“That is troubling indeed.” Pilk scratched his head. “Perhaps they have made a trip to the hills near the boys’ homes. They have told me of a place they like to visit there, but why they didn’t ask us or at least leave a note I don’t know.”
“We have to find them. If they went to those hills they could be in danger.” Pilk couldn’t disagree with his sister’s reasoning. So much for my research.
“All right Cressy, let me just grab some things and inform the Duke. You wait here,” said Pilk as he placed a marker in his book and closed it up.
“Will the duke send anyone with us?” asked Cressida as Master Pilk rose to his feet and headed for the door.
“I doubt it very much. The city is still on high alert and busy making plans for an attack.” Pilk left his sister in his office while he went off to find the duke.
Duke Angus was not very happy at all, which was no shock to Master Pilk — he wasn’t happy about it himself. Despite his words to his sister, he asked the duke if he could spare any men for a search. The answer did not surprise him as it was the same as he had said to Cressida.
He returned to his office a short time later fully equipped for what he realised could be a dangerous adventure.
“We’ll have to drop by your house so I can pick up some things too,” said Cressida as soon as he entered. Pilk nodded and they both left the office.
* * *
Vik, Trent and Jaz had moved off the road to the left when they made it out of the canyon. They spied a rather large rise up ahead and were determined to see if it would give them a better view of what was around them.
The landscape was rocky and few trees could be seen. The larger rocks were just big enough to shelter them from any prying eyes from the road. Aching all over from all the walking over rough terrain and very little sleep, Vik was glad to finally reach the top of the rise.
As he caught sight of what was beyond, he dropped to his knees and beckoned the others to do likewise. He crawled on his belly up the hill until he could once again see over the crest.
Large city walls loomed up less than two bowshot lengths away. Orcs paced and stood guard on top of the battlements. Beyond the wall was a city as large, if not larger, than Estermere, the capital city of Lertia. To the north a road led into the city. Orcs moved along this road in both directions — soldiers, merchants and families. It could have been any other human city except this one was full of orcs. Vik had never known orcs to build cities —they always lived in caves in the mountains he thought.
The enormity of his task struck him as hard as ever. If his father was still alive, how did he have any chance finding him in a city full of orcs? Not to mention that his father may not even be in that city. They could have taken him anywhere by now; it had been close to two months since that dreadful night after all.
All energy flowed from him at that moment. He looked at Trent who was staring at the orc city and shaking his head. Jaz was showing similar signs of defeat.
“We have come as far as we can,” whispered Vik, finally finding his voice. “We wouldn’t stand a chance walking through that city, even if we did manage to get inside.” Jaz wriggled over beside him and put her arm around him. Vik was surprised by her comforting gesture which perhaps made it even more meaningful coming from an otherwise harsh girl. Maybe harsh isn’t the word. Vik remembered how tenderly she had seen to the wounds of so many injured soldiers. Just like her mother, Jaz baffled Vik — he never knew quite what to expect from her.
“There is still hope, Vik. If your fathers are alive, they may yet escape and find their way home.” While Vik appreciated Jaz’s comment, looking again at that large orc city gave him little hope of that ever happening despite the great reputation of his father.
“Let’s go home,” said Vik after a moment’s silence. Jaz nodded, but Trent kept looking out at the city.
“We can’t give up just like that Vik,” he said after a moment’s silence. “You knew as well as I that this was always going to be a challenging venture. Do you think our fathers’ would simply shrug their shoulders right now and head home? No, of course they wouldn’t. They would realise that people were depending on them and would come up with a plan. At the least we should scout around the city and see if we can find a sewer or a tunnel or some other weakness to sneak inside the city.” Vik was nodding before Trent had even finished. His friend was right; this had all been Vik’s idea after all and would he ever be able to live with himself if he went home right now and never saw his father again knowing that he had even the slightest chance of finding him?
Jaz looked at him expectantly.
“You’re right Trent. We have to take a closer look.”
* * *
Decker jumped in behind the nearest rock and was relieved to see Mistress Cali was quick to follow him. There was very little cover here — just some fallen debris from the canyon wall. They were close to the top of the canyon, Decker knew, when he had heard the unmistakeable sound of marching boots.
Squatting down low behind the rock, the noise continued to grow louder. A low growl occasionally accompanied the sound, which had Decker worried. He had heard that growl before and faced down the beast it belonged to, but here on a hostile world the result could be much different.
Decker had a good look around him, seeking the best escape route should he be discovered, but found very few options. Almost without thinking he looked above him and noticed a very narrow ledge running along the length of the canyon wall. An idea came to him and he whispered it to Mistress Cali as the orcs neared. She looked up and her eyes went wide. Looking back at Decker she shook her head vigorously. Knowing they had very little choice, Decker nodded his head emphatically.
Finally Mistress Cali’s shoulders sagged in defeat. The orcs were almost upon them as she placed her hands on Decker’s shoulders and cast her spell of invisibility, quickly followed by her levitating spell.
As they floated up into the air Decker observed how timely her spells had been. The beast had discovered their scent and was even now moving toward the rock they were hiding behind with a sense of purpose. The orc rider readied his spear-like weapon, as the trailing orcs readied their axes.
The worg bounded in behind the rock at the same time as Decker and Mistress Cali reached their needed height. Decker grabbed a handhold in the canyon wall and pulled them both in close. With a nod of his head to say he was ready, Mistress Cali released her spell. They both dropped an inch or so to land lightly on the narrow ledge.
Decker smiled at the confused expression on the rider’s face and the furious sniffing of his mount. The other orcs moved in and searched behind all the nearby rocks — even those not large enough to hide a small child.
After a few minutes Decker became concerned. Mistress Cali’s spell would not last long and it looked as though the orcs were not about to leave anytime soon. He looked at Mistress Cali and noted her anxious expression, but the way she was nervously looking down he couldn’t be sure if it was afraid of discovery or afraid of the height while standing on such a precarious ledge. She looked at him and he gave his best comforting smile.
A moment later, the beast seemed to stumble upon another scent and began scampering further along the narrow road with the orcs hot on its tail. The orcs were no more than a stone’s throw away before Mistress Cali dislodged a small pebble. The noise seemed to echo right through the entire canyon, but Decker realised that was likely his own wild imagination. It was however loud enough to alert a trailing orc and he was quick to turn around.
He stood there for a moment casting his gaze up the wall. Decker’s heart thundered in his chest as he uttered a silent prayer to Zyneste, the Goddess of nature. The orc turned around and noticed he was trailing the rest of the group by a fair margin. He shook his head and started jogging after them. Decker felt the magic fail on him about ten counts later.
* * *
“I wish Decker was with us right now,” said Pilk. “If they had come this way he w
ould have picked up their tracks in an instant.” Cressida nodded sulkily.
Pilk had got them to the hills in no time using magic gates which he could create to the edge of his sight. The two of them had been searching thoroughly ever since, even occasionally risking a shout. The large hills were hard to traverse however due to large masses of trees or sheer cliff faces and Pilk had no idea where the specific spot was that the boys often talked about.
“Perhaps they went to the boys farmhouses to show Jaz, or to collect some things they had thought of?” asked Cressida after some time.
“That is indeed a possibility. It certainly looks as though they aren’t around here, that’s for sure. I wish we had thought to check the stables to see if they had taken the horses. Come here and I’ll create another gate.” Master Pilk looked off into the distance, located a spot and held the image firmly in his mind and started creating a magical gate.
Within moments Pilk had them at Vik’s farmhouse. Pilk looked around at the land dejectedly. The paddocks were once filled with sheep, but the ones remaining after Gerard’s disappearance had since been sold. The working dogs and horses had also been sold; Vik had insisted that he keep Crazy Daisy and Swift Breeze though, but they were now kept at a stable yard in Arthea. The place was depressingly quiet.
Pilk checked all the surrounding buildings while Cressida checked the house. Everywhere he looked — the stables, the work shed, and the shearing shed — he expected to see Gerard there. But he saw no one and no sign that anyone had been here since he had last been here. The place was deserted.
Cressida looked at him as she came out of the house and shook her head. If the kids had not been here it was likely they had also not gone to Trent’s house. Pilk could only think of one other place they may have gone, but he really didn’t want to even mention that possibility to his sister.
* * *
Vik ambled carefully back down the slope. He couldn’t stop wondering where his father was right now. Was he still alive? Was he somewhere in that city over the hill or had the orcs taken him someplace else? Were they torturing his father for information?
His father was strong-willed and would not give into torture easily, but every man had a breaking point. What were these orcs planning — a full invasion of their world? If this was the case, why hadn’t more come through already? Surely they would have noticed the recent battle at the walls of Arthea and they knew about Fort Lowmount’s capture as they had a hand in that, so why weren’t they pressing that advantage? Perhaps it was because they also had their hands full with an enemy. Vik was thinking about this possibility at the same time as a crossbow bolt hit him in the chest and took him to the ground. Just before he lost consciousness, a fierce wolf-like animal with an orc rider came into his vision.
Freedom
Gerard looked down as the battle continued to unfold. The surviving men and dwarves had continued travelling northwest into the forest which ran progressively uphill. They were resting in a clearing that had a limited view of the city walls. The defending orcs appeared to have the situation well under control from what Gerard could tell; no doubt aided by the damage they had done themselves to the attacking army.
Once it became apparent that the orcs weren’t pursuing them, they had time to take stock on what they had lost. A head count had them numbering eighty-four — fifty-one dwarves and thirty-three humans — but two more of the humans had died since that count. Amongst the dead was Major Sarkis, who had been close to death when he was first captured by the orcs; the story of his bravery being told by a proud but dismayed Major Isak.
Jeff had been able to remove the rest of the arrow from Gerard’s leg and a dwarven cleric — the only cleric to have survived — had been able to seal the wound. His injury was amongst the least serious; they would likely lose a few more yet. Not to mention that travelling with so many wounded was slow going and hard work.
Gerard had studied the maps of the Black Skull tribe on many occasions as he spoke of tactics and strategy with his captors. He had a fair idea where they were, but determining their route from here was much more difficult. They needed to locate the Gate in order to return to their world, but he didn’t know exactly where that was. He knew it was in the Black Rock Canyon near the orcs’ capital city of Gnash, but that canyon was known to be a confusing maze of rock.
Not to mention that the canyon was the southern border of the Black Skull tribe and they were currently on the northern border. If Gerard truly believed the fierce one would stick to his word and not harm them it would be easy; they could simply walk straight through the lands of the Black Skull all the way home. Gerard suspected that the fierce one would not allow them to do that. On the other hand if they got moving fast enough, they could cover a lot of ground before any new orders from the fierce one spread.
“We need to keep moving,” said Gerard in a hoarse voice. Major Isak and Jeff looked at him and nodded in unison. “There should be a river not far north of here. We may be able to use that to put some distance between us and that army. We’ll have to keep an eye out for more Red Axe. They may have reinforcements on the way.”
“There may be some boats in the river near Grenth, Gerry.” Jeff wore a mischievous smile which Gerard deciphered in an instant.
“We are in no condition for more fighting, Jeff. The Red Axe will likely have Grenth guarded,” said Gerard trying to settle down his adventurous friend.
“It could be worth a look. I could check it out, with perhaps three or four others. It’d be good for the more seriously wounded to simply float down the river.” Gerard looked at Major Isak and shrugged. He would leave it up to the major since he was the ranking officer.
“OK Jeff, take Captain Riyad and two dwarves with you and see what you can manage,” ordered Major Isak.
“Dwarves?” asked Jeff in hushed tones. “They are not known for their stealth major.”
“No, but they are known for their resistance to magic and their ingenuity — you may need both,” said Major Isak.
“Not to mention these orcs have never dealt with dwarves, remember Jeff? They won’t know what to make of them,” added Gerard.
“We’ll keep making our way northwest to the river. Don’t delay too long.” Jeff acknowledged Major Isak’s order and set off to gather his group.
* * *
Sarai held the garment up in admiration. It was by far her finest work; she had been working on it for many days now since being included in the group to weave garments for the supreme mistress herself.
Made entirely out of black silk the dress would hang off the right shoulder. She had designed it to hug the body and hips tight but fan out at the knees. The full length dress had a short train which would trail out behind the wearer, and the garment was almost entirely backless.
The many diamonds Sarai had requested were shaped as the king cobra emblem of the tribe; the snakes body coiled up on the bodice with the reared head positioned over the right shoulder. The diamonds caught the light of the room and reflected it in a hypnotic fashion. Finally Sarai had something to smile about.
* * *
Not willing to stay on the path where they had almost been discovered, Decker had asked Mistress Cali to float them to the top of the canyon wall. Decker had since heard movement down below moving back the way they had come and was thankful for his choice to take an alternate route.
The terrain was a lot rougher where they were and there were no tracks to follow. They had to backtrack on occasions until Decker could find another way around. Finally, though, they had found a way to the main path and out of the canyon.
Wanting to get a better look around, Decker started making his way up a rise. Part way up the hill stumbled upon a small patch of blood on the rocky ground. Many other scuff marks and boot prints lay around the area making it obvious that there had been a commotion here and, judging by the freshness of the blood and disturbed dirt, it had happened very recently.
Paw prints with the tell-tale signs of
large claws told Decker that the beast he had seen earlier was likely involved in this scuffle. Making his way further up the hill Decker once more found the prints he had seen earlier. Whoever it was that belonged to these prints, they had been discovered here and it hadn’t ended well for them.
* * *
Jeff, Captain Riyad and two dwarves, Nuri and Burr, had walked northeast where Jeff knew the forward fortification of Grenth should be. He was worried about the noise that the dwarves were making but he was glad to have them along. Despite what they had all been through, the spirits of the two dwarves was extraordinarily high; they seemed more content arguing about who was going to get the first sip of the ale they intended on stealing, than moving along with any sort of stealth.
Burr was the older of the two dwarves with Nuri being in his mid-thirties which was considered as just a lad by dwarf reckoning. Burr had long, shaggy ginger hair and beard. His inset, hazel eyes always appeared menacing which were enhanced by his furrowed brow and baggy cheeks. He was broad of shoulder, even for a dwarf, and spoke with a deep, rumbling voice.
Nuri had black wavy hair and a short, thin beard. His deep brown eyes darted around excitedly and he spoke in rapid bursts with his strange husky voice. He had a rotund belly which was likely attributed to his love of ale.
Getting a sense that they were nearing their destination, Jeff finally silenced them and the seriousness of it was reinforced by Captain Riyad when they didn’t immediately comply.
Jeff could hear the river now and the noise seemed to be coming from below them. He understood why this was a few moments later when he came to the edge of the trees and found himself standing at the top a fifty foot sheer drop. Taking a look upstream failed to reveal the fort or even a way down to the river; only more cliff face and a slight bend to the left.
The Gate - An Ancient Connection Page 9