Orc Ch. 06

"But that's not fair! Who appointed you as fucking king of the world?" she yelled, halting their procession immediately.

"Quiet now, girly; making a ruckus is an assured way of attracting the potential lethal ire of my companions," Yenix spoke sharply as the tracker and executioner growled threateningly to illustrate his point.

Misty hesitated for less than half a moment as she courted death, however she was set to a course of action, "Answer the question; what gives you the right?"

The dwarf sighed "It is not a right; it is a responsibility. Can you not see? If dwarfs do not maintain order then who? Humankind is young and ignorant. The orcs have no leadership and no control. They therefore must be controlled, lest the sadistic contest be reignited and drag the world into another war that could only end with the extinction of another race."

As the ambassador spoke, the girl slowly backed away in a hopeless attempt to change their direction, "Why are you even telling me all this?" she cried.

"Because I feel you deserve to know. Fate has dealt you a cruel hand and-"

"Fuck you!" Misty cut him off looking for the nearest tree to dart behind, anything to frustrate and stall the dwarfs.

"Surely you realize you can neither run nor hide. Now come along quietly lest-"

Yenix was cut off again, however not by Misty this time. Instead there came a frenzied crashing from within the darkness, which was no small feat considering the ground was covered in the Meadow's soft petals. For one glorious moment, she assumed that it must be that huge lizard monster she had seen yesterday; such a distraction made fleeing an only probably suicidal tactic rather than a certain one. Misty could only hope it thought dwarfs were tastier than humans. What emerged stumbling from the night, however, was sadly the least threatening thing she could imagine.

"Let her go," Kentin shouted, his voice cracking.

"Oh for dirt's sake." The ambassador sighed in relief, "Leave now, boy and forget what you have seen lest you share her fate."

All three of the dwarfs had drawn their weapons and they were a formidable sight even as they relaxed in the face of the non-threat. Kentin had a weapon too, Misty's dirk, though he held it shakily. She looked at the weapon longingly, but knew against the dwarfs it would be just as useless in her hands. No, she just needed to get rid of him, the idea of him getting killed on her behalf would be enough to break her resolve to protect Roaji.

"Kentin," she hissed, "get out of here! You can't help!"

The preacher's son ignored her and addressed Yenix, "You are operating outside of your jurisdiction, Ambassador," his voice was unsteady as his sword grip, but he carried on, "You have not followed the correct protocol and therefore cannot hold a human captive."

That actually flustered the waxy dwarf, "Excuse me?"

"You heard me correctly, sir. Blood Hunter law prevents you from laying hands on a human without three of the five local authorities granting you prior permission."

Misty could not stop hiccupping a laugh; Kentin was right. The Lord and head of the constabulary were away on the back lines of the border war, leaving only the church, council and dwarf liaison in power. Even though she was certain that Kentin's father and the angry mothers on the council would have certainly signed her death warrant; because Hen had fought the hunters they did not have a majority upon which to act. In a show of confidence that she wished she actually felt, Misty went to stand beside the boy.

Kentin's eyes went to the cut on her throat and dried blood down her front, "Are you alright?"

She gave him a little smile "Well I'm not dead. How did you find me?"

He scrupled, "I've... been busy. I'm going to try to get us out of here ok?"

The girl nodded, though after a quick appraisal of the dwarfs she knew they were not safe yet. Verity and Hidriht had brought their weapons back to the ready and Yenix was scowling furiously at the two humans.

Kentin must have sensed the same, as he spoke hurriedly, "Seeing as you have no rule here, I will return her to a cell. Farewell."

Misty did not like the sound of the cell bit, but she trusted the boy enough to play along and let herself be pulled away.

They did not make it a single step before the ambassador called, "Halt. This scenario is not as clear cut as you would have make it out and I feel you possess full knowledge of said fact."

The preacher's son tensed and Misty swore to herself; it could not have been that easy could it? She reached for Kentin's hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. As much as she just wanted to tell the dwarfs to sit on her finger and spin her best chance was to allow the linguistic joust to continue without her direct involvement.

She still had to nudge him to continue, however as the handholding was making him idiotically blush, "Then you have me at a disadvantage, sir," Kentin squeaked before finding his voice again, "Please clarify your meaning."

"I speak of your dwarf liaison. His judgement has been impaired and is therefore of no validity, thus we retain the majority of the present authority."

"Our dwarf liaison is more of a-" the boy growled in an ultra-rare demonstration of anger before having to stop himself. As close as Misty was to Hen, she knew that he was closer. In fact it had been a prepubescent Kentin, desperate for knowledge; that had changed the former dourly reclusive dwarf into the kind hearted crèche running dwarf she knew today. He started again, "That still does not bring you into the majority. If you report having no confidence in our liaison, then you must also await his trial before presuming upon a replacements decision."

"You are beginning to try me, boy."

"I should hope so."

Misty decided she had never been as proud of anyone as she was of Kentin at that moment. While she had been sure of the ambassador's bullshit from the moment he opened his mouth, she was not equipped to call him on it.

Yenix was clearly losing patience and could see his struggle to retain his veneer, "We have reason to believe that the orc we hunt has magical talent and is thus a special case with special circumstances. As such-"

The human interrupted, "All the more reason to return to my town and form a militia in order to hunt the beast properly."

"Now listen here-" Yenix began, however, Misty's attention had focused on the executioner who, apparently sick of the back and forth, had raised a throwing axe.

"No!" she screamed and launched herself at Kentin.

Unfortunately the boy was so focused on Yenix that he was oblivious to the incoming attack. What was worse was that he had planted himself so firmly that Misty's shove only made him stumble and reach to catch her, pulling her back up and into the path of the projectile. She closed her eyes in defeat; at least she would save Kentin's life.

There was a wet thunk followed by the swish of the axe in flight. That did not make any sense. Should it not have been the other way around? It took Misty a moment to realize she had not been hit and another to meet Kentin's panicked eyes to confirm that he too was unscathed. Still in his arms, she turned herself around only to see Hidriht stagger as he looked down at a spear point protruding from his chest.

To their credit, the dwarfs reacted quickly even as more spears shot from seemingly nowhere into their dimming pool of torchlight. Verity began bellowing at her allies, moving to protect the executioners flank; deflecting another javelin with disturbing ease. Yenix shot the humans a murderous glance before turning only barely in time so that a projectile aimed at him only glanced off his shoulder. With what Misty needed no translation to discern as a curse, the ambassador moved to help Hidriht who was still somehow standing.

The warrior dwarf had already seized the shaft impaling him and was managing to gradually draw it the rest of the way through, though the blood oozing from him was making it increasingly difficult. Misty could not help but maudlinly watch as Yenix moved in and took grip of the weapon and after a brief nod from Hidriht yanked it the rest of the way out. The executioner roared in pain and rage, already unclasping the great-axe on his back. The tracker was digging rune stones out of a pouch with her free hand.

Misty tore her vision from the dwarfs and back to Kentin, trying to work out what was going on and what she should do, "We need to get out-" she managed before a huge flash of light scared the shit out of her.

Kentin screamed, covering his eyes with his arm, clearly blinded. The girl prayed it was only temporary as she dragged him to the cover of the nearest tree, daring a quick glance back. What she could only describe as a small star was levitating slowly upwards to canopy level from Verity's outstretched palm. A huge swath of the Meadow was now brightly illuminated from its light.

Her attention was drawn back to Kentin when he began shaking her arm, he said, "Please run, Misty!"

She was frightened to notice that he was not looking directly at her and that his eyes were raw and glazed, "Can you see?"

He hesitated, "A little. But I'll be fine, it's you they want. Please, just get out of here."

"Don't be an idiot, I won't leave you here. What's going on any- Oh fuck, it's Roaji!"

She desperately tried to put together what was actually happening. Had they both come to save her? Were they working together? The timing was so perfect that they must be. The thought that they were both risking their lives for her filled her with hope and dread. She scoured the forest for sight of the orc.

It was the dwarfs who found him first, though. All she had to do was follow the trajectory of the axes Hidriht and Yenix were throwing at him; the tracker was busy with her runes again. Roaji was perched high among the branches of a tree wearing next to nothing as usual except his loincloth and this time a thick sash that holstered a large quiver of spears on his back. As soon as she spotted him though, he disappeared in a flurry of petals he set loose with a kick. The axes flew through the cloud hitting nothing. The orc really had come to save her.

And then the earth began to shake.

****

Roaji leapt above the canopy, damning the rigidity of the trees here. Were he in the swamp jungles nearer to home he could have used the suppleness of the branches there to launch himself tens of feet and maintain a perpetual element of surprise. Not so here, however, where he was limited by his own strength and his every move was chronicled by showers of crimson flora. He made a token effort to maintain his surprise by launching a couple of spears through the upper reaches of the trees, thus creating false trails, but he knew the time for direct confrontation was soon.

Unfortunately, such an encounter would not be even remotely in his favour. The majority of dwarfs were experts at their chosen profession and these three had given him no reason to doubt that they were any different. To fight a single dwarf, an earth elemental in all but form, on solid ground was tantamount to receiving a death writ and here he faced a trio. But Roaji was not about to let Misty perish for the sole crime of crossing his path.

Besides, Roaji was no stranger to the art of violence and he was among the small number of orcs to have faced dwarfs and lived. In fact he even counted a handful of kills among his achievements. Granted those occasions had been mostly at times and places of his choosing, but considering dwarfs' extreme sturdiness and skill such accomplishments were not diminished. Even so, here he faced a battle he knew he was unlikely to win.

Misty; for her he would fight this no win scenario. Not because he loved her, for he had only known her a few days. Not because he hated the dwarfs, though he expected them to be fully cognizant of the hypocrisy of their so called justice. But because he had brought this danger upon the girl and out here he did not have to play the coward. Out here he had his freedom and autonomy and he would kill anyone who tried to take it from him.

And then the earth began to shake.

The tracker was saturating the ground with magic in order to gain mastery over the surroundings. It was an expected play and Roaji wished that the executioner had not forced the orc to make him his first target. He would have much rather used his surprise attack to incapacitate the group's magic user. Within moments a thick cloud of mud and dust had risen into the air, obscuring his vision and aim. He used the last of his perception to pin a handful of spears into the tree trunks closest to the dwarfs for emergency use then dropped down silently onto the ground.

As quiet as he was, the ground was ensorcelled letting the dwarfs know exactly where he had landed and knives and axes shot unerringly towards the orc through the dense dust cloud. Roaji was already elsewhere, however, and gone again as the next flight sought him. One dwarf called what Roaji knew to be a 'hold fire' and the orc grinned; they had sussed his strategy quickly, but he still doubted they had many projectiles left.

Swiftly, before the dwarfs could employ a new stratagem, the orc selected a specific spear and cut his thumb on the point before smearing the blood along the shaft. He then leapt at the dwarfs high, so as to pass over them. As he did so the blood vanished into the wood and Roaji felt the magic within the weapon prime. As the orc anticipated, the hunters were ready for him and the injured warrior stopped the spear thrust at his heart with practised ease, very almost tearing it from Roaji's grasp. The orc did not cease moving with his weapon however, using the executioner's solid grip on it as a pole vault to extend his jump well past them. Before Roaji landed again the spear exploded.

The scent of blood filled the orc's nostrils as the dwarfs were slashed by splinters and he felt the fluid lusting beast within him stir. He quashed it grudgingly, this fight he could only win by being smarter than his opponents. He was moving again the moment his bare feet hit turf, drawing his most sturdy spear just in time to deflect a dagger a dwarf had held back. Roaji felt the blow vibrate all the way to his spine; he had forgotten how preternaturally strong his enemy could be.

He zig zagged through the sediment filled air making his path erratic as possible and cursing the dwarfs and their runes. Normally a magically talented being could only effect their attuned element through direct touch, however through the use of their runes, dwarfs had discovered a way to use the latent energy in air and water as a medium through which to channel their will into the connected earth. Given enough time, they would be able to make the dirt 'smart' enough to discern, target and likely flaw him alive.

Roaji had no intention of giving them that time, but he indulged himself a quick look to see if he could spot Misty through the levitating soil.

Would she look at him in fear, awe or rage? One of the things that attracted him to her so much was that he could never guess what she would do next or how she would react. With a greater sense of regret than he was expecting he failed to catch sight of her, but his moment was over and he had a job to do.

At this point, clever tricks and moves would only serve to delay his defeat. If he had any hope of beating the dwarfs now, it would be through direct confrontation with enough distraction to prevent them from enacting a magical technique he could not counter or avoid. If his exploded spear had left them with open wounds, he would at least have a better chance of taking them down with him.

Roaji came at his enemy low, swinging his spear widely; thrusting against an opponent armed with axes was a sure way of finding himself disarmed. He had hoped to get some time to neuter the magically able tracker, yet the executioner was at the front again shielding his allies. He was in dire condition; pin cushioned by large splinters, one having blinded an eye and his earlier chest wound still seeping, but he was still standing. A few feints answered by sluggish parries was enough for the orc to know that it would take little to finish him off, to do so though would leave him open to the other two.

Quicker than the warrior could hope to catch, the orc slid through an opening to get at the female, attacking with an overhead smash for maximum distraction; dwarfs in particular were paranoid about falling objects. To his dismay though, she met his attack with an even swifter one of her own and he barely twisted around a dagger thrust to his throat. Too unwieldy for close quarters he flicked his weapon by the haft into the air and spun his dodge into a heel spin to her jaw. Though it felt like he had just kicked a boulder, the tracker staggered and Roaji reached for his falling weapon to push his advantage.

The warrior beat him to it, arcing his axe to crash through the spear and down upon the orc. Roaji flung himself backwards crudely suffering a glancing blow to his chest and landing several feet back with a crash. He pulled himself up with a cough that made his vision swim as agony threatened to steal his consciousness. The orc snarled through the pain, drawing his remaining two spears and hoping that his ribs were only cracked and not broken or his last stand would be shorter than he had hoped. Setting his spears parallel against his forearms in a defensive stance, he met the dwarfs charge with a roar.

****

Misty swatted away Kentin's hand as he again tried to pull her away from the swirling melee. It was still difficult to see through the dust cloud Verity had summoned, but she could still make out Roaji's much larger silhouette as it dashed around and against the two smaller ones of the tracker and executioner. It was difficult to tell who was winning however, from the fact that it was always the orc who retreated and never the dwarfs, if she had to guess; the Hunters had the upper hand.

Yenix was moving some distance away, outside of the cloud, seemingly looking for an opening in which to help.

"Please, Misty," Kentin was sounding increasingly desperate, his sight having returned.

"We can't just leave him! He came to save us."

"Yes, he did. But he made me promise to get you out of here if it came to violence."

The girl spun on him, "What?!"

"I'm sorry, I tried to get them to let you go, but the orc must've seen them about to attack."

She shook her head, "No. You spoke to Roaji? Since when were you two speaking? What the fuck?"

"Um, when I heard that the Hunters had you, I figured I might need help. So I found Roaji was it? And he helped me find you," the boy looked abashed.

"But how did you even find him? The dwarfs had us going in circles for hours."

"Well I kind of bumped into him last night and noticed he was wearing a herbalist's garb and-"

"Never mind," Misty interrupted, "explain later. Give me that," she snatched the dirk that he was holding limply.

He stared at the weapon dumbly for a moment before understanding her intent, "Misty, no! This isn't a bar fight; they'll kill you."

Misty surprised herself when she leaned in to kiss Kentin tenderly, "Thank you for coming for me, but I can't let anyone else get hurt because of me."

Further protests died on his lips and the girl turned and marched towards Yenix. She had no clue what she would or even could do against the dwarf besides annoy him enough to make herself a decoy; but she was sick of everyone fighting but her. The army had taken her boys from her and with them the life she had made. Now these dwarfs had come, destroyed Hen's livelihood and were poised to kill the man who had given her a passionate reprieve from her anguish. To say she was angry would be an understatement. She poured her rage into her father's long dagger and swung, the ambassador did not even hear her coming.