The orc turned to meet his attack at the last minute. He parried Thirak’s strike with an effort and kicked out with his leg. Thirak turned side on to dodge the kick and shoulder rushed the large orc.
The impact took the wind out of him but because the orc was off balance, Thirak knocked him to the floor. The orc guard’s eyes went wide as Thirak gripped his sword in both hands and jabbed it into his chest.
“Pay back.” Thirak watched all life leave the orc’s eyes. He turned around and scanned the workshop. They had managed to prevent all the guards from making it to the one exit. “Jerzy, keep th’ door open while we clear this place.” Thirak left him with two dwarves while he led the others around the large complex, killing every orc guard they came across.
“Grab as many weapons as ya can carry,” he ordered the slaves as they made their way back to the door.
Jerzy and the other dwarves were fighting guards when they returned and were outnumbered.
“Is it too early ta be callin’ for that favour?” asked Jerzy as he struggled to keep two swords from winning through.
Thirak pulled out a knife he had found on a dead guard and tossed it at the orc on Jerzy’s right. The dagger sunk into the orc’s neck and he dropped holding his throat.
“We be even now.” Thirak rushed in and engaged the next orc before Jerzy found himself fighting two once again.
The orcs lost their resolve and turned to run. The slaves cut them all down in short order. Thirak led the slaves to the ground floor.
“Jerzy, you take half th’ group and be freein’ the rest o’ the slaves in here, then be meetin’ us at the Slaughterhouse,” commanded Thirak.
“What about th’ rest o’ th’ compound?” asked Jerzy.
“We’ll be sortin’ that out once we’ve gathered at th’ Slaughterhouse.” After a nod of understanding from Jerzy, Thirak split the group and led his half to the exit.
They encountered minimal resistance on the way and once again those orcs were more inclined to run than fight. When they reached the exit it had been locked tight, but Thirak organised a battering ram from a nearby steel beam and smashed the door open.
A large group of orc guards met them on the street outside. Thirak arranged his group with his dwarves and human soldiers in the front line and marched to meet the orcs.
The orcs were well organised and good fighters but it became obvious they had never fought dwarves before. Thirak almost laughed out loud at the shock on the orc’s face as he blocked his full force swing with ease. He took advantage of that and kicked the orc back into the pack behind him causing mayhem among their ranks.
A jab to his left had a distracted orc roiling in pain allowing the dwarf fighting him to finish the job. The orcs recovered and Thirak soon found himself engaged with a talented sword fighter. Every move he made, the orc had an answer. The dwarves either side of him had the same problem.
Aware that any delay favoured the orcs, Thirak racked his brain for a way to break this line. Fatigue slowed him down and his comrades would be tiring too. While the slaves outnumbered the guards at about four to one, most of the slaves had never been in a sword fight and received basic training so they could produce better swords.
His lapse in concentration almost cost him his head as his opponent’s backswing came in quicker than he expected. A last minute duck of his head and a jab with his sword made the move appear intentional as his sword dug deep into the orc’s belly. The orc’s shock at his exceptional speed became apparent in his eyes moments before all life fled from them.
Relief flooded through him as a ruckus from behind alerted him that Jerzy had arrived with what sounded like substantial reinforcements. Thirak’s next opponent hesitated and he took advantage of it with a primal roar and a charge.
His energy proved infectious as his fellow dwarves followed suit and soon after the human soldiers and slaves. They had managed to push their enemy back before Jerzy had even made his way to the front. The rout was on in full soon after.
Sarai knew the time had come to act or risk being left behind. Gerard had told her to sit tight and they would come for her, but she did not want to miss possibly her one chance of freedom. She had been born and raised in this compound and knew no other life, but unlike others, she had never accepted that to be her fate.
She had dreams of running around open fields with no orc guards in sight, walking among a dense forest and spotting the various wildlife or climbing the highest mountain and admiring the majestic view.
Things she had seen and read about in books.
It had been about two hours since the bell had sounded for the changing of the guards. Gerard’s plan would be in full swing and the lack of guards and the sounds of fighting down the street indicated that.
“C’mon girls, it’s time we left this place.” Expressions of horror assaulted her from every direction.
“We cannot leave,” said a timid voice from across the room. “It is forbidden and we will be severely punished.”
Sarai wanted to scream at the stupid girl. They were just as likely to be punished if they stayed where they were. At least if they left now they had a chance of escape. She settled herself and then replied.
“Men are fighting and dying right now in order to secure our freedom. The least we can do is go and help them.”
“You want us to fight against armed guards?” asked another woman, Helen by name and a very stubborn and nasty woman. She would often do things for the guards to gain their favour; even freely offer her body or dob in another slave. Sarai doubted that she could convince her to leave.
“We could at least be a distraction to them. Throw stones at them or something.” Sarai would pick up the first weapon she found and take out her frustrations on any orc guard that came her way.
“But if the men fail, they’ll come right after us and kill every last one of us. If we stay here they’ll reward our loyalty,” replied Helen.
“Ha, since when do they reward loyalty? Punishment is all they know, and besides, the men won’t lose. They outnumber the guards many times over and the new slaves are warriors and leaders. They’ve escaped worse situations before.” Sarai examined the many faces as she spoke. She had convinced some of them at least, but many still fidgeted.
“Says who? Them? Men can spin tales as easily as we spin wool.” Helen stood with hands on hips.
“We have a chance of escape here. To live our lives the way we choose and not the way we’re told. To die of old age and not to the sacrificial knife. Isn’t that worth any risk?” An orc guard came into the room as she finished speaking and marched toward her with a lopsided grin.
Sarai’s heart almost leapt from her chest.
Despite her fear she maintained eye contact with the guard while she sneakily picked up her scissors.
The orc stalked confidently toward her as he pulled the metal tipped whip from his belt.
“Inciting revolt and planning escape, ay? That’s punishable by death.”
“The revolt has already begun, or haven’t you noticed?” She kept her voice steady.
“And it’ll soon be over with many new sacrifices to Nefari. Our goddess will be pleased.” The orc stopped one pace in front of her and readied his whip. She shied away from him and closed her eyes.
The orc laughed.
In one fluid motion she gripped the scissors tightly in her right hand and dived toward the orc with the pointy end leading. She sunk the scissors deep into the orc’s neck before he even had a chance to react. His laughter turned into a strange gurgling noise as blood spurted out of his mouth. He stared at her in disbelief as he collapsed.
“Now you’ve done it,” screamed Helen. “You’ve no doubt condemned us all now.”
“Then you have nothing further to lose. Let’s join together and take the fight to our oppressors.” Doubt faded from many eyes and some of them walked over closer to her. The chance of freedom had its effect on these women.
“I’m in,” said one woman
confidently. “My days here were numbered anyway.”
A chorus of affirmation followed from many other women as they shuffled over closer to Sarai. Eventually Helen sighed and walked over to her.
“It seems I am outnumbered and without a choice. What is your plan then?”
“Firstly, we must arm ourselves with anything we can use as a weapon. As I just showed you, even one-on-one we can defeat them. They will underestimate us — at least to begin with — but we should try to team up in groups of three or four so we can assist each other. We made their armour so we know where the weak points are. Target the joins or exposed areas. Stick together. We’ll try to avoid confrontation, but where we must, we will. We need to free all the other women in this building as soon as we can and join up with the men and see if we can assist them. Let’s get to it.” Sarai bent over, picked up the orc guard’s whip and tossed it to Helen. The older woman examined it and screwed up her face, but eventually turned back to Sarai and nodded.
Sarai retrieved the orc’s short sword — which seemed more like a two-handed great sword in her grasp — and a dagger he had strapped to his boot. She kept the sword for herself but gave the dagger to the closest woman. She stood and lifted the sword up in front of her eyes and tried to get used to its weight.
“Stand back,” she commanded the women around her. She swung the sword in a basic routine that Brendan had shown her. She was clumsy at first, but as she got used to the weight of the blade she improved. She was under no illusion that if she wound up in a one-on-one sword fight with any of these guards she’d be dead within seconds, but she did feel more confident with a weapon in her hands.
“All right, let’s get moving.” Sarai led the women out of the large sewing room and along a short hallway. As she got to the first door and went to open it she berated herself.
It was locked.
“Can someone please go back and get the keys from the dead orc guard?” A woman ran off and so she waited and kept a firm vigil down the hall.
All remained quiet.
The orcs had more to worry about than them. The woman returned jangling the keys by her side, so Sarai put a finger up to her lips to silence her. The woman closed her hand over the keys and went bright red from embarrassment.
When Sarai got the keys she tried each one in the lock. On her third attempt she heard the satisfying click as she turned the key full circle. She pushed the door open and held her sword up at the ready as she pounced into the room.
No orc guards were present, just a bunch of wide-eyed women.
“Come on. It’s time to break free.” The women continued to stare at her. “Now! Men are dying with every second we delay.”
The women jumped to their feet and hurried over to her.
“Wait. Grab whatever you can use as a weapon and follow us.” Sarai turned and rushed back out into the hallway and went to the next door.
She received similar reactions in every room she went but eventually she had all the women from the Textiles Mill following her and the few orcs they did come across were quick to run away.
It had taken longer than she would have liked but finally she stepped out onto the street with a horde of women in tow. To her left a great battle took place near the Weaponsmith.
As she led the women toward the battle, the orcs turned and fled in their direction. The men and dwarves pursued them. It didn’t take her long to work out what that meant for them. All of a sudden they had fifty orc guards charging right at them. This had been the very confrontation she wanted to avoid, but if they turned and ran the orcs would soon catch them and they’d be slaughtered.
Her mind raced.
The women wouldn’t be able to stand their ground against such a charge. Across the street lay the apartment complexes but they wouldn’t have enough time to run up the stairs leading to the terraces.
“Back into the building,” she ordered.
The women turned at once and started running back into the Textiles Mill. Sarai soon realised that the orcs would be upon them before they all made it back inside.
“Keep watch behind you and be ready to turn and fight,” she yelled.
Women started screaming and pushed and shoved in an attempt to make it into the building.
Sarai sighed.
These women were not warriors and when put to it, they would protect their own lives above others. What else could she expect?
“Stop pushing. It’ll make it worse.” She glanced behind — the orcs were almost upon them. “Turn and fight ladies. There is no other choice.”
Some listened immediately. Others took a little longer to respond as they were more interested in getting away. But when they heard the screams of dying women and the clash of metal on metal, they did turn and bore any weapon they had at their disposal — mainly knives and daggers they found in the orc guards’ rooms.
Sarai managed to block the first attack but she screamed as the vibration from the blow ran up her arm and almost caused her to lose her grip on the sword. She didn’t stand a chance of getting her blade in place to deflect the second swing and was sure she was about to die.
A whip swung in from her right hand side and wrapped around the attacking orc’s arm causing him to drop his weapon. Not wanting to waste the opportunity, Sarai jabbed her sword with both hands, putting the full weight of her body behind it. The blade cut through leather, flesh, bone and sinew as it plunged into the orc’s body. Sarai retracted the blade fast before she lost her grip on it as the orc collapsed.
“Work together as a team. United we can defeat them.” Sarai nodded thankfully to Helen as she shouted the words. Another orc went down to her left but the woman who struck the killing blow froze.
Sarai got her sword in place just in time to deflect a blow that would have impaled the women. A third woman came in from the other side and plunged her dagger into the orc’s kidney. The orc growled in pain and belted the women’s arm away, leaving the dagger buried deep in his flesh. Sarai swung her sword with all her might and sliced open the orc’s leather armour along with his stomach and all its contents.
“It’s them or us,” she screamed at the pale woman. “Pull yourself together or die where you stand.” Her words were harsh but she had to shake the woman out of her state or she’d prove to be a liability for the rest of them.
Sarai turned back to her right in time to witness an orc plunge his blade into Helen’s heart. Helen turned to Sarai with eyes wide open and then coughed up a mouthful of blood and fell to her knees. Sarai screamed out in defiance and swung her sword down hard, cutting the orc’s hand off above the wrist. Her blade cut like a hot knife through butter and threw off sparks as she continued her swing and made contact with the pavement.
The orc kicked her in the side, knocking all the wind out of her and hurtling her to the ground. She banged her knee hard on the road but otherwise rolled with the momentum and jumped back up to her feet with sword at the ready. There was no pursuit though as the orcs searched for an escape.
There was none.
The pursuing men and dwarves had used the time to surround the group and in no time at all they had cut down every last one of them. Sarai limped to Helen’s fallen form and collapsed to her knees. She sobbed uncontrollably as she threw herself across Helen’s still body.
She had done this. She was responsible for the death of all the women in this street as she had pushed them to follow her. How many more would die before they made it out? How much more blood would she have on her hands?
“Ay, you must be Sarai,” said a gruff voice from behind her. “I’m Thirak.”
Chapter 15
Slaughter in the Slaughterhouse
Peering through the vent, Gerard counted twenty armed guards in the large room, but judging from the voices there were many more out of view.
“We sit tight until reinforcements come. Then we’ll make all these slaves pay for their foolishness,” he heard one of them say.
“The Supreme Mistress
herself will come and sort ’em out,” said another.
“Na, I heard she was out of the city at the moment — checkin’ on the Black Skull’s northern border or somethin’,” said a third orc in high tones.
“We’ll have this problem well in hand before she returns,” barked the first voice.
He judged that his group still outnumbered them but they were not warriors. What he wouldn’t give to have Jeff by his side right now. That thought spurred him on knowing his best friend was in dire peril and needed him. He crept back up the stone duct to where the slaves were waiting.
“There are thirty or more guards in a room up ahead,” he whispered, “they are waiting for reinforcements which likely aren’t too far away. Time is on their side. Surprise is on ours. I’ll drop into the room first but I’ll need you all to hurry after me and take full advantage of that surprise. The more we can kill before they have a chance to organise themselves the better. Are you with me?”
A few head nods and mumbles of affirmation were the only response he received, so he turned around and led the way.
When he reached the vent again he peered through to get a good sense of the guards positioning and then turned around so that his legs were facing the grill. With a sudden kick, Gerard smashed the grill open. Before it had even clanged to the floor he moved, propelling himself out of the crawl space and landing heavily into the room.
The nearest orc turned at the commotion but died before he reacted to the threat. Gerard moved further into the room to allow space for the slaves landing behind him.
The next orc managed to draw his sword but Gerard struck him down in an instant. By the time he reached the third orc the element of surprise had gone. The orc had his sword in place to block Gerard’s attack and countered with his own. Gerard proved too quick for the strike, turning side on to dodge it before plunging his sword deep into the orc’s belly.
Noise filled the room as it became crowded and the fighting intensified. The orcs were trying to group together but Gerard cut a line through the centre followed closely by the slaves sensing their freedom and fighting fiercely for it.
Invasion Page 14
