Messenger of the Dark Prophet (The Bowl of Souls: Book Two) (23 page)

 “Well-well, so here they are then. I have caught them for you. Did I not tell you that no one would escape to bring news to the next town?” The greasy man looked around and saw something he didn’t like. He stopped in front of Fist and frowned.

 “My, this is a big one. What is one of your ogres doing fighting my orcs?” The wizard placed a hand on the side of Fist’s frozen face and his fingers wriggled about, probing the ogre.

“I know this one.”
Gerstag
strode over and growled. “I know this one. He is Fist. He is outcast from the Thunder People.
The son of the mean one, Crag.”

The wizard looked puzzled. “I am afraid I don’t recall this tribe in the rolls of my army.
Er
-, I mean, the
Barldag’s
army.” the wizard said, hastily correcting
himself
, but not before some of the soldiers noticed.

“We don’t follow you!” one orc snapped. “We follow the
Bardag
!”

“
Ohh
, yes-yes, I know. But I am his messenger, you see. Yes,” the wizard said. He pointed one squirming finger at the orc,
then
added with a snarl, “and here is a message!”

The orc screamed as the left side of his head swelled and swelled until it was three, then four times its normal size. The growth continued until the orc fell over from the sheer weight and its oversized head burst upon contact with the ground. The wizard cackled to himself.

Gerstag
frowned momentarily, shaken by the wizard’s outburst, but then he looked a bit closer at Fist and grinned.
Gerstag
moved forward until he was only a few inches from Fist’s face and stared in his eyes as he spoke, “You don’t know the Thunder People, messenger man. That is because the Thunder People is dead. That one, Crag, refused the
Barldag’s
words and the tribe would not join us. We killed them all and took their
womens
.” The ogre chuckled, knowing that Fist could do nothing about it.

Gerstag’s
words brought Fist some pain, but those wounds had long since closed. He had already lost the Thunder People when they banished him. Now they were really gone and though it saddened him, he was proud of his father for making the right decision. His pride was raised just a little more when the wizard next spoke.

“Ah, yes. Is that the tribe that killed so many of your warriors,
Gerstag
?” The greasy man seemed to take great delight in taking the powerful ogre down a peg or two, and
Gerstag’s
resulting scowl told him that he had succeeded. “Well, no matter, no matter,” he said and bent down to pick up the glowing bauble. “We must be careful with this. It is a very sensitive item. If someone were to step on it, the enchantment would
brea
-
”

In the middle of the wizard’s sentence, a cry rang out. An
orc’s
severed head flew past the wizard’s nose, spattering his pale face with blood.

“YOU!”
A shout echoed along the road. “I know you! Ewzad Vriil!” Another orc doubled over in pain and Fist saw that the dwarf
Ryebald
had broken the enchantment over his body.

“Oh, a dwarf.
They are a stubborn lot, aren’t they?” the wizard said. “I hate those things. Their resistance to magic makes them so . . . Inconvenient, yes.”

“Betrayer!” the dwarf howled. He swung his heavy axe again, trying to plow through the orcs and get to the wizard.

The orcs had been caught off guard at first, but they were highly trained guards. Their job was to protect the leaders of the army. The dwarf only got within a few yards of the wizard before being skewered by several spears.

“Betrayer!”
Ryebald
snarled, ignoring the fatal wounds. Blood poured out the corner of his mouth. Somehow, despite the spears stuck in his body, he managed to move forward. Throughout this, the wizard watched the dwarf with a strange grin plastered on his face. He kept his hands clasped together, golden rings glistening on his squirming fingers.

Courageously, the dwarf moved forward, dragging the orc guards with him. He stopped in front of the evil wizard and raised his axe high. Even though he had no more breath in which to speak, the dwarf mouthed the word betrayer again. But the dwarf’s attack was cut short. He was lifted into the air, squirming on the end of
Gerstag’s
trident.

“I hate these short ones,” the ogre leader growled. “They take so long to die.”

The wizard smirked at the remark. “True.” He looked at the other prisoners. “Well, I suppose we should kill these others too.” He nodded and the orcs raised their spears.

“Wait!”
Gerstag
shouted. He pointed at Fist. “I need to fight this one. Last time we battled, I could not end it.”

The wizard sighed, “Oh dear, you know, the problem with using ogre’s in your army is that they always find some point of honor to fight about.”
Gerstag
growled and the wizard relented. “Very well, then.
Very well.
It’s the
Barldag’s
will and all that. You kill him.”

The ogre shook his head. “Release him first. It’s more fun like that.”

The wizard shrugged and gestured. Suddenly, Fist felt his body released. His mace swept down, killing the gorc that had been frozen beneath it. He twirled around, determined to take as many of these monsters with him as possible, but the wizard gestured again. The ogre was frozen once more.

Fist was seething inside. The heroic death of the dwarf had touched him. He knew that his situation was hopeless and he was not afraid to die, but he feared for the lives of Tamboor’s family and Squirrel. They were still in the house. The only thing he could think to do was make the lives of his captors as miserable as possible and hope that the family could escape.

Orcs came and took Fist’s mace away. Then they cleared back to leave room for the fight. Fist found his body released from the magical spell once more and turned to face
Gerstag
.

Gerstag
put the dead dwarf on the ground and ripped his trident free. He pointed the wicked prongs at Fist. “Come, son of dead Crag. I will kill you too!”

Fist shook his head. “You did not kill Crag.”

“Yes I did!”

Fist snorted in response. “You aren’t strong enough to beat Crag. He more likely died straining with your
womens
!” The orcs broke out in laughter and
Gerstag’s
brown face turned deep red with anger, confirming Fist’s suspicions. If Crag truly was dead,
Gerstag
was not the one who killed him.

“When I kill you, you will know the truth!”
Gerstag
spat. “Now fight me!”

“No.” Fist rose to his full height, which was over four inches taller than
Gerstag
. “I will not give you the honorable death.”

Just then, there was a scream from within the house. Fist grimaced. It was
Efflina
. Several orcs came out the front door holding Tamboor’s wife and two children who were kicking and struggling. When they saw the gathering in front of the house, the children cried out for their father.

One of the orcs spoke to the wizard. “We found these ones under the floor, hiding.”

Fist looked at Tamboor who was still frozen in place. The man’s face was unmoving, but Fist saw the pain in his eyes. He could imagine the hell that the man was going through inside.

“Wait!” Fist shouted and turned to the wizard. “I will fight him. But if I win, then you must not hurt the lady or the
childs
.”

“Really?”
The wizard looked at Fist as if he were some strange puzzle.
“My-my.
Why should I bargain with you, ogre? I don’t care if
Gerstag
fights you.
Not at all.”

“Do it!” cried
Gerstag
. The outcast ogre had humiliated him in front of his own army. He needed to save face.

The wizard ignored the ogre leader’s request and looked deep into Fist’s eyes. “Why do you care what is done to these humans, big thing?” he asked.

“They are my tribe now.” Fist answered. The wizard looked both surprised and intrigued by the strange ogre.

“Enough!”
Gerstag
shouted. “It doesn’t matter! I will kill him and we can do what we want with the humans!”

The wizard gazed at Fist thoughtfully with one hand stroking his chin, his boneless fingers twining about as if trying to find purchase on his pale face.

“Very well, ogre.
If you defeat
Gerstag
, I will not harm them.” As Fist nodded and turned to face the ogre leader, the wizard giggled. “Not that you have a chance. Not without a weapon. No,
Gerstag
is quite the capable one. At least this should be fun to watch, don’t you think?”

“I will make you scream just like Crag,”
Gerstag
snarled at Fist, holding his trident at the ready.

The comment didn’t bother Fist. He already knew the truth. His only concern was the children and
Efflina
.

The ogres circled around each other at a distance for a moment,
then
Fist charged in.
Gerstag
thrust the trident at Fist’s throat. Fist grabbed the weapon at the base of the prongs, pushed it high over his head, took one step forward and sent one heavy foot into
Gerstag’s
groin with concussive force.

The ogre leader doubled over. Fist dropped the weapon and wrapped his huge hands around the ogre’s head. He squeezed, and with one twist of his powerful arms, he broke
Gerstag's
thick neck.

It was over in less than a minute. The onlookers were stunned silent. Fist dropped the lifeless ogre to the ground and spat on him. He turned to the human wizard.

“Now let them go!”

“Let them go?” Ewzad Vriil stared at the body of the ogre that had been his commander. Why was it over so quickly? His mind tried to wrap itself around the concept of what had just happened.

“Let them go you say to me?” Ewzad Vriil’s face twisted into a snarl. He thrust his arm out, casting a spell that froze the triumphant ogre. He had expected
Gerstag
to kill this strange beast handily.

“Blast! Blast it all!” It had taken him months to build up to this attack. He strode to the corpse of the ogre leader and kicked it in the face. “Why did I let you fight him? Why?
You stupid, stupid, stupid, idiot!”

Ewzad fumed.
Gerstag
had indeed been an idiot, but he had also been a fine warrior that kept his troops in line. Ewzad had taken great care to make sure that his rule over the ogre was iron clad. Now his leader was dead and he felt the fool for letting the ogres fight. Without
Gerstag
, the army might fall apart.

“Oh, I knew something was different about this one!” He walked up to Fist. “Yes you are different aren’t you? And I knew. I knew! Why didn’t I listen?

“Blast, blast, blast!” 

They had conquered the
village
of
Jack
’s Rest easily enough and his day had started out wonderfully. Now his good mood was spoiled. He set the glowing orb down gently on the ground and reached deep into the pockets of his robes. He pulled out the petrified moonrat eye.

“Are you there?” He tapped the eye repeatedly. “Are you?”

“
Yes master, I am here
,” the voice purred.

“What a horrible choice for a leader! You told me that he would secure our success.
Gerstag
was worthless!”

“
Master you must listen to me when I call you. I warned you against this fight, but you did not listen
.”

“Enough!
Enough of your babbling.
We need a new leader. These fools will run loose all over the hills without someone in charge and I cannot stay to watch them. I have far too much to do!”

“
Master, there are others listening
.”

“Oh. Yes, yes you are right.” Ewzad had forgotten the goblinoids standing around him. They stared at him with a mix of fear and anger. They wouldn’t be able to hear the other voice because she
spake
only to him. They just saw him arguing with himself. He squeezed one of his rings and a cloak of silence fell over the entire area.
“There now.
That’s better isn’t it? I do hate wasting my energy on these types of spells though.”