Invasion (16 page)

Thirak approached the doors and listened. He heard scuffling on the other side and muffled voices. They sounded human but he couldn’t be sure.

“Givvus a hand ta be lowerin’ these timbers.” He grabbed one end while Jerzy grabbed the other. Together they lifted the solid timber and threw it down. The higher one they couldn’t reach so Thirak asked for a couple of humans to step forward and assist.

“I can be helping with that” Major Isak stepped out of the throng.

“Well it be about time, Major,” replied Thirak. “I thought ya must’ve bin lost.”

“Just took a little longer to fight our way out than anticipated.” Major Isak walked up the few stairs with a soldier by his side and together they lifted the higher timber out of its brackets and tossed it to the side.

Thirak pulled open the doors but had to jump to the side fast as the slaves within came running past carrying a stone statue. They tumbled down the steps, dropping and smashing the statue.

“Guess I shooda knocked first.” Thirak let out a bellowing laugh. The slaves picked themselves up sheepishly.

“We’re to show you to Gerard.” The slave dusted himself off.

“Well, lead on,” said Major Isak, “we’re on a tight schedule here.” He held his arm outstretched toward the open door and the slave led the way.

“What about the rest of the compound?” screamed Sarai. “Are we to leave them all behind to die?”

“Jerzy, take half our warriors ‘n’ three comp’nies o’ armed slaves ‘n’ go rescue who ya can be rescuin’. Be as quick as ya can and meet us at th’ access gate aside this buildin’ ready to be leavin’ this infernal place,” commanded Thirak.

“O’course Ca’tain,” said Jerzy

“I ain’t no ca’tain, I be a mere squad leader,” barked Thirak.

“I say gi’en the circumstances ya been field promoted.” Jerzy turned and got to work on separating the group.

“Bah!” Thirak waved a dismissive hand at the retreating dwarve’s back.

“Captain Riyad, you do the same. The rest of you stay here and guard this door. Shardae’s luck, we’ll be storming out of this compound in no time.” Major Isak turned and beckoned the slave to continue guiding them.

“I’m coming with you.” Sarai stepped out from amongst the throng of slaves.

“Who are you?” Major Isak halted and scrutinised the haggard but attractive woman.

“This be Gerard’s squeeze, Sarai.” Thirak gave a hearty laugh.

Major Isak looked at him with a wrinkled brow. “Don’t let Gerard hear you say anything like that. The last man to do so wound up flat on the floor if you remember, and that was his best friend.” He turned back to Sarai. “C’mon then. Be sure to keep up.”

The slave guided them around the building where corpses of both men and orc told the story of the recent fighting here. They found Gerard in a large storage room searching through crates. As he stood up and faced them, Thirak’s eyes dropped to his torn and bloodied shirt.

“Ye’ve bin struck.”

“It’s been tended to,” replied Gerard.

“Not all that expertly if that seeping is anything to go by,” added Major Isak.

“Oh, let me take a look.” Sarai rushed over to him and at once lifted the bandage to see the wound. “It needs to be treated and stitched up.”

“We don’t have time for that. Any moment now a large group of orcs are going to storm into this compound. We must be gone before then.” Gerard gently pushed Sarai away from him.

“More fighting is unavoidable which means we need one of our mightiest warriors unhindered. It won’t take me long — let others worry about opening the gates.”

“She does have a point, Gerry,” interjected Major Isak. “We need you to be as fit as possible and we sure don’t need you collapsing anywhere as it’d take ten men to carry your heavy arse.”

“Fine, but I need to show Thirak where the grate is first so the dwarves can set to breaking out.”

“Then let’s quit yappin’ ‘n’ get to it,” said Thirak.

Chapter 16

Sacrifice

Gerard patiently allowed Sarai to stitch his wound. They had located the infirmary and were treating the worst injured there. Some would need to be carried out of here. Hopefully once they were into the city they wouldn’t come across too much resistance.

He watched Sarai as she diligently went about her work and was amazed by her skill with needle and thread. She had been right, at this rate it wouldn’t take her too long to patch him up.

“Skin is a little different to the fabric you’re used to, I’d imagine.”

She gave him a sideways glance.

“I have needed to sew many wounds. The orc guards do enjoy dishing out their punishment and we often stitch up each other’s wounds when the guards are out of sight.” Sarai lowered her eyes and continued her work.

“You seem sad,” said Gerard after a brief silence.

“I witnessed many deaths today, some I would call friends, others I am responsible for.”

“You are responsible for no deaths here.” Gerard’s raised voice caused her to slip a little with the needle and he grimaced in pain as it went deeper into his wound than intended. She looked up at him with fire in her eyes and a set face. “I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to cause you to slip. What I mean is that it is the orcs and the wicked rule they follow that has caused all of this.” Gerard gestured with his hands encircling the entire room.

“I led those women out of the building and onto the street where they were slaughtered. If we had have stayed put, perhaps they’d still be alive and the men and dwarves would have released us.” Tears formed in her eyes and she sniffled.

Gerard was impressed to hear that she had the courage to lead a group in such a situation. Many trained soldiers fell apart in similar scenarios.

“Just as easily you could have saved other lives by doing what you did. Battle is unforgiving and dwelling on all the ‘could haves’ and ‘should haves’ can be your undoing. A good leader needs to act quickly and decisively and it sounds as though that is what you did.”

“I am no leader. I’m merely a slave.” She kept her eyes downcast as she spoke.

“A title we are about to change.” Gerard spoke with all the confidence he could muster.

“Perhaps. At the least we’ll give it our best effort.” She tied off the thread and cut it. “All done.”

“Thank you. Now we have to move.” Gerard sat up and inspected his wound. She had done a magnificent job.

He instructed all the others in the infirmary to finish up and then he led Sarai to the front of the building where all the other slaves were.

“Move to the access gate at once. The dwarves will have it open in no time,” he shouted. The crowd moved off and he and Sarai followed them.

“What about the rest of the compound? Can we go and rescue a few more? They’ll only need to be released from each building as all the orc guards are either dead or have run away, but many won’t realise that.” Sarai’s still red eyes pleaded with Gerard. He was divided. They’d already wasted too much time and they needed to be ready to storm out the gates when they were opened.

Thankfully Jerzy came into sight ahead of a throng of slaves around the corner. Within moments Captain Riyad showed up with even more rescued slaves.

“It looks like that’s already been taken care of.” Gerard placed his arm across her shoulders and gently turned her around and guided her to the front of the crowd near the access gate.

They weren’t there long until Gerard heard fighting on the other side. Thirak’s shouted orders could be heard with ease over the ruckus. Gerard felt helpless. He would have loved to be on the other side of that gate helping the dwarves fight, but Major Isak had been right — it was better to spend the time treating his wound and Thirak had further pointed out the advantage of being able to fit more dwarves into the cramped space.

The noise soon died down and Gerard heard the locking bar being lifted out of place and then the gates swung wide. There to greet him stood Thirak, front and centre of the group of dwarves. Dead orcs littered the ground around them and not one of the dwarves had been lost. A loud cheer went up and Gerard led the slaves out of the gates.

“I have to go rescue Jeff,” said Gerard as he and Major Isak came up beside Thirak.

“Ay, I thought ye’d be sayin’ that,” replied Thirak. “Ye want help?”

“Perhaps ten of our best fighters — a mix of dwarves and men in case we encounter magic — but otherwise I want speed and stealth. I think you and the Major need to keep leading these people. Head for Black Rock Canyon which should be directly south from here and I’ll catch up to you.”

“Right, ye’ll be wantin’ Jerzy then and some o’ his fighters . . .”

“And Captain Riyad with some of his. There’s not a man left among us that wouldn’t risk life or limb for Jeff, or for you Gerard,” added Major Isak.

“And I’m coming with you.” Sarai had crept up close behind them.

“No, I think it best you go with Major Isak and Thirak,” replied Gerard.

“It wasn’t a request, and besides, I know the Palace better than you. I can show you where they likely have him held.” Sarai folded her arms and stood defiant.

“Ye certainly got ya hands full with that one, Gerry.” Thirak chuckled. Gerard shot him a warning glance but then his eyes were drawn to a crossbow on the ground beside a dead orc. He went over to retrieve it and walked back to Sarai.

“You take this then. Here, I’ll show you how to load it.” Gerard demonstrated how to pull back the string and hook it onto the trigger and then place the bolt in the correct way. Thankfully it was of very basic design, not like the crank handled ones he normally used which take longer to load but were much more powerful. “You see an orc, you point this at him like so and pull this trigger, then reload immediately.” He handed her the crossbow and rushed off to organise his small team.

Sylestra was relieved to see the Palace on the horizon. She had flown all the way to the Black Skull’s northern border after hearing reports of the Red Axe attacking Quinik. With the aid of her mighty wyvern Zaydok, she helped throw the invading army into disarray, giving her defending warriors the upper hand they needed to complete the job.

Both her and Zaydok were heavily fatigued and she eagerly anticipated a nice relaxing bath and collapsing into her oversized bed. As she neared the Palace though, it appeared obvious she wasn’t going to have that luxury.

A throng of slaves rushed out of the wide open compound gates like a rapidly flowing river. There was no sign of her guards so she assumed they had all been slain.

She took a chance and flew directly at the fleeing slaves, swooping at the last minute to allow Zaydok to pick a few of them up and drop them from a height. A few crossbow bolts were fired at her and one actually struck Zaydok in the side. The thick scales of the wyvern prevented it from penetrating but she could not tarry here any longer. They were far too fatigued to prevail against so many. She needed to replenish her strength and the quickest way to achieve that would be with a few strong sacrifices and she knew which one of them would be first.

She unstrapped herself before Zaydok had even landed, dismounted the second he touched the ground and rushed off as fast as her tired legs would carry her to find out what happened.

A sheepish orc guard stood outside her personal quarters as she opened the door.

“What have you fools done?” She almost shook with anger.

“There was a revolt, Supreme Mistress. We were simply far too outnumbered to hold them back.” The orc lowered his eyes and his legs shook.

“They are slaves. They don’t know how to fight and you’re telling me you could not stand against them?” She kept hurrying along the hallway as she spoke with the orc struggling to keep up with her gliding strides.

“They were led by the recently captured warriors.”

“Were they just? And what are you doing about the problem now?”

“We are gathering all the off-duty guard together and any necromancer or necrolyte we can find, but as you know most of them are out of the city right now.”

She turned and glared at him. “Yes they are. Are you blaming me for that?”

“No, Supreme Mistress. Of course not. I was only—”

“Mentioning the obvious and wasting my time,” she cut in. “There should still be sufficient numbers to control this mob. Kill as few as you can but as many as you need.” With a dismissive wave of her hand the orc scurried off. She was nearing the dungeons by this point and the Dungeon Master came out to meet her.

“Ready Jeff and three or four other strong men for sacrificing,” she commanded.

“Right away, Supreme Mistress,” replied the Dungeon Master.

“And be quick about it. I have a rebellion to quell.”

“Of course, Supreme Mistress.”

Her stomach growled so she turned around and set off towards the kitchen, and if all went well she would have a little time to freshen herself up before the sacrifices.

An orc approached Jeff’s cell and unlocked the barred door. Jeff braced himself for some rough treatment but it didn’t come. The orc merely gestured for him to step out of the cell.

“Where are we going?” Jeff stood rigid. He had a good idea where the orc meant to take him and was determined to waste time — Gerard had never failed him before.

“I grow tired of your smell human and so it’s time you took a bath.” The orc stepped into the cell and tried to grab him by the arm. Jeff moved quickly, pulling his arm away and administering a solid kick to the orc’s kneecap. The orc crumpled in a heap and Jeff made a run for the cell door. However, the collapsed guard grabbed his ankle on the way past and tripped him up. Jeff hit the stone floor hard and jarred his elbow.

The orc yelled out for assistance as Jeff kicked him in the face, forcing him to lose his grasp on Jeff’s ankle. He jumped to his feet and dashed out of the cell. He’d taken not ten paces when three orcs stormed into the dungeon corridor.

Jeff didn’t hesitate. He charged in at the one on the left, ducked under his wild swing and tackled him to the ground. He jumped to his feet again before the other two had a chance to grab him. The prisoners in the cells cheered him on.

The orcs all had weapons hanging by their side but did not draw them. Jeff assumed they were under orders to deliver him unharmed and so he would make that job hard.

As he reached the end of the corridor he knew he was in trouble. The guards had dutifully locked the door behind them on the way in. He turned to face them. The third guard he had tackled was once again on his feet and the one from the cell hobbled toward him.

“There is nowhere to go, human. Just come peacefully and it’ll go a lot better for you.”

“I think not. I think either way I’ll end up dead so why not inflict some pain on my captors beforehand?” Jeff started to bounce around to keep the orcs guessing. The orc in the middle laughed evilly.

“You think death is the worst thing we can do to you? Oh no, there is much, much worse. Even after death you can be enslaved by the Supreme Mistress and a good few others.” The orc gestured for the others to encircle him. Jeff had a strong suspicion the orc was bluffing. He didn’t doubt they were capable of doing what the orc had boasted, but if Gerard had succeeded thus far Sylestra would need him.