“Is that a proposal?” Nimby asks with a crooked smile.
Myilia clears her throat and blushes. “Just an option.”
“I will definitely consider staying in Freedom,” Nimby admits, putting his arm around her shoulders. “I might have to wait until I finish this business that I’m involved in. After that I will definitely look you up and see where we go.”
“Don’t go teasing a girl. I may be a toughened sailor, but I have emotions like everyone else,” Myilia says, a playful twinkle in her eye.
Before he can stop himself, Nimby kisses her on the cheek. “I only tease the people that I care about. It’s a friend thing.”
“So, I’m just a friend.”
“Uh. . .”
“Do you want to make it more than friendship?” she asks. Nimby gulps hard as he takes in the vision of halfling beauty in front of him. He is about to say something when he notices distant movement out of the corner of his eye. He squints into the distance until he notices a wave of shadow in the north. The wave is rapidly moving through the forest and growing thicker as it nears the city. Nimby’s mouth goes dry when he realizes what is coming.
“What is it?” Myilia asks with concern.
“Get back to the ship and tell Captain Higgs to prepare to leave,” Nimby urgently orders her. “Something is coming and I don’t think that dragon was able to stop it. Don’t ask any questions. Just get back to Captain Higgs and warn him.”
He grabs Myilia by the hand and leaps off the waterfall. They land in the cold water and he quickly drags her out before pointing toward the dock. Myilia nods before taking off her slippers and breaking into a dizzying sprint. Nimby is running in the opposite direction as an eerie noise begins to fill the air. Gurgling squeals from a swarm of angry, hungry creatures begins to slip through the cracks of the city wall.
“By the gods, I hate goblins,” Nimby mutters, pushing himself faster through the abandoned streets of Hero’s Gate.
10
The dense forest and weak wind help to conceal the presence of the small force of warriors. Archers have taken up their positions in the branches while the warriors calmly stare down the hill at the collection of weather-worn tents. The remains of several fires smolder on the outskirts of the bandit camp. A crude guard tower lies on its side as a handful of orcs work to pack the structure onto a large, ox-drawn cart. All of the bandits are in leather armor that covers their gray-colored skin. Most of them are carrying swords with only a few very large orcs carrying hammers and axes.
Roughly two hundred and fifty male orcs are in view with no sign of the rumored trolls. A few of the archers make fun of the sea of short-nosed beings with fanged lower jaws that jut out of their faces and long, perpendicular ears that twitch in the slight breeze. The archers stop talking as soon as Lord Highrider sternly looks up at them. A sigh of relief can be heard from a few warriors when they notice that only a handful of the bandits are carrying longbows. Though, most of the warriors are unable to think past the orcs’ long, raspy breathing.
“Why do the males breathe like that?” Nyx whispers. She is sneaking around the side of a hill with Luke and ten of the stronger warriors.
“It has to do with the structure of a male orc’s lungs and their lack of nose hairs. Without hairs in the nose, they can’t filter out pollen and dust from the air. Hence, the rasp to their breathing, which makes it sound like they are choking on the air,” Luke explains in an attempt to mimic how Fritz and Nyx share their knowledge. “It takes about ten seconds for an orc to take a single breath, but that breath lasts them for a little less than ten minutes. The reason it lasts so long is that the air slowly diffuses into the bloodstream through lung filters that get rid of pollen and dust. Though, that’s only for the males. Female orcs absorb air directly through their pores, so they don’t even have lungs. Some advice if you’re ever attacked by a female orc, they are terrified of bodies of water because they can easily drown.”
Nyx gently pokes him in the side. “So, where does the pollen and dust go?”
“Males sweat out through the larger pores found in their feet and females process it through their urine,” Luke responds bluntly.
“Gross,” she mutters. “How do you know all this?”
“Hands on learning with my grandfather,” Luke replies with a shudder. It takes a few seconds for Nyx to figure out what he means. Once she does, a look of disgust briefly passes over her face.
A dwarven knight hushes them with a low grunt and points ahead. “We’re here. The first part of the plan is that the archers will send one volley into the camp. This will bring their attention away from this hill. Then, our caster will take out any trolls that are in our line of sight. Once the trolls are dropped, everybody runs in and starts killing the orcs until they retreat or surrender.”
The knight beckons for Nyx to come next to him. “Do you see any trolls, milady?”
“There’s one about forty yards ahead at the edge of the camp,” Nyx says while scanning the area. She gently flexes her fingers, feeling them loosen up. “I don’t think the other two are nearby. I might have to get closer than we planned to make sure this one dies from my first set of spells. The tents and orcs in the area will absorb too much of a large scale spell, so I have to use some up-close spells to make sure the troll gets hit by all of my power. Once that first troll is killed, the others will come looking for me instead of attacking anyone near them. They will be obsessed with the greatest threat as long as nobody else attacks them. You still plan on being my shield, Luke? One troll is pretty tough. You might have two of them to deal with.”
“I can handle them and give you time for casting,” he promises.
Luke moves ahead of the other warriors to examine the monster since he has never seen a troll before. A lump forms in his throat from looking at the creature. Standing over twelve feet tall with long, heavy arms that drag along the ground, the troll is a two-headed nightmare come to life. Luke notices that the beast’s eyes are nothing more than dark holes with pinpricks of yellow in their center. Rigid, twisted hairs stick out of its heads in every direction as if they are dead branches. The beast sniffs the air with its long, mosquito-like noses before moving in a pounding stride with its wide feet. Sunlight glints off the curved claws that sparkle like diamonds. Luke can barely see subtle vapors wafting off the lime green skin.
“I have to stab that oily thing with my pretty sabers?” he nervously complains.
The dwarf chuckles and slaps Luke on the back. “I’ll help you clean them after the battle, youngling. Now, get ready.”
A horn bellows in the distance moments before a rain of arrows pelts the tents and bandits. Panic and pain erupt in the camp as the orcs look up the hill in time to see the warriors rushing out of the trees. The warriors do not bother to see how many enemies have fallen to the archers as they charge down the hill. Even scared, the orcs are able to quickly get into formation and meet the attack. Both forces smash into each other with ground-shaking force. The orcs scream for blood while the entire camp begins to push back the warriors. The clash of swords and the sound of fists hitting flesh fill the air as the flank teams begin their advance. An occasional twang can be heard from the forest followed by an orc falling with an arrow embedded in its head.
“Now!” Nyx growls as she sprints toward the troll.
The rest of her team waits patiently as she charges the troll. A massive paw swings wildly at her, which she rolls under and stops an inch from the monster’s mud-caked knee. Her hands are encased in fire as she wraps her legs around the monster’s thick leg and presses her hands against its stomach. Instead of igniting, the troll feels the magic flame pass into its body. It looks down at her in confusion before an acidic gurgling begins to build in its throats. The troll whirls and thrashes, trying to shake Nyx off. It tries to maul her only for its claws to bounce of a burning shield that appears around her and starts to eat at its leg. Ear wrenching shrieks echo throughout the camp as the monster flails about
in fear and rage. It is almost free of the half-elf when a spout of flame launches out of both mouths and sets part of the camp on fire. The troll collapses with a primal shriek and dissolves into a pool of flaming liquid.
“Everybody charge!” the dwarf yells.
Luke sprints to Nyx with all his speed before a group of orcs can get to her. He leaps at them and spins in mid-air to decapitate two of the bandits. Another orc receives a kick to the face, which gives Luke enough leverage to backflip away from an orc using a crude spear. Two more bandits slash at Luke only to watch him jump over their blades and land on their shoulders. Both of them try to awkwardly slash the half-elf, but he hurls himself at the orc he kicked and impales the bandit on his blades. Unable to stop their attacks, the other two orcs cleave each other’s face in two and topple to the ground. More orcs spill out of the camp to attack the forest tracker until he is facing eleven bandits.
“I think I got their attention,” he declares, his pulse racing with excitement.
“Finish them quick. I would like to find those trolls before they find me,” Nyx reminds him. She nervously looks around the area, her fingers covered in flames that lick at the air.
All of the orcs charge in at Luke, but he rolls away, causing half of them to clumsily stab and strike each other in the legs and hands. He uses his swords to sweep the legs out from under three orcs before he makes another roll to safety. Luke remains crouched low as he swings his blades and cuts the legs off two of his enemies. They are still falling to the ground when Luke pounces and, with a single slash, slits the throats of the three orcs that are still trying to get to their feet. A swarm of steel points rush at him from all directions, but the blades only manage to nick his shoulder thanks to his rapid parrying.
“I said quickly!” Nyx shouts.
Four of the orcs finally notice her and take a step in her direction. It is only a step before Luke stabs two of them at the base of the skull and flips over them. He spins around in a blur of motion before diving between the remaining two orcs.
Nyx is amazed at Luke’s speed as the orcs fall to the ground with gushing stab wounds in their stomachs. She doesn’t remember seeing Luke’s blades stab the orcs before they drop at his feet. The precision and speed of Luke’s attacks remind her of how she casts her magic when she focuses. The possibilities of what she could do with Luke by her side grow into an endless list the longer she stares at him.
“That should do it,” Luke gasps, wiping the fluorescent red blood of the orcs from his face and cleans his blades on the side of a tent.
“Impre . . . look out!” Nyx screams.
Luke is barely able to get his swords up in time to deflect the clawed hand that strikes at him from nowhere. A drooling troll materializes in front of him just as another claw rakes across his back. Luke’s skin and muscles feel like they have been bathed in arctic waters as he forces his body to stumble away from the trolls.
“I was hoping they wouldn’t come at the same time,” Nyx admits with a hint of nervousness in her voice. “I don’t know if I can handle both of them.”
“Choose one and I’ll deal with the other!” Luke shouts, his breathing becoming labored. The trolls spurt and grunt at each other while taking a slow step toward the half-elves.
“That’s insane. You don’t have any magic. Look,” Nyx says, pointing a flaming finger at the noisy trolls. “They are just as confused as we are. I can take them down if I work quickly.” She casts a fire spell at one of them, but the monster ducks the blast. Its friend moves with incredible speed to slash at Nyx’s stomach before she can throw another spell. She trips backwards and feels the claw tear her clothes, but they barely miss her skin.
Luke growls as he pounces on the attacking troll’s chest and starts hacking away at its faces. The troll stumbles back as it slaps at the angry warrior. Both claws jam into Luke’s side causing him to scream in rage and pain. The other troll is about to join in the fight when it is sent skidding along the ground by a solid burst of wind. Nyx charges at the troll in an attempt to hit it when it’s down. The beast rolls away from her next fire blast and slashes at her.
“You bastards are not supposed to be agile enough to dodge me,” Nyx whispers, casting a shield spell to deflect the troll’s claws.
The beast screeches in her face before diving into the trampled ground. Nyx is about to run to Luke, but the troll leaps out of the ground and grabs her arms. The crushing grip keeps her hands from moving as she kicks uselessly at the troll’s chest. Nyx cringes at the foul breath on her face as the troll starts to pull her toward its left mouth. Panic fills her body as she scrambles to think of any spell that could save her. Her head slowly enters its mouth where thick drool coats her ebony hair. A horrified scream escapes her lips, which is soon followed by lances of fire jutting out of her eyes. The magical fire rips through the troll’s left-side head and the body explodes with a gory blast. Nyx is still trying to catch her breath as she lands on her back and feels chunks of cooked troll land on her.
“Now to save Luke,” Nyx coughs, dragging herself to her feet. Bruises have already formed on her arms and she shudders at the thought of what is in her hair.
Nyx looks around for Luke only to find that the battle has moved away from her. The calm and odd silence gives her time to look around her first battlefield. The bodies of bandits and warriors litter the muddy ground around her with no sign of Luke or the last troll. Only the dwarven knight and a small group of orcs can be seen, but they are too busy fighting to notice the tired caster. She can hear the main battle continuing on the other side of a group of burning tents. Occasionally, she sees limp bodies get thrown higher than the tents, which is always followed by dull crunches. Nyx is snapped out of her daze by a loud shriek from nearby.
“A little help!” Luke shouts from the other side of a burning tent. Nyx can barely see him getting swung through the air like a leaf in a tornado even before she gets around the tent. His blades are embedded up to their hilts in the faces of the troll, which is trying desperately to shake him loose. Luke is trying to stand in the crevice between its necks, but keeps slipping off the oily skin.
“You stabbed it in both brains at the same time? I’m impressed,” the caster declares, rolling up her sleeves.
“Just help!” he screams.
“Screaming like an angry princess is pretty pathetic,” Nyx mutters, focusing her magic. She waves her hand at the flaming tent and uses a gust of wind to slam the entire structure into the troll. Luke gets enough leverage to flip off the troll and over the incoming tent. A scream of pain erupts from the monster as it flails from under the burning structure. The forest tracker wastes no time jumping into the fire and hacking off both heads of the troll. He rolls out of the wreckage and continues rolling to put out the flames on his body.
“That had to hurt,” Nyx says with a friendly grin.
“That troll clawed me so much that I can barely feel my fingers much less fire covering my body,” admits Luke, whose face is covered in silver blood. He watches the headless troll melt under the flaming tent even as its heads keep moving their jaws. It isn’t long before the heads burst and the body seeps into the mud. With an exaggerated exhale, Luke shakes his blades clean of most of the gore and sheaths them.
“It sounds like the battle has become a hunt among the tents. Maybe we-” starts Nyx. Her words are cut off as a long, red arrow punches through her left side, streaking towards Luke. The forest tracker snatches it out of the air and dives to catch Nyx in the same fluid motion. He holds her carefully as she leans against him.
“This really hurts,” she groans, slumping to the ground. He lays her down and puts the arrow into a belt loop as he struggles to figure out what to do. A few orcs turn to see the injured caster, but are immediately killed by the dwarven knight.
“Don’t talk. We need Aedyn or something,” Luke says, bending down to examine the bleeding hole in her side. “You would think that Lord Highrider would bring a few healers on a hunt like
this.”
Luke tries to use a muddy flag to stop the bleeding while Nyx’s pain-wracked face begins to turn pale. He looks around the battlefield helplessly until he sees a figure retreating from between some distant tents. His anger grows as he sees the tall, green-skinned warrior in gothic armor with a gaudy longbow and a serrated blade strapped to his back. The sound of three orcs approaching him remains unnoticed even when the bandits are almost on top of Luke.
“Watch yourself, my friends!” yells a deep voice from behind the approaching orcs. All three of them are hacked in half with a single swing of a great axe. Luke looks up to see the redheaded barbarian covered in blood.
“Thanks,” Luke says, staring at the large man with gratitude.
“Take this potion. It will minimize her bleeding,” the large man promises. Luke nods as he takes the amber potion and hands it to Nyx. She drinks it quickly to ease her pain as soon as possible.
“I have to go take care of something, Nyx. I saw the thing that shot you and it wasn’t an orc,” Luke says as he draws his saber. “Are you going to be okay?”
The barbarian puts a strong hand on the half-elf’s shoulder. “She will be safe, little warrior. I will protect her. Just promise me that she will not use too much magic.”
“Why not?” Nyx croaks.
“It makes me uncomfortable,” the man admits. An orc runs at the small group only to have its skull caved in by the broadside of the barbarian’s axe.
Legends of Windemere: 02 - Prodigy of Rainbow Tower Page 23
