The Journey Of Alanna Ch. 14

Author's note:

Hey guys, sorry for the extremely long delay on this chapter. My living situation has changed which means I have significantly less time to write now. I'm still committed to this story, so don't worry about me stopping, updates are just going to be less frequent from here out. Thank you for understanding and for reading!

End author's note

"Are you sure this is gonna work?" Alanna whispered to Nywen. The two of them had reached the village with the warg problem and set out the bait, a big hunk of red meat that was now just sitting in the sun, attracting flies. They had been watching it from their vantage point beneath a bush for a few hours now. Alanna thanked her lucky stars that it was still early spring, in a few weeks the both of them would likely have gotten eaten alive by mosquitoes.

"I've done this before, so yes, I'm sure," Nywen retorted.

"If the wargs have been eating cattle won't they be too full to take the bait?" Alanna complained.

"The reason this strategy works isn't because it plays into their hunger," Nywen said. "Sure, that's what gets them here, but wargs are way more territorial than normal wolves. They'll eat that meat even if they aren't hungry to keep other monsters away, and because they know this area has food they'll stand and fight to protect it from anything they see as an invader."

Alanna mulled over Nywen's explanation. wargs looked so much like normal wolves it was hard to attribute them with that much intelligence. She was about to continue her line of reasoning when Nywen pressed her gloved hand on Alanna's mouth.

"Shh! They're here," she whispered.

The pack of wargs, five strong, carefully stepped out of the surrounding foods, sniffing the air. Nywen had impressed on her how important the wind was when it came to their vantage point. If they were upwind, the wargs would know they were there as soon as they got close to the bait. If they were downwind of the bait, they could end up directly between the wargs and the bait as the pack approached. Nywen picked a spot off to the side instead.

"Go, go! Now!" Nywen whispered, urging Alanna up. The two split up and began sneaking up as the wargs dug into the food.

Beforehand, Nywen had asked Alanna if she knew how to sneak, and she had to admit that she didn't, so Nywen gave her the basics: Move slowly, strike the ground with your toes, then roll your feet, and pay attention to your surroundings. She did her best to keep her eyes on the wargs and on the branches and brushes around her, avoiding every obstacle slowly and deliberately.

Alanna was forty feet away from the wargs when an audible snap broke her out of her concentration. Looking down there could be no doubt what caused it, she broke a twig beneath her foot. It was one thing to hear someone explain how to sneak effectively, it was another thing to do so effectively. The wargs now had their yellow eyes fixed firmly on her, their jaws still red with the remains of their recent meal. As one, the pack broke away from their meal, barking and howling, and charged Alanna.

Holding her sword steady, Alanna tried to keep track of each warg as the pack approached, but they were intentionally using the cover of the woods to confuse her sight. They would dart in and out of direct line of sight, making it hard to track where all of them were at any time, until one leapt out of the underbrush from her side, taking advantage of her distraction to attack her unprotected flank.

Immediately, Nywen leapt out of the shadows like a pouncing cat, stabbing the warg in quick succession along its flank as she passed the flying warg. It landed awkwardly, rolling several times before coming to a stop, unmoving. Alanna had no time to admire her companion's precision as another warg charged rapidly towards her from her front, ready to avenge its fallen comrade.

"This is the reason these things were considered monsters, not just large wolves," Alanna thought. They had a cunning beyond mere animal intelligence and they used it to kill things no ordinary wolf would tackle.

She had little time to think before another warg charged her directly, likely sensing Alanna as the weaker link between the two adventurers. However, Alanna would not be taken out that easily. As the warg came in to bite her, she sidestepped the large creature, allowing its momentum to carry it past her as she slashed at its face. The creature yelped as the blade connected, a large gash being cut across its muzzle. It bled profusely and backed off in pain, but Alanna noted to her annoyance it was neither a lethal nor a debilitating wound. It hurried into some shrubs, forcing her to focus on the next warg as it came in for the attack.

She knew she had to land deadly blows, as Nywen had done, but to do that she had to get much closer. 

Another warg dashed out of the undergrowth towards her. She could see its intent, attempting to make use of its companion's most recent attack to try and catch her offguard. She dove, but rather than try to jump out of the way, she met the creature's attack head-on. She ducked underneath the creature's terrible jaws and rammed her sword into its ribcage, using the creature's own weight against it. She knew she struck the heart when blood gushed out of the wound like a geyser.

The creature screamed, a sound no canine should be able to make, then spasmed as the last of its life left it. Alanna was ready to gloat over her latest victory when she realized that the creature had turned into dead weight almost directly on top of her. She was stronger now, but not strong enough to move the horse-sized wolf fully out of the way as it collapsed on top of her. It landed on her legs and groin, pulling her embedded sword out of her hand. 

She fought against the creature's dead weight, but she was only barely shifting it. She heard something approaching and noticed the wounded warg from earlier approaching. It sensed weakness, as well as a chance for revenge.

She struggled as hard as she could, wobbling the dead warg side to side, but there was no way she'd be able to free her legs in time. "Nywen! Help!" she cried out, though she could not see the Rogue from where she had fallen.

The creature's slavering jaws opened wide above her head and lowered to close around her skull. It would be a tight fit, but when those jaws closed, she knew it would be the end of her.

A dagger flashed through the air, glowing blue as it struck the warg in its throat, a tell-tale sign Nywen used one of her Class abilities to intervene. Its yelp came out as a gargle as the weapon had embedded itself deep. Alanna saw her opportunity and grabbed the dagger's handle, ripping it free with a wild slashing motion. The warg may have survived the original puncture had it managed to escape, but not after Alanna tore the wound open entirely. Blood sprayed. The warg tried to run, but as it drew close to the forest's edge it slowed and fell, a pool of blood growing beneath it.

Nywen's head soon appeared over the side of the warg pinning Alanna down. She gave her a coy grin while Alanna continued to struggle. "You know, the rumors made you seem like you were much better at this than you actually are." When she noticed Alanna's sour expression, she gave her a thumbs up. "Still, good job on your first quest as a real adventurer!"

Alanna shyly returned a thumbs up, doing her best to smile past the pain, emotional and otherwise.

It was easier to carry the weight of five severed warg heads than Alanna expected, but it was still hard work when the trip was several hours back to Wildbrook. She wasn't sure if a year ago she would have been able to do this at all.

"So, why am I carrying all the trophies by myself?" she asked with a sidelong glance at Nywen, who seemed to just be enjoying the long stroll home.

"Because you're the greenest between the two of us, and because I killed most of them. Them's the rules!" she stated confidently, pounding her chest a few times with her fist.

Alanna doubted that was true, but rather than argue, she just let out a long sigh, which prompted Nywen to pull ahead of her and start walking backwards in front of her. Her thoughts drifted back to the fight with the wargs and how she got overwhelmed by just two of them. Compared to her accomplishments so far it was downright shameful.

"You're not upset, are you?" Nywen asked.

"N-no," Alanna said, not liking where this line of questioning was going.

"Are you sure? Because you seem upset."

"I'm just..." she let out a groan. "Frustrated."

Nywen seemed to ponder for a moment, then clacked her tongue. "You know, you did fine back there. I've seen people do a lot worse on their first quest, trust me. The fact that all you got were a few scratches and bruises is proof of that."

Alanna looked off to the side, becoming too uncomfortable to maintain eye contact. There were a few moments of silence as they just walked, with Alanna quietly questioning how the half-catfolk Rogue managed to not trip while not looking where she was going. 

"Look, I know we didn't exactly start off on the best foot, but... I appreciate you giving me a second chance. We got the quest done, and we did it together. Next quest I'll let you finish most of the monsters off, alright?" she said, grinning.

"Alright, agreed" Alanna agreed, though her heart wasn't really in it. Her thoughts were thoroughly focussed on needing to do better. Next time she was determined to prove she could. Nywen returned to her side, the pair saying nothing for a while.

Their trip back was otherwise uneventful, occasionally being passed by armored horsemen patrolling the roads, one time being passed by a column of elves in green cloaks carrying shorter blades by their sides.

"Ranger units," Nywen said. "Someone explained that to me when I was just starting out. Apparently the elves rely heavily on specialized units of Rangers and Druids to patrol their border regions. Makes sense,  when you think about how heavily forest the Elven Queendom is."

Alanna nodded, figuring that made sense. Elven Rangers in particular were often masters of fighting in densely wooded regions, while Druids were able to use their spells to turn natural terrain against their enemies. They were a fantastic combination, at least as long as you didn't make them fight in a cleared field, or worse, inside a city.

Alanna was broken from her reverie by Nywen tapping her shoulder. She pointed ahead. They were nearing the gates of Wildbrook, close enough that they could spot the tops of the wooden wall surrounding the outer perimeter from afar, but Nywen was pointing at something else. A gang of orcs, four of them, were heading their direction.

"Just keep your head down," Nywen said. "I think their culture takes eye-contact as a challenge."

Alanna did as she was told, trying to stare at the road rather than at the approaching orcs, but as they got close the leader of the group suddenly greeted them.

"Ladies!" he exclaimed, his voice deep and gruff but without any sign of an accent. "Fancy meeting some fellow adventurers like yourselves on the road. How was the hunt?"

Alanna and Nywen came to a stop. Alanna wasn't sure if she was supposed to look up or not, or even greet the orc at all, so it came as a great relief when Nywen stepped in.

"Friends! Our hunt was just fine, thank you," she said, matching the orc's energy. "We were just returning to town to eat and rest. As it's been a long day for us, I fear that we can only wish you well on your quest, or travels, as your situation may be."

"You're too kind. However, we couldn't help but notice that trophy bag you're carrying there," he said, indicating the blood-stained bag on Alanna's back. "We're always eager to bear witness to another warrior's deeds. May we have a look at your kills? It's just to sate our curiosity, I assure you." The orc raised his hands and smiled apologetically, but Alanna couldn't help but feel unnerved. The other orcs, all Barbarians by the look of their rough hide armor, were all tense. It was pretty clear something was off.

"Sure," Nywen said, some uncertainty creeping into her voice. She turned around and approached Alanna, quickly whispering to her as she passed. "We're probably getting robbed. Just give them what they want, it's not worth it."

Alanna felt her anger bubbling up. She nearly died for these warg heads, and they were going to rob her and Nywen, just like that? No, she wasn't about to give up her catch to some knuckle-dragging thugs. Not after making Nywen do all the work.

She put the bag down and began to storm up to the lead orc when Nywen grabbed her by her arm. "Alanna, no!" she whispered, but Alanna pulled herself out of Nywen's grasp. 

"I think you guys should move along," Alanna said, crossing her arms and doing her best to be intimidating. 

The lead orc raised his eyebrow, then the whole squad burst out laughing. He stepped closer to Alanna, still chuckling. "Was that a threat? Cause you're a little small to be threatening the likes of me, bunny," he said, poking Alanna's shoulder hard enough to force her a step back.

He was right. The orc was easily a head taller than Alanna, maybe even two, but Alanna refused to back down. "You're not taking our stuff!" she yelled. "You'll have to go through me first!"

The orc barbarians seemed to be ready to take her up on that offer, all reaching for their weapons in unison. However, the lead orc raised his open hand to them, motioning for them to back down.

"I like your spunk, kid," he said. "Tell you what: We can handle our disagreement here one-on-one. No need to get my boys involved. You win, we'll leave. Deal?"

Alanna actually grinned. She was worried about taking on that whole group, but just this one dumb orc? That seemed manageable. "Deal," she replied, drawing her sword and assuming her combat stance, firmly gripping her weapon, tip aimed at her enemy, feet wide apart. She used her free hand to take one of her purchases out of a pouch on her belt: A potion of Bull's Strength, downing it quickly. She felt magical power enhancing her musculature, putting her much closer on par with the orc than she had been. It was a temporary effect, but would certainly last long enough for this fight.

The orc smiled broadly, drawing a large, crude-looking axe from his back, one side of the weapon forming a large toothed-blade. He motioned for her to come at him and she eagerly complied. 

She remembered Solizzar's lessons well. Fighting other humanoids was not like fighting monsters. The latter often had brute strength and size, or alternatively, sheer numbers on their side. Other humanoids were smarter, had weapons and often some form of magical powers. Context was everything, and judging from this orc's weapon, he likely used the size and weight of his weapon to simply cleave his enemies apart before they could come into range to use whatever weapons they had. 

Against an enemy like that, the best strategy was to avoid the first swing, then duck inside their guard and attack. Alanna saw the orc getting ready to swing his weapon horizontally, calculated how close she could get before she was in reach, then immediately ducked low to the ground as she got inside the orc's reach, relying on her momentum to carry her into first swing.

To her shock, the orc did not swing. Instead, he lashed out with his iron-shod foot, kicking her fiercely in her side and sending her rolling back. Pain radiated from the site of the impact, but she crawled to her feet in a hurry, only to see that the orc hadn't taken the opportunity. He was just standing there, waiting for her next move, with a big smile on his face. The rest of his gang were chuckling to themselves.

"Name's Grug, of the Thunderspear tribe," he proudly announced. "You're Alanna, right?"

"What's it to you?" Alanna sneered, readying herself for another attempt.

"Just making sure," he smugly replied.

She came at the orc again, this time doing her best to be wary of both the orc's axe and his kicks. She decided to fake him out, feigning a repeat of her previous charge, but ducking back as he'd kick or swing, then abusing the fact that he would be unbalanced after hitting only air. Rather than wait for her to come to him, he stepped inside her guard right as she tried to feint, grabbed her by the throat and slammed her down onto the ground. Her vision spun afterwards, though she could see the orc standing over her.

She tried rolling back to her feet but the orc kicked her back down. Her attempts became more and more frantic, as there was no way for her to come up with a new plan of attack while she was on the ground like this, but the orc simply punished every attempt with another blow.

He forced her to stop fighting back. By the time she gave up trying to stand she was bleeding from several wounds across her head, arms and legs, and every part of her felt like her insides had been mashed and jostled.

Only now that she was forced to stop fighting and trying to retaliate did she understand how outclassed she was. All this time the orc had not even used his axe, instead just relying on punches, kicks and grabs to beat her down, and even then she didn't believe he was going full force. None of her injuries were that severe, she was just in a lot of pain. He had been toying with her this whole time. Even that strength-enhancing potion did nothing to close the gap between them.The orc was laughing as he saw the realization dawn on her face.

"If the rumors about you are true, and you really are a Peasant, you're a fine fighter despite it," Grug said. "But you're so damn predictable, it's hilarious! Like someone gave you the book on how to fight like a level one fighter and you're following it, word for word."

"You're the best damn Peasant I ever fought, but you ain't got this," he said, tapping his forehead with a finger. "You got the right Class? You know everything you need to know, just from that. Mix in experience and that's how you make an actual warrior. You? You're just imitating the first, and haven't got the latter."

He craned his neck left and right, eliciting a crack every time, then took his axe in both hands. "You got my respect. However," his amused expression turned dark, and he raised his weapon upward with both hands. Alanna noticed quickly that his eyes were now fixed on her legs, and she struggled to crawl away as she realized his intent. "This was never going to end well for you."

There was no way for Alanna to create enough distance for the orc to miss, not while she was on the ground. A blur darted in front of her. It was Nywen, who dug the tip of her boot into the dirt of the road and expertly kicked it up into the orc's face, who roared in anger. She then grabbed Alanna by the shoulder and hoisted her up.

"Run you idiot!" she yelled, pushing Alanna into a sprint towards the forest's edge. She didn't protest this time. 

The sound of iron-shoot boots followed them. Looking back Alanna saw the rest of the orcs had joined in, having drawn their weapons and sprinting after them into the woods. 

Dodging branches, tree roots and shrubbery, the chase was made dangerous by neither Alanna nor Nywen being able to get up to full speed without risking being tripped. The orcs struggled with the same issue, but as Alanna's mind raced for a way out, she had to take into account her fight with the lead orc. If they were all Barbarians, their Strength and Stamina were likely well above her and Nywen's. If this was a sprint across an open plain Alanna and Nywen might win, with their lighter gear and nimbler builds, but they would almost certainly get tired long before the orcs did. Even so, with the orcs so hot on their heels, there was no way for them to hide.

"Do you trust me?!" Nywen called out.