by Peter John
The spells hid our auras when we were in plain sight without cover, and the inclement weather helped cloak any sounds we made. The spells kept us invisible from casual observation and when in cover, I used the cloak of concealment without magic, allowing my Mana to recharge when I could. My boots of silence made not a sound on the rocky ground, but they could not silence the sound of gravel shifting as you put weight on it, nor could they silence the rasp of grass or shrubs as they brushed against my clothes. In those instances, I had to slow down considerably. Raúl also had boots of silence, but I had to endure his Superman jokes about my cloak of shadows. I knew it was his way of dealing with the fact that he didn’t have one (yet - as he put it).
Three hours of the laborious creeping and sneaking and some very close calls came and went, as the Orcs attempted to track us and widened their patrols to box us in.
Time passed and Lord Groggar contracted his forces to the village and its surroundings, realizing we had passed his pickets, thus concentrating the number of eyes in the smallest area.
We came upon the village from the Northern side, having circled around. Our approach was from higher up the valley heading south along the stream. It was here that I realized how ingenious the wall was. As a tangled jumble of rocks, it didn’t look like much, but if you tried to climb it, there was no way that you could do it without creating a racket. The loose rocks would cascade and the exercise would be over the moment they pinpointed us. We would not go down as Earth’s finest warriors discovered by mythical Orcs. It just wouldn’t do.
So we tapped into our operator knowledge and got ourselves wet. We were supreme frogmen, and we had lots of experience in this particular stream. We slipped into the stream and floated down towards the wall; It was the final barrier with a hectic underwater swim through a tunnel. It was the only area that had been solidly constructed and the tunnel ensured we had to hold our breath to go through. We knew the tunnel was only about five meters long and at most, one and a half meters deep. We would insert with a deep breath then sink below the surface and enter one-by-one, feet first.
Raúl went first being the smaller, and impatiently I followed, after a suitable wait. I hyperventilated my lungs to extract carbon dioxide and filled them with fresh oxygen. I should have waited longer.
The stream funneled into the tunnel and the rushing water forced me through several rocky bumps within it until I impacted something softer than the rocks. I was about to get physical and struggle when the soft body was forced from me and I streamed into the gap it had created. The rocks closed around me and I jammed solid. The rocks forcing my legs through but my hips caught between two solid rocks and despite the pressure of the water flowing against me and around me, I couldn’t budge. I knew this was a divers worst nightmare. Trapped in a cave, stuck and without air. I fell back on my training. Relax, evaluate and respond. I was being buffeted as the water squeezed past me, the pressure building and pushing me further into the narrow gap, grating my hip painfully. Against all SEAL training, we had assumed instead of confirmed. The soft body I had impacted must have been Raúl. I had dislodged him then. The panic built again. Raúl was smaller than me, and he had been jammed. How was I possibly going to get out? The panic surged.
Magic made one feel invincible. “Careless!” I reflected ruefully that my first mistake would be my last, as was usually the case in this business. The need for air was increasing. I could hold my breath well over four minutes and only a minute had passed. My autonomic nervous system seemed to forget that and screamed for that gulp of air.
I had to rein it in. Don’t panic, find a solution. I could see nothing in the rushing dark water, but I could feel the slimy rocks I was wedged between. I knew that movement would cause carbon dioxide to build up in my bloodstream and cause my breathing reflex to gulp for air. Few people know that our need for air was not want for oxygen, but rather, a bodily response regarding the amount of carbon dioxide that needed to be expelled. Once the threshold was reached your body insisted that you breathe. Initially, it could be overridden. The mind, after all, is in charge. When you started to fade and blackout, well then, the autonomic system took over and you breathed no matter what.
Two minutes and I was, if anything, only more stuck. When faced with your death as often as I had been, it was supposed to get easier. Like an old friend who stops in for a drink. The grim reaper, sickle poised to cut the life chord. How had I gotten so careless? I would never have inserted into an unknown like this if I had had time to plan this mission properly. Instead, we had gotten cocky and assumed the tunnel was clear.
Magic was useless in this environment. I didn’t know any water magic that could help me and other magic didn’t work easily when I was immersed in water. The pressure to breathe was increasing. My internal gulping was harder to control. If I fought the current, I would just drain myself of stamina. A red blinking light showed in my closed-eye vision. I was out of options and not sure what to do; the panic was building. I would be forced to breathe soon.
When the touch came, I almost jumped out of my skin. I felt something or someone grab my foot. It began to pull me with increasing strength, and I could feel my body being compressed by the inexorable forces of an immovable object facing an unstoppable force. I was being squished painfully. The combined effort of the pull and the pressure of the water from upstream was working, but like a square being forced through a circle, it was damaging me.
I felt my hips crushed and grated painfully, then they were through, next I felt a snap, each rib compressing like an accordion and more than a couple broke with piercing stabbing pain, and as the rushing water and the person pulling me downstream continued to force me through a hole I was never built for, the rest cracked too, compressing my chest, and forced all the last strands of air out of me.
Internally I felt something tear and a surge of power then it was gone and I gasped finally, unable to control my breathing reflex anymore
The water poured in. The blackness of hopelessness engulfed me. The pulsing red light in my vision dimmed suddenly to nothing, and my head cracked against a rock jarring my senses as I was buffeted to unconsciousness while my lungs filled with water instead of the oxygen they craved for. I thought of opportunities lost and let go into the grateful release from all the pain.
CHAPTER 26
Tearful Goodbyes
My darkness evaporated into a sporadic fit of coughing. I sat up and vomited, heaved and vomited more. The cough produced copious amounts of phlegm and fluid, and between the vomiting, I coughed and wheezed like a box-a-day smoker. I felt someone's hands on my back pressing to assist me. A sharp pain coursed through my ribcage and I got the coppery taste of blood in my mouth. Disorientated, I was about to speak but the wracking cough took that from me. Eventually, after what seemed like an age, my vision cleared and I noticed people around me. The first person who swam into my tear-streaked vision was Journeyman Robert. His concerned expression told me all I needed to know about my state of health. He leaned down and using his magic sent a wave of healing through me. It was blessed relief and helped me gain strength to cough out the rest of the river along with the blood from my now healing lung. The bones painfully realigned themselves and I felt my hip and pelvis creak and crack to adjust as the magic coursed its way through me.
I was in a pitiful state and when finally after the magic had run its course and I had gained enough strength; I looked up to see Lord Groggar, Shaman Bab, and the rest of the orcs arrayed around me. Their concerned expressions left me feeling worse, and I bowed my head in defeat. They had caught me dead to rights, pardon the pun, and my clever trick of insertion through the stream had backfired mightily. I wasn’t sure what happened if we failed, but it couldn’t be good. The Orcs were masterful at making one regret wrong actions. And now with this foolhardy situation, I had not only endangered myself but also Raúl, who had been lucky to get through. I looked around to find my good buddy, who had saved me by dragging me through against all odds.
Slowly looking around, I realized Raúl was nowhere to be seen. For that matter, J.B. was missing too.
Lord Groggar was tapping his foot impatiently, my recovery had taken at least ten minutes when he noticed me looking around for my companions and suddenly realization dawned and he started shouting at his troops. They all made off in different directions and I too finally realized what had happened. Raúl, bless his soul had saved me, probably done CPR, even with my cracked ribs, then fetched J.B. to heal me, he had probably made as much noise as he could, making sure everyone knew how serious the situation was, to which the Orc’s obliged seeing I was wounded. Now amidst the confusion, he had slipped away with the prize. He was probably hauling arse to the extraction site right now. I could only smile. That roguish Latino had outsmarted everyone. I began to chuckle.
“You are the distraction?” mused Groggar. His face a frown.
I stood up, still wracked with fits of coughing and what was intermittent laughter. “Yes,… (cough, cough), yes. It’s brilliant. You guys trained him well (cough, cough), but I think we trained him well first. The mission comes first, always.”
Groggar had a wry smile on his hippo face and then slapped me on the back none too gently, helping me cough out the last fragments of fluid.
“Very good!” his voice boomed. “Let us go meet them and then we can celebrate your victory.” He gave me an amused but somehow condescending look. “It was a good plan. It nearly got you killed, but it was a good plan. How did you fit through there?” he said, indicating the tunnel. “You humans are too skinny. Need fattening up.”
The irony dripping from his voice was hard to wipe away. I nodded graciously, but he was right. I had learned a valuable lesson tonight. It would stand me in good stead.
Raúl and J.B. were waiting for us at the arena. Raúl was grinning and the Orcs all around were shuffling their feet annoyed. In the end, it turns out we didn’t have to use magic, at least not a lot. It had all been skullduggery, a masterful move by my inventive teammate. His absolute focus to achieve the objective was a landmark trait of why he was a fine operator and a very fine soldier to have at my side.
Arriving at the arena a short while later, we exchanged a concerned glance, and I nodded showing I was fine and then it was back to all smiles. Lord Groggar gave some long speech about how wonderful we were and that it had been an honor to train us, blah blah… I have to admit my mind was drifting. After dying and being revived less than an hour ago, I still had a lot on my mind. While the simulations had all felt very real when I died in them, this instance felt surreal. It was as if things had happened to someone else and I was just a spectator. That I was dissociated from the experience. During BUDS, part of the SEAL training there is a phase where we are tied-up and submerged until we succumb underwater, but the revival happened within seconds. nothing like what I had just experienced. I had felt myself expire, drift away, become nothing. I wondered if this could be counted as a near-death experience and how long my heart had stopped beating and where I would be now if it wasn’t for magical healing. I owed J.B. a lot for that and Raúl too for saving my arse.
J.B. sidled up to me and said, “You were a splinter from death when Raúl brought me to you. It nearly drained me to heal you. I am relieved to see you well again. But one good thing that has come from all this is that you can no longer call me J.B.”
“What?” I asked coming back from my morbid mood. “Sorry J.B., what did you say?”
“I said you can no longer call me J.B.” stated Journeyman Robert with glib amusement.
“Oh really? And why is that?” I asked, equally glibly. This was the most animated I had ever seen J.B.
“Well…” he replied “I received word earlier this evening from Lord Horatio that due to his own elevation in responsibilities, it is equally important that I get elevated in title to suit his new station as his right-hand man. So, as of now, I am an Adeptus of the Arcanum. I have been elevated at long last.”
He was literally beaming in pride and the good news helped me shift my focus from the morbid thoughts of my recent death.
“That's great news Adeptus Robert!” I stated solemnly. “Very good news. Congratulations on your promotion. Although you do realize it makes it much easier to remember.”
He turned to me, looking puzzled. “It does?” he asked. “How so?”
With a wicked grin, I said “Well I’m terrible with names, so, as you know A is the first letter of the alphabet, so instead of J.B. I can now call you A.B.”
His face dropped and assumed the pinched stern-faced disapproval I had come to recognize as his go-to face when dealing with me. It was all I needed to get my enthusiasm for life back in order. If A.B. was disapproving of me, then all was right with the world again. I squeezed his shoulder.
“Seriously though, I am really grateful what you did for me. Thank you.”
His face kept the pinched look, but I saw a slight relaxation of the eyes as he took my gratitude to heart.
“Don’t mention it,” he mumbled.
After the pleasantries, Raúl and I were guided back by a procession of Orcs and A.B. to the spot we had arrived a few days previous. Lord Groggar surprised me by giving me a big boisterous hug in farewell and some sage advice. “Beware my friend, you are too reckless with your life. A failure brings more future success than any achievement ever could. Learn and be wiser” With those prophetic words, he pushed me away to give a hug and similar advice to Raúl and beside him, Shaman Babs was scowling at me. I moved forward to give her a hug too, but she backed away, hand out before her.
“No, you don’t. You keep your eyes to yourself Tongue Taker and your arms at your sides besides. I won’t have you touching my divine being.” I was sure that I saw a crinkle of amusement in her face though, despite her stern words.
“Go and be well. Let our training be absorbed and your days be more productive.”
Nodding at her, then at A.B. and a final wave to Lord Groggar and the Orcs I stepped back, where Raúl and I moved out to meet the red portal orb due to arrive any minute.
“Wait!” came a feminine shout as I noticed a woman Orc running to join us. The Orcs all around went immediately silent, and the lady walked through them all as they opened a path for her. She had been running hard and in her hands, she had what looked like a necklace made of flowers or leaves. I stood there looking at her puzzled. It was then that I realized she was Lord Groggar’s daughter. I had met her the night of the banquet. Lord Groggar moved to stand in front of her, obstructing my view. Whatever was said, I could see he was unhappy, but that she would not be denied. He moved aside at her insistence, and she walked towards me tentatively. The closer she got, the more I thought I should recall her name, but could not. Damn that fruit punch. I was sure, yes… a memory surfaced. She had been leading me by the hand. It faded as soon as it surfaced and my puzzled expression looked dumbfounded as she placed the necklace of flowers around my neck and kissed me on the cheek.
Her beautiful youthful face flushed as she whispered, “Petros, I will miss you, please come back to me…” she stammered then amended, “… come back to us” more assertively.
My surprise could not have been more pronounced had a meteorite struck me on the forehead. Despite my eternal vigilance and internal control of all my emotions, I doubted I could have masked the confused expression that now played across my face for all to see. I looked up from her face and saw Lord Groggar’s disapproving and sad look and Raúl’s mischievous smile to the side. I did not understand what had just happened, but I didn’t want to be distracted further.
“Umm, thank you,” I stammered. “I will try my best.”
She looked at me uncertainly. Her brow creased to ‘confused’ then the spark of anger flitted across her face. She gritted her teeth. I was witnessing a thunderstorm in the making. Raúl came close and called me aside. I left them standing where they were and he quickly brought me up to speed.
“She has committed to you
Armpit. You have to give her something in return to equalize the imbalance.”
“But why?” I enquired, still befuddled. “What do you mean committed to me?”
“Don’t you remember Hombre? That first night you promised her she was the most beautiful woman you had ever seen. It was love at first sight. You went looking for her room after the banquet. I tried to stop you, but I had a little love nest arranged for myself and you seemed to be very fired up bro. I didn’t see you for the rest of the night. Surely you remember?”
I stood transfixed. Another flashback of her naked body writhing beneath my grasping hands, her searching mouth and amorous kisses. The smell of flowers pervading my senses. Her strong arms and supple form conforming to my own. The unleashing of weeks of pent up emotion and passion. I turned back to see the silent group of Orcs waiting for me. Tough crowd, I thought in a moment of levity totally incongruent to the situation.
