Homesteading on Jord

by Allan Joyal

  Heather turned and started to walk in the direction of Kariy's camp fire. For a moment I just stood and watched her hips sway as she moved, but a waved of fatigue reminded me that I had been at work since dawn. With legs that felt like heavy weights had been attached to my ankles, I staggered in the direction Heather had pointed.

  I had almost left the faint light cast by the camp fire when I spotted the bedroll set up on a clear patch of ground. I carefully knelt down on the edge, thinking to remove my boots, but once I was on the ground my body fell forward as my eyes closed. With the orc drumming continuing to rumble in the distance, I rapidly fell asleep.

  Chapter 30: What About Walls and Neighbors

  I have no idea how long I initially slept. At one point I rolled over and found both Heather and Cimbra clinging to me. The sky was dark, and I could just barely make out a small fire where Kariy had been cooking. The drumming had stopped, so I closed my eyes again and slept.

  The next time I woke, only a single pair of arms was wrapped around me. I could feel a woman's body pressed against my back as my eyes adjusted to the darkness. Once I could see I glanced down and could see the tan skin of the arms. I started to roll over only for the arms to squeeze me for a moment.

  "I'm comfortable," Heather complained.

  "I need to get the day started," I said. I paused to listen to my surroundings. A light breeze rustled the leaves of the trees, but I could hear no movement. Quietly and slowly I sat up.

  As I raised my head, I noticed that the rest of the group was still sleeping. I decided that I did not want to disturb them, so I carefully crept out of Heather's embrace and walked over to the wall. A lonely torch burned from the top of the nearby scaffolding, shining a flickering light over the area.

  "It's quiet," Cimbra said softly. I looked up to see her kneeling on the tower platform and gazing down at me. The dark elf appeared refreshed.

  "Have you been up there all night?" I asked.

  Cimbra giggled. It was a musical titter that sounded like birdsong. "I was in your arms more than half the night. I'm just up here to watch at dawn, since I have the best night vision."

  "Anything moving out there?" I asked.

  "No," Cimbra said. "I know that there are deer out there as Lenoir told me while we were standing watch together. The arrival of the orcs probably drove them away for now. I don't even see many birds at the moment."

  "I'm guessing that the orcs tend to spoil land they visit," I said.

  "At least the river flows towards them," Cimbra said tartly. "My people went to war on a couple of occasions when troglodytes tried to set up outposts along the river that provided water to our city."

  Cimbra seemed ready to say more, but a clattering on the far side of the wall brought our conversation to a halt. She stood up, turning towards the wall, leaving me standing on the ground and gazing at her back.

  "What is it?" I asked. "Should I climb up there to see?"

  "There is nothing to see," Cimbra said. "The sun is not up yet. As for what it is, I'm not sure. It appears that a number of orcs are leaving their camp and heading this direction, but it's only a small group."

  I glanced back towards where Heather and the others slept. They appeared to be sleeping peacefully. The commotion in the distance grew louder. I reached up and grabbed one of the uprights to the platform just to the left of the tower. As the noise in the distance grew closer I climbed so I could see over the wall.

  At first, all I could see was darkness. The sun had not yet risen above the horizon, but no moon hung in the sky. I could not even make out the trees I knew had to be only a short distance away. However, a moment later I could pick out bright spots far in the distance. They flickered constantly as I tried to focus on them. They were too far away for me to be sure, but they appeared to be slowly moving closer.

  "Is that?" I asked.

  "The lights are head sources. I think the orcs are carrying torches," Cimbra said.

  Before I could respond there was a howl of pain in the distance, and one of the lights moved downward quickly. The howls continued as the dropped light vanished.

  "Yes, those are definitely torches," I commented. "And not well made ones. I'm guessing that some orc just got burned."

  Cimbra giggled. "Well, I doubt they use torches often. The fires would provide enough light for the camp, and they appear to be rather scared of the dark."

  "I am too," I said with a smirk. The howls had died down and were now being drowned out by the sounds of several beings stumbling over uneven ground. "It sounds like they are approaching."

  "They are, but they aren't moving quickly," Cimbra said as one of the torches suddenly became brighter. Several tongues of flame shot skyward. Howls of pain could be heard up again as the torches scattered. It soon became clear that one of the orcs had run into a dead tree and set it alight.

  Cimbra ducked down and turned her eyes away from the burning tree. I glanced down and could see her covering her face with her hands. "Are you hurt?" I asked worriedly.

  "The light from the flame will ruin my night vision," Cimbra said. "I have to look away until it dies down."

  I stood up and gazed out at the burning tree. I could see shadowy figures dashing past the tree as it continued to burn. Several pairs moved through the lit area. I could see that each pair was carrying something towards our wall.

  The flickering of the flames and the fact that the orcs were moving quickly made it impossible to see what they were doing. "They have something," I said worriedly. "But I can't tell what it is. The light isn't very good."

  "The sun should begin to rise in a moment," Cimbra said. "I think the orcs want to be in position when dawn lights up the land."

  "I better get the others," I said. "Can you watch until I return?"

  Cimbra glanced over the wall. "Yes. The fire is dying down. They must have stumbled into one of the few dead trees in the forest."

  "Hopefully it won't spread," I said as I turned and jumped from the wall. My ankle turned slightly as I landed, but I ignored the pain and stood up quickly.

  Heather was standing there holding my spear and glaring at me. "I woke up alone, with no idea where you were, and you didn't even have your spear so I could be sure you were safe," she hissed.

  I reached out and took the spear. "Where are the other spears?" I asked curtly.

  "Ron!" Heather wailed. "I don't want you to die!"

  "Me either," I said firmly. "Where are the other spears? We need to get everyone who has a weapon on the wall before the sun comes up."

  Heather's expression went from angry to flustered. "What?" she babbled.

  "The orcs have done something. They are headed our way in numbers. I need people at the walls with weapons. Where are Hencktor and Al?" I asked again.

  "Al was sleeping with Aine up near the cliff," Heather said pointing to the North. "I think Henck found a spot near the river."

  I sighed and looked back at the wall. "Cimbra?" I called out.

  "They are setting something up," my dark elf lover called back. "I can't tell what they are doing, but it does block me from seeing them directly."

  "How close?" I asked.

  "If the sun was up they'd be right at the edge of what we can see through the trees," Cimbra called back. "But I think they are planning on moving forward once they can see."

  I nodded and then turned to face north. "Al!" I shouted. "Wake up. You are needed at the wall! Everyone else, get up as well."

  I mused as I turned around. "We really need some kind of bell. I think that's something to talk to the dwarves about if we survive facing the orcs. My voice isn't loud enough to get everyone's attention."

  I drew in my breath to shout, but before I could start Lydia's voice rang out faintly. "Ron! We're on our way!"

  "She heard?" Heather whispered.

  "I expect they haven't exactly been sleeping deeply. I know I was waiting for someone to shout an alarm," I said calmly. "Now, can you see if Kariy can get a breakfast goin
g? I'm going to get back up on the wall, so I can see what the orcs are doing."

  "What are they doing?" I heard Verval ask as he rushed out of the trees. The man was pulling on his shirt as he staggered into the light thrown by the campfire.

  "All I can see is that a large number of orcs are heading this way," Cimbra called out. "Most are carrying something. They appear to have built something during the night."

  "They built something?" Verval said incredulously.

  "I feel the same way," I said quietly. "But the one thing we can be sure of is that they are heading this way in numbers. I believe we have half dozen new spears. That would allow us to put seven people on the wall holding spears."

  "We still have the axe and hammers," Al said as he trotted up. "Why wouldn't we want those visible?"

  "The axe might be useful if they try to use ropes, but the hammers wouldn't be all that effective if we are fighting from the wall. Spears are the best as we can just thrust them down at the orcs as they attempt to scale the wall," I said.

  "Ron," Cimbra called out. "The sun is rising. I need to drop behind the wall while my eyes adjust to daylight."

  "On my way," I shouted. I turned to look at Heather. "Make sure that Kariy starts cooking something for breakfast. We'll need food if we are going to hold the wall all day."

  "But," Heather said as I turned away and ran back to the wall. "Ron! I want to help on the wall!"

  "I need you to organize things. Lydia will be on the wall with her crossbow, and I hope Victoria can watch the children with Mary," I said with a grunt as I set the spear on the platform and began climbing.

  Cimbra waited until I had my feet on the platform. As I squatted down to retrieve the spear, she turned and jumped from the tower. I heard only a faint gasp as she landed.

  I was a bit worried about Cimbra, but movement in the trees drew my attention. It was a bit hard to see as the sun was just starting to break on the horizon. I was looking almost directly at the rising sun as I tried to find the orcs in the trees.

  The bright light of the sun made it difficult to see. The glare backlit the trees, making it so that I could barely discern movement in the forest.

  Eventually my eyes adjusted to the light, and I could make out individual trees. As the glare faded I could see pairs of orcs marching forward. They appeared to be carrying what looked like large boards. As I puzzled through this the first pair of orcs reached the edge of the clearing.

  The orcs did not enter the clearing. The one in the lead began turning to his left. As he turned I could see that what I thought was a board, was actually a crude wooden shield. The two orcs moved to place this between two trees. The carefully set it up so it leaned against a tree as it faced our wall.

  "What is that?" I heard Aine ask from my right. I looked over to see that the young woman had climbed up the tower and was watching as more orcs appeared. Each pair had another wooden construction.

  I stood and watched in silent wonder as the orcs pieced together a wall of wood. They used the trees at the edge of the clearing to help support the structure as they brought out dozens of wooden squares and stacked them up. Finally, they had blocked off about sixty feet or so of the forest from our view. There were still several visible gaps in the wall, but for the moment it was not possible to see how many orcs were gathered.

  "I guess you'd call that a wall," I said dubiously.

  "They must have spent most of the night building the pieces," Aine said. "And…"

  Before Aine could finish her thought two of the squares collapsed. The middle of the wall immediately fell backwards into the forest. There were several grunts of alarm and one howl of pain as a cloud of dust rose up.

  "Ron?" Verval said from my immediate left. I whirled in surprise and found him staring out at the Orcs and their improvised defenses. "What are they doing?"

  "I believe it's their version of a siege wall," I said. "They must have looked at our wall and figured they needed something similar."

  "What do we do now?" Verval asked bitterly. "I'm out of ideas. If you had not insisted on this wall, we might already all be dead."

  "We have food and water in the valley," I said. "We keep building up the defenses, and we keep the orcs from getting over the wall. Eventually they will leave. I expect they don't have enough food to allow them to stay for long."

  "Do you have a guess?" Verval asked worriedly.

  "No, I know little about these beings. Krysbain or Cimbra might know," I admitted.

  Verval turned to look into the valley. "Krysbain, you've heard about orcs before. How long will they wait before they leave us alone?"

  "They are foragers," Krysbain said. "I doubt they have enough food to stay more than a few days. However, they can do a lot in a few days."

  "So we're doomed?" Verval wailed out.

  "I didn't say that either," Krysbain snapped. "The guard captain I worked under noted that over the last hundred years there were no records of orcs attempting to attack a fortified position."

  "Which is what we have," I said. "And probably why all they are doing is building their own wall."

  "Can I see?" Krysbain asked. "Let me climb up on the battlements."

  I heard a squawk of outrage from behind me. "You are going to ruin your arm!" Esme shrieked.

  "I think I can climb up to the battlements without hitting my arm," Krysbain said firmly. "I'm not crippled. Besides, you need the information I might be able to provide. I know more about orcs than you do."

  The platform shook. I glanced down and saw that Krysbain had put his left hand on the platform. Using his good arm, he heaved his body upward and climbed to stand between Verval and me.

  Verval grunted a greeting as Krysbain looked out across the clearing. I turned back to see that several orcs were dragging the body of the one Aine had killed through the opening in their wall. They were all hunched over as they hurried to get out of sight.

  "I haven't even reloaded," Aine said wistfully. "It's a bit hard to reload while standing up here."

  "What's the problem?" I asked.

  "The floor of this tower isn't very stable," Aine called back. "I have to be careful when I put my foot into the stirrup to pull the string back. Can we rebuild these out of stone or dirt?"

  "Not today," I said. "But it’s a good idea for the future."

  "What are these orcs thinking?" Krysbain spat. "Ron, if I didn't know better I'd say they were going to set up a siege, but unless they have found a great source of food, they can't stay for very long."

  "How many do you think might be out there?" I asked.

  "Hundreds?" Krysbain said after a short silence. "Maybe. If they built that in a day they had to have several hundred orcs working. But then I'd expect them to charge at the walls."

  I just stared at the rough wall of wood that blocked our view of the orcs. I was trying to come up with an idea for our next move, when I heard someone shouting from the south.

  Chapter 31: Wide Front, Narrow Minds

  I turned in the direction of the shout. It took a moment before I recognized that it was Yveney shouting. "Ron! Ron! Another group is approaching the wall!"

  "Where?" I called back as I stepped to the edge of the platform.

  "Near the river!" Yveney called. "Lydia and Hencktor are watching them."

  "Damn," I called out. "Verval, I'll need you to work with Krysbain around here. Get Jeff or Borlan to help. Heather knows where the spears are. And don't be afraid to ask one of the girls to climb a tower and provide help with a sling. The boys too, but they could also hold those bone spears we found."

  "Those are one use," Heather pointed out. "They'll probably break off if they are used."

  "It might keep the orcs from charging," I said. "They can't know how many people we have on this side of the wall. The more people they see, the less likely they'll attack us."

  "I can handle it," Verval said. "I'll see about getting Gerit and Al to head down to join you as long as the orcs look like they are going t
o remain on that side of their wall."

  "May they stay behind their wall," I said firmly as I jumped from the platform we were standing on. I spread my arms and held the spear parallel to the ground as I dropped.

  Again, my ankle twisted under me as I landed, and again I ignored the momentary pain. Instead, I stood up and ran to the south, looking up as Yveney ran up and started waving for me to hurry.

  "Hurry!" she said needlessly as I ran.

  I passed Yveney. The cleared area behind the wall was a bit rough, but I ignored the danger of a sprained ankle as I dashed to the south.

  I had covered perhaps half the distance, when I could hear Hencktor shouting. "That's right you cowards, stay out there!"

  The shout came from right by the wall. I looked over and could see Hencktor standing on a partially completed platform. The walkway was in place, but I could see that the supports were not secured.

  "Henck!" I called out. "What's going on, and shouldn't we get that platform secured?"

  "We have two different groups of orcs out there," Lydia called out. I looked up and could see her standing on the tower platform just past where Hencktor was standing. My longtime friend had her crossbow in a shooting position and was looking towards the forest.

  I moved to the tower to the left of Hencktor and climbed up on the platform. As I stood up I could hear multiple growls coming from the forest.

  I looked up and could see nearly fifty orcs standing at the edge of the trees. There were three distinct groupings, and it was clear by the way they stood that the groups did not like or trust each other. As I shouldered my spear the group in the middle seemed to melt into the trees.

  The two remaining groups both turned towards the other. They brandished their weapons and began moving to form a pair of ragged lines parallel to each other. I stood and watched as the groups appeared to forget about our wall.

  A couple of the orcs were using their legs to paw at the ground as if they were preparing to charge. As I silently prayed that they would attack each other, a massive orc wearing armor made from shiny metal plates stepped out of the trees and glared at the two forces.