Aurem sat still- only grunting when the bastard marched forward, yelling some guttural phrase, and grabbed him but a big clump of his silver blonde hair. He hissed low, and grasped at the warrior’s wrist, nails digging into the darkened skin. A low growl burst from his lips feeling the heat of blood as he dug his nails into the man’s skin harder. “Frozen bastard!” He growled out, hissing air through his teeth, as the man dragged him forward and towards the entrance of the tent. Tears sprung at his eyes, as his hair was jerked forward harshly. And then, when he was tossed down onto the cold snow, he let out a soft groan, closing his eyes tightly.

The breath was knocked out of him for a moment, as a boot slammed into his stomach, rolling him to his back. His eyelids fluttered open in shock, feeling a spasm run through him from the sharp blow to his ribs. Vision blurred from tears of pain, Aurem grunted, and blinked rapidly. The sky was a bright blue above, and outside of the tent, the cold air bit through his thin clothing. Without his cloak, his clothes were hardly suited to the cold temperature of the mountains. And without his magic, he had little protection against outside forces. Magical, or non.

Scowling, Aurem glared as best he could at the Undari face that appeared over him. He heard the man yelling, and then voices from nearby. Soon enough, a small crowd of Undari gathered around him, armed with weapons of every sort. It was doubtful that many of the Undari would understand him- but he held his tongue nonetheless. The one who had grabbed him looked like he was ready to aim a kick at his face. His scalp still hurt from being dragged by his hair, and he resisted the urged to test the damage to see if any had been torn away. His hair was strong enough to handle damage- but it was the first time he’d been dragged so far by his hair.

He felt a boot nudging against him, as the man above growled something at him. He didn’t know a word of the language, but even then he could tell it was an order. Or some sort of question that he was ordering answered. Unable to resist rolling his eyes, Aurem scoffed, and responded, “I don’t know your damned language,” he hissed low, immediately disliking this one. His eyes were dark brown- not the red of the man who’d held him at spear point. He also looked smaller, his presence not as memorable. Sort of scrawny, as far as Undari went. Most were beyond muscled, even the women. This one just seemed...unimpressive. His facial features were Undari, but there was also something…different. Aurem would have said softer, it the man didn’t have murder etched into every pore on his face. “So I can’t give you what you want…” Aurem sneered up at the man, wincing inwardly. Sometimes, he wished he knew how to keep his attitude under control. He’d always had a problem with authority, despite being a mage. Now was really not the time to flaunt it.

Aurem grunted, when the butt of a spear slammed into his head, pain exploding across his face, cursing softly, as his teeth cut into his cheek. He winced heavily as he tasted irony blood in his mouth. He managed to – barely- resist the urge to spit blood at the bastard who had hit him, and settled with glaring up non-compliantly at the man instead. Even if he wanted to respond, he couldn’t..

A quick glance around the Undari surrounding him told him that this man might not have been well liked. A few seemed almost amused, if he could read their expressions right. Some seemed wary, eyeing the collar at his neck, as if unsure if it truly worked. Even fewer seemed angered by his attitude. There were quiet murmurings as the scrawny Undari continued to snap down at him. Aurem kept his expression blank, as he stared up, wondering if he would get the message that he had no idea what the idiot wanted with him. It seemed that, while also lacking muscles, this one lacked the sufficient brain power.

Aurem tensed as the scrawny one raised his spear, as if to strike him again. Even a scrawny Undari still hit hard. He squeezed his eyes shut, and prepared himself for more pain…but it never came.

The murmurs died out in an instant, and suddenly there was an all too familiar hot breath in his face. Heart lurching once again, Aurem snapped his eyes open wide, staring into the face of death. Or something close to it. A grey and silver wolf towered over him, and the Undari around them backed off, reverently. All except for one, who moved forward with all the grace and power he had seen their wolves flaunt.

Aurem swallowed hard, seeing the flash of red hair and eyes peering down at him. The silver beast growled low in her chest, and then he heard one word that he did recognize. Siira. So, this was the fabled wolf that all of Delfin had heard about. The red eyed Undari placed a hand on the wolf’s shoulder, and silenced the growls with another surprisingly soft word. Aurem’s trembling stopped after a moment, when the wolf finally withdrew a few paces. She sat on her haunches though, golden eyes watching him, as if seeing through to his core.

Aurem swallowed hard, eyes drawn back to the red eyed Undari. The red eyes slid over his frame, none too quickly, and Aurem felt himself scowling, feeling quite judged in the man’s gaze. He held his tongue, though, only further tensing when the Undari exchanged words. From what he could tell, red eyes was the leader, and he said something to the scrawny one that the man didn’t like. There were a few angry words exchanged, and then red eyes touched his chest hard, and stepped forward. Aurem could have sworn he heard a growl coking from both men. Whatever happened caused the rest of the Undari to draw back, and Aurem heard a few audible gasps. He had no idea what was going on- but a growl from Siira seemed to settle whatever complaints the scrawny one had. The smaller Undari then scowled, and motioned towards the tent, where the other mage lay unconscious. Aurem scowled slightly, and then stirred, hissing faintly. He saw a flash of greed in the bastard’s eyes, and something darker lurking within those dark eyes. It was something he had seen before, and he would not let the man touch the other mage.

Before he could stupidly protest, though, a pair of red eyes locked onto his. For a moment Aurem thought the bigger man looked amused, but then the look passed, and the leader grunted at the scrawny one and shook his head. That angered him further, but he blanched as Siira stepped forward with another low growl. Muttering something darkly, the scrawny one growled, and then turned to stalk off. Immediately, the air in the camp seemed to relax. A few Undari cast him cautious looks, but then turned, and went back to doing…whatever it was they had been doing before.

Retaining the scowl on his face, Aurem watched as the red eyed man looked around, and then finally back at him. His eyes narrowed, and he snorted softly, motioning vaguely. The silver wolf padded forward, and then sat closer. The red eyed Undari slowly crouched down at Aurem’s side, and he watched the man as he soon sat at his side.

“Sit. Up,” the man grunted, his tone still surprisingly soft for one addressing a prisoner. Aurem’s eyes widened slightly. Though heavily accented, the Undari warrior knew Delfines. Aurem stared cautiously for a moment, but then grunted, and slowly pushed himself up. His head hurt. Hell, every part of him did. And he was cold. And countless other things that complaining about wouldn’t help. He eyed the man cautiously, once again catching a glint of amusement in the man’s eyes. Perhaps this was all a big game to the bastard, and he was just toying with Aurem. “Turuk.”

That was a word that Aurem definitely didn’t understand. And then it made sense. The man gestured to himself, and then thumped his chest with a fist. He then motioned to the silver wolf. “Siira.”

Recognition flashed in Aurem’s features, he knew, because he saw a pleased expression cross over the man- Turuk’s- face. Aurem scowled. Apparently he was pleased by the reputation that Siira had in the Delfin army. Aurem scoffed, and then hesitated a moment when the man gestured towards him. He supposed that Turuk was asking his name. Aurem frowned, and then swallowed hard, before wetting his cracked lips. It could do no harm to answer, and he really didn’t want the man calling him something he made up himself. “Aurem,” he gave, still keeping a cautious eye on the man.

Turuk bared his teeth in a pleased grin, and then nodded, and sat up a bit. Aurem was still expecting some sort of blow, or at least something more than the curious stare he was getting. “Aurem very stupid,” Turuk finally said, with a snort of air.

Aurem scowled. “I’ve been called worse,” he grunted softly, and then glanced briefly around him. Siira settled down onto her stomach, seemingly relaxed now that Turuk and he were sort of conversing. His Delfines was broken, but much better than Aurem had expected. Considering he knew nothing of their language, Aurem was almost impressed. It was a bit dashed by being their prisoner, though. “What are you going to do with us?” He asked, returning his gaze to the man.

He blinked, and then considered that for a moment, half shrugging a shoulder. “Aurem and mage belong to Turuk. And Siira,” he said simply.