El-Vador's Travels (9 page)

The
weather was mild compared to the long, hard winter they had faced.
The sunshine that poured down on him actually offered him some heat,
it was a pleasant change from the clouded snowstorms that consisted
the daily weather not a month ago.

'I
told you that you wouldn't get bored of not getting killed, didn't
I?' said Harg. 'Sentry duty may be dull but it's better than facing
cold steel every day.'

Gurgash
nodded at his cousin. 'I have no complaints, it doesn't look like
they're going to strike back.'

'Stay vigilant.' Harg warned. 'There may yet be some uprising now
that the winter has ended.'

Gurgash
looked down at the snow, this wasn't winter any more? The land seemed
in the grasp of a perpetual winter.

A
horseman emerged from the woods to the south on a large Orcish
destrier and trotted toward the encampment.

Eyeing
the charger made him slow to give heed to the man aboard it. When he
did, he frantically stiffened to attention. 'Harg!' he hissed to his
cousin. 'Is that Chief Sarvacts?'

Harg
peered out at the rider and straightened up immediately as if in
answer. Chief Sarvacts' craggy features were unreadable as he finally
reined in. For reasons unknown to Gurgash and Harg he had come alone,
without pomp or retinue. He pointed to the settlement ahead and
looked at Harg in askance. 'This is the first Elven territory we
captured, is it not?'

Harg
was the senior sentry and forced to answer. 'Yes Chief, it is,' he
replied succinctly, looking as if he wished someone else could speak
for him.

Sarvacts
gave them both an odd look as he swept his gaze over them. Harg had
done nothing wrong, and had spoken with all respect. Even so, Gurgash
was expecting Sarvacts to lash out and kill his cousin in a single
strike, so malevolent and unpredictable were the rumours spoken of
him.

Yet
the Orcish Chief did nothing of the sort. 'Very good. I plan to ride
ahead into the settlement, inform your commanding officer that I will
be doing so but not to send any forces to escort me. I aim to know in
full the lands first hand.' Sarvacts seemed to add the last sentence
as a chilling afterthought. 'If for some reason I do not ride out of
this settlement alive, tell him to kill every Elf that still lives in
these mountains.' He charged his horse forward at a gallop toward the
Elven settlement.

'By Undrug's axe!' muttered Gurgash after Sarvacts was suitably
distant and out of earshot. 'I thought he was going to end us then
and there.'

'It wouldn't surprise me.' said Harg, his words were nonchalant but
he seemed shaken at having encountered the Chief.

Gurgash
watched the Orcish Commander ride into the settlement. He breathed a
sigh of relief when the first Elven huts hid Chief Sarvacts from
view. If he could not see Sarvacts, Sarvacts could not see him,
either. Simply having him out of sight eased a tension in him he
didn't like admitting to.

El-Vador
watched wordlessly as a rider on horseback trotted into the
settlement, this was no ordinary visitor, his monstrous steed was
almost as high as an Orc at the shoulder, which elevated him into a
position that caused all to crane their necks. The rider stared down
at him now, slowing his steed as he approached.

When
he spoke, he startled El-Vador by using Elven. 'Get out of my way or
I shall run you down.'

True
to his word, the Orc urged the horse forward when El-Vador didn't
yield his position. He leapt aside at the last minute, narrowly
avoiding being trampled by the giant horse.

Even
so, shame at giving way to an Orc stirred feelings of anger and
reinforced his captivity. He gave chase to the rider, the champion as
their fellow Orcs called them, and yelled out in Orcish after him.
'Just who are you? What do you want with us?'

Hearing
his native tongue made the Orc rein in. He gave El-Vador a second
look, much more chilling than the first. 'I am Chief Sarvacts,
Commander of all the Orcs in the Elven lands, and I have come to see
how this settlement prospers under the rule its local Commander.' he
answered, and paused to find out whether El-Vador understood.
El-Vador did, he was fluent in the Orcish tongue now. Seeing as much,
Sarvacts asked, 'And who are you to call after me with such an
impudent tone? Why should I not simply slay you where you stand?'

'I
am El-Vador. You are welcome to try.'

Had
it been any other member of the settlement they would not have
challenged Sarvacts in such a manner, but El-Vador had just survived
a long winter of Orcish occupation and murder was on his mind.

This
didn't go unnoticed by Chief Sarvacts, who seemed amused by the
display. 'You would really challenge me as I sit upon this great
steed?' he replied in equally fluent Elven. 'I could ride you down
without so much as an afterthought. Why make such a foolish gesture
of defiance to me?'

El-Vador
refused to answer the question, which he knew may well have been
true. He probably could not load and fire his bow quicker than the
Orcish Chief could ride him down. 'When will you leave these lands?
You do not belong here.'

The
amusement on Sarvacts' features was fading, he clearly hadn't
expected such words from anyone. 'I can never leave these lands, I
shall remain here for the rest of my days.'

He
started to trot down through the rest of the settlement, clearly this
conversation was at an end in his mind.

'This is your last chance, Sarvacts. Leave these lands.' El-Vador
said with deadly purpose. He could well kill the man now if he
wanted, it would do little but anger the Orcs if he were to do so
though, no doubt Sarvacts would be replaced by an equally gruesome
Commander and his settlement would be torched. No, his father had
been right, he had to be patient and choose the right time to strike.

The
Orcish chieftain rode on in spite of El-Vador's threats, leaving him
alone once more.

His
father was bedridden most of these days, the combination of the harsh
winter and his growing sickness had robbed him of all his former
strength. El-Vador did all the work these days and his neighbours had
acknowledged that, though his efforts were growing increasingly
redundant as the Orcs continued to expand.

Firewood
was the furthest thing from El-Vador's mind now, he needed the
counsel of his father. 'I must do it soon father.' he said quietly,
wondering if the man was sleeping.

'I
know that you feel threatened by their growing grip over the land my
son, you know that you cannot act in haste or your efforts will be
for naught.' Cusband tried to prop himself up in the bed but groaned
to a stop. Eyeing El-Vador, he said, 'We have endured a long winter
together, you and I. We cannot afford to have weathered that and
throw it all away by acting rashly now that spring has reared its
head.'

'Chief Sarvacts himself walks freely in our settlement and not one
person opposed him.' El-Vador said quietly. 'They grow complacent and
overconfident in their occupation.'

Cusband's
gaze narrowed and sharpened. 'You mean Sarvacts himself walks alone
and unprotected amongst us?'

El-Vador
nodded. 'I do. It was him, he said as much when we spoke.'

His
father's eyes widened. 'You did not do anything that would cause him
to raise the settlement, did you?'

'I
am no diplomat, father. He did not seem overly concerned at the words
we had.' said El-Vador.

'I
do not suppose that will put you in any particular danger,' said
Cusband. 'He probably expected a degree of hostility from some of
us.'

'He received none from any but I.' said El-Vador.

'This is terrible news,' said his father, seemingly too weak now for
anger. 'It has singled you out as the sole dissenter to his
occupation of our lands, he may well want your head soon in
retribution for your words.'

Cusband
set a large, hard hand on his shoulder, as if he had made his mind up
about something. 'You may need to act sooner than I suspected before
he decides your words are a slight that he wishes to make an example
of. Before this week ends, you must strike. Keep clear of Orcish
forces for the time being, if they come looking for you we will know
the time has come to strike.'

'If
they come for me, I shall deal out my vengeance without mercy.' he
promised.

Whenever
El-Vador went into the woods to hunt these days, whenever he loosed
an arrow, he imagined he was aiming at Chief Sarvacts' Orcish
warriors. He had not experimented with the arrows any further, not
wishing to draw the attention of the Orcs with the noise they would
undoubtedly cause.

He
had not called on Mugrab's farm either since Sarvacts rode through
the settlement. He did not care to admit, even to himself, that he
had formed something of a liking for the simple farmer, the mere idea
of liking any of the invaders was abhorrent to him. It had taken
Sarvacts' visit to the settlement to remind him that there could be,
there should be, no meeting between those who had come into the Elven
lands and those who rightfully belonged here. In his own lands Mugrab
may well have been a much better Orc than Sarvacts but in Elven lands
they were both unwanted invaders. They were simply ones of a
different kind, none of which he could tolerate.

El-Vador
was gliding through the forest when he heard the footsteps crunching
through the snow ahead. He silently slipped behind a tree and readied
his bow, there was no telling how the Orcs would treat him should
they find him this far from the settlement.

A
predatory grin played across El-Vador's mouth. What better sport than
tracking one of the Orcs through the forest?

Through
gaps in the trees, El-Vador soon saw who the blunderer was, a
heavyset Orc he had seen many times near the garrison. El-Vador's lip
curled in scorn, he did not care for any of the Orcish sentries but
this one was easily the worst. If he were to vanish in the woods,
never to be found, would the Orcs punish the Elves? He suspected that
many of them would be grateful that such an oaf was gone.

On
through the woods the Orc stumbled. What was he doing this far from
the garrison? Did he really think he could hunt out here making so
much noise? El-Vador followed, quiet as a shadow.

For
most of an hour, El-Vador pondered how long he should continue
following the Orc before putting an arrow in him. He could have shot
him a hundred different times, and the miserable creature would have
died never knowing why, or who had slain him.

The
Orc began cursing ever louder and more foully at his lack of luck.
El-Vador waited patiently for the reason for this bad luck to reveal
itself.

'Now
where did I leave you?' he growled. 'If you're hiding from me then
you'll pay with your life.'

El-Vador
didn't like the sound of this, had the Orc taken a hostage?

'I
know it was around here somewhere.' Fury on his face, the Orc
advanced to a clearing in the woods. 'Where are you?'

Something
flickered to his left, faster than El-Vador could see and lashed out
at the Orc, wounding it. 'I am right here, foul creature.'

For
all its stupidity, the Orc was a fair fighter, the cut had marked its
cheek but gone wide of its initial target. He reached out and clamped
a hand down on the aggressor, which let out a feminine cry of
frustration and anger.

Drawing
closer to the edge of the tree line, El-Vador saw that the Orc had
hold of a woman. Or what looked like a woman initially, the gossamer
wings betrayed that notion. Whatever this creature was he held it
captive against her will and was planning unspeakable things. He had
to act.

'You
give a bad name to Orcish warriors, taking captive of a defenceless
opponent and forcing yourself upon her this deep into the woods,' he
called out, hoping to get the Orc's attention.

'Who's
there?' yelled the Orc in return, causing the woman to wince. 'Show
yourself!'

El-Vador
had no intention of doing so, his years in the woods served him well
in this moment, he shifted to the side of the clearing silently and
then called out again, 'release the woman and perhaps we may
negotiate for your life.' The change in direction of the voice had
the desired effect and the Orc was startled, though not as long as
El-Vador hoped.

'This
is no woman,' the Orc replied. 'It's a Pixie, can't you see that?'

'I
am still a sentient being, you barbarous creature. Not an animal for
your amusement.'

He
struck her with all his strength, not with a slap but with his closed
fist, she spoke no further.

'Leave
us be or I shall end her life,' the Orc called out to the woods.

For
the first time, El-Vador felt the weight of the woman's life in his
hands. She was dangling limply from the Orc's arms now and he
undoubtedly planned to end her should he not retreat. He couldn't
afford to leave him alone with her, Pixie or not. Could he make a
shot from this distance and avoid hitting the Pixie that the Orc was
now using as a shield? He wasn't sure, the uncertainty and doubt made
him pause.

'Release
the girl and I shall not end your life where you stand.' El-Vador
finally said.

A
nasty grin spread over the Orc's face now. 'So you value her life
then? From the way you speak Orcish I'm guessing that you're one of
those bleeding heart Elves. What in blazes you're doing out here I'll
never know, you're going to step out of the trees so I can get a good
look at you though. Otherwise...' he let loose his curved blade and
placed it over the woman's throat meaningfully.

El-Vador
let loose his shot in response.

The
Orc's head snapped back. Blood spurted from the open wound and its
twitching hands dropped the Pixie, who fell heavily onto the forest
floor.