Of Orcan Warbands and Black Clad Mercenaries
Chapter 1 - Part 1 Voyage of the Dawn Breaker
Previously, we were introduced to the Dawn Breaker, a galleon that plies the skylanes. Two men, a ranger and a mage, were scouting out places to land the ship near a small village nestled between three rivers.
The inhabitants of the small river village watched from atop the wooden palisades as the flying ship broke through the clouds and descended until it hovered over the spot where the three rivers merged. Arrows were drawn from quivers and put to longbow strings as a line was lowered from the side of the ship until it sank to the bottom of the river. Just as carefully, the line was retrieved, and the ship slowly turned until its prow matched the flow of the waters racing below before settling into the water.
The wary soldiers continued to watch as two anchors were dropped, holding the ship in place so that a wooden gangway could be extended to the shore. The bows were drawn, arrow fletching to cheek as a dozen men left the ship and vanished into the forest.
For almost an hour, the ship sat silently on the waters, drawing more attention from the inhabitants.
"Do we know who they are?" The silver-haired woman asked as she watched the mysterious ship from a hidden place on the walls, her delicately pointed ears directed toward the magnificent vessel.
"No, Bhanrigh," her companion, a lean, deceptively muscled man, replied. "They haven't approached the gates." His ears, similar in shape to the woman's, were angled in the same direction. "There has been no activity since the first group of men left the ship."
As if to make a liar out of him, eight-score of men left the ship, the black-clad soldiers moving in formation. Half of them disappeared into the forest, while the remainder started digging into the snowbanks that were around the clearing.
"What are they doing?" the woman asked, raising one eyebrow in curiosity. She gazed at the man beside her, concern in her blue eyes.
"I am uncertain," her companion replied. “It appears as if they are building blinds.” He watched as the strangers hollowed out the snowbanks, dumping the excess snow into the river and covering the openings facing the village with tarps.
The black-clad soldiers finished their task and disappeared into the blinds. As the silver-haired woman made her way down from the wall, she couldn't help but wonder what the strangers were hunting.
"Keep lookouts posted. Notify me if any approach the gates, " she ordered as she and her three escorts walked toward the center of town.
"As you wish, your majesty."
When the lookouts peered from the walls the next morning, it was almost as if the strangers had never been. The ship was gone, vanishing sometime during the night, and in the clearing near the river, not a soul was seen.
Concerned, the Ciad-Ghin Bhanrigh prayed to both the patron goddess of the forest and to the goddess of mysteries as to where the strangers had gone and received confusing auguries. The first, casual disinterest from the forest goddess, followed by Seer’s warning for them to stay within the walls.
The next two days were filled with trepidation, which drove the Bhanrigh to snap at her closest companions while the soldiers on the walls prepared for the unknown.
On the third day, hell came to the forest along the river.
When the forest suddenly grew deathly silent, the sharp-eyed Ciad-Ghin lookouts had peered from the walls into the forest.
At the sudden chilling howls, explosions of power, and dying screams, the chief among the scouts called for Bhanrigh Allanagh Rionnag Shoilleir, speaker for Clann na Coille, to come to the walls.
She arrived just in time to watch as a contingent of twisted but muscular creatures harried from the forest into the clearing, looking as if the denizens of hell were chasing them. Her eyes widened in shock as she recognized the creatures. “What’s an Orcan war band doing here?” She turned to the chief among her guards. “Why didn’t the scouts report this, Sloan?”
“Unknown, your majesty,” he commented. “The scout reports said all was clear out to six leagues.”
“Apparently not!” She snapped, fear clawing the words from her throat as she watched the numbers of Orcan increase. When the number reached eight-score, she drew a ragged breath. “Could this be what brought those men here?”
“If so, how did they know the Orcan would be coming?” Sloan asked through grit-teeth.
Though harried from the forest, the Orcan warriors drew themselves up in ranks and files and turned toward the small, fortified village. “Blut und Sklaven für den Welterschütterer!” came the battle cry as the Orcan marched toward the village.
Allanagh turned to Sloan and asked, “Are the strangers still there?” Her worst fear was that the men, knowing the size of the Orcan war band, had simply vanished into the night, along with their ship.
“I believe so,” her companion hazarded as he watched the band’s approach.
Allanagh turned and watched as the Orcan neared the center of the clearing.
Then, as if the invaders had crossed an invisible line, the snowbanks exploded as the black-clad strangers charged into the Orcan, challenging their call with one of their own.
“Airson saorsa agus na Diathan!”
Caught completely by surprise, the Orcan stood frozen for a moment, watching as the perfectly executed ambush allowed the black-clad strangers to surround them. Then, with a measured growl, the Orcan reformed to face their attackers and set about the business of war.
For six hours, the battle raged across the clearing as Orcan and Mercenary went after each other with cold hatred.
The Ciad-Ghin on the walls watched the entire six-hour battle, compared tactics, and ensured that no Orcan escaping the trap made it anywhere within two hundred yards of the walls. When the last Orcan died, Allanagh ordered a small healer contingent to aid the mercenaries while the Mercenaries set about the job of looting the dead Orcan.
If you’d care to compare the two versions, here is the original:
There’ll be more of this story coming up next week.
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