The First Era

by Andrew Bardsley

  The fast pace of the army ate up the distance quickly and they soon arrived at their destination. As the army crested a hill, Ahava got his first sight of an orc tribe. There were tens of thousands of orcs spread across the plains. Ahava saw how the camp was temporary in nature, as he could make out structures like Mongolian yurts.

  Ahava talked to one of the elders about what he could see. He said, “The tribe moves around after great herd of buffalo moving across the plains. The only reason the whole tribe is gathered together is the threat of the horde coming toward the land. Normally the tribe would be dispersed into different groups hunting the buffalo. The orcs are mobile people and we have power and in our mobility. This threat is new and something that we haven't seen before. So we have had to change our tactics.”

  Outside the camp, the army was dismissed to other duties or their homes. With the queen’s party, Ahava made his way through the large campsite. The site was like a large mobile city that moved around and changed all the time. It was not disorganized at all; there were even walkways for people to make the way through the campsite. Small children were walking around the campsite under the watchful eyes of the adults. Every time they saw Ahava, they stared and sometimes giggled in wonder. Some of the smaller children even backed off like he was a monster.

  Eventually, the Queen's party came to a large open space in the middle of the campsite. On one side was a large tent on a big wagon. It looked like a small palace on wheels. There were steps leading up to it, with a couple of guards standing outside. Also in the clearing were some craftsmen working mostly on monster statues of creatures made of wood and stone. The queen's party walked up the stairs into the palace like a tent with the guards saluting.

  The queen said to Ahava, giving him a serious and unrelenting look, “Tonight the tribe will be going through some rituals to prepare for the coming war and the Blood Oath will be part of that. Not many humans have seen this type of magic and I must tell you to never talk about what you see tonight.”

  Ahava nodded in agreement. The queen turned, obviously dismissing Ahava, and said, “One of the elders will see you to your accommodation for the time you stay here.”

  Ahava was shown to a tent close the queen’s with a table and animal skins for bedding.

  Chapter Thirteen: The Power of a Tribe

  Before night started to fall, people started gathering in the major circular open area in the middle of the camp. Within half an hour, tens of thousands of orcs had gathered surrounding the open area facing the queen’s tent. Ahava made his way to the bottom of the queen’s town, waiting for the festivities to begin and feeling very alone and a stranger, as he was the only human amongst all this massive horde of orcs. Initially, there seemed to be a party-like atmosphere with the crowd, as they seemed to be eating and drinking. Lots of people had brought food and were sharing it with each other.

  The first sign of anything official happening was a group of drummers moving around toward the queen’s tent. There were about a hundred orcs with different-size drums. When the drummers had set up, the queen's party exited the palace-like tent and looked at the crowd. Beside the Queen was a large orc with a massive staff and tattoos all over his body. Ahava thought this must be the shaman. He had a regal and powerful bearing. The shaman looked across the crowd with authority and then his eyes settled on Ahava with a slight look of curiosity.

  At a signal from the shaman, the drummers started to beat. At first, it was just a slow beat. Out of the crowd came a large group of orcs that started to build a fire. The fire was soon built, and oil was poured onto it. The orcs walked back into the crowd, where they disappeared. With the fire built, the drummers started to intensify the beat and then the queen started to walk toward the fire, with a lighted torch in her hand. Suddenly the drummer stopped the beat, and she threw the lighted torch into the fire. As the size of the fire grew, the drummers intensified the beat again. Now the crowd started a chant and suddenly the fire roared until it was a massive flame burning high into the sky. As the chant of the crowd grew louder, the flame of the fire reached to the sky, not burning the wood but feeding on the energy of the chant.

  Out of the crowd came hundreds of orcs formed up into a line like a snake. All of the orcs started to moving as one, twisting, turning and striking like a snake attacking its prey. In unison, their feet hit the ground in time to the beat of the drums. The shaman walked forward and threw something into the fire and flames of color shot up into the sky. Drum beats, chanting, and dancing continued gaining intensity. Suddenly the tempo of the chanting changed to get solemn. The music was awe-inspiring; Ahava could only think to describe it as like a rebirth of the world. The dancers started to move around the stone and wooden statues that had been built previously. Suddenly a massive colored flame shot up from the fire and rushed down onto each of the statues. This happened again and again with different color fire and the chanting reaching a fever-pitch. Suddenly a white light emitted from the eyes of the statues and all of them started moving slowly, like a stretching animal when woken up in the morning. The statues of live animals made of stone and rock paced back and forward with pent-up energy. At a command from the queen, the crowd parted, allowing the statues to move toward the outside of the large campsite.

  Queen Olga moved forward toward the fire and announced that it was time to start the Blood Oath ceremony. She said in a firm voice, “This oath has been demanded by the human and therefore it must be done. We have the weapons now, and he must have his blood oath.”

  The chanting of the orcs changed to a solemn manner and all of them went down on to one knee. The drummers had slowed the beat to a very slow rhythm.

  The queen said, “I, Queen Olga, make a blood oath not to attack the humans on the upper plains.”

  With the oath said she then cut her hand with her ax. A mist of red light, like a mist diffusing, emitted from her hand into the sky. It then seemed to fall down onto all the kneeling orcs.

  "The blood oath is finished,” said the queen.

  For the whole night, the chanting of the orcs went on. Groups from the army came forward, receiving different powers and blessings for the coming battle. At some time during the night, the shaman put his large staff into the center of the arena. The chanting now increased to a fever-pitch and Ahava felt different elemental powers feeding into the staff. The staff started to move and strike like a snake, but the shaman calmly walked up to it and picked it up. When the staff was in his hand, it coiled around his arm. The staff eventually straightened out to its full length, but now it was glowing with power and energy. Finally, with the ceremony rituals completed, all of the orcs went back to their different tents.

  About midday Ahava was summoned to the queen’s tent for a meeting. The queen and her elders were again surrounding a table with skins on them looking at them and talking.

  When he entered the queen looked at him and said, “Are you willing to help us fight the enemy as well as producing weapons?”

  Ahava said, “If the enemy always evil as you say they are I am willing.”

  “That is good,” said the queen with a thankful look in her eyes. “We have a plan and as you are willing, we want you to play a large part in it.”

  She pointed to the skin on the table, which was a large map. The queen said, “We know that the evil is based in the ziggurat shown here on the map. The horde is now moving away from this ziggurat and through these plains. Our plan is to meet them at the end of the plains, before they get into our central valley system. We will set up a defensive perimeter at the edge of the entrance into the valley system. This will allow us the strength to bear on their larger numbers. We want you and a small group of soldiers to go to the ziggurat and find out what is the basis of the evil and deal with it if you can. If you move out today you can move through the pass on the side of the plain and avoid the horde to reach the ziggurat.”

  The queen looked into his eyes and said, “Are you willing?” Ahava nodded his head in affirmation.
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  The queen then shouted for a captain, who came running. She said, “Ahava, you already know Korpar. He and a few of his best soldiers will guide you to the ziggurat. Once you are, there do what you deem best.” With that, he was simply dismissed with the captain.

  As Ahava left the tent, he turned to the captain said, “Will you be ready to leave within an hour?”

  The captain nodded his head and said, “Yes, I will.”

  Within an hour they were starting to travel through the plains. Ahava had set a fast speed, and the orcs were having trouble keeping pace with him. They traveled at this fast speed for days, only sleeping for few hours a night. The country that they were going through got more and more rugged as they got closer to the ziggurat. With the skills of the orcs, they had managed to avoid any enemies along the way.

  After about ten days of travel, Ahava found himself on the hill looking down upon the ziggurat with the orcs. It was early in the morning; the sunlight was just starting to peek above the hills. This ziggurat, like the others, was in the middle of a small city, but the city was totally destroyed. All of the houses were in ruin with blackened outsides and crumbling brick. To one side of the city was a large empty campsite that had a lot of dirty garbage lying around. Hundreds and hundreds of fire pits could be seen. They had been used to cook meals for the horde. From the size of the campsite, it seemed the horde must have vast numbers. Even though the horde had left there were still hundreds around the ziggurat, guarding the building. Ahava discussed with the captain that it would be best if he and his men waited here and observed what happened to him when he attacked the ziggurat. Ahava set off down the hill toward the ziggurat, full of anticipation for what he had to do.

  Chapter Fourteen: The Power of a Tribe in Battle

  When Ahava had left for the ziggurat the army of the orcs quickly formed up and started to march to the entrance from the plain to the central valley system. Queen Olga was at their head, running with them as they chanted along with the march. She showed her usual confidence but within her heart, she was slightly worried about the outcome of this invasion. She buried this worry down deep in her heart, as it was the duty of the queen of the orcs to show confidence and strength at all times.

  The army made quick time and soon was close to the entrance to the central valley. With the orc army came the creatures of stone and wood that had been brought to life the night of the ritual. These creatures moved in front of the army fast, as if flying, as they sped across the ground. The creatures and the power in the shaman's shaft were the main trump cards of the orc tribe. These items carried the vested power and will of the orc nation. With the new weapons created by Ahava and the power of these creatures, she hoped that the power of the army would be unstoppable.

  When the army arrived at the entrance to the valley, they started to set up defensive positions. The plan was that the orc army would meet the horde in the plains in front of the valley, where they could use their mobility to attack the horde. The defense at the entrance to the valley was a position to fall back when the army's mobility was not enough to defeat the horde. Queen Olga had the whole army drill and drill, until they were very familiar with how to fall back from the plain to the defense in an orderly manner. The drilling, practice and preparations went on for days, until the orc scouts reported that the horde was approaching. The scouts reported the horde was made up of monsters, ghouls, goblins and trolls and all manner of evil creatures—all of the enemies of the orc people. With them were demons that were driving them forward in command. This was not a unified army, as some of the different elements started fighting each other when not under the watchful eyes of the demons.

  Queen Olga said to the shaman, “The battle of the magic will be first as you deal with the demons. Then the army will have a chance to move against the horde of creatures.”

  The shaman said, “Yes, it will take all of my power to fight the demons.”

  When the horde was starting to move into the plains the orc army formed up into orderly ranks. The army was broken up into blocks of companies. The companies were in the formation of five orcs deep and ten orcs in width. Each had a captain that moved the units about the field in this formation. The formations were controlled by the queen's commanders by the use of drum beats to communicate. The front line of these formations blocked off the narrowing valley. Behind the front line units were people with slings and archers ready to rain arrows and stones onto the enemy. There were also some units kept in reserve for any reinforcement requirements.

  In front of the army were all the creatures the orcs had created, with the shaman on the back of one of them, riding like it was a horse.

  The horde poured into the plain in vast numbers. The demons were walking at the back of the horde, striking and pushing them, using their power to move them forward. The shaman signaled to the Queen and started to move forward with the massive orc creature toward the back of the horde. The magical orc creatures smashed through the horde, pushing everything out of their way. This produced a path of carnage leading straight toward the demons. In the distance, the queen could see creatures and shaman battling with the demons. The shaman was using his staff to produce mighty spells hitting against the demons’ shields of a strange red power. Fire, ice and waves of force were blasting out from all directions around the demons and the shaman. This devastated the back of the horde. Great battles were raging between the demons and the creatures as well. Some of the creatures had wounds on them already. But these were not wounds of blood, but wounds in stone and wood.

  The orc army stood firm and watched. As the horde started to recover, they started to move forward in a chaotic manner toward the front of the orc army. There was no order or structure in their advance; it was only a chaos of mass movement. As the horde got within range the archers the sling orcs let loose with their arrows and stones. This wave of death from the sky decimated the front lines of the horde. Then, with a command of their drums, the orc army threw their spears into the horde all at once. If previous arrows and stone had decimated the horde, this raining of spears completely wiped the whole section of the horde. This made the horde pause in its advance, but there were still vast numbers ready to attack the orc army.

  Slowly the horde approached the front of the orc army, as stones and arrows continued to rain down. The horde hit the front of the shield wall of the army. The shield wall held fast. From behind the shields the orcs stabbed at the horde with their large daggers. With the orcs behind the shields, defended, and the horde exposed, this was one side inflicting mass death on the other. At a signal from the drums, the front line orcs and the second line orcs swapped places in a smooth, practiced manner. The second line orcs went to the back of the unit. This had the effect of fresh orcs battling the horde at an interval when the drums sounded. This effective grinding from the orc army continued on for hours as they killed the horde.

  The battle at the back where the demons were was not going well for the shaman. Most of the magical creatures were burnt-out ashes. There was still an overwhelming number of demons attacking the shaman, and he decided to retreat back to the orc line. As the shaman and the remaining creatures carved a pathway back quickly through the whole horde, he again created a path of destruction. One orc unit opened the pathway so that he could get to the back of the army, then sealed it up to face the horde again.

  The shaman quickly found the queen and said, “We must fall back to a defensive position, as we're too exposed here in the open plains, from the magical attacks of demons. I have done all that I could but there were too many. I have some power left for defense that I can use to keep the demons at bay while the army deals with the horde.”

  Swiftly the queen gave the order and the drums started the beat for the tactical withdrawal. The withdrawal started with another volley of spears hitting the horde and the units moving back in an organized manner while the horde was recovering.

  Soon the queen and the army were behind the defensive rampart as demons mov
ed forward with the horde.

  Chapter Fifteen: Alone with Evil

  Ahava set down the hill toward the ziggurat, full of anticipation for what he had to do. He was now wearing his full armor with his battle gear in his hands. Ahava didn't have much of a plan; he just was going to have to make it up as he went along. He did not know the exact situation but was expecting some evil entity to be in the ziggurat, controlling the horde. First, Ahava had to deal with the creatures surrounding the ziggurat, so he could enter. There were hundreds of them spread out around the ziggurat. As Ahava approached the ziggurat, the creatures started to see him coming and move toward him in small groups at first but in larger groups as the alarm was sounded.

  Using the fire elemental power, he created fire balls and lobbed them at the different group of creatures. They hit the ground where the creatures were running toward Ahava. They exploded, blowing bodies in all directions. As some of them got closer to Ahava, he formed a swirling massive metal spiral around him. Stupidly, the creatures tried to walk through it. This resulted in them burning as the metal hit them. Mostly there was nothing left, just bits of burning bodies on the ground. With these two magical efforts Ahava had managed to clear most of the creatures away from the ziggurat.

  Ahava started walking up the steps of the terraces of the ziggurat, after walking through the ruined city. At the top was a shrine like the other ziggurat that he had seen. There was no one in sight around the shrine. Deciding that he better get it over with, Ahava entered the shrine. The shrine had many statues around it, with an altar in the middle. Beside the altar stood a massive man shaped like a god, with bronze armor, shield, and spear. He had a look on his face of distaste and anger. This spoiled what would have been noble facial features.