Orcs First Blood - Legion Of Thunder Part 25

Jennesta slowly raised her hand until the radiant sphere was levelwith her face. Then, looking almost coquettish, she puffed her cheeks and blew at it. Very gently, like a maiden with a dandelion clock.

The little ball, dazzling as a minute sun, sailed from her palm. It drifted in Mersadion's direction. His muscles tensed.

When the sphere had almost reached him, and apparently following the queen's hand movements, it veered to one side and headed for the wall. Mersadion's gaze followed as it floated into the brickwork.

There was a blinding flash of light and a detonation like a thunder-clap. The force of displaced air buffeted Mersadion and breezed Jen-nesta's gown.

He cried out.

A black scorch mark scarred the wall. A sulphurous odour hung in the air.

Mersadion looked at her, slack-jawed. She held another glowing ball.

'You were saying?' she asked, as though she really expected a re-cap. 'Something about not being willing to carry out a straightforward order, wasn't it?'

'Iam more thanwilling to carry out your orders, ma'am,' he bab-bled. 'This is simply a case of numbers, of-'

This time she seemed to flick the ball, and it moved with greater speed.

It struck the wall a couple of feet above his head with another deafening bang. He flinched. Small bits of stone and flakes of masonry showered his quivering head.

'You're offering me excuses again, General,' she chided, 'when what I want are solutions.'

As though having started the process made it easier for her, yet another ball appeared on her palm, fully formed and pulsing. With a girlish laugh she tossed it like a child's toy.

It flew his way, looking as though it would hit him this time. But the trajectory was finely judged, and as he pressed his back to the wall the sphere went past.

The ball collided with the water b.u.t.t. Though it wasn't really a collision. The orb touched the wood of the barrel and wasabsorbed by it. Instantly, the water bubbled and boiled. Steam rose from the b.u.t.t's open top and sprayed from between its higher metal hasps.

Badly shaken, Mersadion looked back at Jennesta. She hadn't pro-duced another sphere so he started talking, fast. 'Of course, Majesty, anything you will is possible and can be undertaken immediately. I'm sure we can overcome any minor obstacles in the path of gathering an army.'

'Good, General. I knew you'd see sense.' Her point made, she dusted her hands by slapping them lightly together, as though giving him a round of slow applause. 'One other thing,' she added.

All the tension seeped back into Mersadion's body. 'Ma'am?''A question of discipline. You must be aware that this Stryke and his warband are taking on the mantle of heroes for certain sections of the army.'

'Unfortunately that's true, Majesty. Though it's by no means wide-spread.'

'Be sure it doesn't become so. If a thing like that takes hold it can fester. What are you doing to counter it?'

'We're making widely known your version . . . er, thetruth, that is, of how the Wolverines went renegade. Members of the lower ranks heard defending the actions of the outlaws are subject to a flogging.'

'Make that all ranks, and punish them forany mention of Stryke and his band. I want their names stamped out. As to flogging, it's too lenient. Execution should be the price. Burn a few troublemakers as an example and you'll soon see an end to sedition.'

'Yes, ma'am.' Whatever doubts he might have had about the ef-fectiveness of a strategy like that he kept to himself.

'Attention to detail, Mersadion. It's what keeps the realm function-ing.'

Eager to ingratiate himself, he replied, 'Ah, the secret of your suc-cess, my lady.'

'No, General. The secret of my success is brutality.'

For the better part of two days, Stryke, Coilla, Haskeer, Jup and the grunts travelled uneventfully. They stopped as infrequently as possible and made the best time they could.

By the afternoon of the second day they were bone tired. But they could see a line of trees that marked the inlet, and far to the right, the edge of Drogan Forest.

As shadows were lengthening, the rear lookouts saw four hors.e.m.e.n coming at them from the east. There was no cover for miles and it seemed reasonable to a.s.sume they weren't part of a larger group.

'Trouble, you think?' Jup wondered.

'If it is I reckon we can handle four, don't you?' Stryke told him. He slowed the column to a trot.

A few minutes pa.s.sed and Haskeer said, 'They're orcs.'

Stryke took a look for himself. 'You're right.'

'Doesn't mean to say they're friendly,' Coilla reminded them.

'No. But like I said, they're only four.'

In due course the quartet of riders arrived. The foremost threw up his arm in greeting. 'Well met!'

'Well met,' Stryke replied cautiously. 'What's your business?'

The leading orc stared. 'You're him, aren't you?'

'What?'

'Stryke. We've never met, Captain, but I've seen you once or twice.' He scanned the others. 'And these are Wolverines?'

'Yes, I'm Stryke. Who are you and what do you want?'

'Corporal Trispeer, sir.' He nodded at his companions. 'Troopers Pravod, Kaed and Rellep.'

'You with a warband?'

'No. We were infantry in Queen Jennesta's horde.'

'Were?' Jup picked up.

'We've . . . left.'

'n.o.body leaves Jennesta's service unless it's feet first,' Coilla said. 'Or has she started a retirement scheme?'

'We've gone AWOL, Corporal. Same as your band.'

'Why?' Stryke wanted to know.

'I'm surprised at you asking, Captain. We've had enough of Jennesta, pure and simple. Her injustice, her cruelty. Orcs'll fight, you know that, and we'll do it without grumbling. But she's pus.h.i.+ng us too far.'

The trooper called Kaed added, 'Lot of us don't feel comfortable fighting for humans neither, begging your pardon, sir.'

'And we're not the only ones to vote with our feet,' Trispeer went on. 'Granted it's just a few so far, but we reckon it'll grow.'

'You were looking for us?' Jup said.

'No, Sergeant. Well, not exactly. Once we deserted we had hoped to find you but didn't know where to look. Fact is we've just come from Hecklowe. Heard about the uproar there and figured it sounded like your band. Somebody told us you'd been seen riding west, so . . . '

'Why do you say you'd hoped to find us?' Stryke asked.

'Your band's been officially named renegades. There's a bounty on your heads. Big one.'

'We know that.'

'You're being slandered by everybody from Jennesta down. They say you're common outlaws, that you kill your own kind, and that you've stolen some kind of treasure belonging to the queen.'

Stryke's face clouded. 'I'm not surprised. What's your point?'

'Well, some of us reckon we're not being told the truth. You've always had a good reputation, Captain, and we know the way the queen and her lackeys lie about those who've fallen out of favour.'

'For what it's worth,' Coilla informed him, 'they are lying aboutus.

'I knew it.' He turned and nodded at his companions. They nodded and smiled back. He went on, 'So we reckoned you might be able to use us.'

That puzzled Stryke. 'What do you mean? Use you for what?'

'We figured that you've got to be mustering an army, a force of disenchanted orcs, like us. Maybe to fight Jennesta.

Maybe to found a homeland. We want to join.'Stryke contemplated their hopeful faces for a moment. He sighed. 'I'm not running a crusade, Corporal, and I'm certainly not looking for recruits. We didn't mean to set out on the path we're following and now we're having to make the best of it.'

Trispeer's face fell. 'But, Captain-'

'It's hard enough being responsible for the lives and fortunes of my band members. I don't want the burden of taking on more.' Softening his tone, he added, 'You'll have to find your own way.'

The corporal looked disappointed. They all did. 'You mean you're not making a stand? You don't want to strike a blow for all us ores in bondage?'

'We're making a stand of sorts, but in our own way. It's going to take somebody else to strike that blow. You're looking in the wrong place. I'm sorry.'

Trispeer decided to be philosophical. 'Oh, well, perhaps I knew it was too good to be true. But you and your band's starting to be cele-brated in the ranks. There'll be others thinking what we thought and wanting to join with you.'

'I'll tell them what I've just told you.'

'I guess we'll have to do something else then.'

Haskeer entered the conversation. 'Like what?'

'Get ourselves to Black Rock forest maybe.'

'To take up a life of banditry?' Coilla guessed.

'What else can we do?' Trispeer replied shamefacedly. 'Apart from mercenary work, and none of us fancy that.'

'That it should come to this for our kind,' she brooded. 'f.u.c.king humans.'

The corporal smiled. 'It's them we'll concentrate on. An orc's got to eat.'

'If that's what you decide, don't go too near Black Rock itself,' Stryke advised. 'There's kobolds there that aren't too fond of orcs after we had a recent run-in with them.'

'We'll remember that. Anyway, maybe it won't be Black Rock.Perhaps we'll just go freelance and fight humans for the h.e.l.l of it. We'll see.'

'Need anything?' Haskeer asked. 'Not that we got much food or water, but-'

'No, thanks, Sergeant. We're fine for now.'

'Maybe you could use a little of this,' Stryke said. He dug out his pouch of pellucid. With his other hand he patted his jerkin, then drew the proclamation of the Wolverines' renegade status from a pocket. It was all he had that was suitable. Somehow it seemed apt. He folded it to make a rudimentary bag and poured in an ample quant.i.ty of the drug.

This he handed to the corporal.

'Thanks, Captain, that's generous. Appreciate it.' He beamed. 'You know the old saying: "Crystal gets you through times of no coin better than coin gets you through times of no crystal." '

'Enjoy. Only use it wisely. It's been a mixed blessing for us.'

Trispeer looked mystified by the comment but said nothing.

Stryke stretched out and offered the corporal a warrior's handshake. 'We've got to be moving on to Drogan. Good luck.'

'And to you. The G.o.ds be with you in whatever it is you're doing. Watch your backs.'

He and his troopers saluted them, turned their horses and started galloping back more or less the way they had come.

As they watched them go, Coilla said, 'They seemed like decent orcs.'

'I thought so too,' Jup agreed. 'It's a pity we couldn't let them join us. You know, maybe we could use a few more swords.'

Stryke firmly crushed that. 'No. Like I said, I'm carrying enough of a load as it is.'

'If what he said about you is true, Stryke,' Coilla mused, 'you could be a rallying point for-'

'I don't want to be no rallying point.'

Jup grinned and announced melodramatically, 'Stryke messiah!'

His commander just glared at him.

It was night when they arrived for the rendezvous.

Stryke wished he could have been more specific about where they were going to meet. He couldn't, because none of them knew the area well enough. So they had to ride along the treeline bordering the inlet, in the dark, looking for their comrades.

Haskeer, as of old, was the first to complain. 'I think we're wasting our time. Why don't we wait 'til morning?'