by Logan Jacobs
“We can do this, Draco Rex,” Mira said seriously, as if she already knew what I was about to say.
“You’re right.” I nodded. “Let’s get back to work.”
Quickly, we put our heads down and dug with a newfound gusto. We were filling buckets with dirt every five minutes, and women raced up and down the tunnels to empty buckets, bring us fresh ones, and give the other workers a break from digging.
I didn’t take a single break, though. This was too important.
We encountered only one more problem area, but it was easily fixed with two pieces of our lumber. The dirt wasn’t even terribly muddy. It was just slippery, and I didn’t want to take any chances. The last thing I needed was to finish today, and then have a cave-in in the middle of the night that blocked our way to the orc encampment.
Or worse, having a cave-in while we were all in the tunnels and ready for the robbery. That would be a surefire way for the orcs to win, and there was no way I was going to let that happen.
It took us the remainder of the day, but we managed to finish the tunnel and secure the lumber so it wouldn’t cave-in on us again.
We brought the tunnel up right before the dirt turned to sand. There was still some distance between us and the heart of the orc camp, but we couldn’t tunnel any closer, since the ground was becoming more unstable and sandier.
It was still broad daylight, so we were careful not to actually break through the earth and alert them to our presence, but we could tell they were out there, since we could hear their loud, rumbling voices carried on the wind.
Lezan helped me secure the last piece of lumber against the right side of the tunnel, and I gave her a proud thumbs up. We all remained silent, though, as we slowly backed down the tunnel and headed back to the encampment just beside the ravine. We had decided it would be easier to wait on the other side of our tunnel, instead of going all the way back to the beach and having to travel that distance twice in one day.
“That was so much fun!” Lezan grinned as we trekked back into our camp.
“I’m glad you liked it,” I chuckled. “Now, how about we rob a camp full of orcs tonight?”
“Yes!” the cry rose from all of the women. Some pumped their fists up into the air, while others clapped their hands together in a move much more ladylike. Jemma and Mira grabbed Sela in a bear hug, and even though the gray-blue haired warrior protested, she allowed them to hold her for a total of five seconds, which was probably longer than anyone had ever hugged her in their lives.
We feasted on fish, both raw and roasted, that night, as well as dried fruit and a handful of nuts from a native island tree. We didn’t start a fire, afraid that even all the way out here on the ravine, the orcs might see us, and then we’d lose the element of surprise we currently had on our side.
When we were all satiated from the meal, the sun had gone down and the moon had come out.
Now was the time to strike.
“Alright, does everyone remember the plan?” I asked as I stood in front of all the women with hands on my hips and looked out over their faces.
I was met with a sea full of nodding heads.
The plan was simple. A few of us would sneak into the camp and grab the egg, and then send it back before we started any major battles. If luck was on our side, we’d manage to slit most of the orcs’ throats in their sleep, and there wouldn’t even be very much fighting to do.
“We will beat them,” Nadir said in a serious tone. “And get our treasure back.”
“Yes.” Lezan nodded enthusiastically.
“Remember, though, it’s a real, live dragon,” I reminded them. “Not just a treasure. That thing’s going to hatch someday, and out is going to come a fire breathing creature we might not have control over.”
“Understood,” Nadir said. Although, by the way her steely gray eyes sparkled in delight, I wasn’t too sure she actually did understand. Nadir and her people were very focused on treasure, and while it could be endearing, I was also worried it might get them into deep trouble one day.
I’d have to keep a very close eye on her.
About half of us started through the tunnels in one giant group, and the others would wait at camp and would only join us once the egg was safely secured with a few guards.
We treaded over the dirt lightly, at once both afraid to make the earth shake too much and about making too much noise and accidentally alerting the orcs to our presence. From what I’d seen, they didn’t seem to have hearing anywhere near as good as mine, but that didn’t mean I was willing to take a risk.
Nadir and Lezan crept along beside me, and the two of them had the perfect, tiny feet for this kind of thing. They walked with such precision they made absolutely no noise at all.
Their faces, though, were the only ones alight with joy. I felt a bit giddy, as I always did when we were about to sucker punch the orcs right in their massive guts, but even that was dimmed by the fact we had the dragon egg to contend with. The addition of this treasure, this prize we needed to make sure we didn’t damage, just turned the entire situation into such a high stakes game I couldn’t really find it in me to grin from ear to ear.
But I was damn glad Nadir and Lezan could.
The walk through the tunnel seemed to take us days, even though it was really only about an hour and a half. By the time we got to just under the orc encampment, though, I was as revved up as I would have been if I’d had eight cups of coffee to drink.
Silently, I pointed up at the ground above us, and then motioned to Nadir and Lezan. They nodded and started to dig through the very final layer of ground that stood between us and the orc encampment. It went slower than usual simply because they tried to be as quiet as was possible, but when they were done, they stepped aside so I could pull myself up and peek up over the edge.
My eyes peeked out at the campfire, and I saw the pedestal on which the egg had sat.
Only to find it completely empty.
Instantly, my heart dropped through my stomach. My first thought was the egg had hatched, and we were too late, but that didn’t make too much sense. If the dragon had come out, why hadn’t they used the creature against Nadir’s people yet? Or sailed back to their home island to show off their new prize?
On top of that, I didn’t see any shell pieces lying around. Which might not have meant anything, or it might have meant the dragon hadn’t hatched yet.
So, where the hell was the egg?
I scanned the entire orc camp, but couldn’t find it anywhere. That didn’t mean we were defeated, though.
Finally, my eyes landed on the ship, and I found exactly what I’d been looking for.
The beautiful silver egg.
It was on the top deck, in the arms of an orc. He had it tucked away the way a woman might carry her baby, and he almost seemed to bounce it up and down.
Great. We’d managed to come on the one night some idiotic orc had decided to play mommy.
Slowly, I lowered myself back down. We shuffled a few feet back from the entrance, and I motioned for the women to huddle closer.
“The egg is on the ship,” I murmured. “Nadir, Jemma, and Mira, I need the three of you to come with me. We’ll get the egg to safety, and then we’ll fight them.”
Jemma nodded nervously. Mira and Nadir, on the other hand, grinned at me like I’d just given both of them their own personal chocolate fountain.
The rest of my warriors waited in the shelter of the tunnel while the four of us snuck earth side, and loud obnoxious snores billowed from the orcs who slept on the ground, while wheezing, whistling ones emanated from the cabin that housed their leaders.
That would be my first stop once we’d gotten the egg to safety. I’d make sure their horrible leaders died in their sleep.
The four of us crept over the sand to where the waves lapped softly against the shore. The water was chilly, I could feel it even through my boots, but it didn’t matter. This was the only way onto that damn ship.
So, I u
sed my hands to signal my plan to the women. I wasn’t completely sure they got what I meant, but they nodded anyways, so we quickly waded into the water and swam to where the ship was anchored off shore. Once I reached the hull, I started to climb up the crude ladder and make my way up the side of the ship. Then the three of them followed not far behind.
Even the wood of this ship smelled like orc feet, and it was a good thing I had no plans to commandeer it, because I would have never gotten that stench out.
When I reached the top of the ladder, I froze so I could listen closely.
I could only hear one set of footsteps, which was good. They sounded like they were pacing back and forth. I could even hear the nasty monster cooing to the egg in his arms like it was an actual baby.
“And when you wake up, you’re going to help us conquer the world,” his gruff voice said, and he sounded like the exact opposite of a comforting parent.
I waited to hear the sound of his footsteps retreat away from us before I made my move.
As soon as his heavy clunking went in the opposite direction, I launched myself over the railing of the ship, dashed over to him, and slit his throat while his back was turned to me, all before he could even make a sound.
The fat orc’s eyes went wide, and he gurgled as the thick red blood poured out of his neck. He managed to turn toward me and get a good look at my face as his legs started to collapse beneath him. The disgusting creature had just opened his mouth to try and warn the others of the invasion when the blood loss overtook him, his eyes rolled back into his head, and he died right then and there, with the egg still clutched in his arms like a protective parent.
Mira came up behind me and gave me a proud tap on my shoulder before she bent down to grab the egg.
However, right when she pried the egg out of the dead orc’s grasp, another orc suddenly came out of a nearby door from below deck, and his eyes immediately locked onto us.
Shit.
I lunged forward and tried to reach the orc before he could sound the alarm, but I was an instant too late.
“Invaders!” the orc managed to scream, right before I shoved my sword through his heart.
The sound had awoken the other orcs, though, and I could hear a flurry of motion below decks as they came to arms.
“Fuck,” I grunted, then turned to Jemma and Nadir. “Get the egg out of here. Now!”
They nodded before Jemma took the egg from Mira, and the deer-woman quickly ripped off a part of one of the dead orc’s shirts to make a makeshift sling. Jemma strapped the egg to her chest as tightly as she could before she gestured to Nadir, and then the two of them shot over the side of the boat.
I heard them splash into the water below, and I prayed to Oshun they could swim to shore and make it back to the tunnel with no problems.
As I glanced toward the beach, I could already see my own warriors as they flooded up from the ground and stormed the camp, and I breathed a sigh of relief.
The real battle was on now.
So, I spun around and prepared myself for the onslaught of orcs that had risen from the belly of the ship.
“Prepare yourself, my king!” Mira hollered.
At the same time, an oily, black wave of sword wielding orcs swelled up from below the decks, and the group let our one massive battle cry as they came straight toward us.
I could hear the battle rage from the beach, but it seemed there were far more orcs on the ship.
It didn’t matter, though. It wasn’t as if we had a choice in our battle ground.
Two orcs dashed toward me with their swords in the air, and their beady red eyes gleamed with fury.
“You killed my brother!” the fattest one screeched, and I could only assume he was talking about the corpse at my feet.
I gave it a cursory glance, and then shrugged.
“Your brother should have been smarter,” I cackled.
I wanted to egg on these idiots so they would fuck up.
As my sword clashed against both of the orcs’ weapons simultaneously, I was vaguely aware we’d been joined on the deck by more fighters. Sela had appeared at Mira’s side to help as the woman battled six orcs, and Anora appeared at mine.
The beautiful, green-haired woman took on an orc of her own, her yellow eyes ablaze as she pierced him right through his fat gullet without a moment’s hesitation.
I didn’t get more than a second to smile, though, because the angry, tearful orc whose brother was dead at my feet tried to slice me in half with a rather poorly aimed swipe of his sword.
I blocked the blade easily, and I reveled in the zing of metal on sea glass that rang out around us.
The other orc somersaulted behind me, but I predicted his move and spun around to chop off his head in one fell swoop.
One down, a hundred more to go.
“Ah!” the living orc screeched as his comrade’s head bounced at his feet. “Tunnef!”
“Man, you’re really losing people today, huh?” I asked him. “Who was that, your other brother?”
“My wife’s cousin, you scoundrel!” he growled.
The orc stabbed at me with another terribly placed blow, but I knocked his sword to the side and then stabbed at him in return. To my surprise, the orc spun and escaped what would have been a fatal blow, but my blade still cut his arm off at the elbow.
The idiot screamed as blood spurted out of his stump, and he stumbled back away from me, but he’d put himself in a terrible position.
The orc was backed up against the railing. All I had to do was distract him with another swipe of my sword, and then I used my boot to knock him over the edge and send him down the forty-foot drop into the ocean.
The gods were on my side even more than usual, it seemed, because the orc’s fat body hit the water with a resounding splash, and since he was missing an arm, he couldn’t swim very well. He thrashed for a few moments before his head slipped under the waves, and then he didn’t resurface, so I imagined he’d sunk to the bottom of the sea.
“Yes!” I cried out as I pumped my fist up into the air.
But my work wasn’t over.
I spun around to head back into the battle, which we had started to win. Arrows flew from the bows of Jemma’s women, while Mira’s women used their impressive swordplay to take down orc after orc.
And then there were Nadir’s women, who were already quite adept with their daggers and axes. They hacked and chopped away at the orcs like frantic tag-team raccoons, and I estimated they probably took an orc down every thirty seconds.
I dove back into the battle, and I sliced open the neck of an unsuspecting orc who had tried to pull a sneak attack on Anora. The blue skinned dragonkin woman was so entrenched in a battle of her own as she fought off two orcs she hadn’t even noticed.
I jumped into the fray and distracted one of the orcs, who turned to me with a malicious smile.
“A man,” he sneered. “Fighting for women? How below you.”
“I think raping and pillaging is a hell of a lot worse than being a king and a hero,” I snapped.
The orc didn’t like that. He ran forward and attempted to chop my head off, just like I’d done to his buddy earlier. I ducked beneath the sword, and at the same time, used a roundhouse kick to knock his legs out from underneath him.
The big bulk of his body crashed to the deck of the ship with a loud crack, and I sprang on top of him, pinned his arms down with my feet, and drove my sword straight through his thick skull.
Blood and brains arced out from the wound, and his limbs gave a last few weak spasms before he went still.
I turned to take stock of the rest of the battle, ready to jump in where I was needed, only to find it was mostly over. The women fought off the last few orcs, but even as I watched, they died in quick succession.
It was amazing what could happen with seventy well-trained soldiers against an army of fat slugs. There had only been about a hundred or so orcs anyway, and that number was now down to about twenty.
“A ship!” came a cry from the beach.
I was too far away to know which side the cry had come from, but it didn’t even matter. I turned out to face the ocean and, lo and behold, a new ship approached.
And it was a much more massive one. The sun was just beginning to come up, and I could see in the early dawn light this vessel housed at least four times the number of orc soldiers.
The excitement that had bloomed in my belly started to die out rapidly. Seventy versus one hundred was one battle.
Seventy versus four hundred was something completely different.
But maybe I could even the odds a little.
“Load up the cannons!” I bellowed as I scrambled to the nearest one.
It was a race against the clock, but if we could hit the oncoming ship once or twice and breach their hull with a cannonball, we could take out the army before they even reached us.
Mira and I scrambled to load one cannon while the other women worked on the other one, and once I was finished, I glanced up at the approaching enemy.
To find they were a lot closer than I’d like.
“Fire!” I roared, and a moment later, cannonballs rocketed from the deck and arched toward the enemy vessel.
One of the projectiles missed its mark by several yards and crashed into the ocean beside the orc ship, but my cannonball actually smashed into the deck and made several orcs go flying into the air.
I grinned in satisfaction, but it was short lived.
The enemy orcs were now loading up their cannons, and they had a lot more people to man their guns than we did at the moment. There were only a handful of us and hundreds of them, and if they got any closer, our vessel would quickly be made into Swiss cheese.
So, it was time for a strategic retreat.
“Abandon ship!” I hollered as I grabbed Mira and headed for the railing, and the other women on deck were hot on our heels.
We scrambled down the ladder and jumped into the ocean just as cannon fire strafed the deck behind us, and then we made the mad swim to shore as wood and debris crashed into the sea at our backs.