"I did little really, major," said Captain Riyad answering his curious look. "Major Sarkis has a great will to live it seems."
"Well let's hope that will holds out, shall we," replied Major Isak
* * *
For three weeks the six men had been teaching the common language of Ka'ton to the orcs. They were divided into three groups, each group teaching a separate orc group the language. Gerard and Jethro were given the extra responsibility of talking directly to the fierce one and some of his generals. The two men had found out quite a lot about these orcs and kept finding themselves surprised by the orcs' civility. These orcs seemed more akin to the humans on Ka'ton than the orcs. They still held onto some barbaric customs, of course, like the leader of a tribe being chosen by his physical strength and fighting prowess; this being determined by mortal combat at what they called a challenge festival. But Gerard knew of certain human barbarian tribes on Ka'ton doing similar things. The men had also discovered that on this orcish world, Ki'arantha by name, that seven major orc tribes battled each other almost continually, vying for supremacy.
The Black Skull's major enemy was a tribe to the north of them called the Red Axe, who have been pushing the Black Skull's border progressively southward over the past few years. The southern border was protected by a huge long canyon, which could be crossed with difficulty, but certainly not with an army, and would be easy to defend against in any case.
The other side of the canyon was the Jagged Spear tribe, which was the smallest of the seven. The eastern border was the Great Black Sea, with waters so rough no boat would dare set sail in it. To the west, was a fierce tribe, but much smaller than the Black Skull, calling themselves the Ta'zu, which basically meant death in Ka'tonian common. The Ta'zu was rumoured to eat their enemies alive, and continually torture any orc they did decide to keep alive. Most orcs, who were likely to be captured by the Ta'zu, would take their own life so as to avoid the torments of the tribe.
Attempts had been made in the past by combined orc tribes to eradicate the Ta'zu, but although their numbers were only slightly more than that of the Jagged Spear tribe, their dark magic's were the most powerful on Ki'arantha by far. Any advancement made onto the lands of the Ta'zu tribe would mount huge casualties, and so the alliance never held together. On the other hand, the Ta'zu seldom attacked any other tribe, seeming content to hold the lands they had. The other three tribes were far away and of no consequence to the Black Skull and so no details had been forthcoming about them.
The fierce one was to be obeyed without question. His word was law and any who opposed it were quickly killed. Conflicts within the Black Skull were not tolerated; it seemed they had enemies enough without having division among themselves, and all orcs of the Black Skull realised this. Murders still occurred, however, and were seldom thoroughly investigated, but if a murderer were caught, they would be killed on sight. All other crimes existed as they did on Ka'ton, but all in all, the Black Skull possibly lived more peacefully inside their borders than those living in Lertia, or any other nation on Ka'ton for that matter. However, their hatred of any that were not of their tribe was deep indeed. Gerard and Jethro realised how lucky they were to be still alive. The obvious reason was that the fierce one had some plan to exploit them.
Gerard had further found out, by eavesdropping on two generals talking a little more loudly than they should have been, that a basic alliance had been set up with the 'little orcs' of Ka'ton in order to seize a fort and capture as many humans as possible. By listening to the conversation, of which he now well understood their language, he determined that it must have been Fort Lowmount that was attacked and three hundred human prisoners had been brought back to this world once the fort had been taken. He shared this information with the rest of the men, and they all bowed their heads in a moment of silence in an act of respect to the fallen.
Gerard and Jethro had shared similar information with the orcs; their basic customs, enemies, borders and such; nothing that they judged too advantageous for the orcs. They were somewhat surprised to see how fast the orcs learned their language. It quickly became apparent that these orcs were far more intelligent than the ones back on their home world.
* * *
"Concentrate harder, boy. Feel the magical energy flow through you, then harness it and form it into what you desire with your incantations," lectured Master Pilk. He had been instructing Vik in the use of magic for two and a half weeks now, and although he had had minor breakthroughs, it seemed that Vik lacked the concentration he needed to complete magical spells. The best he had done was to form a slight glowing light on the end of his finger, but it lasted only long enough for Vik to notice it and be distracted by it.
Still, he had more ability than Trent. After the first week, Master Pilk had realised that Trent had no hope with the most basic of magic. Vik obviously had the power, and in sword play he was exceptionally focused, but with magic he was easily distracted. Master Pilk was determined to find a way around this, because all in all, he thought the boy had huge potential. Very few wizards were adept with a sword, but Vik had been taught from his father, possibly one of the best swordfighters in Lertia, at a very young age. If Vik could add magic to his repertoire, he could become a great warrior indeed for Lertia.
* * *
Vik stood motionless and began the spell again. As he began to feel the energy, there was a knock on the door and a teenage girl charged in. The energy was quickly lost, but was instantly replaced by a new energy as he noticed the girl. She was slightly taller than Vik, which indicated that she must be a couple of years older than he was, and very attractive with fine features and long black hair which was tied back in a ponytail which swayed from side to side as she ran to Master Pilk shouting, "Uncle Pilk, Uncle Pilk."
Vik stared as the girl wrapped her arms around Master Pilk. Finally he blurted out, "Uncle Pilk?"
"Ah, yes, ahem...My sister's daughter. Jaz, this is Vik, my...ah, student and I guess my foster son." Now it was the girl's turn to look at Master Pilk with a curious expression.
"Foster son?" asked Jaz. "Since when were you even interested in kids, that is at least, ones not related to you?"
"Hmm, I can see that I'm about to be hounded with questions all af-ternoon. Stories can wait a few more minutes, though, until your mother finally catches up with you, Jaz," replied Master Pilk, a little flustered.
"Um, mother has gone to the markets to acquire certain items. Items for some curing potion she is working on."
"Ok then, well rather than repeat myself, I'll wait for her arrival before telling my story of acquiring two foster sons."
"Two foster sons?" asked Jaz incredulously.
"Oh boy, I really must stop speaking," said Master Pilk to himself. "Vik, run upstairs and inform Trent that we have guests," he continued as he turned to face Vik.
Vik started for the stairs, but stopped short when he noticed Trent coming down them. The noise had obviously already alerted the older boy that they had guests.
"What's going on down here, did Vik manage to produce light from his ar-" Trent hesitated as he rounded the bottom of the stairs and he caught sight of the girl and his face went almost beetroot red, "armpit or something?" Trent began to strut toward the girl.
"Armpit? Is that the best you could do as a covering word for arse-hole?" asked Jaz mockingly. If it was possible for Trent to go even redder, he did so now as the three of them laughed at his slip up. Even worse, as he made his way over to the group, he tripped himself up and landed flat on his face. This only made the others laugh even harder.
Gingerly picking himself back up to his feet, Trent made his way over to the girl, took her hand, half bowed and gently kissed her hand, then standing back up again, and trying, but failing, to regain some dignity, he said, "Trent Gullansworth at your service."
"Jaz," replied Jaz as she wiped the hand Trent had kissed against her dark green, three quarter length dress.
"Jaz is my niece," cut in Master Pi
lk. "And yes, before you ask, I have a sister and she will be here momentarily, so if you boys would care to go and get cleaned up a bit, and looking slightly more dignified before she arrives, I would have no argument with you," he continued, mainly looking at Trent as he did so.
* * *
As the two boys ran off, Master Pilk turned his attention to his niece. "You always did know how to make an entrance, girl," he said with a big grin on his face. "Now, what brings you and your mother to Arthea?"
"Duke Angus has put out a call for as many fighters, wizards and clerics as possible to come to Arthea. I thought you'd know more than we do, being the duke's number one wizard and all," answered Jaz
"I am well aware of the mass summons, but why has your mother brought you, and why has she come?"
"Well, mother didn't exactly bring me, not intentionally anyway. I kinda hid in her cart under some heavy blankets. I wanted some action, you see, Uncle."
"Huh, yes indeed, Jaz, you haven't changed a bit, perhaps even more troublesome than I remember you. There will be more than enough action here soon enough, and when your mother realises the half of it, she'll have you on the first caravan back to Zin-Baiden, and I'm just as likely to send her back with you. Arthea may not survive the attack that is coming," lectured Master Pilk.
"Being over dramatic again, Uncle Pilk? You haven't changed a bit neither," joked back Jaz.
"Enough serious talk for now, what have you been up to, and how long have you had the boy's jaw dropping?" asked Master Pilk.
"Phuh! Boys, what are they good for? Always competing to see who's stronger, not realising that smarts are what wins fights, not brawn."
"Indeed, but a smart man, or woman, can quickly be killed by a dumb muscled brute," argued Master Pilk. "Brawn has its use, as does intelligence—it's always wise to remember this, Jaz. You could one day have to rely on another's strength, where your smarts may be useless."
"Wisdom is hardly your forte, Uncle Pilk, so stop it now as it does not become you. If I require advice about recklessness, I'll come and see you immediately," scoffed Jaz.
"Recklessness, I fear, seems to run in our blood. It's no doubt what has brought your mother here and it definitely brought you here, but recklessness will quickly get you killed without a degree of wisdom, my girl."
"Trying to best you in an argument, uncle, is like trying to break down a brick wall with a twig. It will only end in frustration. Now, do you normally have guests without offering them a drink? Or gods be damned, some food. I'm famished."
* * *
"They're moving us," observed Major Sarkis. He had largely recovered from his near fatal wounds three weeks earlier. The orcs, realising that he was going to survive, contributed a large amount of healing energies to expedite his recovery.
"What makes you so certain?" asked Captain Riyad, coming up beside him.
"There is more than the usual movement happening at the gate. I have noticed different orcs from the usual coming and going, and without food or supplies. My guess is that they are getting ready to move us to some place they have been preparing."
"I don't know how you tell one ugly orc from the other, Major Sarkis," said Major Isak coming up on his other side and looking toward the gate. "They all look the same to me. You always were the observant one, my friend."
It wasn't long before Major Sarkis's observations were confirmed. A large group of orcs came into the makeshift compound, surrounded the men, and herded them out the gates. They continued to drive them through the building they had been marched through three weeks earlier and back out into the city streets. It seemed as though the streets had been cleared ahead of them, as no other orc was in sight. They continued to be forcefully marched outside the city gates and along the road. Further along the road, instead of turning south to the canyon where they had entered this orc world, they followed a road heading north. For hours they were poked and prodded along by large spears, some being wielded by the riders of the fearsome beasts. Finally, after being marched to the point of exhaustion, they had a brief respite and were given something to eat and drink, but too soon they were being pushed along the road again.
Major Sarkis observed this strange world carefully as he marched along as best he could with his still aching chest wound. He was now accustomed to the red sun and the strange hue it cast on everything on the world. The canyon was long out of sight, and the road they were traversing was well maintained and often used, leading them through a large forest full of foreign trees, small villages, over the occasional river with dark water, through gullies and around a large lone mountain.
Often times, groups of orcs would be coming from the opposite direction, only to be forced well off the road until the large group passed them by. It was obvious that they were bypassing all the major cities on the way to their destination. Large unknown trees were sparsely scattered across a large, flat landscape and up ahead of them now seemed to be a range of large hills, with groups of rocks speckled across them and the occasional tree. They seemed to be walking steadily uphill as they neared.
Occasionally Major Sarkis thought he spied a large ocean far away to the east, but it was too far away to be certain. Even though the ground was hard and rocky underfoot, it looked quite soft and fertile each side of the road. The countryside would be magnificent and not largely different from his own world if it wasn't infested by orcs, thought Major Sarkis. A little after noon, they stopped for another rest and ate a rather bland, but otherwise filling orcish lunch.
* * *
"Where's all the food, Uncle Pilk," said Jaz as she opened the last of the cupboards in Master Pilk's kitchen.
"What the boys haven't eaten, you finished off five minutes ago," replied Master Pilk. "Honestly, if I knew how much young boys ate I would have thought twice about adopting them. And where are they? I sent them to get cleaned up near on an hour ago; did they walk to Lake Forster to have a bath or something?"
"Want me to go up and check on them, Uncle Pilk?"
"Huh? God's no!" said Master Pilk firmly. "I don't want you to go anywhere near those boys' rooms."
"I can look after myself Unc—" A loud knock at the door cut Jaz off mid-sentence.
"Superb timing as always. That'll be your mother, I'm assuming." Master Pilk gave Jaz a look as he got up from the kitchen table to answer the door. The girl was just as likely to run up the stairs as soon as he turned his back. "To think how peaceful this house was a few weeks ago," he muttered to himself as he neared the door.
"Pilk," said his sister as he opened the door, "it is so nice to see you again." She threw her arms around him.
"Perhaps, when you have the time, that is, Cressida, you could teach your girl that it is common courtesy to wait at the door until it is answered once you have knocked, rather than barging right in," said Master Pilk, feeling a little uncomfortable with his sister's arms still wrapped around him.
Cressida pushed him back to arm's length and held him by the shoulders. Looking hard at his eyes, she smiled and said, "I long ago gave up trying to teach Jaz anything, especially when it comes to common courtesy." They both shared a brief chuckle at this. Master Pilk was all too well aware of Jaz's spirited nature. She soaked up knowledge like a sponge soaks up water, but seemed to prefer soaking up tainted water, rather than the pure liquid.
"Do come in Cressy," said Master Pilk, using her childhood nickname and holding one arm out fully extended with open palm, while the other hand began closing the door behind her.
"Mother, Uncle Pilk has adopted some boys," blurted out Jaz, as Cressida and Master Pilk walked back toward the kitchen table.
Master Pilk just shook his head, looked at his sister, and said in reply, "Don't ever confide in your daughter any deep and dark secrets will you?" Cressida just looked at him with a curious expression until Master Pilk continued, "I will tell you all about it when we sit down and Jaz makes us all a hot cup of choco."
* * *
"I saw her first," said Vik, giving Tren
t a big shove.
"What does that matter?" replied Trent, shoving him right back. "I wowed her with my charm."
"Charm?" said Vik as he burst out laughing. "You clumsy fool, you almost knocked yourself out on the floor getting to her." Vik held his stomach, still laughing.
"All a part of the act," began Trent. "Make your first meeting with an attractive girl an unforgettable one and she'll find herself continually thinking about you, and never forgetting you, until she finally falls into your arms." Trent wrapped his arms around himself in imitation.
"And falling flat on your face was the best way you could think of to achieve that? Won't she just think of you now as, 'that klutz'?"
"Winning a girl's heart from pity is still winning!" shouted Trent as he gave Vik an almighty shove, making him stagger back and bang his head against the door behind him. "Who's the klutz now?"
"I was pushed; you didn't have a reason," shouted Vik as he rose to his feet and charged at Trent. Vik's charge caught him totally by surprise and knocked the wind out of him as he was taken to the ground. The two boys spent some time wrestling around on the floor with no clear winner, until they finally called a truce and sat there on the floor puffing and panting.
* * *
"I need more soldiers, fierce one, if I'm to bring you more prisoners. Our scouts tell us that the little orcs are massing in numbers and are preparing an attack on a human city. With the small force I have now, the little orcs are just as likely to turn on us and kill us," pleaded General Krak'too.
"I understand your concern, general, but the Red Axe, it seems, are growing in confidence and may attack Qunik any day now. I can have your losses replaced, but that's all. Do what you can with what you have," replied Gilkan the Fierce One.
"As you wish, oh fierce one," said General Krak'too, bowing respectfully. "Will you yet tell me your intentions with these human prisoners?"
The Gate - A New Breed of Orc (The Gate Series Book 1) Page 19