's wolf ears flicked back and forth. "Are you certain you are here to only slay demons? There are many places in the Demon Wastes with valuable minerals."
"We are not with the Miner's Guild." Gradhogord responded, slapping his ax with the fury of a grumpy dwarf. "We are dwarves of the Stormfall Clan! Mighty fighters in the Warrior's Guild! I lead my clan through the Demon Wastes to maintain our skills and slay as many demons as possible so that we may be found worthy when the High King calls us to join his throng."
"A worthy goal. Perhaps we of the Grim Claw Tribe can assist you through an alliance. We can lead you to several pockets of demons that are encroaching on our village and hunting grounds."
"We are dwarf warriors of the Stormfall Clan. We have no need for an alliance!" Clan Leader Gradhogord rumbled.
"Clan leader. Chief." I bowed to both of them respectfully. "Perhaps we can talk more about this alliance."
"Thane's son, you are still young and beardless." Gradhogord glared at me. "Be silent when leaders are speaking."
"No. Let the friend of the beastkin speak. What is your input, friend of Yuki." I cleared my throat and did my best to speak as politely as possible. I was just a paperpusher, but my gut was telling me a timesaving merger was in the works.
"Honored Clan Leader. As you've said before, we don't require their help. But you've seen me fight alongside Yuki, and how she can lure demons into the range of my weapons. I propose we follow a similar plan on a larger scale. The beastkin will go out and lure the demons to a battleground. In the meantime, Clan Stormfall will set up a defensive position where we can fight to our hearts content. This will allow the beastkin to clear out the demons, and let us train without having to walk miles upon miles through the Demons Wastes. Which is better, a straight up battle where the only thing that matters is strength of arms, or a trudging march where we have to set guards and spend every moment on alert to avoid hidden ambushes."
Gradhogord stroked his beard in thought while Yuki translated my proposal. "Elder Wevrik was wise to bring you along, Thane's son. Your plan is wise beyond your years. To be honest, I was growing irked by the endless wastes and insufficient fodder for my ax."
"Ha! I told you, Mogrim has potential as a strategist." Elder Wevrik pounded his chest as though this was all his idea.
"Mochi, friend of Yuki. We agree to this plan." The wolfman grunted. "We will go over the map tonight and guide you to the battlefield within the week."
"Yuki!" I yelled. "Quick, tell them my correct name so the nickname doesn't stick."
"Nya, why should I, Mochi? It's a cute name. Besides, I'm only friendly sometimes."
I knew that comment would come to bite me in the rear end. But I didn't think it would be this pernicious. Oh well, the beastkin will never see me again after this mission.
Camp was set up in a good spot with the assistance of the beastkin. Not a single prickle bush or demon ant hill in sight.
Despite being in a temporary alliance, the clan leader ordered the guards to be extra watchful against the beastkin. Until we were back in the mountain, he was suspicious of being robbed blind. Which was fair, Yuki was infamous for stealing my meals.