Three Kings (Book 3) (8 page)

Stretching and wiggling his extremities, Gnak blinked away the severe dryness of his one good eye, realizing that for future shifts he would need to remember to close his eyes first. It took many moments to remove the dust and ache from his eye, but when it was gone he realized yet another discovery that excited him. Having been absent from his orc body for several hours, and now returning, he felt invigorated, as if he had just awoken from a nap. It made sense, he supposed, that as his body lie frozen it was at rest, essentially sleeping without his will to control it. He would never have to sleep again! He could just shift from one body to the other, back and forth, for all time. With a satisfied grunt, he nodded to himself, jutting out his jaw and gnashing his teeth. He would be able to learn the world twice as fast now. Things were really beginning to look up.

Knowing now that both bodies could rest independent of the other, he sought to devise a way to continue traveling whilst in his orc body. After all, the sooner he got back to camp, the better. He dared not build a round cage of lashed saplings and branches as he had done once before. Such a structure was likely to harm both of his bodies if he lost control of it. Instead, he decided he was better off creating a litter of the likes the trolls used to haul supplies.

Whereas an orkin litter was essentially two long poles with a hide lashed between them, that one could pull while dragging the far ends upon the ground, the injured upon the hide, the troll version seemed more suited to the mountainside as opposed to the orc which was designed for sand.

With an idea of what he sought, Gnak went about the surrounding area, collecting what few supplies he needed to create a litter for the troll king’s body. Finding a log a dozen feet long, Gnak pressed his blade to the end and struck it with a rock, driving it into the wood. Then, beating both the tip of the blade and then the handle, he drove the sharpened edge down the length of the log, effectively splitting it in two. It was not an easy process, but worked about as well as he had imagined. Collecting a handful of smaller logs and boughs, he began placing them into a frame-like pattern that would keep the two half logs at an equal distance from one another the whole of their lengths. Cutting strips of leather from the bundle he had carried to the tops of the mountains with him, Gnak began to lash the many poles and boughs together, tying each intersection tight with thick knots.

Appraising his work, he was happy with the device called a ‘sled’ by the trolls in the common tongue. Sitting upon the device he ate the last strip of dried meat he had brought with him, realizing he would need to find enough food for both his bodies on the return trip home. It was well on into morning when he shifted into the troll king just long enough to lay upon the sled, before shifting back to resume his trek down the mountain.

Pulling upon the long length of cord attached to the front of the sled, Gnak put his head and one arm through the loop, and began forward down the path. Leaning into his movements, he was surprised when the sled began to move behind him with relative ease.

Onward and downward Gnak followed the game trails for the entire day without incident. As evening came, he carried his spear in hopes of crossing paths with a hare or stag. When the sky began to darken above, however, he realized he was not the only one hunting in the area as a howl sounded from somewhere behind him. If he had not seen any game thus far, he certainly wouldn’t now.

Moving down the trail at a quickened pace, his hunt ruined, he was surprised when another howl sounded to his right and then another to the left just moments later. Gnak stopped in his tracks. It was already too late to escape.

From seemingly all directions, glowing eyes peered out at him from the shadows at the dire wolves prowled nearer. Slowly they closed in upon him, and turning cautiously, Gnak counted their number. It was a small pack, numbering only half a dozen. He knew he could lay them all out with little more than a thought by simply taking their will, but as he reached out to end the beasts, something more foul was upon him.

Springing from the darkness, a creature that was neither animal nor beast collided with Gnak, Driving him down to the ground. Seemingly half wolf and half human, the muscular thing snapped at him ferociously as it clawed and scratched trying to get a better hold upon him. Kicking out, he drove the creature away and crawled to his feet once more. He recognized the beast from the battle with the humans. It was one of the black wizard’s soldiers.

Though he had no idea what the beast was doing on the mountain, Gnak raised his spear and took aim as teeth tore into his shoulder, and sharp claws dug into his back. Spinning from the blow, Gnak witnessed as three of the dire wolves sprang upon the body of the troll king, biting and tearing viciously. Raising his hand to summon their power, his head wrenched back as the inhuman creature grabbed at him from behind. He went down with both attackers upon him. Entangled with his flesh being torn from him, there was nothing Gnak could do. He shifted.

Rising from the sled, the troll king ripped the fur-covered beasts from his thick flesh and flung them with all his ancient might as they crashed into the trunks of trees and rocky outcroppings, with yelps and barks of pain. Turning, he reached out his hand to summon the wills of those attackers upon his orkin body. With no effort the wills of all three remaining dire wolves flowed to him, each tearing away from a wolf, leaving it inanimate, but the will of the unholy beast remained. Gnak tried again.

For unknown reason, the wolf man’s will was beyond his ability, and watching as it savagely bit into the arm of the frozen orc body, Gnak rose from his litter as quickly as his old body would carry him, and with two great strides he kicked out with one massive leg and listened as the sickening snap of bones followed.

Through the air the assailant flew, twisting and turning only to land upon its feet as if its injury mattered not at all. Growling and snapping, it raced towards him, and Gnak knew this body would not be fast enough to fight the foe. Raising his hand and opening it wide, he shifted again.

Pain from his torn shoulder and arm shot through him, but Gnak could not delay. Snatching up his fallen spear, he rolled forward into the oncoming beast and thrusting with all his might he drove the shaft up and into the gut of the creature as it passed. With the butt of his spear digging into the rocky ground, the beast rose up upon the shaft, such was his momentum, and flung forward, it sailed towards the hand of the awaiting troll. Gnak shifted.

Clamping his massive hand closed, he looked down as the beast in his grasp snarled and snapped at him, trying to claw at his thick flesh with its fingers. Squeezing, Gnak watched as the beast silenced its protests before its neck snapped. With its head lolling to the side at an odd angle, Gnak dropped the creature and watched it crumple into a pile of fur upon the ground. It was an unnatural beast. Of that he was certain. And it seemed now that his power was limited to the dominion of natural beasts.

Checking his wounds, Gnak found the troll king’s body to be nearly free from injury. So thick was his flesh that the wolven teeth and claws had barely managed to do more than scratch him in several places. Shifting again, Gnak found his orc body to be in much worse condition. With bite and claw wounds all down his arm and shoulder, he could only feel the seeping wounds upon his back. Pain arose from nearly his whole left side.

Shifting again, Gnak collected what was left of the shaman’s salve and using the troll king’s body he applied it sparingly to those wounds that appeared to be the worst of the damage upon his orc body. Though they now had enough food for the trip, Gnak wondered if his wounds would fester, and become infected as they had done in the past. His orc body had been through a lot in the last few months.

Deciding that he should let the body rest so that it might heal better, he remained in the troll king and placed his orc body upon the sled. Collecting two of the wolves, he quickly gutted and skinned them before building a fire. As the sun rose into the sky, Gnak roasted a pair of the giant wolves upon a spit and listened as their fat dripped from their bones into the waiting fire below.

In his ancient body he too remained near the flames, letting his body absorb the heat. If he wanted to use this body, he needed to speed the metabolism to a reasonable level so he could move more quickly. But speeding the inner workings of his body had setbacks as well. In order to sustain the quick movement and his health, he would be forced to eat frequently. He tossed two more of the wolves directly into the fire and watched as their fur burned away. After an hour he removed the charred carcasses from the fire and began tearing blackened hunks of their flesh away with his teeth.

Though he would have thought the meal disgusting just days ago, in
this
body he found it suitable, and even enjoyed biting through the gut sack of one of the beasts as its hot juices flowed into his mouth. Chomping through his meal, he kicked the last two remaining carcasses into the fire and let them char as the first two continued to roast above the fire.

It was more than two hours later, and nearly halfway through the night when he finished his meal. His stomach stuffed to capacity, the troll king dropped the half of the wolf he hadn’t eaten, and rose to gather his supplies. Piling the charred and roasted meat atop the litter with his orkin body, he lashed it into place and grabbed up the cord to begin pulling the sled down the mountain.

Though his eyes in this body were not as suited to darkness as were his own, he managed to pick out the trail well enough, and used his familiarity with the mountain to guide him. When the sun rose he picked up his pace further, and found that with circumventing both the cliff face and the crater, he would likely reach the base of the mountains the very next day.

With the sun occasionally on his face between the evergreen boughs of those trees that covered the mountainside, Gnak strolled easily downhill, sifting through the memories of the king of trolls. He discovered that though they were big in stature, their race as a whole was relatively small, with fewer than five thousand of their kind.

Able to recall memories from centuries ago, Gnak was able to witness the king’s run-ins with races that he had never even heard of. One such race had the thick legs of beasts but a human-like torso. Its head was that of an animal as well, with great bent horns that jutted out from each side of its head. Another race was of small yellow men, similar in size to that of the goblins. Though they closely resembled the humans, the smaller race was remembered by the troll king for their knowledge of mechanical items. Knowledge was the key. Gnak had found a useful addiction.

Just as he had predicted, Gnak reached the base of the mountains the very next day and, setting out across the softer surface below, he trekked through the desert sand towards the camp of his Gathos clan. With each passing day he shifted several times, but primarily used the troll for travel as his orcish arm grew worse by the day. At first it just swelled, but then a fever set in and looking back, Gnak could see sweat on his other face’s brow. Just as he had feared, infection had set in.

His fourth day in the sand brought the first signs of others of his kind. Apparently reaching the edge of the lands where his clan now patrolled, he crossed tracks of both orcs and goblins regularly.

Cresting a small dune, a flash of light in the distance caught his attention and squinting his deep-set troll eyes. Gnak spotted an orcish patrol less than a mile from him. If he could see them, then certainly they had spotted him as well. Dropping the leash to the sled, Gnak turned to prepare for the orcs who would surely come, but quickly raised his hands in a non-threatening manner before he shifted bodies.

Weak and nauseated, Gnak rose to a seated position as spears bristled all around him towards the troll body he had just abandoned. So busy had he been looking forward, that he had never thought to look behind to see if his own trail had been picked up. Gnak smiled. His race was clever, if nothing else.

Turning to face those who served him, Gnak pushed through the pain and summoned his voice.

“Gathos no hurt troll. No fight. Is troll king. Troll king Gnak ally,” he managed, and as sweat poured down his face he looked as their heads nodded in understanding.

“Lead us back camp,” he ordered. “Send runner. Bring shaman.”

Collapsing back to the sled, his vision went black as unconsciousness threatened to take him. Before it could, however, Gnak shifted back to the troll king.

Lowering his arms, the king of trolls took up the cord to the sled once more and began trudging through the sand. To either side of him orc soldiers guided him towards his camp as the fastest among their group disappeared beyond the dunes ahead.

Watching the man vanish into the ruddy golden sands beyond, Gnak reveled in the sensation of the hot sun on his skin. It was only an hour before a small procession appeared atop a dune in the distance, and Gnak watched through troll eyes as the procession noted him and his envoy and began racing towards them. It was a dangerous game he was playing, not wanting any to know of his secret, and as such, he sat down as if to rest his old arthritic joints, and turned to watch as the scene played out before him.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Cresting the dune, the false shaman sprinted out to meet Gnak’s fallen body and even before reaching the side of the injured chief the supposed orc began to pray. With head tilted towards the heavens, the shaman stumbled up the last rise and fell to his knees beside the litter that bore the leader of his clan.

Watching on, the troll king witnessed as the shaman placed his hands upon the fallen orc as he burst into light that encompassed his whole body. Those orcs that now served as the chief’s envoy shared grunts of surprise, and watched on in awe.

With his near vantage, Gnak watched as pus seeped from scabbed wounds as if to escape the healer’s power, before steam rose up from others. Where it had become thick and clotted over the previous days, blood began to seep once again as flesh and muscle were mended. Here and there, bits of dirt and grit rose up through the skin, forming a small lump before breaking free and falling to the ground, leaving already mended flesh in their wake.