Orc Ch. 06

Not that it mattered. It felt like she had just struck a brick house and while the dwarf did recoil in shock and pain, he did not fall.

"Stupid girl," he said before punching her off her feet.

****

As the orc wove himself between attacks, he found he could only admire his opponents. The executioner and tracker moved almost in unison, closing openings as fast as he noticed them and mutually supporting each other in ways his people would have trouble conceiving of let alone achieving. Competition between orc males was brutally fierce; the spirit of cooperation but a ghost. Even the martially unskilled ambassador was doing his part by staying out of the melee. That dwarf was behind him somewhere and Roaji had to force himself not to worry; they had not brought crossbows and he was still confident that they had exhausted their supply of throwing weapons.

Except perhaps the wily female whose skill and speed was extraordinary. As fast as she was though, the orc was faster and he had no plans to play into their battle of attrition. He had been holding back his magic abilities, on account that the dwarfs would no doubt be able to quickly nullify it, for a decisive attack and now was the time.

The orc was down to a single spear so he shot back to spin around a tree, plucking another he had planted earlier. Dual wielding again he wove a rapid pattern of attacks that his enemies could not hope to match, bringing himself as close to them as he dared. Were they human or orc they would have been torn to ribbons by the flurry of slashes, yet the earthen adversaries merely endured his storm. As expected the warrior kept himself juxtaposed as the hunter's shield as she moved round warily waiting for her chance to counter. This time, she did not get her chance.

Roaji energized his alchemical powers in a rush, drawing his blood from the dozen odd cuts he had accrued during the fight and formed as many scarlet vipers from them. In an instant he went from humanoid to a writhing mass of hissing death. Some blood snakes spat burning venom at the two dwarfs, other stretched out to snap viciously at them. The orc quickly became lightheaded as he used his blood as a weapon, but did not falter adding his voice to the serpents' shrieks. If they wanted to consider him a monster, he would give them one.

The highly acidic blood caught the executioner full in the face, blinding him and he staggered back. The female had covered her face in time and was already readying what Roaji had no doubt were nullification runes, so he threw both his spears at her one after the other. She must have anticipated the attack as she dodged the first with a duck, the second however found its mark, slamming into her arm and scattering her stones.

He male dwarf unfortunately decided he was not out of the fight yet and the orc scarcely avoided a clumsy swing. A few of his serpents were beheaded, splashing harmlessly into the ground as they were separated from their font. Roaji did not allow himself to lose his beat and twisted around the axe and the warrior holding it ended up behind him. The orc took hold of the dwarf's skull, finding the open wounds on his face and letting their blood merge. As soon as they were linked he flooded energy into the executioners head and gave the fluid within a single command: boil.

The dwarf was dead before he even had a chance to scream, collapsing at the orc's feet, red steam pouring from every orifice. Roaji wobbled on his feet, tired and reluctant to take satisfaction in the grizzly kill, still; one down. The tracker was still gathering her fallen runes and the orc took an unsteady, yet purposeful step towards her. Then a scream cut through the air.

It was Misty. He spun away from his prey looking for the source. He could not fail. Not now. A metaphorical dagger stabbed into his heart and then a literal one went into his back.

Roaji fell to one knee as his strength finally failed him, a moment later his magic failed too. He recognized the poison entering his blood immediately, though he had never experienced it personally or seen it in action. News of its use and effects travelled quickly among the scattered orc settlements. When Blood Hunters were able to subdue a rogue orc without killing him they would almost always transport them to another human region, infect them and set them loose.

First the toxin would strip the orc of any magical ability, then over the course of a few days it would drive its victim mad; stripping them of their reason, empathy and all else that separated man from beast. The orc would subsequently go on a mad rampage, killing anything in its path until either the dwarfs responsible re-emerged posing as saviours to eliminate the threat or a terrified human militia managed to take it down. Even if Roaji miraculously survived the next few minutes, he was regardless, a dead man.

With difficulty he reached back to pull the blade from his shoulder and as he feared it was little more than a stiletto, designed only to pierce and infect rather than kill. He dropped it to the petal covered ground, turning just in time to see the tracker levitate a rock into her hand and then slam said rock into his head. Roaji snarled at her, refusing to go down quietly. The dwarf smiled maliciously back at him, then hit him again.

Everything went black for a moment and the next thing he knew he was on his back with the female straddling his torso. She held the poisoned blade, examining it with calm curiosity. As soon as she noticed he was conscious she asked in unexpectedly clear orcish, "What to do with you, dwarf killer?"

Roaji tried to move, however the dwarf slammed a fist down on his bruised ribs, paralyzing him with pain. The orc sputtered in burning misery, struggling to remain awake and clearheaded. In the distance he thought he could make out grunting and the sound of cloth and flesh being rent. It really was over.

The tracker continued, "I don't know if I desire more to kill you now or watch you suffer, thad'duick," the last word was dwarfish. It did not translate well but roughly meant, 'one who is unworthy of receiving a god's blessing.'

She leaned down to slice open his cheek with the stiletto glaring at him triumphantly all the while, daring him to defy her again. Only when he felt his tears mix with the blood did he realize he was crying, yet he was beyond shame, "Misty!" he cried.

"Roaji?" a weak, confused, but very much alive voice called back.

The dwarf and orc's eyes met as both suddenly realized their roles were reversed. Rage and purpose thrummed through him, emanating as a snarl that ended only when his sharp teeth found her throat. She tried to stab him, he batted the weapon away. She tried to pummel him, he ignored the pain. The orc pulled her close and tore.

****

Misty's entire body shook as she forced the blade into Yenix's back again and again. The dwarf was surely dead, but she had to make sure. Everything had happened so quickly; she had tried to fight the dwarf, yet he was too strong. Then Kentin had charged in, practically bouncing off the ambassador. Yenix had then attacked the boy, pinning him to the ground and drawing his sword. From somewhere beyond desperation, the girl had leapt onto Yenix's back and found the strength to force her sword into the stone.

The dwarf had stopped struggling now, almost certainly dead, yet she had to be sure. She stabbed again and again, Kentin's pleas for her to stop barely registering. She forced her trembling blood soaked hands to hold the hilt tighter so she could force the weapon through as many times as it would take to be absolutely certain they could not take anything from her again.

"Misty!" a plaintive cry that could not possibly belong to her strong orc called to her.

Barely trusting her own voice she managed to respond in query, "Roaji?"

She could not see him through the floating dirt, then after a long moment, as if by magic, the veil of particles unexpectedly dropped. She quickly spotted Roaji as he rolled a limp and bloody Verity off of his chest.

The lazy bastard was lying down! She could not believe that the orc had the audacity to be relaxing at a time like this. Yet, all of a sudden, lying down did not seem like such a bad idea after all. Leaving her dirk in the dwarf she allowed herself to flop backwards into the soft bed of red petals with a sigh.

She reached out her hand towards the orc and several feet away he reached back to her.