I looked him in the eye and asked him if he knew anything about building a bridge. 'Lots of planks, tie them together, drop it over the hole. Why?' I held up my hand and told him I was serious. We needed something portable and able to support a great amount of weight. It also had to be something long enough to cross the rend in the island the locals called Solarths tears. 'So you were serious about destroying those bridges? How do you plan on doing that?' I could only smile at him and said all wood will burn. The Orcs had plenty of lantern oil in the camp and I would put it to good use. 'What good will that do?' I told him we had to slow down the next party of Orcs. 'Ok then, what about this mess?' he said waving his arms around. I told him to have the men team up with the Melkor that had joined us to pile them up on the wagon. We would burn them all with the ones in the tents. 'Well if you want them to do anything, you better talk to the messiah over there, they might not be too keen on following my orders.' I wanted to rip into him for some reason but held my tongue. I told him to get to get the men to work and stalked off to talk to Michaels. He was talking to the Melkor man who called himself Balon. He seemed to be the leader of the ones who stayed behind to fight.
Before I could get a single word out of my mouth Michaels started to tell me what they had been talking about. 'It would seem these good people approve of you and of us as a whole. They sent a runner to summon the rest of the Mellor’s hunters. They will add another two hundred archers to our ranks. We just have to hold off until they get here.' I thought about this for a moment and looked at Balon, asking him how long that would take. 'We have many swift runners Lord Captain, we should see the first of them here in eight days.' It was too long, we could not afford to wait around for eight days, we might slow the orc army down but I did not think it would be for that long. I told Balon that might be too long of a wait but we would hope for the best. I then told him that I wanted him to report to Bryce for orders, to help Bryce with the task I had given. 'Very well Lord Captain, we shall follow his words as your own.' I remember the look on Michaels face as he watched Balish run back to his people. To tell them what they were tasked with next. It was a look I saw on my own face the first time I saw my son walk for the first time.
When Michaels turned to me I told him that we were leaving in one hour. I told him to gather as much lantern oil as he could carry. 'Where are we going? I do not want to leave my people.' I took a long look at my friend and thought before I spoke. He was going on as if he had been born and raised on that island. I told him that in order to protect 'his people' from the Orc army, we had things to do and that I would explain it to him on the way. Michaels was changing before my eyes, something inside of him had changed and I wasn't sure if it was for the better. 'Very well Lord Kromwell, I shall do as you ask. One hour from now I shall be ready.' The Melkor people were calling him the gifted one, at the time I just thought it was going to his head. I was just a shade past my twenty second birthday, I wondered at the time how I got myself into that mess. Then it dawned on me and I had to laugh at myself. I had asked for the mess, I was glad to wade into it and had a big enough ego to believe I could clean it all up. I let killing a couple dragons and fighting a war go to my head. I did that with my friends, without them I would have failed. It was then that I decided that I had a friend to take care of right there.
I found Pare not far from where the fight ended there in the middle of the road. All that time had passed and he just stood around, watching everyone else. Looking at the Orcs as they laid there cooking in the sun. I called out to him and he was just standing there, lost in time. I called out to him a second time and he looked at me at last. 'Oh hiya Darmot.' I told him to follow me; I had seen the water barrels after the fight and knew what I had to do. I found a large barrel and took the top off it, looking at the clean water inside. As Pare caught up with me I took a quick look at him and then back to the barrel. 'What’s going on Darmot?' he asked me with a slightly exasperated voice. As if I was keeping him from something important. I tilted my head to the side, looking at my little friend. I softly told him to turn around; I had to do this quickly. As soon as he turned away from me I made a grab for him. I grabbed him around his chest, under his arms, he started to resist but not before I could pick him up. Dunking him down into the barrel of cold water. 'AHHHHH COLD!' he shouted. Half the men in the camp turned to look at us. 'STOP!' he shouted again as I pulled him up. I kept forcing him down into the water until the blood and mess was gone from his hair and face.
He tried to stop his decent more than once but I just kept forcing him down into the cool water. When I couldn't see anything left on him I pulled him out and set him down on the ground. While there were still some signs of the blood on his armor, most of it was gone. He looked at me with anger in his eyes. His mouth hanging open, unable to speak. I went down to one knee so I could be level with him. I asked him if he remembered when Arturo died. I watched as his face softened a bit, yet he was still silent. I told him that Arturo died fighting for something he believed in. He died fighting the good fight and in his death we found victory. Even though he was gone, we still honor him with our memories and how we live today. Pare looked at me and said 'What are you trying to say?' I told him that Miri believed in this cause. That she died doing something she believed in and to lose sight of that would dishonor her memory. I also told him that she loved him and who he was. To lose sight of that would dishonor that love they shared. That just because she was gone, didn't mean she loved him any less. That she would always be with him, no different than if I died. That it was now his job to keep their love alive so when it was time, they could be together again. Tears started to roll down my little friends face and I pulled him to me. I let him cry on my shoulder until his tears fell no more.
Michaels came and found us, Pare was still clinging to me, the paladin said nothing. When Pare finally stopped he pulled back from me and said 'What do we do now?' He had a slight smile on his face, while I knew he was just putting on a happy face for me, I think the worst of his pain was gone. Washed away with the cold water that was now the color of blood. I told him first, we found saddles for those horses. Then we go find our missing bounty hunter and most importantly, we send a message to the Orcs. 'Do you know where he might be?' the halfling asked me. I just nodded my head at him as I stood up. I looked to Michaels and he nodded as well, 'He went to face the wizard alone. We will find him in the temple of Solarth.' I went to find Bryce one last time and told him not to light up the bodies until well after dark. If the Orcs saw the smoke from the fire it might draw their attention before we were ready. I figured we would find the temple long before dark and have the bridges destroyed by the time the sun went down. I then told Bryce if he did not hear from us by the next morning he was to assume we were all dead and to continue on with his mission. The ships in the Orc shipyard had to be destroyed. No matter what happened to us, those ships had to burn.
90. Father and Son
“What did you say?" Windfall shouted as he shook the dead creature. While he knew the Orc was dead, he kept looking at it for a sign of life. The Orcs final words and the knowing look on its face haunted the half elf. A single moment before he rammed his blade into the Orcs chest Windfall saw something in its eyes; admiration, perhaps even love. Beyond the look however it was the Orcs final words that kept coming back to him.
"My General" it had said. Windfall dropped the Orc in the road and looked towards the sky. Looking for some kind of sign. "Are you one of my father’s pets? Did he do something to you to insure that you would know me? So that his experiments wouldn't kill his only son." Windfall turned away from the dead Orc, looking towards the north. "What did you expect of me father? I guess there is only one way to find out." Windfall looked around for any sign that he may have been followed while chasing the Orc. Not seeing anyone coming up the road from the south he turned back to the creature. "You are coming with me as I believe we are both owed answers." Lifting the dead Orc onto his shoulders, the half elf turned to the
north and started to walk. The dead creature’s finger tips brushed the ground as they walked as it was nearly twice the size of the half elf. Not that the weight bothered Windfall. He could have run with what he saw as a minor burden. Windfall often wondered if there was a limit to his strength, if there was, this was not it.
As the night went on and morning came closer Windfall remembered the second Orc company that should have been headed in his direction. If this second company was anything like the one they met the night before, he would hear them long before he saw them. Yet, keeping that in mind he hastened his step. He only paused to look ahead, looking for the tower that marked the end of the road. The half elf knew he could not afford to run headlong into the Orc company. Not with the cargo he had on his shoulders. They might not be too understanding when they saw the dead Orc officer. Yet part of him wanted just that, for them to see him. To see if they had the same look on their white faces as their dead companion. The bounty hunter smiled to himself as he thought of what might happen if they didn't. While he thought he might do well with such odds, he didn't want to go down like that. Forty Orcs against one half elf might have been too much even for the famed bounty hunter. Not that he was afraid to try.
Looking up to the sky, Windfall noticed that the once brilliant stars were growing dim. Morning was fast approaching and the tower was only a distant shape on the horizon. Had things been different he would have been looking at the flame at the top of the tower. A beacon to those who were lost in the darkness or to those without hope. While Windfall was far from lost, he could have used a little hope. He marched on, unsure of his fate or the fate of his friends that he had left behind. His only hope was that Darmot would do the right thing. Forget about the half elf and do what he had come to do. Stop the Orc army from attacking Eystlund. Stop them from attacking the only place the half elf ever called home. The place where he was born, the place where he met his wife and raised a family. Windfall was rather pleased with the fact that he had done so well for himself while never being at home for more than a couple weeks at a time. His wife Lucinda was the first one to know of his curse. She more than anyone understood why Windfall had to hunt. She was with him the first time it happened, she saw the affects it had on him.
As of late though, he had another reason for staying away from home. One that broke his heart every time he walked in the door. His once young and beautiful wife was ageing faster than he liked. She was in her forties and to the half elf she might as well have been one hundred. Even his sons who shared a bit of his elven blood aged too fast for him. Not that he could or would do anything about it. He would not wish his curse on anyone. To live on and on without feeling the passage of time. To know that if nothing changed he would outlive everyone he knew. When he told his oldest son about the curse he became a bit pale in the face. Zender told him, even the elves know time will catch up with them. They know their end will come so they value their time, how do you value something that will never end.
"You know what my dead friend?" Windfall told the corpse on his shoulders. "I did you a favor because kids are a pain in the ass. Don't get me wrong, Zender was a good boy. He turned out better than I expected. Still, they sometimes turn out too smart for their own good." It was then that the present caught up with the half elf. Looking ahead on the road he could see the incoming orc company. Dashing off to the side Windfall laid the dead orc in the tall grass of the plain, then laid down beside it while covering both the orc and himself with his cloak. Another gift from his mother’s family, the cloak allowed the half elf to blend into whatever was around him. Be it the shadows of a dark alley or the green of the forest. Windfall watched best he could as the Orcs marched by. First came a large wagon, then the troops and then a second wagon. The second, held what looked to be the commander of the Orcs. "Friend of yours?" Windfall asked the corpse. Still silent as the grave, the dead Orc said nothing.
"Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrg" the scream and crash made the half elf let out a deep sigh. The second wagon that had been trailing the orc army had lost a wheel. The Orc who was driving the wagon had been thrown to the ground while his commander held on for dear life. "Tell Stone Tongue send out wheel. We have to get this wagon to camp. Go now!" Windfall could not believe what he was seeing. While he had never had good luck, this was beyond bad. He couldn't trot out of there with the Orc corpse without being seen. After the first wagon and the Orc company moved on down the road, he moved in to take a closer look at who he was now dealing with. Had either of the Orcs that had been left behind bothered to look in Windfalls direction, they would have seen nothing but the tall, flowing grass. Perhaps if they looked close they might see a pair of eyes but nothing beyond that.
"I take nap, you wake when wheel get here!" the creature barked at his driver. Windfall then watched as the Orc officer climbed into the back of the wagon to lay down. With a single raised eyebrow the half elf turned to watch the driver, watching to see what it was that he would do. A younger Orc who had not yet taken into the ranks of the warriors. Windfall settled down to wait and watch. He only had to wait until the rest of the Orc company was far enough away that they would not hear the screams. Windfall enjoyed hearing them scream, it gave him a feeling of control. Fill the heart with fear and watch as all they know comes undone. Windfall worked very hard to make those he hunted fear him. Still, there was always that one. That one who thought the stories were made up. That he wasn't real. The one who decided that they were not going to run, that they were going to stand and fight. While they were few and far between the last few years, there was always one who wanted to test the legend.
The young Orc seemed to be content with his place as he cared for the animals. Checked their shoes with care and went about the task of feeding them. When that was completed he spent his time pacing around the wagon, each time he walked by his commander sleeping he would peak on him. After an hour of this, the young Orc settled down in the middle of the road, elbows on his knees, resting his face on his hands. As the morning sun finally appeared over the line of trees to the east, he could feel his eyelids getting heavy. Knowing that he would get in trouble with his commander for sleeping, the young Orc stood up again and tried to stay awake. It was then that he saw it happen. Standing there in the middle of the road, he saw the face spring forth from nothing more than the tall grass. First he saw the face and then the bright blue scales. All manner of thoughts crossed the young Orcs mind in that moment. It wasn't until he saw the weapon appear that he knew how much trouble he was in. Yet he was a good Orc, this was just another challenge to him and he knew what to do. He must alert his commander who was still very much asleep. Yet by the time the young Orc turned around, the hammer had already fallen.
It was something Windfall had done a million times before. Just as the pray is looking in the right spot, move and strike. While the young Orc showed no fear or panic, he turned to run just the same. Reaching out with one hand he grabbed the Orcs tunic from behind, the second hand brought down his sword, pommel first into the back of the creatures head. While it was very effective in putting person down, Windfall always found it difficult to question a person when they were out cold. "That is what they make rope for" he often told himself. After he tied up the young Orc, he went around to the rear of the wagon to take a look at the Orc commander. Still sleeping, he was typical size for an Orc. He wore bits of armor, other than a small rank pin on his shoulder. He looked just like the Orcs they had killed the night before. Not wanting to waste any more time the half elf decided it was time to wake the sleeping beast. With one hand firmly gripping his sword, he reached into the wagon and took the Orcs ankle in his other hand.
"Roaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrr" shouted the Orc commander as the half elf pulled his leg. Landing on the road in a heap at the rear of the wagon. "What you doing?" he shouted. "I kill...." the words froze in the Orcs throat when it saw the point of a weapon at its neck. His eyes traveled up the length of the blade, to the gloved hand, up the arm and to the face of a half elf.
"General! You general, great father Argon told us you come." The look on the Orcs face went from fear to reverence.
"And what did great father Argon tell you I was going to do?" the half elf asked.
"You lead army. You lead us to victory over humans. When all Orc clans in world come together, we will drive humans out for the final time. You will be our leader. You...urrrrrrrrrk." Windfall could hear no more. He gave the monster a quick death, far better than he would have had a few hours down the road.
"I am no leader." Windfall wiped the blood from the blade of his sword and turned north. His view of the tower was clear in the morning light. If he avoided any more patrols, he thought he could be there in an hour or two tops. "Maybe faster without my dead friend." Windfall took one last look at the young Orc he had tied up and waved his hand at the beast. "Someone will find you soon enough. I know what I need to do now. Something I should have done years ago." The half elf, now committed to his path, started up the road. His initial steps were slow but as he went on, more sure of himself, his speed increased. "You set me on this path the moment you did your magic on me father. Did you know that it would lead to you? You had to know where your curse would lead me." Shaking his head, trying to clear his mind of thought, the half elf started to run. From then on, he only thought of his breathing and the heat that was slowly building from the sun above.
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