The men were all fixed on us, if not for Bryce they may have stood there for the rest of the day, watching the two of us. 'You ladies heard the Captain, make camp. Michaels spent the rest of the day in prayer, he spoke to no one. I found Ebbit feeding Mason bits of jerky. I asked him to follow me as I did not like the idea of Windfall being alone. 'That was a hard thing ya did lad, the only thing more important than a paladins honor is his god. Still, a good hunter knows when to wait.' The dwarf was trying to make me feel better but nothing would change the fact that I hurt a friend. If I believed that it would have worked I would have attacked right then, I am glad we held back. Back at the overlook with Windfall he had the spy glass pressed up to his eye, counting out loud. 'I can see why Lomark was so upset over you keeping this.' The half elf turned and looked at me with one eyebrow raised. 'Forty eight slaves in total. The Orcs just rotated on the guard towers and they are bringing the humans in from the field. It looks like they are locking them up for the night. Which is odd, there is still two hours till sundown.'
I told Windfall about the problem with Michaels, he just told me to relax and give it time. 'He will come around, see this is for the best.' I stood there for a moment, looking down at the farm, then at the holding pen, at the Orc tents and then north towards the Plain of Hope. It was odd how the forest and hills just gave way to a flat grass land. I had never seen anything like it. Waves of golden brown, swaying in the wind, cut down the middle by a single road. A simple road that we had to follow in order to reach the temple of Solarth. A simple temple, white stone walls and a tower reaching up over the plain, a burning light showing the way to those who were lost in the darkness. I don’t remember drawing my sword but it was there in my hand, there was something crashing through the brush, coming right towards us. When I saw Miri come running around a tree I started to relax. She stopped short of us, looking from Windfall to me and then back again.
'Did you send him?' I started to get a sinking feeling in my gut and I asked her what she was talking about. 'Pare took off and said he was going to take a look around. See what all the fuss was about.' I asked her if she knew which way he went. 'He headed this way but I lost his trail.' Windfall let out a small laugh, 'the little thief is very good, let’s just hope he isn't stupid.' I took the spy glass from Windfall and started looking around the camp. 'Well never let it be said the halfling was blessed with brains.' I looked at Windfall who just pointed, 'there, small shadow by the food crates.' Miri was beside herself, asking us to do something. 'He is on his own.' Windfalls tone was grim and no matter how much it grated on me, it was the truth. The four of us stood there and watched a small shadow move around the farm. 'He is headed to the slave pen, what in the hell is he doing.' Slowly but surely he moved from one hiding spot to the next, using his speed and skill. Before long he was under one of the guard towers around the pen, shooting up the leg of the platform, hiding there. As the sun went farther down, the shadows around the farm grew longer. We kept our eyes on that one guard tower, waiting for some sign from Pare.
Shortly before dark I saw Pare drop into the slave pen. There was a slight commotion amongst the slaves, one of the Orcs on the guard tower let out a roar and pointed his weapon into the pen. I could feel my heart pounding so hard when I looked down I could see my breast plate moving. The Orc was screaming at them in common but I could not make out what it was saying. When he turned his weapon away, I started to relax a little. 'If he doesn't get himself killed down there I might do it myself.' Miri was clinging to my leg as she spoke. I told Windfall and Ebbit they could return to the camp but neither one moved an inch. After what seemed to be the longest hour of my life, we saw movement. It was faint and hard to see but a single small shadow dropped down over the fence and moved away. We lost sight of him once he hit the fields. Less than twenty minutes later, he was with us again. His armor and face was covered in dirt and mud but he was still breathing. He looked at the four of us and gave a faint smile, 'Hiya guys.' I held back, waiting to calm down before I questioned him. Miri however did no such thing, running forward she wrapped her arms around him, dragging him to the ground.
When I pulled her off him, she was pounding on his small chest, telling him to never do that again. I sent her back to camp so we could talk to Pare, find out what he had learned. I passed off the spy glass to Ebbit to keep watch while Windfall and I spoke with Pare. I took a seat on the ground, leaned back against a tree and just looked at him. For the longest time he didn't say anything at all. 'Spit it out little thief.' When he looked up at Windfall, I could see the tears rolling down his dirty face. 'I thought I could slip in there. Talk to one of them, find out what is going on and get back out. No problem.' He looked at me, his mouth hanging open for a moment. 'Darmot, they killed them all.' I asked him what he meant. 'Those people down there are all that is left of the village. The old man was right. They ate the kids Darmot.' Pare broke down, his body started to shake while he sobbed. I moved away from my tree and put my hands on his face, telling him to hold it together. He needed to keep his voice down. 'I'm sorry but they ate all the kids. When I first went into the pen, they thought I was one of the kids who got away. One of the women thought I was her little girl...'
His speech started to speed up and for the first time in a long while I had to tell him to take a deep breath. 'Sorry, I will try to go slower. They have been under Orc control for six months or so. One man said it was a year. They are really, really scared Darmot, really scared. In another month they will do the final harvest, they don't think the Orcs are going to keep them alive after that.' Pare now had several clean lines running down over his face; the muddy tears were dripping down onto his armor. 'The Orcs rotate out once a week. A bunch of wagons will come in the morning, with a full company of Orcs. They load up the crates, then the ones who are at the camp now leave with the full wagons. The slaves won't work at all tomorrow. They don't want to risk any of the slaves getting away while the guards are coming and going. They get one day of rest a week but some of the women...' Pare stopped there, his mouth hanging open again. Once again tears welled up in his eye. 'It is ok little one, we know what happens.' Windfall said what I couldn't. The anger I was feeling was enough to make me sick.
I told Pare to go get some rest as we were going to be busy soon. I looked at Windfall and asked him what he thought. 'It is only forty Orcs, I can take twenty. I am sure you and the others could handle the rest.' I wanted to laugh at him but I am sure he was being serious. 'We will have to hit them fast and do not give them time to get organized. We will also have to watch for runners, if any of them get away it will give us far more trouble than what we need. The Orcs will learn of us in time but I would like to have a few days before the main army knows.' I looked at my oldest friend, my mentor and told him, they would know very soon. 'Darmot, if they only come in once a week to change the guard.' I held up my hand. The temple is less than a day from here I said to him. Soon as we finish here, we are headed north. At the temple there are two bridges. One of them built by the Othos, the other was built by the Melkor. We are going to destroy those bridges. 'After we deal with my father.' I nodded at him, and said yes. After we dealt with his father. I walked back up to where Ebbit was watching the farm and took one last look before we went back to our camp.
I looked around the small camp, some of the men were eating or trying to rest. Bryce was sitting with Michaels, talking about something. At the time I really didn't care. I told him to get everyone up. 'Sir?' I told him it was time to get started. He nodded to me once and set off to find the two men he sent out on patrol. Miri and Pare were sitting side by side, their hands pressed together there in the dark, one giving comfort to the other. While I was waiting I cleared a large part of the forest floor and started to draw a crude map of the farm in the dirt. I looked at Pare and asked him if everything looked right. 'What is it?' he said as he stood up and walked around towards me. 'Ohhhh, that's the farm. Well, I guess it is close enough.' I just nodded at my little friend, clos
e enough would have to do. It took longer than what I liked but once all the men were up and aware, I began. I drew my sword and used it to point to the map.
"In about ten hours, the Orcs on that farm are going to be relieved by another group of Orcs. When that group of comes in, they are going to find the slaves are gone and their companions dead. Not that we are going to give them much time to think about it. We are going to split into two groups. Michaels, the dead squad and I are going to go wide to the west, come back around to here." I pointed at the road, just north of the farm. I had to stop a moment to wait for the men to stop laughing. They didn't know I knew what they called themselves. "We don’t want them to know we are there until we are on the road. Once we are set and on the road, we are going to march right to the farm. We want them to know we are coming but not too soon. Now this is important. We are going to be outnumbered. For every one of us, there are at least two of them. While I am not worried about any one of you, anything could happen. So, if we are over whelmed or can’t hold a line, we will form into a circle, if one of us falls, we tighten the circle. Everyone understand?" I looked around to see if there were any questions. "We are going to kill every single Orc down there. Wayne, I want you to stay back from the fight. You are going to watch for runners. Outside of Bryce you are the best one here with a bow. Use it."
"Now, Windfall is going to take a second group of Bryce, the Halflings and Ebbit. You are going to hit the farm from the south. You are going to take out the Orcs on the guard towers. As soon as you see our signal from the north, take them out quick and quiet like. Once they are dead, open the slave pen. Pare and Windfall can take care of the chains, once they are all free tell them they can stay and fight with us or they can go find their people in the Lost Valley. Make sure they understand though, they are free but they are not safe from the Orcs. I am sure they will understand. Once they are all free, you will spread out, kill as many Orcs as you can find. The Orcs will show us no mercy so they will get the same from us. Are there any questions?' I waited for a minute, letting what I said sink in. "If this plan is going to work, they all must die. No one gets away from us. Is this clear?" Again, no one said a single thing. "Gentleman, I wish you luck. Michaels, would you like to say a prayer before we head out?" While I had damaged him earlier that day, what I said here went a long way towards repairing that damage. I could see it on his face and I could hear it in his voice. When his prayer was completed, we set out into the night. When his prayer was complete, we declared war on the Orc army.
87. Stone Tongue
Stone Tongue was a happy Orc as a child. He was proud of his family and his clan. Descended from a long line of warriors he knew what his fate was. When his family was chosen by the dark one, he was still just a small Orc. With the promise of greater glory than they could imagine, they moved away from his first clan to join the clan of the dark one. He brought them all together for one reason and one reason only. To destroy every human that walks Majius, man, woman and child. The dark one took them far away; over the sea to an island he called the Well Spring. "From here we will cleanse the world of the scourge that is humanity." None of the Orcs cared that he was a human; he offered the clan power, glory and riches beyond all imagination.
For thirty years Stone Tongue lived with his new clan. Learning to be a warrior, learning the tactics they would need to destroy the humans. He worked hard and long to earn the praise of his superiors. When he was made an officer in the dark ones army, it was the proudest day of his entire life. The dark one himself came to him that day. The dark one laid his hand on the chest of Stone Tongue and told him "You will be the first to land and your hand will be the first to draw human blood. Your company will be the tip of the spear that begins the death of humanity." To this day, Stone Tongue could still feel the dark ones touch. When he was in doubt or in trouble he would place his own hand over that spot and think about the pride he had that day. He would think about how disappointed the dark one would be when he heard of Stone Tongue's failure. The fear of letting his clan down drove him to do better, to try harder.
When the word came down how they would soon begin their conquest, Stone Tongue was worried. Many of his brothers thought they would soon land in the country of Eystlund, they thought the war would begin there. When they were told they would start with the island of Va'Nox, even farther away from the rest of the world some thought the dark one lied to them. He had promised them they would sweep Atalanxia clean of humans yet they were going in a different direction. It wasn't until he called them all forth as one clan that they understood why they were going to the island of Va'Nox.
"Va'Nox is a land rich with the resources and materials we will need to fight the humans in their own lands. The people who inhabit the island are going to be a test, for your selves and for me. A rich land where we will find all we need to begin our conquest. Minerals to make the weapons, materials to build the ships of war and they will also give us the slaves we need to build those ships. It will give us a chance to practice all that we have trained for, to take the field of battle as one army, organized and disciplined. To crush the enemy and make them submit to our will. When we have taken all that we need from these people, we will destroy them. This is the forge that will form our people into a weapon. A weapon so strong, no man will be able to withstand a single blow. When we launch from Va'Nox we will be ready for anything that stands in our way."
Stone Tongue felt his pride swell in his chest that day. He imagined even the gods could hear the roar his clan let out that day. He imagined their fear and laughed at their inability to do anything about it. As promised, Stone Tongue's company was the first to land on the new island. Ten boats, the only ten they had, carried six companies of Orcs. They were to land on the island, secure a landing area for the rest of the army and to begin scouting out the human villages. They had one month to complete this task, to make ready for the next drop off. As more of the army arrived, they moved farther inland. Each time they moved Stone Tongue and his company were on the front lines of the invasion. His sword cut the path that all his clan would follow. His scouts were the first to find the human city. Shimmering towers made of glass and marble. These people were scholars, craftsmen, dreamers and idealist. None of them ever dreamed of meeting an Orc. None of them ever dreamed that death would swarm over the city in the middle of the night, leaving every one of them dead or a slave.
The dark one had warned him that there would be magic users in the city. That warning saved the lives of many Orcs. Archers were trained to spot the magic users. Taught the best time to fire their cross bows so a wizard wouldn’t be able to finish the spells they were going to cast. They were able to capture more than half the city before they met with resistance they could not break. It was something the dark one expected, something he had planned on. As the dark one came into the city, that final area of resistance was shattered. The lone Othos city had fallen to the dark one's army in less than a day. All the living humans in the city were ushered into a stadium where the humans held sporting contest. It was the only place large enough to hold them all.
Stone Tongue was there the day Argon made his last speech before he moved south. "At one time the people of this city lived all over, spread out in various villages. These humans, being weak, sought the safety of numbers. They built this decadent monstrosity thinking they would all be safe. No human city is safe from you my children. One by one they will all fall just as this one has. Now we prepare, build the great ships and gather all that we need. Soon, my general will arrive to lead you. He was the first of my children and will be with us soon. Until then, we continue to work, to make ready. You have done very well in containing the humans here but we must do more. First we build the holding areas for the slaves, one just south of this city and then one on the west coast where the ship yard will be. Once the holding areas are filled, any human that is not of use to us will be killed. I am sure the cooks will welcome the extra meat in their pots. I will take a single company south with
me to secure the temple and the bridges. Once that is done we hold the line."
"When it is time I will summon more of you to take the first of many human settlements on the south half of the island. The farm land there is rich and we will need all that it has to offer to make the trip over the sea. The Melkor people are a bit stronger than their cousins here, the fight will be harder but I know you will be victorious. We will enslave what we need and kill any we do not. Every day we grow closer to our goals. Every day victory is one step closer. I am very proud of all of you my children. Now, go! Continue what it is that we have started; we will show the world what we are capable of and they will tremble in fear. "Stone Tongue begged and pleaded with his commanders to send his company south with the dark one. He wanted to be first in line to challenge the people on the south half of the island. He was given his wish. Stone Tongue and his company escorted the dark one to the temple on the south half of the island. They took control of the bridges and kept any humans that approached from the south away from the temple. Not that they saw any once Argon entered the temple.
He told them, "Do not enter the temple grounds my children. It would only draw the wrath of the god down upon you. I am able to enter as he knows I am doing good work, destroying the evil of humanity. You will be witness to this fact as I walk in the gate, up the temple steps and in the doors." Stone Tongue wasn't too sure about that, the whole time he watched the dark one, he waited for a sign, a bolt of lightning or a flash of flames striking the wizard down. Yet nothing happened, as he had told him. Not long after the wizard entered the temple, the massive flame at the top of the tower went out. Stone Tongue knew that was his sign, Argon the Dark was the chosen one. He would lead them to unending glory. He then turned and barked out his orders for the company to make camp and to wait word from their great leader inside the temple.
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