Michaels was speaking with the Othos leaders, I trusted him to get the message across to them about what we had planned. Truth be told, at the time I didn't care what he was telling them as long as they didn't give us a problem. Not that it would matter in the end. I looked around, I didn’t see Windfall anywhere, Pare was talking to Kandella while the others were getting ready to leave. I looked at the mass of people on the field, while most of them seemed to be in good health, I just couldn't see them fighting. They looked like simple people, a bit more studied than their cousins to the south but still a simple people. I started to head towards them when I tripped over Mason the wolf. It was all I could do to keep myself on my feet. I turned around to look at the beast, his eyes met mine then he looked off to the east. His ears were standing straight up and I could see the fur on his back had started to rise, when he started to growl I knew something was wrong. 'DARMOT!' Windfall screamed, I looked up and saw him perched on the walls of the black building. He was pointing to the east, he tried shouting to me but the sound of the Orc horns filled the air.
The Orc army was marching right towards us. We were not ready for this and all of us knew it. I saw Bryce and the Dead Squad running towards me. I called out to them, told them to find something to brace the door of the black building, something we could use on the inside. They scattered around the camp in every direction, leaving Kandella lost and confused. I called out to Pare who was racing up the ladder to join Windfall on the wall, when he looked at me I pointed to the priestess. Giving me a quick thumbs up he raced back down the ladder and ran to her, leading her towards the slave building. I then turned towards Michaels who was standing there in front of all those people. He was doing nothing, just watching to the east. I shook my head and sprinted towards him, calling out his name. I got all the way to his side and he still did not respond to me, his eyes were locked to the eastern horizon. I put my hands on his shoulders, turning him to face me. 'Darmot my friend, it would appear the Orc army is coming.' I shook my head at him, telling him that I knew that. 'What will you do now?' He asked me that like he asked me the day before what was for breakfast. Like he knew what it was that he was about to do.
I shook him a bit and told him to get the people up and to get them back inside of the slave compound. 'It is called the Black Vault, it was once a great school for magic, there are rooms underground, they would hide their sick down there until they were well enough to work.' I shouted his name at him as once again the Orc horns sounded. Shouting at him to get them all inside, it was the only way we were going to survive. 'You may be correct, it should be easy to defend and they can hide people below.' I didn't even wait for him to finish. I turned towards the crowd of Othos and told them to move and to get back inside the black walls. Now that I had spoken to them, Michaels was shouting at them to move quickly but safely. Telling them that it would all be over very soon. I sprinted away from him towards Bryce and the Dead Squad who were now all gathered around the gates. They had recovered the planks we pulled off the door from the night before but they were damaged. 'It won't hold long but it will give us a fighting chance. You want us on the walls or in the yard holding the door way?'
I looked at Bryce and wanted to throttle him. I told him to stick to the plan; that he had to take the ship yard now. 'Sorry, it is too late for that. We are not going to leave you here. So we all fight here or we all hit the ship yard.' Othos people were moving in orderly lines back into the walls, it made me wonder if they could hear the horns or the marching feet of over two thousand Orcs. I started to wonder if all that time in captivity had broken their minds. I looked at Bryce, tell him to get moving, telling him that the ship yard had to burn, telling him that it was an order. 'Maybe I am done following orders.' He then reached up, pulling the rank pin from his shoulder and tossed it in the dirt. He then slapped me on the shoulder and said 'I'll see you on the wall pal.' I couldn't say anything as he turned away from me, I could only watch as he made his way to the ladder where he climbed up to the top of the wall. I picked up the rank pin and walked towards the men. I tossed it towards them watching as most of them moved out of the way, Nelson caught it without even thinking.
'Pig farts!' he said when he saw what it was in his hand. I saluted him and told him congratulations on his new promotion. I told him to take the sailors we freed to the ship yard to finish our mission. They would be more than happy to help as long their ship didn't get burned. 'But sir!' I held my hand up and told him that all of Arcadia was counting on him now. "Do not let us down Lt. Nelson, your king and your nation is counting on you." I could see the argument in his eyes but in the end, I won. He turned away, screaming for his new men to get moving. The rest of the Dead Squad stayed with me, they were there on the walls with me as the Orcs crested the far hill. They were there on the wall with me when it happened. If not, I might not believe what I saw that day. Even with all those eyes there, telling me it was real, I still have trouble. Sometimes, I still don't believe. I still need someone to remind me of what it was that we lost.
97. Sacrifice
As the Othos people filed back into their Black Vault, they were calm and cool. It was the battle harden soldiers who were running around in a panic. The Dead Squad was doing all they could to help the people get back inside. After watching Nelson and the crew of Nathans Bounty race off towards the ship yards I went up the ladder to the top of the wall where Bryce and Windfall were watching the orc army march towards us. They were still more than a mile away but getting closer every minute. 'Well pal, this is one hell of a snare we got caught in. What are we gonna do with the sheep down there, one volley of arrows and they will all be toast?' From the tone of voice Bryce was using, I imagined this was his way of injecting humor into the situation. I turned around to look inside the walls, expecting to see the people milling around. I poked Bryce in the back and told him to look. We watched as all over the court yard, secret doors were opened, the majority of the slaves were able to hide in the tunnels below. We were left with about one hundred men standing around. Some of them had staffs in their hands and some of them even looked like they might know how to use them.
I then asked the two of them if they had any ideas. Windfall told me 'they will need slave labor after all the damage we have caused and will cause. We could hide amongst the slaves, bide our time until we have a chance to escape. They may also decide with my father gone, they will just live life here and kill us all.' I looked at my half elf friend and asked him if he had anything else. He placed one hand on his sword and smiled at me, 'in the right conditions, I might be able to take down five hundred before I fall. That would leave a little more than one hundred for each of you.' Windfall then turned back to watching the line of Orcs growing larger by the moment. I felt Bryce leaning towards me, his hand on my shoulder. 'He believes that doesn't he?' he whispered in my ear. I could only nod at him. I then asked him if he had any ideas. 'It will be a good half hour before they are in range of our long bows. That means we have time to run. Stuff the last of those sheep in those holes, then we all run.' I shook my head at him, told him that would never work. They had to have seen the people on the field, they knew something was going on here. They wouldn't even stop here long enough to count the bodies before they marched on the ship yards. We had to give Nelson time to get the fires started.
'Darmot, what do you need me to do?' I turned to the side to see Pare had joined us at the top of the wall. I asked him where he had put Kandella? 'Oh, I had her go into the dungeon with the others. The walls down there are all blue and glowie, we should explore it before we go home.' I smiled at my small friend and told him to go find the Dead Squad. I wanted the ladders that were on the outside of the walls brought in before we were being overrun. Then once that was done, he was to come back to me. Instead of running off to talk to them, he stood there at the top of the wall, screaming at the top of his lungs. 'Hey you there! Rogers, get all the ladders from the outside before you close the doors. No! Darmot said so! I don't care, just
do it! Make West help you, he runs fast!' The three of us on top of the wall stood there watching the halfling shout down orders. The longer he shouted, the faster he spoke. The faster he spoke, the more animated he became, hopping up and down on the wall to help punctuate his points. I am not sure but I think he told one of them to make us sandwiches before he ran out of breath.
A few of the Othos men helped bring in all the ladders. Soon as the last one was in the gate, the men went to work closing the doors. I watched as Kord and Curry brought one of the ladders over to us, giving us a way off the top of the walls. I started looking around, doing a quick count of the people inside, something was wrong. Something was very wrong, it wasn't until Windfall spoke that I knew what it was. 'Darmot, do you believe the story?' I turned and asked him what story that was? 'The story of Keltor.' That is when I knew Michaels was nowhere inside of the building. I looked down the wall and he was there, banner in one hand, Solarths Fist in the other while on the back of a horse. I asked the others where he got the horse but they said nothing to me. I shouted to him, shouted to him to come back. He turned around and looked at me at the top of the wall. His mount was as white as his robes, he trotted back towards the wall. When he reached the bottom of the wall I told him to come inside before it was too late. He just sat there looking at me. I yelled again, telling him that we had time to open the gates again, for him to get inside.
'No' he said to me. I asked him what he meant by no, telling him to get inside now. 'I am out of time my friend. I know what it is that I have to do now, I am going to give them one last chance to leave the island.' I was about to lose my mind, I could see the look on his face, I had seen it before. It was acceptance like I had seen it on the face of Arturo when he decided to challenge Nikle. 'Darmot, promise me one thing.' I was ready to jump from the wall and I might have had Windfall not held me back. 'Take me home when this is over.' I yelled for him to get back inside and we would all go home when it was over. The rest of the Dead Squad had joined us at the top of the wall along with a few of the Othos men. Windfall still had his hands on my shoulders as it was all he could do to keep me up there. I watched as Michaels looked down the line, taking in each face along the top of that wall. He stood up in the saddle, placing the head of his weapon over his chest giving us a salute. The only two people that did not return the salute was myself and Windfall. I was still trying to get away from him, trying to get off that wall. When Michaels rode away, towards the Orc army I gave up. He never saw it but I returned his salute as he rode towards the Orcs.
He was about half way between us and them when the Orcs stopped. The massive formation of bodies swelled and bowed like some great living thing that had compressed on itself. When I pulled out the spy glass to watch I could see the Orc commander at the front of the formation. Perhaps they thought Michaels approaching with the white banner was a sign of surrender, it was the only reason I could think of that would make them stop. Still several hundred feet away from the Orcs, Michaels dismounted and planted his banner in the ground. He stood there and waited for whatever was about to come. The Orc commander, looking at the lone human turned to the front ranks, pointed at them and waved them on. A group of ten Orcs pulled out their weapons and started to charge at Michaels. It was then that under a clear blue sky, we heard the first rumble of thunder. I felt Pare next to me as his little hand had snaked its way into mine. No one spoke, no one was even moving, we just watched as the small group of Orcs continued to charge at the paladin. I trained the spy glass on the back of my friend, he had his weapon in both hands, holding it at arm’s length, I nearly dropped the spy glass when the bolt of lightning shot out of Solarths Fist and into the charging Orcs.
The Othos men on the wall with us all went down to one knee, right there on the top of the wall. Their prayers made me look away from Michaels for a moment, when I looked back he was glowing. Light rays beamed off his body like a torch in the darkness or the sun in the sky. The charging Orcs were nothing more than a dark spot on the field between Michaels and the rest of the army. 'I sent you a warning.' Michael’s voice filled the air all around us, as if he was standing right next to us. 'This is your last chance. Solarth will show you mercy if you drop your weapons and turn from this path now. Leave the evil work you have done, turn away from the darkness and return to your home land. Never return to this place.' I could see the Orc commander screaming for something or someone. A massive creature came to the front of the ranks to stand at his side, the commander pointed at Michaels for the last time. This massive beast with shield and sword in hand started to walk towards Michaels. Michaels waited for the beast to come to him, he had no fear of what was coming. His god was with him.
The massive beast made his way past the black mark where his companions had died, I could see bits of flesh laying on the ground. The lightning bolt from Solarths Fist and not left much behind. I could feel Pare's hand getting tighter over my fingers, the three of them he could grip. The massive Orc stood before Michaels, weapon at the ready, roaring at my friend. 'Is this your answer?' His voice filled the air once again. The creature lashed out with his blade at the head of the paladin, I watched as he deftly ducked under the blade, stepping to the side. Michaels then took a swing at the Orc. We could hear the impact from where we stood. Some of the men on the wall started to cheer as the body of the beast was sent flying away, nearly landing where his former companions were killed by the bolt of lightning. 'Very well, may the gods have mercy on you in the afterlife for I shall show you none here.' That was the last time we heard Michaels speak.
The orc commander let out a roar and the entire army started to march once again. I looked as Michaels dropped down to one knee, he planted Solarths Fist into the ground in front of him as he dropped his head, it looked like he had started to pray. Two hundred feet was all that was between Michaels and the army. When they started to charge, it became one hundred. I turned my spy glass towards my friend one final time and was nearly blinded. I dropped the glass from my eye, where Michaels was once kneeling, was a ball of pure white light. We could hear the roar of the charging Orcs as they advanced on my friend, all the while the light around my friend continued to grow. 'Darmot, what is happening?' Pare's voice was distant and hollow in my ears. With less than twenty feet between the front ranks of the orc army and my friend the ball of light pulsed, just once.
The ball of light that had been around my friend exploded, waves of energy crackled and raced forward into the ranks of the Orcs. Soon the wave passed beyond our sight, over the eastern horizon. 'Everyone get down!' Windfall shouted as we watched a wave of dust and sand roll towards us, carried by the blast driven wind. We all got down on the top of the wall the best we could, had I not forced Pare under me he might have been blown off the top. When the wind stopped and the air had cleared, nothing remained of the orc army, only a charred black path, a hundred feet wide, untold number of feet long. We could not see where it ended. It looked as if it was pointing towards us, in truth it was pointing towards one thing. A banner of white that was waving in the wind over the body of one man. I stood there for what seemed to be an eternity, looking for some sign of life from the man in white. The horse was gone, only the man and the banner remained. I had to get down there, when I turned around the only ladder we had was laying in the court yard of the Black Vault. I called out to the Othos who were still down there but they would not move. They were all on their knees, huddled together praying to their god.
Using a rope Windfall pulled out of his pack, we slid down the outside of the wall. Pare, Bryce and I started running as soon we hit the ground. The entire time I ran towards him, I kept my eyes locked on his body, hoping for some kind of sign. Pare ran beside me instead of running ahead like I knew he could have, I couldn't understand what he was saying at first. The closer we got to his body, the louder he got. 'No, no, no.' he said over and over again. When we got to his body, I looked back towards the black walls once. Windfall and the Dead Squad were quickly covering the space b
etween us. I looked down at my friend then. He was holding Solarths Fist against his chest with both hands. He had a look of calm on his face. Pare had started to cry as he stood there beside me, looking down on our friend. I went down to one knee beside Michaels, placing my hand at the side of his neck. I was hoping to find something that wasn't there, something that would never be there again. I then reached up and closed his eyes, as I did this the sound of thunder filled the air again. Rain had started to fall from the clear blue sky. When I stood up I looked around at my friends, they had formed a circle around their fallen companion.
'What do we do now?' Bryce had asked. I looked at him ready to explode. Yet as the rain continued to pour down on to me, I stood silent. Letting the cool water run down over me, cooling my anger, washing away the pain I was feeling. I looked at my small halfling friend. His face was turned towards the sky, the rain mixing with his tears. I asked him if he had an extra length of cord like the one he used to tie up his hair. Without even looking he reached for one of his pouches, dumping the contents on the ground. There in the center of a pile of other odd bits of treasure that only meant something to him was the cord I asked for. I pulled it out and tossed it towards Windfall asking him to tie up the banner Michaels carried. I did not want it waving in the wind while we carried it, none of us were worthy of that honor. 'Sir, Lord Kromwell...what do we do now?' Bryce asked me again. I let out one long sigh and looked at him. I told him we grant my friend his final wish. We were to take him home and take him home we did.
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