Chapter 25

“A strange alliance”

The immense light clouded his vision.

Gal’oth, son of Holle’oth, could barely lift his arm to cover his eyes from that mysterious attack that that small, defenseless human, along with those two others who came to her rescue, launched against him and the provisional army his uncle had assigned to him for this mission.

His eyes hurt and his stomach churned, but the rest of his senses remained alert as he felt the world blur at his feet. His sense of direction failed him and for a few moments he could almost swear he was standing on the air itself, with nothing but a vast, endless void beneath the soles of his boots.

A strange noise echoed in his head as soon as he could feel his feet touch solid ground and soon after, the sound of a fight reached his ears, alerting him to the arrival of enemy reinforcements.

When the orc warrior was able to open his eyes, he confirmed his suspicions. In the middle of a small clearing in the interior of a thick forest, and in a different place from where they had been until a few seconds ago, the small squad of goblins, hobgoblins and orcs that accompanied him, were cornered by a hooded group.

Gal’oth didn’t need to be able to count to know they were outnumbered. But that didn’t dampen his warrior spirit for a second.

If there was one thing that had always characterized the orcs of his tribe, it was that they never turned their backs on a good fight.

A small sniff told him that his enemies were humans accompanied by the characteristic scent of magic. And that was all Gal’oth needed to know before launching a counterattack.

“Attack!” He shouted to his compatriots as he raised his mace and pointed it at the nearest enemy, despite the strange magic they had cast against him, blurring his vision and making everything blue and slightly blurry. But still he did not desist, and with his weapon in his hand he blew the head off the human mage who had been trying to burn alive the little goblins that had come with him in one blow.

The rest of the humans dressed in dark robes covering their faces became alarmed and began to bombard them with magic. Burning alive the few humans that had also been surrounded along with the collection of green creatures of various species that accompanied him.

“Dumb humans!” Gal’oth sneered. He lunged at one of the mages, dodged his magic, pulled out the axe he had strapped against his back, and split his body in two. "Hobgoblins, protect the weak and heal the wounded, if any have enough magic to attack do so! The rest, finish them off!" He ordered. And his small squad followed his orders.

A flare of green fire was launched at the enemy and Gal’oth felt confident knowing that at least one of the hobgoblin shamans would fight by his side. And he continued his fight.

Then another human wizard launched another fireball at him. But his skin was tough, and he suffered no damage, not even the armor he was wearing was affected. And the amulets his father had given him, along with the protections and blessings other shamans had cast on him before he crossed the portal, were still active.

“You fools! Do you really think our Lord would send us out to explore with his dragons and wyverns without protecting us from their fire?” He roared before hitting with the mace he now carried in his left hand, the body of another mage and throwing it against another enemy, interrupting his spell. Then he ran to the place where both had fallen and cut their heads off with a single blow with his powerful axe.

Again that strange magic echoed in his head and his vision turned even bluer, hindering his vision. Fortunately for the orc, his enemies wore dark robes that were easy to differentiate from the green skin tone of his compatriots.

And it was exactly that advantage that he took advantage of, throwing himself against his enemies and cutting off their heads one by one until they, driven by fear, began to scatter. A few goblins followed them, their figures getting lost in the shadows of the thick forest that surrounded them.

The rest began to shout, pointing to something behind him. And when the muscular orc turned to see what it was, after cutting another enemy in two, he met Ereshkigal’s glowing gaze. And a shudder of fear seized him as the air around him was flooded with the distinct scent of magic and death. The icy wind from the hobgoblin’s old body chilled his blood to the point of almost freezing his bones. And the young orc had to cover his eyes for a moment when, thanks to the chant Ereshkigal was performing, the wind grew stronger and dry leaves and debris almost entered his eyes.

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Then something happened that Gal’oth had never witnessed in his life, and had only heard about a couple of times in the horror stories his uncle told them when he and his cousin were disobedient little boys who were always trying to run away from home in the middle of the night.

In awe, Gal’oth watched as small portions of earth began to protrude from the ground as skeletal hands struggled out of the earth in the same way a small sprout of a plant struggled out of a seed into a large tree.

The bodies of the humans and goblins that had fallen earlier during the fight rose from the ground, their wobbly figures trying to stand upright as they slowly moved forward. While the skeletons of ancient dead sprouted from the ground and joined the other undead, as if they were part of a small hive.

“From...since when can he do something like this?” Gal’oth stammered. As he tried to remember if anyone had ever mentioned seeing Ereshkigal use an ability like that before.

Gal’oth knew that Ereshkigal was a powerful shaman, one much stronger than his own father despite coming from a species that were supposed to be much weaker than orcs.

And yet, Gal’oth was now witnessing a display of power he had never seen before.

And he doubted that his father knew. If he did, he would have forgotten about his absurd revenge against his uncle and would have spent his last breath trying to acquire this power for himself.

Gal’oth gulped and gripped his weapons tighter. A mixture of admiration, longing and fear danced in his young orc heart. While inwardly he wished Ereshkigal would never find out that he had the book his cousin had stolen from him some time ago, well kept inside one of his boots.

“Arise from the cold ground, my new children, and destroy my enemies!” commanded Ereshkigal. And the small group of skeletons and undead that, until a few seconds ago, moved in an uncoordinated and a little shaky way, began to run like hungry beasts chasing a prey as soon as they heard their master’s order.

Seeing this, the humans began to scream, and those who had survived Gal’oth’s axe and that of their comrades and had not yet fled now did so.

A pair of skeletons passed by the young orc, who gripped his axe tightly, ready to attack these deadly creatures if they dared to attack him. But nothing of what he had feared happened, and the small army passed by him, completely ignoring him, his presence forgotten as they were completely focused on the human mages who fled in terror as screams broke the silence of the forest.

Then Gal’oth himself chased after a small group of humans that had escaped. Throwing his axe at the head of one of them, just as he began to summon his magic.

Again, another blue thing appeared between his eyes, hindering his vision, and the young orc rushed to kill the other two mages before his vision worsened completely. And Gal’oth ran with all his might, struggling to reach the second wizard, eviscerating his head against the thick trunk of a tree with his mace. The loud crack that resounded told him that his prey was dead, and he ran to reach the last of them. But before he reached it, two skeletons came out of nowhere and reached their prey first. Gal’oth was about to strike him with his mace when a green fireball engulfed the hooded mage. Devouring him completely.

Gal’oth turned around to find himself face to face with Ereshkigal. With his cold black eyes and long gray beard, watching his every move with calculated attention.

“I’m afraid that’s my prey, young orc.”

“It was not my intention to steal your prey, but I had been chasing the wizard for a while now. I didn’t know that someone else was hunting him as well.”

“The forest seems to be thick enough that we haven’t noticed each other before then,” Gal’oth nodded, not wanting to confront a shaman whose hierarchy was above that of his father. Someone he himself secretly admired and whom his uncle welcomed with open arms and asked for advice.

Although it had been months since he had last seen him.

“Looks like this is yours, young orc,” the old man said, handing over the axe that Gal’oth had thrown at the other wizard’s head and that he had not had time to retrieve in his attempt to keep the other two prey from escaping.

Gal’oth reached over and tried to grab his axe by the handle, but narrowly missed.

“It seems your eyesight is not as good as it used to be Gal’oth, son of Holle’oth, unless my memory is betraying me.” Gal’oth’s cheeks flushed red.

“I received a curse,” he said, his voice bathed in shame.

“Do you see that everything is blue?” Gal’oth’s eyes widened in surprise.

“How did you know?”

“That is no curse, young orc. According to what the great spirits tell me, it is a blessing given only to a few.”

Gal’oth frowned uncomprehendingly.

“How can it be a blessing that I can barely see the path before my feet?”

“Let me guide your hand for a moment,” Gal’oth nodded, not doubting the elder shaman. If the spirits said something must be done, then it must be done. At least that was what his father had always told him. So he obeyed in silence. Wishing with all his heart that he too could have the gift to hear them and communicate with them, but of all the times he had tried in the past, none had worked.

The wise shaman took his hand and passed it in front of Gal’oth’s face several times, as if they were both shooing away flies, and suddenly Gal’oth’s vision cleared, returning to normal.

“I can see!” the young warrior rejoiced.

“Then it is as the spirits said,” concluded the shaman.

“What else did the great spirits say?” The young man got excited, unable to hide his curiosity.

A mysterious smile appeared on the old hobgoblin’s face.

“Many things. But now, what they want you to learn is a simple spell.” Seeing that the orc nodded, the old man continued, “Now, repeat after me: ‘status window’.”