Mage And Wolf
Chapter 70

Chapter 70: Chapter 70

By the time Doc and Hui’Jin finished their talk about medicine, it was lunch time and the pack was pouring into the dining hall. I’d like to say they were welcoming me back from my work away, but in all honesty, I think everyone was more excited to meet with Hui’Jin.

The kids table where she sat with her new friends was surrounded by adults, everyone with questions she was more than happy to answer. I should have tried harder to convince Lala to come along, she’d love it in the pack house, always filled with people and busy.

Hui’Jin is happy to answer most of the questions, sitting at the table waiting on lunch to be served, with her wings wrapped around a pair of pre teen Lycan girls who have decided they must keep all the boy cooties away from their new friend.

The hubbub doesn’t die down until the trays of food reach the tables, everyone moving the conversations back to their seats.

I stand up, grabbing everyone’s attention.

"I know we’re all excited to have someone new in the pack. Goddess knows that doesn’t happen often" Everyone laughs at just how true that is. Petros doesn’t even like hosting meetings, preferring to meet at the other pack instead.

"But never fear, we’ll be here for at least a week, possibly two if nothing drastic happens" There’s a moment of silence as everyone contemplates the happenings of the last month. The Pack survived better than most, being largely self sufficient to start with, but they’re not so isolated as to be unaware, especially with the danger of portals opening near pack grounds.

"Now, I’ve got to run a quick errand for the Alpha starting after lunch, so I’ll be away, but feel free to talk to Hui’Jin about anything you like. If you can drag her away from playing with the pups that is."

Everyone laughs and shouts greetings to the youth table, wishing her the best for her stay here at the Blood Claw Pack.

Belly full once again, I pull Hui’Jin aside for a moment.

"I’ve got to go collect a herb through a portal. They’re intensely xenophobic according the Drakon City Guards, so you’ll have to stay here and entertain the Pack. Do whatever you like, hang out with Doc, play with the kids, you can even take patrol shifts or go portal hunting with the warriors if I’m away long enough for you to get bored. The oracle assures me it’s near the portal, but nobody is certain how much effort it will take to actually obtain it."

"Certainly, High Priestess" Hui’Jin jokes with a toothy smile "Playing with the kids for a couple days sounds fun, and Doc has a lot of new medicines I don’t know, so we’ve got days and days worth of studying to do to update our knowledge."

She seems pretty enthusiastic about herbalism, or alchemy. Good to know for the future, I’ll see if I can find more study materials for her and add it to her schooling.

"Now behave as befits a Priestess of the Death God, but try not to kill any of the pack mates unless the Goddess demands it." I pat her head and she waves as she runs out to play soccer with the kids.

"Alright Alpha, I’m ready to head out. Now where is this portal?"

"It’s at the northwest edge of the territory, just outside the boundary next to the Ocean. We can run it in about half an hour."

That will do, I haven’t been on a good run through the woods in a while. North Dakota is surprisingly short on forests.

The portal would be hard to miss at this point. 2 Priestesses of the Red stand near the gates to a small military compound. Tents are set up to keep a constant guard supervision, and weapons are trained on the portal itself from a pair of tanks parked at the perimeter. They must really be taking this one seriously.

"Red Priestesses, greetings. I am Katrina, High Priestess of the Black" I greet them, and they bow before immediately stepping aside.

"Wish they were that nice to me" Petros grumps.

A Drakon city military commander awaits us inside, a human from the Earth half of the city’s guard contingent.

"Greetings High Priestess. We’ve been awaiting your arrival, and we’ve got all the information you might need." He holds out a tablet with pictures of an odd plant showing. It’s like a maple leaf, but with long silver spikes at the points and a silvery teal overall color.

Eldorian silverleaf the label reads. The description says it’s got an intensely pleasant fragrance and is often used for incense and high end perfumes.

Below the base picture are a dozen different ways the herb is known to be prepared, and a note assuring me that even prepared it will suffice for the purpose at hand.

"Any word on religion beyond the portal? I can go like this" I motion towards my combat garb, complete with shotgun and sword. "Or I can change into my robes of office?"

"Best not to change" one of the gate Priestesses assures me. "They seem to have a thing against non humans, attacking and calling us demons on sight. They’re probably not followers of the Dragon Gods" This woman’s humor is so dry I’m surprised her lips don’t crack.

"The oracle says it should be between 20 and 40 miles away, bear 30 degrees left after leaving the portal. That’s as close as we can determine the location. Best of luck in your search."

I double check that I’m back in human form and in proper clothes before heading to the portal. It feels a bit odd to not have a tail after so long shifted, but I should be used to it after living all my life hiding it before I got to The Mages Safe House.

Masking my energy the best I know how, I step through and find the cave containing the portal is a small one. Only a few paces deep with an entry even I have to duck to get through. No wonder so many regions have problems finding them if they can open in locations like this.

I turn slightly left, looking back at the portal behind me, yeah that should be about 30 degrees, now to keep heading this direction and hope that I find it quickly. Which way did that time dilation work again? Pretty sure it was hours in here to minutes outside, so I should be fine.

A few miles of careful travel later, I come across a clearing with humans working in it. There seems to be a farmstead, with a small field. Everyone is in shabby clothing, but not terrible, and I can see a pump style water well by the house. So not too primitive, these farmers are just poor. I keep traveling, keeping out of sight, but searching for any sign of the silverleaf herb. The description says I should be able to smell it from miles away if it’s growing outdoors, so I’m pretty sure the farmers didn’t have any.

I’m getting close to 20 miles traveled at a brisk, for a Lycan, jog. The sun is still rising in the sky, so it’s morning in this world, and I’ve found the wooden wall of a small village. It’s in the right direction, and just within the search range the oracle indicated, so this might be it. Now to watch the gate and see if I can get in without raising suspicions.

Think merchant thoughts, think merchant thoughts.