Twisted Fate (Orc Destiny Volume I) (The Blood and Brotherhood Saga) (6 page)

Snapping a few green branches from nearby trees, he climbed
into the entrance of the cave, pulling the branches with him to conceal the
entrance. He intended to sleep the remainder of the night and the entire following
day, to strike out again once darkness returned. The world did not seem to care
much about his plans.

Inside the cave was damp and cool, the ground making up the
bottom consisting of a thick sticky mud. So different was it to his own home
just across the mountains, that he shivered violently, jerking himself awake
time and again throughout the night. When morning did come, the sun seemed to
bring some warmth with it, but so stiff were his muscles from nearly freezing the
night before that he could hardly get comfortable enough to sleep. It was hours
into the morning when sleep finally took him without fits of cold, but it was
only a few more hours before something awoke him.

Gnak’s eyes shot open, his ears straining for anything
unusual. The branches he had dragged to the front of the cave remained, but
something had alerted him into wakefulness. A moment later he heard it. It was
not so much a voice as a grunt, but he knew it was some form of man. Whether he
had been tracked or stumbled upon by accident, something was outside his
shelter. He needed more information.

Twisting slowly inside the limited confines of the small
cave, he got his arms beneath him. Then lifting his body up he half slithered,
half crawled towards the entrance. Carefully, so carefully, he reached up,
pulling aside the leaves of the branches that covered the entrance. At first he
saw nothing to alarm him outside. Everything seemed perfectly natural. The
stones remained, and nothing else seemed to be present but the trees. That was
until one of them seemed to move. Then he saw the creature for what it was.

Thick limbed, the stout race of trolls were covered in a
thick leathery hide. Their young, it was said, appeared as polished river
rocks, so shiny and smooth was their flesh. But so heavy was their hide, that
as they aged it stretched and wrinkled, appearing more like the bark of an old
oak tree. Outside his cave, Gnak could distinguish two of the creatures. The
first, with its back to him, stood just beyond the three stones. It was a tall
creature, perhaps slightly taller than he, with legs as big around as his own
chest. The creature’s torso was massive, its back bulging and hunched over. Two
immense arms sprouted from the shoulders, unnaturally long, the knuckles of the
beast easily touching the ground. Its wide lump of a head sat atop a thick tree
trunk of a neck, from where grunting sounds emerged.

Just past the first, the second stood, obviously having some
sort of conversation with one another. The second had less wrinkles and lighter
toned flesh, but otherwise was equal in proportion to its peer. Neither carried
a weapon so far as Gnak could see, but he had a distinct feeling that the odd
race of men needed little more than their fists to kill most of their prey.

Having never faced a troll before, he thought it wise to
watch them instead of attack. It was only a short time later that the grunts
ceased, and the thick creatures decided to settle upon the stones just as he
himself had done the night previous. There the two pulled out some sort of meal
that appeared little more than burned rodents or rabbits, and together the pair
crunched upon the charcoaled carcasses in almost silence as Gnak watched from
his cover within the cave. After eating, the two lingered still, for more than
two hours, simply sitting and looking off into the distance in silence. Finally,
what seemed an eternity later, the younger appearing of the two began to move
again, its head swiveling slowly around. It was then that Gnak heard the
sniffing.

Just like the sound a bear or wolf made when following a
trail, the troll began sniffing rapidly, its odd almost nonexistent nose
picking up something of interest. Gnak watched as its gaze slowly turned, its
body twisting as its eyes settled upon his cave. Carefully he let the leaves fall
slack, and inched backwards reaching behind himself.

Without thought or plan, he wrapped his fingers about the
shaft of his spear in the darkness just as the branches covering his only exit
were torn asunder, a thick gray head thrusting into the hole they had concealed
with a deafening roar. Like lightning Gnak reacted, lashing out with his spear
with all his might. Deep into the head of the troll it pierced, another raging
roar exploding from the creature.

Rearing back, it dragged the spear and Gnak with it halfway
out of the hole, reaching up with massive limbs to tear the spear free of its
face. Crawling to extricate himself, and make himself clear of the wounded
troll, he rose before springing aside to put some distance between himself and
his foes. The second troll had just registered the change and was now rising
from its place upon one of the rocks. The first pulled the spear free, a deep
green blood oozing from the hole that remained. But even with such a grievous wound
to the head, the beast did not relent. Instead, it dropped Gnak’s spear before
charging, its arms raising before it to grasp and crush him with immense hands.

Fortunately for Gnak, he was quicker. To his advantage he
had not only speed, but apparently could reason much faster as well. Diving
aside, the troll missed him by a wide margin before he rolled back to his feet.
Pulling his blade from his belt, he slashed at the first troll as the second
charged. The blade of his weapon cut a green streak upon the troll’s shoulder,
but the wound was neither deep nor effective. Dodging the second troll, he
again sprang into a roll and turned to strike at
its
back. This time he
stabbed instead of slashed, to much greater effect.

Though it took a great deal of effort, the blade of his
crude sword slid deep into the back of the creature, slamming into thick ribs
somewhere beyond the flesh. Pulling it free, he watched the thick green blood
ooze from the wound a split second, as the troll reacted unexpectedly quicker
than Gnak could have anticipated. Swinging its torso nearly completely around,
it struck out with the back of its arm and hand, smashing him full in the side
of the head with one giant balled fist. Lights exploded before Gnak’s eyes as
ringing sounded in his ears. Stumbling back, he felt the blood trickling down
his face. Blinking his eyes over and over to restore his sight, he watched as both
trolls turned to face him. Though he had underestimated them, he would not do
so again. Now he had a plan.

Letting them charge, he simply out maneuvered them once
again, diving aside at the last second as they slowed their own momentum to a
stop before turning. Having outwitted them, Gnak snatched up his discarded
spear and placing the butt of it upon the ground then slashed at it with his
blade, slicing the end off at a sharp angle. It was only seconds before the
younger turned yet again, beating the older troll by a moment, and without
hesitation this time it charged with its arms wide, hoping to catch him as he
sprang away. But Gnak did not spring away this time. No. He needed to use the
creature’s own momentum.

Raising his spear as the troll smashed into him bodily, he
drove it as far as he was able into the chest of the beast, the blade of the
spear slicing between the troll’s ribs. Angrily it roared, trashing at him with
its arms, but Gnak ducked them and moved back too quickly for the beast.

Turning to face the remaining troll, he kept one hand on the
spear, keeping the angry troll behind him at a distance. When the second troll
charged, it was all Gnak could do to line up the blow as he struggled to hold
the first troll in place.

Smashing against his body, driving him back towards the
troll behind him, the second troll had no intentions of slowing its charge,
prepared instead to crush Gnak between it and its kinsman. Instead, the
creature not only drove the spear further into its own comrade, it also impaled
itself upon the now sharpened end of the shaft. There they stood a moment,
confused, the remaining foot or so of spear shaft between their chests, both
impaled by the same weapon.

Gnak managed to free himself from the clenching hands of
both foes by slashing with his sword and head butting one of the beasts full in
the face. Once free, he moved further down the slope to a safer distance to watch
the trolls struggle, but nothing of note happened. Both trolls slowly ceased
their thrashing before their heads leaned forward slightly towards the other. That
was it. So thick and stout were their legs, that when attached together by the
spear as such, even in death they remained standing, leaning into one another,
without any indication that they would ever topple over. Gnak damned his luck. There
was no way he was going to be able to retrieve his spear.

Reaching up, he accessed the wound upon the side of his
head. Already it was swelling; the skin, having been smashed apart, was
bleeding freely. All he could do was let it clot on its own and hope the
swelling would subside naturally. He had not thought to bring any supplies from
the shaman for wounds, and now it was apparent that the gods did not intend to
make his Catunga task an easy one.

So it was with a pounding in his head that he set out again
to skirt the great valley in the early afternoon daylight. Hungry and poorly
rested, Gnak stalked off to the west, keeping to the trees and slopes for the
remainder of the day and night that followed. The night had proved uneventful,
minus hearing the howling of wolves and finding a small spring-fed stream to
drink from.

It was near morning when he reached the western edge of the
valley and, deciding again that he did not want to spend the daylight hours
crossing an open expanse, he hunkered down within a copse of trees at the
forest’s edge. Leaning his back against one of the trunks, he again ate two
strips of his dried meat and prepared to wait out the day. Unintentionally he
dozed on and off throughout the day, without any disturbance beyond the
occasional fly who sought to lay eggs in his face wound.
Was no place safe
from flies?

Day came and went, and then finally it was time to make his
way across the rim of the valley to the other side.

Darkness enveloped the land like a sheet of cold blackness
that breathed ice crystals and spoke of shadows and death. No insects stirred. No
predators loped across the open expanse. Gnak felt completely exposed. The few
sounds that did interrupt the night sent him sprawling to his belly, ceasing in
his movements for long moments, straining his ears into the night for any sign
that he was being hunted. It was strange being out of his element. Here he was
the prey. Gnak didn’t like it much.

Racing as fast as his long legs would carry him, it was only
four or five hours after dark when he made the far side of the valley, as this point
was its widest. Reaching the far side, he climbed atop a tall rock and peered
out over what lay beyond. Nothing.

Nothing but rolling hills extended to the north for as far
as he could see, which was much further in darkness than daylight. All the way
to the horizon ahead, hills populated the land covered in a dense layer of tall
grasses and weeds. Listening carefully, he could now hear the scurrying of
rodents and grunts of other foraging animals. If the opportunity presented
itself he would have to try and obtain a more suitable meal.

With nothing left to do but charge ahead, he stalked off
through the tall grass, following game trails where possible in an effort to
hide his passing. As the hours passed, he missed opportunity after opportunity
for game that he could have bagged if he had managed to keep his spear, but
with only a sword he had not yet managed to make a kill. The remainder of the
night came and went, and no change appeared on the horizon ahead. For several
hours into the morning he continued on, hungry, with nothing better to do than
wade through the grass and peer into the distance. His stomach growled
constantly, a fact that he blamed for the sudden retreats of several small
hares. He should have at least sharpened a stick into a spear before leaving
the trees behind. If he was going to be a chief he needed to spend more time
thinking about such things.

As the morning grew warmer and birds began appearing in the
sky, Gnak laid down in the shallow valley between two hills, thoroughly hidden
by the grass all around him. Upon the warm grass, he found himself more
comfortable than he had been since leaving his home, and drifted off into a
deep restful sleep. It was well after sunset before he rose again.

Slumbering heavily, his mind began to drift, first to his
tribe and then beyond. Before him stood the burning camp of a rival clan as
cheers arose from behind him. Up the flames and smoke climbed, as he turned to
see thousands of Orcs, every one of their gazes turned on him as if expecting
something. Then they vanished.

Again his dream twisted and he watched as Orcs hauled huge
stones, dragging them in teams with ropes upon rolling logs. Looking up the worn
path they traveled, Gnak saw something he could have never imagined. Upon the
face of the tallest peak of the southern Rancor mountains a great structure was
being erected. It was thick and mighty with high walls and soaring towers. It
spoke of strength and might, and it made his heart proud at the sight. But then
too it was gone.

Another vision followed and again Gnak was standing, though
this time he found the air hard to breathe as the wind whipped at his face. Turning,
he found he stood atop one of the mighty towers of the great Orc castle, and
below him a mighty force stood at the ready to march to war. And then, as
quickly as the dreams came they were gone, and darkness swallowed Gnak whole,
carrying him into deeper sleep where he remained for the rest of the night.