“This is very fascinating and all, Master Pilk, but what happened to this world? What happened to the alliance between orcs and humans?” Curiosity was written all over the duke’s face and Pilk could see his scepticism fading.
“I still have many questions myself and plan to talk to Grand Master Reibeck again tonight at length. I will be spending the rest of my day reading through the books he has loaned to me so I can get a better understanding of it all. But in short, the alliance started to falter when a human woman broke the law and became a very powerful necromancer.” Pilk noticed the duke’s eyebrows rise at the mention of a necromancer as the myth of the dark magic was well-known, but the duke allowed him to continue his story about the final days of a world called Aleri.
Release
Supreme Mistress Sylestra had soon found out from her goddess that this was not the mother world she sought. Sylvestra had been told that Nefari, goddess of darkness, could not sense the presence she left behind. Even worse, her goddess had been detected by the gods of this world and had to retreat back into the orb.
With her goddess locked up in the powerful orb, Sylestra truly was powerless on this world, at least in a magical sense. She would not let her orc escorts know this, of course. They were her most trusted soldiers, but still she could not be certain that any one of them may choose to take advantage of the situation.
She felt naked without her magic, but even without it she was confident she could handle herself. She still had her physical power and her fighting ability was substantial indeed. Besides the scimitar and long dagger sheathed on her belt, she carried with her a number of wands and potions that should still work on this world.
They had set out as soon as it was light enough for them to see where they were placing their feet. Following O’tukka’s directions, they had travelled north; towering mountains rose up on their left and evenly spaced trees, which Sylestra knew to be Bilwarks Grove, could be seen on their right.
They were following what appeared to be an animal trail which had many other lesser trails darting off in all directions. The grass on either side of the trail was long and dry, rustling with the slight breeze. The path took them near a sheer rocky cliff and travelled parallel with it, diverting at one point to navigate around a rockfall.
Though still early morning the dry heat and rapidly rising temperature indicated that it was summer here. She had not asked O’tukka what the season was here and so was working up quite a sweat in her leather slacks and long-sleeved cotton top. Although made out of light material, Sylestra had already rolled up her sleeves in an attempt to cool down.
After a little over an hour of walking some rugged terrain, Sylestra spotted a dwarf patrol. She watched them carefully from her hiding place behind some rocks. The full squad of dwarves were as noisy as she remembered them to be. But what made her smile was that there were two female dwarves amongst the group. If she didn’t know better, she would have assumed this to be the work of Nefari.
Without her magic though, twenty-five dwarves could prove to be quite a challenge. She needed to distract them or find a way to split them up. After a few moments thought she came up with a plan. Once the dwarves were out of sight, she shared the plan with her escorts and sent them to the east and into Bilwarks Grove.
When they reached the trees, she came out from her hiding place and started running southwest, following the trail the dwarves had taken. She caught up to them soon enough as they were only walking. When she caught sight of them, she screamed out.
The dwarves noticed her immediately and readied their weapons. They relaxed soon after when they realised there was no immediate threat and started jogging toward her.
“Orcs,” she yelled as she got near to them and pointed to the northeast. This got their immediate attention and the leader of the group, a burly dwarf with a long black beard, stepped forward.
“Wheredya see’em?” The dwarf gave her a look up and down and she almost smiled. Men of every race had that same weakness and she knew exactly how to take advantage of it.
“Just northeast of here. They were chasing me through Bilwarks Grove.” She let a little panic sound in her voice.
“What was ya doin’ in Bilwarks Grove, lass?” asked the dwarf as though he were talking to some naughty teenage girl.
“I was part of a wagon guard travelling from Kethlon to Arthea. The orcs ambushed us. A few of us got away to the west but the orcs noticed us and gave chase. We decided to head to the grove and lose them in the trees. There were three of us; one got hit by a crossbow bolt as we neared the trees. The orcs caught up to us not long after we entered the grove and we got split up. We have to try and find the woman. She is not a warrior.” Sylestra spoke fast and in a shaky, pleading voice.
“How many are they?” asked the squad leader.
“About six or seven. Quickly come and help me look for the woman. She was the merchant’s wife and she saw her children slaughtered. We can’t let her share the same fate,” begged Sylestra.
“OK lass, calm ya horses. Show us where ya left ‘em.” Sylestra led the dwarves back to where she had sent her escorts. She could easily see the impressions on the ground where her escorts had entered the grove.
“They must have come out and couldn’t see me anywhere so they went back in,” said Sylestra bending down and examining the tracks. “Oh I sure hope Michelle was able to find a safe place to hide. She was such a cheerful soul.” Her escorts had covered up their tracks well; a skilled tracker would easily believe her story and dwarves weren’t known for their tracking abilities.
“Be knowin’ that we can’t spend long lookin’ in there, and not too far south neither. Them orcs ‘ave a strong fort to th’ south by all reports.”
“She knows about that. If she got away, she would have headed this way or to the north or found a good hiding spot. If she’s hiding we have to find her before those orcs do or else they’ll kill her.” Sylestra tried hard to hide her frustration with how long the dwarves were taking to act. If her scenario had been true, she wouldn’t like the chances of this Michelle character.
“P’haps not. These orcs take prisoners so may take ‘er alive,” replied the dwarf.
“Well we have to hurry then. I’m sure she’d view capture as a worse fate than death.” Sylestra unsheathed her blades and started walking towards the trees.
“OK lads, stick together and be ready for anything,” said the patrol leader as he scurried to catch up with her.
They were a short distance into the grove before Sylestra noticed one of her orcs and pointed him out to the dwarf patrol leader. The dwarves charged after the orc. Sylestra took a roundabout route and tipped her blades in some poison when she was out of sight.
She heard the clash of weapons soon after and was sure her escort could hold their ground for a little bit while she caught up. She had trained each of them and her standards were very high for her personal bodyguards. Plus they would have doused their own weapons with the potent sleeping poison.
When she reached the rear of the dwarves, she swiftly sliced three of them with her blades before they even knew she was there; the fast acting poison slowing their movements and dropping them to the ground in no time at all. A dwarf saw her cut the third one and alerted the dwarves near him.
Three dwarves stalked toward her cautiously, one being a female. Nearby dwarves soon noticed the turn of events too and followed up in support. The dwarves’ shock was apparent on their faces as they looked at her, nursing fine slashes after her lightning quick manoeuvres before collapsing. A group of four behind them charged in as she pulled a wand from her belt.
Her question about whether her wands would still work on this world was soon answered as webbing spewed forth from the end of it and covered the charging dwarves. The webbing knocked them to the ground but did not entangle the magic-resistant dwarves. Sylestra was quick to follow up with her poisoned blades and in moments those dwarves were fast asleep on the ground.
Movi
ng further into the grove, Sylestra noticed her orcs had done well. A number of dwarves were on the ground in a deep slumber and they had more fully engaged. She pulled out another wand she knew to be more effective against the hardy race and silently uttered its release word.
A green gas poured out from the wand and soon started forming a small cloud. Her escorts noticed it immediately and forced the dwarves they were fighting back into it, while remaining clear of it themselves.
The grove once again fell silent.
* * *
Gerard and the other men had been led to a large prisoner compound where they were reunited with people they never expected to see again; he was surprised to see so many dwarves among them.
The northern edge of the compound was the towering city wall lined with guards equipped with bows. The eastern and southern boundaries were the joined walls of what appeared to be old factories with the access doors barred up tightly, with the exception of an iron gate in the centre of the eastern wall; on the rooftops of the factories were orcs brandishing crossbows. The western wall looked to be newly constructed and was simply a solid brick wall about fifteen feet high with a large iron barred gate in its centre.
Inside, the compound was all dirt with a trench dug along the northern border where the prisoners could relieve themselves. Large troughs full of water were scattered along the east and south perimeters for drinking and basic washing. The compound stunk of urine, excrement and body odour.
All the prisoners looked to be well enough cared for and in good spirits considering their predicament. Gerard was quick to hold a brief meeting in one corner of the compound with Jeff, Jethro, Major Isak, Major Sarkis, Captain Riyad and Jerzy, who had been nominated as the leader of the captive dwarves.
Gerard told them all that the fierce one was releasing them and that he promised no orc of the Black Skull would hurt them. He shared his suspicions with the men about what the fierce one planned to do with them and started making contingency plans for every scenario he and the others could think of. They were still discussing those plans when the fierce one approached the front gate of the compound and summoned him.
“Very soon that metal gate at the rear of the compound will be opened. When that happens you are all free to go. I urge you to move through the tunnel in all haste as it will be collapsed behind you. At the end of the tunnel you will find some supplies. Take as much as you can and await your release.” The fierce one turned and walked away before Gerard could reply.
He had been dealing with orcs for the majority of his life and although these ones were vastly different, Gerard still didn’t trust them. The time of their release had come far quicker than he had thought and likely quicker than the fierce one expected, which meant something had happened sooner than the orc leader assumed it would. Gerard knew their release would not be as simple as the fierce one made it out to be.
He returned to the others and told them what the fierce one had said. He left it up to the two majors to organise the men and dwarves while he took up his position near the metal gate at the rear of the compound.
No sooner had they organised themselves in a neat line along the width of the metal gate than it began to rise. Heeding Gilkan’s advice, Gerard began marching forward at once with Major Isak on his right and Jeff on his left. Major Sarkis and Captain Riyad were flanking Jerzy at the head of the dwarves, who were at the rear of the long line.
The tunnel continued to descend as it curved around to the left, but was well lit by torches held in sconces on the walls. After a few hundred paces the ground levelled out and straightened before it began to rise again. Gerard got the impression by looking at the walls that this tunnel had been recently made.
It wasn’t long before they reached a room with a low ceiling that could scarcely fit the five hundred or so humans and dwarves within. The room was wider than it was deep and the floor sloped upwards at a sharp angle until it met the ceiling. The room had all manner of weapons scattered haphazardly around it. A loud crash signalled the collapse of the tunnel they had just travelled through.
“Arm yourselves, men,” shouted Major Isak.
Gerard was quick to grab a nearby two-handed broad sword and a dagger which he shoved into his belt at his hip. The dwarves were having a harder time finding suitable weapons as they were all obviously made for the large orcs. They managed to find some axes which would have been considered hatchets to the orcs. The shields they picked up covered half their bodies and large daggers sufficed as short swords. Some of the dwarves armed themselves with spears.
* * *
“More than five thousand have come,” observed Gilkan.
“Yes, oh fierce one, two thousand more were seen joining the army as they marched out this morning,” replied General O’hark
O’tukka watched on from where he was standing on the battlements as the enemy formed up in ranks. The morning sun glinted off metal weapons and armour as the warriors moved about. He instinctively found himself searching for all the shamans. Predictably they were at the rear of the army near the worg riders. He counted twelve of them.
“Will you hold against that number?” asked Gilkan. The fierce one was watching the gathering army as he spoke.
“If your surprise works as well as we hope, my fierce one, we’ll have them fleeing the field in no time.” General O’hark’s scarred face revealed a wicked smile.
“I will enjoy watching that, General O’hark,” replied Gilkan, glancing briefly at the general before returning his attention to the battlefield.
“Do you have enough shamans to deal with the gates?” asked Krak’too. General O’hark turned his head suddenly and cast a hateful glare upon General Krak’too.
“I have four shamans, five if you include Great Shaman O’tukka here,” he replied bluntly, inclining his head ever so slightly toward O’tukka.
“My magic will need to be spared in case our fort is attacked on the human world.” O’tukka glanced at the fierce one to see if he agreed with that comment.
“Great Shaman O’tukka is here as an observer only as a reward for his recent services, as is General Krak’too,” clarified Gilkan.
“Then my shamans will be very busy, but they have been instructed to close any gates as soon as they can.” O’tukka detected a bit of hesitance in General O’hark’s voice. Before he made a comment on it though, a horn sounded in the distance and the enemy began to charge.
* * *
They had been listening intently to the loud ruckus above them and agreed it sounded like a large army preparing for battle. Major Isak had begun organising the men and dwarves into their own formation. Gerard had known Major Isak since his own time in the army and respected the man as one of the most battle hardened and organised men he had known. He had even served as a captain under Major Isak for a short time. Ten years older than Gerard, Major Isak still moved well and with assured confidence. He had the men and dwarves lined up in formation as if these two groups had been drilling day after day for years.
He was a heavily built man and about average height. His skin was dark and harsh from too much sun and his hair was as much grey as it was black. His moustache was always neatly combed even under the conditions he was living in. His face and eyes were always intense and he rarely smiled.
When the horn blew, Gerard felt that familiar rush of adrenalin he got before battle. He had no idea what to expect or when, but with his best friend Jeff by his side and the young squad leader Jethro on his other side, he felt confident he could meet almost any threat.
The noise grew as the charging army closed in and eventually thundered over their heads.
“They’re letting part of the army run by us,” he shouted to Major Isak.
“Damn! We’ll be surrounded immediately. It won’t be a frontal assault and we don’t have enough shields for a circle formation. Any ideas, Gerry?” replied Major Isak raising his voice above the tumultuous noise. The wooden ceiling above Gerard shook furiously under the weight of sta
mpeding orcs, throwing dirt and dust down at him.
“Push hard and push fast towards the closest edge and cause as much confusion as possible. We don’t wanna be fighting on all sides for too long.” Gerard realised that his advice was very little help but it was all he could think of given the circumstances.
“Not pretty, but I agree it’s about our only choice.” Major Isak turned to Major Sarkis who was a few ranks back. “Major Sarkis, guard the rear.”
The ceiling suddenly collapsed and swung back hard against the sloped floor. Dozens of orcs instantly fell into the bunker and were swiftly cut down by the dwarves in the front line. As more continued to stream into the bunker, Gerard began to wonder if they’d even make it out of this room alive, but Major Isak’s loud command to “push” soon got the formation moving and before long, Gerard was outside and in the middle of a large orc army.
The shield dwarves in front were doing an excellent job of halting the charge. It was obvious that the orcs were surprised at their strength. Gerard knew that size and strength were closely related in the orcs’ minds, but that was because they had never fought against dwarves. Gerard had witnessed their strength many times and had sparred against some of them himself. He soon learnt to keep them at a distance and not get into a wrestling match with them.
The Gate - An Ancient Connection Page 7
