Fate's Hand (12 page)

Arihem toyed with the jewel on his necklace. He gathered himself up and offered a parting smile to Sirash, who lay sprawled out on the bed.

“Do you think his plan will work?” she said to stop him.

“
Who knows exactly what his end plan is. I believe he knew the battle mage was going to escape. He may have even helped. I’m not sure. But I know I loathe the abyss. He says he has a plan to make it where we can stay here. I can’t say I share his ambition to live as these surface dwellers do. But I would enjoy the freedom this world provides. We would be like gods to these mortals.”

Sirash put on a pouting look and nestled herself into the pillows. “You wouldn’t want to stay here with us and rule?”

Arihem frowned slightly and looked out the window.

“
No. I don’t want to live under any rule or command. Drask hasn't properly researched all the details for the spell he's using. He wants to make us immune from returning to the Abyss, but I don’t know how the Angels would allow it. I will not be made into a mortal. When I die, I want to be sent back to where I came from.”

Sirash admired her new scar. “I do enjoy our time together. Come into my chamber when you want to talk some more.”

Arihem activated his necklace, rendering him invisible. “Oh, you can count on that.”

Sirash smiled as his two rough hands slid around her body, pressing her back onto the bed.

The group of orcs were tense after finding two of their scouts dead. The leader, Grumek, doubled up their scouting teams, but whoever felled their brothers hadn't struck again. With no more sightings or issues, he would return to normal shifts that night. Grumek made a final head count on his troops and the slaves. Goblin slaves carried his pack and food at the head of the column. Two massive half-ogre brothers named Zuk and Rend stood in the middle of the group, giving deadly looks to all the slaves. Around the half-ogres' waists were custom-fitted metal belts with numerous loops around them, each loop holding the chains to the slaves. The brothers had been in the slaver business with Grumek for years. Even with a full belt of slaves pulling against them, the two large beasts could not be moved.

The largest human male, the brothers' favorite to pick on, was looking away. Zuk heaved on the man’s chain, dragging him in closer. As the tension began pulling the man in, he panicked and cried out for help. The slaves lowered their heads and shuffled their feet. . Zuk reined the man within an arm's distance and grabbed his head, lifting him off the ground. The man kicked and thrashed, but his fatigued body soon went limp.

Grumek noticed the large half-ogre and called out to him. Zuk dropped the man and looked away, ignoring the slave as he flopped to the ground. The others gathered around and lifted him up. The slaves learned quickly if any of their own fell behind, the chain was cut and the wilder orcs in the back would beat them to death. Grumek did this periodically to any slave he deemed unworthy of the trouble, just to keep his pack happy. The sun was setting and it was time for the slavers to set out. Grumek grunted to his two groups of scouts. The eight looked back at him and nodded, split into two groups, and set out slightly north and south of the group.

Grumek looked the slaves over as he gave the scouts a head start. His eye wandered to the young female he found at the edge of some farming village. Her eyes were sad and sunken in but still held some fire. She had been a handful, and it was hard to keep his orcs away from her at night, but she would fetch a handsome price in the market. Zuk and Rend were not given many rules on their duties, but one was to keep the young females safe and untouched.

Grumek looked her body up and down. Her clothes were ripped revealing her legs and shoulders. Daria felt his eyes on her and wrapped her chained hands around her body, trying to pull her clothes tighter around her exposed skin. Rend noticed his leader ogling the woman and grunted, sliding his large axe out from behind him. He stepped in to block the view of the young woman. Rend and Grumek stared intensely at each other. Grumek finally broke with a smile. The two shared a hearty laugh as Rend replaced his weapon. Grumek signaled to the group and the march resumed.

Val hid behind the rock at the entrance of the small valley. When he first arrived, his body shook with anticipation, but over the long period of waiting he relaxed. Rylan and Asher had stationed him at the entrance for a reason. He was laying on his bed roll with a blanket over him. They covered his blanket with a small layer of pebbles and several larger rocks. He was already well-hidden behind boulders, but they didn’t want to take any chances. He was to lay as still as possible. The two men would only launch the attack once all the orcs had come into the pass. At that time, he could jump out and cut off their only escape route. He listened for any noise and for a while he feared the orcs had gone another route. But he didn’t dare come out, for fear of ruining the attack. So he laid in wait.

Asher sat poised above the valley, behind a row of saplings that grew out of a fissure in the boulders. He had propped up a blanket on some branches as a decoy. The trap was right in his line of sight and his concealment was solid. He scanned the moonlit rocks, bow in hand.

Rylan felt cold and ill-prepared. He was naked, his back to the rocks a little ways from the entrance of the valley. The only movement he made was to keep his tattoo wet. After some thought, he opened the vial labeled “geko” once more. He slathered on a few drops of blood and felt it take a stronger hold on his body. He looked at his hand, black and glassy and rested his hand on the stone to see its color once again became a dull grey with several black striations. He looked out with his night activated vision and searched the valley and skyline. He saw no sign of the orcs, but trusted Asher's prediction that they would use the pass. He squinted his large golden eyes and tried to rest until he got the signal.

Asher heard them before he saw them.

Three large scouting orcs made their way through the moonlit rocks. Quiet as they were, the heavy footsteps across the stone betrayed them to the seasoned ranger. Asher keep her concealment behind the rock until the orcs had aligned with his position. As the dark figure came into the peripheral vision of the first orc, Asher let his arrow fly and rolled around the nearest rocks and readied his next arrow. The orc tried to stop the other two scouts, but a sharp pain ran down his arm. He looked down to his unresponsive arm, but instead his eyes became fixed on the arrow shaft protruding from his rib cage. He used his other hand to take hold of the arrow just before his knees went weak. The others saw him fall and immediately took defensive stances. As they exchanged hushed grunts, they made their way over to check on their fallen warrior.

As one of the orcs kneeled and rolled the dead orc over, two arrows flew over his back. He jumped up, dropping his bow and pulling out his sword and buckler in a panic. He backpedaled, watching his friend clutching at two arrows stuck in his neck and chest. The injured orc stumbled, spilling his blood across the dry stone. The last orc frantically scanned the cracks and dark spots in the rocks and boulders. A stone skipping across the stone to his right caught his attention. As the large creature spun to scan the area, two long, thin daggers jammed in each side under his arms. He immediately released his short sword and shield and was surprised to not hear them clatter against the ground.

The tall, pale human caught the items and gently laid the orc down.

The orc watched, disoriented, as the man reached his hands around his sides, and jerked the two daggers free. The orc's jaw opened to shout an alarm, but his lungs quickly filled and the only thing to leave his mouth was warm, bitter blood. As he lay dying, he watched the human turn his back and begin his hunt once more, paying no more attention to the scouting party.

Asher drew a heavy, blunt-tipped arrow. He could see some movement across the pass as the other party checked the other side. Asher pulled the arrow back with all his might and let it fly high and far ahead of the scouting party. The loud crack and sound of falling rocks caught their attention and three of them sprinted off to check it out. Asher kneeled to steady himself and took aim for the last orc, waited for the other three to leave the area, then fired again. The arrow arched long across the valley. Asher lost it among the stars and darkness. Moments later, he saw the creature fall to his knees, then pitch forward onto the stone.

Val heard the chains first. Then the sound of footsteps across the rocks, and the armor and weapons clanking. The chains made the most noise. He closed his eyes and tried not to imagine his sister bound by the chains, hungry and hurt. He tried to steady his breathing and relax, but his heart was pounding. Val gripped his sword with both hands and thought about what he needed to do. For the first time, he was thankful for the hand. Val realized he was squeezing the leather handle so hard it was making a twisting noise, so he relaxed his grip. It was the same feeling as waking up after having slept on his hand, like it had only just begun to get its blood flow back, but the tingling remained. He could almost feel the texture of the leather, or the memory of the feeling. He realized he was holding his breath, and he slowly blew it out.              

As long as you still perform. he thought to the hand. The sound of orcs yelling out in another language caught his attention. His heart began to beat quickly again.

Grumek walked through the ranks and looked to the edge of the cliff faces that hung over them all. His scouts should have been looking down on him, but he didn’t see any. He got to the head where the party had stopped and looked down the pass with the lead orc. The guide sniffed the air and pointed a long spear out. Grumek took a few steps forward and squinted into the darkness. Something moved across the wall of the rocks. In a hushed tone, he gave the order to extinguish the torches. The stone before them looked as if it was slowly melting as it moved. A creature jumped down off the wall and landed flat across the ground. Grumek tried to make it out, but the thing seemed to disappear into the rocks. He motioned for troops to come forward, pointed at the strange creature, and pushed them on. The three orcs drew their weapons and reluctantly advanced.

Rylan stood up and walked over to the rock wall of the pass. He removed a rag laying on the ground and began wiping the blood off his neck, lost his camouflage and reverted back to human form, standing naked, exposed in the moonlight. The entire party of orcs and humans looked on in surprise. Rylan grabbed a pair of light cotton shorts and put them on. He casually strolled to the middle of the path and to greet the group with a large smile on his face.

“Kill him,” Grumek ordered.

The three started quickened their pace, fanning out. Rylan uncorked the bottle he had concealed in his hand and splashed a bit of blood across his neck and chest. The rune tattoo shined brightly in the darkness and Rylan's transformation began. He capped the vial and tossed it aside as the bones in his arms and legs began to crack and elongate. His hand began forming large, bony fingers with thick, black nails. His smile grew as his mouth began to widen. His shoulders bubbled with long, thick muscles and formed a link down his back. Rylan hunched over with his added upper body weight. He looked at the ground, ignoring the oncoming orcs. They slowed at the spectacle before them. One attacked came out in front of the others and let a spear loose into the air. The long, sharpened stick thudded into Asher's shoulder, sending him stumbling backwards and onto his back. The orcs charged forward at the prone, unarmed man, surrounding him and hacking at his body.