βSir Orc, did any of us out right call you a beast- except that fool? That one particular fool over there?" She asked as she pointed to the skipping man who seemed to have paused and took out chalk to sketch all over his armor plate. She wasn't sure who that man was but he didn't seem to have a lick of sense rattling around in that skull of his if he was going to outright call an obviously battle won orc, one who was chosen just the same as them, a beast. She couldn't possibly save this man. She couldn't weave enough silk into her words to make that man safe if that Orc decided to turn his ire on him. She was going to distance herself from the man, as far and hard as she possibly could. She already had one very bad experience with a skilled blade man and she could only imagine how much more skilled this man was over the assassin. She would not be putting herself in such a situation that she would have to find out. βYou have nothing to fear from me. I am no fool. I see your trophies. Not all intelligence is found in books.β
It seemed at least a few of the people weren't in a rush to hurry off like the armored fool. One even agreed that they should wait on the bird. She turned her eyes on her supporter and looked him up and down. He was decent in appearance, not that she was looking for a suitor. Just that out of all those in the group, he was rather appealing in appearance. He was the only human male that wasn't absolutely ancient in the group but his ideals were in the wrong place. Everyone knew that gold wasn't where power lies. Information is where power truly is. If you have the information, you can get all the gold you could possibly desire. βWhen this is all done and over, let me walk you through the true ways of the underworld. I will help you fill your coffers multiple times over. You'll have more gold than you know what to do with.β She grinned hungrily at him. She couldn't wait to get back to her empire and get things flowing again. She wondered if her own coffers were raided the moment she was captured or if her locks and traps kept them nice and secure for her. When she got out of this mess, she would have to go and see. It would be a pain to start from scratch but it wouldn't be impossible.
Malia was about to address the dwarf again, saying another snarky thing about the way the woman spoke when she heard a loud cry from her hawk out in the distance. This wasn't the 'I found a town' cry. This was a 'Danger will robinson! Danger!β cry. She looked out to see her hawk flying back at her at top speeds, flapping its wings as hard as its little heart would let it. It let out another cry and then an older gentleman who wasn't making it a habit to insult his party members spoke up, instructing everyone on the name of the mountain chain. Malia wasn't paying any attention. She had dropped to one knee and was digging profusely through her bag. She had one of the red stones in her hand from earlier but she dug hurriedly for another. That was when the older man said something was coming and that he had a bad feeling. βOver the ridge.β She responded as her hands finally dug to the very bottom of her satchel, finally finding an identical stone to the previous red stone she had out earlier. βTrouble indeed.β
The rumbling began to sound as the war cries flowed along the wind. They didn't have a lot of time. Not nearly enough if they were going to get any kind of breathing room. They had just arrived. For them to be attacked this quickly after only being here a few moments. This was a terrible omen! A terrible omen indeed.
She pulsed magic into both red stones and threw them into the air. The stones dissolved and condensed into two glorious red birds with wingspans that reached at least five feet. Their feathers glistened under the sunlight like firelight, dancing under its bright light as if ablaze and when she pointed, the birds ignited and dove. They swept along the grass about ten feet in front of them, lighting it ablaze and continued to sweep there, the fire wall growing wider and taller as they continued to sweep back and forth in front of them. Malia thought she was getting phoenixes when she bought this pair. Imagine her surprise when she learned that fire birds and phoenixes were not one and the same. Nonetheless, birds who could produce fire for you wherever you instructed were still incredibly useful.
Her hawk dove through the flame wall and came to settle on her arm that she held extended out for it. She pulled her wand from her satchel and touched it to the bird and it began to condense back down into the gem. She snatched the gem out of the air and pocketed it before tucking the wand into her belt for future use.