"Ride on," he shouted at his men as he beheaded an orc by his side and kicked his horse to charge forward. The large mount obeyed and picked up pace, trampling any orc too slow or too dumb to get out of the way. Major Sarkis felt the sword getting heavier in his hand as he continued to harass the orcs near him. He was quickly growing weary and knew his men would be as well. He knew they couldn't win, but he stubbornly wanted to take as many down with him as he could. As he slashed away at another orc, severely wounding him across the chest but not mortally, he saw what he almost didn't expect to see; his captain was up ahead with roughly the same amount of cavalry with him as the major had. Perhaps they would yet reach the gate. This spurred him on harder, and his men followed his lead. The horses shook the ground, and any orc coming close to them were cut down. Many of the cowardly orcs would jump to the ground or run away from the charging horses, but still a large number swarmed around them.
Major Sarkis had blood flowing from a number of superficial cuts, but knew eventually that if he lost too much blood from these wounds it would still prove fatal. He felt no pain now, though, and his fury rose as he continued to stab and slash away. As he met up with his captain, he gave him a smile and a nod and they both began their combined charge back toward the fort. Side by side they hacked, stabbed and slashed, slaying or wounding as many as they possibly could, whilst the following cavalry once again formed into one big V.
Twenty metres from the gate, Major Sarkis began to believe that he would make it back behind the wall until something thumped into his chest and took him right off his horse. Any wind he had left in him after that was quickly knocked out of him as he landed hard on his back. Before he blacked out, he found the strength to yell out, "Ride on!"
* * *
"We're killing too many of them," said General Krak'too angrily. "We have them beaten; we need to force their surrender."
"Then perhaps, general, you'd enlighten me as to how we do that. It seems they are happy to fight to the death, and I for one would welcome that sight," replied Great Shaman O'tukka.
"Our orders are to capture as many as possible, or should I have you explain to the fierce one how we easily destroyed a fortification but were unable to take any alive?"
"So what's your great plan then, general?" asked Great Shaman O'tukka mockingly.
"One of the ones we captured knew our language, as these little orcs have a similar language, so perhaps I can persuade them to surrender. Can you elevate me and amplify my voice, Great Shaman O'tukka?"
"As easily as I could squash a bug, general," said the great shaman and then he began casting. A moment later, General Krak'too was floating high into the air. All those nearby who were not engaged in combat looked up at the levitating general, orc and human alike. When he finally spoke, his voice sounded like thunder which made even those fully engaged in battle stop and look up at him.
"All who surrender willingly now will be spared," his voice boomed across the battlefield. "You are overrun, your fort is lost, surrender and spare any more needless death."
He wasn't sure if any of the humans could understand him or not, and for a time there was absolute silence where moments before had been the horrendous sounds of battle; metal on metal, screams of the dying and injured, twangs of bowstrings and thuds of crossbow bolts. Suddenly the silence was broken.
"Why should we surrender to be killed later without a fight?" asked a human in the orcish tongue. General Krak'too quickly located the man on the ground and noticed many dead orcs around him. This human was obviously the leader or at least one of high rank.
"Because you will not be killed. You will be imprisoned for a time, and then let loose so that you may fight again." A number of the humans had a laugh at this, obviously only those that could understand the language, but the human he was talking to kept a stoic expression.
"Why would we believe the words of an orc? They are not known for keeping to their promises," the human replied.
"I am General Krak'too, human, give me your name and rank so that I know I am not wasting my breath talking to a lesser," boomed the orc general.
"I am Major Isak, charged with the defence of this fort, but none defending this fort today are my lesser. We are all men defending our home from an army that does not belong here."
"That may be so, Major Isak, but you have been conquered just the same. You have a choice to die here today, or live to fight another day. I am a general of the Black Skull tribe, and an orc who sticks to my word. What is your answer?" As he finished saying this, General Krak'too noticed a little orc begin charging the major from behind, sword ready to run him through. Before he could shout a warning, the major swiftly turned and sliced the orc in two and turned back to face him once more.
"It seems you don't speak for all on this battlefield, general. What as-surance is that for us?"
"The little orcs are quite angry with your kind, major. We of the Black Skull have never met your kind and therefore don't hold that same anger. If you surrender, I will have my orcs gather you together with orders to kill any little orc harming you. Once you are all gathered together we will take you swiftly away from this place."
The major went silent for a time and looked slowly around the battlefield, obviously deep in thought. After a minute or two of eerie silence the major shouted out a command in his own tongue and gently lowered his own weapon to the ground. There were some confused looks on the humans' faces, but after a moment they all began to surrender their weapons.
"Orcs of the Black Skull, gather the humans behind the inner wall and force all the little orcs out of there; kill any who harm the humans. Carry the wounded if need be, then guard the inner gate. For the glory of the fierce one!" These last words were shouted out by the general, and with his amplified voice, the walls and ground shook.
* * *
"We have to get in there and save all we can," shouted Master Pilk.
"Master Pilk, with all due respect, from your own observation the fort is lost. The duke told you not to do anything risky, and by all accounts, any rescue attempt here would not only be risky, but suicidal. Our obligation now is to return to Arthea and inform the duke that Fort Lowmount is lost," lectured Master Tayer.
"I...I never told you of the dukes command, how did you know?" shouted Master Pilk angrily.
"The duke knows your commitment to Lertia and especially Arthea; he knows that you would risk everything to save even one Lertian soldier even if you were commanded not to. The duke told me to prevent you from doing something foolish. We all feel your loss, Master Pilk, but more lives are yet at stake now in Arthea. We will be needed in the city's defence."
"And those men behind the walls of Fort Lowmount, are they not also needed to defend the city?" shouted back Master Pilk.
"Of course they are, and no doubt because of their bravery, we are now facing a far lesser number of orcs. Come now, Master Pilk, you must be reasonable. We are at war, the orcs have struck a huge blow to us, do not make it bigger by throwing away your life in a vain rescue attempt."
Master Pilk's eyes blazed at Master Tayer, but they quickly softened when he noticed the tears in the older master's eyes. He knew he was right, but they had already lost so much over the past few days. So many good men had died, it was almost unbearable. With his shoulders lowered, Master Pilk walked over to his horse and slowly mounted it, and the wizards began their return journey.
* * *
"What are you doing, Vik?" asked Trent. "Master Pilk told us not to enter that room."
"Master Pilk is not here, and foolish for telling us not to enter some-where; that only entices us more so," replied Vik as he continued to try and pick the lock.
"Entices you, maybe! I'm happy to leave wizards stuff well alone. I don't fancy being turned into a frog, or worse."
"Aren't you the least bit curious to see what's in this room, Trent?"
"Well...Yeah, kinda, but what if it has some magical trap on the door? We could be blasted to ashes before we
get a chance to look inside."
"I'm sure Master Pilk would have told us if it had a dangerous magical trap on it. He knows me too well, he no doubt expects me to attempt getting into this room. Now are you just going to stand there and watch or are you going to help me; you're much better at picking locks than I am."
"Umm...All right, stand back and give me a look," said Trent as he gently pushed Vik away from the door. A moment later, Trent had the door unlocked.
"This was your idea, Vik, so you can go first. If you survive, I'll come in after you."
Vik walked over to the door and tentatively turned the knob, listening for any sign of traps and readying himself to jump to the side if he should trigger one. He had turned the knob full lock without a trap triggering, so with one quick motion he flung the door wide inward and jumped to the side.
Nothing happened. Feeling a little foolish, Vik got back to his feet and dusted himself down. He then walked back to the door and peered into Master Pilk's secret room. The room was substantially larger than what he thought; in fact it seemed larger than was possible. Tables and bookshelves full of dusty old books lay scattered about the room. Different sized beakers and flasks with varying coloured liquids were lined up along one desk on the far side of the room. The room seemed to glow faintly from an unseen light source. Over in one corner Vik noticed an intricately designed metal archway, with strange looking symbols at the top of the arch. It seemed an odd location for such an object; normally such archways were seen in sculpted gardens where people could walk through the arch. Walking through this arch would lead you into a solid wall. Vik also noticed on a table not too far from the arch a spherical shaped object covered by a thick dusty cloth. He began walking toward that table, when he was suddenly held back by Trent.
"I've had a change of heart, Vik, I don't think we should fool around in this room. It has a strange feel about it."
"Come on, Trent, I'm sure there's nothing too dangerous in here if we are careful. I just want a quick look," replied Vik as he escaped Trent's grasp and hurried over to the table with the spherical covered object on it. It was on top of a small, but well made, dark wooden table. Nothing else was on the table besides the covered sphere. Vik was desperate to see what lay beneath the dusty cloth, but as his hand drew near to remove the cloth, he somehow sensed a lot of magical energy.
He paused a moment, now not sure if he should remove the cloth. Never one to back away from something he started, though Vik tentatively grabbed a corner of the cloth. He could feel the energy growing even stronger as he slowly removed the cloth from the object. Underneath was what appeared to be a large dark glass orb, but the darkness inside the orb was moving and swirling about, almost like it contained a liquid. But if it was a liquid, it was a very thick one, and one that continued to move and swirl of its own accord.
Vik had never seen anything like it and quickly became lost in the dark swirls. He felt that he needed to touch the object, and so he gently cupped both his hands around the sides of the orb. As he did so, the dark swirls inside the orb began to lighten, and Vik noticed a few sparks of energy flow through the inside of the orb, which began to encircle his hands. Suddenly Vik was grabbed from behind and pushed down to the floor. So intent was he on the orb that he hadn't heard Trent's warning words, or the rapid approach of Master Pilk behind him. He watched Master Pilk throw the cloth back over the orb again and then turn and stand menacingly over him.
"What do you think you're doing, you foolish boy?" shouted Master Pilk angrily down at him. "I thought I made it quite clear that you weren't to enter this room, and that warning was for your own safety. Now get up and get downstairs at once."
Vik quickly jumped to his feet and hurried out of the room, not wanting to meet the angry wizard's gaze. As he hurried downstairs following closely behind Trent, Vik suddenly felt very foolish. What was he thinking playing around with wizard's magic? Trent was right; he could have been vaporised in an instant if he touched the wrong thing. He had no idea what magic was present in that room or even what the purpose of that strange orb was, but he was certainly fascinated by it.
* * *
"I have a very bad feeling about this, major," said Quinby as all the remaining defenders stood in the marshalling yard surrounded by the large orcs.
"At least you're still alive to have any feelings at all, Quinby. While there's life there's hope."
"Major, major...The captain's still alive," yelled out an approaching soldier.
"Captain Riyad? He's a tough young bastard, isn't he? Where is he?" replied the major.
"Over here, major," said the soldier walking in the direction of the keep. "The orcs just brought him in, rather gently too I might add. Can you believe these orcs, major? I ain't never seen nothin' like 'em."
"They're different, that's for sure. Any signs of Major Sarkis yet?" Major Isak was walking briskly beside the excited soldier now.
"No, major. Captain Zabe and the remaining cavalry are all here. Captain Zabe saw the major take a bolt in the chest and taken right off his horse. We all fear for the worst, Major Isak."
"A dire loss indeed, if a loss it is. But don't lose all hope, Major Sarkis is a tough ol' coot," said Major Isak as Captain Riyad came into view. He was very pale and lying extremely still when the major first saw him, and had Major Isak not noticed his chest rise and fall, he would have thought him dead. The arrow in his shoulder had been removed and his wounds had been quite skilfully tended to. A couple of soldiers were by his side keeping watch over him.
"Will he live?" asked the major of the soldiers.
"He has lost a fair amount of blood, but it'll take a lot more than an arrow in the shoulder, a thirty foot fall and a dozen other wounds to kill our captain, major," spoke up one of the soldiers, following up with a deep and hearty laugh that was echoed by the surrounding men.
Major Isak was glad to see that the men's morale was still high. He wasn't entirely sure what he was thinking by agreeing to this deal, so he could understand if the soldiers showed some trepidation; but they seemed to be coping with it well. Major Isak knelt down beside his unconscious captain and gave him a quick look over. Never had he seen this man so helpless, and he had fought many battles alongside him. He fought with a passion few men possess and the look in his eyes while in the midst of a battle would intimidate the strongest of wills, and yet here he lay now totally at the mercy of these orcs. After a moments silence, the major stood up and started to walk away. After a few steps he turned to the men and said, "Inform me the moment he regains consciousness."
"'Course, major," said one of the men to the major's back as he walked away.
* * *
"I have just returned from informing our duke that Fort Lowmount has been overrun and likely every soldier defending it killed, to find you two boys snooping in a room I forbade you to enter," yelled Master Pilk furiously. Both boys stood before him with their heads bowed and shoulders hunched. Neither had bothered to say a word yet.
"If you are both to continue living with me, you will have to obey a few basic rules. The first of which is, you are not to enter that room ever without my direct permission. That room is not safe to any without magical arts. It is riddled with traps. I still don't understand how you managed to avoid triggering any of them. And that dark crystal ball, Vik, only reacts to those possessing magical ability and can be lethal to those that don't."
"B...But Master Pilk, sir, it did react for me," stammered Vik.
"To think if I had have come home any later I could have found two dead boys in my own hou—what did you say, Vik?" Master Pilk couldn't believe what he was hearing. His anger started to fade while his curiosity swelled. Could this young boy possess some magical abilities?
"I said that it did react to me. I kinda sensed its power. I guess I felt drawn to it and felt I had to touch it and when I did, the darkness began to lighten." Master Pilk stood there watching the boy, not sure what to say to him. He battled emotions of fury and curiosity both at
once, and for Master Pilk, curiosity always won the day.
"What did you see, boy?" said Master Pilk in a soft husky voice.
"I—Nothing. I saw nothing, Master Pilk. The darkness began to lighten and then you pushed me aside."
"Hmm, curious indeed. Have you ever sensed magic before, Vik?"
"Umm, no, well, not really. I could always tell when you were about to cast a spell, but that's because mostly I would watch your lips move, but I would get like a slight tingling sensation, but I put it down to my excitement at watching a spell being cast."
"You are a very curious young lad. I may have to investigate this a little further; but for now, supper and bed for the both of you."
* * *
"I give you your fort, Chief Fa'rasha," said General Krak'too formally.
"And yet, general, you have blocked off the inner gate. To my knowledge the fort consists of more than just an outer wall," replied Chief Fa'rasha.
"I'm surprised you could even see the outer wall, chief, from your position during the battle," said General Krak'too sarcastically.
"Had I a shaman as powerful as yours, general, I would lead from the front without fear of physical attack. An army needs leadership, a dead leader is no longer a leader. Now I ask you, general, do you intend on keeping us out of the fort with your small force?"
"Only until our prisoners are safely away from here, chief. Your sol-diers are a little hasty with the sword, I am merely protecting our agreed upon reward for assisting you. When all the humans are out of the fort, I will let your army in."
The Gate - A New Breed of Orc (The Gate Series Book 1) Page 17
