Chapter 47: Orcish Delight

I now have an editor, so you all shouldn’t need to put up with my typos and poor/dyslexic editing skills anymore. :)

NOTE: I tried another method of starting/ending telepathic speech. It should look like it’s marked with an Asterisk this time ... hopefully. (It’s actually the “lowast” character, which is basically an asterisk in the middle of the line instead of the top. Then I added superscript tags to move it up.)

Kendra watched Beth carefully as the blonde listlessly moped around the deck. She knew better than most people what watching someone die right in front of you can do to a person. Still, the blonde seemed to be taking it better than many, though not as good as some. It was definitely affecting her though.

Ethan and Taloni returned from their morning flight and her husband immediately began summoning his weapons. Kendra thought that the orc the couple had seen on their way back was a welcome chance to return to the reason they had come to Dotmier in the first place.

“You sure that the orc you saw was alone?” Alana asked as Ethan secured everything.

“It looked that way.” He replied as he doubled checked to make sure that he had everything. “I’m going to bring the grenades anyway though, just in case.”

“I’ll get them for you Master.” Taloni volunteered, then rushed towards the stairs to the lower deck.

“You don’t have to wonder.” Beth said. “I could find out for certain.”

Kendra pursed her lips.

If the blonde was volunteering to scout again, then she was either way worse or possibly way better than Kendra had thought. Or maybe she was just in denial; yeah, denial seemed most likely.

Ethan scrutinized her for several seconds. “Beth, I’d rather you didn’t.”

“Please let me Dominus.” The blonde replied, showing more emotion than she had since the first mage on the enemy airship had died. “If something happened to you in an ambush because I didn’t scout ahead, I’m not sure I could live with myself.”

Ethan frowned.

“I promise I’ll look away if anything happens, or I’ll run away, or do anything else you want me to do.” The blonde pleaded. “Just please let me help.”

^∗I would let her.^∗ Kendra thought to Ethan. ^∗She clearly doesn’t want to see anything die again, and I’ve seen this before with Aldmiri after their first mission. It’s better to let her help with virtually no risk of trauma than to keep her away from everything.^∗

He looked at the raven-haired woman. ^∗Are you sure?^∗

^∗No, but I’ve seen it turn out better when agents weren’t left to sit with their thoughts. We have a saying in the Ten Kingdoms about getting back in the saddle immediately after being thrown from a horse, otherwise the person can stew in fear and it makes everything harder later.^∗

Ethan looked back at Beth. “One condition.”

“Name it.” She nodded.

He looked at her seriously. “If it looks like something might happen, you turn and run.”

“I will.”

“I mean that Beth; if it even looks like trouble is coming, promise me that you’ll run.”

“I promise.” The blonde replied.

“Okay, I’ll fly you there on the Astral Plane, then come back, get back into my body, then head out again.” He said and the blonde nodded.

The two disappeared into the captain’s cabin and Ethan announced that they were off less than a minute later. Kendra walked to the Argo’s railing and stared out in the direction that they would be heading.

“I’m worried about Beth too.” Alana said, coming up next to the dragon huntress. “But she’s slowly gotten tougher the longer I’ve known her, and she grew a lot after she confronted her father. She might have it rough for a while, but I think she’ll be okay in the end.”

“I think so too.” Taloni said, stepping up to the railing with the grenade satchel. “But maybe we should all pray for her anyway; I think that would help.”

“Good idea.” Kendra agreed.

It occurred to her that she might need to talk to Beth about this, and soon. She was likely the only person on the Argo who truly knew what the blonde teen was going through. Thankfully, it had only been a single day since the first mage had died, and not twelve hours yet since the battle the previous night. The former Aldmiri resolved to look for an opportune moment to pull the blonde aside for a conversation at some point that very day.

Ethan kept a close eye on his youngest wife as he circled high above the orc he had spotted earlier. The orc was still slightly hunched over and he looked like he was working on something. Beth had been looking through the area on the Astral Plane since he dropped her off, and now he was back in his body flying overhead.

^∗See anything?^∗ He asked her, glad to be seeing in color again instead of the monotonous purple hue of the Astral plane.

^∗No Dominus, and I’ve searched in a nearly one hundred yard radius.^∗

^∗Okay, thanks. You can retreat to a safe distance.^∗

There was a long pause before Beth replied. ^∗I can’t be hurt on the Astral Plane, or at least not by anything short of a Drago’s fire. I’ll be fine.^∗

^∗I’m more worried about your mind and heart than your body.^∗

The blonde teen took another second or two to reply. ^∗Dominus, I’m not made of glass. I’ll be okay.^∗

He closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath before replying. ^∗Okay, but remember that if it looks like anything is going to happen--^∗

^∗--I know, I know.^∗ She cut him off. ^∗I’ll run away.^∗

He frowned at her tone, but let it slide. She was going through a lot right now and he didn’t want to push her too hard.

^∗I’m going in.^∗ He thought to everyone, then tucked his wings and dived straight down. The wind whistled past as he hurtled towards the ground, wanting to cover the distance as fast as possible and aiming at the opposite edge of the clearing from the orc. He figured that showing up as far away as possible was the best move. His armor was on his back and he thought that not wearing it might reduce the chances of instigating a fight.

At least, he hoped it would.

As he neared the ground, he spread his wings and flapped hard several times to kill his momentum. Oddly, that didn’t bring the attention of the orc who seemed completely absorbed in what he was doing. He landed and even that didn’t draw attention to himself.

^∗Beth, do you know what he’s doing?^∗ He thought to everyone as he confirmed yet again that all his weapons were at his side.

^∗No, I was busy making sure there wasn’t anyone to ambush you and didn’t think to look.^∗

Ethan could feel the concern from the rest of his wives at this statement, and even some from Selene. It wasn’t natural for Beth to not be curious about that kind of thing.

He frowned.

That wasn’t good.

Still, Kendra seemed to think that Beth would be better served by having something to do and he was willing to trust her on that. He stood up straight, tried to look non-threatening, and then loudly cleared his throat.

The orc jumped slightly and turned to face him. In one of the orc’s hands was what looked like a crude paintbrush, and in his other hand he was carrying a piece of flat-ish bark with what looked like several small dollops of paint on it. That’s when Ethan noticed what the orc was working on, which he hadn’t been able to see from the sky.

It was a painting.

A real, live, honest-to-goodness painting.

The orc had clearly been painting the small waterfall nearby and was only half done. Ethan wasn’t an art critic, but it looked okay to him. The style was a bit primitive and the canvas was animal hide, but it was passably well done. The orc dropped both things he was carrying and picked up the Dane Axe next to him, but made no further aggressive moves. Ethan was glad, since this orc was almost a foot taller and probably outweighed him by double.

“Hello there.” Ethan said, intentionally not letting his voice slip into an Obi-Wan Kenobi impression and hoping the orc knew some English. The other orcs had seemed to understand him a little, so he hoped that would be the case here as well.

The orc narrowed his eyes, then spoke in broken English. “You dragon. Why no attack?”

“I’m looking to talk.” He replied, keeping his hands away from his weapons.

“Dragon no ever talk.” The orc shook his head. “Dragon burn and eat, dragon no do else.”

“I’m not most dragons.”

“You say, but you no prove.” The orc grunted. “You prove, we talk. You no prove, we no talk.”

“I didn’t attack on sight and I announced myself.” Ethan pointed out. “Is that proof enough?”

“That no proof. That good, but that no proof.”

Ethan considered for a moment, then an idea occurred to him. He reached down and as non-threateningly as possible took off all his weapons and dropped them on the ground. He then took several steps towards the orc with his hands raised. The orc didn’t know that he could summon weapons and he couldn’t think of another way to allay the orc’s fears.

“Is that proof enough?”

“That no proof.” The orc narrowed his eyes but lowered his axe slightly. “But good. What you want talk?”

“The mine nearby.” Ethan said. “Some orcs have been killing and eating the miners.”

The orc scowled. “Dragon blame wrong clan. That Red Hand. Me no Red Hand.” He pointed to the blue circle on his chest.

^∗Bingo, we have a different clan here.^∗ He thought to everyone, then spoke to the orc. “I was hoping you were part of a different clan.”

“Why you hope? Mine no have gold. Why dragon interest?”

“Some dragons are interested in more than gold.” Ethan replied. “I assume that the Red Hands have recently taken control of the area around the mine?”

“That talk no for Grobozlesh.” He pointed to himself. “That talk for clan chief.”

“Then can I talk to your clan chief?”

“If you strong, you have talk.” The orc smiled, and while the smile showed all of his teeth and his small tusks, it didn’t look sinister; he looked genuinely delighted. “You prove strength, you talk clan chief. You no prove strength, you no talk clan chief.”

“How do I prove my strength?”

“We have not-real fight.” The orc replied, his smile growing broader. “I use axe back, you use sword flat.” He gestured to Ethan’s sword behind him. “We have fight that no-real. You win, you strong and talk clan chief. You no win, you not strong and no have talk.”

“I have another sword that’s not sharp at all back on my airship.” Ethan replied. “Would that be better?”

The orc looked at him for a moment, then nodded. “You fly, get no-sharp sword. I wait.”

“Will do.” Ethan replied and was about to turn and collect his weapons, then stopped. “My name is Ethan. You said your name is Grobozlesh?”

The orc nodded his head once and grunted what sounded like an affirmation.

“Pleasure to meet you Grobozlesh.”

“If you strong, I pleased. If you no strong, you no matter.” The orc replied matter-of-factly.

“Noted.” Ethan said, then collected his weapons, not wanting to reveal that he could summon them if he didn’t have to. It was time to get ready to duel an orc who was a foot taller and maybe twice his weight. This would be interesting.

Sarah leaned over the side of the airship Helene, scarcely able to believe what Lord Delmar’s capital city of Karnas looked like from the air. The city was set at the confluence of three large rivers which flowed together into an even larger fourth river, which flowed south. The two rivers that came from the east and west formed the northern border of Ivernia and the southern border of Narlotten. Narlotten’s capital city of Karnas was set entirely on the north side of the border rivers, and also spanned both sides of the river that came from the north. Karnas’s southern counterpart city in Ivernia was both far smaller and shabbier.

Sarah had seen many cities in Ivernia while her father was taking her across the land visiting temples of Illuminar to try and fix her problem. All of them looked worn-down because the people were poor. Even Ivernia’s capital city of Paliso looked that way, though less so.

Karnas was different.

It looked ... she couldn’t think of a word other than “alive”. The airship wasn’t very high because they were coming in to land near the castle in the center of the city. Because of that, she could see everything and it looked wonderful. The buildings all seemed to be in good repair, even in the poorer sections of the city. In one of the smaller town squares there was obviously a festival of some kind happening, and the people looked both lively and happy. They were dancing, playing instruments, and eating more food than she’d ever seen in one place at a time.

The people were also wearing such brightly colored clothes!

Ivernian clothes tended to be natural colors because it was cheaper, but that didn’t seem to be a concern here. It looked like even poorer people could afford colorful clothes. In fact, it looked like the poor in Narlotten were better off than many of the middle-earners in Ivernia.

Under the Helene, many of the citizens were waving at the airship. It sounded like the people were welcoming Lord Delmar back, and doing so enthusiastically. Many of them were smiling ear-to-ear at the return of their lord, which was again foreign to the Ivernian girl. She’d never seen any of the common folk welcome Lord Farbrottan.

Ever.

The closer the airship got to the castle, the wealthier everything seemed to become. The homes that would’ve been considered excellent in Ivernia suddenly looked like shacks compared to the splendor of some of the buildings here.

The castle itself was a marvel.

Large versions of the Narlotten flag flew from its towers, flying high and fluttering in the light wind. The battlements were high and looked impregnable, and the soldiers patrolling the walls looked crisp and attentive. On the higher floors, stained glass windows covered many parts of the wall, making it beautiful to behold. It seemed that the outside of the castle was coated with something smooth, because the entire thing looked like one solid piece of stone.

“Wow.” She breathed as she took it all in.

“Aye.” Fiona said from beside her, her baby in her arms and not fussing at the moment. The copper haired woman had taken her up on deck before they’d arrived, insisting that Sarah should see the city. The innkeeper’s daughter was glad she had.

“We’ll be landing over there.” Fiona pointed towards a dock that extended out from the castle’s upper crenellations. “And ‘tis looking like the welcoming party is waiting for the Lord Delmar.” She finished, her accent making ‘lord’ sound like ‘lard’.

On the dock were a dozen people, half of which were soldiers and half of which were clearly nobles of some sort. Their clothes were elegant and regal, but not ostentatious and managed to avoid looking like they were dressing for show. The docking process didn’t take long, and it was clear that the Helene’s crew were extremely well trained and disciplined.

“Lord Delmar!” One of the nobles said when the Helene was docked and the gangplank extended. He looked to be in his sixties and slightly overweight, but not greatly so. He wasn’t tall and had graying hair, but he looked healthy and reasonably fit despite his slight gut.

“Sir Warrick.” Lord Delmar nodded at him curtly.

“I see you were successful.” Sir Warrick turned to Lady Ekthros. “It’s a pleasure to have you back with us my lady.”

“Sir Warrick.” The auburn-haired women nodded politely. She had told Sarah earlier that day that she would be extremely busy catching up once they got back, and thus wouldn’t be able to see her much -- if at all -- for several days, perhaps a week.

“I don’t suppose you found a new wife on your trip my lord?” Sir Warrick said to Lord Delmar. “The citizens are getting restless about the lack of an heir, not to mention the lack of prospects to produce one since you disinherited your daughter.”

“I am aware.” The lord replied, sweeping past the man without a backwards glance.

“Please be reasonable Lord Delmar.” Sir Warrick replied as he hurried after the much longer-legged lord. “The people need to know their future is secure, and an heir will do that. I could have every eligible noble girl in Narlotten here in less than a fortnight. Perhaps none will match up to the Lady Helene, but--”

“Sir Warrick.” Lord Delmar stopped the moment his deceased wife’s name had been mentioned. He then turned towards the man, his face mostly impassive and his tone almost preternaturally neutral. “I am aware. You will limit your reminders on this topic to no more than once per day.”

“Yes my lord.” Sir Warrick said with a slight bow.

“Now, report on what has happened since my departure.” Lord Delmar said, turning and walking towards the castle, Sir Warrick and his personal guard following behind him.

Fiona chuckled.

“What?” Sarah asked.

“If the Lord Delmar only is only letting the members of his court be reminding him once a day, they’ll still be reminding him all day.”

“They want him to get married that much?”

“Aye.” The copper haired woman nodded. “Everyone in Narlotten is wanting it because of what Sir Warrick was saying; he’s needing an heir. Most of the eligible women in Narlotten would be volunteering, and not just because he’s a lord.”

Sarah chuckled at that too, and couldn’t help but notice the contrast with Lord Farbrottan. The ladies of Ivernia didn’t even want to meet him, much less marry him.

The innkeeper’s daughter leaned over the side of the Helene to look into the castle. It looked almost entirely like what she would’ve expected except for one thing. There was a small enclosure that was perhaps ten feet square and walled off by a nice wooden fence inside a larger courtyard. Inside the enclosure was some well-watered green grass and some tastefully arranged flowers around a single tombstone.

“That’s the Lady Helene’s grave.” Fiona offered helpfully. “The Delmar family has a royal graveyard, but it’s far enough away that the Lord Delmar couldn’t be visiting it regularly. He had this built when she died, and he is going to see her often.”

“He is?”

“Aye.” The copper haired woman nodded and she resettled her son on her hip. “He was hiring the best gardener in Narlotten to maintain it too.”

Sarah looked down at the peaceful and tranquil sanctuary that the small area created. “He must’ve really loved her.”

“Aye, ‘tis no doubt of that.”

They both looked at it for several seconds before Fiona spoke again. “Would you be wanting to see the dormitories? The kitchen staff have nice rooms near the kitchens, and since you are working in the kitchens you are welcome to be staying there.”

“I’d love to see them!”

Ethan flapped his wings to slow his descent as he again landed in the clearing where Grobozlesh was waiting for him. The orc was now holding a shield that was large and round, much like a Viking-era shield. Ethan was wearing his armor though, so perhaps that would even things out in a real fight.

^∗Dominus, I’ve been watching the whole time you were gone and no other orcs have come.^∗ The blonde thought to him. ^∗He also didn’t blow a horn or anything to call anyone.^∗

^∗Thanks angel.^∗ He replied, then remembered that she had asked him not to call her that for a while. ^∗Sorry, I forgot.^∗

^∗It’s okay.^∗ Beth replied in a tone that told Ethan it was very much not okay. Not that she was mad, but something was clearly bothering her. He would’ve asked, but the orc spoke before he got a chance.

“You return.” Grobozlesh said. “You have no-sharp sword?”

Ethan gave his training blade a flourish. “I do.”

“Then we have no-real fight.” The orc raised his shield and axe and then rolled the axe in his fingers so the blunt side was facing forwards Ethan instead of the sharp side.

Ethan sized him up.

He was about a foot taller, which translated to longer arms and thus longer reach. The orc’s axe was also nearly the size of a Dane Axe, being nearly four feet long. That meant that Grobozlesh had significantly longer reach which Ethan wasn’t used to fighting, at least not with non-polearms. The orc’s large shield was at least four feet in diameter and provided him with an incredible amount of protection.

Ethan raised his own sword and deployed his rollable shield, wanting a solid defense against that axe. Being hit with the blunt end would hurt, and it might even hit hard enough to break bones through armor. It didn’t look like the orc wanted to hurt him though. Grobozlesh had a wide smile on his face, as if he wanted to be right here fighting more than anything else in the whole world.

He looked positively delighted.

Ethan had to admit that he was curious how he’d stack up in this fight. Something about this orc seemed different than the Red Hand orcs. Something about him seemed more calculating and methodical. He guessed he would be a more difficult opponent.

The orc bellowed a war cry then charged, a smile still on his face. Despite that, his shield wasn’t out of place nor had his footwork gotten sloppy. He was charging, but doing so intelligently.

Ethan grinned.

He gave his sword a slight flourish then jogged forward several steps to meet his opponent. The orc slowed slightly as he approached and held his shield out farther from his body and snapped out with the blunt side of his axe. Ethan adjusted his shield a little to block the blow, but wasn’t prepared for the follow-up.

The orc stepped in and punched out with his shield.

Now, the orc’s shield was different to the shields he was used to fighting on the Argo against Selene, Serif, and Raklan. Those shields were strapped to the forearm, limiting their mobility in many ways. This orc’s shield wasn’t. It was gripped in the center and thus could be freely rotated in most any direction. In a flash he could move it from protecting the right side to the left side just by moving his wrist, or he could rotate his wrist and arm to make it face almost any direction.

That made it harder to predict.

The world slowed as the orc pivoted his arm and punched his shield out, striking Ethan in the jaw and dazing him.

Ethan reacted to his ‘dragon sense’ by lifting his own shield to block the orc’s shield, but since he only had a quarter second warning it wasn’t entirely successful. He tucked his head slightly, and instead of the shield striking his head flat on, it skittered up the enchantment-hardened dragon leather.

He took a step back to get some room, but Grobozlesh wouldn’t give it to him.

The orc snapped the blunt side of his axe out again, rotating his shield to cover the opposite line of attack. Ethan attempted to parry the axe with his sword, but its far greater mass and the orc’s greater strength made that difficult. Once his training sword was engaged, Grobozlesh flipped his axe head around so the sharp side was out and then jerked it down, using the bottom of the axe to hook Ethan’s blade and yank it out of position. He followed that with another attempted shield strike, which Ethan saw coming and managed to avoid.

Barely, but he did.

He used his dragon legs and enhanced strength to leap backwards enough to get some distance and reassess.

Grobozlesh was good.

Very good.

He kept his shield constantly moving, rotating, and turning to protect himself incredibly well, and in ways that just weren’t possible with a shield that was strapped to the arm. With that powerful defense, he was then free to strike out with his axe with near impunity. If the defender managed to block the axe, he would switch instantly to attacking with the edge of the large round shield. Further, he kept his hands relatively close together while he fought, and thus both of his arms were covered by his shield the entire time.

^∗Selene, you’ve got to see how these orcs fight with shields.^∗ He thought to everyone. ^∗It’s amazing.^∗

^∗Oh?^∗ The caramel-haired beauty replied.

^∗Yeah, I’ll tell you about it later when I’m not getting my ass kicked.^∗

^∗Deal.^∗ She replied, laughter evident in her tone.

Ethan took a deep breath and remembered what Serif had taught him. The nigh invincible duelist had spent a lot of time teaching him how to analyze his opponents, far more than Ethan would’ve thought was important. It had started to make more sense when the orcs had ambushed him, and made even more so now.

The core of the problem was reach and defense.

Grobozlesh had longer arms and a slightly longer weapon, plus a large shield for defense. Normally Ethan would’ve gone for the legs, but the orc’s much longer reach meant that he couldn’t get close enough even with his large war sword. Fortunately, his weapon had a built-in fix for that problem. The only question was whether he wanted to reveal that advantage in advance or mid-fight. The element of surprise being a powerful ally solved that debate for him.

He activated his shield to roll it against his arm. Then he shifted his guard stance so that he could more easily shift into two-handed grip when his sword switched to ‘spear mode’ by activating the leather strip at the back. That would give him an extra 2.5 feet of grip and effectively turned his sword into a spear that was half blade.

That should do it.

Grobozlesh came at him again, repeating his former unpredictable pattern of attacks. Using his enhanced reflexes to gauge the timing, Ethan waited until the orc was switching his shield around so it briefly blocked the orc’s eyesight. Once it had, he extended his sword into spear mode and snapped it out, using the extra 2.5 feet of length to score a hit on Grobozlesh’s lower leg before the orc was even aware of the danger. The instant Ethan felt the impact, he jerked his sword back, retracting the leather strap at the back to return it to sword mode again while hoping that the orc would miss that feature.

Grobozlesh stumbled slightly, but instantly stopped his attack. He lowered his weapons and looked at Ethan in obvious confusion. Apparently he hadn’t noticed the extension or reaction given the look on his face. Thank God for his enhanced reflexes which enabled such precise timing.

“You no have length. How you hit?” The orc asked, his jaw hanging slightly open.

“Magic.” Ethan grinned.

“You no say?”

He shook his head. “Would you reveal combat secrets to someone you just met?”

“No, strong word.” Grobozlesh nodded his head. “You prove strength. Now we walk, see clan chief.”

Ethan nodded. “I’m looking forward to it.”

“Come, you bring no sharp sword.” The orc said. “You prove strength to clan chief. You no win, but hear Red Hand mine if you fight strong.”

“Does everything require a fight in orc culture?” Ethan asked.

“No, strength test sometime.”

Ethan chuckled. “Okay, lead on.”

“Grobozlesh no want dragon behind. You walk side, three heights.”

“Three heights?”

“Three orc height space.”

“So I’m supposed to let you lead, but walk the height of three orcs to one side?”

The orc’s grunt sounded like an affirmative response, so Ethan rested his training sword on his shoulder and put about the height of three orcs distance between them. He didn’t ask what the standard orc height was of course, as he didn’t get the impression that a more precise measurement was forthcoming.

“If we’re going to meet your clan chief, I take it we’re going to your camp?” Ethan asked.

“You see camp, you no enter camp.” Grobozlesh replied. “You stranger. Only friend enter camp.”

“Fair enough.” He nodded. “Lead on.”

“This is really nice.” Sarah said when Fiona had opened the door to one of the rooms in the dormitories. “This is really where the servants live?”

“Aye.” The copper haired woman replied.

One of the rooms was several times the size of her single room at her father’s inn. It was rectangular with two nice bunk beds and four large chests. There was also a window and nice curtain on it, the walls were a pretty blue color, and someone had hand-painted little flowers on the walls at about waist height. Something about the room just felt nice and cozy.

“I get to live here?” Sarah asked. The dormitories were in a wooden building inside the castle walls, but not part of the castle itself. Plus the kitchens were only a short walk away.

“Aye, though this particular room is looking full.” The copper haired woman replied. “There are up to four girls in a room, and most of them are nice.”