Far enough away that any cries for help would go unheard, I settled the orc into a nook of a large oak tree in a way that I hoped would be comfortable and would also win us rapport. Where we’d stopped was quite thick, a leafy five foot drop with an edge crowded by berry bushes. Though they were nude of leaves and fruit in this late-fall weather, it was easily the most concealed spot in the forest. I released the orc and backed away, watching him closely as I did so.

He stared, silently, watching us as we watched him. The warrior was a burly figure with deep-set eyes and a scowl that seemed etched into his face. His whole figure suggested someone used to battle, but his slouch and tiredness spoke volumes about his morale. As Ike apparated rope from his inventory into his hands, I waved him off, kneeling down in front of the warrior.

“We know of your predicament, of what the goblins have done to you. We are here to help your people. And for that, we need information,” I said, letting it all spill out at one go. “We have to find out what’s really going on in that camp. That way we can save your families and hopefully your leaders as well.”

Kevinar raised an eyebrow. “I have never experienced such a genial interrogation. An interesting technique. Whistle if you need me, I will go check to our perimeter and make sure no one else stumbles upon us.” He turned and disappeared into the forest.

Brandosyeus, meanwhile, fiddled with his panpipes, a thoughtful look on his face. “Music can soothe the savage beast,” he mused. “Maybe it can loosen a tongue as well. I have ways of forcing the truth from many.”

“No,” I warned. “The orcs out here hate the goblins as much as you all do. But that’s gonna change if we puppet them like the goblins have been. We’re not going to play good cop, bad cop, here. We’re going to talk. That’s all.”

I knelt in front of the orc, meeting his gaze. “We’re not here to harm you,” I said again, trying to convey sincerity through my words. It was hard, though, with Jeldorain chanting kill, kill, kill softly in the background.

“Good,” the orc spat, his command of the common tongue surprisingly smooth though his voice was rough like gravel. “I am done fighting for meaningless things. They’ve forced us into servitude. Threatened us with the death of our mates and children if we don’t comply.”

“You speak common well,” Ike interjected. “Care to explain?”

I turned and regarded him, considering the question. It was definitely suspicious, given how the other orcs we’d encountered had been talking.

“I am Harric, son of Othora and Han. My lineage is orc and human, and I was born in a human shantytown.”

“A half-orc?!” I asked, more out of surprise than actual curiosity. I regarded him more closely, taking in all of the clues that I hadn’t seen before. At first glance, one might mistake him for a full-blooded orc with his towering stature and muscular build. But now that I knew, I could see it.

His face, broad and flat like that of his orcish kin, carried a softer contour around the edges. His brow, though prominent, lacked the heavy ridges common to orcs, and his eyes, deep-set beneath, sparkled with a human-like expressiveness.

I wondered if the human side made him more trustworthy . . . or less.

“We can get into the backstory later. The bottom line is that we can rescue them,” I said. “We came here because orcs all over have been fighting us for the goblins. We’ll save you from them, and help you with your revenge.”

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

+1/10 Persuasion

His face smoothed, his brow unfurrowed. “An infernal would do such things for us?”

A strong breeze swayed the branches above us, sweeping with it a whorl of dead leaves and litter. Thrymheimr, Jeldorain whispered. It is the wind of fate. We are bound to this now, whatever the consequences.

I simply nodded, allowing the moment to pass. In my silence, Ike stepped forward next to me, eye-level with the sitting orc warrior. “The Shadowed Vanguard would,” Ike stated. “Nothing we hate more the goblins. You all in the forests, you hate them too. Would be fun having you on our side.”

Harric sighed. “The Shadowed Vanguard. I know the name. They said your force was recently destroyed. They called themselves saviors. We had sent messengers, in the beginning. When they didn’t return, we were told you had declared blood feud on our people. I didn’t believe it, but others did.”

Ike pointed two taloned fingers up to his eyes. “You see any feud hate here? And no, they didn’t wreck us. But they didn’t do us no favors either. The whole lousy thing was a big cheat, and definitely a loss. But let me tell you, they kicked the hornet’s nest on that one,” Ike said, his toothy maw breaking into a grin. “Tell us what you know, and together we can break some goblins. Maybe even, if things go to plan, kill the emperor himself!”

Harric nodded. “We really have nothing to lose here. Alright, let me help you help us. The chiefs,” he began, his large hand sketching an invisible map in the air, “they stay in the center, guarded. The families, they are under us, in the Dwarven Puppet Kingdom of Khazud-Tharik. There is a main gate along the eastern cliff, but I suspect there is another way in. One that is closer and more convenient for the goblins watching over us. I have seen the Khazud dwarves come through many times, with one climbing up the sides of the mountain to come there. As for the goblins... they come and go. Their numbers might be in the hundreds, but they are not always here. They have mages, and the mages kill those who offend them, keep us in fear.”

Harric's eyes, a piercing shade of emerald, scanned our faces, gauging our reactions. Ike nodded thoughtfully, his sharp mind already weaving the details into a strategy.

“The goblin forces, do they have any patterns? Times when they are fewer in number?” Ike asked.

Harric grunted, scratching his jaw. “I couldn’t tell you. I’m just a warrior. One who is on guard and will need to be back at his post soon with a story of pursuit in case my absence has been noted. One involving movement followed that ultimately ended up being a deer.”

“When will you be relieved from duty?” I asked, my voice laced with a sense of shared understanding. My mind wandered to my own days of service, the weight of the gear strapped to my body, the pressure of the bulletproof vest against my chest, and I realized there might be another reason the spell had brought me here. The average gamer wouldn’t understand the strategies, tactics, and routines of army soldiers.

“At sunset someone else will take my place,” Harric answered. “There are periodic checks by the warsargs, though. It’s best for all of us that one of them did not come to find me.”

Ike blew a raspberry. “Tavern tales do you wild orcs no favors. You all sound like you know your stuff.”

“And could you usher us in, try to hide us, allow us to investigate the camp and pinpoint where everyone is during the rest of your patrol time?” I asked.

He paused, thinking. “Yes. One of you. The elf could do it. I can bring him in and, if he isn’t caught, let him out.”

Brandosyeus frowned. “What if all of this is a trap? It’s all too easy, isn’t it? We barely know this orc.”

I shrugged. “Failure means our people get eliminated, right? So what do we have left to lose?” My wife and children flashed before my eyes, but I didn’t mention them. They all knew what was on the line.

As the sun climbed slightly higher in the sky, casting filtered light through the canopy of leaves above us, Kevinar arrived and our conversation concluded. They would head into the camp together, and we would wait for their return. If luck was on our side, this would be the beginning of something huge.

And if not, it would be the end of something that had been promising.

Bidding the two farewell, the three of sat down to wait, ready for the worst while hoping that we wouldn’t have to wait long.