The Tracker: Book 1 of the King's Hand Series

by B. A. Monaghan

  He pulled up his skill panel next and was surprised by the increase to his knife skill. Fighting so many orcs with his knife really upped his experience. Tracking an illusion were still his best skills. He used them almost all the time. Unless he was home and sleeping he always had some type of illusion on himself.

  Skill Panel

  Tracking

  Expert Level 3

  Archery

  Expert Level 2

  Herbalism

  Experienced 6

  Toughness

  Experienced 8

  Illusion

  Expert Level 1

  Meditation

  Experienced 6

  Knives

  Experienced 1

  A week later they had made it to the crossroads. They resupplied and sent word about the attack. Waterville could send a pigeon to the capitol with a brief description. They were back on the road as soon as the transactions could take place. No one wanted to stay on this road with this caravan any longer than needed. Why Port Orchard needed weapons and armor was a bit bothersome. But when one caravan gets taken before it gets delivered and the second caravan gets attacked, the hairs on the back of Roland’s neck stand up.

  The hills and ridges were getting bigger on this section of road. The trees were getting thicker and there were fewer open areas. They traveled close by the Grand River. Most of the time they stayed up on a ridge that went parallel to the river. They had passed the forested area where the harpies had lived. It was only a few months ago and Roland felt like it was a lifetime already. Maybe he could go back to Halfway before he headed back to the Capitol.

  He kept up the fresh kills for the group. They never went without fresh meat. The road and the caravan itself kept the predators away. It looked like they were going to get to Port Orchard without any more major incidents.

  Well almost without incident. They were three days out of Port Orchard. They had come across several farmsteads with orchards. Maybe Port Orchard was well named. They were close to stopping for the night when Roland caught a whiff of orc smell. His heart beat quickly for a few minutes. No one would have noticed the difference he went completely still. Shadow responded and they headed back to the wagons as fast as their feet could run.

  “Mateo!! We have a problem. I haven’t found them but I just smelled orc. The smell was to the north side of the road and ahead of us about 3 miles. We need to find a place easily defended. I have no idea how many there are but I wanted to let you know that we are in danger.”

  Mateo had the caravan pull off to the edge of the road. The wagons were put up against an escarpment. They place two archers at the top so that they wouldn’t be flanked from behind. The horses were hidden off close by in the woods. The terrain to their front was tree covered so it would make finding them in the dark more difficult. No fires would be used this night. The guard was doubled. Roland and Shadow left that night to find the orcs to see what they were up against.

  Roland cast the shadow illusion on them both. If you were to imagine death moving through the woods, this is what you would see. The smell of orcs was getting stronger. They were well into the woods close by the river. They were probably two miles off the road. If the wind hadn’t been from the north, they probably wouldn’t have detected the orcs.

  Why were the orcs so determined to get the armor and weapons? They hated humans but why the push now. Humans were fairly new on this continent. They had been here for only a few hundred years and only a handful of cities were even on this continent. The orcs had been pushed back but the areas that the humans controlled weren’t the orcs normal hunting grounds anyway. Someone must be using the orcs. The most likely suspect were the elves but why now. They had a treaty and the elves did well under the treaty.

  As Roland was contemplating the machinations of others Shadow gave a mental nudge that he had found the orc camp. They had several guards set into the woods as a buffer to the camp. There weren’t near the numbers of orcs here as there had been when they were attacked weeks ago. The orcs in this camp were well equipped. All had swords shields and armor. They had mail hauberk under their leather armor. This wasn’t good. The worst part of these orcs wasn’t the armor and weapons. The worst was the shaman who was in charge of the group.

  He looked older. His green color was darker than the other orcs. He wore a dark brown robe. He had a necklace with all sorts of things hanging on it. He saw bones, feather, and what looked like a small skull. He had a bone piercing his nose and his ears had them too. His tusks were yellowed and the one on the left looked to be turning brown on the top quarter. The worst thing he saw was that he carried a staff with a lava stone attached to the top of it. He was a fire hurler.

  As he was thinking about what the options were when an orc entered the camp. He was pointing in the direction to the caravan. The orcs were getting excited. The shaman gave several commands that sounded like they needed to go. The fire was put out and they started to get their equipment put on and they were ready to move.

  He didn’t see a good outcome for anything. He didn’t feel like it would work out well fighting a shaman. He should get back to Mateo and see what he thought. He needed to hurry if they were going to give the caravan the warning they needed.

  The race was on. Roland and Shadow were cautious for the first mile. When they were out of range of the orcs hearing then they ran full out. With the added dexterity and the eyes of a wolf they flew through the woods without much of a sound even when they didn’t care about how much sound they made. Roland cast off his illusion just before entering the camp.

  He briefed the adventure guild members on what he saw. None of it was good. The heavy armor and good weapons with shields spelled a tough fight. The wagons were unloaded and were tipped up on end. This formed a wall in an arch around their camp. The archers were to stay above the camp and they would use bodkin arrowheads to pierce the armor. The mages were to neutralize the shaman. Roland and Shadow were to attack the shaman from behind when he was in the middle of the fight with the mages. They were hoping he could surprise him before he brought down too much destruction on the camp.

  He cast the shadow illusion on him and Shadow again. They went into the woods and hid. It wasn’t more than 30 minutes later when the lead element of orcs passed by. The orc scouts didn’t even pause when they went by their hiding place. They weren’t very good scouts.

  The main element came by about 15 minutes later. The shaman was in the middle of this group. Behind this group came two orcs. They were guarding the back side of the orcs. They were on the far left and right flanks. They were too far away from each other to give any type of assistance or warning to the other.

  Roland took out the far right flank orc first. The shadow illusion at night was incredibly effective. Orcs didn’t use their sense of small hardly at all. Well most humans didn’t either. Roland had become very dependent upon his new sense of smell. The second orc on the left flank went down silently too.

  As the second rear detached orc went down Roland could hear the battle begin. The charge was sounded and the clash of shield and sword could be heard. Roland and Shadow began their trek forward not going to fast but they felt there was a need to hurry. Lightning crashed and flames exploded. Screams of people and orcs could be heard.

  He came to the battle moving lightly and silently. No one noticed the whole focus was on the line of fighting to their front. A wagon was on fire lighting up the area. A large ball of fire leapt from the shaman’s staff. It looked like the caravan would be destroyed. Then a shield of lightning appeared to the front of the wagons. The fire bounced back and fell to the ground. Two orcs were unfortunate to be in the fire when it fell.

  The orc shaman screamed and began his incantations to cast another spell. Roland needed to get working. He pulled out a broad head and fired into the back of the shaman. Roland could hear it hit something and the shaman took a step forward as if he had been hit but the arrow fell short of the shaman. It had hit a magical shield.
The shaman stopped, looked back over his shoulder and gave a command. Two orcs where headed his way. The shaman turned back around and began his incantations again. Roland pulled out one of the manticore stinger arrowheads he had spent so much time on. He aimed and fired without hesitation.

  The two orcs were on him. He dropped his bow and pulled his two knives out. He cast invisible on himself. The two orcs stopped and started looking to find where he had gone. Roland sliced the first orc behind the knee sending him to the ground with a mountain wolf tearing at his neck. The second orc seeing the first being attacked, raised his sword to dissect the wolf in two. As his arm was raised a knife went in under his arm pit. He bled out before he could call for help.

  Shadow had finished off the first orc and they turned to see what was going on to their front. The shaman was being pulled away from the fight. He had Roland’s arrow sticking out his back. One of the orcs had his shield up protecting them from further attacks. He was guessing where the attack came from. The other orc had the shaman in one hand and the staff in the other.

  Roland and Shadow began the pursuit tracking the shaman. They didn’t want to let a dangerous adversary escape when they almost had him defeated. They had pulled him about 200 yards from the fight when they stopped to check for anyone following. Roland took out the one holding the staff. He was using the manticore stinger arrows because of the armor. They went through the mail like it was shot through a ripe melon.

  The other orc got his shield up between him and Roland. He had seen where the arrow had come from. He couldn’t see them but he knew the general area. The next arrow went through the shield and armor as easily as if there wasn’t a shield.

  Roland cautiously approached the shaman. He was face down and the arrow was still sticking up out of his back. It had penetrated the magic shield but it had been slowed down enough to stop in the shaman’s body. He was still breathing but barely. He was unconscious so he was unaware of his death. Well at least until he found himself in the life after. Roland collected his arrows and the staff and headed back to camp.

  There was still sounds of battle coming from camp. It wasn’t as loud as it had been. The sounds of battle magic couldn’t be heard. There were a handful of orcs left. They were beginning to retreat when Roland showed up. He took two down before the others realized they had been flanked. They turned to flee when the warriors pounced keeping them from escaping.

  Fires raged over the one wagon, threatening to spread to the wagons on its right and left. The coachman and adventures were pulling the two away from the one wagon ablaze. Vena and another healer were busy casting heals. Several men and women were laying on the ground. Orcs were laying along the front line. Mateo was giving orders and people were running to comply.

  Mateo turned and saw Roland and Shadow coming in from the woods. “Did you get that shaman? He stopped casting but we couldn’t tell what was going on in the woods.”

  “He no longer resides in the world of the living. The two guards trying to pull him out of the fight are dead and the two who were protecting the back side of the orcs are down too. I took this staff off the shaman. Maybe the sale of the lava stone will help the group. It isn’t a real big stone but it looks nice.”

  “Thanks Roland. Our group is in good shape except for Odelia. She took a beating when that ball of flame hit her electrical shield. Vena said you might have an elixir to help her. The other two groups of adventurers didn’t fare as well. I know we lost at least three guild member as two coachmen were killed to. Do what you can we will talk later.”

  The next day they found the orc bodies in the woods. A fire was started so the bodies could be burned. The wagons were tipped up on their wheels and reloaded. With one wagon lost the other wagons shared the load. Damari was recruited to drive the wagon short a coachman. Odelia was looking much better the next day. She wasn’t quite the arrogant mage she was when this mission started. She was lucky she was still alive. The whole group was lucky she was with the group. If she hadn’t shielded the group from the fire balls the fight would have been much different.

  Roland and Shadow were sent out again to scout the area. They hoped that being so close to Port Orchard they could get through before another attack could happen. Roland was back in camouflage. He was never without an illusion in some form. Shadow shunned the illusions unless it gave a significant help.

  Shadow and Roland rested beneath some trees. The way to Port Orchard looked clear. As things looked to be safe from here on out he checked his status board again. He was up to level 19. His illusion skill was up to Expert level 2. He placed the 5 additional points in endurance. His stamina was going up very well now. He would revert the next 5 points for leveling into Intelligence. He was able to cast a moving illusion now. His detection of illusions was up to 35%.

  Illusion - Expert Level 2

  You seek to change the appearance of the world around you.

  Passive Abilities

  Detect Illusions 35%

  Active Abilities

  Change Appearance (20 Mana)

  Change Others (40 mana)

  Cast Invisible on self-3 min. (60 mana)

  Cast Invisible on others 3 min (75 mana)

  Cast stationary Illusion 2 hours (100 man)

  Cast moving illusions 5 min (100 mana)

  Orchard were on both side of the road leading into Port Orchard. They shipped apple and pears to the other ports on the continent of Lancaster. They also shipped to the continent of Canistan. There was also a mix of grain fields and pasture. Port Orchard had a thriving farming community and a thriving trade with shipping.

  As the caravan drew close to the gates of Port Orchard the guards were alert and there were quite a few on duty. Roland had cast an illusion on Shadow again to make him look like a dog. Roland cast an illusion on himself to look a bit older and he made his scare on his cheek look wicked. Vena had healed the original wound so well the scar if you call it that was only a thin white mark. You had to look close to even tell there as a scar.

  Vena noticed the scare as they were entering the city. “Oh you are vane Roland. Don’t tell me you’re not narcissistic.”

  Roland stuttered a bit. “Uhhh well, I’m tired of everyone telling me I’m a young man or boy. The scar makes me look older and experienced. How can I be narcissistic when I’m making myself look ugly?” Vena laughed and walked into the city.

  They delivered the goods to the city guard. As the transactions were taking place to settle the debts Roland was listening to the gossip in compound. It seems the orcs had been raiding the country side in the area on the north side of the river. Word that they were attacked on the south side of the river was bad news. The reason for the armor and weapons was to combat the orc incursion in the area.

  The other rumor he was hearing was about the pirates. The shipping companies had lost two ships this season alone to pirates. They were sending out boats in threes with extra men on board to fight off the pirates. This had helped but the cost of protecting the ships was taking its toll on the merchant’s guilds bottom line. Port Orchard was collecting extra taxes to pay for a fighting ship to fight the pirates. It was almost built. It was sitting in the harbor and everyone was excited to bring the battle to the pirates.

  Mateo paid everyone for the mission and he paid the combat bonus too. They agreed that Mateo would sell the staff to the Mage’s Guild in town and they would meet back at the Adventurer’s Guild in two days.

  Chapter 9

  The King’s Hand

  Roland went to the guild hall and met the guild representative Hagan. He took the 20% for the escort mission. Roland also purchased a room and meals for three days. He ended up going down to a boarding house where he purchased a bath and while he was getting himself clean he had his cloths cleaned.

  With him, his cloths and his armor clean he felt like a new man. He sat down and had his dinner. As he was finishing up Hagan came over to his table. “Roland, a pigeon came in a few days ago and it had a message
for you.” He handed a piece of paper to Roland and departed.

  Roland broke the seal on the scrolled message and read it.

  Roland,

  If you get this, then you have made it to Port Orchard. We heard about the attack on the caravan before you got to the cross roads. Please, go to Vulgar Bard Tavern. Find a man named Warner. He will explain more than I can. Make sure he knows who I am. You should tell him of your friend Shadow.

  E.S.

  That was weird. Why couldn’t Eli tell him more? Did he want to know more? He really couldn’t think of a reason not to go. He wanted answers and this might be the way to get them. He asked for direction from Hagan to the Vulgar Bard Tavern. It was down by the docks.

  The Vulgar Bard Tavern had seen better days. The town of Port Orchard had the dock area which looked to be the older part of town and then the further away from the port the newer the town and the better establishments. The Vulgar Bard had a bartender, one man at the bar, two sitting near the entrance and one man sitting back in a dark corner. Roland picked the bartender hoping he would know who this Warner was.

  “Sir, could you direct me to a man named Warner?

  “First thing boy, I’m no sir and I’m sure no one in this bar has ever been a sir. The people here are brutes, thieves, cutthroats, and probably at one time pirates. Second, I’m not sure who Warner is but it might be that man in the back. He is here quite a bit but he has never told me his name. Third, order something or I throw you out.”