Marek, the captain of the ship they called the Dey Flower, had told Aida that Lagar's Haven was a settlement for smugglers and folk hiding from one of the governments of the civilized world. It had sounded like The Circle's best option, not that they had many options. As they sailed into harbor, in weather that was now somehow calm, a light breeze at their backs, and the mood on the ship improved. That improvement didn't last long, because, as they sailed closer to the docks, it looked less like a smugglers' outpost and more like an orcish war camp.

Jorildyn, an older elf and the first follower Aida had ever had, was keeping lookout in the riggings, and came down quickly as the docks came into view. "First Speaker, should we turn around! There are orcs everywhere!"

Aida had also seen the orcs and goblins. "I, I don't know. This is not what I was expecting, but I do not think the Great Mother would lead us astray."

It occurred to Aida and her followers that they'd had to flee the last two cities in fear of their lives. But they still had faith. It was easy to believe in a goddess you'd actually met. She'd certainly seemed nice when they'd seen her in the visions, and she'd seemed to mean well for them. Despite the posse chasing them out of Ushos and all, losing most of their possessions, and subsisting for two weeks at sea at half rations before they discovered the rest of food had gone rotten. So, perhaps, they thought, it was a nice orc war camp. One that was welcoming to elves.

And this time they weren't wrong.

Aida focused her sorcerous vision to scan ahead to the city, an attempt to see if she were leading her followers into certain death. She didn't need to reach far, as when her mind's eye reached the docks just ahead, she saw standing on it two orcs, a human, and a goblin, all armed and in heavy armor and looking toward the approaching ship. She started to leave the vision in order to tell the ship's captain to turn around hard, but something told her to look a little longer. The orcs were strong young men who carried themselves with pride and calm and one of them looked even rather handsome. He had a hopeful look on his strangely sensitive face, and in his hands he held an old pot with a small flower.

Aida broke from the vision and said, "Captain Marek, continue ahead. Jorildyn, it will be ok. The Great Mother will protect us here. Indeed, I think the Great Mother wants us to be here, exactly here and exactly now. I feel she has been planning this for us for some time. Perhaps it is our destiny!"

The Great Mother and Sky Father were still watching, very curious as to how this would all go. The Great Mother shook her head and replied, although Aida was set in her thoughts and did not hear. Sorry, Aida, dear one. We gods are merely the universe, and we are all just making it up as we go along. Destiny isn’t a thing. Our ‘planning’ on this consists of one action we thought up an hour ago. The rest is on you and Jend. Make what you can of it.

The Dey Flower reached the first dock, where the erstwhile welcoming party waited. The elves passed the ship's docklines, and two dock orcs secured the lines to the cleats. They lowered a plank to the ship's deck, and Aida walked down to the dock, with Emmyth a couple steps behind, and the rest of The Circle watching warily from the ship. Jorildyn and Rennyn prepared to cast spells, should it not go well.

As Aida stepped onto the dock, Jend stepped forward to greet her.

“My lady, I am at your service. I am General Jend, and this is Colonel Garaxas. On my left I present you Adane, who recently joined us from Vathary, and our aid, Corporal Anik. We welcome you to the village of Lagar’s Haven.” He spoke in Common Vatharian, with a strong accent, but his meaning was clear enough.

He bent his knee before her, bringing his eyes to a level just above hers. He presented the potted flower, which was now showing a sign of opening. “We are having some certain difficulties recently, so I don’t have much in the way of a welcoming gift. But, my lady, please let me give you this flower.”

He handed her the flowerpot, and Aida took it with both of her hands and held it near. The flower moved and laid down on her shoulder and began to cuddle against her neck.

Aida smiled, even while tears formed in her eyes. They had been running for two years, chased out whenever they thought they’d found a place to settle. She wondered if here, in the wildlands of the north, among what looked an unlikely collection of peoples, they could find a home.

“It is perfect. Thank you, Jend. I mean General Jend. And I and all of us thank you for your welcome. I am Aida,” she answered back, in Vatharian. Then she tried speaking in an orcish dialect from the orc tribes of the Chagary mountains, hoping it was close enough to Jend’s language that he could understand. “We are followers of the Great Mother, as She first appeared.”

Jend’s companions grinned, surprised. Jend’s own smile was so wide that his fangs were fully exposed. He covered them with his hand, looking as sheepish as a large orc warrior could. Aida didn’t mind the fangs though. Some of her favorite creatures had fangs. She thought he looked like a goofy wolf when he smiled. A seven foot tall, well-muscled, goofy wolf with a crooked smile, who had given her a flower. What woman could resist?

“Dear Jend, I hope we don’t abuse your welcome, but we are exhausted and hungry, and we must ask for your help. We've been on that ship for two weeks since we had to flee Riseu. Our food was running out, and then what we had left went bad anyway.”

“Certainly, Lady Aida. We are not exactly overwhelmed with food here, but you can share what there is. It is simple fare, but it keeps us strong still. Your group can shelter in our keep, for what time we have.”

Waves of relief were passing over the members of her Circle. They had feared being met by goblin arrows and orcish swords, but had been met with a flower. The whole boat started to cheer.

Jorildyn was older and knew the universe to often be a cruel place. He said quietly to Aida in Elven, “Yes, this looks promising, but I fear there must be a catch.”

There was indeed a catch.

Aida had a moment to take in the activity around her at the docks. It looked like an army preparing for a siege. Weapons and materials were moving toward the ruins of a keep on the hill, as it looked like the orcs were leaving the village and heading to the keep, which they were fortifying as best they could.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

She asked Jend, “What time we have? Is there a hurry? Are you all alright?”

“Well, my lady, I regret to say that our situation here is less than entirely positive,” Jend answered. “What you see around you is what is left of the army my parents put together to try to free these northern lands from the wizard Lothar and his corrupted army. His forces are massing in the forest about a mile to the west, and we expect their attack in the next day or two. They outnumber us four to one, and Lothar can wield corruption and decay as a weapon. I have no idea how to counter it. At this point, we are fighting just out of sheer stubbornness."

Aida took in all she saw around her, and the sorrow in Jend's eyes, as he knew what was coming, and yet what could have been.

She said, "We could flee. We have a ship, and I see two more in the harbor. You could load those closest to you and we can sail away."

"No, my lady. I have been in this fight half my life. My parents believed in peace and a unified, fair nation for all of us in the tribes of the north. They died fighting for that belief, against the army that gathers to attack us. All these creatures you see around us believed in them, and their vision, and now they are loyal to me, even in the face of approaching death. We will fight. One last great roll of the dice. And if we die, we die together."

"What chance do you have?"

"It would take a miracle for me to be standing here alive a week from now. I am sorry I cannot offer you safety.. If you want to go, we can at least refill some of your food and water. We can also get you a new sail, if you give us an hour. There is a weaver’s temple in the city."

Aida had made up her mind. And once she’d made up her mind, she was known to be stubborn.

"I do not think a sail is necessary. I am staying, I will fight by your side, if you will have me. I think my friends in our circle will stay too. We are tired of running. Give me a moment to talk with them. I believe the Great Mother is telling us it is time to stand and fight."

I didn’t tell you anything, dear. But you do you, said the Great Mother, watching from above. Aida was still too set in her thinking to hear what the Goddess was saying.

Aida gathered all of what was then The Circle on the deck of the ship and explained the situation. She explained that she believed they'd been led here by the Great Mother and must stand and fight against the approaching army of unnatural corruption. "And then, I think this may be a home for us. I can't speak for all the orcs, but those here seem to fight to have a peaceful home. There are many types of creatures here, and they seem ready to accept us. They may look like what we think of as monsters, but they are all the creation of Deymater and Teyspater. We can help in fighting, and also in the healing arts the Great Mother has taught us. And I think we together can counteract any corruption."

Most of The Circle agreed readily. Jorildyn and Rennyn urged caution, and further consideration. Emmyth, who’d recently escaped being burned at the stake, was ready to go charge the evil wizard and his army straight away. The ship’s captain and the crew wanted to leave, and Aida urged any of her followers to leave with the ship if they did not want to take the risk in Lagar’s Haven. All of the members of The Circle stayed, even the two humans from Ushos that had recently joined.

In a few minutes, they had unloaded the ship, and elves, goblins, orcs, and the few humans that were around were carrying what possessions the members of The Circle had up toward the ruined keep.

The walk up was awkward. The orcs and the goblins and the few trolls around eyed the elves and humans of The Circle, and it was clear that many did not necessarily approve of them being there. But Jend had given clear orders and was respected both for his intelligence and his ability to incinerate those who went against him. They also knew that following Jend was the best chance they had to not either die or end up enslaved to a dark wizard, working the rest of their days in Lothar's mines for his greater glory.

Aida waved at a few of the staring goblins, trying to be friendly. Emmyth went further, as was her nature, actually going up and shaking the hands of any orcs or goblins standing too close to her. She started telling them, in the orcish Chargary Mountain dialect that some of the members of The Circle could speak, that she was here to witness the power of the Great Mother, and that they should join her. The orcs and goblins seemed to understand her words well enough, despite the difference to their own dialect, but didn’t look ready to sign up with the followers of the Great Mother just yet.

Elly, another member of The Circle, was more popular. She was a troll and thus had taken to wearing long hooded cloaks while in the human lands. As she climbed to the castle, she threw off her cloak and walked proudly next to her human and elvish companions.

She was on the short side for a troll, so only slightly taller than the human males, about the same height as an orc. She was deep green, like the southern trolls. Two of the northern blue-green trolls went over to speak with her and help carry their equipment.

As they climbed the stairs, Aida said to Jend, “We are ready to help in every way we can. Those who have been with me for the longest can wield strong magic, as can I. We can heal, and we can defend – moving earth and causing the roots of the ground to grab and hold our enemies, a skill we’ve needed to use many times, unfortunately. Some of us can also attack.”

“My lady, every assistance that you can provide is helpful. We have many wounded, and we have a ruined keep to try to fortify before the assault. Our own healing arts are modest, so your help will be most valuable. We will show you a place you can work, and then I will explain more of what forces we expect will attack us.”

Most of the members of The Circle had attained a level of control over the forces of life that they were able to heal wounds, mend bones, and cure some diseases. They set up a makeshift hospital in the former dining hall of the keep, which still had part of its roof. They began patching up what they could of General Jend’s army.

One of the first patients was a young buggebear, burned over half of his body by a strike of flaming oil. Three of the elves worked to heal the burns, and they managed to get the buggebear almost entirely restored. Some of his chest hair was a little thin, but he was otherwise back to good health. The buggebear, Sergeant Histel, thanked the elves, pledged to protect them, and took to wearing a waistcoat to cover up the patchy fur on his chest.

As he watched Histel get up and walk back toward his unit, Jend came to Aida with an idea.

“My lady, there is one particularly difficult case I would ask if you could personally look at. My friend Klajo is a dragon, who has fought at our side since the war began. At the battle of the Bronze Citadel, he fought against the undead dragon Grelbus, who serves Lothar. He is a vile beast that oozes death. Klajo fought hard, but each bite of Grelbus spreads the rotting corruption that Lothar wields, and instead of fire, Grelbus can breathe out a black smoke that rots any living being it contacts. It is a tribute to Klajo’s strength that he has held out this long, but I fear he may not have much time left.”

Aida had seen some of the wounds and was forming a theory as to what this corruption was, and how to fight it. “I will look, and I will do everything in my power to help. Where is Klajo?”

Jend motioned to a young orc that had been helping to set up the hospital. “This is my brother, Jukha.” As the boy approached, Jend said to him “Jukha, please take Lady Aida to our old friend.”

Jukha was an intelligent looking child, perhaps all of ten years old. He took Aida’s hand and led her down the stairs from the keep toward the port. As they walked down, Aida could see that the ship they had come in on had untied from the docks and was heading back out to sea.