chapters [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] [35] [36] [37] [38] [39] [40] [41] [42] [43] [44] [45] [46] [47] [48] [49] [50] [51] [52] [53] [54] [55] [56] [57] [58] [59] [60] [61] [62] [63] [64] [65] [66] [67] [68] [69] [70] [71] [72] [73] [74] [75] [76] [77] [78] [79] [80] [81] [82] [83] [84] [85] [86] [87] [88] [89] [90] [91] [92] [93] [94] [95] [96] [97] [98] [99] [100] [101] [102] [103] [104] [105] [106] [107] [108] [109] [110] [111] [112] [113] [114] [115] [116] [117] [118] [119] [120] [121] [122] [123]
side story [The Tale of the Soup-maker]
appendix [a]
gallery [duma] [dale] [dale 2] [beryl] [ugarit] [ugarit 2] [ugarit 3]

Part Eighty-One

Forhrondo had the full number of the Rómendar in his following now, perhaps except for the dead, and Annavala, but she was dead to him now, even if she was distant kin. He called out the orders for his final offensive. The decadent Elves of the west and their Sylvan followers had mounted a strong defense along with the abominations and Mannish rabble, but they had not yet felt the full force of his people. All the Rómendar had come west, all of them. Their march had been greater than that of the Elves that left them in ancient times, when three hosts had departed. Those hosts of Elves who had gone west long ago had dwindled and departed. They would soon die.

"Call all our reserves from the camps and tunnels. Bring forward our full number for this march! We shall crush this perverted union into the earth!"

Runners brought news of enemy movements to the wall tent where the battle commanders of the allied Elves, Men, and Orcs directed the defense of the Wood.
Among these, Lain came from Lenaduiniel, bringing news, as promised to the Orcs, of what she had learned from their prisoner.

"The Lady says she has made the prisoner cooperative and a friend and learned much, but most importantly, she fears: the enemy held reserves still hidden in the tunnels and camps in the foothills."

"I believe they gather strength for one final offensive," Galen said gravely. "My best guess is that they will come before dawn, if they are able, perhaps over the trench."

"The trench will hold," Marduk insisted.

"It is true Marduk's Orcs have kept the trench well defended," Gwindor admitted. "We have been able to draw some of our own spears and archers from its defense to use elsewhere, simply because they became superfluous."

"If the attack comes in the night, with a force greater than we have seen thus far, they will not be superfluous," Denelas said.

"It is possible for any force to be overrun with significant numbers," Gwindor said, we should draw any reserves we do have into a central position in order to be able to deploy them quickly to any point that is breached."

Marduk growled. It would be better to know where the attack came from. "Does the female say how many were in reserve?"

"She is coming here," Lain said.

"Lain," Denelas said overly kindly, "you should have said that first."

Annavala entered the tent shortly, escorted by Alqua and a cloaked figure who revealed herself to be Lenaduiniel as she drew back her hood.

"You should not be so close to the trenches," Gwindor whispered.

Lenaduiniel arranged the lower part of her cloak, revealing the small Orc she carried. "It was necessary," she said softly. "We have heard the same reports as our commanders," she said then, authoritatively, "What action would you advise? Is the riverbank still a secure location?"

Gwindor ordered various attendants, including Lain, out of the tent before addressing the others. "There has been time now for our friends to reach the mountain pass, but if they have succeeded in their plans we cannot know, for it would take as long for news to return to us, but we must allow that the Wizard has means of reaching out and directing his minions here. The shifts in their movements may be timed after the assassination of a leader among them, but they may also be timed with the Wizard's plans."

"Do you say our friends have failed?" Lenaduiniel asked.

"I say that we must make our decisions based on what we can know, and we must allow that the outcome of that mission is already decided."

"A large offensive could be a move of desperation," Lenaduiniel suggested. "Our friends might have succeeded and may be on their way home now."

"And they may have failed and this offensive is a last effort to force us closer to harm's way," Gwindor suggested.

"Is it the way of Elves now to act on outcomes that are only feared?" Lenaduiniel asked.

"I have suggested no action yet. You were the one who doubted the safety of our river port."

"Safety from invaders, not from poisonous Sorcery."

"My Lady, this Sorcery is something we have never before faced. Is it wrong to act in caution and send some to shelter until we can be certain it is safe?" Galen asked.

"Can we ever be certain hereafter?" Lenaduiniel asked. "That is the question. We know the knowledge exists, even among our present allies. None of us knows that in the future an ally will not have reason to seek to employ this knowledge for their own ends. Should we then change the way we live and take to caves? Or shall we remain Elves and hope that education will sway others from ever using this Sorcery?"

"It matters not," Gwindor said bitterly. "The most immediate threat to us is not slow death by poison, but an invading army."

"Annavala says they brought all their number west, young included."

"Do their Precious Ones fight?" Marduk asked.

"Annavala says that some females are trained for war and hunting, like she, but the majority, as with Elves, fight only when absolutely necessary. Now, she says, they will call the younger males, and the females and those laboring to make food and weapons to join them for this one offensive. She has seen the strategy used before. They will temporarily neglect defense and supply in order to strengthen offense, wagering that it will mean absolute victory."

"How many will there be?" Marduk asked.

"A third again their number, perhaps slightly more, depending on the age of the males Forhrondo demands. Forhrondo is the name of their Lord now in command."

"If they broke our defense, females and males as young as fifty-years would fight for us, even now," Denelas said.

"I can order some number of females from our Clans to fight, if Elves will also send females to battle," Marduk said, "but no females that have not yet seen a battle and no small ones."

"I do not expect the river to be threatened directly," Gwindor said, "but without knowing the outcome of matters on the mountain, I dare not ask those we sent there, to cross the river into territories that will sooner be threatened by poison, if our friends have failed. In fact, we expect some Elves of the Golden Wood will travel across the river here, or go north to the Green Wood, until the level of threat from Sorcery is known with certainty."

"Will those elves soon arrive?" Marduk demanded, "To reinforce us?"

"No," Gwindor said. "We sent warning to them on wing as soon as Tsuki announced the danger that might be, but it would take them near as long to reach here as it would take Orcs of the Mines. They will not arrive to join this battle, but perhaps to reclaim territory if we fail."

"What are you suggesting, Brother?"

"There is an outpost formerly used by Men, rangers, within our Wood. It is sheltered by rock and has plentiful supply of water that flows from the east, and will not be poisoned, if the Mines are attacked in the manner we fear. The small Orcs and youngest Elves might go there with stores of food and be protected from poison as well as battle. The number of our enemy is great, greater than we knew, and we have been fighting superior numbers all along, with defense and power of war machines being our only advantages. Now, as they mount this offensive, it is time for our best Defensive effort. It is our home we fight for, and the fate of the west. Let us ask our females if they would fight, and send the rest to shelter with the young in the place I spoke of."

"What is this place? A cursed Ranger tunnel?"

"It remained secret from Orcs during the war," Gwindor said. "The entrance is hidden behind falling water. It is north of the settlement proper, without our Wood, and in cover of night could be reached in a short hike by our young. I will send some of our skilled scouts to escort the young there and then return to join the defense."

"I agree with this plan. I will send a messenger running to our camp to bring those females who know of battle. Sarpanit will bring them to me." Marduk looked to Lenaduiniel. "Lady, that little one is Tashmetum. She should go with the other little ones of our clan."

"Tashmetum belongs to Ugarit and I have sworn to Ugarit to take specific action in Tashmetum's interest, which does not include sending her away. She shall live so long as Alqua or I continue to live."

"Ugarit is my Orc."

"She may already have passed from your Clan to another; we simply have not yet heard news. I will protect this little one with my life."

"The shadows lay strangely there," Ugarit whispered.

"I see it also," Duma said. There was a hollow in the ground and the Moon was not yet quite overhead, but casting light on the walls about the space, so as to make the shape clear. He ran to its edge, with Ugarit and Fei close at his sides. They could see a circular floor surrounded by large standing stones and straight earthen walls and a small figure standing within the circle. "It's her!" Duma cried. "Find a way down!"

"Her?" Ugarit asked.

"There," Fei said, pointing, "might that be stairs into the well?"

"Setsugekka," Duma said, "The Wizard stole her away. He controls her. Let us go to her."

Ugarit shoved her naked right elbow into Duma's chest. "That is as clear a trap as fresh meat on a spear in the ground! The Wizard controls her! You said it!"

"She does not want to be with the Wizard. She wishes to serve Tsuki. Tsuki and Kato broke the spells they were under. If I talk to her, maybe she can be freed of the spell!" Duma spoke quickly and then rushed for the stairs.

"You are mine, Duma!" Ugarit growled, and followed. She saw Fei meant to follow and put her hand to his chest armor. "You go find Dale-Chieftain and bring him."

Fei would not usually take such an order, but he saw the sense in it when he gave the matter thought. The girl below might seem suitable bait for a trap, and the strange well she stood in seemed something Tsuki must see and possibly related to Wizardry. He ran quickly to search for Tsuki and Dale.

The stairs seemed old, but newly placed, with freshly disturbed rock and earth surrounding them, but the circular floor below was ancient and was made up of many small bits of white and grey stone that formed a pattern of many circles and crescents. The floor was bordered by enormous upright slabs of rock, a few of which were spanned atop by lintels, and elsewhere by earth, which seemed newly dug, as that around the stairs.

"This place was dug out from under earth. It was a buried place," Ugarit said.

"Yes," Duma agreed. Ugarit and he had seen the same in the earth and rocks, but the signs did not tell him if this was a place built by the Men who had made the city here, or by some others. He had only been told that the minions of the Dark Lord had stolen the city from Men and that Men had come to raze the city since it had been fouled.

Setsugekka stood just off center on the floor. She was clothed differently than last Duma had seen her. She wore fewer robes, and they were short and covered at the bottom by a garment alike to a divided skirt, which Lenaduiniel might wear for travel. She was armed as well, with bow and quiver of arrows of strange make and a dagger sheathed at her waist. She appeared to have no armor, but wore a bracer over her left breast and on her left wrist, which Duma supposed to be aids in archery.

He called out to her, but Setsugekka made no answer but to aim at Duma. "You know me, Duma. Tsuki is here as well. You do not have to serve the Wizard. Where is he, the one who would have you call him Master?"

The arrow flew and Ugarit threw herself upon Duma and brought up her armored left arm to shield their heads as they fell. The arrow was deflected by a spike and struck stone behind them with a spark. Several arrows fell loose of Duma's quiver as he hit the ground, and some of their gear.

Duma paid it no mind, pushed Ugarit from him and stood.

"She will kill you! The Wizard is controlling her! Duma!"

"Setsugekka, Tsuki is your Lord and he says the Wizard is making a terrible weapon. Where is he, Your Master, and where is the weapon?"

Ugarit hissed loudly, picked up on of the spilled arrows and set it to her bow as she stood. "Duma, she is not going to answer you! Try to protect yourself!" Ugarit aimed and loosed the arrow. She was sure it would strike the girl, if not kill her, but as she drew another arrow and watched, the arrow in flight was deflected, without the girl moving. "A spell."

Duma dropped his bow, removed the spiked armor from his right arm, dropped much of his gear and then removed his coat. "You know me, Setsugekka," he called, "The Wizard is using you. It is in your power to break the spell. You are not his plaything. You are a priestess of the Moon."

"You are the one who wanted to protect me," Setsugekka said quietly, and then as soon as she had said it, she adjusted her aim and fired upon Duma again. The arrow struck Duma's left shoulder and he staggered.

Ugarit drew an arrow from her quiver. "Duma is mine. No spell will stop me," she said, and then fired. This time, no magic deflected the arrow, and the girl seemed to realize this in surprise and shifted her bow to deflect the arrow a moment before it found her eye, so that the arrowhead sliced through her hair.

"Ugarit! Stop!"

"The Wizard is our enemy! She is with the Wizard. It is right to kill her!"

"She is precious!"

"She is as precious as a female Chieftain" Ugarit shouted, "as precious as I am now!"

"You are both precious right now," Duma said, but not so loud that any other could hear. He saw the bows and arrows aimed. If the Wizard showed himself, he would fight, and likely die trying, but he would not fight Setsugekka, and he would not fight Ugarit. They shot at each other, for Setsugekka had chosen a second target, but both arrows struck Duma; he ran into the paths they flew.

Setsugekka lurched forward, nauseated and saw Ugarit running to Duma. She could hear her Master instructing her, but she did not obey. She rose unsteadily to her feet and walked toward Duma.

"Duma!" Ugarit cried.

He was resting in her arms then. The first arrow was still in his shoulder. The second, also from Setsugekka's bow, had pierced his leather armor on his left side, and the third, from Ugarit's bow, had gone clean through armor and right forearm. That one would have struck his head, had his arm been positioned differently as he moved into its path. "You were both precious."

Ugarit snapped the shafts of the arrows. "You need some patching up, Duma. If I pull the shafts out now, you will bleed a lot."

"Just arrows. They were not poisoned."

"Duma," Setsugekka said as she reached them. Ugarit's knife was at her throat in a second.

"No. Don't kill her."

"He protected me."

"Fool!"

"You are protecting him. You care for him."

Ugarit could not understand Setsugekka's speech, but Duma laughed weakly. "She is not being controlled anymore."

Ugarit lowered her knife. "You mean…you came all this way and you have denied the Wizard his minion by freeing her from his spell?"

"Yes."

"That will surely aid in his defeat," Ugarit said decisively.

Duma pulled the ring from his finger and pressed it into Ugarit's left hand, which was lain over his chest. Ugarit set her knife down to slip the ring on a finger of her left hand. "Bling." It sparkled brilliantly in moonlight.

"I was nearly caught by the Demon in the depths in getting that stone."

"You are a very brave Orc."

"He is a foul abomination which should never have been conceived," The Sea said, behind them. Ugarit reached for her knife, but found it suddenly distant. A moment later Duma's body was lifted from her and thrown by unseen force through the air, until the thudded against one of the large tall stones about the circle.

"Master?" Setsugekka asked.

The Sea scowled at the doubt in her voice. He made a slight wave of his staff and the Priestess was pinned to the floor, unable to rise or move.

Ugarit drew the second knife from her thigh and stood. "Wizard," she growled.

"I have been meaning to collect a female for study since I heard the rumors." He made a very slight movement of his right hand and Ugarit's knife was wrenched from her hand and was drawn into his. It was, he thought, an unusual make of blade. He tucked the knife in his belt.

"You keep away from her!" Duma shouted. He leaned heavily against the stone and looked unable to stand on his own, much less stop a Wizard from doing as he pleased.

Duma saw the Sea approaching, the darkest blue robes, the aged, bald head and the long gold-lacquered fingernails, like ornamented claws clutching his metal staff. His vision doubled before he was able to focus on only one Wizard again. Ugarit shouted and the Wizard turned away from Duma. He hoped The Sea did not dash Ugarit against the rocks. Duma's bow was across the floor, with the rest of the gear he had discarded in convincing Setsugekka he was no enemy. Lenaduiniel would not be pleased to hear of it; he should have never let it go.

"Death-Shadow will come!" Ugarit told the Wizard. "He is the most powerful Orc-Chieftain. You will not even see him until he has struck the killing blow. He will not permit you to live. You are Dark, and your power will be destroyed."

"Down girl," The Sea commanded. Ugarit stood and The Wizard scowled. He gave his staff a small wave. "Down Orc!" Ugarit collapsed, her knees falling to the floor and then her shoulders. She was unable to move. "It fills my throat with bile to know that some Wizards would make use of such creatures when better spoken races will serve. You are all foul, filthy creatures. Mistakes. Made of filth. Disgusting breeding habits. It is no different now you are male and female! I care not if that is the work of a Wizard, god, or nature. This one is evidence of what may come of enabling abominations to breed with other races…"

The Sea turned to make an example to Duma and saw him stalking toward his bow. He incanted loudly, made a jabbing motion with his staff and spread the fingers of his right hand toward Duma to make a powerful spell.

It was the worst pain Duma had ever felt, and he had been tortured by his former Master, survived transformation by Old Forest Water, and been betrayed by a woman.

And though it felt like he had been wracked with pain for eternity, Duma realized in a moment that, though his body ached, the attack no longer touched him. He could just make out a vision of red hair before his vision went black. Dale had come to save him.

Dale felt the pain intended for Duma, but at the same time he was aware of Tsuki and Laurel supporting him; the counter spells whispered through his mind and lessened the pain. Dale swung his sword at the Wizard; it was blocked by the shaft of the Sea's staff, but Dale continued his attack.

The Sea perceived what was happening. He had only begun to experiment with such applications for the seeing stones. The two present had a third linked with them, whom the Sea would be unable to attack directly, one who could provide defensive and healing spells from remote, and perhaps add strength to spells either of these ones cast.

There must be a way to break their connection, The Sea thought frantically. He had watched these ones for some time, and he had expected each to be easy to subdue in their way, but the Elf did not attack in madness or rage as the Sea would have supposed. He could have used such anger to advantage, but all that was apparent in the Elf's strangely colored eyes was calm and righteousness.

This was the look of an Elf protecting their child. It was not vengeance, as much as Elves had the propensity for vengeance; it was justice.

The other one was waiting, drawing power. He would act if the Elf wavered and it might strain the Sea to face him then, though he had planned things quite differently.

The Sea took the only action he saw available. He allowed Dale's blade to connect with his flesh. The obvious sacrifice surprised Dale and bought the Sea a moment to act. The Sea took the knife he had stolen away from Ugarit into his right hand and faced Dale. "Did you mount one of those wretched females to make that one, or did you take pleasure in some fouler hole? Did you use your slave well and cheer when you watched the seed mingle in the mud of the breeding pit?"

"Dale! He is making a spell with his words! Do not let him confuse you!"

Dale could see the breeding pit and he began to laugh. He had never had an Orc pet. He had been the pet up until the day he murdered his Clan.

"Oh, or were you the one who was used? Filled with filth? Did you enjoy it? The taste and the stench and the poison blades carving your flesh? How many are there? How many foul half-breed off spring because you spilled for your Masters?"

"Dale!" Tsuki called.

"Spit on him!" Ugarit cried out, "You are Chieftain! We have no Wizard Masters now!"

"Duma," Dale whispered.

"Dale, fight him," Tsuki whispered in his head.

"Breeding ritual is no more a shame than working sky-clad with a besom," Laurel said to him.

Dale could not see the Wizard, he could only see the illusion he cast. He saw the breeding pit and all the Orcs of Dumuzi's Clan were there, only Dumuzi was dead, and the Orcs all had purple eyes. Tsuki was there, decorated like a pet, with scars and collar and weighted rings piercing his skin. Dale's parent's were there, and not dead, but they were tied up as prisoners, as if they might be used soon by another Orc, and they were weeping, weeping because they thought Dale was wrong.

Dale could not fight. Tsuki could see him staggering, tears on his face. He wanted to do something, to have power to save him, but in this place, he felt very strange. There was no snow on the stone. He felt he might be able to draw more power here than ever before, more power than in the barrows, but there was a sense of something like warning, that what he used the power for would make a great difference.

Tsuki decided, he would have to rely on his swords for a while longer rather than risk miscasting a spell. He ran at The Sea, hoping at the least he would split the Wizard's focus enough to lessen the assault on Dale.

The Sea saw the attack coming and wondered how much that young one knew, to resort to physical attacks here. It did not matter. It was easy to use his own power to drive Tsuki back. He had not made the spell very powerful, because he was holding so many others, but it was enough that Tsuki flew backward threw the air and fell on the stone floor.

Tsuki rolled and then climbed to this hands and knees. The floor, the symbols were not random, he realized, not a mere lunar motif, but recorded positions and phases of the moon. The positions of the stones was not random either, nor was the position of this well, which must have long ago been at ground level, in relation to the surrounding terrain.

This place was a trap. He was not entirely certain of its rules, but if his suspicions were correct, he could safely work magic so long as he did not draw on the power of this place. That in itself took a great amount of will, because this place seemed to invite him to seize the power and use it with its entire being.

Tsuki began to doubt there was a weapon. He suspected the Wizard's scheme might have been only to trap him into doing some work here, though he did not fully understand why, yet.

It was important Tsuki learn whether there was a weapon and where the Wizard might have it hidden, but more important than that was Dale. Tsuki put both hands to the Moonstone tucked under his shirt and concentrated.

Dale could see them, Duma and Ugarit and the little Orc she held in her arms. It could have been Tashmetum, but it could have been Duma's child. Duma would not look at him.

"Dale-Chieftain! It is a spell!"

The Sea's staff moved and Ugarit was lifted from the floor only to be thrown down again upon it.

Dale could not really hear her, but the Ugarit within the vision spoke. "Duma does not turn from the breeding pit because of you. He has turned from the pit because Nimrod the Fool hurt him more than he wishes anyone to know."

Yes, Dale thought, that is right. I know. Duma did not really have to tell me, because I knew. This is not real, because Duma always walks in without knocking when I am with Tsuki and there is no concern in his expression. Duma says 'go fuck the Wizard'. Duma is happy now and I made him. He cannot deny the rightness of the ritual that made him if he is grateful to live.

"None of this matters, even if Duma did despise you. None of this matters, real or not, because I want you to do it. Dale, I need you. Dale."

Dale's vision cleared. He could see the Wizard. He could see Tsuki pinned to one of the tall stones, his feet dangling above the floor, held by invisible force.