Scorched Kingdom

by Daniel Guevara

  “Look, I don’t care if you’re the queen of the Elves that has come back from the dead. If you don’t have silver, then get the fuck out!”

  “Come on, friend, there must be something we can do to earn our food and stay?”

  “Well, now that I think of it. This town has been having a nasty Orc problem lately. And you and your friends seem like capable warriors.” The bartender said, with a suspicious tone.

  “More than capable, in fact we are the finest warriors you have ever seen.”

  “Very well, there is a large Orc camp south of here that has been bothering us for quite some time. Too large for the usual mercenaries to dare take it out, but since you are the finest warriors I have ever seen then it shouldn’t be a problem for you. Take it out and the dinner and stay is on me.”

  “You got yourself a deal.”

  Meanwhile a small child approached Licius and Stundroff, and, after staring a while at Licius’s ears, he asked,

  “Are you an Elf?”

  Licius looked straight into the child’s eyes and in a menacing voice said,

  “No, I am a man. But when I was kid, a grown man I met in a bar, hung me up by the tip of my ears for asking dumb questions.”

  The terrified child turned around and ran away as fast he could.

  “Well, my friends,” Arius said as he returned to the table, “my royal charm worked. I have arranged for free dinner and a night’s stay. And out of appreciation, I have agreed to help the town with a small Orc threat.”

  “That sounds more like a work offer than royal charm, if you ask me,” Licius said.

  “What’s the difference? We’re getting food and a bed. Besides we kill Orcs for fun. How much harm can a few Orcs do?”

  The Dwarf and the Elf were unsure about the legitimacy of Arius’s words, but with no better options, they reluctantly agreed to the terms.

  So using the cover of the night they marched south to the Orc camp.

  Once there, they hid behind a bush to scout and plan a strategy.

  They found the Orcs at the middle of an orgy, the stench of the Orcs body fluids irritated Licius’s keen sense of smell. But that did not distract the once proud Elf general from counting the Orcs and planning a strategy.

  “You said a few. I count fifty Orcs” said Licius.

  “Well, maybe I underestimated what the old man said. But we can take them.”

  “I never said we couldn’t, I am just stating your obvious lie.”

  “So what’s your plan?” Arius asked.

  “We will need a distraction. So I suggest sending our blonde prince first to catch their attention. Once you reach the center of their camp and they start attacking you, you can use your magic bubble and cry like a girl. The Dwarf and I will take care of the rest.”

  “Great plan!” Stundroff said.

  “Sure… great plan. And how do you propose I reach the center of their camp before they start attacking me?”

  “Well, you’ll need the help of our Dwarf friend here.”

  Before Arius could ask what he meant by that, Stundroff lifted Arius and tossed him into the center of the camp.

  Arius used his shield to break the fall and stood up in the middle of the Orc camp, immediately all the Orcs started attacking just like Licius said. With the Orcs’ backs turned towards Licius and Stundroff, they quickly ran inside the camp.

  Licius draw his retractable sword and, with one swift blow, he cut the head of the first Orc in his path. He then jumped on the shoulders of the decapitated Orc before it fell and from there jumped again, splitting the next Orc completely in half with his sword.

  Stundroff ripped a small tree from the ground complete with its roots and, using it as a club; he smashed five Orcs with a single swing. The Orcs fell on top of some of the other Orcs, who then noticed the attack from behind and turned around to start attacking Stundroff. The Dwarf took another swing, this time only catching three Orcs, but he hit them with such force that the tree and their bodies exploded from the impact, bathing the surroundings in splinters, guts and blood.

  An Orc came from Stundroff’s blind side and punched him right in the jaw, dislocating it. The Dwarf then turned his head left to the Orc who was completely surprised not only by the fact that the tiny man did not fall, but also that his jaw healed itself in a matter of seconds. The Orc then tried to hammer Stundroff into the ground. But the Dwarf just grabbed his arms and used him as a replacement for his broken tree, swinging the Orc with enough force to kill both him and the other Orc.

  By then Licius had killed ten Orcs more, swiftly dancing between them now using a retractable blade on each hand.

  The Elf cut off clean the arm of an Orc that attacked him and then, spinning with the momentum, he took a second swing at him, chopping his head off. He then turned around and kicked the Orc behind him in the jaw which sent the Orc stumbling directly into Stundroff’s hand, which without any effort crushed his skull. The now headless Orc received a kick from Stundroff that sent it flying and smashed an Orc that was trying to attack Licius.

  By then Arius was tired of just standing there. So he made his holy shield explode, knocking down the closest Orcs around him. Seeing the opening, Licius asked Stundroff for help reaching Arius.

  So the Dwarf joined his hand, interlacing his fingers, as the Elf jumped, flipping and landing with one foot on Stundroff’s hands, who then threw him straight at Arius.

  As Licius flew in the air, he used his blades to chop the heads of several Orcs in the way.

  Before reaching him, Licius noticed that Arius took a swing from his hammer crushing an Orc’s plexus, so twisting his body in the air, he landed feet first on the head of Arius’s hammer and using its momentum he then jumped off the hammer and, placing his hands together in front of him as a spear, he managed to go through two Orc bodies, killing them instantly.

  The Elf then flipped back with a jump and joined forces with the Human prince as they stood back to back in the center of the remaining Orcs; slicing and smashing, the two warriors took care of the remaining Orcs until only one Orc remained.

  The Orc stood on the other side of a huge bonfire that was set over a flat stone and as the prince and the Elf stood there deciding who would kill him, they were joined by Stundroff.

  The three of them now standing together looked at the Orc, who in desperation grabbed the stone beneath the bonfire and flipped it over, making the fire rain down.

  The Orc roared, thinking he had managed to defeat them.

  But once the dust and fire cleared, he was quickly disappointed, as Licius’s armor and Arius’s holy shield had protected them. And a half-burned Stundroff was already healing.

  The Orc was terrified as he saw the Dwarf’s raw expression of anger and decided to escape. But as he ran away, Stundroff took a log that was still burning and used it as a spear. The log went straight through the back of the Orc’s head, exiting through his right eye socket. The Orc fell flat on his face, as the log still burned through his skull.

  “I wanted him,” Licius said.

  “Sorry, you were a bit too slow then.”

  Having killed all the Orcs, they returned to the Human settlement each carrying bags full of Orc heads.

  Once there, they emptied the bags in front of all the people to see and demanded their well-deserved reward. Everyone in the town gathered to cheer for them and as Arius and Stundroff enjoyed the attention from the townsfolk, Licius entered the tavern and sat at a table demanding food.

  “Good work my friends,” Arius said, as he and the Dwarf joined Licius at the table.

  “I’m not your friend,” Licius replied.

  “Oh come on! Can’t you relax for a moment?”

  “Yes, I can. But I chose not to.”

  “Very well then, you stay uptight as much as you like. But I think we did great work and that we’re a formidable team; if we work together I’m sure people will rally behind us and we can take the world back from the Orcs.”

  “I w
ill admit that the two of you do possess extraordinary battle capabilities and as long as I can have my revenge I don’t mind tagging along on your journey.”

  “That’s great, but when do we get our food, because I am starving,” Stundroff said.

  They enjoyed a moment of peace and celebration before a good night’s sleep, in order to prepare for their long journey ahead.

  Chapter 6

  Escalation

  The next morning, rested and loaded with all the supplies they could carry, they resumed their path.

  “Where should we go now?” Licius asked.

  “Well, my journey is north, to the land of the outsiders. But we will have to stop once or twice on our way there, so it’s very likely that we will need to lend our Orc killing services again,” Arius replied.

  “That works for me,” Licius said.

  “I’m just happy to see the world,” Stundroff added.

  It had been a week of walking north, having only stopped to eat and rest, fighting the unavoidable Orcs in their way.

  Since the next two settlements that Arius suggested as a rest stop had been burned to the ground, they walked for days without stopping - and the exhaustion was taking its toll.

  Hunger was starting to become a problem, with no animals to hunt and a Dwarf that ate as much as a small army. Frustration started to rise and discussions became more frequent. If they did not find food and shelter soon, they would die.

  “I swear on the great forge, that I am going to eat the next Orc I find,” Stundroff said.

  “That’s actually not a bad idea; it would certainly make up for the incredible amount of food you’ve eaten,” Licius replied.

  “Come on - we’re less than a day away from Water Siege Castle. There we will find food and shelter,” Arius said.

  “And what makes you think that this castle won’t be burned down to the ground like the last two?” Licius asked.

  “Because this one is on a small island surrounded by a huge lake and as far as I know, Orcs don’t swim,” Arius replied.

  “Well, that makes sense,” Licius said.

  Half a day they walked before coming across their next stop, a huge expanse of scorched land covered in burned bodies. Animal, Human and Orc corpses alike all piled up like a small mountain.

  “What happened here?” Stundroff asked.

  “I’m not sure, looks like a huge battle,” Arius replied.

  “Unlikely, young prince, the bodies have been piled up. They’re not scattered around the place as usually happens in a battle, besides most of them don’t even have weapons on them. And the ground itself is scorched by fire; it would take a huge amount of fuel just to make a fire that spread so quickly around the battlefield. Between this and the fact that the last two settlements we encountered where burned to the ground, I believe we are facing an enemy that uses fire as its primary source of aggression,” Licius said.

  “Could it be a dragon?” Stundroff asked.

  “No one has seen a dragon in over a thousand years. I doubt those creatures actually exist anymore,” Arius replied.

  “Besides, a creature of that size would leave footprints of some kind,” Licius added.

  His Elf ears picked up a noise in the distance. He turned and saw an Orc standing at the edge of the scorched land, just a few hundred feet away from them.

  But unlike the rest of the Orcs our heroes had encountered, this one wore a dark tunic and, instead of rushing to attack, it seemed to be just watching, almost as if it was studying them.

  “Well, I believe it’s your turn, Stundroff,” Arius said.

  “Ah! Just one - this won’t take long.”

  And before Licius could express his concern about the unusual Orc behavior, Stundroff jumped, landing just in front of the Orc.

  He then took a step forward and looked him directly into his eyes.

  Stundroff noticed something strange in the Orc’s eyes; they were completely black with no pupil or iris. The Orc slowly reached out his hand and held Stundroff by the wrist. This took Stundroff completely by surprise. His surprise quickly turned into fear as he saw that the orc’s skin, below his tunic, was turning to ash.

  It looked like magma was flowing through his veins. The Orc’s skin resembled the same scorched earth they stood on. Stundroff pulled his arm back, trying to release himself from the Orc’s grip, but before he could employ any real strength, he felt his skin begin to burn.

  The pain was incredible, and his skin began to melt faster than he could heal himself. The Orc tilted his head, as he saw how Stundroff’s skin regenerated almost as fast as he could burn it.

  “Fascinating…”

  Stundroff was in an unbearable pain, but he was still surprised to hear the Orc use the common tongue.

  “Let’s see how fast you can heal” said the Orc, as he placed his other hand on Stundroff’s face.

  The magma in his veins turned brighter as he began to burn Stundroff’s face; the Dwarf finally screamed in agonizing pain.

  Licius ran towards them, but before he could draw his sword the Orc moved his feet just slightly. This created a magma wave that hit Licius before he could react, sending him flying a few feet.

  The Elf fell on to the ground, covered in magma, which quickly began to cool into stone. The prince raised his holy shield before the next magma wave hit him.

  “Truly fascinating. What unusual creatures the three of you are,” the Orc said, as he made an effort to burn Stundroff faster.

  As Stundroff continue to scream in agony, the Orc looked at Arius, and he opened his mouth. Fire came out as if he was a dragon. The fire was as hot as the flame that burns inside the great forge; Arius had no choice but to use his holy shield.

  But the Human prince would not just stand there as his friend was burned alive; he slowly but surely began to push forward as the power of his fate guarded him from the heat of the flames. Yet he was unsure of how to approach the situation, for he would have to break his shield to attack once he reached the fire-spitting Orc.

  The screams of agony the Dwarf was emitting where more terrifying than the flames themselves; by now the hand of the Orc had completely melted Stundroff’s face, as the heat started to scorch his bones.

  Arius struggled his way through the flame until he was no more than feet away from the Orc, but the fire reflecting from the shield was also burning Stundroff.

  Arius made his shield explode, hoping this would repeal the fire and break the Orc’s concentration. The Orc released Stundroff and both were sent flying a few feet. The Orc stood up and looked at the Human and what remained of the Dwarf who was beginning to heal, although very slowly.

  “Impressive! I must say, you are by far the two must resilient opponents I have faced, but it is time to end this.”

  But then, Licius, who had been creeping up behind the Orc, used one clean cut to split the creature’s body in two.

  Hot magma bathed Licius’ entire body; luckily he was completely protected by his armor.

  The Elf and the prince ran towards their burned friend, who was still in a lot of pain.

  “He’s not healing quickly enough,” said Licius.

  “Let me help,” Arius said, as he pushed Licius aside and began to channel a healing spell.

  Both Stundroff and Arius were exhausted from days without sleeping or eating, so their capabilities where diminished. Yet between the both of them they managed to heal Stundroff’s wounds in a few minutes.

  “Are you alright?” Licius asked.

  “Yes, I’m all right,” Stundroff replied, as he slowly got back on his feet.

  “Is that concern I hear in your voice?” Arius asked the Elf.

  “We may not be friends, but we’re in this fight together. And you proved to be more than loyal on the battlefield just now,” Licius replied.

  “Thank you for your kind words, but I’m more preoccupied right now with what we just fought,” Arius said.

  “I have no idea; never in my four thousand years
on this earth have I seen anything like him,” the Elf replied.

  “Let’s just hope he was the only one,” Stundroff said.

  “Indeed, although I very much doubt that,” Licius replied.

  Once the Dwarf was able to walk, they resumed their Journey towards Water Siege Castle; it took them the rest of the day just to see the shape of the castle in the horizon.

  But night had fallen upon them and the castle was still far away, so they decided to rest under a few trees.

  “Are you sure it’s good idea to stop now that we’re so close?” the Dwarf asked.

  “Yes, we have no idea what is waiting for us in that castle. We need to rest and gather as much strength as we can; besides there is a little something I have been meaning to take care of for a few days now. And this will be the perfect chance, so I’ll mount guard as you rest,” Licius replied.

  Licius’s head was full of concern, for he had witnessed in these past few days more types of magic than he had seen over his millennia over the land of Gaia.

  He had been training his entire life to become the perfect warrior. Yet nothing in his training had prepared him for these things, but a small sense of comfort lay in the fact that his new companions were formidable warriors, just as he was.

  As the hours passed Licius began to grow tired, so he sat down and stared into the distance. It was then when a small mouse approached them; it was close to Arius when Licius stood up and stepped on its tail.

  “Talk, you fool, who sent you?” Licius asked.

  “What’s happening?” Stundroff asked, waking up.

  “Meet our robber,” Licius replied.

  “How can you be sure? It’s just a mouse,” Arius said.

  “I can smell him.” Licius replied.

  The mouse look terrified and tried to run away as Licius draw one of his retractable swords.

  “Who sent you?”

  The mouse stopped trying to run and looked up at Licius; its tail then retracted into its body and it began to grow rapidly.

  In a matter of second the small mouse had become a huge bear, and with one swing of his claw send Licius flying back five feet.

  Arius and Stundroff where still working on believing what they just had seen, but the bear took another swing, this time at Arius who was still lying on the floor. The prince managed to roll over away from the bear’s claw, which then roared as it stood on its back legs.