Steel and Fangs

by Sami Dougish

  I shook my head, I decided to let the mage live, and hope that we didn’t come to blows. wounded and tired as I was, If I reacted fast enough, I could kill at least two of them before they could react if it came to a fight, and as long it was the mage, and one of the better melee combatant, I should be fine.

  When the pair of us were close enough to make out their conversation, I realized they were arguing about us.

  “No, I will not leave here, until I am sure they haven’t made it! One is my best friend, and the other damn near held off the entire garrison for us single handedly! I owe him!”

  Another voice spoke up quickly, which I recognized as Primus’s, said, “Don’t be a fool Orz! If the regulars found the entrance, then they could nearly be here as well, and we will be overrun! We need to get to the safety of your hideout!”

  “No, I agree with Orz, I fought as a brother with Zatara, and I will not be leaving here until Orz does!” That was Oktai, judging from the accent, and his new name for me.

  “Why the ever-loving hells do you call him that now Oktai?! The only times you ever give someone a name from your homeland, is when they have done something honorable, or worthy of respect! You saw what he did, the look in his eyes! He’s a monster, I have never seen someone enjoy killing as much as he seemed to! He could hardly control himself when he attacked, throwing the whole plan into disarray.” This voice was feminine, and I assumed it was Adarossa, it was the most I had heard her speak since meeting her.

  It was at that moment, that both, Brazkin, and I stepped out of the tunnel. Orizmad stopped mid-sentence and beamed when he saw us. He rushed over to Brazkin, and lifted his friend up in a bear hug, and swung him around in all directions.

  “Ha you red headed fire shitting ass, you had me worried!”

  While Brazkin embraced his friend, I chose to remain behind, my eyes flicking between Primus and Adarossa, if Brazkin revealed what I was, they would be the most likely to attack me first, I needed to be ready.

  Oktai came over to me, and smiled, before offering me a slight bow, before he said, “I know you seem to have an aversion to physical greeting, so accept my show of respect, Zatara. I am overjoyed to know a warrior of your caliber was not snatched from this world!”

  I eyed the man, and just nodded, without saying anything else. He was a human, I had little interest in befriending the man, if he knew what I was, I was sure he would lose this newfound respect for me. It wasn’t worth my time.

  I was caught off guard though, when I felt a hard slap on my lower back, and realized, Orizmad had slapped me on the part of my back he could reach, and said “And you, you big bastard, thank you for getting my friend out of there, you earned your reward, and more than that as well, I-“

  “Orz, stop!”

  Orizmad look back at his friend, confusion written on his face. Brazkin, now probably feeling more secure now that he was no longer alone with me, gazed at me in open disgust, “Do not thank this…. thing! You owe it nothing! He is filth and deserves to be put down!”

  I stared back at the mage, my anger returning, and wiping away some of the fatigue that had overtaken me.

  “What are you talking about Braz?!” Orizmad asked, obviously taken aback by the venom in his friend’s voice.

  Brazkin ignored him though, and turned back to me, and hissed out, “I know what you are filth, it seems the story of your kind are true! Savage animals, who are better off as slaves, or decorations for walls!”

  Everyone was now looking between me and Brazkin with confusion and curiosity written all over their faces. I glared at the arrogant mage, my rage exploding to life as I listened to this dwarf speak his poison. I could feel my fatigue fade, and the animal rear its head in anticipation at the violent emotions swirling through me.

  My voice took on a raspy predatory tone as I growled a response to the mage, “Carful how you speak mage! I know your kind all too well, and I know that you expended too much mana back in that fight! You can hardly light a candle now! Continue speaking as you are, and I don’t care what it costs me, I will rip your throat out, and let your last sight be me feasting on your still warm flesh!”

  A flash of fear replaced the arrogant look of disgust on the dwarf’s face, and he took an involuntary step back. Adarossa, and Primus made to move forward, but I was too quick for them. Despite how tired I was, I exploded forward, in a blur, and my right hand shot out, and clutched the dwarf mage around his throat. I spun him around, wrapping my arm around his throat, lifting him off his feet. Before anyone could properly react, I quickly drew one of my daggers at my belt and pushed the sharp blade under my arm until it met with the soft flesh of the dwarves throat. I pressed it deep enough to cause a trickle of blood to leak out from under my arm, but no more than that.

  The mage struggled in my grasp, and despite his kind’s natural strength, he found no give in the iron grip I had around his throat. His feet dangled in the air, and I could hear him spluttering for air, while simultaneously, trying to keep his throat still so as not to drive the blade in further.

  Primus and Adarossa had their weapons out but hesitated to advance while I had the mage hostage, and Oktai, looked from me to his companions in uncertainty. Orizmad however, raised both of his hands, and in a commanding voice, shouted, “Hold! Do nothing!”

  He then turned back to me, with a mixture of confusion and anger written across his face, He angrily demanded, “What is the meaning of this?! You mean to betray us?! I swear if you harm him, I will have you hunted down, and slaughtered!”

  I needed to be careful here, there was a chance I could get away without a fight, but if I let my temper get the better of me, this would end with blood. Not that I particularly minded, but I was more likely to survive if I didn’t have to fight these people.

  “He won’t be harmed as long as I am given what I am owed. Now that this mage is intent on revealing who I am, and trying to deprive me of my payment, I need a bargaining chip. His mouth made him the perfect candidate. He is lucky actually, if he wasn’t a friend of yours, I would have killed him back in the tunnels to keep him quiet! Now I suggest we get a move on to wherever your hideout is, Primus is right, we need to leave in case they find the passage way!”

  Primus and Adarossa looked between me and Orizmad, who now had his fists balled, but seemed to calm slightly when it was apparent, I wasn’t going to kill his friend yet. Still, he didn’t make any more to leave yet, and instead stubbornly stood there and said, “I do not know who you are, or what apparent secret of yours my friend has found out. I give you my word, sworn upon my family’s honor that you will get your promised reward, and will not be harmed. You however must drop my friend and swear not to take any action against us!”

  I raised an eyebrow at that, I knew from my past experiences with dwarves, their personal honor was only second to the honor of their family. When a dwarf of any type swore on their personal honor, let alone their families, it generally could be trusted. When a dwarf willing broke such a vow, their people would at the very least banish them from their clan and even demand their death if the oath was sworn on their family’s honor. Still Was I willing to bet my life on his word?

  “What do you think?” I asked Raskorian, while I kept my eyes locked on Orizmad, while still staying aware of the rest of the people here.

  “Hm, well dwarves are fanatically committed to their vows, even in my days, we knew that dwarves always kept their words when sworn on their families honor, I think it would be easier to kill them all, plus it would let us more blood energy to grow our strength,” the dragon paused, as if reluctant to say what came next, “But It might be wiser to take his offer, and get your reward, plus I don’t see your bag, so I assume he either left it in his house, or sent it off with his men. We will need a compensation for those supplies at the very least. Plus you are injured, and tired. It would not do well for you to die here.”

  “You suggesting a peaceful route again? You surprise me.” I said with a smile hidden behind
my face mask.

  Raskorian responded with a grunt, and then said, “As much as it pains me to give such suggestions, it is only due to your lacking abilities, if you had just killed him earlier and hadn’t got yourself injured, we wouldn’t be in this situation!”

  “Ah yes there is the arrogant prick that I know.”

  This conversation took place over only a few seconds, and I quickly came to a decision, time to test his commitment to his word. I set the dwarf on the ground, and removed my knife from his throat, but still kept a firm grip around his throat, pulling him close to my torso.

  I sheathed my dagger, and reach around the back of my neck, and quickly undid the straps on my face mask. I felt it come loose, and I reached up, and deliberately pulled the mask away. At first no one seemed to react besides curious examining my entire face unobscured, but then, I opened my mouth, and bared my fangs. I let my tongue slither out and tastes the scent on the air.

  Once having done that, I saw an immediate change come over all of them. For Adarossa, and Primus it was a gasp, followed by disgust faces as they realized I way a drayzraac. Oktai, had a surprised look on his face, and took what looked to be an involuntary step back, his hand dropping to his quiver which now hung at his waist, before hastily pulling it back. Orizmad on the other hand, just raised an eyebrow, then narrowed his eyes as he looked me up and down.

  I smiled openly now, but in a mocking way as I looked back at Orizmad, and said, “Still willing to swear on your family’s honor? Or are you as biased as the rest of the world when it comes to my kind!?”

  Adarossa took a step forward, and spat on the ground to her side, “Drayzraac, I see now why Brazkin wanted wants to deny you a reward, your only reward should be us allowing you to live. Id rather just see you killed, and skinned of your- “

  “Shut. Your. Mouth,” I said with each word calm and clipped, “I did not ask for your input, nor is it needed, this is between me and your boss!”

  I turned back to Orizmad and asked, “So what will it be?”

  Orizmad studied me for a minute straight, nobody moved while he did, and my gaze didn’t waver from his, nor his form mine. My heart was thudding as I awaited his decision, depending on what he said, would decide the fate of his friend. If he refused, it would mean I would keep his friend hostage, and would have no qualm with killing him if it came to it.

  Eventually Orizmad opened his mouth, and said, “I meant what I said. I do not care who you are and the fact that you are a drayzraac will not make me renege on the deal I made with you. That is as long as you let my friend go. I swear on my personal, and families honor No harm will come to you from me or my people, as long as you do not start trouble with us first.

  Adarossa took an outraged step forward, and began to say something in protest, but Orizmad held up his hand without even looking back, maintaining eye contact with me. I returned his gaze, and then slowly released the dwarf, and said, “Deal.”

  Brazkin fell to the floor, gasping for breath, as he clutched at his now bruised throat. Orizmad immediately moved forward, and pulled his friend to his feet. He quickly checked to make sure that his friend was alright, and once he was seemingly reassured of his friend’s health and safety, he turned back to me, and nodded his appreciation.

  Orizmad’s previous serious demeanor seemed to disappear, as suddenly as it came, and I switched my gaze to the rest of the group behind him. Even though Orizmad had given his oath on behalf of him and those who worked for him, it had still been him who made the vow not him. They were not bound by the same penalties Orizmad was if he broke the oath. And judging from the looks on Primus’s and Adarossa’s faces, they were considering just that.

  Primus stepped forward, weapon still drawn, and eyes fixed on me, “Boss, you can’t be serious about trusting this thing! If this is the escaped drayzraac we have heard about, he is well deserving of death, we should-“

  “Enough, all of you!” Orizmad shouted, and instantly his commanding air was back. He swept his gaze over all his people, and said, “I gave an oath, on my honor, and that of my families! If any of you try in any way to break my oath, I will have the offenders heads! Do you understand?!”

  Primus immediately backed off, and bowed his head in acknowledgement, followed quickly by Oktai, and Adarossa. Adarossa still seemed to want to say something, but once again, Orizmad cut her off, and said, “Any further discussion will have to wait, we need to get out of here, and back to the safety of our hideout!”

  She reluctantly held her tongue, and instead settled for shooting a glare at me. I returned her glare, with a small smirk, that seemed to enrage her even more. She spit in my direction, and spun around, and began marching away. I looked after her, still smirking, while imagining how the look on her face would change, if I replaced it with a hammer strike.

  Primus quickly left as well following her, and Orizmad sighed, and looked back at me, and said, “Come follow us, I will take you to where you will get your payment. I sent you bag ahead as well with my boys, and you can collect that there as well.”

  Orizmad’s oath, as well as his refusal to hear any complaints about it had surprised me, and had earned him a bit of my grudging respect. I nodded, and bent down to pick up the naginata where I had dropped it after attacking Brazkin. I made to put my mask back on, but then decided I would just leave it off. They all knew what I was now, and I knew word would spread to the rest of Orizmad’s men the moment Primus and Adarossa reached the hide out. Besides, it was a relief to let my face breath again.

  Before we moved off though, Orizmad looked over to Brazin, sighed, and said, “Do it.”

  Brazkin nodded, and moved to the side of the tunnels entrance. I saw him reach down and grip a rope of some sort. The next second his hand began to glow weakly, and stuttered. He was trying to cast a spell but s I had suspected he was just about spent. Still, he shook himself and tried again. This time with a pained gasp, fire lit the end of the rope. The flames quickly shot along the rope, which I now realized was a fuse line, and a minute later, the ground shook violently, as an underground explosion went off. A few seconds later, the tunnels in front of us began to collapse as it seemed Orizmad had just blown then tunnel up.

  Orizmad stared sadly at the wreckage, and said, “A year and a half of work, and a whole lot of coin down the drain.”

  With the tunnel now collapsed, Orizmad gestured for us to follow, and I did so, as I took in my surroundings. The tunnels had let out into a forested area, that seemed to be well away from any major clearings besides a wagon sized path where there was evidence of a number of wagons moving frequently through this area. The sky above for the most part was blotted out by the trees, leaving this forested area cool, and shaded. The entrance to the tunnel on this side, was cleverly hidden between a large gathering of boulders and fallen tree branches.

  Instead of following the wagon path though, Orizmad led us in the opposite direction, and into a large clump of trees, the same direction that Adarossa, and Primus had went. I probably could have found the hideout myself at this point, as the smell of all the people who had passed through here recently was still fresh. Also the grass had been trampled under the feet of the group, and left an obvious trail as to where to follow.

  As I followed Orizmad and Brazkin, I realized that Oktai had fallen in step with me, and was staring fascinatedly at me. I met his eye, and raised an eyebrow at him in question, and then growled at him. It was a deep throated rumbling sound, not overly loud, but enough for him to get the meaning. I didn’t like him staring.

  Oktai’s eyes widened, but to my surprise, not in fear, but in excitement and curiosity. He smiled right afterwards, and exclaimed, “Incredible! You can actually growl like a predator? Fascinating, your battle cry’s sounded almost animalistic as well, can you roar like an animal as well if you wanted to?! You are part reptile though, hm, can you hiss as well?! I can just imagine what effect I could have on someone if I could hiss, and growl at them like a wild beast!

&
nbsp; I looked at the small man, slightly taken aback, I had never received this reaction from a human before. Was he mocking me? It didn’t seem like it. He actually seemed beside himself with excitement, and he continued his stream of questions as we followed Orizmad.

  “May I see your fangs again?! I bet they are good for tearing meat! Is that your preferred diet meat?! Well it would make sense as those teeth indicate that!”

  His questions were starting to really irritate me, why was he so keen on asking all these things about me? Finally, my irritation got the better of me, and I growled again, and followed it up with a menacing hiss with my teeth bared.

  Once again though, instead of backing off, he jumped slightly in place, nearly bouncing around in excitement.

  “Yes, Yes, Yes! I was right, you can hiss too! I have heard so many stories of your kind, but they don’t do you justice! Your huge, fast, strong, and can growl and hiss! This is too perfect! What about scales though! Your kind is supposed to have scales, but I don’t see any! Are they under the armor?! Ohh can I see, hmm?!

  I rolled my eyes in exasperation, and sped up my pace, leaving the small plainsman behind me. I was tired, my leg wound throbbed, along with the wound in my side, I was in a dangerous situation, and the last thing I needed was some energetic plainsman asking questions about my racial traits.

  This cycle continued for roughly an hour. Oktai would catch up to me, and pester me with questions, and I would, in turn, growl and hiss at him. As we walked, I wondered to myself, how no one had found the entrance to that smugglers cave. The exit wasn’t exactly well concealed, and anyone walking around here could easily stumble upon it.

  Orizmad as if reading my thoughts, looked back to me, and said, “Believe it or not, I own most of this surrounding area, I purchased it under a shell company name. I chose it because while you cannot see it now, we are actually on a plateau. Surrounding us are steep rock faces. Form the lower forest, this area seems mostly inaccessible. It has made it quite easy in fact to keep this area of the forest populated by animals alone. It makes an ideal area to build a tunnel exit that is relatively secure.”