Death Or Fortune (61 page)

     As the
Othos people filed back into their Black Vault, they were calm and cool.
 It was the battle harden soldiers who were running around in a panic.
 The Dead Squad was doing all they could to help the people get back
inside.  After watching Nelson and the crew of Nathans Bounty race off
towards the ship yards I went up the ladder to the top of the wall where Bryce
and Windfall were watching the orc army march towards us.  They were still
more than a mile away but getting closer every minute.
'Well pal, this is
one hell of a snare we got caught in. What are we gonna do with the sheep down
there, one volley of arrows and they will all be toast?'
 From the
tone of voice Bryce was using, I imagined this was his way of injecting humor
into the situation.  I turned around to look inside the walls, expecting
to see the people milling around.  I poked Bryce in the back and told him
to look.  We watched as all over the court yard, secret doors were opened,
the majority of the slaves were able to hide in the tunnels below. We were left
with about one hundred men standing around.  Some of them had staffs in
their hands and some of them even looked like they might know how to use them.
     I then asked the two of them if they had any ideas.
Windfall told me
'they will need slave labor after all the damage we have
caused and will cause. We could hide amongst the slaves, bide our time until we
have a chance to escape. They may also decide with my father gone, they will
just live life here and kill us all.
' I looked at my half elf friend and
asked him if he had anything else. He placed one hand on his sword and smiled
at me,
'in the right conditions, I might be able to take down five hundred
before I fall. That would leave a little more than one hundred for each of you.'
Windfall then turned back to watching the line of Orcs growing larger by the
moment.  I felt Bryce leaning towards me, his hand on my shoulder.  
'He
believes that doesn't he?
' he whispered in my ear.  I could only nod
at him.  I then asked him if he had any ideas.
'It will be a good half
hour before they are in range of our long bows. That means we have time to run.
Stuff the last of those sheep in those holes, then we all run.
' I shook my
head at him, told him that would never work. They had to have seen the people
on the field, they knew something was going on here. They wouldn't even stop
here long enough to count the bodies before they marched on the ship yards.
 We had to give Nelson time to get the fires started.
     'Darmot, what do you need me to do?
' I turned
to the side to see Pare had joined us at the top of the wall.  I asked him
where he had put Kandella?  
'Oh, I had her go into the dungeon with the
others. The walls down there are all blue and glowie, we should explore it
before we go home.
'  I smiled at my small friend and told him to go
find the Dead Squad.   I wanted the ladders that were on the outside
of the walls brought in before we were being overrun.  Then once that was
done, he was to come back to me. Instead of running off to talk to them, he
stood there at the top of the wall, screaming at the top of his lungs.
'Hey
you there! Rogers, get all the ladders from the outside before you close the
doors. No! Darmot said so! I don't care, just do it! Make West help you, he
runs fast!
' The three of us on top of the wall stood there watching the
halfling shout down orders.  The longer he shouted, the faster he spoke.
 The faster he spoke, the more animated he became, hopping up and down on
the wall to help punctuate his points.  I am not sure but I think he told
one of them to make us sandwiches before he ran out of breath.
     A few of the Othos men helped bring in all the
ladders.  Soon as the last one was in the gate, the men went to work
closing the doors.  I watched as Kord and Curry brought one of the ladders
over to us, giving us a way off the top of the walls.  I started looking
around, doing a quick count of the people inside, something was wrong.
 Something was very wrong, it wasn't until Windfall spoke that I knew what
it was.
'Darmot, do you believe the story?'
I turned and asked him what
story that was?  
'The story of Keltor.
' That is when I knew
Michaels was nowhere inside of the building.   I looked down the wall
and he was there, banner in one hand, Solarths Fist in the other while on the
back of a horse.  I asked the others where he got the horse but they said
nothing to me.  I shouted to him, shouted to him to come back.  He
turned around and looked at me at the top of the wall.  His mount was as
white as his robes, he trotted back towards the wall. When he reached the
bottom of the wall I told him to come inside before it was too late.  He
just sat there looking at me.  I yelled again, telling him that we had
time to open the gates again, for him to get inside.
     'No'
he said to me. I asked him what he meant
by no, telling him to get inside now.
'I am out of time my friend.  I
know what it is that I have to do now, I am going to give them one last chance
to leave the island.
' I was about to lose my mind, I could see the look on
his face, I had seen it before.  It was acceptance like I had seen it on
the face of Arturo when he decided to challenge Nikle.
'Darmot, promise me
one thing.'
I was ready to jump from the wall and I might have had Windfall
not held me back.
'Take me home when this is over.'
 I yelled for
him to get back inside and we would all go home when it was over.  The
rest of the Dead Squad had joined us at the top of the wall along with a few of
the Othos men.  Windfall still had his hands on my shoulders as it was all
he could do to keep me up there.  I watched as Michaels looked down the line,
taking in each face along the top of that wall.  He stood up in the
saddle, placing the head of his weapon over his chest giving us a salute. The
only two people that did not return the salute was myself and Windfall.  I
was still trying to get away from him, trying to get off that wall. When
Michaels rode away, towards the Orc army I gave up.  He never saw it but I
returned his salute as he rode towards the Orcs.
     He was about half way between us and them when the
Orcs stopped.  The massive formation of bodies swelled and bowed like some
great living thing that had compressed on itself.  When I pulled out the
spy glass to watch I could see the Orc commander at the front of the formation.
 Perhaps they thought Michaels approaching with the white banner was a
sign of surrender, it was the only reason I could think of that would make them
stop.  Still several hundred feet away from the Orcs, Michaels dismounted
and planted his banner in the ground.  He stood there and waited for
whatever was about to come.  The Orc commander, looking at the lone human
turned to the front ranks, pointed at them and waved them on.  A group of
ten Orcs pulled out their weapons and started to charge at Michaels.  It
was then that under a clear blue sky, we heard the first rumble of thunder.
 I felt Pare next to me as his little hand had snaked its way into mine.
 No one spoke, no one was even moving, we just watched as the small group
of Orcs continued to charge at the paladin.  I trained the spy glass on
the back of my friend, he had his weapon in both hands, holding it at arm’s
length, I nearly dropped the spy glass when the bolt of lightning shot out of
Solarths Fist and into the charging Orcs.
     The Othos men on the wall with us all went down to one
knee, right there on the top of the wall. Their prayers made me look away from
Michaels for a moment, when I looked back he was glowing.  Light rays
beamed off his body like a torch in the darkness or the sun in the sky.
 The charging Orcs were nothing more than a dark spot on the field between
Michaels and the rest of the army.
'I sent you a warning.'
Michael’s
voice filled the air all around us, as if he was standing right next to us.
'This
is your last chance. Solarth will show you mercy if you drop your weapons and
turn from this path now. Leave the evil work you have done, turn away from the
darkness and return to your home land. Never return to this place.'
 I
could see the Orc commander screaming for something or someone.  A massive
creature came to the front of the ranks to stand at his side, the commander
pointed at Michaels for the last time.  This massive beast with shield and
sword in hand started to walk towards Michaels.  Michaels waited for the
beast to come to him, he had no fear of what was coming.  His god was with
him.
     The massive beast made his way past the black mark
where his companions had died, I could see bits of flesh laying on the ground.
The lightning bolt from Solarths Fist and not left much behind.  I could
feel Pare's hand getting tighter over my fingers, the three of them he could
grip. The massive Orc stood before Michaels, weapon at the ready, roaring at my
friend.
'Is this your answer?
' His voice filled the air once again. The
creature lashed out with his blade at the head of the paladin, I watched as he
deftly ducked under the blade, stepping to the side. Michaels then took a swing
at the Orc.  We could hear the impact from where we stood.  Some of
the men on the wall started to cheer as the body of the beast was sent flying
away, nearly landing where his former companions were killed by the bolt of
lightning.
'Very well, may the gods have mercy on you in the afterlife for I
shall show you none here.'
That was the last time we heard Michaels speak.

     The orc
commander let out a roar and the entire army started to march once again.
 I looked as Michaels dropped down to one knee, he planted Solarths Fist
into the ground in front of him as he dropped his head, it looked like he had
started to pray.  Two hundred feet was all that was between Michaels and the
army. When they started to charge, it became one hundred.  I turned my spy
glass towards my friend one final time and was nearly blinded.  I dropped
the glass from my eye, where Michaels was once kneeling, was a ball of pure
white light. We could hear the roar of the charging Orcs as they advanced on my
friend, all the while the light around my friend continued to grow.
'Darmot,
what is happening?
' Pare's voice was distant and hollow in my ears. With
less than twenty feet between the front ranks of the orc army and my friend the
ball of light pulsed, just once.
     The ball of light that had been around my friend
exploded, waves of energy crackled and raced forward into the ranks of the
Orcs.  Soon the wave passed beyond our sight, over the eastern horizon.
'Everyone
get down!
' Windfall shouted as we watched a wave of dust and sand roll
towards us, carried by the blast driven wind.  We all got down on the top
of the wall the best we could, had I not forced Pare under me he might have
been blown off the top.  When the wind stopped and the air had cleared,
nothing remained of the orc army, only a charred black path, a hundred feet
wide, untold number of feet long. We could not see where it ended.  It
looked as if it was pointing towards us, in truth it was pointing towards one
thing.  A banner of white that was waving in the wind over the body of one
man.  I stood there for what seemed to be an eternity, looking for some
sign of life from the man in white. The horse was gone, only the man and the
banner remained.  I had to get down there, when I turned around the only
ladder we had was laying in the court yard of the Black Vault.  I called
out to the Othos who were still down there but they would not move.  They
were all on their knees, huddled together praying to their god.
     Using a rope Windfall pulled out of his pack, we slid
down the outside of the wall.  Pare, Bryce and I started running as soon
we hit the ground.  The entire time I ran towards him, I kept my eyes
locked on his body, hoping for some kind of sign.  Pare ran beside me
instead of running ahead like I knew he could have, I couldn't understand what
he was saying at first. The closer we got to his body, the louder he got.
'No,
no, no.'
he said over and over again.  When we got to his body, I
looked back towards the black walls once.  Windfall and the Dead Squad
were quickly covering the space between us.  I looked down at my friend
then.  He was holding Solarths Fist against his chest with both hands.
  He had a look of calm on his face.  Pare had started to cry as
he stood there beside me, looking down on our friend.  I went down to one
knee beside Michaels, placing my hand at the side of his neck.  I was
hoping to find something that wasn't there, something that would never be there
again.  I then reached up and closed his eyes, as I did this the sound of
thunder filled the air again.  Rain had started to fall from the clear
blue sky. When I stood up I looked around at my friends, they had formed a
circle around their fallen companion.
     'What do we do now?'
Bryce had asked. I looked
at him ready to explode. Yet as the rain continued to pour down on to me, I
stood silent.  Letting the cool water run down over me, cooling my anger,
washing away the pain I was feeling.  I looked at my small halfling
friend.  His face was turned towards the sky, the rain mixing with his
tears.  I asked him if he had an extra length of cord like the one he used
to tie up his hair.  Without even looking he reached for one of his
pouches, dumping the contents on the ground.  There in the center of a
pile of other odd bits of treasure that only meant something to him was the
cord I asked for.  I pulled it out and tossed it towards Windfall asking
him to tie up the banner Michaels carried.  I did not want it waving in
the wind while we carried it, none of us were worthy of that honor.  
'Sir,
Lord Kromwell...what do we do now?'
Bryce asked me again.  I let out
one long sigh and looked at him.  I told him we grant my friend his final
wish.  We were to take him home and take him home we did.