by Allan Joyal
I stepped forward and started spinning the spear. "It got worse as we traveled. Slavers decided that the women in our group were valuable and chased us for days. My best friend gave his life to allow us to escape. We even had a young man try to infiltrate our group so he could betray us."
The chief orc looked uncertain. He waved at a couple of the orcs accompanying him. They charged forward, only to drop to the ground as their heads were caved in.
"Nice shots!" I heard Corwar shout.
"Now we finally found a place to call home, but before we can even build homes you come. You don't even know what we have, but you come in force. My wives lie behind that wall, both hurt. My unborn children might have been killed!" I shouted.
"It ends now!" I finished as I charged at the orc chief.
The chief waved again, but all of his companions were running away. The chief drew a sword made of some strange orange metal. The blade was wider in the middle than at the hilt. The tip appeared to have been dulled at some point, but it was still appeared sharp.
The orc chief charged at me. The sword was in his right hand and a club of wood and stone was in his left. I ducked a wild swing from his sword and stabbed at his knee with my spear.
The orc tried to spin away from my thrust, but I managed to cut the inside of his thigh. He roared with pain and tried to catch me with a backswing from the club.
I was a bit slow dodging and was clipped on my left shoulder. My arm felt numb, but I held onto my spear and stabbed at the orc's gut. The blade cut into his flesh, but he slid to my left and I only managed to give him another flesh wound.
The chief backed off a bit. He glanced behind him, and I could see his confidence drop. I concentrated on watching his hips. When he looked back at me, he stepped forward with his left foot and then thrust the sword at my injured shoulder.
I ducked the blade and stabbed upward with the spear. My left arm froze, and I had to make the stab with only one arm. I managed to cut into the orc's right arm, but there was little power in the thrust, and he was able to step back.
"Ron!" I could hear Lydia call out. "Be careful."
"It's too late for that," I muttered as I skipped forward. My right foot ran into the body of one of the many dead orcs, and my planned thrust was stymied. Instead I ended up diving backwards as the orc chief tried to finish the fight with an overhand smash from his club.
My left arm hung limp at my side. My shoulder was numb. I rolled to my right and crawled over the body of another fallen orc before standing back up. When I turned the orc chief was charging directly at me.
I tried to step back, but one of the orcs at my feet was still barely alive. He reached out and grabbed my left foot, tripping me. I could see my death in the eyes of the orc chief and in desperation pinned the shaft of my spear to my right hip as I held it in front of me and fell backwards.
The orc chief noticed me falling and tried to stop, but tripped over a body. He fell forward and the blade of the spear pierced his neck.
His sword dropped to the ground next to me as I struggled to pull the spear free. It took a moment, but I pulled it free, and the orc chief's body fell to my right. It landed on the orc holding me.
The impact of the falling orc jarred my foot free. I struggled to get to my knees as I watched the orc chief. His eyes were open, but I quickly realized that they would see no more.
I looked around the battlefield. A couple of the orcs lying around were moving, but none were standing. Leaning on my spear I looked out at the forest.
"Are they gone?" I heard Lydia ask.
"I don't see anyone," Corwar said.
I looked back at the wall. From this side it was an impressive barrier. I could see a pile of bodies at the base. "We held," I whispered.
"Ron, how do you get back to this side?" Lydia asked.
I pointed to the south. "I'll swim, but at least it's over."
"Is it?" I heard Verval ask.
"There is more to do," I admitted as I turned to look to the south. "We need to recover our bolts, and we should probably do something to clear the bodies, but for now, let's rest. We can celebrate tomorrow."
I limped off to the south looking for the river and a chance to get around the wall.
Chapter 37: Founding Day
Four nights later the battlefield was finally cleared. Piling up the bodies and burning them had been a herculean task. Everyone had at least some minor injuries. Aine had been the worst off, but Natalie's quickly brewed potion appeared to have saved her from any paralysis.
While we cleared the battlefield, Lenoir headed up the path we had used to descend into the valley. She returned with two dead deer and a report that she could see that the orcs were heading northward.
Once she returned, I declared that the next day was to be a rest day.
"Why?" Verval asked. The young man had been lucky during the fight, and other than a few bruises and a cut under his right eye, had emerged unscathed by the battle at the wall. "There is a lot still to do."
"And we will complete it," I said. "But we need a day to celebrate."
"Celebrate what?" Ximenia said. The woman had only a bruised hand, but Borlan's shoulder was in a sling. Esme estimated that it would take thirty days to stabilize. "Borlan could have died."
"I could have died back in Saraloncto," Borlan said. "Right now my only regret is that I wasn't there to watch the final fight."
"It was a fluke," I said as we all relaxed around a central fire. "I got lucky."
"It saved all of us," Cimbra said with a hug. My dark elf love had a bandage covering her shoulder. The wound had proved to be shallow, but Esme watched it carefully to make sure no infection resulted. "You've been there every time."
"They were already retreating," I pointed out. "All I did was try to convince them to finish retreating. I probably could have avoided injury if I had not jumped over the wall."
"Ron," Verval said. "There were probably two hundred orcs still in the trees when you jumped over the wall. I watched them head north after the chief died."
"Anyways, we have the two deer. I was thinking we'll set up a fire and roast one on a spit. Then we'll just relax around the fire. I can't think of what other traditions we want to start," I said.
"We should call today Founders Day," Heather said. "I know we founded this village some time before, but now I feel like the valley truly belongs to us." My blond love had bandages around her torso.
I looked over at Aine. Al refused to allow her to lift or carry anything while she healed. She was one of the worst hurt, but Jeff, Gertrilla, and Piemal had also spent the last four days recovering.
Aine smiled. "It does belong to us. And that means something. We can all say we participated in founding our village."
"What village?" Borlan asked. "We don't have houses."
"We'll build them," I said. "We can now take the time to properly dry wood and gather what we need. We can explore the valley and determine the best places to place houses and gardens."
Everyone was quiet. We looked at the fire where Kariy was preparing the morning meal. The young woman smiled at everyone. "And now we can call this place a very special name. We have finally found home."
Appendix
Character List
Ronald Dawkins –He worked as a salesman for Hughes and was in Daytona for the semi-annual sales meeting.
Lydia Huff - young, personable and pretty, but skittish around strangers. She was raped while on a business trip for Hughes. After that she worked hard to learn to defend herself while providing sales support from the main office.
Heather Volmund - She was a coed on the same elevator as Ron and Lydia. She was slender and pretty with long blond hair, but also insightful and caring.
Natalie Ginn –She was a botany student and in the elevator in Daytona.
Esme Leland – Esme grew up in France before returning to the United States to enter into a nursing school. She was enjoying spring break and was in the elevator with Ron and the others.
Victoria Healey – She was in the Liverpool elevator. In the UK, she was a shopgirl for a women's boutique and she’s seen class discrimination in action.
Hencktor – He met the group in the first village they visited. As a young man, he witnessed his father being killed by a collapsing mine tunnel and after that he refused to enter any cave. The village struggled to find work for a young man unwilling to mine. His aunt asked Ron and the group to allow him to join. The man has grown tremendously. Lydia claimed him as her husband, a fact that appears to embarrass the young man to no end.
Kariy – She grew up in the same village as Hencktor, but while Hencktor was helped by the village, it was the “mayor” of the village that used the indenture laws to enslave a young Kariy to the owner of the one inn in the village. Ron and Elizabeth worked together to force the man to free her, and she left the village with the group for her own protection. Despite the group not wanting to take advantage of the young woman, she insists on cooking for them and has not sought to leave when the opportunity was available.
Aine – She was in the Liverpool elevator, but left the clearing with a different group.
Verval – A young farmer who had his fiancée stolen from him by the son of the village mayor, he asked to join the group after they had spent the night in the town where he lived.
Jeff – At first he was just a voice calling for help while the group travelled underground. Ron saved him and they discovered that the young man had been in the New York City Elevator.
Gerit – A young journeyman cart-maker who met Ron and the others when they visited Purahomp.
Amalya – The young and sturdy wife of Gerit, she found that her family would have prevented the marriage in the hopes of collecting a dowry for her.
Lenoir – A young woman from Purahomp who saw her family farm struggle.
Mary – Another Earthling, she was on the New York City elevator.
Krysbain - a young former guardsman who joined the group during their stop at Saraloncto.
Joelia - Daughter of a baron who had lands near Saraloncto. She initially snuck into the camp disguised as a man, but admitted the truth. She had her father's blessing to join the group.
Konstanzi - Companion and childhood friend of Joelia, joined to provide some support for the young woman.
Borlan - a young man who initially was talked into visiting the group by a friend who planned to betray them. He realized he had no future and asked to join, bringing his fiancé and her younger brother.
Ximenia - Young woman, Borlan's fiancé and the sister to the friend he arrived with. Willful and unhappy to be part of the expedition when she does talk.
Lawus - a widower with three young children, he comes along hoping to be able to feed his family.
Former Members of the Group
Edward (Eddie) Hughes – eldest son of the owner of Hughes Engineering. Was placed in charge of the sales department because his four employees were all self-starters who could normally ignore him, but he demands that they attend his semi-annual meetings so he can write off his travels as a business expense. He insulted a sorceress during their hike to the Wizard's Academy and was turned into a pig. The group left him with the sorceress.
Martha Lewis – another coed who was in the elevator in Daytona. She was killed when the group wandered too close to a battle.
Elizabeth Martin – She was a corporate lawyer and in the New York City elevator. She clashed quite a bit with Ron, but eventually began to relax and allow him to lead. She tried to talk to an officer of an army the group encountered and was killed.
William Tuttle – He claimed to be a wealthy and powerful man, but the coeds disliked him and he left the group voluntarily after just one day.
Dave Chase – He worked at Hughes as a salesman. He refused to join the group when they left the initial clearing and was killed by the creatures that attacked when the spell collapsed.
Lisa Rhodes – another coed who was in the elevator for spring break. She later accepted the nickname Dusty to distinguish herself from Lisa Little. She chose to remain in a town along the way.
Steve Johnson – dashing, handsome and smart, another salesman for Hughes who was in the elevator. Sacrificed himself to allow the group to escape slavers the day the group found the rafts
Lisa Little – young secretary from the NYC elevator. She seemed intimidated by the others, in particular William Tuttle and Elizabeth Martin, who arrived in the same elevator. Left the group to join with an elf as a singer.
Jennifer Hamilton – another coed from the Daytona elevator. She's remained quiet and in the background most of the time. Cut her own throat rather than be captured by slavers.
Gorm - A farmer and friend who died when the fight with the slavers began.
Children (members of the caravan – in order of joining)
Shaylin – a twelve year old woman who has the ability to use magic. Her father asked the group to accept her to prevent her from being seized by the wizards, who claim that any woman using magic is evil.
Gertrilla – Shaylin’s childhood friend who met the group as they were escaping the Wizard’s Academy and joined the group then.
Corwar – Verval’s younger brother. He followed his brother.
Yveney – Tall, willowy and beautiful at a young age, Yveney’s parents approached Ron while he was in Purahomp and asked him to take their daughter as a slaver had said he was going to seize her the next time he visited the city.
Piemal – He’s a small boy who got a break when Ron offered to take him with the group.
Dafalia – A young woman who approaches Ron when the ground is in in Crayolyn Falls.
Soldrin - Ximenia's pre-teen brother
Haydee - Lawus' eldest daughter. She's younger than the other girls, but old enough to help
Thom - Lawus' son, he's about six, but already knows quite a bit. He's an inquisitive child who always wants to help
Jesame - Lawus' youngest daughter, she's just started walking and talking. Most of the time she rides one of the mules as otherwise she can't keep up.
About the Author
Allan Joyal is one of those people who has lived multiple places and worked for many companies during his time on Earth. During his travels, he discovered that he loved to write tales of adventure as a way of forgetting the stress that comes with everyday life. The only problem is that Allan has discovered that the characters in his books rarely want to keep to the original outline.
Allan can be found on Facebook, or you can e-mail him at [email protected]
Published Books by Allen Joyal
Lost on Jord (Jord Book 1)
Journey Across Jord (Jord Book 2)
Pioneering on Jord (Jord Book 3)