"We're already in a war. We've been discussing potential battle plans. Wait, what did you hear?"

The care with which Sonya approached Anthony looked genuine. Finley had seen that kind of look before. It was something shared between family members or long-time friends. Perhaps she would be able to help him with his outbursts. Although walking up and surprising him like that, probably wouldn't have gotten the same reaction that she wanted.

"I heard that you got into a fight with Stella with spoons? Or was it a food fight? If you're two timing me with that rogue then I don't even want to hear about it."

Anthony raised a hand, blinked several times and then settle down into a seat.

"What is a food fight? Unless you are tossing potatoes at each other, I don't really want to hear about it," Finley said.

"Guys, it was nothing like that I swear," Anthony said, potentially realizing that he was the center of everyone's attention. Even the orcs were watching him. The two people standing watch on the walls had turned, facing inside.

"Right. You're going to say this in front of our new friends?" Sonya said. "They just got here and you're already making up lies about me? Maybe I should join up with them instead!"

Anthony looked horrified. Sonya stepped back. Finley needed them all to concentrate on the current problem. Humans, like their salvage piles, were all over the place.

"You called a meeting, do you want to begin talks with them?" Finley said. "If I might interject, I know orcs are big on hospitality and formality so let us discuss what we have to discuss with them."

Stella and Sophie brought out tables from one of the houses. As they did so the orcs looked at the wall, examining how it was made. Every so often, Song would sign excitedly to Borgan. Borgan would sign back with far less enthusiasm, or say something low an inaudible.

They returned to sit on the ground around the fire pit. Finley watched as Stella put another pot of something on before returning to them. The tables next to them had dozens of refreshments, another human thing that Finley was beginning to understand. Elves made eating its own thing, a special time for them to be with family and guests. Humans attacked piles of jerked meats and cheeses like they were vultures. It was cute in a way, and thankfully quiet.

"Pardon me, but my brother wants to know about the walls. He has never seen such a design. Were they always like this?"

"This was card magic, combining the work of two different casters," Finley said. It wouldn't do to give away his trade secrets. Or rather, their trade secrets. Nothing more needed to be said unless they wanted to pay a retainer for such privileged information. Though what he would do with any money at this point in his career stumped him.

"The work is quite thorough. We appreciate fine craftsmanship, and now that we know that it was made, it has an even more interesting background. Shall we begin?" Borgan said, raising an unlit torch. He passed it to Anthony.

It was an orc thing to give the speaker the floor. To represent that the clan worked with unity, they passed around the torch one at a time. Anthony wouldn't know any of this, what with being human and from another world and all.

Anthony raised the torch.

"First, thank you for coming to see the devastation that has been happening. We understand that you wish to go find out what has become of your clan."

Anthony passed the torch back to Borgan.

"That is correct. If it is as bad as you say, we would request your help."

Finley expected somebody else would reach out for the torch but Borgan passed it back to Anthony. Anthony looked about to see if anybody else wanted to speak.

"I have to be very honest with you right now. All of us believe in our hearts that if you go there,, it will mean certain death. All of us, save for Finley, have a purpose here. It would do no good for any of us to be captured or killed. Most of the people you see here were either hours or days away from being turned. We have a very strong reason to believe that a death knight, an intelligent Undead, is leading an attack on your clan's gathering. If he has not killed them all by now, he will have turned most of them. Any stragglers will be hard to find for us but a lot easier for the death knight and his horde."

The orcs nodded. Borgan held out his hand for the torch. It was passed back once again. He held it up high with one arm, before lowering it to the ground.

"What we were asking for is some help. We wouldn't be able to make it on our own, if this is the case but-"

Song lowered his hand on Borgan's shoulder. The slap of the meat meeting meat made Finley shudder.

"-we have to know if this has happened. If they are under siege or dead, we need to know."

Finley felt a knot in his gut. It wasn't a familiar feeling. He raised a hand, palm up and chest height to request the speaker role. The torch made it's way through two pairs of hands to get to him.

"This is too big of a problem for us to fight. Orc clans are large and we have seen so much death. The near certainty that you are walking into a trap gives me pause. Would your client have wanted you to throw yourself away for them? If they are dead, they will still be there tomorrow and the day after that."

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Song signed to Borgan. The torch was moved back quickly. Both brothers held on as Borgan spoke.

"I speak for my brother in this. Even if we have to get closer and then find out far what's going on, we need to know. And so, we request your help. In exchange, we will do our best to help you."

Anthony leaned forward, waiting for them to send the stick his way. By now, everyone was used to this and they passed it back to him.

"If we did this, we would have to have the whole group agree. We cannot go alone and I would never break us up. So it has to be volunteers. If you want to do this, and potentially take down this death knight, this is the time," Anthony said. "We need to all be on the same page."

Sonya held up a hand, then Andrew. Bob slowly raised his hand. Stella and Sophie raised theirs as well. The rest of the humans raised their hands.

"Well?" Anthony said, turning to Finley.

"What is this whole hand raising business?"

---

"Alright we are going to establish a bounty system," Anthony said. "One kill is one card piece. Some of you are in support roles and might not get that same opportunity, so we'll give a card piece for an assist. If we do this, then we need to think tactically. Whoever this undead chosen is, they're also newly summoned to this world, or at least we assume. They don't know that we have what we have."

Anthony wasn't going to give up their status as chosen to the orcs so easily. They would keep their secrets close to the chest. But when sharing intelligence, he had to make sure that they were on the same page.

"You both have a bard class?" Bob asked, clearly knowing the answer. "Anything we can use in a fight?"

"Song and I can perform music to increase your speed, strength or magical control. There are also some offensive songs that we know," Borgan said.

"Alright. So we go in and our worse case scenario is that the entire clan and then some has been turned. If that happens then we do a slow retreat, trying to get the death knight to play his cards," Anthony said, sketching on the ground. "Our mages will create a corridor of death, funneling the zombies towards us. Sonya, you can make strong looking walls, right?"

"That won't be a problem, Anthony. You want them funneling towards the monks and warriors?"

"Yes. Those we will keep as our small frontline, swapping them in and out as needed. However, and I say this because Bob and I lived it, once the death knight is dead and the undead legion becomes brainless once again, the plan changes. Once that happens we beat a hasty retreat, and play tower defense. Make them spread out coming here so we can take them out one at a time. This may require the orcs to leave faster. Can you both run?"

The orcs nodded empathetically.

"We can speed up significantly. Song is also skilled at animal husbandry if needed and can steer a caravan," Borgan said. "Weeks of traveling made us fast and strong. You won't need to worry about clan Green fang."

Anthony's sketch was getting more and more complicated. The funnel began to take shape.

"This is beginning to look like a pyramid scheme," Sonya whispered into his ear. "How many people do I need to sign up to make double diamond rank?"

Anthony couldn't help but laugh. He considered the whole thing a tactical role playing game or real time strategy game because otherwise would have been too real. Sonya obviously considered their lives here to be a tower defense game. Meanwhile, Bob was playing Assassin's creed, and Finley? Finley was playing Stardew Valley.

"All right, I'm going to ask the question here now. Does everyone understand the plan?" Anthony said.

A chorus of nods and yeses greeted him. His team understood what was going to happen. "All right everybody. Let's get ready. Mount up in five minutes," he said.

----------------------------------------

"This is going to have to be quick," She said. "There's no way that we have time for anything long. Maybe later. Can I give you something extra this time and you do the same next time?"

"I'm impressed that you came to me like this. I'll agree to this. A little extra sugar this time for mommy and you'll get your treat."

"That is a terrible way to put it, but sure."

----------------------------------------

Bob, Mork's point man, was out front. The caravan, including their new orcish allies followed closely behind. They were approaching what he generally thought of as their top speed. It was dinnertime, or at least his stomach said so. Stella had insisted on feeding everyone something, but most of them were too jittery to eat.

The pastoral scene of waving fields of tall yellow grass did nothing to calm his nerves. Andrew had continued to work away at his flame flinger the entire time and as the cart had come up front, he had mounted the weapon on the back of it.

As they crested the last mile before the plains gave way to the evergreen forest, the wind whipped up a near storm around them. His horse for this journey was still the strong stoic bay mare from the morning. This was where the orcs had encounter them.

He checked his card, hoping for something.

Epic Skill Card: Pathfinder Level 2

Find a friend or foe within six spans unerringly. As this card advances, the range advances.

It was then that he realized that it had finally advanced to level two. This came with another problem.

Rare Class Card: Ranger Level 3

Skills:

Divine Spellcasting Level 2

Animal Handling Level 2

Favored Enemy Level 2

Field Craft Level 3

Weapon Proficiency Level 3

This is a soul card and cannot be removed. This card grants mana. As a ranger, you may pick another favored enemy at each level.

He had the ability to pick another favored enemy and had considered picking orc to see if they stacked. A doubly favored enemy would potentially give some bonuses. Not that he had any idea what that would change. Monkeying around with the magic of this world had seemed like something that he was not going to touch with the eleven foot pole. He was going to take the advantages when he could take them and avoid the bad parts.

It was then that his Pathfinder skill pinged. His concentration on the death knight was pulled completely onto focus. He knew more than anything else that it was within six span of where he was. He wasn't sure exactly how much six span was, but he thought it was close to a kilometer. Bob generally dealt only with freedom units except when baking. As such, he figured it was about two to four miles away the most.

He also had a good lock on the direction of the death knight. His pathfinder skill worked a lot better at the expansive distance and he felt ready to rumble.

He sent up his little signal flag to let everyone know that they were finally within range.