17
Orcs
Luke and AJ carefully and quietly approached the dungeon entrance. As they grew near Luke got a better look at the orcs on watch. It seemed like this version of orc was more pig like rather than the weird corrupted giant goblin thing you saw in some movies. The monsters were around seven feet tall and had pig snouts and tusks. They had to weigh every bit of five hundred pounds each and their entire bodies were covered in coarse brown fur. They even stood on tiny pig hooves, they just looked like giant pigs that stood on two legs. Luke wasn't sure how pig feet worked but they definitely shouldn't be able to hold clubs, that was the only real difference he could spot between an orc and a vertical pig.
They crept closer and closer hoping to get as far as possible into the dungeon silently killing without waking the horde of orcs. Then the wind turned. The smell was indescribable, it felt like a physical blow and Luke's eyes began to water.
“ACHOO" AJ sneezed
Luke stared in disbelief, “What the hell?”
AJ shrugged, “They stink"
“You’re a robot”
“Wait… are you just now realizing this? I thought you were smarter than that?”
“You can't sneeze, you don't even bre…”
“No time, they're awake"
Sure enough the orcs on watch were stumbling to their feet and reaching for clubs.
“Well here we go”
Luke lunged forward with his spear taking the first orc in the throat. AJ snapped off a shot with the handgun scoring an impressive shot into it's eye. Unfortunately they went for the same orc, leaving the other to gather itself and swing its massive club into Luke's side. Luke went tumbling into the dirt losing his breath but not taking much damage otherwise. Suddenly he remembered his stat boosts, He had dumped a bunch of stats into endurance just so he could take a hit. That seemed to be effective alongside his magically reinforced bones but he had completely forgotten to check and update his stats since then.
He didn't have time to check and his body wouldn’t have time to adjust even if he did but now he was kicking himself for not boosting his stats. Once Luke had regained his feet he saw the fight was over, AJ had blasted several holes into the second orc ending the fight.
“Hurry, and get back over here" AJ shouted, “I don’t have a lot of magic stored up in this thing and I can hear more coming"
Luke scrambled into position next to AJ right outside the dungeon entrance, “What do you think? Hold here and take them at the choke point?”
“We don’t have 300 of us, but they also don’t have a weird hunchback to tell them about the secret goat trail behind us" AJ said
Luke thought for a moment before lighting up, “AH I know that one… you think the chieftain is a weird god king with a hundred piercings?”
“I… I didn't have a follow up, you were just supposed to be confused and then I would tell you it meant yeah we should hold the choke point”
Then they saw the orcs, the monsters were taking some time to push through the dungeon. They were so wide and frenzied that they were getting in each others way blocking and stumbling over themselves. Most of them didn't even have their clubs, but that probably wouldn’t be an issue for them. If they had brought large weapons they would have made even more obstacles to trip each other with and wouldn't be able to properly swing them in the tunnel anyway.
As they waited, Luke recharged the magic pistol for AJ who took any shot he could, aiming for legs as often as heads. Any shot that landed burned a hole deep into the orcs often disabling them. The fallen bodies slowed the horde even further as they trampled and crushed their own in a blind howling rage. Finally the first orc managed to reach their location and dove for AJ trying to take out the source of the burning shots. Luke drove his spear into the orc’s head but the shaft turned and wrenched his wrist when it made contact. The orc was driven off course, missing AJ and taking a nasty wound to the top of its head, but the bone had resisted and deflected the blow.
They had no time to rethink as the next orc stomped their downed ally as it rushed Luke. This time Luke reflexively jabbed at it's belly, that seemed to be a better choice when the spear easily penetrated. Then Luke was reminded of a picture he had seen of a boar spear a long time ago, the spear had some sort of wings to guard against the creature impaling all the way. Now he understood why.
The orc didn't seem to notice that it was dead, instead it rushed up the length of the spear and bowled Luke over. AJ was shouting something, and constantly shooting but Luke couldn’t hear over the wild roars and squeals of the monster on top of him. Blows rained down as Luke covered his face and head while trying to escape. His blocking was weak and blows crashed through constantly, but he was surprising himself with just how durable he was.
None of the blows particularly hurt and he hadn't noticed anything break his skin yet. Still he wasn't strong enough to throw the beast off so found himself in a pickle. AJ was surely trying to hold the horde back but Luke had been down and useless for a few seconds already. Seconds in a battle like this were the same as days. He had to get out before AJ ran out of ammunition and they were overrun.
Then he remembered his magical abilities, how could he keep forgetting important things like this. That was a problem for later though and Luke focused on the feeling he had when fighting the flesh abomination in the research base. He didn't have pain to focus him but he HAD practiced the ability since then.
A small blue flame erupted from the palm of Luke's hand and quickly grew. Luke pressed the flame into the monster's chest receiving several blows to the head when he dropped his guard. The blows made his ears ring, but otherwise he was alright. Then the relentless assault turned to a panicked thrashing as the flame burned a hole into the orc. The smell of burnt hair, iron and charred pork mixed with the regular overpowering orc stink, causing Luke to gag. Soon the thrashing ceased as well and Luke managed to roll out from under the lifeless body.
AJ had run out of ammo but the corpses had blocked most of the entryway. The still living orcs had calmed now that the target of their ire was no longer visible. Perhaps it was the leadership of the chief but many of the bodies were being dragged away clearing some of the blockage.
“I need practice, I'm pretty useless in a fight right now, thank god I have a flamethrower power.”
AJ didn’t care for conversation at the moment though and tossed the handgun to Luke, “Charge"
Luke complied and returned the weapon to AJ who continued firing shots anytime one of the orcs showed themselves for too long. Most shots either missed or did little damage as the orcs had regained a measure of sanity and kept mostly to cover. Luke took the short break to practice his magic.
He really only had three offensive options at the moment, his spear, his flame jet, and telekinesis, which he had very little practice with. AJ was certainly the MVP right now so a better option would be to defend AJ and hold the monsters back while staying free to charge the pistol whenever AJ ran low.
Luke explained his plan “Next time, I’m going to just try to hold them back, lots of fire, maybe chuck some rocks in the way. You can do the killing let me know when you need to charge and I'll turn up the heat.”
“Ok, charge me up again, I’m low and they are getting a path open”
Luke's magic reserves were still good so he wasn't too worried about running out himself just yet. They prepared themselves for the next wave but even though they could see movement through the gap in bodies, no orcs came through. They kept waiting… and waiting… nothing happened.
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Finally AJ spoke up, “They figured out the trap"
“We could wait them out, siege them. They have to eat right?”
“Do they? They are magic creatures that spontaneously spawn down there. You don’t eat and you’re only kind of a little bit magic.”
“Shit… we have to go in don't we?”
AJ nodded
Luke sighed, “Alright then lets do this, same plan though, I take point let me know when you need a charge.”
Together they walked into the dungeon. Inside there were torches lining the walls removing any light advantage they had. Additionally the torches seemed magical and would reignite moments after being extinguished, and couldn't be removed from the wall. The floors, walls, and ceiling were all the same grey stone brick looking like any regular building material. Both the stones of the walls and the torches could be damaged but not removed, and quickly restored themselves.
As they moved deeper the movement they had seen before was still visible but just at the edge of their vision , as if the orcs were retreating at the same pace they advanced. Sound had a strange echoing quality that made it seem like they were surrounded even when there was nothing behind them but the exit.
Deeper and deeper they went, the corridor unchanging, and unbroken. No doors or additional paths split off, just the single corridor sloping downward slightly. After what had to be a mile of walking, the path leveled out and they could finally see a change. The corridor split at a T intersection.
“Left?” AJ suggested
“Why left?”
“Because people always default to right when making a choice like this. The dungeon knows that and puts the correct path to the left instead.”
Luke looked at the walls in suspicion, “You think the dungeon is aware?”
“Maybe, maybe not, but it’s certainly not natural and that means someone who WAS aware made it.” AJ reasoned
“Eh one path is as good as another"
With a shrug they moved down the left path. The straight edges and sharp corners were traded for a more gentle curve that twisted and bent, quickly making them lose their bearings. After several minutes of walking they entered another intersection. The path continued forward or branched off to the left.
“Left,” they said together
The corridor was back to the straight hallway, and even began sloping upward. On and on they walked until they saw something different. Light at the end of the tunnel.
“Wait… did we get turned around? Where are the orcs?” Luke demanded
They ran to the light and out into the night, it was the same woods they had been in before, even the flag marking the dungeon was there softly blowing in the breeze.
“What the hell? Did we miss a path?”
“No… something is odd…” AJ was looking at the dungeon entrance where they had fought the orcs.
“What?”
“Where are the bodies?”
That surprised Luke, AJ was right, the mound of bodies had been significantly reduced by the orcs dragging them away but there was still a pile blocking most of the passage when they went in. Now they were all gone.
Then Luke noticed something else, “The scorch marks are gone too, I made a mess with the flamethrower but now there’s nothing, no bodies, no burns, no blood, the smell is still there though… maybe stronger.”
“Let's… go back…” AJ suggested
Back they went, repeating the same path as before, if the left path at the T led into a loop then it wouldn't matter which way they went. When they finished the loop and climbed the slope again they again found themselves in a relatively pristine dungeon entryway.
“How could it have been cleaned up so quickly?” Luke asked
“I don't think it has been, I think something else is going on… there aren't any birds or crickets or anything…”
Indeed other than the breeze the area felt deadly quiet and calm.
“I… Think I have an idea as to what is going on… but if I’m right then these dungeons are seriously magical… like… don’t fuck with them they might accidently rip a hole in the universe magical.” AJ said
Luke paled, “but… there’s hundreds of them… thousands… all over Turbeir"
“Yeah, come on let’s go this way, be ready for a fight” AJ pointed into the woods the way they had come when arriving at the dungeon.
They walked into the woods on high alert. Soon the sounds of orcs returned and they could smell a campfire and something cooking. As they broke through the tree line into a clearing they saw something that made no sense. The orcs had a camp, and a large one. Several huts and campfires with orcs laughing and resting and eating. They had passed through the clearing on the way in but nothing like this had been there.
“Yeah that settles it, these dungeons are dangerous business, I'll explain later, we should kill them for now and then return to the town quickly” AJ said aiming his pistol
Before Luke could demand answers the fight began anew. Luke rushed to the front and acted on the plan, sending large plumes of fire meant to deter the orcs while AJ peppered them with magic rounds. Most of the orcs were taken by surprise and didn't seem to be ready for a fight, which seemed odd, but they quickly fell. Then the warriors showed themselves, it was clear these were the ones they had fought before by the burns and holes across some of their bodies.
Luke and AJ slowly advanced, any orc who got too close took a face full of fire and those that hung back took a gut full of magic bullet. Whenever the pistol needed recharging Luke would reach back with one hand and charge it while sweeping great arcs of flame to deter a rush. Luke had been able to cast the flamethrower with either hand and with a little effort worked out how to cast it with both hands at once which cast doubt on the impossibility of dual casting.
As they made their way into the center of camp a loud bellow shook the air. A massive orc with tusks each as long as Luke was tall barreled into the camp form the darkness of the woods. This beast was the size of a van, dwarfing the regular orcs. By the shape of its body and head it was still an orc, but spent most of its charge on all fours looking like a demonic boar. It's eyes glowed red matching tribal designs painted across its back and face.
No time was spent considering as the giant pig charged Luke right through the largest flame he could generate. The fire singed its fur but didn't seem to cause it any pain and it struck Luke with a sweep of its tusk, launching him into a tree which cracked and fell at the force of the impact.
AJ had taken to the air and out of reach but given up on shooting when the shots wouldn’t penetrate the fur. The paint on it’s back seemed to flare and absorb the shots glowing brighter each time it was struck. AJ was unable to distract the pig having no effective weapons, so it charged Luke again.
Luke was again thanking his past self for boosting endurance, the hit had definitely hurt but other than knocking the wind from him and bruising a few ribs, he was whole. There was no time to think though, when he looked back up for the source of the snorting and rumbling, the boar was already on him knocking him back into the broken tree pinning him there.
The orc chief thrashed it's head back and forth battering Luke into the stump for a time before the stump gave and Luke found himself riding the charging beast's face as it charged blindly through the woods breaking branches and smaller trees across Luke's back.
Luke gave up trying to hold on and raised his hands turning his flame jets to the narrowest, hottest, most focused setting he could manage. Blue fire lanced forward into the orcs eyes. The beast turned quickly tossing Luke to the side and thrashing in pain. Blinded, the beast smashed and bucked, splintering trees in every direction. Luke scrambled to get away from the monster but when he put weight on his arm it folded. Apparently there was a broken bone somewhere in that mess. Luke cried out in pain rolling to cradle his arm away from the ground.
The sound of his cry drew the giant boar's attention and it charged. Lying on the ground with a busted arm Luke was unable to avoid the charge and took a tusk in the side, launching him into the air. Suddenly his arm didn’t hurt anymore, the pain of his side splitting eclipsed the broken bone. Luke spent far longer than seemed reasonable soaring through the air, and bouncing off tree limbs. When he finally struck the ground, of course he landed on his broken arm which had felt left out of the agony competition.
AJ had resumed shooting at the boar to try and distract it from Luke writhing on the ground. When the magical shots struck the beast this time, the glow of the painted lines was significantly reduced. Luke's blood had covered a large portion of the boar's upper body, obscuring the paint. The paint seemed to have some sort of magical effect but the blood was interfering as the shots that had once only seemed to charge the boar with power now burned small holes into it's hide.
AJ was running low on shots however and had to lure the beast away from Luke with one of his signal sirens. Once the pig had charged a fair distance away AJ returned to Luke who was holding his side with his good arm trying to keep the blood in.
“Charge this up again, quick" AJ shouted
The boar had turned and was blazing a new path to the sounds of Luke screaming
“QUICK, Charge this or we die!”
That seemed to penetrate Luke's pain addled mind and he charged the pistol, growing whiter and whiter by the second.
AJ turned and flared the siren drawing the pig off course again, while shooting at its shredded and burnt face. The bones were much thicker in the boar’s skull but AJ was counting on the wounds being a good soft target. The beast took the entire pistol's battery in the face which only seemed to make it more angry. AJ scrambled to find a solution while keeping it away from Luke.
They didn't have time, Luke was sturdy as hell but he was losing too much blood, he had to end it now. Then he spotted Luke's spear near where he had been charged the first time. AJ didn't have magic of his own so he couldn’t activate it but the spear was still the most solid thing around.
AJ swooped down and grabbed the spear turning it just in time to catch the charging boar who seemed gleeful to finally have the annoying insect in its reach. The spear struck a burnt out eye and lodged itself deep but the boar didn’t seem to notice and continued to charge.
AJ was trapped between the pig and a rapidly approaching tree trunk. There was no way AJ would survive like Luke had. Just as AJ began to despair a strange force pulled him to the side.
AJ spun free of the charging orc chief just in time to see the spear wedge against the tree trunk and drive straight through the back of its skull.
The boar fell lifeless to the ground, followed moments later by Luke who had been reaching out with his one good arm, allowing himself to bleed freely in order to pull AJ free with telekinesis.
AJ rushed over to him to stop the bleeding as the world faded from Luke's vision.