by T. H. Lain
Jozan and Alhandra looked at each other, wondering what Krusk was talking about. As they glanced around the area, both realized that Yddith was missing and they understood why Krusk was so upset. Still, they begged Krusk not to kill the fallen soldier. All they received for their intercession was a warning snarl from the half-orc.
"Where girl?" repeated the barbarian, emphasizing his question by shaking the wounded orc's body so severely that Jozan imagined the bandages must all have torn away from the wound.
The half-orc gripped his captive around the neck and began crushing the orc's windpipe. Jozan and Alhandra quickly moved to pull the half-orc off his prey, but before they could grab him, the orc answered, spewing monosyllables and blood at his inquisitor
"Hassq has girl. Needs gem to get slaves!"
Krusk let the orc fall to the ground and motioned for Jozan to keep their captive alive while he paced around the clearing. After invoking Pelor's power to heal the captive, Jozan walked to Krusk, who was bent over and studying the ground where Yddith had stood. Krusk pointed out the marks of the eagle's claws and kept staring at the disturbed ground where the druid's transformation had occurred. Jozan watched him trail the heavy footprints of the druid into a copse of bushes and trees, then return after he lost the trail.
To Jozan's chagrin, Krusk immediately returned to the captive orc, grabbed him by the shoulders, and began interrogating him fiercely once more.
"Where Hassq?" he asked with an expression on his face that seemed tantamount to death itself. "Where Hassq?"
The captive looked to Jozan for assistance, but realized that there was little the cleric could do on his behalf, even if he were willing to intervene.
"Hassq take girl one eye!" the orc responded. Seeing that neither the half-orc nor the cleric quite understood, he continued, "Hassq take girl one eye! One-Eye need gem. Hassq get gold. Gold buy food for cold time."
"Where One-Eye?" asked Krusk, softening his demeanor slightly since the captive was answering his questions.
"One-Eye at mine," answered the captive, "gold mine."
Krusk laughed grotesquely. He released the orc and stepped away from the prisoner's prone body. He looked at Jozan as if to gauge the character of the priest of Pelor.
Satisfied, Krusk said, "That must be your answer. One-Eye is probably the priest you're seeking and the gold mine must be where he is. With Pelor's help, we should be able to foil the cleric's plan and rescue Yddith. Assuming, that is, we can get this pond scum to show us where the mine is."
Jozan was frozen in place. Alhandra only laughed.
"That has to be the most words I've ever heard you string together," said the priest.
"Look," replied the barbarian, "when you want these orcs to respond, you use their dialect. As they would say, 'Make fear! Good trick!'" he explained.
Alhandra giggled as she turned to Jozan and said, "I told you he would open up once he knew you. I'll wager he gets this orc to help us find both Hassq and Calmet before he's through."
15
Why? Yddith asked herself the question again and again. She still served Pelor long and faithfully. She was managing to maintain her chastity in a profession where most considered selling their bodies to be just another means of improving their tip revenue. She had faithfully sung the "Psalm of the Sun" at every dawn from the time of her earliest memories. She courageously escaped Pergue when the Black Carnival appeared, and she did her best to save the lives of Pelor's heroic priests on the night when the carnival unveiled its horrors.
So she couldn't help but wonder why Pelor allowed the dark clouds of circumstance to overshadow his presence? Why had Pelor failed to shine on her when the zombie thespian placed the emerald necklace upon her and ripped apart her clothing to expose her body to any who dared look? Where was Pelor's radiance when the silver dagger plunged toward her eye? Where was Pelor's protection when the putrid flesh of the zombie fell on her frightened face? Why had the necklace Krusk shaped into a false eye been taken from her when she'd just learned to use it?
Looming over all those questions was the biggest why of all; why was she taken away from Krusk when he was the only person in the entire world who made her feel safe? Yddith couldn't stop torturing herself with those questions. They piled one atop another until the lovely, one-eyed barmaid felt she would shriek with frustration and anxiety. She couldn't be satisfied with the heresy that assumed every person who suffered somehow brought it upon herself through sin. She wasn't perfect, but she knew that Pelor was the giver of grace and that she had received full forgiveness whenever she asked for it.
"Why," Yddith suddenly found herself asking aloud, "why didn't you just kill me and take the gem? For that matter, why are you keeping me alive, now?"
The druid shifted a log in the fire and gazed at the frightened woman through the smoke. Even tied to a tree with ropes woven by Hassq himself, the one-eyed human looked beautiful. Hassq knew there was something special about her, something more than that naked eye socket.
Wanting to speak with her even though he owed her nothing, he said, "Need gem. Gem more than One-Eye knows. You use. Hassq saw. Hassq take you to One-Eye."
Though the druid spoke Common in Orcish monosyllables, it unsettled Yddith to hear him speak without the exaggerated accent so typical of the orcs. She believed that "One-Eye" must be the name the orcs gave to the evil priest being hunted by Jozan and Alhandra. Her eyes widened with renewed horror as she considered Hassq's intent to take her to that very priest. She couldn't help but wonder what would happen to her. Would this Calmet remove her other eye, too?
"You use gem for one eye," the druid continued. "You show use for gem. One eye not bad to orcs, not bad for Hassq."
Yddith subconsciously glanced at the leather pouch where Hassq had hidden the necklace, and she winced in realization that her own empty eye socket was bare, a horror for all to see. The false, emerald eye had been a comfort to her, a gift from Krusk that made her feel unique instead of deformed. Without it she felt like the monstrosity she was.
"All right," she responded to the druid, even though her tone expressed more than a hint of petulance, "since you've already stripped it off of me, I want to know. Why is this necklace so important?"
"Bring dead," answered the druid. "Need gem bring dead. Does more."
"I don't understand," she argued, her curiosity gradually conquering her fear and revulsion. "How did you know that I could use the gem's magic?"
She needed to know. Up until then, she hadn't been willing to admit even to herself that the stone was augmenting her inner power but she realized that she was casting spells she'd never experimented with, spells she had only seen the traveling sorceress perform once, or never at all. Either something inside her or something within the gem's magic was teaching her how to cast magical spells.
"Green glow in flash," grunted the orc, "mean Gruumsh in gem."
Gruumsh was in the emerald? her psyche fairly shouted with horror. "If Gruumsh is in the emerald," she asked, "then Gruumsh fought his own devotees?"
"Gruumsh strong," muttered the druid. "Gruumsh like strong. You strong. You use gem. Show One-Eye."
Yddith relaxed. She understood why she had been kidnapped instead of killed. Indeed, realizing it was in the druid's interest to keep her alive, she felt considerably more relaxed. Comforted by this realization, it wasn't long before she slept.
The night was short for the others. They rested briefly, but kept moving even in the hours of darkness so they could rescue Yddith before Hassq killed her. Of course, none of them could understand why Hassq hadn't killed her outright to steal the necklace. It would have been easy to snatch the gem, place it around his own neck, transform into an eagle, and fly off to Calmet in a fraction of the time that the druid's hike up the mountain was taking. Jozan believed that Yddith was chosen by Pelor to provide some kind of key to victory over Calmet, but Alhandra considered it unseemly to expect help from the gods when the gods had empowered you to do it yourself. S
he made it very clear that she didn't think Yddith was any kind of key. She planned to rescue the barmaid because no woman should be carried into slavery and humiliation, not because Yddith was a key.
Krusk ventured no opinions. He kept his eyes on the prisoner and maintained position a pace behind their frightened orc guide. So far, the prisoner had proven to be an asset, but that didn't mean the barbarian trusted him. The prisoner stopped and Krusk immediately reached for his axe. Before he could draw it, the orc turned and motioned to Krusk.
"Here close," whispered the orc in his gruff dialect. "Give rope."
Krusk offered his rope reluctantly, remembering that Yddith had been the last to touch it before he coiled it in his bag and headed off to rescue her. After a pause, Krusk acceded to the orc's request and carefully scrutinized every motion that the prisoner made with the rope.
The orc shook out the rope in his hands and formed a noose with it. Looking to Krusk for reassurance, he carefully stepped into the underbrush and crouched. Krusk kept a keen eye on him, but the prisoner's posture didn't indicate any intent to escape. The prisoner surveyed the ground intently. After a while, the barbarian saw the orc pull back on the rope and hold up a squirming rodent. The noose was tight enough that the giant rat couldn't squeal. The orc proudly returned to the rest of the group.
Krusk wasn't at all sure what the prisoner was doing, so he signaled for the others to remain and followed the orc quietly and carefully along a lightly used game trail in the underbrush. The prisoner stopped, played out the slack on the rope, and threw the rat underhand to a spot slightly ahead on the path.
The barbarian could see that the rat was struggling to free itself, wriggling pathetically in the last throes of asphyxiation when it hit the ground. If it had looked like the unfortunate rodent was in trouble before, it was in double jeopardy when it touched down. A snare collapsed on the struggling vermin and snatched it up so that it hung from a spry tree limb. Krusk understood as he walked up beside the smiling orc and used his greataxe to slice the animal free. The orc hadn't been certain where the trigger of the trap was; the struggling rat was meant to set off the trap, even if the orc's aim missed the exact trip point. If the orc had picked up a rock or limb big enough to trigger the trap, Krusk would have assumed it was meant for a weapon.
He begrudgingly acknowledged the orc's wisdom, but when the prisoner whispered, "Good trap. Clear now," Krusk shoved him back down the trail.
It was still a murdering orc, he reminded himself.
The prisoner and the half-breed returned to the others and attempted to develop a plan. Krusk thought they could sneak up on the camp and have Jozan invoke an area of silence around the druid. Under that plan, Hassq wouldn't be able to cast any spells that required power words or invocations, and Krusk felt certain he could put an arrow through any of the guards who might threaten Yddith once the orcs became aware of their attackers. While Jozan silenced the druid and Krusk provided cover, Alhandra would enter the camp and cut Yddith free. Once Yddith was clear, they would turn their attention to the druid himself.
The most surprising part of their deliberation was discovering that their prisoner also wanted a chance to strike at Hassq. Whether Qorrg, for so he introduced himself, had a long-term grudge against the druid, or merely wanted revenge for being placed in a situation where he became a prisoner of war was uncertain. All Krusk could be sure of was that the orc's eye lit up with undisguised pleasure whenever they spoke of killing Hassq.
Certainly, the plan was simple. Unfortunately, that didn't mean the enemy would cooperate. Indeed, the plan didn't survive coming into proximity with the enemy. Qorrg was extremely capable of moving silently through the underbrush, and the barbarian was even better. Alhandra was slow, but competent. The problem was Jozan, who had never been called upon to be truly stealthy before. Krusk winced as Jozan clumsily stepped on every brittle branch and root. It was clear to the barbarian that they would never get near Hassq's camp without the druid being forewarned.
When Krusk asked for alternate suggestions, Alhandra proposed a ruse. She anticipated having the orc tie Krusk's rope loosely around Jozan's hands. Then, pretending that the cleric was his prisoner, Qorrg would march Jozan straight up to the druid. Krusk and Alhandra would hide in the trees and be ready to attack when the moment was ripe or if anything went wrong. Krusk looked at Qorrg with plain mistrust, but he assured the orc that an arrow would be aimed at his back through the entire masquerade. If anything did go wrong, Qorrg would be the first to die.
Setting up the ploy required but a minute. Then Krusk and Alhandra faded into the trees with only seconds to spare before a group of Hassq's henchmen appeared on the trail ahead of Qorrg and Jozan.
For a moment, Krusk thought the orc was tempted to throw in with his old team. He caressed the feathers of the nocked arrow's fletching and drew the bow, ready to drop the orc where he stood. As though he was aware of Krusk's intention, Qorrg insisted that Jozan was his prize only and that he was determined to take the cleric to Hassq personally.
"Qorrg find strong foe! Bring Hassq!" shouted the orc.
"Bring!" commanded the masked leader of the orcs, little realizing the charade in which he was a participant.
Qorrg quickly obeyed, shoving Jozan forward convincingly. The two followed their escort of four orcs straight back to Hassq's camp, while Krusk and Alhandra stalked behind unseen.
The impromptu plan worked well enough against the orc guards, but Hassq had obviously not become their leader through luck alone. When he saw the bound priest approaching under guard, he immediately leapt to his feet and shouted for his minions.
"Trick! Fight!" screeched the druid, and confused warriors began converging on both Qorrg and Jozan.
Krusk grinned with satisfaction as his arrow burst from an orc's chest. He had barely nocked another when, to his surprise, Qorrg sliced into an onrushing orc, giving Jozan the time he needed to invoke a holy membrane of silence over the druid. When Krusk let the arrow fly, it streaked across the clearing and vibrated obscenely in another orc's neck, it's bloody tip lodged in the orc's shoulder armor. He also saw Hassq smirk menacingly at Jozan's spell as if the druid could merely shrug off the priest's effort.
By this time, Krusk was vaguely aware of the paladin fighting her way toward Yddith. He watched the paladin thrusting and slashing and deemed it most appropriate to aim his arrows at the main attraction. Just as Hassq reached for his leather bag and started pulling the emerald necklace out of it, Krusk's arrow pierced the druid's hand. The druid dropped the necklace in an involuntary spasm of pain, but Krusk cursed to himself as he saw the druid immediately tracing a pattern in the air. The arrow waved strangely from the impaled hand as he did so. Hassq seemed to be conjuring power out of the earth and trees themselves to throw at the barbarian.
With relief, Krusk observed Alhandra win her way to Yddith's side and slice the barmaid's bonds. Again, he sighted down the arrow shaft and straight into Hassq's eyes. He paused for a moment as a rainbow of energy washed over him and was only a half-second away from releasing the arrow when he realized that he didn't want to do so. After all, this Hassq wasn't so very different from himself. They both preferred the woods to a comfortable tavern. They both revered nature. Both were misunderstood by civilized humans. Krusk removed his arrow from the bow, wondering how he could possibly have thought about harming Hassq.
Then he realized something that bothered him even more. Jozan, Alhandra, and the traitor, Qorrg, were advancing dangerously against the druid. Krusk saw the cleric strike an orc in the stomach with his mace. As the orc fought for breath, the cleric shoved him aside and raised his mace to strike the druid.
Only one option was open to Krusk. With a bellow, he dropped his bow and rushed forward, axe in hand. Jozan powered past another orc and praised Pelor with a mighty shout. Krusk's anger rose. Jozan wasn't thinking clearly, he misunderstood the situation and must be stopped.
Krusk paid little attention to Alhandra, Yddith, or Qo
rrg as he thundered past. His rush placed him squarely behind Jozan, who only then realized that Krusk was not hurtling toward the druid, but toward him. Jozan whirled to find himself trapped between the berserk half-orc and the druid. He raised his mace uncertainly, not sure which foe to face.
Krusk was oblivious to Alhandra's startled cry from his right flank. Neither did he pay much heed to Hassq since Jozan had turned away from the druid. Hassq was crouched behind Jozan and was placing the necklace around his own neck. In his red rage, Krusk swung the axe in a great sideways arc toward his misguided cleric companion. He heard bones crunch and a massive release of breath, but he also felt something wrong. For some reason, the rope that had so recently bound Yddith was entangled around the handle of Krusk's axe, as well as around his neck and torso. It hadn't stopped the mighty blow from his axe or prevented Jozan from receiving a terrible gash in his side, but it had saved the cleric from being split wide open.
Krusk couldn't comprehend why Yddith would interfere. For a moment, he considered confronting her but then he heard Qorrg yelling from behind him, "Hassq be bird! Has gem! Fly!"
Realizing that Hassq was still in danger, the barbarian focused on untangling the rope from his weapon. He noticed an eagle flapping to get airborne and thought he saw a flash of green as the eagle cleared Jozan's shoulder and flew higher through a gap in the trees. A triumphant cry escaped from the druid's beak as he gained altitude.
The eagle stalled in mid-air. The shaft of an arrow penetrated the bird's breast. With horror, Krusk recognized the fletching on the arrow as his own before the thrashing eagle plummeted back through the branches.
Krusk turned away from Jozan and glared at Qorrg. The orc had used the barbarian's own weapon to attack Hassq, and Krusk found that confusing. Hassq had wanted him to attack Jozan, yet, Qorrg had shot the druid and probably killed him. Should he attack Qorrg or Jozan?