Chapter 24

Day 35:

It was nearly a week later when Lada, John and their small pack of worghs reached Watchtower. The trip had been a long, hard, slow slog, but worth every minute of the extra time. Dard’s secret room was definitely his treasure vault. There were several sacks bulging with gold coins stacked along the floor, and the walls were covered in beautifully exquisite enchanted weapons of every stripe. Unfortunately, since John knew the dwarf was still alive, he was reluctant to plunder the find. He even left the orc leader’s mace there, since he didn’t have a way to carry it beyond lugging it around by hand. Closing the vault door was easy, so they left the trove intact and secure when they departed.

The trip back down the tunnel and up to the ruins was slow, since only John could actually see where they were going. But once they were back in the open air again, they moved more quickly. Neither he, nor Lada were able to figure out how to open the tunnel door in the ruins from outside. Knowing it was a risk, they rolled the stone back into place and felt the locking mechanism engage. They wouldn’t be able to get back into the tunnel without going through the town, or the long way through the Dwimar city. Neither was appealing, but John had no way to know whether he’d even be back this way in the near future.

They scouted the closest two villages to the fort and found one a still smoking ruin, and the second completely overrun like the fortress was. John did find evidence that some of the villagers escaped to the east, but the noises he heard from inside the walls indicated not all had gotten out. Bummed, they made their way back north to skirt around whatever the orcs’ farthest advance was. John did take the time to use the funeral stone at the now-ruined town. He would’ve just jumped straight back to the End with it, but neither Lada nor the worghs could come with him, and he was reluctant to desert his companions, even for a little while. Not for the first time he regretted not insisting the Valkyries let him use their arch before he left.

Their trip also went slower because they kept detouring around any undead or unfriendly monsters they came across. John’s immunity from the dragon’s undead might have extended to those with him, but he didn’t want to risk it. Staying off the normal paths between settlements meant the incidence rate for those encounters rose significantly. John had a pretty good idea why the Wardens were so popular, after seeing what lurked in the uninhabited areas. They camped each night without a fire, huddled together for warmth.

John also bore a new burn scar, on his right temple where he had to cauterize that open wound since the women had stolen his medical supplies along with everything else. They never did run into the three thieves, but he couldn’t work up any anger over their actions. He wished them well, wherever they ended up. He was too busy keeping himself, Lada and the worghs fed to worry about something he couldn’t control.

The pups grew almost fifty percent larger in that week. They let the young animals explore as much as they could, under their mothers’ watchful attention. One even grew particularly attached to Lada, sleeping in her arms every night. The other three all wormed their way close to John whenever they made camp. Lada’s pet she called Ujya, but never told John why. John wasn’t especially good at picking names, something his ex-wife had mocked him for when Derrick was born and she had to come up with one by herself. He called the larger mother, the one who’d been fighting the last male John killed, Scar, since she bore several from that event. The other ended up being Mama, for lack of another identifying mark.

Lada eventually explained why she thought John would know of her. She’d been the madam for the fort’s stable of prostitutes. They made a good living from the townspeople and other Wardens and hunters who frequented the place. She was a hard woman, who knew exactly how to use her appearance and wiles on the harder men who visited her establishment. John was very careful to avoid showing any interest in her, since they spent every night sleeping together. In turn, she stayed markedly cool towards him while her injuries healed. It was an unspoken truce, but he was pretty sure she was as happy with the situation as he was.

John had to yell for the Watchtower guards to get Gaybe before the group was allowed entry. Inside, they found that word of the orc invasion had made it to the small settlement. The Captain’s eyes widened in horror when John informed him about what they’d seen.

“We cannot hope to withstand that many orcs!” Gaybe cried.

“I know.” John told him. “You have to evacuate the village immediately! Get everybody moving toward the End. If we have to, we’ll ... I don’t know, migrate east around the giants or something.”

“I will do as you say, but if we try to go through the frost giant region, less than half will make it.” Gaybe protested.

“No way around them, huh?” John asked.

“Not for that many.” The Captain replied.

“What about if we use the mountain to hide in?” John wondered aloud.

“How would we do that?” Gaybe inquired.

“After we went through the Door, the stairs went for miles before we got to the Halls. There were lots of small caves, and even the landings were large enough for people to camp on. A few thousand people could easily use that to hide in while we figure out a longer term solution.”

“The people will be scared to enter. The Halls are one of our oldest and most fearsome legends.”

“Would they do it, if we acted like it was no big deal, and assured them that it was safe?” John proposed.

“If you say to try, I will try.” Gaybe promised.

“Okay, get everyone packed up.” John summarized. “I’m going to use the funeral stone to get to the End quickly. Where’s yours?”

“We do not have one.” Gaybe told him. “We do not know why, but none of the towers from before the dragons have funeral stones.”

“Crap, okay, how long to get everybody moving?”

“Two days. We can leave in the morning, the day after tomorrow.” Gaybe figured.

“Make it happen. If someone won’t go, leave them. You can’t delay. More orcs are coming every day you wait.” John warned. “Are there any Wardens nearby we can arrange to meet?”

“Even better, Ranveng himself is here.” Gaybe smiled.

The Senior Warden was at Pakwa’s place, so a guard was dispatched to bring him to the tower.

“Jyon! It’s good to see you!” The Warden exclaimed upon entering. “What brings you here?”

“The orcs!” John proclaimed.

“I know.” Ranveng shook his head sadly. “It’s terrible news. Everyone will have to stay in the villages for protection. No one will be able to hunt or grow food. The next Long Night will be hard.”

“It’s worse than you think.” John repeated his observations for the Warden.

“We ... this is ... we could ... no, that won’t work. Some might make it to one of the stronger cities down south, but most in the north will die if what you say is true.” Ranveng was nearly in tears.

“Not if we use the mountain.” John argued.

“For what?” Ranveng looked lost.

“The tunnel we took to climb into the Halls was longer than you think. It crossed several caves, and had lots of flat spots. The Door isn’t very big. We could hole up in there until the orcs either leave, or we can strike back.”

“Many won’t want to go.” Ranveng told him. “They’ll be frightened.”

“Would they be more frightened of an orc horde?” John retorted.

Ranveng’s head bobbed. “Probably.”

“Can you get the word out? Have your Wardens tell everyone to go there?”

“Yes! You’re right, this is probably the only way to save anyone!”

Ranveng ran up the stairs.

“He going to signal somebody?” John guessed.

“I think so.” Gaybe replied.

John asked for some supplies, so he could move faster, and was just about ready to head out again when an alert sounded from higher in the tower.

“Jyon, come quick!” Gaybe hollered down the stairs.

When he got to the tower battlements, John’s heart sank. It was a smaller band of orcs, maybe forty or so. But still more than the tiny village could hope to withstand. The Watch was already yanking people out of their homes to crowd into the tower proper. As each dwelling cleared, the final Watch member would destroy the rooftop bridge between it and the next one. By the time everyone was ‘safe’, the orcs were only a few hundred yards away from the tower’s base.

Hoping it would give them an edge, John retrieved the sack with the white-haired orc’s head.

“Here, hang this where they can see it.” He instructed, giving the frozen ball to Gaybe.

“Who’s this?” The man asked, tying the white-colored braid so it would dangle with the face visible from the ground.

“I think he was the leader of the orcs that conquered Tygus’s fort.” John explained.

Both Gaybe and Ranveng’s eyebrows shot up at that. The Watch Captain tossed the head over the side where they figured the orcs below would get the best view. Then they all waited to see what their reaction would be.

It turned out to be everything John could’ve hoped for. The first orc to recognize the body-less visage skidded to a halt, grabbing those nearest and indicating the display. Angry but frightened shouting rose up as the entire force spread out into an arc with the tower at its center. Their visible unease was the first time John saw any uncertainty in the orcs’ demeanor.

One of the biggest orcs, dressed much like the dual-sword-wielding one John killed outside the Powry ruins stepped forward and called up to them.