Back at the human camp Elberon, Gianna, and Sterlis stood in a circle around Buck, who was lying on the ground holding his wound. His grunts of pain were the only sounds heard.
“Can’t you do something? You’re a cleric are you not?” Sterlis asked desperately. Buck’s injury was serious indeed. He was losing significant amounts of blood and his bone was likely cracked. As Sterlis finished his question, Elberon began rolling up his sleeves and Ardius and Bart walked over.
Then a voice came from the woods and they all reached for their weapons or pointed them in the direction of the sound. “Stay calm, it is I.” Ostinus repeated twice. He did not want to startle his companions and get hit with an arrow from Gianna. She did indeed have an arrow already set and pointed in his direction. The warrior’s form could barely be seen in the subtle moonlight as he emerged from the foliage. Elberon’s magical light had ran its duration and vanished.
Ostinus could see that something bad had happened. He walked over to the huddled group.
“Please, continue,” pleaded Sterlis to the priest on behalf of the wounded Buck.
“I can…probably make it back to the city…I’ll be fine” Buck said with pride through gritted teeth. They all knew this was not likely to be true. The orc’s blade had dug deep.
“Oooh,” said Ostinus as he looked down at Buck, “That’s bad, worse than me for sure.” The comment had them all looking at the warrior who had been mysteriously missing from the battle. He was holding his ribs on the left side.
“What? You too are injured? Let me see.” Elberon said as he looked him over. Ostinus removed his hand and blood covered the warrior’s palm but it was hard to see in the dark.
“Its minor, I’m fine, Elberon…help Buck.” Ostinus pointed towards the injured man. The priest continued to look at his friend for a moment longer and then turned back to the man on the ground. He uttered a prayer and held his hands over poor Buck. Magical energies twisted in the air around the injured man and a faint blue hue swirled near the wound. The gash closed up, but was not completely healed.
“We must bandage that properly to prevent it from opening completely again and getting infected,” said the priest.
“Elberon, wasn’t your healing magic much stronger at Orzalar? Surely you can mend that wound further?” Ostinus questioned but then realized his choice of words was poor. Elberon could feel a stare from Sterlis that demanded an answer.
“His wound was grave, my magic was not strong enough. When I called to Phelios to heal those dwarves, I had doused them in holy water blessed by a High Priest, which I no longer have.”
“So you can do nothing more for him?” asked Sterlis in an accusing tone.
“Relax, brother Elberon has done what he can I am sure,” chimed in Ardius. No one responded because all eyes moved back to Buck, who unexpectedly propped himself onto a knee.
“I’ll bandage this up, and head back in the morning. The bleeding has stopped and the pain is manageable. Thank you” Buck reached up and grabbed Elberon’s forearm lightly and looked him in the eyes in appreciation.
“You too must tend to your wound,” Elberon told the bleeding Ostinus. The priest could do nothing more for him magically. Divine magic, like many things, grew stronger with experience and wisdom. Elberon was still young and had limited power. He had to earn his abilities with Phelios. They examined Ostinus’s wound and the warrior began to recount his story.
At the first sign of battle Ostinus, who slept nearest to the woods, heard the attackers and rolled quietly into the cover of the brush with his weapon. In the woods, he sat silent and listened for his enemy, determining their location solely by sound. At that moment, he realized that they were all occupied with his human companions in the camp, and that he would be able to get an advantageous flanking position in the woods…if he could remain silent. His warrior instincts had taken over. With discipline and concentration he managed to move through the trees successfully. He focused on the sounds of battle as he took in his surroundings. Then the here realized the attackers were not the only enemies he heard. Others were nearby deeper in the woods. He found two distracted orcs waiting in an open patch of forest, weapons drawn and looking towards the battle. He could make their figures out just enough in the light moonlight. Ostinus crept his way towards them, unnoticed, like a cat stalks its prey
He wasted no time in killing the first unsuspecting creature but the battle with the second was not so easy. He was slashed by the creature’s sword just before ending its life with a piercing stab to the gut. The third orc, who was fleeing the battle at the camp, never had a chance. He was too preoccupied with escaping coupled with the horrible site of his chopped down comrades in the middle of the meadow to detect the stealthy Ostinus. It made sense to the others now. It was the screams of the two slaughtered orcs in the grove that they had all heard coming out from the woods.
His injury was just a flesh wound though and didn’t damage the bone. Elberon had him wrapped up in bandages in no time. Once everyone was settled again, they began to speak about what had transpired. “So that is our first encounter with Faletonia? Very interesting.” Ardius said.
“I don’t understand what happened here, something is odd.” Gianna said shaking her head, her bushy curls bouncing about.
“How so?” asked Ardius.
“I heard them for a few moments prior to firing and yelling to alert you. They had more than enough time to ambush us. I was unsure what I was hearing, but remained astute.” Gianna continued. “I don’t know, I suppose they are just dumb orcs.”
“I believe one called out to us, but your arrow silenced him.” Buck noted in a soft voice as he lay on his bedroll.
“I’ll tell you this, I could barely make out the forms of the two that I killed in the grove, but they seemed as though they didn’t expect to hear battle; however as I heard the fighting begin, I waited for the right moment and struck.” Ostinus punched his hand to emphasize.
“Interesting.” Ardius said as he pensively rubbed his bald head. “Are we sure there are no others? The wood is not very large, I’m surprised they even snuck up on us.”
“Well, they didn’t quite sneak up on us,” replied Gianna as she tapped her bow with pride.
“Yes…yes. Well in the morning we will see if there are any more clues, as well as see if Buck is in any condition to make it home alone. If not, Sterlis will accompany him. We must remain wary, clearly we are within the reaches of Faletonia.” With this, Ardius returned to his lean-to and laid down and the others did the same, except for Sterlis who’s turn it was to stand watch.
The next morning brought very few clues about anything. After a brief breakfast, the men quickly checked the small woodland. There were some beaten paths, but nothing worthwhile. It was clear that the orcs had only been near the pond for about a day. There were a couple of bedrolls but not even enough for each orc and they hadn’t even put a fire together. The bodies of the dead orcs held more information, but not much. One of the orcs had a map, which had markings for Lunemire and the nearby city of Rogsnelk. There was the image of a tent north east of the cities, which must have been Faletonia, or the capital, or the fortress…whatever the stronghold of Faletonia was.
“Maybe these orcs weren’t even part of Faletonia,” said Gianna.
“Good point.” Ardius replied.
“I believe that they were.” Elberon said as he pointed to the back of the map. Ardius quickly turned over the parchment and saw what the priest was pointing at. In the bottom corner of the backside of the map was a black scorpion over a red square. Ardius folded the parchment and put it in his pocket. Aside from the map and some poorly made weapons, the orcs didn’t have much. It was light travel, similar to how they were travelling.
Ardius stood rubbing his bald head. He contemplated the mission of the orcs. Were they marauders? They seemed more to be scouts. What were they doing creeping around the little wooded area? He then tilted his head as a thought came to him. Would they be m
issed? Will others come to find them? He looked around nervously.
“Are we all set? Let us ride north east, but first let us dispose of these bodies.” He said. Everyone was prepared to go. After dumping the dead orc bodies into the marsh, they gathered their belonging and mounted their horses. Buck was able bodied enough to ride back to Lunemire by himself. They all bid him farewell and left. They figured they had another day of riding ahead of them, but knew they were getting closer to finding what they were looking for although not one of them actually knew what they’d find. Due to the events of the previous night, each rider was a bit more cautious as they continued on.
Nearly two hours before dusk, an incredible site came into view a couple of miles up the road. It was far, but had the look of a small city, surrounded by high walls. Red flags could be seen flying from the walls in several spots. Although they couldn’t see what was on them, they all knew that these red flags would be marked with a black scorpion. To the east of the city appeared a large span of vegetation of some sort; however they could not make out what it was. This was Faletonia. It was not a camp or a small stronghold, this was a large and well constructed city.
The travelers decided to get off the road and stay out of sight until the sun went down. No one wanted another perilous encounter. A quarter mile from the main road was a hill with some small rock formations. The group traveled there to take cover and remained on the hill until night set in. More and more fires could be seen lighting up in the distant city. Although it was far way, some tall buildings could be seen stretching above the walls and lights burned high in their windows.
“So has anyone planned what we’re supposed to do now that Faletonia is in reach?” Asked Gianna as she and the others all looked out at the city.
“Hmm…” Ardius rubbed his head. “If there was only some way to get closer tonight and remain elevated so that we may get a good view of the city and any activity come morning.” The terrain nearby was hilly, but the city’s walls were high so seeing above them would be difficult. The location was almost certainly chosen to aide in the city’s defense.
“None of us are familiar with this land, and quite honestly I don’t feel safe roaming closer with no idea what we’re doing.” Said Sterlis. “Elberon, isn’t there something you can do?” The priest shook his head.
“A spell or something to help?” Sterlis persisted.
The priest clapped his hands once. “Yes, I can cast a spell that will turn us all into falcons for an hour and we can view the city from a birds eye view!”
“That is terrific!” Sterlis continued, “I did not know such a thing was possible”
Sterlis was too far from Elberon in the dark to see the degrading look the cleric shot him as he said. “It is not possible, what do you think I am?” Sterlis shifted uncomfortably at Elberon’s snide remark. It was clear the two did not like each other, all to the entertainment of Ostinus, who grinned in amusement in the darkness.
The group deliberated back and forth for sometime but no one could come up with a good plan. They didn’t yet want to interact with anyone from the city; they just wanted to observe. They wanted to see what happened in and around the city all day. Who would come and go from its gates? It got late and they built a small fire on the side of the rocky hill that was blocked from the view of the city.
The night was calm and morning came quickly. Elberon was on the last guard duty purposely, in order to recite multiple prayers to Phelios as the sun was rising. It was going to be another sunny hot day. As soon as Ardius woke, he began to think of what the plan of action was going to be.
“We should split up.” Ardius looked at his companions, “Sterlis, Gianna, you two will travel further east off the road. Then cut in close to the city, without your horses through what looks like grasses up there. We will wait here and keep an eye out for any travelers to or from the city. Find out what you can. Hopefully no Faletonians come to this hill for any reason.” Sterlis and Gianna looked at each other and both nodded. This was more of an order from their captain than a suggestion and they knew it. Within ten minutes they were on their way, on foot, and were moving quickly. Once they were far away from the hill they looked to the city and could see what looked like high grasses taking up vast space between them and the city walls. Their plan was to snake through them and get closer to the city while remaining out of site. They were to meet back at the rocky hill just before dusk.
An hour and a half had passed and Ostinus, Elberon, Bart and Ardius sat chatting in the little shade they could find. Ardius and Ostinus caught up on some of the time that they had been apart and the priest and Bart mostly just listened. At two different points they could see groups of travelers in the distance. They appeared to have come from the city but were not traveling in the group’s direction. They headed southwest and the companions were directly south so they did not worry. The travellers would eventually disappear from site into the distance. It did make them all curious as to where the mysterious travelers were headed. Who were they and what were they out to do? They could only wonder.
“Elberon, how many years of service to Phelios has it now been?” Ardius’s question broke a short silence.
“Nearly six.” The priest replied.
“Fantastic, so you must be advancing in the ranks of the faith?”
“Yes. My responsibilities have expanded and with it-”
“Look!” Ostinus interrupted the cleric in a low but urgent voice. He pointed towards the city. On the road the four men could see riders on horseback headed their way. They traveled the road slowly but were surely going to pass nearby. “We must be sure to stay out of site, and the horses as well.”
They already had the horses tied in an area that could not be seen directly from the road. The men soon joined the horses and peaked around the corner to eye the oncoming group. Once the travelers were close enough, the hiding men could make out two orcs, a large goblin, and a human all on horseback. The goblin, although large for his race, was still small on its steed. They trotted along and were nearing the spot where the companions veered off the road.
Ostinus, Bart and Elberon continued to peek around the stones, however Ardius ducked back and began to rub his head. “What is it?” Elberon whispered back to him.
“You are all armed?” Ardius asked.
“Yes,” replied Ostinus as he gave his friend a curious glance, “why?”
Bart stood and checked his weapons on his belt, as he did this Ardius said “We came here for info, and have very little so far. Allow me to change this.”
“Don’t be foolish!” Elberon snapped in an aggressive whisper. “You don’t know if they will be hostile.”
A smile crossed the bald man’s face. Ardius’s light green eyes held a gleam of excitement. “We will know soon.” With that he turned the corner and began to descend the small slope towards the travelers. They were about fifty yards away when he yelled, “Hello. Greetings!” He waived his hands frantically in the air several times, both to be obviously noticed and to indicate he was not approaching with a drawn weapon. The travelers stopped.
Ostinus grabbed his sword handle and prepared to run to battle. He watched his friend as he approached the oddly mixed group. His grip on the hilt tightened. He tried to trust that Ardius knew what he was doing, but this could go all wrong.
“Hello there. Fear not, I mean no harm,” Ardius raised both his hands passively and held them still, open palms facing the motley group of riders. He could see that the riders slowly went to the hilts of their weapons. “I come from Lunemire, greetings.” He was within twenty yards. The human traveler said something to the orcs and the goblin that was not heard by Ardius, and then hopped off his horse.
“Greetings, and who are you?” The man asked.
“I am Feyado of Lunemire, pleasure to meet you,” said Ardius. “And who are you?”
The man stepped forward cautiously, one hand on his sword hilt. “I am Thomas…of Faletonia. How can I help you?” The man l
ooked calm. “Why are you here or better yet why do you come from those rocks?” He eyed the cluster of large boulders suspiciously but could not see Elberon, Ostinus, or Bart hiding from the road.
“I have three companions there.” With this Ardius whistled loudly and screamed back towards the others, “Show yourselves, we have nothing to hide.” Hesitantly, Ostinus, Bart, and Elberon came forth. At this point the goblin drew a short sword. He received scowls from the orcs who did not seem worried and let him know they were disgusted by his weakness. The fearful goblin sheathed his weapon.
“We come peacefully, we have heard of Faletonia,” Ardius said as Thomas moved closer. “Our curiosity has lead us here, however we were not certain how close we should come.” With this Thomas removed his hand from his sword and smiled.
“I’m not sure if you are brave…or stupid.” Thomas said with a smile still on his face. He had a beard that came to a point off his chin and his hair was short. His skin was tanned and he had dark brown eyes.
“Well...both I suppose.” Ardius said smiling back. This drew a chuckle from not only Thomas but the orcs as well. Elberon and Ostinus were approaching, with Bart trailing cautiously behind.
“That is Unga and Olwick.” Thomas pointed to the orcs who were hopping off their horses. “And that anxious one there is Vark.” He said and directed his finger towards the goblin who followed off his horse. “We are headed out simply to scout the area.” Just about the time the creatures arrived next to Thomas, Elberon and Ostinus reached Ardius.
“Unga, Olwick, and Vark I am Feyado it is our pleasure to meet each of you.” Ardius said looking at the orcs and goblin. He mentioned his fake name again so that Ardius, Elberon and Buck would hear it. This was a strange situation for all present. “And this is Gerard, Biscus, and Haedo,” he motioned to the three men as Bart joined the group.
Kingdom Come (Price of Power Book 1) Page 9
