Chapter 96 Orcs I.
There are mistakes you cannot go back from.
A single moment, a lapse of judgement.
A single moment that’ll bring your life to the brink.
A single moment that’ll doom your soul for eternity.
Take heed my children, lest you’ll be judged guilty.
Amaret, the Great Sinner.
{28} Noxi (April) the 25th
After a five day journey, we finally reach the orc’s stronghold.
The place is surrounded by a wooden wall that seems tougher and thicker than Red Cedar City’s walls. Although, their stronghold itself is much smaller in terms of scale, at the size of a large village at best. I can fly now, walls are no longer a concern to me.
It is late noon when my party approaches their gate. Before we can hail the guards on top of the wall, their gate opens, and a group of no less than fifty armed orcs rush outside. They create a half-moon of shields and spears around us, blocking our way to the gate.
I can hear the bowstrings behind me. They have archers on the trees behind us, they’ve probably followed us for a kilometer or two now. I don’t feel threatened. If they wanted us dead they would’ve attempted to harm us a while ago. This is simply putting on a show of military might in front of their guests.
And I do like what I see… I could put them to good use protecting my city. Not to mention it’s another group of people who serve under me, closer to the ten thousand mark…
Jolla steps forward. “Bah by Tukado’s beard! Why you people have to be so bloodthirsty all the time? We’re here to see…”
“Grrrrr, shut up, fangless cat! One more step and we wolfes skewer you!” The voice comes from behind the shield wall, but I can’t see the speaker.
“We’re here to see Balgrum, he gave me his word,” I call out. If orcs take such pride in their word, might as well use it to skip this show. I’ve seen enough, and I know I liked it.
They don’t answer, but instead talk amongst themselves in what sounds like a series of barks, growls, and snarls. After a long couple of minutes, a hole opens in the shield wall and the tall orc steps out with his hand resting on the head of his axe. “Greetings, Shaman Inara,” he says in a formal tone.
“Balgrum. I have to say, I’m quite impressed with your people. Lezere had offered to train my human soldiers in the past, could you do so as well?”
“I deeply apologize, but I’m afraid that’s no longer possible, Shaman Inara.”
So much for your word… “And why is that?”
“We hafe a new shaman, shaman Ladrouk. I apologize, but we can no longer follow you.” The orcs behind their shield wall translate our conversation to their language in a series of growls.
“You gave me your word.”
“Yes, that why I help you with our ways.” He clacks his teeth and bows slightly. “If you want Twin Moon Tribe to follow your word, you hafe to challenge our shaman.”
“What kind of challenge are we talking about?”
Balgrum looks back toward the orcish shield wall as my question is being translated.
Another hole opens in the shield wall. “Kreka’ak! No Kolh’ak!” A teenage orc declares as he steps out. He wears a white skinned wolf’s head as a hat and an oversized white wolf pelt as a clock.
“A battle to the death.” Balgrum translates. The young orc gives me a look that sends a chill down my spine. He sees me as a challenging enemy to defeat. No, not even an enemy, a mere obstacle on his path to glory… We’ll see who the mere obstacle to who is…
“A’ak krishta gushasha! asia’ar no a’ark potasi! la-a’ark Kra’a no ri-a’arj krek, kra’a pati asi!” The young shaman declares, and the orcs behind him cheer madly.
Balgrum translates. “Tribe gather tonight. Witness who better shaman. Winner feast on loser’s flesh, consume their power.”
Ohhh, he sees me as food, that’s why I get this odd feeling. “And if I don’t want to eat you?” I ask, masking my annoyance with a fake smile. He can see my smile even with the mask covering the upper part of my face.
Balgrum translates my question. The young shaman opens his palm, letting a pair of flames flicker above it. “Ik shu al gah’ ti-asi no ik kra’a?”
Balgrum translates, shaking his head. “You think I’m not powerful enough for you to eat?”
Does everyone eat everyone in this damn world?! “No, I simply don’t like you, you’re too skinny, and I like some fat on my meat. Don’t you?” I grin at him, gesturing at my own petite figure. You’re standing between me and my orc army, you bet I’m going to take jabs at your confidence! I know all too well how it feels to command people while looking too young to do it…
There are snickers in the orcs’ ranks before Balgrum translates my words and the snickers turn into roars of laughter once he does. The orcs knock their spears against their shields, and howl loudly, creating a cacophony of mad noise.
Unlike the human soldiers back in my city, this group consists of both men and women. Maybe I should recruit the women in my city? Double my soldiers? It won’t work, human psychology is too different. The women in red cedar city wouldn’t want to fight for me. I know I wouldn’t… And I definitely can’t induce such a change within a few days. Janara’s army is due within a week…
The young shaman raises his chin in an attempt to stand taller. He raises the flames in his hand toward me. “Al gah’ kra’a krek no bor, al kra’a krek no asi! Al krekolaka fargar alpati asi no pot! pot gruh’lar! Al kra’a! al tlupati tlukrek no asi! Al nh’i tlupati tlu no asi, al nh’i tal talkrek alpati sakshu!”
That sounds like a list of ugly threats to me, but Balgrum soon translates. “I don’t eat meat for fat, I eat meat for power. I slew Fargar by my power of flames. Flame spirits. I ate it. I wear skin for power. I shall wear your skin for power, I shall put your hair in my helmet.”
He’s a fire magic user, my 'Flowing Shield' can take care of his fire… I can also try and fly around, I doubt he’ll be able to keep up with me.
“Oh please, you’ve killed a monster, big deal! I’ve been hunting monsters for a year now. Even on the way here, I’ve killed and chased away a whole pack of Worgs.” Let’s keep attacking his confidence, maybe I can avoid this fight. I really wouldn’t like to eat him, but I think they’ll expect me to do so if I kill him… how do I avoid that?
“Don’t claim with no proof! Why you not wearing skin?” A female orc in the crowd demands to know, her accent is heavy.
“So you don’t take my word for it? Weren’t you orcs putting a lot of weight into someone’s words?”
“Grrr…” The young shaman snarls, angry he’s being ignored. There’s a hint of youth in his snarl, like a human boy in his teens, having his voice turning high in a middle of a sentence.
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“Not from a fangless human bitch!” The female orc spits.
“Grrrrr…” I mimic the shaman. I smile when I see it offends him. “So how come the tribe will follow a fangless human as their shaman? How does that work exactly?” I direct my question at Balgrum.
“A shaman is a shaman, as long as they aren’t twisted,” Balgrum provides the explanation from the side. “If you have proof of your kill, then please show us. This is important to your claim as a shaman.”
Glad I kept it around to make a coat… “Lepp? Would you please take out the pelts from our packs?” The man does as I asked.
Balgrum snatches the largest pelt from Lepp’s hands and spreads it on the muddy ground like a massive carpet.
The young snarling shaman turns silent. The orcs observe at the pelt with interest and excitement in their eyes, they exchange rapid barks in their guttural language. “Oh great! They like you now,” Jolla comments sarcastically. “May Nuriss watch over you, girl, you’re going to need it!”
“You understand what they’re saying?”
“Who do you think you’re talking to, girl?”
“So how many languages do you speak?” I raise an eyebrow.
“Eight. A'arkalu - or orcish included,” she explains.
I nod. Less than Sharla… “Good to know. I’ll have you teaching me their dialect in your spare time. If you’re open to the idea of course.”
She snorts. “I’m not open to the idea, but by my god's decree, I have to share my knowledge, so I’ll share it. Pha! The things you do for your god…”
“You hunt Fargarchief yourself?” the female orc asks the question. “No help from dogs behind you?”
So the orcs call Worgs Fargar, and I guess Fargar-chief is their alpha good to know… “Do you see any holes in the pelt? If the soldiers helped me with their spears, there’d be stab holes in there, don’t you think?” I gesture at the spears my soldiers carry. I doubt they could penetrate this pelt anyway…
She nods as if the thought had never occurred to her. But it doesn’t make sense to me, these people are no strangers to hunting.
“Is this proof enough to support my claims, Balgrum?” I ask.
“It is.” He turns to the group of orcs “Tonight, shaman Inara will battle shaman Ladrouk for the right to lead this clan to spiritual and physical gain!” I can tell that the only reason he’s speaking Sinteo and not their language, is a courtesy to me. The orcs however, don’t seem to mind. The few who speak Sinteo translates for their friends in low growls.
“Yarrraaaahhh!!” The young shaman charges at me angrily, flames roaring out of his hands.
Before I can even respond, Zoe gets in between us. “Shanim rial!”
The fire is snuffed out in an instant. The young orc’s hands are frozen solid, while his face and upper body are covered in a layer of frost. He stumbles forward and falls, his hands shatters into thousands of bloody shards.
“I’m sorry!” Zoe calls out nervously, her hands are also encased in ice.
Why raise your hands if you’re breathing the spell? I shake my head. I also blew my own finger when I started… “Rinim riss nim”
I really need to learn to use her cantrip properly, it’s as deadly as kinetic burst if I combine it with 'Breeze'…
At least now I won’t have to eat this orc… I crouch near the young orc who has a dumbfounded look on his face, he looks down at his shoulder stabs. “You can’t even win against my apprentice, you can’t maintain self-control, and I’m pretty sure you just lost your honor, if that’s something you even abide by. Will you forfeit? Or should I kill you here and now?”
He doesn't wait for translation. With a snarl, he takes a deep breath. I see the flames form in his throat when he opens his mouth. “Nimuwal”
He gurgles, trying to crawl away. I let him go, and he starts coughing water. The orcs around stand in silence, I can see the shock in their eyes. “What now, Balgrum?” I ask the orc chieftain.
“Shaman Ladrouk had shamed himself, let the animals feast on his corpse!” Balgrum calls out, follows by low grumbles of agreement and translations. “Kill him, or exile him. It is your choice, Shaman Inara,” he says.
“Shaman Inara may want to feast to his meat, it’s her right,” the same female orc from before suggests.
The young orc shaman is crying now, banging his head against the dirt. He’s just a kid! Leaving an enemy alive is dangerous. But he’s a teenager, we all make mistakes. I could take him as my apprentice and train him and… And regrow his hands too? Care about him? Then he'll stab me in the back for humiliating and taking his position?! He’s a potential future threat to be eliminated.
Am I supposed to just kill a kid now?!
If I don’t, he won’t survive, not without hands… killing him would be a mercy…
I should ask him, let him make this choice. I can’t choose for him.
I kneel near the orc. “Jolla? Translate for me.” I order the blond gnome who steps closer. “Would you rather live in exile, or die?”
“Pha! By Tukado’s beard, you know he’ll ask to die, right?”
“Just translate.”
The gnome shakes her head and obliges. “Ik jul yoma’a? No yomh’ak?”
The orc on the ground growls. “Kolh’ak!”
“He wants to die.” Jolla shakes her head.
I raise an eyebrow. “But these were different words you used.”
She rolls her white eyes. “Yeah, so what? Orcs have multiple words for death. ‘Yomh’ak’ means honorless death. Kolh’ak means honorable death. He wants an honorable death, but he missed that chance. I offered him a choice between honorless life and honorless death. He’s in denial.”
“Tell him he can go. If he survives he might still have a chance to find his honorable death.”
“It’s more cruel to let him live,” Jolla notes instead of translating my words.
I cross my hands. “He’s a child. I can’t just kill a child. How old is he? Thirteen?”
The gnome adjust her glasses with a sneer. “You’re a child yourself, girl. And no, orcs age faster than humans. I estimate that he’s six years old.”
“Exactly. I can’t kill a six years old… I’d take him and train him if I didn’t fear that he’d turn against me and try to eat me one day.”
“But he’ll die if he’s out there alone. Pha! You just want your conscience clean, don’t you? You’re a hypocrite. But at least you’re better than Luard. Fine. I’ll tell him.” She turns to the orc. “Slu. Yoma’a. No ik kola’a, ik kolh’ak.”
The orc gets up from the ground and runs toward the forest. The rest of the orcs watch silently. I just hope they don’t consider this a weakness… Who am I kidding? Of course they do. Jolla is right, I should've just killed him, kid or not.
“Come.” Balgrum pats my back. “Tonight we feast! We march in the morning!” The orcs howl and cheer, only now I notice that there are a lot more of them than when we first got here.
*~*~*
Power level: 3rd stage apprentice.
Mana pools status:
Crown-knot: Affinity 10: connected: 1 gem replenished per minute.
Neck-Bridge: Affinity 6: formed: max amount of gems drained per day: 73
Abdomen-storage: Affinity 5: formed: 11 gems. Conversion ratio: 6:1
Air: Affinity 4: formed: 22 gems
Fire: Affinity 2: formed: 11 gems
Light: Affinity 3: formed: 16/17 gems
Water: Affinity 6: formed: 33 gems
Earth: Affinity 1: formed: 5 gems
Wood: Affinity 2: formed: 11 gems
Gravity: Affinity 9: formed: 46/50 gems
Cantrip known:
Air: Shavi’s Breeze, Shavi’s Sword. Shavi’s Hair Dryer, Aria’s Enhanced Hearing. Aria’s Sonic Scream.
Fire: Nuriss’ Flame. Effrat’s Firefly, Effrat’s Fire Breath. Sorladika's Lesser Heating. Nuriss’ Ignite. Oniga's Soap Creation.
Light: Noxi’s Light. Lako’s Blinding Light. Rika’s energy hand.
Water: Water Evocation, Water to Ice, Ice to Water, Water to Vapor, Vapor to Water, Mayan’s Icy Spike, Ayla’s Water Jet. Ayla’s instant freeze. Ayla's Flowing Shield. Ayla’s Freezing Vapors.
Earth: Alice’s Oil Summoning, Reiko’s Acid Spray. Alf's Copper Bolt
Wood: Arigor’s Lesser Vines. Kolosu’s Vegetable Summoning.
Gravity: Lumina’s Kinetic Burst. Tukado’s Repulse. Tukado’s Lesser Shield II. Imari’s Minor Telekinesis. Imari’s Jump. Leo’s Pull. Leo’s Grounding. Alino’s Light Body. Alino’s Heavy Body. Alino's Orbiter.
Transmutation: Oniga's Laundry.
Spells known:
Light: Rika's Electric Channelb
Gravity: Alino’s Weightless Bodyb. Imari’s Lesser Flightb.
Life: Brigit’s Lesser Cure Poison.
Focus capability: 16 patterns.
Social status: The Queen of Red Cedar City. Shaman of the Twin Moon Tribe. Inara, Daughter of Mysteries. Apprentice to the Maven of Mysteries. Sorceress.
Personal Wealth: 1738 Magic Gems. 63 Diamonds. 1420 Golden Peas, 45 Silver Scales, 32 Copper Bits.
Personal Items:
Magical necklace. Contains 100 gems of general mana, can be drained like a mana pool. It’ll recharge by itself at the rate of five gems an hour.
1 potion of lightning body.
1 potion of mana, medium grade.
5 potions of Lesser Healing.
5 potions of Pain Tolerance.
An enchanted belt with eight pouches, the enchantment keeps the pouches’ content fresh. Each pouch may contain 10g of petals or six potion flasks.
Fresh rose petals, 14g
Fresh lavender petals, 10g
10 empty soul bottles. Glass with a diamond stopper, put in scaled leather wrapping.
The Great White Egret grimoire. Dedicated by the Maven of mysteries to Inara. 26/100
Present Companions:
Zoe
Ryon
Jolla Silverquill
Languages:
Toml’a
Sinteo
Myrsha
Felul
Injuries and scars: melted skin; face, upper chest, chain scar.
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Kingdom’s treasury: 8,438 gold coins.
Kingdom’s citizen: 5,898 humans, 2,251 human children.
Kingdom's army: 800 levy militia. 900 footmen. 26 peacekeeper knights.
Notables at Court:
Tasiya Keyholder
Jolla SilverQuill
Talbot Bookkeeper
Marasi Chef extraordinaire (spymaster.)
Old Gardner Tiom