Nightclans (10 page)

Raven turned and moved towards Elith, Wollfen stood back as she touched the base of the pyre and flames licked up the side. Just as Wollfen had seen once before, the fire enveloped the body. The two of them took up positions approximately ten feet from it and they sat cross legged facing the fire. They would keep vigil here not moving for the rest of the night, no words would be spoken and they would not move, watching and committing to memory the passing of Elith. It was a long night.

At the crack of dawn they were still sitting and watching on as the embers of the fire continued to burn, they were both shivering from the cool air. During most of the night the fire had kept them warm but as the fire had died down and the night air had cooled they had been subjected to the elements. Wollfen was stiff and he hoped Raven would move soon, he had been following her lead all along and wasn’t sure how much longer he could hold himself up.

Finally after another twenty minutes Raven stirred, falling onto her side and stretching her limbs out slowly, making sounds of pain. Wollfen did so too and felt the pain rush up his limbs, they had stayed in the same position for something like twelve hours. His stomach grumbled as well. He felt so tired and groggy, this day would be bad if they were expected to do much at all.

The two of them slowly walked back to Raven's tent and stripped off what little they had on sliding into the bedding under some skins, they were too tired to do anything else. Raven lay her head on Wollfen's chest one hand resting on him too. She spoke quietly ,

“I never got the chance to tell her how sorry I was, I never got the chance to apologize.” He nodded slightly, understanding,

“Yes I am sorry for you my dear, but think of this, Elith would have seen the ceremony and your dedication to her. She will be happy in the afterlife now.” Wollfen felt the nod of Raven's head and it wasn’t long before they both drifted off to sleep.

It was about five hours later when the two of them stirred, both of their tummies grumbled and they knew they had to get up. Dragging themselves out from under the covers each of them put on slacks and a tunic. Walking outside they were dazzled by the bright sunshine for a few moments.  Looking around things appeared to be mostly normal.

Ironside was sitting by the large campfire even though it was not burning and he waved them over. There was no cheer today, just a quiet acceptance.

“I hope the ceremony went well for both of you,” They nodded in reply and sat down. “I am glad, these are dark times and having to lay so many to rest last night has been very hard.”

Again they nodded not feeling like speaking. Ironside needed to though, he had been thinking all morning about the situation and while they were in mourning he was still tasked with the health and well being of the clan, there was no rest for him.

“I sent out scouts to clan Berengah earlier this morning to see how they are, I am expecting them back anytime now.” Wollfen started thinking about the situation,

“Do you think the other clans may have been hit too?” Ironside shrugged,

“Who knows? Up until yesterday I would have said it was impossible for orcs to organize and attack an entire clan in spite of the latest smaller attacks we have had lately.”

Wollfen agreed, he hadn’t seen this coming, they had seen maybe a dozen orcs working together at once, but a hundred? That took a lot of organizing and leadership, the orcs just didn’t have that ability, well up until now he hadn’t thought so.

“One things for sure, it has happened once and that means it will happen again.” Raven spoke up at that moment,

“I don’t care what the orcs do I am here to stay and I will fight them whenever they come across my path, I will not run away, I will not abandon my fellow clan.” Ironside smiled and nodded,

“Well spoken Raven, I am proud of you for feeling that way, but it might be of no use.”

“Why not? Why can we not fight on? If we take the fight to them instead of sitting and waiting for them surely we have a good chance of driving them back into the high mountains.” Ironside looked a bit sad,

“Look around you Raven, it will take us over ten years to recuperate from what has happened. That’s if we don’t lose any more people in ongoing large battles, we have sixty people left here including children. We just don’t have the numbers.” Raven sighed and looked down.

Just then the scouts could be heard coming at a gallop, the three could tell something was up. Ironside and the others stood and moved towards the approaching riders. As they pulled up Ironside could see the look of desperation on their faces. The lead scout spoke as he dismounted,

“They are gone! The whole clan is gone!” Ironside looked on in disbelief,

“Tell me it isn’t so!” The scout could only shake his head in grief as he replied,

“They are all dead!” Raven gasped and cried out, the gathering clans people also started, the babble of noise grew as the shock of the news spread.

Ironside looked to Wollfen,

“I'm not going to waste any time sending out more scouts to check on the other local clans, there are too many spread over a couple of weeks ride. I have to assume that what has happened here has happened everywhere,” Ironside paused and looked hard into Wollfen's eyes, “I need you to return to Lord Cazzara and ask for help , we can not wait any longer, do you understand?” Wollfen nodded,

“Perfectly, there is no time to spare, I will be gone a week as it is. In the meantime I think it best if you break camp and start moving closer to the Kingdom by a couple of days at least, that will take you right to the border very near Westre-snow. I will pass through there day after tomorrow and will let them know that you are not making any aggressive moves.”  Ironside nodded and turned to the gathered clan members as Wollfen walked off.

“Prepare to break camp!” At that command all the clans people moved off quickly. Ironside turned to Raven, “Will you leave with Wollfen when he gets going?”

She shook her head,

“No, my place is here with the clan, I will fight beside you all.” He gave a grim nod at her decision and spoke once more before moving off,

“Go to him, you never know when you may see him again.” She agreed and left making a course for Wollfen's tent.

She entered to see him packing his saddlebags and without waiting grabbed him by the arm  turning him around, she took his face in her hands and kissed him deeply. Wollfen in turn embraced her tightly as he kissed back, they stood there kissing for a bit then pulled apart Raven whispering,

“I love you my darling, but I must stay, this is my place for better or worse.” He nodded slowly at her words knowing what it might mean, he wasn’t happy about it but too many people's lives were at stake.

“I will be back soon hon, I won't abandon you or your people, I am in this just as much as you.” She nodded smiling,

“Yes I know, I wouldn’t have included you in the ceremony last night if I didn’t know that, get your boots on and get going my dear.” She winked and without pause she left again leaving him alone, there would be no long goodbye. He spoke to her retreating form even though he knew she wouldn’t hear him,

“I am going to come back for you, mark my words.” He turned back to his packing and finished up, then carried his gear to the corral. There he saddled his horse , mounted up and was off at a trot back to the west. Looking over his shoulder hoping to see Raven one last time he noted that many of the tents were already collapsing, they would be packed and on the move within an hour by his reckoning.

It was the following day when Wollfen heard Aldorn call in his mind, he knew the elf was about somewhere near but hadn’t given him any thought since their last contact, now he heard his voice loud and clear,

'I have heard word of much happening in the east.' Wollfen focused and sent back his own mind thoughts,

'Yes the clans have been attacked, clan Berengah is no more and Horungar has been sorely pressed, of the others I have no word. I am heading back to Gevalia as we speak to seek help.' Wollfen waited for a reply and it was not long in coming,

'I shall join up with you to offer assistance.'

'Thank you my friend, it is much appreciated.' Then there was silence again as he rode along, it was very quiet here on the road with no signs of activity, nothing to give away what was transpiring further east.

Later in the afternoon as Wollfen was closing on Westre-snow he came across a Kingdom patrol of twenty horsemen led by a Captain. They both pulled up facing each other and the Captain addressed him,

“What is your name and your business please.”

“I am Wollfen and I travel to Gevalia on urgent business for Lord Cazzara.” The Captain looked surprised,

“You are Wollfen? I was told I may come across your path by the Lord when traveling west but I didn’t really think it could be so soon. We are to travel the borderlands and spend a couple of weeks scouting and checking out the orc situation.” Wollfen shook his head,

“No need, the orcs are massing and attacking.” The captain couldn’t quite believe his ears,

“That's a bit difficult to believe, no orcs ever work together.”

“I have seen it Captain, the clan Horungar lost over thirty dead in an attack by over one hundred orcs, we spent a day disposing of their bodies, then we got word back of clan Berengah, they were totally wiped out. It is why I make haste for Gevalia, the clans need help .”

The captain spent some time thinking things over, what could it hurt to check things out? They were heading in that direction anyway,

“Very well tell us what direction to take and we shall do what we can, where is this clan Horungar?

“They will be coming along this road sometime this evening or tomorrow, they were breaking camp as I left, I told them to make camp short of Westre-snow until I returned of word from Lord Cazzara.” The captain looked up the road and then replied,

“That means we will make contact very soon since we just left Westre-snow ourselves, I shall make contact with them and offer our protection until we hear word back from your visit.” Wollfen nodded in gratitude,

“I thank you Captain, your services are greatly needed, until I return I bid you farewell.” The Captain nodded, signaled his men to move out and Wollfen waited until they had all filed past before continuing on his way.

About half an hour later Wollfen heard from Aldorn again, only this time it was urgent,

'Wollfen hark! I am under attack!' Wollfen pulled his horse up and mind touched with Aldorn,

'Where are you?'

'I am at the river crossing being driven south along the riverbank on the side of Westre-snow.' Wollfen didn’t hesitate turning his horse around and setting off at a gallop,

'I am on my way!' The river crossing was only a few miles distant and it shocked him to know that orcs were so far east, he hoped he could find his friend in time.

After about ten minutes of riding he closed up on the rear of the Kingdom's soldiers still making their way east. The Captain turned hearing the galloping horse approaching, he signaled his men to stop. Wollfen pulled up beside him and spoke urgently,

“I have been in mind touch with a friend of mine near the river crossing, he is being attacked by about thirty orcs as we speak!' The Captain didn’t waste any time asking needless questions and spoke,

“Which direction?”

“He is being driven south along the river bank on this side, follow me I can track his beacon.” Wollfen didn’t wait for a reply and set off at a gallop, it was maybe ten minutes to get where they wanted to go. The Captain shouted out orders to follow and twenty horsemen made off at a gallop following Wollfen. Some of the soldiers were looking at each other, they were about to see some action!

After about five minutes Wollfen left the road turning right and heading into the trees, he didn’t slow knowing the open woods here rather well and there was no danger to the horses falling. On he galloped at an angle to meet up with where he knew Aldorn was fighting. A few minutes later they broke out into the open seeing the wide river in front of them, where was Aldorn?

Hearing a clash of weapons they turned and drove on further along the riverbank, there the elf was backed up and surrounded on all sides by the most orcs Wollfen had ever seen in one place. The Captain didn’t hesitate in shouting a charge and all the horsemen careered on at full speed jumping dead orcs as they went. Wollfen flew in on his mottled ride as the mare bit, kicked and stomped at orcs all around her. He finally broke through to Aldorn who was going limp, a couple of crossbow bolts protruded from his body.

Wollfen jumped from his horse slaying an orc beside him and hitting one of the two orcs that had not turned to fight the soldiers. It didn’t even know what had hit it falling to the ground dead, the last orc turned and swung hard. Too hard though and as the sword swung past Wollfen he struck home pushing his own blade deep. The orc fell and he turned to Aldorn who collapsed to the ground. Dropping his blade Wollfen leaned over the elf and held his head up gently, blood was seeping from his mouth.

“Too late my friend.” Was all he managed to say weakly and he was gone.

“Dammit! Dammit!” Wollfen punched the ground hurting himself. He slowly lay the elf's head on the ground as the soldiers gathered about watching on, there were murmurs amongst them  as they had never seen an elf before. Some of them thought them to be fantasy beings but no longer.