#
It was mildly frustrating to let another make all of the plans, but Veesha knew that it could not be helped. He was somewhat appeased by the fact that Morsha was well respected by most of the other clans as a war leader. Some of it was grudging respect, and a few could not even give that to the Bear Clan warrior due to a feud between their clans. However, they would all follow him for now.
Veesha found himself in an awkward position. He was a former war leader, respected for those skills and should be asked to sit in on any planning. However, his status as High Chief left him out of any such sessions. Tradition held that once an Orc was made Chieftain, he was to set aside his warrior's pride for the good of the clan. Leaving the fighting to the war leaders and focusing on the daily running of the clan. It was generally an older Orc, past his prime and ready to retire, that became Chieftain. While there were many benefits to the position (choice of females, tribute paid from all raids or fighting actions, the best food and finest clothing), pride kept most of those still capable of fighting away. None of the proud Orcs wanted to give up the glory of battle for the tedium of being nursemaid. Sadly, a scholar would likely make an ideal Chief, but the current mentality of the people would never settle for one that was not a blooded warrior. Idiots, all of them.
He tried to keep a tight reign on his temper as he left the command tent, headed out to find his own advisers and assistants. He had been politely dismissed from the discussions as soon as they had finished with him; only needing to clarify some basic details. The main point being his orders concerning the towns and communities within striking distance of the Pass where they would make their initial base of operations. Once the undermanned Human post defending Porall Pass was overtaken, they wanted to send out companies to begin ransacking all nearby populated areas for supplies and to eliminate any resistance. It had not even taken him any time to come to a decision. The King of Rennick, Xavier Soloman, knew about the coming invasion and if he had not made an attempt to move his people under some guise or the other, then he should not mourn them. A little fun to whet the appetite was certainly in order. The warriors that participated would come back and talk to those waiting in the camp, get the blood boiling before they were unleashed on human armies.
Veesha pushed through the flap of his tent, now calm enough to appreciate the fact that even though the Chief had to be a warrior, he could use whomever he wanted for staff. Several of his advisers were in fact scholars, and knew what his overall goal was. He had chosen people absolutely loyal to him and he rewarded them well. The few warriors and shaman he kept on his staff fell into this category as well, giving him access to each of the three main factions that made up their society. He had used care in picking them, to ensure not only loyalty, but usefulness. Each one was respected by the peers in their respective sect.
"My Chief," one of the most junior Orc assistants was waiting on him as he entered.
Veesha acknowledged him and moved behind the camp desk to sit.
"Have we received word from Bila?"
"Yes, Chief. He requests a hundred more slaves and assures that with them, the last ships can be finished within the next three weeks, and that the fleet will depart shortly after."
"See to it that he receives what he asks. He is going through slaves faster than expected, but soon we will have plenty more to replace them. The fleet must leave on time, inform him that he will be held accountable if it fails to do so."
The rest of his staff had arrived during the discussion, and he began issuing instructions that would get the army moving as soon as the Supreme War Leader gave the order.
#
The horde began to creep forward, filling the pass like the tide filling a bay, and the trickle soon became a flood of Orc and Goblin warriors marching toward their destiny. Choss could feel the workings of fate guiding him along the path to triumph. He was not usually given to flights of fancy, nor did he generally believe in the impossible heroic feats sung about in ancient, nearly forgotten tales. However, the feeling would just not leave him as he led the warriors of Wolf Clan to battle. It would take two days to traverse the mountain's narrow path, but at the other end first blood would finally be tasted. The honor of that blood letting would go to the High Chief's own clan, and Choss would have command of the vanguard. They would write new songs about his bravery and skill on the battlefield as he brought glory and honor to his people.
"Our High Chief seems anxious," came from next to him.
Choss' left ear rotated more fully that way, but otherwise he gave no sign of having heard Morsha as they marched near the center of Wolf's group of fighters. Not one to be denied, the Orc tried again.
"Not having second thoughts, is he?"
Choss snorted before answering.
"Never. He is nearly obsessed with the relic, and has many ambitious plans for our people once it is in his hands."
"That is not in doubt, but he certainly was flustered when he left our meeting."
"One of the problems with letting such a young warrior become chief. They have a harder time letting go. Especially one who feels a need to control everything, and is smarter than most of those he cannot control." Choss chuckled. "An educated warrior... times are changing for old battle wargs like us."
They both shared a short bark of laughter at that thought. They were certainly more advanced in age than a lot of the men around them, but what the young ones thought of as old, they knew to mean experienced. Of course, times were not really changing that much, because Veesha was still more the exception than the rule. Still, his inner circle was filled with ones such as he, and Choss could see the influence growing.
"I am starting to think that it may not be a bad thing. There is no denying how effective Wolf's Chief has been in such a short amount of time. Perhaps if there were more like him, we would see a return of the old ways before you and I are both dead and gone. The days when no one dared stand against us," Morsha stated in a thoughtful voice.
"Perhaps, but why dwell on what might be changing? We can only grab what glory is in front of us. For me, that will be enough."
Morsha gave him a respectful nod and spoke briefly before dropping back into the ranks.
"Honor for the Wolf."
"Glory for the Bear," Choss reflexively returned the traditional response.
The overcast sky started to drop more snow on them in small flakes that began sticking to the ground after a few hours. The flurries had started the day before, but had not been enough to even cover the tent tops. The wind now whistling through the pass whipped the snow around in crazy swirls that spread the white substance in haphazard piles, but as the day grew long, the flakes got bigger and more numerous. The heavier snowfall was covering the ground in front of them, and Choss was thankful that he was at the front. By the time they would make camp, the ground at the rear of the horde would be slush. While cold did not bother an Orc unless it was well below freezing, no one wanted to camp in the slurry mess of snow and mud. Increasing his speed, he made his way to the front of the ranks so he could walk in the snow that was undisturbed other than a few footprints from the scouts. One more day, and then his people would truly start on the path of destiny.
CHAPTER FOUR
Into the Darkness
The room smelled of old parchment and candle wax. Why Wovis used candles when there were plenty of the light emitting crystals available, Alyssa did not know. She was just glad he did not insist that she do the same. She actually loved the smell and associated it with many fond memories, but the white light given off by the crystal was so much better to read by.
Though Wovis never used them, he did give her a detailed explanation of the fascinating sources of light the day before. One part magic, one part science; it involved a complicated mix of the four elemental disciplines of magic combined with the fabricated holder's mineral properties. The many tiny runes inscribed into the metal helve, when mated with the unique characteristics of the crystal, produced the resulting glo
w. The combination and order of the runes used were very similar to the intricate, extremely complicated, process used to create lightning magically from scratch (much harder than coaxing it out of already present rainclouds). The socketed handles were difficult to make, and took the skill of a Master Craftsman. However, one of the tests required to achieve the rank of Master was to construct such a holder, and since the crystals were easily found in plentiful quantities, there was always a ready source of light available. So... since that was the case, she would just think of Wovis' insistence on candles as one of his endearing quirks and move on.
They had made much progress locating reports, histories, and anecdotal tales from the time frame that the Scepter was taken. She and Wovis had poured over any and all references to the Scepter, its eventual location, and information about Thardenfell, which was the name of the site it had been taken to. Many of the works were in the Common tongue that was easily readable by her, and the elder Dwarf handled those that were not. Wovis had come across a few documents that appeared to be a debate about the eventual fate of the ancient location that was somewhat disconcerting. It appeared that Thardenfell was more of a training ground, academy of learning, and repository of knowledge and goods than an actual city. Several of the parchments referred to it as a college, and Wovis explained it to her as a place where Dwarves went after their initial schooling to receive more in depth training and education in their chosen vocation. It had been almost deserted during their war with the Orcs due to recalling all able fighters back to Doanimar.
The debate sprang from the fact that, following a handful of reports spanning the first seventy years after the war, there had been no further contact. The parties discussing Thardenfell could not agree on whether it was because some trouble at the site, or just a loss of communication as a result of the conflict. They did find a report about sending a party out to uncover the fate of the city, but never any corroborating outcome. Eventually they stopped coming across any mention of the place at all.
She had spent all day, and most of the night, copying documents that they would need to reference in their journey. Malina had been pulled in to help, and her scout training had been invaluable when it came to reproducing the maps they would need. The woman had used her own map of the area and the symbols and notes that would be more comprehensible to the humans when she created the new drawings, but she also reused the original markings to make it readable to any Dwarf. The fact that the location was not actually in Glendon was troubling, but they were fortunate that the Dwarves had fairly detailed maps concerning the lands south of Glendon.
A few of the others had stopped by occasionally to help, and Meric brought food and drink at the appropriate times, but for the most part it was Wovis, Malina and her doing all of the scholarly work. Meric and Brody worked with Dhuren to gather all of the supplies that would be needed, and had informed her three hours ago that all was ready. The only time they had really stepped away from the archives had been a meeting Meric and Dhuren had called in regard to their planned route.
After a long talk with the King, Fastil and a few others she did not know, they had decided that instead of retracing their steps back to Glendon, they would be taking another route. King Leonar wanted some of the old tunnels reopened. For their purposes it would be the ones that came out inside the borders of Glendon. There was a network of caves in the mountains north of Glendon that they could use for the return trip, as well as, future travel between the two kingdoms. It would take a long time and much work to clear them all enough for trade routes and habitation, but they would only worry about the specific ones needed to get back and forth until the current conflict was resolved. Until then, Leonar had already sent a large contingent of Guardians to begin clearing the way. It did not give the lead element much of a head start, but it was better than nothing. He admitted that there were things in the caves that could be dangerous, but between himself, Meric and Dhuren they did not think it would be any worse than trying to return through hostile Rennick lands, especially since it appeared that Xavier was hunting for them. The fact that Rennick's King was allowing Orcs into his lands who were also hunting them made the decision a little easier. The two Tracker animals she found and dealt with before they had entered the caves were testament to the lengths the Orcs would go to find them.
The leather padding in her chair squeaked as she leaned back to give her eyes a break. There was not much more she could do now, so the possibility of catching a few hours sleep began to worm its way into her thoughts. She had set aside a few documents that had vague mentions of what might have been the Scepter, and it would not take too long to read through those if she kept at it. A good stretch helped ease some of the strain, so she rubbed her at eyes, deciding to read just a little more when strong hands landed on her shoulders and began massaging the tired muscles there and in her neck.
"I never knew it was possible to become jealous of books," Meric's soothing voice washed over her.
She sighed and leaned back into him, eyes still closed as she smiled and hummed an acknowledgment.
"That feels wonderful."
"You need to get some sleep. We will be leaving in a handful of hours."
"Almost finished... just... need to look at these... two... mmmhh." She was going to fall asleep right where she was if he did not stop. Of course, she was not actually doing anything to encourage him to stop.
"Wovis informed me when he left you two hours ago that there was nothing of real significance left to search. You have done all you can. Let's get you to bed."
Her chair made the barest whisper of sound on the thick yellow carpet as he slid it out and helped her to stand. The soft noise of protest she made was more from the loss of his hands than having to leave what she was doing. She allowed him to take her hand and lead her out of the room with only one quick look back. They had found a lot of good information, and she now had hope that they could get to the Scepter before the Orcs. Wovis assured her that the power attributed to the relic was indeed real, so if they could get their hands on it, they might be able to turn things in their favor. Once and for all.
#
On the sixth morning after they had set out, they caught up to the Dwarves sent to clear the way ahead. Two days before, Fastil had pointed out to Brody when they passed the outer boundary of the present day Dwarven Realm. He explained how the Dwarves that went ahead of them had removed a Seal that was blocking the way, keeping others out. The tunnel they just entered was wide enough for four to walk abreast, and tall enough (as were all of the passages they had been down) that even Brody could walk fully upright and still have a few feet to spare. After moving along for about fifty yards they came to a large, round room with four columns evenly spaced in a line at the center of the chamber. Like any other Dwarven crafted stonework, the walls and columns were elaborately and precisely carved, and it all looked very sturdy. There were a few smaller doorways spaced around the room, and one directly across from them that matched the entrance they were currently using.
"Respite," came the reply to his unspoken question. Fastil looked around the room with interest before turning back to Brody. "Humans might call it a way-station. A place to rest for an hour or two, put up your feet, have a drink before continuing on your way. We call it a Respite Den."
"The more I hear about your way of life, the more I like it."
"What's not to like? Anyway, we will find several of these along the path we are taking. There will also be some inns we can use as camps. They will be stripped bare like this room, but once we clear out the vermin we can use our own gear for sleeping."
"Vermin." Brody chuckled after saying the word. "If you consider giant spiders, trolls, and whatever some of those other things were, simple vermin, I'd hate to see one of your real monsters."
"Oh, they are dangerous. Do not doubt that, but they are also familiar and we know how to fight them. There are certainly things we are not so casual about."
"Let's hope we don't m
eet any of those on this trip."
"No promises. Every now and then, something will make its way up from the Deep Black and need to be put down. They chose this route to avoid hostiles in Rennick, but make no mistake... it will not be a leisurely stroll. Even with all of the extra men."
"Great."
Fastil barked out a laugh before smacking Brody in the arm.
"Relax. It may not be leisurely, but it will be fun."
Brody had seen the results of their cleaning up throughout this day and the one before. He was pretty sure Fastil was exaggerating a bit about how simple the task was, but at the same time he was beginning to look forward to a bit of action. It may be 'borrowing trouble' as his grandfather would have said, but he was not really one for sitting around.
Across the way, they were getting ready to open up the other Seal to this room. Dhuren had explained that they would find many of these along their route. Greater and Secondary Seals created to keep all others out, constructed by several Master Craftsman that were not only adept at working with stone, but also well versed in runes. In the extremely unlikely event that the Orcs were able to break through the outer-most Seals, they would find a hundred more before they could reach the Dwarven stronghold.
Brody was just about to mention to Fastil that this was an appropriate place to take a break when Alyssa brushed between them and hurried across the room toward the other entrance. He and the Dwarf shared a confused look until Meric stepped into the space she inadvertently made.
"She wants to see how the Seals work," he said and then shrugged right along with the two of them.
"That's what you get for finding yourself a smart woman. You are probably not gonna understand half of what she does."
Brody nodded along with Fastil's remark and Meric even grunted in agreement. All women were confusing as far as Brody was concerned. He was just glad that they were soft in all the right places. Deciding that was a thought best kept for another time, he moved across the room with the others until they reached the party standing at the door.
An Adept's Duty: The Scepter of Maris: Book Two Page 3
