“Family is good!” Mee nodded again. “Families stick together through thick and thin!”
Our talk was interrupted by Gorgie growling. The harn warned that we were going to start up a hill soon.
Farhas called this promontory Giant’s Brow. The old troll said that, according to ancient legend, it was originally the skull of a titan that turned to stone over the centuries. The earth had nearly swallowed it up. On the surface, the only part still visible was the wide forehead, which was gradually becoming overgrown with stonetrees.
By the way, if you compare the tales of the orcs and the trolls about the battle between light and dark titans, you might come to the conclusion that such a battle really had taken place. Although, if I started believing every fairy tale I’d heard in my short life I’d end up with a highly implausible version of world history. Like the one that said our world was created by the Ancients and that they came here like the spirits from otherworldly portals but merely in pursuit of fun. Pure nonsense...
When we got on top of the hill, those grim thoughts receded to the background. They were squeezed out by feelings of delight while contemplating the view from high up.
Slowly surveying the area around the hill, I gave a puzzled snort. The top really did look like a forehead. Wide, rectangular and with a slight bulge.
To my right, the Stone Forest stretched all the way to the horizon. And the distant trees were drastically different than the ones that grew on the border with the steppe. They were much taller and older. Farhas’ tribe would have plenty of room to hide.
To the left, the hilltop gave a good view of the edge of the steppe. The harn, who could see the farthest, told me that something strange was happening on the border with the forest at the foot of the hill.
After conferring for a bit, we decided it was worth finding out what was happening down there. Beyond that, our journey was going to take us along the edge of the forest from here.
Mee rode off on the harn’s back to scout with a clear order to keep a low profile. Honestly, at first I was planning to send Gorgie alone. But Mee argued that he could tell me better what they saw and in greater detail, which convinced me to let him join the recon squad. And recognizing that his reasoning made sense, my heart groaning, I agreed.
My friends were back after an hour, which I spent in uneasy anticipation.
Then from the distance I noticed the gremlin looked dismal.
“Orcs,” he said darkly, jumping off the harn’s back.
“They spot you?” I asked.
“No,” the gremlin shook his head.
“Then why are you pale as a ghost?”
The kid took a heavy sigh and lowered his head.
“They’re drivers,” he answered sadly.
“Like shepherds you mean?”
Mee raised his head and, clenching his teeth angrily, answered:
“Yes, but instead of sheep, they drive slaves.”
Unexpectedly, the gremlin’s anger transferred to me as well. Obviously, that reaction to slave drivers was in my blood now and something was telling me there was no ridding myself of that hate.
“Are there many orcs?”
“Eight.”
“Riders, shamans?”
The kid shook his head no.
“Slaves?”
“Almost twenty. Four of them are renegades.”
“You mean the ones that voluntarily help the orcs?”
“Not quite, but basically.”
“I see,” I said, stroking my chin. “We just have to find out why they’re here. What are they doing?”
“With the renegades as overseers, the men are cutting down trees while the women and children gather kindling,” Mee answered and added: “The people are very afraid.”
“Well, I bet,” I nodded. “They’re probably seeing forest trolls behind every tree. By the way, what if...”
Thinking for a second, I didn’t notice how the gremlin was looking at me right away. His mouth spread into a predatory smirk.
“What are you talking about?” I asked in surprise.
Mee, still smiling, replied:
“Hehe... It’s just that every time you talk like that, we wind up with even more esses and tablets. You must have decided not to just pass them by.”
“I hope neither of you are opposed?” I chuckled and in my turn looked my friends in the eyes.
As I expected, the response was a pair of predatory grins.
* * *
“What do you think, why do they need so many trees?” I asked Mee in a whisper when we’d come closer to the forest edge and were lying behind the wide trunk of an old, fallen tree.
The risk of us being discovered was minimal — the people really were afraid of the Stone Forest. The women and several children were always trying to keep a few yards from the forest edge.
And for the record, the orcs weren’t particularly brave either. They were all around a behemoth fire and, other than occasionally peering into the darkness of the glade with fear, doing their own thing.
“They’re preparing a camp for their tribe,” Mee said. “A big camp. This place will be packed to the gills soon.”
“Hm... That explains a lot,” I whispered thoughtfully.
“What scheme have you come up with now?” Mee asked.
“I want to give these people the right to choose. Based on their appearance and condition, they won’t last long at this rate.”
“Agreed. The orcs don’t give a damn about them. Look at those men over there. You see them?”
“With the burn scars?”
“Yes,” Mee nodded. “They give those marks to runaways. The only reason they weren’t killed is because they can still provide esses and tablets. Based on how thin they are, they haven’t been fed in a while. They also have almost no warm clothing. They’ll die soon.”
“The orcs have strange logic. Why kill people who they could be exploiting?”
“It’s a punishment. A lesson to the others,” Mee replied. “The slaves cannot be allowed think their lives are valuable to the orcs. Yes, they benefit the orcs, but that is no reason to let them go breaking the laws of the tribe unpunished.”
“Hm... I guess that makes sense. What about the women and children?”
“Those are their families. The orcs allow their slaves to cohabitate and have children.”
“The more slaves, the more they can exploit,” I hissed angrily through my teeth.
“True,” Mee responded sadly.
Before getting started, we decided to observe for a bit. And the longer I watched, the angrier I became.
The men all have exhaustion on their faces. They must be giving their food to the women and children. And they’re scarcely doing any better. They’re all wearing ragged clothing. Not people, these are skeletons.
The skinny renegades look like fatted hogs compared to them. And their clothing is more or less wearable. Even a fool can understand — they must be stealing it from the other poor bastards.
The people range in level from ten to three. The tallest guy is carrying an axe. By the way, that is the only axe between them. The four traitors are armed with sticks they periodically put to use doling out canings. At times like these, it was hard for me not to fly off the handle. But I was trying to keep myself in hand. Everything had to be done quickly and cleanly. Otherwise the captives might die.
Watching the orcs snickering and munching, I quietly turned to the gremlin:
“Hey buddy, could you remind me of the radius of your dome of invisibility?”
“Ten feet,” Mee answered quickly. “Duration — ten minutes.”
“Ten minutes?” I chuckled predatorily. “That might as well be a whole eternity...”
Taking another look around, I asked Gorgie:
“Are you sure there’s no one keeping watch?”
In response, the harn just snorted condescendingly and impatiently tapped his scaled tail on the ground.
“Nice,” I nodded and tur
ned to Mee: “When you’re ready, activate the spell.”
Before a second was up, the system informed me that we were covered by a Dome of Invisibility. Trying to take our steps at the same time, we fairly quickly came out from beneath the trees and cautiously headed toward the firepit.
The late shaman’s spell worked impeccably. Nobody noticed us. If there were anyone among the orcs with high sense scores, we’d hardly have been able to freely walk through their whole camp. But what kind of idiot would send serious warriors to guard half-dead slaves? And deep behind their own back lines? The highest-level driver was twelve.
When I was less than thirty feet from the vilely snickering orcs, I activated a Ram. Because they were sitting very close to one another, the spell hit all eight of them. The Dome of Invisibility disappeared. Gorgie and Mee, not wasting time, ran out to gather their blood harvest. I then turned around and looked at the renegades.
Our attack was so unexpected and fast that they froze like stone statues, their mouths open in surprise. But the man with the axe, who by the way had the most burns on his face, got straight to action.
His heavy tomahawk came down full force on the head of the nearest overseer, and it burst into red scraps of flesh like an overripe watermelon.
The henchman’s death promptly sobered up the other three but, much to my surprise, they didn’t run at the lumberjack. Instead they scattered. But the people they’d been beating with sticks just a few moments earlier didn’t let them get far. Seemingly, this was the first time I’d seen a group of people united in rage and fury. The renegades’ comeuppance was short and sweet. They got stabbed, beaten then torn to pieces. Everyone took part in the slaughter — men, women and children. A few seconds later it was all over.
After dismissing the victory notifications and waiting for my friends to join me, I headed toward the former slaves.
As expected, they regrouped fairly quickly. The women and children walked behind the men, but not because they were hiding. Each woman and child had a stone in their hand.
The “lumberjack” was standing front and center. The six other men of varying level and age were standing side-by-side with sticks and knife-shaped sharpened bones in their hands. All their faces looked somber, determined and fateful. They must have understood that our trio had easily taken out their overseers, and we could do the same to them just as easily.
Eight paces away, we stopped.
“Was that all the orcs in the camp, or are there more?!” I shouted, looking the lumberjack right in the eyes.
“That’s all of ‘em!” he shouted back in a rasping voice. “The rest of the clan won’t be here for three or four days!”
“That means you have time to eat and prepare for the journey!”
The “lumberjack” shook his head fatefully and lowered his axe:
“It’s no use, good sir mage! The wolf riders will catch up to us quickly. We’ll be doomed no matter what. But don’t get the wrong idea. We’re grateful to you for the rescue and aid! And anyway, it’s better to die free!”
“Well, I don’t know about you, but us three are not planning to die,” I chuckled and took a step forward.
“The Clan of the Yellow Snake is one of the strongest clans on the steppe!” the man proclaimed, dumbfounded. “Six shamans, a few hundred wolf riders. Do you really think you can defeat a whole clan?!”
I chuckled again and asked:
“Do we look like idiots? We’ll keep making west through the Stone Forest.”
When we mentioned the forest, the people shuddered and started exchanging glances. Seeing their discouraged faces, I guffawed:
“Looks like you do doubt my mental health after all!”
We stopped a few steps away.
“You’re misunderstanding us, good sir mage,” the eldest of the men started. “I mean, the Stone Forest belongs to the trolls.”
“We have been in the forest for over a week and, as you can see, we’re still alive,” I contested, spreading my arms.
The people exchanged sullen glances and started discussing quietly. But we considered the conversation over and headed toward the nearest trees without saying goodbye. The gremlin had been collecting the most valuable items off the orcs’ bodies as we agreed. We’d already decided to leave the weapons, clothes and food for the people.
When we were only a few yards from the trees, they shouted out to me:
“Good sir mage! Good sir mage!”
We turned around. It was the lumberjack. Breathing heavily, he was leaning his elbows on the handle of his axe. The others were awaiting the result of their leader’s negotiations.
“Good sir mage, I beg you. Please don’t be mad! We heard you’re heading west.”
“Yes,” I answered calmly. “To human lands.”
The man cast a fearful gaze behind me.
“And will you really go through the Stone Forest?”
“Yep,” I nodded.
Even an idiot could tell what he wanted — to have his whole band come with us. But the forest of the trolls has them very afraid. And now this guy is trying to figure out our secret. But I’m not going to get his hopes up with any promises or guarantees.
I think the guy knew that and said:
“Good sir mage, we understand that we are a burden, but we have no one else to turn to. Is there even the slightest chance that you would agree to lead us and our families west?”
This guy has a way with words. He clearly knows the right way to butter up mages and nobility.
“In other words, you want to come with me?” I clarified.
“Yes, good sir mage!” the man nodded, and his chestnut eyes lit up with hope.
I cartoonishly considered it for a moment, then said:
“Okay then, let it be. But I have one condition. For the duration of our journey, all my orders must be carried out unquestioningly.”
“Of course, good sir mage!” the man called out happily and turned back to his people.
When he waved his hands, the people reacted with shouts of joy.
“Look over the bodies of the orcs,” I said when the man turned back to me. “We left you all their weapons, clothes and food.”
“Yes, we know,” he nodded. “That is one of the reasons we asked you for help. You didn’t merely rescue us; you also didn’t leave us empty handed.”
To say I was embarrassed would be to say nothing at all. It took effort to keep my composure. In response, I just gave a brief nod and said:
“Take everything you might need for the journey and follow me.”
The man opened his mouth, but I got out in front of him:
“I know you’re all very tired and hungry, but it isn’t safe to stay here. When we get into the forest, I promise we’ll make camp and then you can eat and sleep.”
The “lumberjack” nodded and hurried back to his people.
Standing on the forest’s edge and watching the former slaves picking through the loot, I weighed all the pros and cons of what I’d just done.
As if he heard my thoughts, Mee, who was standing at my side, said:
“I wouldn’t have been able to abandon them either.”
Chapter 25
WALKING THROUGH THE FOREST, from time to time I caught intrigued and puzzled looks being cast at me and my friends. And of course, special attention was paid to the harn. The people were plainly afraid of him. And I understood why. They’d seen the big huge armored kitty tear eight orcs to shreds in the blink of an eye. And just the sight of him could make anyone hiccup.
Their reaction to the gremlin, though, was surprising. They looked on Mee more with scorn than fear. Curious. I wonder why. Gremlin slaves must occupy a particular position in orcish tribal societies. Either that or, more likely, they all figured Mee was simply my slave.
We decided to set up camp for the night on the opposite side of a hill in a little forest glade. It gave us good cover from the icy winds, and would protect us against unwanted attention from the steppe
dwellers.
The men were able to start a fire fairly quickly because the women had gathered plenty of kindling. When everything was ready, the people seemed to just collapse around the fire. But they were in no rush to sleep. They were all waiting for the food to be ready first.
The Wastes Page 28
