"Spoken like a true leader."
Kargen bowed his head. "You honour me, but the truth is, this is a tribal effort. Each one of us plays their part, you included. It is only by working together that we will get through this."
"What do you think we will find north of the mountains?"
"There are fellow Orc tribes north of the range, but it is a wild land. Precisely where they can be found is anyone's guess."
"We will find them," Laruhk assured his chieftain. "And when we do, they will welcome us with open arms."
"I would not be so quick to jump to that conclusion. A tribe must look after its own first, and we may place a strain on the area with our need for food. It may well be that we will not be welcome, or worse, that we shall have to submit to absorption."
"Surely not? The Orcs of the Red Hand have a proud and storied history. We can not give that up to live amongst another tribe!"
"There are some who would gladly give up that honour to live in peace with their fellow Orcs. In any event, it will not be up to you and me to decide. Only the tribe itself can make a decision of that magnitude."
Laruhk gazed north at the distant peaks. "But we must get through the mountains first."
"True," said Kargen, "and then navigate our way out of them into an unknown land."
"If Athgar and Nat-Alia can do it, so can we."
"We have no way of knowing if they made it or not," said Kargen, "though I hope they have been successful."
"Could my sister not contact the Ancestors? Would they not know something?"
"Only if they have passed from this life."
"And yet they offer advice?" said Laruhk. "Was it not the Ancestors who sent our friends north in the first place?"
"It was," said Kargen, unconsciously stroking his chin, a mannerism he had adopted from the Therengian after being told it made him look more distinguished. At first, it had been a mere mockery of his friend, but the act had grown on him, and now it reminded him of his close relationship with the Human.
"It will be dark soon," said Laruhk. "We must call a halt."
"So be it. Send word for the advance scouts to return, and bring the hunters in from the rear. We will rest the night and make for the mountains early tomorrow morning."
Kargen turned, making his way northward. He soon found Shaluhk sitting on a tree stump, watching as hunters cut wood for the fires.
"There you are," she said. "Your son wants you."
Kargen moved closer, kissing his bondmate, then lifting Agar to his shoulders. "Has he been trouble?"
"No more so than usual. He has your sense of adventure."
"Adventure? Me? Why would you say that?"
"You were the one who started trading with Athgar's village all those years ago."
"Not just me," he defended, "Laruhk was there as well."
"We both know it was not my brother's idea. He is a follower, not a leader."
"Do not forget Durgash," Kargen added.
"Yes, the trinity of terror. That is what your mother used to call you three, was it not?"
He grinned. "My mother thought the world of them both."
"That did not stop her from complaining about all of you if I recall."
"You should be glad I spent time with your brother," he said. "It gave me time to be near you."
She smiled. "Ah, now I see. It was all a grand plan to win me over. Well, you succeeded. You, alone, have my heart."
"As you have mine."
Agar roared, swinging his wooden axe. Kargen laughed.
"He's been doing that all day," said Shaluhk. "He thinks we are on a hunt."
"We are, in a sense. A hunt for a new home."
"And where will this hunt take us, do you think?"
"You would know better than I," said Kargen. "You are the one who can talk to the Ancestors."
"I have told you before, my love. The Ancestors only advise. It is up to us to make the decisions, you most of all. You are, after all, our chieftain."
"And you, our shaman," he added. "You know as well as I that we must act as one."
Agar yawned, his last act of defiance for the day.
"Finally," Shaluhk said, lifting him down from her bondmate's shoulders.
Kargen looked down on his son, who was struggling to keep his eyes open. "How is the food situation?"
"There is sufficient for the near term," she replied, "but we shall be hungry by the time we clear the mountains."
Kargen sat beside his bondmate, bearing the weight of the tribe on his shoulders. Shaluhk placed Agar on the ground, covering him with a blanket, then moved behind Kargen, wrapping her hands around his neck and hugging him tightly.
"We shall get through this, bondmate."
"So we shall," he agreed.
Laruhk shivered, feeling the bite of the cold mountain air. He was high up in the foothills, winding his way towards the distant peaks. Turning to Durgash, he raised his voice to be heard over the roar of the wind. "It is no good; the path here ends at a cliff. We must make our way back and find another passage."
"That will be the third time we have done so," said his companion.
"What else can we do, fly?"
Durgash shrugged his shoulders, another Human mannerism the tribe had adopted. Was there no end to Athgar's influence? Laruhk chuckled at the thought.
"If Athgar and Nat-Alia can make it," said Laruhk, "then so can we. There must be a trail here somewhere."
"What makes you so sure they made it?" asked Durgash. He pointed northward, towards the peaks. "They could be up there somewhere, nothing but frozen corpses."
"You really think the Ancestors would guide them to us to allow them to die so easily? Remember, Athgar is a master of flame, and Nat-Alia can control water. What is a mere mountain range to such
