Pitt walked behind the orcs. The younger orcs said things about him in their native tongue. The elder limped along, and remained silent.

The shaman probably knew who he was. The upper world gave their minions things to work with when they wanted.

Pitt couldn't remember anything about the orc side of things. He had dealt with the gods on his side when he needed, not when it was something social. He had dealt even less with the other gods that existed outside of the Court.

He doubted he would be pleasantly surprised by anything that he learned from helping the elder orc out.

The group covered ground rapidly. Orcs were tall and thin. They could run for days if they had to do that. The elder limped along in a little jog that let him bounce along on his good leg when he moved. Pitt fell in with the elder, speeding up when he fell behind, slowing down when he was ahead.

They reached a village built in a valley. The buildings were tall to accommodate their users, but also built in a circular structure that resembled a squat bee hive from the outside. Narrow windows allowed the dwellers to look at any enemy approaching as well as shoot arrows at them.

The ones Pitt had destroyed had an open space inside like a courtyard where the clan could congregate for meals, or entertainment, or to practice their skills. Apartments ran inside the outside wall, opening on the courtyard.

If a group of shamans were present, any type of siege would be as bloody as trying to take a human castle and walled city.

“Wait here,” said the elder. “I have to consult with the headmen.”

“Don't worry, grandpa,” said Pitt. “I'll have a smoke and wait on you.”

The elder nodded. He seemed less than amused at being reminded of his age. He also seemed perturbed at the honorific. He didn't protest. He limped toward the nearest city building.

Pitt pulled out his smoking kit. He rolled up a cigarette and stuck it in his mouth. He put the pouch away in his coat. He lit the cigarette with his thumb and middlefinger snapping the air. He puffed on the tobacco while he looked around.

If a big cat was operating in the area, the valley would be a perfect ground for it. It could climb up and survey everything, then come down to range out for prey. He imagined it would have to be big to take any adult orc. Kits would be a different story.

The thing must be killing a number of the clan if they wanted the Cutter to go after it. Had it only gone after the young, or had it taken adults too?

He finished his cigarette as the elder returned. The younger orcs had waited with Pitt, and stood in respect to the shaman.

“The others have agreed with my plan,” said the elder. “They are disappointed that you are not the Cutter, but they feel they have nothing to lose if you get killed.”

“Don't worry, grandpa,” said Pitt. He destroyed the cigarette, scattering the ash and the remaining paper to the wind. “I'll not let you down in front of your chiefs. Do you know where the last attack was? That's where I'll start looking for this thing.”

“Silver Sky?,” said the elder.

One of the younger orcs waved one of his hands for Pitt to follow. He turned and headed up into the hills around the valley. Climbing high enough would take them into snow country. Some big cats liked to live in the cold, protected by a thick coat of fur.

Pitt didn't think they would have to go that high. Something like this with ready prey that couldn't stop it would stay close. It was like a hungry fat man with a larder. It wouldn't stray far from where it could get a snack any time it wanted.

The only real question in Pitt's mind was where was it compared to where he was. He didn't want to chase a cat across swathes of country when he had other things to do.

It wouldn't be the first time he tracked something down. He just didn't like to expend the effort when he could be fishing, or whittling.

Silver Sky paused when he reached the spot he thought the cat had attacked last. He waved his hands around to indicate the surroundings.

“Thanks,” said Pitt. He scanned the area. “You can go home and lock up if you want.”

Silver Sky looked at him. He wasn't going home to let some stranger do something stupid so he would be blamed for it.

Pitt shrugged as he examined the ground. He rubbed his chin as he looked for anything that might point him in the right direction. He found a round indentation after a moment.

The cat was big according to the print. If it was in line with regular cats, a full grown orc wasn't a match for what left that step in the dirt,

Pitt examined the ground near the print. He didn't see another one anywhere close by. That didn't mean anything. Grass ran in wide swathes near the trail dirt. This one print could be from a transition from dirt to grass.

He checked the line of travel. It led into a stand of trees, and then up a rocky wall. He could see cliffs reaching up into the sky. Maybe the cat had climbed out of its kill zone after eating the orc.

Had the orcs thought the same and gone up after it? If the cat was as big as he thought, that would have been a bad move.

Orcs were great climbers. He had dealt with them in the mountains to the east. Chasing them had been irksome. This cat was probably better at that than they were. Its size and agility would allow it to rip up anyone chasing it up into the mountains.

He had two options and neither appealed to him. He could chase after it and hope to catch it on some flat ground where it only had a size advantage. He could wait and try to use an orc as bait.

He would rather not use an orc as bait. That might get the orc killed and leave the cat to roam around in the search of new victims.

He decided to see if he could trail it up higher in the mountains. Maybe it had left prints to show where it had gone. He might even be able to find a lair if it had one.

He walked toward the trees. He noted some of them had been marred by something. The cat must weigh more than a man from the looks of things. He looked up and saw a ledge near the tree with the least amount of broken limbs.

He looked back at where he had found the lone print. He examined the branches. He calculated the distance and the angle of attack. He thought the cat had jumped from the spot to the bottom branches. Then it had scrambled up and jumped to the ledge.

That was a long way for a jump, but it was possible.

He started climbing the trees. He paused to check the angle of the branches as he moved to the ledge. How long would the cat stay around?

A more important question was what would it do with Pitt climbing up after it. Would it run from him? Would it see him as lunch? Did it travel in packs?

Maybe he should have turned the shaman down cold. He followed that line of thought as he worked his way around the mountain face thanks to the ledge. He found a solid path after a few minutes. It led up from the killing ground.

He didn't see any other prints on the rock. He hadn't expected to because of the terrain. It would have been a nice confirmation if he had.

Silver Sky joined him as he walked along the path. He kept his eyes moving as they kept going up. The cat could have climbed off the path anywhere. They couldn't let that stop them from following the path.

Pitt decided he would stop when he reached an outcrop in the distance. If he hadn't found a print before then, they would turn around.

Using one of the orcs as bait might be the only way to draw this thing out so he could deal with it.

Pitt doubted the shaman would agree to risk the life of one of his people in a mad scheme. If they missed, the orc would be dead, and the cat would still be free. He tried to think of an alternate plan as he approached the outcrop.

He paused when he saw another print next to the outcrop. He held up a hand to let Silver Sky know to stay back. He didn't want the orc to get in the way if there was trouble.

He looked at the top of the thing. He didn't see a furry monster up there. He looked around. Where had it gone from there?

Had it kept climbing up into the snow? He turned to look up at the top of the mountain. Did he want to keep going up there?

He didn't think that would be a good idea. It knew the terrain, could hunt up there better than he could, and was big enough to beat him with sheer mass if it caught him by surprise.

He doubted it could take one of his punches to the snout. Not many monsters could.

"Let's head back to the village,” Pitt said. “I don't know if we want to chase it on its home ground.”

Silver Sky nodded. He turned and led the way back to the ledge. Pitt followed.

He had thought this would be a breeze. Now it looked like something that required a lot more time and planning than he wanted to do.

Pitt had never been a planner. It just wasn't his strong suit. His skill lay in the ability to apply an overwhelming force to a small area. That destroyed most things in the way without having to think about what he was doing.

Montague, Neil, and some of the others had been the planners for the brotherhood. He had followed their lead when he had to do that. When there wasn't a plan, he improvised a way to get into position and then unleashed his talent on the enemy.

It was too bad most of the others had been killed. He could have used Ghost Eyes for this. The ranger could track anything anywhere. That was the kind of talent needed for this.

He doubted he could recruit a ranger this close to the orc lands. They would be afraid of the bad blood between the humans and orcs boiling over. He didn't blame them for that.

Pitt jumped down from the ledge. Silver Sky waited on the trail. He glanced around as if expecting the cat to make a go at the two of them.

Pitt wouldn't have minded that. It would have allowed him to finish things quickly so he could head back to the village. From there, he could head home to the Highlands.

Silver Sky led the way back to the village. He maintained an easy march, but Pitt strolled along with one eye on the landscape. Cats liked to attack from behind. This was the perfect time for it to attack.

Nothing happened as the village buildings came into view. They would have to think about what they had done, and how to report things.

The shaman would want the real Cutter after this.

He was in for a surprise.