by Allan Joyal
"You didn't have to," I protested as Esme ran out of bandage. She slipped the loose end underneath the wrappings she had already made and pulled everything tight. It was a bit uncomfortable. "And I feel like I'm wearing a too tight hat."
"It needs to be tight," Esme said. "That cut was deep. I really need to sew it shut, but you want to get back on the platform to get hurt more."
"Better me than anyone else," I said. "I led you all here."
Before Natalie or Esme could say more, there was a scream from the wall. I whirled around. To my horror Gertrilla had one of the orc hooks looped over her right shoulder. As I began to move toward the platform, the young girl was yanked toward the wall. She fell down, striking her head on the logs and then falling back onto the platform.
"Geri!" I heard Jeff shout. "The young man ran over swinging his spear at the vine connected to the hook. It parted and Gertrilla's body dropped onto the platform.
Jeff's charge might have saved Gertrilla from being dragged over the wall, but it left no one watching the section of wall he had been defending. I put a hand on the platform and tried to vault up. Fatigue reduced my jump to more of a scramble, but I was on top of the platform just in time to watch two hooks catch the top of the wall.
I wanted to run to check Gertrilla, but the hooks took priority. I used my spear to chop at the vine attached to one hook and then ran to my right to get to the other. The vine was taut as several orcs tried to use the hook to pull the wall over.
With a lunge and a thrust of the spear I managed to cut through the vine. Several orcs tumbled to the ground below the wall. I turned to look out over the battlefield.
The first thing I noticed was that the last two lines of orcs were still standing at the far side of the clearing. The command orc appeared to be almost ignoring the battle while his followers stood in front of him. The orcs in the first line kept shifting around like a bunch of schoolboys forced to line up for an assembly.
The battle in front of us was slowly going our way. I estimated that forty orcs had charged in the first two waves, but fewer than ten still stood and attempted to find a way over or through our wall.
One of the orcs at the base of the wall stood up and attempted to jump up and grab the top. I thrust down with the spear. It cleaved flesh from his shoulder and chest. The creature staggered backwards allowing me to move back to the center of the platform.
"Jeff how is Gertrilla?" I shouted.
"She's alive," Jeff replied. "But she's got a huge bruise on her cheek. I'm going to pass her down to Esme so she can look at her."
"I'll cover!" I heard Corwar shout from behind us.
I glanced to my left. Jeff was carefully picking up the limp body of Gertrilla. Esme and Natalie were standing on the ground just below him. They had their hands up and ready to receive the body of the young woman.
The exchange was going smoothly when I heard the orc commander shout something. I turned back and could see that he had raised the staff he was holding. He hooted something, and the first rank of orcs lowered their shoulders and charged.
The earlier charges were fierce, but the orcs had been holding weapons and looking at the wall as they approached. This time the orcs had their heads turned to the side as they sped across the clearing. Their roar of anger drowned out the sounds of Aine and Lydia firing crossbows, but one orc did stumble and drop out of the line as the rest continued to charge.
The charge showed no signs of slowing. "They plan on ramming the wall!" I shouted. "Brace for impact!"
I looped my right arm around the shaft the spear. It was angled down so that the blade was about head level on the orcs. With my left hand I grabbed hold of the top of the wall, hanging on as the orcs closed.
"Jeff!" I heard someone shout from my left. I looked over and could see that Natalie and Esme were hurriedly carrying Gertrilla away from the wall as the young man stood back up.
Jeff was still working to stand when the line of orcs started impacting the wall. The wall and the platform behind it shook. My spear actually caught one orc just behind his ear. The shaft slid back against my loose grip, but I maintained control as the blade tore the back of the creature's head open. It fell to the ground just as a scream of pain rang out.
"Jeff!" a woman wailed in panic.
The orcs that had survived the first impact now started bashing on the wall with their fists. Seven were attacking the section of platform I was now defending alone. The fact that I was above them protected me, but two were smart enough to attempt to grab the spear any time I thrust it down upon them.
I began a solo dance of death with the orcs, moving back and forth on the platform and poking at them with the spear when I could. The wall was shaking violently making it difficult to remain standing as I tried to avoid one persistent orc who kept trying to grab the spear.
I had only killed one orc when I felt someone jump up beside me.
"You need help," Heather said firmly.
"I wish you weren't up here," I said. "This is dangerous."
Heather threw one of the bone tipped spears we had. It hit an orc in the throat. The monster dropped like a puppet with no strings. "My child will learn sports from a father who is there," my lover said firmly. "If that means I help, then I'm here."
I looked up at that and noticed that the remaining orcs were now walking northward. They showed no interest in the battle.
My moment on inattention allowed the one persistent orc to grab the spear. It turned out he had put his hands on the blade and when I jumped back in surprise the monster screamed in pain and dropped to the ground. I ignored him as I looked up and down the wall briefly.
I immediately noticed that Soldrin and Corwar were looking around. "Soldrin, what do you see?" I asked as the orcs attacking the wall started to retreat.
"The other orcs are leaving," Soldrin said. "And these ones are hard to target because they are so close to the wall. I don't want to hit anyone who is on the wall."
I looked at Heather. My wife was leaning against the wall as she watched the orcs retreat. "Did we win?" she asked.
There were about a dozen orcs now headed north and away from the wall. Two moved awkwardly as they staggered away.
"Cease fire!" I shouted as the orcs continued to flee.
The orcs never looked back. A moment after I had shouted the last orc vanished into the trees. I looked across the field and tried to count bodies. "How many?" I heard Heather murmur as I tried to count.
"More than thirty," Soldrin said. "And now I know why you wanted this wall built. I guess it worked."
"For today," I said tiredly. My arms felt like someone was dragging them toward the ground. Can you and Corwar stay on watch? I want to talk to everyone else."
"Ron?" Heather said. I look over at her and tried to smile.
"We need to rest and plan. This band was leaving, but they might not be the last to attack. We need to be ready," I said.
"Ron?" I heard Lydia call out. "Did I hear that you want a meeting?"
"Let's all gather in the clearing just below me," I called out. "Is there anything going on to the south."
"Nothing," Soldrin said. "A couple orcs watched the others retreat, but they quickly vanished into the trees. I'm seeing no movement."
Chapter 34: The Last Meeting
"Everyone, we are going to have a quick meeting in the clearing. Kariy, I know you are just as tired as the rest of us, but if you have anything ready to eat, please serve us. Corwar and Soldrin, stay on watch, but try to listen in."
"Beast, you are making Kariy into a servant," Heather said playfully.
I turned and jumped down from the platform. "I'll be listening to her input," I replied. "But the people fighting should be resting. And I need to find out how badly people are hurt."
"I can answer that," Esme said sadly. "Gertrilla has a severe concussion. Right now Mary is watching her. I'm praying that Gertrilla wakes up, but for now we are allowing her to sleep. Jeff landed wrong on his good leg.
Or at least it was his good leg. I don't detect any major fractures, but his ankle is swelling. He won't be able to stand and fight tomorrow."
"Shaylin? Hencktor?" I asked.
"Hencktor is fine, except Esme won't let me pick anything up with my left hand," Hencktor said grumpily. "I got hit by the back of one of those hooks."
I looked at Esme. The young woman frowned, but nodded. "Hencktor is just bruised. I pulled him from the wall because I want to make sure the shoulder is stable. He'll be fine tomorrow."
"And Shaylin?" Heather asked worriedly. Esme and I looked at Heather. My wife just smiled back at us. "I love that young lady."
"I don't know," Esme replied. "Right now see seems to be sleeping. From what Ron said, I think she's just exhausted, but I want to examine her more closely when she wakes."
"Ron?" Lydia called out. "Everyone is here."
"Find a spot to sit down," I said as I walked forward. "I'll try to keep this brief."
"Hopefully as brief as that last fight," Verval said. I glanced in his direction. He nodded and then saluted me. "The wall was the right call."
I raised a hand. "We survived this morning's attack. I'm not sure why it was only one group of orcs, but I can say we killed at least thirty."
"I counted more than forty bodies," Aine said. "And with the earlier fights, I think we've killed more than sixty."
"And all those bodies are in that clearing," I said. "Once this is over, we'll need to pile them and burn them. But that's for after the remaining orcs leave."
"It will happen soon," Krysbain said as Cimbra moved over and grabbed my arm. She gave me a kiss on the cheek while Krysbain continued to speak. "I've never heard of a band of orcs remaining in one camp for more than a few days. They run out of food. This camp is far larger than their usual number. They have to be out of food."
"But that also means that the leader almost certainly will attack us. He came here hoping to get what food we have," I said.
"Not that it's much," Kariy said as she walked up to me and held out a bowl of stew. "Unless someone goes hunting soon, we'll have to kill another animal from our herds."
"We don't have any to spare," Yveney said. "At least not at the moment. I think we do have a number of pregnant ewes, so we might have more in the future."
"What about the rabbits?" Victoria asked.
"We don't have many," Dafalia said. "They did not breed while we travelled here, and the first litters haven't been born yet. The chickens are the same way, I know they are laying some good eggs, but they haven't hatched yet."
"I can try hunting once the orcs are gone," Verval said. "Or we could head up the valley."
"There is no game up there," Natalie said. "That lion thing that was living here earlier made sure of that. You might find some squirrels, but that's about it."
Verval frowned. "Somehow that doesn't surprise me. However I remember we saw some tracks just before we took the trail down to the valley floor. I might try going up there."
Krysbain nodded. "I remember that. It's a good idea to try up there. The orcs haven’t shown any interest in crossing the river, so there is a good chance you'll find something. But we need to drive them away first."
"They'll never leave, "Ximenia moaned. "I'm going to be killed."
"Several have already left," Borlan said with a sigh. "The only question is can we get the others to leave soon. I understand there is a lot of work to do in the fields, and we still haven't built shelters."
"We'll get to that," Hencktor said. "From what I hear, the crops are growing well. And the weather has been nice."
"We did have the one storm," I pointed out. "But overall things aren't going too bad. Right now we need to concentrate on the orcs. Krysbain, you know more about these creatures than anyone here. What can we expect?"
"I don't know," Krysbain admitted. "Remember I was in the guard in Saraloncto. That city was large enough that orcs never came near. We'd hear tales of small cots and farms being attacked, but none of those had walls."
"I probably can say something," Cimbra said. "The problem is I'm not sure how well it will relate to how things are here."
"How can you say anything?" Ximenia said scornfully. "You're just some slut who avoided being turned into a slave by giving your body to Ron."
Borlan spun around and glared at his lover. "That's just unfair and wrong! I remember how and why we joined this group. Your brother was about to sell you to a brothel to get out from his debts, but Ron and his friends welcomed us without question. He did the same for Cimbra."
"How can you know that?" Ximenia cried.
"He asked," Cimbra said quietly. "And I didn't give my body to Ron."
"Oh? Then who is cuddling with me every night?" Heather asked.
I was shaking my head. "Everyone, we are losing focus. I wanted to make this a quick meeting to plan what we will do to get the orcs to leave soon. I'd hope we can get rid of them and then only need one person on the wall to watch for any other groups coming by."
Cimbra put an arm around me. "If these orcs are in any way similar to the ones I'm used to, the fact that some are already leaving indicates that the rest will abandon that camp soon."
"How can you be sure?" Ximenia asked.
"Because they probably have the same problem the ones in I'm used to run into. There is only so much food they can gather while camped. Eventually they start starving unless they move on," Cimbra said. "The ones leaving are just the first ones to decide that they need food more than they need to defeat us."
"So your cities do get attacked and sieged?" Krysbain asked.
"Not often," Cimbra replied. "Food is scarce there. No army can carry enough food to camp at the gates of a city. Most wars are fought with spies and subterfuge. But there are wandering bands of creatures similar to these orcs. They raid caves where we farm fungus or cave fish, and they will kill anyone they catch in the tunnels, but they don't attack cities directly."
"So?" Jeff asked. He was sitting up with his back against one of the stumps we had not had time to remove.
"It means that if this army is like the ones Cimbra has heard about, they were looking for an easy raid. Remember that when we first encountered the orcs our wall wasn't complete," I said.
Krysbain was nodding. "I think if we can hold them off tomorrow, they will give up."
"Why?" Ximenia asked.
"They can't keep sitting on that side of the wall," Amalya said. "But if today is an indication they don't really have a way to get over the wall."
"They tried to pull it down, but that was all I saw," I said. "I guess they could enter the river and swim around the wall, but they haven't tried that."
"We can't guard the whole wall," Gerit complained.
"Don't need to," Krysbain said. "Orc bands are held together by leaders who control the others as much by fear as respect. They aren't going to allow their warriors to spread out."
"But aren't there several bands?" Jeff asked.
"There has to be a main band," Krysbain said. "The leader of that band has some control over the others. He's going to want to keep the other bands near his."
"Bravery isn't common in orcs," I said. "What if we kill the main leader? Would the others leave?"
"Probably," Krysbain admitted. "If some bands are leaving, I'd expect all of them want to return to their normal camps. They don't really farm, but they probably have areas they are comfortable foraging in."
"Some might stay," Gerit said sadly.
"I doubt it," Krysbain said. "That large of a band will have stripped the area of most of the game and other food the orcs might find. There would be too little food for a band to survive the winter."
"That makes the plan easy. Tomorrow we'll be ready for the final fight. Kariy, it would be best if you can start cooking a meal before dawn, and then keep hot food available all day. Esme, you'll be our medic as usual. Mary can help you. Jeff and Gertrilla won't be fighting.
"I can fight," Jeff protested.
/> "You can't stand," Konstanzia said. "I love you for offering to protect us, but you need to heal."
"But," Jeff said.
"I agree with your wife," I interjected. "You can barely stand. Rest and watch over Gertrilla."
"We don't have enough spears for everyone," Gerit said cautiously.
"I know, but everyone has knives. Part of the work will be cutting any ropes used by the orcs if they try to pull down the wall. And no matter how well we fight, someone will get hurt," I said sadly.
"How do we divide everyone up?" Al asked.
I looked over at Krysbain. The man looked over our group. "We have seven spears right now," Krysbain said. "Ron has one of course. I'd say the others go to Al, Heather, Gerit, Verval, Victoria, and Borlan. Hencktor can use an axe. I'll use my sword. Everyone else is better off with a knife."
"I don't get a spear?" Lydia asked playfully.
"You get your crossbow," Krysbain said. "Aine should use the other one. All of the children have slings and should be in the four towers near where we fought today."
"It's hard to use a sling if another person is on the tower," Piemal protested. "You need space if you are going to get any power."
"Can you use your slings from the lower platform?" I asked.
"Probably," Piemal said uncertainly. "But it would be almost impossible to hit anything that's at the wall. The towers allow us to angle our shots along the wall."
"Corwar can decide how to divide you up," I said. "Dafalia and Yveney need to check the herds. Take anyone you need. Everyone needs to get plenty of sleep tonight. Tomorrow may prove to be nothing, but most likely we'll be fighting for our lives."
"I hope it’s the last time," Heather said.
The meeting started to break up. Several people went over to the fire. Kariy had found some flat rocks and was cooking flatbread. It was clear that everyone was relieved that we had survived another fight.
Heather and Cimbra grabbed my arms and led me towards the river. "Don't you dare protest," Heather said firmly.
"We want to be with you tonight," Cimbra said. "We've already gathered some stew and flatbread. First we feed you, then we want your full attention for the night."