Ugark was a thaumaturge. Or at least he should have been by now. His master had told him he would get his own domicile after someone in Long Valley had been killed. Ugark had been terrified. If one thaumaturge was killed, what could a fresh apprentice-turned-master do against the perpetrator? That was why Master had let him take Sra with him. The woman was his aunt and his last remaining relative. And she was a terrifying fighter.

An hour ago, they had made their way to the old house. It looked to be in good repair, at least. Then, they went inside. The guard chief had opened the door. Master was confident he had lied when he had told about the disabled traps. But nothing happened. The snarl from the older thaumaturge had been terrifying. There were a lot of terrifying things since the Circle’s rebirth. Ugark had not been there. His master had. Most orks close to the meeting spot had born witness to the massacre from a safe distance. After the screams went silent, the nearby orks had incomparable revelations. They were the new Circle. But they were few and quickly had to bring up new thaumaturges. That was why Ugark had been chosen.

The group had stepped into the building. At the empty hallways and cleared out rooms, Master had been snarling more and more. At least the thaumaturge’s anger had focused on the guard chief. Explosively. Then, he left. His only words telling his diminutive apprentice to make himself at home and find some books, quickly.

Ugark knew why he needed books. He had to make a Thaumonomicon. The ones from the Circle were corrupted and turned those unused to warp into a babbling mess. So they had to make new ones. The apprentice had a bag of salis mundus with him. But there were no books in the building. There was only base furniture and a set of robes from the previous tenant.

Sra returned from scouring the house.

“I’ve got some food. We have most of what we need to live.”

“Thaumaturgy?”

“Nothing. As far I could tell. Let’s get some rest.”

The orks spent the next two days getting the basics up and running. Sra found a carpenter to temporarily fix the hole in the workshop. They would need to get a mason and repair it properly. It was not of much importance. Ugark needed a Thaumonomicon to transfer his apprentice Class into a proper one. At least he had made some good progress. Rarely, if ever, did any apprentice hit the second milestone. The additional Skill to gain as a general Skill after upgrading would be very useful.

Species: Ork (Adult)

Age: 27

Name: Ugark

Gender: male

Status: healthy, sapient, vis enriched (minor), warp (minor)

Level: 19

Class: [Apprentice lvl 33], -

Strength: 15

Constitution: 17

Dexterity: 20

Perception: 21

Intelligence: 27

Wisdom: 27

AP: 0

Skills: [Bloodrush lvl 2], [Orkish Strength lvl 4], [Identify lvl 4], [Thaumaturge’s Apprentice lvl 4], [Fast Learning lvl 4], [Vis Sight lvl 4], [Warp Resistance lvl 2]

Sra sat down at the table after preparing food. She had the [Cooking] Skill, that much he knew, but he had never got the level out of her. He could not deny the effect it had on the food. After sating their hunger, Ugark picked up the conversation.

“Still no books to be found?”

Sra shook her head.

“I’m asking everyone but there’s just nothing out here. It’s a complete mess. We’ll have to order some from the city.”

Ugark grunted.

“That’ll take an eternity. Nobody found the ones that should be here, either, huh?”

“Nope. All the shit just vanished. And we can’t even ask the most likely culprit ‘cause your master killed him in a fit of rage.”

“Goblin shit. What about the hunt? Have they found that beast, yet?”

“If it’s even a beast”, Sra scoffed, “I’m saying they’re just seeing shit. It’s probably goblins. It always is, in the end.”

“Right. Even if it’s a flying beast. Fucker can fly. No way it’s still here with the noise everyone makes.”

“At least I got the door fixed. It’s got a proper lock now. No more swinging open in the middle of the night.”

They kept talking for a little while until the sun was well beyond the mountains.

“Time to sleep, I suppose.”

“Mhm.”

Ugark had taken the former master bedroom next to the workshop. His aunt had hefted a bed into one of the unused storerooms down the hall. They bid each other good night and went to get some rest.

A few hours later, Ugark woke up. Something was wrong. He could feel it. But what? The ork looked around slowly, avoiding any fast movement. The moon threw a small silver shine into the room. He found the crystal lantern on his bedside table and poured some vis into it. The room lit up and he had to blink his eyes a few times before adjusting. Again, nothing. The room was just as it should be. His bed, with him on top. The bedside table with the lantern on top. The closet with open door and a single purple robe hanging within.

Ugark listened. There was some noise from outside, wafting over from another building or maybe the camp but that was it. He stood up carefully. One foot met the wooden boards, then the other. When he put his weight on them, they creaked slightly. The ork picked up his lantern and made it to the door in his apprentice robes. They were getting stiff. He should really wash them.

Ugark opened the door. The hallway was empty and dark beyond his lantern. He stepped out and looked around once more. The door slid back into its frame. When it clicked shut, the lantern suddenly fell dark.

“WAH!”, Ugark squeaked as he stumbled backwards.

A metallic click could be heard and then he was on his butt. The lantern fell without a sound. The moonlight did not fall into the hallway. He searched for his light in near-perfect darkness. Was it getting worse? Yes. He could not even see the outside anymore. Nor hear his limbs shuffle on the wooden floor.

Then, something hit him. Not his body, but his very self. It had been something he had become aware of in the last few months. His soul. Then, a voice spoke into his mind. It was clearly female but much softer than any ork he had heard before. Even goblins spoke with a more raspy tone.

“Good night, is it not?”, the voice asked.

Ugark did not trust his vocal cords and simply nodded frantically.

“You can answer in your mind. Just will the thoughts towards me.”

More nodding, followed by a sigh. Who thought out a sigh?

“I do not plan on killing you. Calm down, would you?”

Again. Nodding.

“Fuck!”, the voice suddenly shouted.

Then, Ugark felt the ground vibrate underneath his rear. Moments later, the darkness had retreated and before him, barely avoiding a tumble as she stopped, stood Sra. She glared angrily at whatever was behind him. In the renewed light of the lantern, her fierce expression reminded him of his mother.

“You okay?”

He nodded. Less frantically this time.

“Shhh, you’re gonna be alright. I’m here now. What’s happening, tell me?”

The ork stammered a description of the most recent events at his aunt. Meanwhile, she carefully knelt down and took him in her arms. The hand rubbing his back slowly relieved the tension in Ugark’s muscles. When he reached the end, his aunt was still looking behind him.

“So there’s a voice in your head? And you were shrouded in darkness?”

“Yes.”

“Darkness like that?”

At the question, he turned around. Behind him in the hallway where the door to the workshop should have been not too far away, a wall of pure black stood now. His eyes widened a fraction.

“Hyes. Like that.”

The rumble in Sra’s throat reassured him.

“Good night”, the voice sent once more to his mind.

“What?”

This time, Sra answered.

“You can hear it?”, Ugark asked.

“I can. The fuck is that? That’s not a goblin or an ork, right?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Correct.”

“Show yourself!”, Sra shouted into the darkness.

The wall wavered for a moment, before parting. Beyond the darkness, a form stood. It shone in a dark purple with silver lines crossing all over its body. It was at most half an ork tall and had wings in place of arms. The large eyes and cruel beak promised carefully applied violence. It was beautiful.

“A bird?”, Sra asked, incredulous.

“An owl, to be precise.”

“Beautiful”, Ugark whispered.

He received an appreciative head-bob.

Sra snarled.

“Are you the beast they’re looking for?”

“They? You aren’t looking for me?”

“What do you want?”

“I want to talk. With him.”

The owl stared at Ugark.

“Talk?”, he stammered.

Without a sound, the darkness still blocking the hallway fell to the ground. It had turned into a carpet. Sra pulled her nephew up and took half a step back.

“You couldn’t come in daylight?”

“And be seen by the archers?”

“Fair”, Ugark said.

“As if your metal body could be harmed by common arrows.”

“I’m not invincible”, she stated.

“Fine, let’s talk.”

“Ugark!”

“What?”

“You can’t just!”

She gestured between him and the owl.

“If she wanted me dead, I would be. I’m a lesser thaumaturge than my predecessor.”

Sra snarled.

“My name is Fio. What do I call you?”

The orks’ heads snapped to the metal bird.

“What?”

“I’m Ugark and that’s my aunt Sra.”

“See? Now we’re no longer strangers. We can talk.”

The orks looked at each other. They blinked a few times, trying to process the situation. Then, Ugark spoke up.

“I think we can at least talk. Right?”

A few minutes later, they were assembled in the workshop. Sra and Ugark sat down next to a workbench with Fio taking place on the next table over.

“Now, once more. Let me introduce myself. I am called Fio. I’m an owl, an evolved species. I’m also an [Assassin]. Killing you now would net me far less experience. I hope you feel a little safer. I also dabble in thaumaturgy.”

“You don’t dabble in thaumaturgy”, Ugark snorted, “That’s warp breaking you within weeks. What’s your Status at, now? Medium? High?”

“For warp? There’s a Status? Like for vis enrichment, or what?”

“Huh?”

“As I said. I dabble. I’m not a thaumaturge. I don’t get warped by the stuff I do.”

“That’s not how it works.”

“It very clearly is.”

Sra slammed a hand on the workbench.

“Introductions. Right. I’m Sra. Former guard hunter. Favourite weapons: Axe and fists.”

“A pleasure.”

They both looked at him.

“Right. I’m Ugark. Thaumaturge Apprentice. I was somewhat forced into it because of high base mental Attributes. I was training as an alchemist before.”

“Are you the beast?”, Sra asked.

“Probably. If you mean the one who killed the previous local thaumaturge and stole his things, that’s me.”

“Why did you kill him?”

“Because he was a threat.”

“You can fly.”

“My friends can’t.”

Sra narrowed her eyes.

“What friends?”

“No. I’m here to make a deal with Ugark. If you agree to help me, we might converse more and come back to this topic. Now, let us proceed.”

Ugark swallowed. What could this owl want from him? What if he could not deliver? Would he just not wake up one morning?

“I need information on your master and his guards.”

“What for?”, Sra asked.

“To kill him.”