Part Eighteen
Tsuki brought Moon-halo alongside Nightmare, putting Dale between the horses. "Do you have everything you need now, Dale?" Tsuki asked.
Dale turned and looked up at Tsuki, smiling. "Yes. I am well."
"And we all have what we requested?" Tsuki asked of the others. He saw they confirmed that this was so. "Then Kato shall direct us."
Kato climbed onto his little pony and smiled wide at the group. He began to explain, mainly for the benefit of Laurel and Fei, that he would lead them to their destination where he had business and how he preferred to travel.
Tsuki saw Dale smiling at him and reached inside the cloak The Brown had given him, for he had concealed most of his jewelry in the pockets when he dressed. Tsuki brought forth one of his two ear clips and, brushing his long braid aside, fit it to Dale's right ear. Dale lifted a hand to feel the clip. "I did not bruise your leaves?"
"No." Dale ran a finger along the edge of his right ear, over the decorative clip, and to the pointed tip. "They have been treated much more roughly than that. I wish I had a looking glass."
"I have one." Tsuki opened the flap of one of the saddlebags behind him and found the. "It is silvered glass; it gives a most clear image."
Dale reached for the small metal-framed mirror and took it slowly. He did not often gaze into looking glasses of any kind. He was afraid to see himself, but he wanted to see how the jewelry looked on him.
Dale looked into the glass. He could see the true silver and moonstone clip; it was masterfully crafted and light upon his ear. Dale ran his fingers down to the lobe of his ear, which was lightly scarred.
Tsuki pulled Dale's hand away from his ear. "You see, you look so beautiful."
"It does shine wondrously in moonlight."
Tsuki tilted the mirror away from Dale's ear and toward his face. "You shine."
It was true Elves had skin that was more reflective than that of Men. Dale bowed his head.
"No. When we decide it is safer to put out torches and lanterns then you may hide beneath your hood, but do not hide yourself now. You are young and beautiful and I wish to protect you..."
Dale lifted his head.
"But I will try harder to remember you are strong."
"I am strong!"
"I know."
"I really am! It was only a sleeping dart! I fought the effects! I've slain Orcs to protect you!"
Tsuki nodded. He bowed and spoke quietly to Dale, though the others did not understand Elven even if it was shouted. "Dale, you do need protection, but not the kind my swords can give you. You need someone to say, 'I do not blame you for being hit by the dart.' You need someone to remind you, 'None of us should fight alone while there are others to help.'"
"Oh no! Don't you treat me like a child! I don't want you to be just like the rest of them! If you were an Elf, you might be older than me, but you would not even have reach one hundred fifty years yet! You think you are so wise because you realized how apt you are to be devoted to males and you decided you don't mind that the Wizard entertained himself with your stolen youth! Idiot! I am an Elf and I was wise enough to know I would not take a wife if I had a choice, before the Orcs ever took me, while you were still pouring tea for your Master! You only have what wisdom you do because I pushed you in the right direction, you fool Man!"
Tsuki laughed. He saw Dale glaring and yet he laughed. "I am sorry, Dale, but raise the glass to your face and look for yourself. I do not know if I should laugh or draw you to me; you look so beautiful and yet so silly."
Dale raised the looking glass and looked. His face looked colored with blood, his eyes were sparkling on the verge of tears, and his lips pouted. "Can we leave yet?" Dale asked, switching to the Common Speech and waving his hands.
"Ah, do not break it. It is bad luck."
Dale surrendered the looking glass to Tsuki.
"Well," Kato began, "The truth is, you are the only one who has not fully dressed, Dale, and I am afraid to ask..."
"Yes?" Dale sighed as he put on stockings, dagger and boots.
"Seeing as how Laurel managed Moon-halo before, do you think you could allow Tsuki to ride with you on Nightmare? You have done it before...and then perhaps Moon-halo could manage two riders and we should make better time."
"It does seem a sensible idea...for the time being," Tsuki agreed.
Dale huffed. "Just because we have quarreled, it does not mean that I will not cooperate with Tsuki or that he is no longer my friend." He drew his cloak over his shirt and sword, keeping the hood hanging behind. Dale stood fastening his hip quiver and belt as Tsuki spoke soothingly to Moon-halo and led him toward Laurel.
Tsuki and Laurel rearranged the things on Moonhalo's back to better accommodate Laurel's basket and bedroll as well as an extra rider. It meant transferring Tsuki's bow, quiver and waterskin to Nightmare. As the others prepared, Kato lit his lantern and consulted a map. "We had planned to make only a short top this evening and then ride on through the night, but as we have lost the time, I propose rather than press too hard to make up the distance, we travel to the road, and as soon as we are upon it scout for a sheltered place to camp, where we might better defend ourselves and get a good sleep. I do think we could all use some rest after this evening. Best to start fresh tomorrow, I say."
"I vote with Kato," Dale said, "So long as we do find some place concealed from the road and relatively sheltered."
Tsuki agreed, as did Laurel. Kato repeated the essence of his request once more for Fei and he made the vote unanimous.
Laurel mounted Moon-halo and then Fei climbed up behind her, wearing his belongings on his back. Dale put Tsuki before him on Nightmare, and instructed the horse to pace himself with the pony and to stay on its left.
"What do you think these others have decided?" Kato asked as they rode out, taking there bearing from Dale's idea of their position as described by the birds, Kato's map and Tsuki's compass.
Behind them, in the camp, The Lady had taken Tsuki's warning of Orcs seriously. Recently Black had heard word from other circles in the area that Orcs had been moving about in disturbing numbers and even by day. The Lady called out her orders, "Leave the tents and furniture, we have no means to transport them. Pack everything else you can carry, except the wine. We will not touch the wine in this camp, even if we should return, we will leave it for the Orcs."
She went to those of her circle who were uninjured and they poisoned the wine and left it unconcealed.
The Lady remained in the camp to the last and the animals seemed strangely silent then. When all her people had left the camp, The Lady picked up her broom, swept the tracks, scattered leaves and walked toward the lights to join her people.
Kato's party had gained several hours on even The Lord, who led the hunting party and those they protected, as they were mounted, but as they stopped and left the road upon finding a dell to shelter in, the hunting party and even The Lady overtook them in the night. The smaller party held a vote, and though it was not unanimous, it was decided they would from this point all trust each other to share in taking watches during stops for rest. Kato proposed two hours watches, so that if they each took a turn, everyone would have a full eight hours to rest, whether they chose to sleep during that time or not.
Dale started to explain how he counted the hours of the night by position of moon and stars, but Tsuki went to his saddlebags and brought out his hourglass. Dale said he supposed the Wizard device might work just as well for some people, but he would time his watch the natural way. Laurel received the first watch and Kato the last. The animals were unburdened and dew collector and bedrolls were set out, with weapons nearby. As Fei did not yet have a weapon of his own, Dale loaned him his dagger with the sheath and straps. Laurel had obtained her staff while riding in the wood, and returned Tsuki's knife to him, as she intended to strike enemies with the thick wooden staff if magic failed her.
During part of Laurel's watch, Dale and Tsuki both lay between Tsuki's pair of blankets. Later, about halfway through Laurel's watch, when Tsuki had fallen asleep, Dale gathered his cloak and blanket and went into a tree to sleep.
As she watched, Laurel saw the string of lights along the road that was the Lady and her hunting party. Toward the end of her watch, Laurel saw the blaze of fire in the distance and knew some enemy, probably Orcs, had discovered the camp and torched it.
The camp had indeed been discovered by Orcs. Word had been passed around among their kind that the one they called Death-Shadow had been located and a Chieftain of the Mine Dwellers had come with several bands to join the one that was tracking their enemy and possibly messengers from the north. Even as their party closed on the camp, another Chieftain was leading Orcs in pursuit of another small party of messengers in the East.
Gwindor, Gib and Galadhir had been pursued by Orcs almost constantly and had been forced to take detours and had crossed the river their road followed several times in effort to lose the Orcs and had several skirmishes with them during the nights. They were making a desperate sleepless flight to the settlement of Newhaven as the Orcs in the west were coming upon The Lady's camp.
The Chieftain of these Orcs was called by a name that in the Common Speech was Nose-ring, for he had a large ring hanging from his nostrils to his thin Goblin lower lip. The Orcs called Marduk and two others were Leaders currently in his command.
When Nose-ring had arrived, Marduk had resisted his taking command, but they had faced off and though Marduk was physically larger and perhaps stronger, Nose-ring had shown his many scarifications and piercings that demonstrated his endurance and tolerance for pain, as well as the Man bones and Dwarven beard braids he kept as trophies, and the larger number of Orcs already willing to take his orders and Marduk had submitted to him. Marduk had some scars and piercings of his own, but not so many as Nose-ring, he had a few trophies, but he was down to four followers.
The face off had wasted time, Marduk thought. His band had been ready to attack Death-Shadow while he was down from his horse and washing with his companion, but then Men had interfered and attacked first, while the band of Orcs lay concealed on the other side of the road. Dog had watched the battle and reported all he had seen.
Marduk had become nearly convinced that this red-haired Elf was Death-shadow and that he had strange abilities. He had managed to detect then near the barrows, though if not for the sick one being so slow, Dog's warning that the wind was shifting would have kept Death-Shadow from detecting them. They had located the Elf again during the next day, with a woman in his party. The Orcs had seen then that the Man in the party seemed to be Death-Shadow's pet. A favorite perhaps, as Dog had reported how the Elf nipped playfully at his Man's ears.
They had first positively identified Death-Shadow as an Elf and red-haired when he had removed his cloak to wash. Dog had reported the way Death-Shadow's fell beast had not been fully subdued by the poison darts and how Death-Shadow himself had resisted the poison that later was seen to quickly subdue the Halfling and Man.
The Man had surprised them. The Orcs had not realized the Man Death-Shadow kept as his pet would be so fierce a fighter. He carried no trophies they recognized, though Dog said that when he removed his cloak he appeared to be one of the Easterling, though he dressed as Men of the West, had a horse-boy's mount, carried a bow that seemed crafted by the forest Men, and had wings tattooed on his back. The Orcs new of tattoos and knew the skin bled when they were made. They thought Death-Shadow's pet must have a tolerance for pain. From a distance all the band could see how he used his pair of swords.
What Marduk did not yet understand about Death-Shadow was why he was said to speak Goblin, use an Orc bow, and carry a whip. Certainly Orcs lacked understanding of many motivations in Elves, but when one Elf acted so differently from others, it seemed, even to them, there should be a reason. Some Elves became particularly nasty when Orcs had played with some female known to them, but those Elves did not carry whips.
Marduk suspected some of the Northerners knew more about Death-Shadow; they feared him most, but they would not speak.
The band had been confused by the later events involving the surrender to the green-cloaks, but before they could follow the Men and find what Death-Shadow was up to, Nose-ring had come. They had not been able to follow immediately, but spent time deciding who would lead, and so they had tracked the party of Men to their camp hours later.
The camp appeared empty when they found it, but Marduk knew that Men sometimes made traps, so he told his band to stay close and spy and sniff out clues. Some Orcs in another band, including their leader had come upon the wine and drank of it. Some had died. Marduk had snapped his whip at the survivors of that band and told them to follow him if they were Orcs with more sense than to fall into traps set by Men. The ones who had not drunk enough wine to be sick or who had preferred their Orc liquor joined Marduk's band so that he gained three followers. The Chieftain had come later and knocked the heads from the ones who were sick but not yet dead from the poison.
Some of the Mine-Dwellers had excellent sense of sight and smell, and so they made good scouts and trackers for Orc bands, though most would not go out in the day. Marduk ordered Dog to go out with others to seek the trail. Dog found the trail of the horses, while some others Men tracks following a slightly different path.
There was some argument about which track to follow. Marduk thought Death-Shadow would be on his big horse. The other Leader said that Marduk's own story indicated that Death-Shadow had been captured and other Men had led his horse away, so even if it was Death-Shadow, he might not have his horse any longer, so they should follow the Men tracks, as the Elf would be with them.
Nose-ring ordered the camp be torched and then commanded the Orcs to run to the road, as the Men and Horses all seemed to have headed in the general direction of the road. Marduk did not want a whip at his back, so he commanded his band to start running and take their liquor as they went. He ran right behind them, ready to use the whip if his Orcs slacked off on him.
When Laurel saw the fire in the distance, her watch was nearly over. She woke Fei and showed him the fire that continued to consume the camp and wood. "It is Orcs," Laurel said softly and slowly. "I do not know about Orcs. I do not know how fast they can run. I saw the people from the camp pass by on the road. Do you understand?"
Fei rephrased Laurel's words as he understood them and she was satisfied that he did understand the Orcs would come and that those from camp were on the road.
"You watch now. I will rest. If you here or see anything that seems strange, go quickly to that tree." Laurel pointed out the tree. "Dale has climbed into the tree to sleep. Dale knows more of Orcs. You understand how I said it?"
Fei tried to see from the rise above the dell to the tree Dale was in, but he could not discern his figure from the tree or shadows. "Dale is there?" Fei pointed. "Do Elves sleep in trees?"
"Elves," Laurel whispered. She had understood, but Fei's accent made the name of Dale's people sound strange. "I know only what our people of this region say in songs and stories, but I saw Dale go into that tree. I think it is true Elves have keen senses, so wake him if you notice anything wrong, even if your watch is not yet finished. Dale will know better than you or I if the rest of us should be woken."
"If I sense danger, I will wake Dale there," Fei confirmed.
Laurel gave Fei the hourglass and then climbed down into the dell and went to her blanket.
The Lady also had seen the flames and knew it meant she had been right to take her people to flee; only now, the Autumn Equinox was nearly on them and they would have no home to celebrate it. The Lady called to those near her to give an order, "Our camp has been torched. Send our more injured hunters forward with the people, tell them to run if need be. We hunters must keep some distance behind, to face Orcs should they overtake us and not be poisoned."
The Lady did not have firsthand experience with Orcs, but she had heard that they ran fast and that they disliked the sun. She hoped her people would put enough distance between them and the Orcs that at least, if they were to fight, they would have daylight on their side.
Fei watched the road, glancing occasionally at the hourglass, and when it ran out, flipping it. Toward the end of his watch, he thought he saw some movement along the side of the road. He was not certain it was Orcs, but Laurel had said to wake Dale if anything seemed wrong.
Fei went down the slope into the dell as quietly as he could and ran to Dale's tree. When he was close, he could make out the dark shape resting in a bough. Fei lifted a stick from the ground and reached up to prod Dale, as did not see how the Elf had made his way up.
Dale woke, snuffed the air, listened and looked down. He licked a finger and held it aloft to test the wind. It was blowing from the north, toward them from the road. Dale dropped down and walked to lift his bow from the ground beside Tsuki.
Fei moved in close and explained in slow whispers what he knew, that the camp had been torched, the Lady's people had passed by on the road and that now he thought he had seen some shapes moving near the road.
"It could be animals, but we better be sure. Quickly, tell me what was the time between the fire starting and now, and the witches passing and now?"
Fei said Laurel would know better, but he though the blaze and the passing had both happened toward the end of Laurel's watch, roughly two hours before.
"Stay here. Awake. I will go see if there are Orcs."
Dale sprang up to the rise with a couple light steps and looked out at the road. There were Orcs, he could see them moving along the road, though they were still too distant for most Men to identify the shapes. They had trackers out in front, and they were not working fast enough; as Dale watched he heard the snap of whips.
He smiled. Orcs were not really very stealthy.
Dale ran into the lightly wooded area beyond the dell. Fei saw that he was gone from the watch rock, but he did not see where Dale went.
Dale sang softly, asking any animals that would aid him to put their scent between the dell and the road, to save his friends from being discovered by Orcs.
Fei was surprised when Dale came from behind him, but he controlled his urge to cry out. Dale smiled at him. "There are Orcs," he whispered. "I will go up into a tree with my bow and watch. If you see me shoot or drop down quickly, that will be the signal to wake the others."
"I wake others...if you shoot, or fall?"
"Yes. That will mean they found the dell. If they pass by, I will remain still." Dale went quickly up out of the dell and into a tree, where he could remain concealed in the branches and have a view of the road. He opened the flap that closed his quiver but did not ready an arrow, though he held his bow in hand.
Below, the Orcs were jogging along the road after their trackers. As they approached, Dale could make out the conversation barked between them. The Chieftain, Nose-ring was saying that he thought some Orc had stepped in horse dung and was tracking it all over the road so that the scent was confused.
Marduk's Western said, "The scent of horse is weak because hooves go faster than feet and the Men have since been over the trail."
Marduk agreed with an affirmative grunt. That was the very reason he had Dog sniffing along the side of the road. They did not need the trail on the road. Roads themselves were obvious Men trails and Men road horses. They only needed to know if Death-Shadow and his Man had left the road and where.
Dale saw the little Mine-Dweller point as Dog spoke, "There is darkness there, maybe a hollow for Death-Shadow to hide in."
Dale moved very slowly to ready an arrow in his bow.
"Did the horses leave the trail."
Dog growled. "Some animals have made droppings here! I do not know these animals. They do not live in the tunnels."
Another Orc, from the North came. "Not horses, tracks and droppings of small animals, rabbits...maybe a badger..."
"Maybe we can find meat," said another.
There was a rustling in some bushes and Marduk's archers aimed their bows. A fox leapt out, lifted his leg and pissed at the feet of the Orcs. Dale pressed his lips together and held his breath to keep from laughing.
"Is that meat tasty?" one Orc asked.
"I will make my pet a loincloth from that pretty red fur," said another, laughing.
The Chieftain snapped his whip as several arrows flew, and missed the fox as he ran. "Back on the road! Run! I want to overtake the Men before it grows too bright!"
Dale waited until the Orcs had all moved down the road before slowly climbing from the tree. He went to Fei. "Sleep now," he said.
"Dale, was it the Orcs? I heard noises," Laurel whispered.
"Yes. They passed us by."
"That means they might catch up with..."
"Yes," Dale said, "I thought of that. If we ride out now, they will spot us and we will be outnumbered. We have to wait, at least a few hours. It will be Dawn then and the greater number of those Orcs will not want to keep running in the sunlight. We have to Trust that The Lady can protect her people...for now."
"Do they...?" Fei started. "Who would win?"
"I estimate The Lady has no more than a dozen able fighters available to her, and many of those are women. Females have their worth, but they are not as strong as males of their race and definitely no match for Orcs. I cannot say...it depends on how bright it is by the time they meet and if The Lady knows any magic that can be of real help to her people."
"Real magic," Laurel said, "Is not something to be used as a weapon, or even used on others without their consent, whether it be of help to them or not."
"Tsuki says similar things, and so if they are unable to protect themselves, in a fight, The Lady would lose."
"We must help them," Fei said.
"I tend to agree, even though they did try to kill me," Dale said gravely. "But sleep. Leaving now will only draw their full force on us. If we wait and ride we stand a chance of being of help. We three will get the least amount of sleep, and since we are agreed, I do not think the others will object to our decision."
Laurel and Fei both tried to sleep, understanding that they would need to be able and alert later. Dale decided to wait out some of his watch watching the road from the trees. As he was going up the slope, he saw the fox. "Thank You, Friend Fox, for your assistance," Dale sang to him.
"No trouble Red Hair," The Fox said in Fox language, "I have family in the area and Orcs have done me no kindness. Loincloth, really? You do not see me wearing Orc hair to disguise my foxhood!"
Dale laughed. "I do not think your mate would appreciate that! I am glad your skin remains intact. It is a pretty color."
"Same to you Red Hair. Keep your Men's arrows away from me and mine. I was glad to help, but I have no wish to sacrifice myself to keep Men fed and warm."
"I understand. The skins and meat I take were all come by fairly. Be well, Friend Fox!" Dale watched the fox dart off to his den and then climbed into the tree. He waited almost until the end of his watch, then took his bow and the hourglass from the rock and went to Tsuki.
When Dale called to him, Tsuki lifted a hand to draw Dale down onto his blankets. Dale laughed softly. "I would love to get in there with you. You let me wait days and argued with me, but when it comes to it, I could swear you were an Elf."
Tsuki laughed. He was awake.
"There is work to do. The Orcs have been here."
Tsuki dropped his hand from Dale's neck and sat up. "Is everyone well?"
Dale explained quickly what he knew of the camp being torched, the Orcs, and Fei and Laurel voting to wake early and ride to aid The Lady.
"Wake the others. I will pack the horses. We may have to..."
"What is it?" Dale asked as he stood.
"It would be faster without the pony."
Dale nodded and went to wake the others. Tsuki started fitting the pony and horses with their gear and packs. When the others woke, they exchanged news of what they had seen in the night. "It may also matter how far from Newhaven we are...and the others are," Kato said. He rolled up his bedding and went to get a map.
Kato found several maps the showed the region in various scales and projections. "I can read the maps, but I do not know of the speeds at which horses and Orcs travel, only walking at a Halfling's stride and riding on ponies."
"With your pony we are probably covering around ten miles every hour," Tsuki said. "Nightmare seems bread for war, some cross between a work horse and a riding horse, able to carry a fully armored soldier from battle to battle. I think he could outpace your pony and keep the pace over a distance, but he would not move so fast as Moon-halo. Moon-halo has been trained for war, but he is bred for riding and quite fast." Tsuki looked at the maps Kato held. "But we are nearly one hundred miles from Newhaven, Moon-halo is fast and has excellent endurance, but I doubt he could go for help and return before the rest were won or lost."
Kato showed Tsuki another map. "It is probably closer to 80 miles."
"You were thinking of sending a messenger to the city," Dale said, "Not a bad idea, but what we should do is leave some of the party with the pony to walk along the road and have the rest ride ahead to see what has happened. We do not even know that the Orcs caught the other party. They may have hidden themselves at dawn and planned to attack later."
"If they are in hiding near the road, and we ride ahead, they may attack the ones behind us...if we pass the Orcs without noticing."
"Kato?" Dale asked, "What do you think? Should we vote? You know that whatever we do now is only a diversion from our main goal. You need to continue on."
"Yes, my business is important to many people," Kato said cautiously. "Let us start our journey now, all riding, as we did before. Sitting in discussion does not help anyone."
All agreed with that, and so they shared out water and dew to the animals and each other, packed the last of their gear, and rode out. When they were on the road, Kato found some dried meats and biscuits and Dale also shared some nuts and seeds he had been saving and they ate as they rode. Kato then suggested that if Dale was able he might ask some birds or other animals to scout ahead for them, and Tsuki could use his Wizard spying glass to look ahead.
There were a pair of birds overhead, the same that often followed Dale. He called to them and they stopped their circling to fly southwest, in the same direction the road led. Tsuki used his spying glass, but as they started out there was not much to see, except the path of the road before them and relatively flat plains either side, only occasionally marked by stands of trees or outcroppings of rock.
It had been morning by the time they road out and The Lady's party had over four hours start on them, the Orcs roughly two hours.
Tsuki asked Dale what he thought the Orcs would do. He said, "If you were with them, what would they be doing?"
Dale answered as he was able, "I saw them as they passed last night. They were a mixed group, lanky archers from the north, little Mine-Dwellers, large-armed Easterners and big ones from the West. It is unusual that the various clans would work together unless directed by a Wizard."
"As we understand it, we are the ones working for the Wizards," Tsuki whispered.
"Yes, exactly what bothers me. It has all been bothering me since we left River Forge. The Orcs are not acting in their most usual manner. I saw them. The Chieftan was a Northerner and two band Leaders under him were Westerner and Easterner, and the bands were all mixed: Mine-Dwellers with senses developed in darkness to track us, Northerners armed with bows, Easterners with their curved swords, and the big Westerners with their straight-blade swords."
"Sounds rather well organized, like a Man army, with divisions for artillery and so forth."
"Exactly, but it is not the way of Orcs...or it was not in the recent past. I can't think what has made them all work together. The Dark Lord is destroyed. They mentioned me by name, by the name they call me..."
"You really think all the Orcs in the world would suddenly decide to work together just to hunt you down?"
"No. I do not think I have even faced one of the Westerners, and not many Mine-Dwellers. The ones that know of me, would try to avoid me, I think. It does not ring true. The opportunity to kill me is bonus. So you know what it must be."
"Yes." They wanted whatever Kato had. The Orcs had united because perhaps they knew of some business involving Wizards and Rangers. "It does make the most sense. It could have been coincidence when we spotted them the other day..."
"I think that they lost our trail at some point and are not absolutely certain whether we are still with the horses. I disguised the trail of the horses where we left the road last night, and so they did not find us. They will assume we are with the party ahead until they learn otherwise. I think at dawn they must have had an argument about whether they should stay on the road used by Men and walk in the sun or hide somewhere and wait for another opportunity. They will do that sometimes, hide by day and then run fast over the trail at night to catch up. That was how they came on us in the hills."
"Then there is a chance they have not given chase or attacked the witches?"
"There is a chance," Dale agreed, "But as I said. With Orcs, it depends who wins the argument."
"They do not follow the Chieftain?"
"The Chieftain earned his title because at one time he proved strongest or most experienced or most able, but that does not mean that he will always be the best leader. The moment another decides to challenge him and wins they will become Chieftain, and the old one will be killed or degraded by some means. I imagine this morning they stopped and some of the Northerners or Mine-Dwellers said the sun was too bright. Then, some Westerner probably went on about how strong he was that he could walk in the sun and how the others must be weak. Then a few others probably spoke up and gave variations of those opinions. All Orcs may speak in such situations, but their opinions generally are not taken seriously unless others believe them strong or agree with them."
"And what would the Chieftan say?"
"Depends how smart this one is. Orcs are terribly lacking in civilization, but they do have a sort of culture and they are not unintelligent. Sometimes they are very ignorant and they can at times be simple, but overall they have the capacity for reason. A Chieftain that will endure probably will find a way of suggesting a compromise that sounds like an order. Perhaps he will suggest they continue to move along the side of the road, from shadow to shadow."
"The land here is mostly flat, between the rivers."
"Yes, perhaps then, he suggested they sent out a few as scouts while the others hide. They will not doubt their ability to catch up later. Orcs are like Elves in some ways. I mean, that their body can go for several days without much sleep and that they can run long distances at a fast pace. They will be quite willing to hide and attack in the evening."
"Then the question becomes: Can we make it to New Haven before it is dark again?"
"With the horses we could, but the others, on foot and already having marched since the night before, would never make it. Even at a desperate forced march they would be lucky to have covered 20 miles in the time since they passed us. Then they would still be 60 miles from New Haven with Orcs ready to attack them."
"And they have some elderly and injured," Tsuki said, "Even if we had not rode after them, we should soon be in a similar predicament. At some point we will have to face them, if we cannot find some way of concealing and guarding our number as we rest."
"Then that is out best hope," Dale said, "To find the
others unmolested and find means to face the Orcs on our terms."