To say that Valerie was apprehensive was something of an understatement. Scared, even, and she couldn't deny it. It was the tension, knowing that one false step could give them away and see them slaughtered by orcs. Even the fights she'd been in earlier hadn't been so frightening as the [i]threat[/i] of this one. Still, she was disciplined enough to bury her fear within herself, and focus on the task at hand. Stealth was not her most practiced skill, but she was quiet and careful enough to avoid detection with Markus's help, and hers in return when he needed it.

When the orc at last finished his business in front of them and returned to his kind, Valerie almost shuddered with the dissipating of tension. Of course the orcs were still a stone's throw away, but they weren't close enough that Valerie was worried they could [i]smell[/i] their human flesh anymore. She met Markus's eyes when his hand settled on her shoulder.

A blink spell. Valerie couldn't say she'd ever been teleported before; her parents had never been too fond of the use of magic, especially on their own children. She didn't doubt Markus was capable of it, having seen what he'd already done... though the fact that they couldn't get all the way to cover in one jump was disconcerting. The thought occurred to her that it wasn't too late to turn back, get out of here while she still could in one piece. But if they didn't get to the bottom of this, no one would, not until these orcs had done some serious, possibly irreparable harm. No, she had to do this.

"I trust you," she said, taking his hand and squeezing.