El-Vador's Travels Page 8

  When El-Vador returned with more pelts and meat for his father, he was greeted with bad news. 'Chief Sarvacts has returned to the settlement once more.'

  'He has?' cried El-Vador. He stifled the instinct to grab an arrow and hunt the Orc down. 'What is he doing there?'

  'Well, they say he came because of the Orcish soldier who disappeared near the settlement,' answered Cusband. 'The first time he said that, I feared he was going to punish us even if his men never found the creature's body.'

  'The Orcish soldier who disappeared,' echoed El-Vador, he felt the invisible noose tightening. Sarvacts had come looking for him.

  'I told him you were out hunting and that you wouldn't be back for some time.' said Cusband unhappily. 'He was right here, inside our house.'

  This gave El-Vador pause, Sarvacts had actually come here to ask for him specifically? 'He must have asked his men which Elves spent long periods in the woods.' He didn't mention that he had overheard the entire conversation that placed the blame solely and correctly on him.

  'Don't go after him El-Vador, kill Sarvacts alone and the rest of us will suffer.'

  'The temptation is there but I'm not stupid,' replied El-Vador.

  'Yes, we both know what you have to do,' said Cusband. 'I just had to make sure that I didn't need to temper your youthful spontaneity.'

  'I am a man now father, you admitted as much yourself. ' El-Vador reminded him, not liking that his father thought him a bloodthirsty animal.

  'You may well be a man but you are a young one at that, I have always urged patience and caution to you, let us not falter in our plans now. We lost the first fight against the cursed Orcs, do you suppose we'll stay quiet under their heels forever? Things have a way of changing.'

  Oh they would change, soon. Spring had arrived and El-Vador was nearly ready to strike.

  Mugrab's farm flourished in the spring weather, he had grown accustomed to the harsh climate of the mountains now and had managed his expectations during the colder season. Now there was more land that was workable and more time in which to let his crops grow, for that he was thankful.

  Though he had other Orcs for neighbours, Mugrab still carried a weapon wherever he went. He seldom saw Elven folk, and not seeing them suited him just fine. They seemed docile for now, but that couldn't last forever, Mugrab had a feeling in his gut and his gut was rarely wrong. When they finally did retaliate, Mugrab knew that he wouldn't go down unprepared or without a fight.

  He did not think that the Elves were a naturally violent people, in spite of reports he had heard about the initial battles. Then there was El-Vador and the strange relationship they had developed after his choosing to be merciful.

  When the Elf reappeared after winter, he came out from behind a tree at the edge of Mugrab's farm with such silent grace, he might have been standing there for some little while before the Orc noticed him.

  'El-Vador, you return.' said Mugrab, and then, cautiously, 'Have you come to end me then?' He still had his pike with him but he was under no illusions about who would come out alive in a fight between them.

  The Elf neither confirmed nor denied that he would kill him. 'I told you to leave before there was violence.' he said. 'You have one more chance to depart, after which the killing shall start.'

  'On to our last chances then?' Mugrab asked. 'You would kill a defenceless farmer in cold blood?'

  'If that is what is needed of me.' El-Vador seemed surprised at the question. 'You are not just a simple farmer, you are an Orcish farmer. You take our lands just as the other invaders have done, even if you have not raised a blade to do so.'

  Mugrab wondered whether every Elf stored that hatred deep inside, if much like El-Vador it just waited for the right time to burst forth and destroy the Orcish foes. Though they were not warriors, the Elves still far outnumbered the Orcs. That wasn't something that was going to change for a long time.

  'Has winter treated you well?' Mugrab tentatively asked.

  'I have survived it.' answered El-Vador, showing no sign of wanting to speak further.

  'Good.' said Mugrab

  'I want all Orcs in the Elven lands dead. You are an Orc but I do not wish to kill you, you need to leave.'

  He was not looking at Mugrab, but he was staring south toward the stronghold that had begun the occupation of the Elven lands.

  'Do you know who Chief Sarvacts is?' the Elf asked suddenly.

  'I know of him. Every Orc knows of him.'

  'Tell me of Sarvacts.'

  It wasn't a question, Mugrab felt compelled to reply. 'I can't say I know much more than rumours, and none of them are good. It is said that Sarvacts killed the family of a very important Orc when he could not find him and that is why he was banished out into these mountains.'

  El-Vador's eyes widened, for a moment Mugrab fully expected the youth to shoot him then and there. Instead he was gone, racing into the woods from whence he came. Mugrab's words had bought himself a reprieve and for the first time he began to think about leaving these lands.

  VII

  For a time my heart was in conflict, the lines between enemy and friend were blurred and the indecision and strife it caused within hurt me greatly. One has to remember that when you commit to a path you must eliminate every obstacle regardless of the moral implications. The consequences otherwise can often undermine everything you fought for, rendering it as useless as dust and ash.

  El-Vador spent many hours hidden away in the woods in an attempt to avoid any contact with the Orcs. He had been planning for some time how to best utilise the red phial the creature had given him in the cave but there was always so much to be getting on with throughout the day that he never set any of his plans in motion.

  Escaping the settlement altogether suited him better. Then he need not have to boil with rage at the various abuses that his people put up with from the Orcs.

  He stood watching birds of prey circle when a voice called next to him, 'You have not completed your task.'

  El-Vador jumped, unsheathing his blade and swinging wildly at thin air. He had neither seen nor heard the owner of the voice approach, a fact that should have been impossible. 'Where are you?' he cried. 'Show yourself!'

  The mocking laughter that rang inside his own skull answered the question he hadn't asked.

  'It has been many moons since you were given the phial and commanded to seek vengeance upon those that wronged you,' the voice from the cave said, still remaining out of sight.

  'There have been complications.' said El-Vador, scanning the area hopelessly in an attempt to find the source of the voice. 'Why can I not see you?'

  The voice chuckled again, El-Vador felt no desire to join it. 'I am inside of you, always. What complications do you feel excuse you from your taking of the Orcs' lives?'

  'I have been busy with my father and the planning of the assault.'

  The chuckling subsided, he found the silence ominous. 'Your petty life as you knew it is of little consequence, you must slay the Orcs and gain your vengeance.'

  'Alone? Armed with just the phial you've given me? I don't know how!' cried El-Vador, clutching his head in frustration.

  'You are my chosen vessel, all you need do is act and it shall be done.'

  'Your chosen vessel?' asked El-Vador. 'Chosen for what purpose?'

  'In a time far from now that shall become clear,' the voice replied cryptically. 'Your purpose in the here and now is clear and I shall not utter it again.'

  A lancing pain shot through El-Vador's head, making him lose all bearing on his surroundings and bringing him down to one knee.

  'Get out of my head!' he roared, coming to his feet again by force of will alone. 'I will kill them, I will kill them all! Just leave my mind in peace!'

  Silence greeted him as his head ached, he needed to kill the Orcs soon.

  Chief Sarvacts rode out of the stronghold and through the bustling streets of the small settlement that had sprung up around it.

  He left the civilised world b
ehind, not that it would be called that from where he had come and could never go back to. He couldn't imagine any of his old comrades standing the squalor he had been placed in.

  He rode with his axe across his knees, ready to use at a heartbeat's notice. It would be years before Orcs could travel through these lands without a weapon to hand. Sarvacts remained convinced the missing Orc had not vanished all on his own. His bones may well have been lost deep in the forests but he doubted the wildlife could have bested him. No, this was some Elven plot to retake the lands or perhaps some petty act of vengeance.

  He knew that the road he was travelling on was ideal for an ambush, he didn't care. Let the Elves come if there were any, at least then he would know for sure that which he suspected.

  Sarvacts arrived at the first Elven settlement he had captured and immediately came across the Elf that had been eluding him, El-Vador. The boy was making his way back to his father's house and seemed to be trying his best to ignore that Sarvacts was riding up beside him. He reined in across his path, making him impossible to avoid. 'You, Elven boy,' he called out to him. 'I have been looking for you.'

  The boy's face remained impassive. Sarvacts knew that this young one wanted him dead from their last encounter, he almost felt like goading him into action. First though he would attempt to wrangle the truth out of him, if there was such truth to the rumours he was hearing.

  'I have questions for you, Elf.' he said, refusing to use the boy's name.

  'Then ask your questions and be done with it,' El-Vador replied in a disrespectful tone.

  Sarvacts bristled, unaccustomed to having his authority challenged, if he were to get angry now and slay the child he would never know. The settlement streets had been abandoned as a result of their meeting, nobody wanted to see what might happen next.

  'You are aware that one of my men has gone missing, are you not?'

  El-Vador smiled. 'What concern of that is mine? Do you expect me to sympathise?'

  Sarvacts fought down the urge to spur his horse directly through the boy, this impudent youth was goading him.

  'My men claim that you go into the woods often, many of them suspect that you are involved in his downfall, what say you to this?'

  The boy's expression did not change, he was still smiling at the Chief as if they were talking of the weather. 'If you suspect he was murdered by one of my people then I can only wish that it had been by my hand. Sadly I do not have the time to butcher Orcs in the woods, however satisfying that might seem.'

  Either the boy was an excellent liar or genuinely had nothing to do with the loss of his man, his patience was being sorely tested either way. He hefted his axe dangerously at the Elf. 'One more word of dissent from you and I shall cleave your head from your shoulders.'

  He looked up, the Elf had turned his back to the Chief and was walking back toward his home as if Sarvacts wasn't there.

  He considered riding the child down then, yet something stopped him. In all this barren and desolate country, El-Vador's unabashed defiance of him was the only thing that intrigued him. Turning his horse, he galloped back to the stronghold to await the Elf's next move.

  The invaders blundering along the trail clearly had no skill in the woods, El-Vador found tailing them to be almost comically easy. He pushed his luck further and further, drawing closer to them without their realising.

  They ambled along, loudly announcing their presence to anything that could hear, they would be catching no prey this day.

  With a resounding crack, one of them stepped on a stick. 'Fool!' hissed a Goblin. 'Do you not know how to move silently as I do?'

  'As if what I did was any different to your attempts at stealth.' the Orc replied, clearly not appreciating his companion. 'You keep this up we'll not catch anything.'

  'If we don't catch anything it'll be you to blame, you'll see.' said the Goblin. He mocked the Orc then, stamping his feet up and down. 'Look at me forest, for I am Hlug the stealth master. Now come to me animals and let me slay you with my silence!' he reached his scrawny arms out in mockery as if trying to embrace the animals in the woods.

  The Orc chose not to rise to the Goblin's bait. 'I wouldn't fancy hugging half the stuff out here, it'd more likely maul you.'

  El-Vador nodded. He wanted to kill all the invaders who tramped through the woods. Soon he would do exactly that, very soon indeed. He could easily pin them both to the trees with well-placed shots, now was not the time for such indulgences with Sarvacts still clearly suspicious of him. Any further Orcs missing in the woods would cause retribution. Instead he stayed close to them and listened, not expecting to hear much of use.

  'Our beloved Chief isn't making things any better for us, the way he's prowling around that settlement as if he'll sniff out the Elven killer,' another Orc said.

  El-Vador had not expected a third Orc, this one moved silently compared to his companions. These Orcs, much like the others, suspected that their comrade had been slain at Elven hands, the idle rumour seemed to have now been accepted as fact. Why then had they not simply raised the settlement? What was stopping them?

  'If he hears you saying that Harg, you'll be on the gallows with the rest of the Elves up north. Sarvacts doesn't like people questioning his motives, however right they might be in questioning him.'

  'Well someone must have given him orders,' said the Orc who wasn't Harg. 'Otherwise he wouldn't be up here knee deep in that Pixie we captured.'

  El-Vador almost stumbled out of his hiding place, they had captured the Pixie that he had rescued from the Orc? She knew that the Orc had been slain by an Elf. If she told Sarvacts what she knew...

  For a little while, he forgot about murdering all the invaders. He needed to know more about Sarvacts and his relationship with his new captive, it was imperative that he acted soon lest Sarvacts discover the truth and torch his settlement and all those within.

  Gurgash hated the Elven forest, even more so than the ribbing he took from the Goblins about his lack of stealth. He knew he was a big dumb Orc but he tried his best not to make a sound when they were out hunting. Often he'd simply be left behind on sentry duty while Harg went out with the others, this time he had been invited along under the condition that he try not to scare too much game away.

  When he stopped for a moment, the other two soldiers also halted. 'What is it?' asked Harg. 'Is something out there, cousin?' He sounded edgier than usual himself; perhaps the silent immensity of the woods had begun to get under his skin, too.

  However reluctantly, Gurgash shook his head. 'No,' he admitted. 'But we could be hunted as we speak and we'd never notice, not in woods like these.'

  His own words made him stop, look, and listen again, as if in saying so he had conjured Elven hunters into reality. But if anything was there his senses did not detect it. Perhaps the hair-prickling feeling at the nape of his neck was just his irrationality.

  'You look on edge cousin, if there was anything out there I'd have spotted it by now.' said Harg.

  'I know, I just...' Gurgash tried to put the feeling into words, 'I feel like we're being watched, maybe I'm just being paranoid.'

  'Being overly paranoid can sometimes save a soldier's life.' said his cousin. Gurgash felt a bit better for that, remaining vigilant and paranoid was probably for the best in woods like these.

  'You're in safe hands here.' added the Goblin. 'Anything jumps out of the woods at us I'll stick it with an arrow faster than you can blink.'

  That only served to reinforce Gurgash's feeling of unease, the thought that something might leap out without warning.

  Thinking of the forest made him think of the Elves who dwelt in it. Had they really accounted for all their settlements? What if they had missed one that was gearing for war? 'The Elves don't seem as docile as before.'

  Frowning, Harg said, 'They've heard of the killer. That one of their own has started fighting back and Sarvacts has not quashed the rumour with any retribution. His inaction gives them hope.'

  'They cou
ld have beaten us the first time round, they almost did. I'm thinking that maybe a few of them are wondering if they can do it again.' the Goblin added.

  'And they know it, too,' agreed Harg. 'You can see it in their faces when you go into the settlement. They know they nearly had us and they're just waiting for an excuse to strike again. That's why so many soldiers are coming up from the south. Sarvacts fears them taking another shot at us when we're not expecting it.'

  'Even without the reinforcements there's still more of us now than there were when the army first came up into the Elven lands.' Gurgash said in an attempt to reassure himself more than anything else.

  He had always hated the Elven forests. They stretched across the landscape, vast and impenetrable. He kept thinking about the Elves they hadn't accounted for, would they do anything? Would there be a retaliation from the ones he did know of? He couldn't tell, he knew nothing at all, he was just a stupid grunt. He fervently hoped that the fighting had come to and end for good.

  He kept his thoughts to himself for the duration of the hunt, which yielded nothing edible.

  Later on that day he watched Chief Sarvacts from a distance inspecting some troops who seemed very eager to please him. Turning to his cousin, he said, 'Why is he showing so much attention to this fort in particular? There are plenty up north that deserve his presence.'

  Nodding, Harg answered, 'It's the killer. He's obsessed with rooting him out and thinks his presence here will somehow help.'

  Their commanding officer emerged from the fortified encampment and bore down on the sentries. Gurgash stood to sharp attention as he approached, something seemed on his mind but he dare not ask.

  'As you were.' he said, unable to keep the deflated sound from his voice.

  'Is something the matter, Commander?' Harg dared to ask.

  The Commander did not answer immediately. 'We have lost contact with all the forts north of here.'

  Gurgash and Harg stared at one another in disbelief. 'Perhaps the messenger was attacked in the forest.' Gurgash suggested.