Sadness and sorrow had covered Licius, almost as completely as the falling snow had by that point. For his entire armor was covered in white and there was no way of differentiating him from the ground. The Elf was so troubled by his own thoughts that the idea of uncovering his neck and chopping of his head with one of his retractable blades began to cross his mind.
Well, at least the Merchant will be happy with my death. He clenched his fist preparing to unsheathe one of the blades.
But just as he was about to kill himself, he saw a group of people walking through the blizzard towards him. He wondered who they could be, but the snowstorm was too thick for him to actually see them.
But as they came closer, Licius realized that those were not men. It was a group of five Orcs, walking north despite Lizandra’s theory of them hating the cold.
A number of thoughts began to cross the Elf’s mind.
Should I try and alert my friends? Maybe if I stay still they won’t notice me. What are they looking for this far north? What happens if they find me?
He began to despair. But then, in the mist of his desperation a moment of clarity occurred.
I am Licius, High General of the royal Elf army and I have killed more Orcs than I can remember. My body may be broken, but my spirit is not. And I shall sooner die fighting, than letting those ugly beasts intimidate me.
The Orcs had not noticed him lying beneath the snow, so Licius allow them to come close enough for him to strike. He had already played out several different scenarios of how the fight would go in his mind and had prepared for every conceivable outcome, making him victorious in the end.
The sharp retractable blade came out of hiding from beneath the snow, as the first Orc’s foot was in front of Licius. And in one clean cut, the blade swiftly traveled from the front of the Orc’s ankle to its back, coming out covered in blood. The Orc fell on the ground before the others could even react to what had happened. Using his hands to crawl with incredible speed, Licius got on top of the Orc and stabbed him right in the throat.
And with the same speed, Licius rolled to his left avoiding the second Orc, who was about to stamp on him. The foot of the Orc went straight through the torso of the now deceased Orc, getting stuck inside his body in the process and giving Licius just enough time to use his left blade to cut his leg clean off. The enormous Orc lost his leg and his balance, collapsing over Licius, who was already waiting for him with his right blade pointing up, letting the gravity do his work for him, as he impaled the Orc’s head on his blade.
The third Orc grabbed Licius by his right ankle, as he lay on the ground pinned beneath the Orc he had just killed. This was something that Licius had already foreseen, but the lack of feeling in his legs made him unaware that it was already happening, until he felt the force of the pull that sent him flying through the air.
The trajectory of the Elf was cut short, as he was caught by one of the remaining Orcs. The Orc had a tight grip on Licius as he hugged him from behind, but despite the Orc’s best efforts to crush him, he found himself unable to crush the Bronium armor.
Licius hung from the Orc’s arms, as another Orc began to charge towards him, claws first. So the Elf pushed his head back with great strength, using the back of his Bronium covered skull to crush the nose of the Orc that was holding him.
The Orc let go of Licius with one of his arms to use that hand to cover his broken nose, which gave Licius enough space for him to reach the compartment in the back of his armor, where the retractable staff was stored.
Once Licius held the staff in his free hand, he pointed it forward towards the charging Orc. The staff then grew in size and went straight through the charging Orc’s left eye, squashing his brain and coming out of the back part of his skull.
The Elf then released the staff, as it had become stuck in the Orc’s skull and blindly swung his sword towards the Orc that stood behind him, cutting the Orc’s right ear in the process. Then using his hand on the arm that was still trapped by the Orc, he grabbed the little finger in the Orc’s hand and twisted it in every possible direction, making sure that every bone in it would be dislocated.
The Orc screamed in pain and relinquished his grip on the Elf, making Licius collapse into the ground. But his stay there was short, as his entire body was lifted from the ground by a strong kick from the last Orc.
Every bone in the Orc’s feet was crushed, as it made contact with the Bronium armor. But that did not stop him from leaping over the disoriented Licius. The Orc then pulled out the claws from his fingers, as he tried to scratch through the armor, but this only enraged him further.
Licius was barely able to see, as the drool from the Orc’s mouth and the snow that fell from the sky clouded his vision. And even when the Orc was unable to harm him through the armor, it still used Licius as a ragdoll, slamming the Elf’s head from side to side as it punched him.
The Orc was on a frenzy hitting Licius and showed no signs of wanting to stop, so the Elf general took the only way out he could find and plunged both of his swords upward without being sure of where they would land. Fortunately both his swords found their mark as the left one struck the Orc in the right lung and right one went through his stomach and all the way to his left kidney, killing the Orc in a matter of seconds and making it collapse on top of Licius.
The Elf knew that there was still one Orc alive, and that the injuries it had would not stop it from attacking. So gathering as much strength as he could in his upper body, Licius made a push to get free from the Orc’s corpse that was pinning him down.
Licius was much stronger than a Human, but this Orc seemed to weigh a ton. Licius was barely able to push him aside, rolling over with him and landing on top of the Orc’s corpse.
The Elf knew he had to move, but the toll that this fight was having on his body was high. And before he could move, he felt the grip of the Orc’s hands on both his forearms. The Orc was holding him by both arms just above the exit point of his retractable blades, making it impossible to use them as defense in this situation. And with its left foot, the Orc made sure that Licius would stay pinned to the ground, as it tried to rip his arms away by pulling them as hard as he could. But the solid Bronium armor prevented this from happening; sadly it did not prevent Licius’s right shoulder, from popping out of place.
The Elf screamed in pain, as the Orc continued to pull on his dislocated shoulder, making Licius’s spine bend in an unnatural way, as it pinned his body to the ground with its foot.
Licius was unable to free himself from the Orc’s grip, as it continued to pull his arms franticly. Then the Orc made a concentrated effort, with such strength that a snapping sound emanated from Licius spine, followed by a tingling sensation in the Elf’s legs.
Licius was still unable to use his legs, but the simple fact of feeling something below the wound gave him a newfound strength. So he began to pull his arms down, fighting the grip the Orc had over them. But as hard as he pulled, he remained unable to break the Orc’s grip. The Elf general began to lose hope, but his pride was already too hurt for him to quit.
It was then when a hacking sound broke the Orc’s frantic screams, as it finally relinquished its grip over Licius’s arms and fell on the ground next to the Elf whit its skull completely split in half.
Licius had no idea of what had happened, so he used his good arm to turn around just enough to see a thick leather boot.
The Elf looked upwards and saw the tallest and strongest Human he had ever seen, dressed in thick leather armor and animal furs, holding a two handed axe that still dripped with the Orc’s blood.
“I had it; there was no need for you to intervene,” Licius said, using anger to hide his injured pride.
“The fuck you did, you were two seconds away from getting raped by that Orc. Guess that’s what I get for sticking my nose in other people business, next time I’ll let you get fucked.”
“Well, it seems you are more educated with that axe than with your tongue.”
&nb
sp; “Yes, I have always been fancy with words.”
“I guess I owe you an apology. I thank you for your help.”
“And what the fuck am I supposed to do with an apology? You better cough up some silver, before I chop your head off and continue my trip.” The man raised his enormous two-handed axe using only one hand.
“You are welcome to try, if you feel like it.”
The tall man did not hesitate for an instant after hearing the Elf’s response; he grabbed his axe with both hands and swung straight for Licius’s neck. But before the axe could make contact with the Bronium armor, it bounced off a glowing bubble of light, making the tall man lose his grip over it.
“What the fuck is this?”
He looked for the sorcerer that was casting this spell and saw two silhouettes through the distant snowstorm. One of them was holding a hammer, that it then pointed at him and from it a blast of glowing golden light emerged, hitting him straight in the chest.
The blast sent the tall man flying a few feet, until he landed flat on his back on the road, near where his axe had landed.
“Licius, are you alright?” Arius asked the Elf, as he and Lizandra ran towards the road.
“Yes, only my pride is hurt.”
Arius went straight to Licius and helped him up, while Lizandra ran straight towards the man and, using the weight of her gorilla form, she stepped on the man’s wrist, as he made a move for his axe.
“I wouldn’t do that, if I were you.”
“What the fuck is this? Are you a talking monkey?”
“I am a druid, you imbecile. And I am also the last thing you will see, if you don’t stay quiet.”
“What happened? Why did this man attack you?” Arius asked his friend.
“Because he is an imbecile, but before he attacked me, he helped me kill one of these Orcs.”
“Explain yourself.” Arius pointed his hammer straight at the tall man.
“And who the fuck are you to demand answers?”
“I am Arius White Knight, Prince of Logrant City and rightful ruler over the kingdom of men.”
“For fuck’s sake, you are going to get yourself killed talking like that in these lands, little prince. Cause no one rules here, except for Korgat.”
“And who is this Korgat you speak of?” Arius asked.
“You don’t know who Korgat the Gore Blade is?”
“Yes, I know who Korgat the Gore Blade is. But he cannot be the same one you speak of, he would have to be a hundred years old,” Arius replied.
“I don’t know how fucking old he is. But I do know that he rules these lands and you and your friends are looking for trouble just by being here.”
“You have some mouth on you, little man,” Lizandra said.
“Ha! That is why they call me Khall, the silver tongue. And you talk really well for a monkey.”
“Lizandra, you can release him. I am sure that he will behave for now, won’t you?” Arius said.
Lizandra reluctantly released the pressure she had over Khall’s wrist and walked back to her friends. She then placed the deer on the ground and returned to her Human form.
Khall could not help but notice how beautiful Lizandra was and despite their rough start, he decided to try his Outsider charm.
“Oh my, what nice pair of tits you have. You know, women don’t just call me the silver tongue because I’m fancy with words.”
Lizandra did not dignify him with a response; she simply ignored him completely.
“Look, the only reason I am allowing you to live, is because I need information on Korgat. So you better stop wasting our time and start talking,” Arius said.
“Sure, I’ll talk, for twenty pieces of silver.”
“We do not have silver, but we can offer you food,” Arius replied.
“Wait a minute, I am not about to share my prey with that scum,” Lizandra said.
“Fine, I’ll tell you in exchange for food, but only because I know I’ll spite the pretty lady. So what do you want to know?”
“I want to know about Korgat, and about your Outsider clan,” Arius replied.
“Well, we aren’t much of clan. Basically we are the scum of the earth; we pillage and fuck our way through life until the day we die. As I said, we are ruled by Korgat and we follow him on his raids, as it’s declared by Outsider law.”
“And what law is that?” Licius asked.
“Simple, if you want to rule, you have to kill the actual ruler… and nobody is going to kill Korgat.”
“Tell me, why is that?” Arius asked.
“Because Korgat has ruled for as long as any of us can remember. And the few assholes that have challenged him have died slow and painful deaths.”
“So, he is a good fighter then?” Licius asked.
“Oh, he is so much more than that. Korgat is stronger than a thousand Orcs and his skin is as tough as iron.”
“Sure, and he shoots lightning bolts out of his ass?” Lizandra asked.
“No, he uses his sword for that.”
“So, he is a super-strong, hundred-year-old man, with iron skin and a sword that shoots lightning bolts?” Arius asked.
“Yeah, but he looks way younger.”
“And why do you think he is a hundred years old?” Licius asked Arius, as they prepared to cook the deer.
“Well, if we are indeed talking about the same man, there are many legends about him that my grandfather passed on to my father and him to me. They concern a captain of the royal Logrant army that was so savage, he ended up losing his rank and being expelled from the army. He constantly embarked on suicide missions, from which none of his men ever returned. Some said that he killed them himself, others that he was in alliance with the Orcs. But regardless of that, he did not take his expulsion from the army very well. So the next day, he went to the order’s royal barracks in Logrant city and killed half of the order single-handedly, before they managed to subdue him. After that, he was placed in solitary confinement in the deepest and darkest dungeon of the Logrant city prison, where he was guarded day and night by an entire legion of soldiers, until the night one of the guards gave him a chance to escape. Which he did, but not before killing every last one of the guards in that prison and releasing every inmate. But never did my father mention anything about him having super strength or shooting lightning; he was just a great fighter and more vicious than any other warrior mankind had seen.”
“I don’t get it. If he was so dangerous, why didn’t you grandfather execute him?” Lizandra asked.
“He never explained that clearly, but he told my father that he had a vision and that Korgat would one day play an important role in the fate of the world.”
“This all sounds a bit too weird, if you ask me,” Lizandra said.
“This coming from a woman that can turn into animals and her little prince friend who can shoot bolts of light out of his hammer,” Khall said sarcastically.
“Yes, I suppose you are right,” Lizandra said reluctantly.
“Well, I think I have earned my supper, so if you don’t mind, I’m going to eat because I’m fucking starving.”
“One more thing, if you don’t mind. We are looking for a sword, called the Frozen Blade,” said Arius.
“I do mind, but I don’t know anything about any fucking swords anyway,” Khall replied, as he grabbed a big chunk of deer meat.
“Perhaps you know someone who may know about it?” Licius asked.
“I doubt it, but if there is someone who knows, is got to be Korgat.”
“Well, it seems, all roads lead to Korgat. Is there a chance you could take us to him?” Arius asked Khall.
“Sure, he is two days up the road from here in Blood Howl village. I’m headed there myself, but I must warn you, that I am only taking you, so I can enjoy watching when he kills you all.”
None of them trusted the outsider, but he seemed to know his way around those lands and was by far their best shot at finding Korgat and possibly the sword, so t
hey paid no attention to his comment and decided to rest for a while before resuming their journey north.
Khall was telling the truth and on the second day of journey, they arrived at Blood Howl village.
The place was small and covered with snow; there were five houses and a tavern. And all the structures looked as if they haven’t had any maintenance in decades.
“As promised, welcome to Blood Howl village, or, as some people call it, Killer’s Town.”
“What a lovely place,” Arius said.
“Yes, I wonder how it got that nickname,” Lizandra said.
“Little piece of advice, the men of this village get exited easily at the sight of a new woman. So I recommend you stay in your horse form and remain quiet, or things are gonna get violent really fast.”
“I am not afraid of any man.”
“I know, but right now we need to avoid as much trouble as we can. So degrading as it may seem, I suggest we follow his advice, at least for the moment,” Licius said to Lizandra.
Lizandra swallowed her pride and responded simply with a nod.
“Very well then, let’s go, gentleman. Korgat is the kind of man you don’t want to keep waiting,” Khall said to Arius and Licius.
“You make it sound as if he was expecting us,” Arius said in confusion.
“I told you that Korgat controls this area; I’m sure his scouts alerted him of our arrival way before we got here. But don’t get your hopes up; I doubt you will receive a warm welcome.”
Khall helped Licius get down of Lizandra’s back and suggested to the Elf that he crawl the rest of the way, since he had no intention of carrying him. So Arius intervened and helped his friend, carrying in his arms.
They followed the outsider into the old tavern in the middle of the snow.
Once inside they felt a little relief, as it was at least warm. The tavern was nothing special, old chairs, filthy tables and a smell of piss that could make you vomit, in a square room with a bar and a door that lead to another room.
Scorched Kingdom Page 21