As they rode along, still talking freely among themselves, a low growl from Star brought Gerrod's to attention. He allowed his mind to float freely through Star's powerful senses. In the distance, the sounds of an army in the distance came through his sensitive ears. A sniff of his discriminating nose brought an unwelcome though familiar scent. Gerrod signaled for the attention of the others. "Orcs," he explained as they looked at him with concern.
Ace spat on the ground at the idea.
"How far off?" Allison asked, instinctively positioning herself between Amanda and the westward direction Gerrod faced.
"A ways yet," he said somberly, still gathering information through his link with Star. The wolf stood tall and stiff like a statue, his tail fluffed up and paw pointing straight at the threat.
"How many?" Corinna dared ask. She could tell by the serious tone of his voice that she wouldn't like the answer.
"Lots," he offered, trying to judge the volume of the rustling of leaves and constant squeals of the orcan tongue.
"How many is 'lots'?" Amanda ventured, pulling her horse out from behind Ally's protective stance.
"About fifty, I would have to guess," though Gerrod doubted his own answer.
"Fifty!" Ace cried with alarm. "What's so many of them beasts doing this far east? They hardly ever come much past Argunthu."
"Well, it's too many for a hunting party," Corinna observed.
"Not if they're hunting," and a cold chill ran down Gerrod's spine at the thought, "us."
Allison and Amanda shared threatened glances.
"Well, if it's us they wants," Ace spat determinedly, "then it's us they'll gets! Let's get ready to meet our 'friends.'"
They kept mostly to themselves, each mentally preparing in their own way for what they knew was ahead. They rode fast over a ridge or two, until they found the perfect hollow. No one looked forward to fighting the orcs, except for maybe Star, for they all knew the dangers that any fight held. Out-numbered ten-to-one, they knew that their only chance of surviving was to be prepared and act together as a team.
Ace prepared snares and traps of all kinds in the bottom of the bowl-shaped hollow they chose to make their stand in. Gerrod helped Corinna prepare platforms safely high up in the trees. Hoisted up the heights by ropes, they camouflaged the hiding places as well as possible to get the best surprise advantage they could gain. Luckily, orcs were pretty dim-witted; and this was what they counted on. Allison and Amanda busied themselves making as many arrows as they could fashion in a hurry, and setting up spells to use against the expected swarm.
The plan was simple. They surrounded the rim of the bowl, hoping that the orcs would enter it looking for them. As the others rained down arrows and magic, and Ace triggered his devious traps, Star and Gerrod would follow the orcs in, sealing off any retreat the cowardly beasts might try to make.
Star scouted back to the west, and let them know in plenty of time as the foul smelling beasts approached. As they made their noisy way over the last hill between them, they were preceded by the acrid odor that had become so familiar to Gerrod and Star in the last few years. The idea of this peaceful forest being fouled by their evil presence disgusted him.
With Star on one side, and Gerrod on the other, they moved out to flank the interlopers.
As predicted, the eager orcs made a straight line for the hollow. Fifty of the pig-snouted, grotesquely bloated short men waddled in a single, vile mass.
The first line of beasts fell as one, taken out by a barrage of arrows fired by Allison and Amanda. Then Corinna let loose two huge fireballs that cleared large holes in the tightly packed mob. They finally caught on that they were under attack and began to scatter, but not before half their number were reduced to crispy corpses.
Many, especially the least eager troops who hid in the back, decided the fight was not worth it, and tried to turn and run. There, waiting for them at the opening of the depression, stood Star and Gerrod. They stopped short at the sight of Star's growling teeth, and the flash of Gerrod's eager sword. Flicker glowed uncontrollably bright at the presence of these beasts, for Flicker had been created as an orc-slayer. The intelligent blade thirsted for the taste of orcan blood, and the fiery blue flame about the blade pulsated like a heartbeat.
Almost as if leading the way, Flicker pulled Gerrod into that frightened mass. The wicked blade swung left and right, bobbed up and down, only partly under his control. It was Argunthu all over again. The savagery of the sword was unforgiving. Orcs scrambled as fast as they could to get out of the way, but Flicker mowed them down just the same. The blade flashed like lightning, and struck faster than they could overcome their fear.
As always, there was Star standing by his side, doing his best to herd the confused, smelly beasts back into his sword's reach. Between the fangs and Flicker's fury, there was no escape for the orcs.
All about the pit of death, hysterical orcs tried to flee the mayhem that quickly overtook them. It seemed where ever they stepped, they met with another of Ace's traps. Orcs flew up into the trees by their ankles, victims of another snare. The ground fell away from others, and they found themselves plummeting into large pits. Disorganized in the stampede, many found themselves pushed into traps they tried to avoid. Wooden spikes of death awaited them below.
Both Allison and Amanda were accomplished archers. No orcs were successful in their attempts to spill over the sides of the hollow. The air rang loudly with the twang of bowstrings, the whoosh of the loosened arrows, the thuds of arrows piercing the orcs, and the death cries of those that hit the ground.
One orc, whose friends smoldered next to him, managed to think of throwing his spear before running. He saw where the terrible balls of flame had come from, and he targeted that spot high up in the trees. As he pulled back his spear, he was caught unawares by the wide blade of Ace's axe. The spear flew from his hand, but landed only a few feet away. Ace's powerful swing sliced right through the orc, who stood about Ace's own height. Ace smiled gleefully. "I cuts right through 'em!" he observed, and decided to try another orc on for size. Once again his terrible blade cut clear through the mid-section of the orc. "Now I knows why Gerrod has so much fun in them mines," Ace grinned to himself as he mowed his way into another petrified pack. They were too scared to move.
The panicked orcs, having limited intelligence anyway, were at a loss. They weren't in the dwarven mines, and they didn't know how to fight in the open like this. Everywhere they turned, more of their clan were being wiped out. Some spun around uselessly, while others sought power from their clan and clawed their own eyes out. They held the orbs up in their bloodied hands, as if sacrificing them to their god. Yeenoguian wasn't answering their prayers that day, and their agony only ended at the tip of Flicker or the swing of Ace's axe. They were surrounded, and they knew there was nothing they could do. There would be no escape for the Clan of the Bloody Eyes.
The battle ended shortly. Ace and Gerrod put those left alive and wounded out of their misery. Swiftly and mercifully came those swings, and torment ended. For those left in the pits, Allison and Amanda made their rounds. A welcomed arrow snuffed out that which only caused the orcs pain and suffering: life. Still, these were foul beasts of evil, and Amanda would offer no blessing for these soulless creatures. They died condemned.
Corinna watched the area around for more waves of orcs, but saw no signs. Ace and Gerrod began cutting the squealing victims out of the trees, and the snares that had so indignantly removed them from battle. They swiftly dispatched those they pulled down, until they got to one of the few remaining.
Being familiar with the orcs and their ways, Gerrod recognized the proud armbands of the clan leader, who identified himself as "Snark, leader of the Clan of Bloody Eyes." His eyes darted about like a caged animal. He studied Ace and Gerrod closely, and they knew he was calculating his odds of escaping. He saw the devastation that took out his mighty clan, and figured that the odds weren't good.
Ace stood nearby, leaning in closely with his thick arms crossed, and held his axe boldly for Snark to see the size of the impressive blade. Snark's eyes grew wide, and he swallowed hard, as if he could feel the blade on his throat. "Me slices right through orcs!" Ace gladly verified Snark's fears.
"Me be soldier, that all," the orc lied, squirming in his boots. His short snout slowly returned to a pink color as the blood that had flooded into his head rushed out.
"What'd he say?" Ace asked. Gerrod was the only one who could understand the orcan squeals.
"Says he's just a soldier," he laughed. Gerrod reached out with Flicker, and it was all he could do to control the wildly glowing blade as he sliced the leather armbands off. As he did so, Snark trembled like a child and began to cry.
"One question," Gerrod asked the openly sobbing creature. "Why were you following us?"
Snark was beside himself with fear. He knew he wasn't able to try and hide anything from them. It was his fear alone that kept him from talking. He could do little but whimper pitifully. Gerrod was about to give up on the questioning and simply dispense with him, when a flash of memory came to him. He saw Mika being struck down.
Flicker's fury took control. In a smooth, unpredictable flash, Gerrod spun around as he started to walk away from him. Snark found his air cut off at the throat, as the hungry blade sunk deeply into his windpipe, threatening to crush it with the width of the steel. Pinned to a tree, and losing air fast, Snark had little choice but to answer questions despite his fear. "Why follow us?" Gerrod shouted as if the weight of his voice could pummel the answer out of the beaten creature.
With what little strength he had left, Snark managed to free something from a pocket in his pants. Ace started to raise his axe in reply to the movement, but was held at bay by Gerrod's wild glare. Ace knew this one was his. Through his nearly crushed windpipe, the orcan leader gasped out but a single word, "Rai'dley."
Gerrod yanked the dangling bauble from his short, fat fingers and looked at it closely. He recognized it as being Corinna's, and he suddenly understood how they had found them. "You, Snark," he spat in his face, "shall live." Ace looked at him with sudden concern, fearing the charm he held had put a spell on his friend. Gerrod lowered the pig-like man back to the ground. Snark's hand reached for his throat as the pressure eased from the blade and he fell gasping for breath. "You will return to Rai'dley," Gerrod commanded, "and report to her that you were successful in killing us."
Snark looked up, puzzled by the half-elf's motives.
"If you do not return, Rai'dley will hunt you down and boil your foul hide in her cauldron," Gerrod promised the little man. "And if you don't tell her we're all dead, she will hang your head from a pike."
Snark thought a moment and considered his options, or lack there of. He finally nodded his head in agreement, realizing the truth of what Gerrod said.
"Now return to Rai'dley and deliver that message!" he yelled as the porcine creature. Snark scurried off to the west where the clan had come from. Gerrod laughed as Star hurried Snark's pace by nipping at his heels until he was a fair distance away.
As they finished up around the hollow, and gathered the rest of their stuff, Gerrod explained to the others what had happened with Snark.
"That's the charm Rai'dley stole from me all right," Corinna confirmed when Gerrod handed it to her. A fiery look flooded her eyes as she remembered the encounter.
"Well it seems that she knows where we are," Amanda observed.
"But hopefully Snark will deliver that message, and they won't bother us any more," Ally agreed.
"Unless she's got more spies out looking for us," Ace said. "We'd better not let the Guard see us no more."
"Speaking of the King's Guard, shall we see if we can find them again?" Corinna asked.
"With the trail they've been leaving, I'm sure it won't be too hard," Gerrod answered. They collected their horses and headed on their way. They picked up the unmistakable path of overturned leaves, and were secure that once again they were on their trail.
Still, they couldn't help but to look at the woods around them differently, wondering what Rai'dley might be able to throw at them next.
Chapter 15
LaBairne