Skulduggery 10: Building a Criminal Empire

by Logan Jacobs

  A huge cloud of dust had just started to spill out of the foothills, but at first, I couldn’t hear or see anything else, and it didn’t look like the elves saw or heard anything at all. I glanced at Leif and Ava, but Leif just nodded and started toward his battle-station, while Ava squeezed my hand and started forward to direct the archers.

  I touched the hilt of my sword at my side for reassurance, even though I didn’t plan to use my weapon in the battle today. I would only fight with my sword if the elves were somehow able to break through the main gates and flood the city, but if everything went according to plan, things would never get that far.

  Instead, I would just use my magic to help win this battle. I had seen no sign of any magic casters in the elven army, and I had a feeling there might not be any to deal with, or at the very least, there wouldn’t be many. If there had been, they probably would have attacked already, and they definitely would have tried to stop the scout before he reached the city.

  Plus, my nose would have burned with the scent of their elven magic.

  As the night elves marched forward to join the day elves, all my archers and soldiers on the walls of the Gold City gazed out at the elven forces, while all the elven assholes stared back at us with expressions of smugness and confusion. But the cloud of dust behind them was bigger and closer now, so I knew their confusion was about to turn to panic the moment they heard the sound of orc feet as they pounded across the ground.

  “You,” I called to one of the black-clad Elite archers. “I have a job for you.”

  “Name it, my king,” the human soldier replied.

  “After I oversee the initial catapult strike,” I said, “I need someone to coordinate the rest of the strikes for me. You would need to tell Sten and Penny where to aim to inflict the most damage on the orcs so they get pissed off and come after the elves.”

  “I understand,” the man said. “Do you want the catapults to strike only the orcs?”

  “Just at first,” I said, “but then once both forces are full-on fighting each other, you can fire at will, just so you wipe out as many elves and orcs as possible.”

  “I understand,” the man said again.

  “Can you do it?” I asked. “I know you’ve never had to aim a catapult before, but since you’re an archer, I figure that you must be pretty good at angles, right?”

  “Ava taught us well,” the Elite archer said. “I can do it.”

  “Good, then get ready,” I told him, “because in just a few seconds, you’re about to be at the front and center of my battle plan.”

  A few of the elves started to glance behind themselves, and I realized they must already be able to hear the sound of the wild orc force. I couldn’t hear anything yet, but I held my fist out to the side to tell Sten and Penny to get the first catapult ready. The air was strangely still as our two forces faced each other, and I didn’t want to shout out any orders that the elves might be able to overhear, so instead, I just held my fist steady and waited for the right moment to strike.

  Less than a minute later, the wild orcs themselves came into full view.

  The only orcs that I had seen before were the “tamed” kind in the city that the elves used to carry out their dirty work, and that included the destruction of my village. But even though I thought that tamed orcs were about as huge and ugly as a creature could get, I had clearly never come across wild orcs before, because I had never seen anything quite like them.

  They spilled out of the mountains like dragons on two legs, but even from a distance, their lizard-like skin looked like it had been melted and reformed dozens of times over, until their faces and limbs looked more like dripping wax than anything else. They carried torches and tree branches, just like my scout had said, but as they started to race forward toward the Gold City, I realized that in some cases, the tree limbs served as their actual arms or legs.

  I had seen tamed orcs in the city stick forks and knives into their tough hide, either just because they could or so they could pull it out later as some kind of weapon, but I had never seen an orc stick an actual goddamn tree into their bodies to use as a weapon or as a limb. Their skin must have just regrown around them, and as they marched toward the elven force, I thought that their skin must be damn near as thick as armor.

  No wonder Tevian had such a hard time against the wild orcs.

  It was almost enough to make me feel bad for the elven general, but mostly, I was just grateful that he had failed in his campaign against them so I could use them in my own campaign now.

  As the orcs all continued to spill into view, the back half of the elven army turned around to face them at about the same time the orcs realized that so many elven soldiers stood between them and the city. For half a second, both forces hesitated as they stared at each other, so in that half a second, I dropped my hand back down to my side as a signal to Sten and Penny to unleash the catapults.

  Two massive projectiles of stone hurtled through the air, sailed over the walls, flew over the heads of the elves outside, and then crashed into the wild orcs. The stones smashed a few of them into the ground, and at the same time, the Elite archers unleashed a volley of arrows that whistled through the air toward the orcs.

  “Again!” I shouted, and then I nodded to the Elite archer right beside me. “The catapults are on you now, but give a shout if you need help.”

  “Yes, my king!” the black-clad archer yelled over the sound of two more projectiles that sling-shotted through the air.

  For just a moment, I worried that I might have given the order too early, and I might have scared off the orcs instead of making them mad. But a second later, my instincts were proved right because after all, the wild orcs were such brutal fuckers that it would take more than a couple of stone projectiles to send them back into the mountains.

  The wild orcs roared like thunder at the next catapult strikes, and then they put their heads down and charged full-speed at the elven forces. Every single elf on the field below snapped to attention as their commanders called out orders, and they all spun around to face the orcs instead of the city.

  If I had been in charge of the field below, I wouldn’t have turned everyone’s backs on the city, but then again, the elves were almost as scared of wild orcs as they were of a human with magic.

  And today, they would get to face both.

  The catapults launched another round of projectiles that sailed over the walls of the Gold City, and just as they started to crash back down to the ground, I threw up my hands and froze them in place. Instantly, the elves and orcs all paused before they met each other and looked up at the huge stones that were suspended just above their heads.

  I knew I could do more than just freeze things in place. I had caught and thrown burning spheres of energy before, so if I just thought about what I wanted to do enough, I knew that I could do it. Right now, I focused all my attention on the stone projectiles off in the distance, and as I concentrated on them, I felt them break apart into smaller chunks of rock and stone.

  Then, after I gave them just a little push forward, I let all the pieces plunge down on top of both forces below. Half of the smaller projectiles crashed into the orcs, while the other half crashed into the night elves, and then both forces rushed at each other again in a mixture of panic and fury.

  So far, things were going exactly according to plan.

  When the elves and the wild orcs finally crashed into each other, the entire field erupted into chaos, and for a few minutes, we didn’t do anything to interfere. The elves fought as disciplined individuals, while the orcs fought with complete chaos, so before too long, the air filled with the sounds of screams on both sides. Orc heads rolled off their bodies, while elves found their arms torn off and chests ripped open every time they tried to advance against their enemies.

  It was brutal to watch, but it would have been a hell of a lot more brutal if we had been the ones on the battlefield. The elves had more than earned this punishment, and it wasn’t like I fel
t bad for the orcs, not when they were the same kind of mindless beasts that had killed my family.

  Both forces started to gain ground against each other in different areas all along the tent line at the back of the elven army, but since there were more elves than orcs, I wanted to make sure that the orcs stood a decent chance against our mutual enemy. I caught Ava’s eye and gave her a nod, so then she turned back to her archers and began to call out orders. At the same time, the Elite soldier called out angles and directions to Penny and Sten at the catapults, and more projectiles started to sail through the air.

  The arrows all fell into the middle of the elven forces, and about half of them found their targets. When Ava had the troops unleash another hail of arrows, I froze them mid-air this time and pushed a few of the poorly aimed arrows back on course before I released my hold again. This time, almost every single arrow found a target in the back of an elf, so a whole row of soldiers dropped to the ground.

  Between the arrows and the catapult projectiles, we slowly started to see progress against both the orcs and the elves. They fought with equally matched ferocity against each other, but every time the arrows or stones rained down on them from the city walls, they paused just long enough to try to take cover, but that only left them more vulnerable to our attacks.

  The field outside the Gold City started to grow so slick with blood and guts that the elves had to retreat, but the orcs just leaped over the severed heads and limbs of their companions and their enemies so they could continue to pursue the elves.

  They snarled and roared every time more firepower was unleashed from inside the city, but since wild orcs weren’t the smartest bunch of assholes, they didn’t notice that our projectiles were aimed at the elves as well as at the orcs. Instead, the ugly fuckers seemed to just assume that there were elves inside the city, too, and they must be the ones responsible for all the airborne weapons. In fact, it just seemed to fuel their rage even more, so even though the elves slaughtered the orcs left and right, the orcs still made progress forward against the elven forces.

  As the orcs continued to gain more ground, some of the elves started to panic and move back toward the main gates of the Gold City, but Leif was ready for them. Even when they pounded on the gates and demanded to be let inside, they still said it as a command instead of a request, and since there was no sign of surrender from any of their commanders, we couldn’t show them any mercy. So while the elves threw themselves up against the gates, Leif gave the signal and unleashed gallons of boiling oil and water on any elves who dared to get close to the city walls.

  The elves who didn’t immediately plunge to the ground ran forward again, and they screamed for mercy as they threw themselves into the fight to try to put themselves out of their misery at the end of an orc claw. The catapults hurled more firepower over the walls, the arrows dropped another column of elven soldiers to the ground, and I continued to use my magic everywhere I could to make sure that each blow counted double against our enemies.

  I wasn’t sure exactly how much time had passed, but the sun had long since disappeared, even though there was still a ribbon of light along the horizon that helped us see. The orcs still had their torches as they hurled themselves against the elves, and the human guards all along our walls started to distribute torches as well. Ava switched the archers from regular arrows to fire-tipped missiles, so every time they sailed over the elves below, I froze the arrows just long enough to light up the field and see how many more enemies we were up against.

  Finally, the slaughter had gone on for so long on both sides that I estimated there were only a few dozen orcs left, but there were probably two hundred elven soldiers still alive. There were so many bodies below that it would take at least a week to burn them all, but as the elves tried to rally themselves for a final push against the orcs, the wild orcs all seemed to decide that they had suffered long enough.

  They turned tail and ran back toward the mountains.

  “Catapults!” I shouted.

  As much as I didn’t want the orcs to break through the elven ranks and reach the walls, I sure as shit didn’t want them to escape back into the mountains, just so they could return to wreak havoc on the Gold City another day. Two more projectiles of stone rubble hurtled up over the walls, and when they reached their full height, I froze them in place, focused until I felt my eyebrows almost knit themselves together, and then pushed them forward.

  The stones hurled forward much further than they could ever have gone naturally, and they kept flying through the air until I finally let them spin down toward the fleeing orcs. They broke apart just before they landed, and they knocked over half the orcs to their knees, so the elves swept in after them and started to finish the job.

  A few of the orcs escaped into the mountains, but more of them were slaughtered by the elves. Still, after the last of the orcs fled from the battlefield, the elves all looked around and suddenly seemed to realize exactly how many of their friends were now dead on the ground all around them.

  The remaining elves all turned back to face the Gold City, and I signaled Ava to have the archers raise their fire-tipped arrows high but not to launch them just yet. I could feel the despair of the elves on the field below, and I wanted to give them time to surrender. After all, there sure as shit weren’t many left, so it shouldn’t be a problem to house them as prisoners.

  Instead, the day and night elves just stared up at us but didn’t make a move. They were definitely exhausted, and their commanders should know that they were too exhausted to fight, but if they needed a little more inspiration, then I would give it to them.

  I nodded at Ava, and she instantly signaled for the archers to unleash their hail of fire-tipped arrows. As they hurtled down toward the remaining elven soldiers, they all scrambled and tried to take cover under their shields again, but I froze the arrows mid-air before they reached them.

  “Surrender!” I shouted into the sudden silence.

  The elven battle horns almost immediately blew the long blast that meant surrender, so I let the arrows all fall harmlessly to the ground. One elf after another threw their weapons onto the ground, and then they all began to shuffle into two prisoner lines that led up toward the main gates of the Gold City.

  “Leif, watch them closely!” I called, and then I hurried down from the wall to accept the surrender of their commanders.

  It took some time, but once I opened the gates and accepted their surrender, the human guards all escorted the new prisoners to join the others. There were still plenty of casinos with holding cells all over the city, so I let Sten take charge of the prisoners and organize where everyone needed to go.

  “We actually did it,” Penny said with a grin as she joined me.

  “Are you surprised?” Ava asked as she strode over from the wall alongside Leif.

  “No,” the pixie thief laughed. “I’m just fucking happy, that’s all.”

  “I’m just glad the elves marched against us so fast here,” I said. “If they had waited for reinforcements from another fort, we might have been fucked.”

  “That’s true, but, oh, I wish there was a way to thank Tevian for the gift of the wild orcs,” Penny snickered. “That was a fun little bonus.”

  “It definitely made our jobs easier,” I said, “but it was also a good reminder of how fast we need to move to keep the elves from all uniting together.”

  “Does that mean we need to move out somewhere else tonight?” Leif asked.

  “I want to get back to the Capital,” I said. “We can take a rest tonight, but when we wake up in the morning, I want to wake up in my hometown so we can take care of some more business there.”

  “We will follow wherever you lead, my king,” Ava said.

  After I met up with Sten again to make sure that he felt confident in his charge over the Gold City, I ordered a few of the Elite archers to stay with him, so they could continue to train the human guards in case of another elven attack. The rest of the Elite soldiers march
ed with me back toward the portal, but I led them back to the Blood City first.

  Once we reached the Blood City, I headed to the garrison to leave Leif in charge of things there because I wanted to take Clodia with me. I had a feeling that she might be able to help me against the temple priesthood in my hometown, and since there had been no sign of movement from the temple in the Blood City, I figured it was safe enough to bring her along with me for now.

  I knew that my troops were tired as fuck, but I also knew that they would be happy when I told them what their mission was for the rest of the night. So with Ava, Penny, and Clodia all right behind me, I led the Elite back through the portals, into the Capital, and all the way up to the Entertainment District.

  “I have a very important job for all of you tonight,” I called once we were assembled in front of Twila’s dancehall. “One that I need you to perform with as much commitment and enthusiasm as you would go into battle.”

  “We hear and understand!” the Elite called back.

  “Good,” I said with a smirk, “because tonight, your job is to take the night off.”

  The Elite all looked at each other like it was a joke, but they quickly began to whisper amongst themselves.

  “Enjoy the Entertainment District, my friends!” I laughed. “And I’ll meet you back here in the morning.”

  The black-clad soldiers all cheered and clapped each other on their backs, and then they all broke apart like a wave to go enjoy the entertainments of the district. They had more than earned a night off, and since there was no way to know what the future held for any of us, I figured that they might as well enjoy a good night while they could.

  Besides, I fully intended to enjoy my own night as well.

  After the Elite all disappeared to enjoy their time off, I led Penny, Ava, and Clodia toward Twila’s dancehall. Both Penny and Ava were exhausted at this point, but then again, I knew that none of us had slept enough since the revolution began. Clodia seemed surprisingly energetic, so when we entered the dancehall, I wasn’t surprised that she headed straight to the kitchen for a drink, while Penny and Ava both told me they needed to get some sleep.