Black Metal: The Orc Wars (13 page)

As the headless body crumpled to the ground Eldin turned back towards Lord Arius. Once his eyes took in the scene his breath caught in his throat as he witnessed the last of his knights cut down by the bloodstained sword of the Sheul. With a righteous fury the High King set upon the Sheul. Strike after strike he leveled against the evil warrior’s defenses, driving Arius back before his barrage.

The sparkle of recognition glinted in the eyes of the Sheul, manifesting his knowledge about the immanence of his own death. Spurred on by his opponent’s acceptance of defeat the High King pushed his assault. It was as this mutual knowledge passed between the combatants that a quick slash from Eldin’s holy blade severed the Sheul’s sword bearing hand. In the next instant the High King brought his blade over his head and downwards. The dark god brought his sword up for a parry, only to find that the entire hand was missing as the blessed blade bit deep into his chest. With a great shriek the ancient god collapsed to the ground, the sword cutting his blackened soul from the body even as the Sheul died. It’s armor fell away in pieces as its body turned to ash.

With a groan of fatigue Eldin fell to his knees, keeping himself upright with his sword as he plunged it into the ground and rested his head upon it. There he kneeled in relief and prayer as the battle continued around him. The dwarves and men found themselves at an advantage with the death of Lord Arius. The death of the Sheul prevented it from single handedly driving them off, and soon their superior numbers began to tell. The enemy fell one by one before the might of the alliance. The orcs did not retreat, and were killed to a man.

The High King’s head rose as he heard the victory cheers of his army. The dwarves raised their voices in song as the men added their much less resonant voices to the din. Good, thought Eldin, now man and dwarf will be like brothers. United against the common foe in victory.

Eldin rose to his feet as a group of warriors came towards him bearing a makeshift litter. The High King looked down in surprise as he saw what lay upon the device. It was an orc, as tattooed and bedecked in foul jewelry as any orc he had ever heard of. It was still and contorted in the rigor of death. Several wounds could be seen on his body, as well as two broken spears still piercing his flesh.

Immediately the High King realized that this must have been the mysterious orc wizard that had plagued and harrowed the forces of good for so long. It had often been said that Lord Arius would never have awoken without the power of this creature. Judging by its wounds and the fearful looks from the men who carried it, men must have died in droves to bring it down. The lives of good men and dwarves was the price of freedom and hope.

It was with this in mind that the High King raised his holy blade in salute to his army. The only gift he could give was his gratitude and devotion, a small thing for the guardians of good, though just enough to help them carry on.

And so it was that the alliance, lead by High King Eldin, the vicar of Harrikan, set out to rebuild the new world.

Somewhere in the swirling chaos that was the home of the gods, a storm had begun.

FROM THE AUTHOR

Thank you so much for taking this adventure with me, take a quick break and if you liked what you just experienced check out some of my other work.

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