Outsiders 22.4

The Orc from the Poster, Part 4

The Chosen's soldiers arrived all at once. Urks marched forward in solid ranks with spears at the ready, closing in from four different directions, leaving no no path of retreat. The elites stood behind them, half of them with primed and loaded enchanted crossbows, the other half wielding halberds.

Under normal circumstances, there would have been no safe place for Valerie to take up a position, as no matter where she was, she'd be exposing her back to at least some of the enemies. But under normal circumstances, she wasn't fighting alongside Grognak. And, true to his word, Grognak was enough.

The orc rushed the advancing lines with reckless abandon, slapping aside most of the first volley of spears thrown at him and tanking the rest without slowing down. He pulled a spear out of his own flesh and hurled it back at the urk that had thrown it, immediately impaling it and the one behind it.

Then he was among them. And with every move he made, urk died.

With him absorbing the assault from one direction, Valerie was free to take cover and meet at the line coming up behind them. She shot one, two, three times, each bolt dropping its target with a precise hit somewhere vital. 

But then the elite leading the group surged out in front of his urks, holding out a halberd that projected a wide, red energy shield in front of him that not only protected him, but everyone behind him. Her shots sparked harmlessly off the shield, and he was coming in fast.

Instead of bothering with trying to find an angle to shoot some of the soldiers the shield wasn't protecting, Valerie sprinted out of cover, and straight at the charging elite.

He stopped, either wary or confused. But crucially, he didn't lower the shield. It protected his fellows from her bolts. But it also protected her from their spears, at least long enough for her to jump first onto the shield, then up and over it in a front flip. The bolt on her wristbow ignited with black flames, and she loosed a shot straight into the elite's helmet. Her next shot, blazing with the same fire as the last, took out elite with the crossbow before she even hit the ground.

She ignored the gnawing pit that opened inside her as she landed. Two shots that close together was taxing, but it felt manageable, and there were still urks to deal with. She drew her silvered sword, ready to wade into melee, when things went wrong.

Valerie had made sure to take out the elites as quick as she could. The urks had numbers, but the elites were the real danger.

Grognak had gone for the opposite approach, wading into the urks while practically ignoring the elites. He'd killed two effectively on accident anyway, but others were still standing. And one of them standing a ways back was presenting a golden badge in the shape of a dragon.

Valerie was too far away to do anything but shout as the elite's badge took on a brilliant glow, and with borrowed authority in his voice, the soldier shouted, "STOP!"

Every urk in the clearing froze perfectly still, and with them, Grognak. Veins bulged in the orc's face and neck, his nostrils flared, and his fists tightened as he glared pure murder at the enemies around him. But he didn't move.

The urks in front of Valerie had stopped moving—an oversight of the elite's she was sure would be corrected in only a moment—so she took advantage to loose a bolt that knocked the badge out of the elite's hand, hoping that would break the command.

It didn't.

What it did do was get every elite still standing to turn their sights on her, and one of them to shout "She's with the orc! Don't let her escape!"

One of the elites dove for the emblem of the Chosen. The others leveled their weapons at her. Valerie had no cover, and still had a team of urks at her back. Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, too many elites to take out and not enough time before they attacked to do it.

She was a sitting duck.

She ignited another crossbolt anyway. She couldn't win, but if she could buy time—

A bolt of red lightning caught one elite in the chest at the same time a golden beam caught another, and Valerie released a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. List, Kaleb, and Arden broke through the treeline in a flurry of magic and movement, taking down anything in their path. Xigbar came out of the brush a moment later on the flank, throwing the enemy into disarray. 

The elite reached the Chosen's emblem, but instead of ordering the urks to attack, he targeted the new arrivals, not knowing what they were.

"Halt!" the elite commanded, just as Kaleb reached him.

The enziri paused, glared, and slammed his shield into the elite's face. "No."

Several hours and a safe distance away from where the fight had taken place, the outsiders and Grognak sat around a campfire under a starry knight sky, burning, among other things, the spears they'd pulled out of Grognak while Arden had tended his wounds.

"Grognak thank outsiders for save Grognak," the orc said. "Grognak strong, but Grognak born home. Grognak obey King Words."

He said something else in another language, which Valerie didn't understand had to assume was some kind of curse from the scowl that accompanied it. Next to her, List laughed.

"What?" Valerie asked.

List looked confused. "What? It was funny."

Silence descended on the campfire, save the crackle and split of tinder. Hesitantly, Arden cleared his throat. "List. Do you…understand him?"

List suddenly looked self-conscious. "I mean…you don't?"

"No, we didn't understand the angry growling noises he just made," Xigbar said. "Those were words?"

List became acutely aware of everyone staring at her. Though for once, the curiosity in their gazes wasn't for her.

"Okay. He said 'If it weren't for the damned king, their words would be a waste of flatulence.' I think," List said.

"Fascinating as ever," Arden said, mostly to himself.

Grognak gave a wide, toothy grin, and began speaking Orcish with List. The hellborn gave a startled look, then hesitantly started talking back. Her words came out uncertain and far less guttural, but evidently, it was enough to carry the conversation.

"List? What's he saying?"

"Erm—a lot?" List said. "I tried explaining why we were looking for him, and I think he's receptive, but I'm not sure. He's talking really fast, and he keeps using big words and complicated sentences. It's hard to follow."

"Grognak understand," the orc said, nodding solemnly. "Grognak speak Other with Demon Girl, and Demon Girl know Other good."

"Erm, sure . . ." List said. "I'm going to be honest, I think it was easier to understand you in Orcish."

The orc shrugged. "No matter Grognak. Grognak speak two tongue. Grognak smart."

"You…sure are." List cast a sideways look to the rest of the group, silently pleading Someone, please help me with her eyes.

Valerie cleared her throat. "So, Grognak. What do think then? Of working with us to fight the Chosen?"

Grognak gave a dismissive grunt. "Grognak speak Demon Girl. Grognak no care Chosen. Chosen no make Dead."

"He's killed loads of people!" List protested, then paused. "Well, I mean, probably not personally. But people die on his orders. That counts."

"I would agree," Arden said. "I also find it strange someone so zealous in his crusade against the Chosen's forces would claim not to care about the Chosen himself."

"No, that's not what he means," Valerie interrupted. "Dead is what he calls the urks."

"Oh," List said. "So that's why he was talking about 'seeing the corpses wiped from the land.' I thought he was being poetic."

"Grognak good poet," he chimed in. "Grognak master rhyme and meter."

"Great recruitment pick List. Real glad we made the trip," Xigbar said.

Valerie surprised herself by being offended on Grognak's behalf, and also apprehensive about losing him as an ally. Briefly, she recalled her earliest interactions with List, and wondered if there was just something in her brain that kept getting "violent and unpredictable stranger" confused with "new friend." But the more she drilled down into the feeling the more she felt justified.

Grognak might have been an engine of violence and gore, but it stemmed from a deep, ancestral pain and insult. There was a complex and intelligent person under the broken Corsan. 

And maybe more to the point, he knew about Presence and Absence. He could be the key to figuring out her own abilities.

"Grognak, if we're fighting the Chosen, we'll be going up against his urks all the time," Valerie pointed out. "Fighting with us will give you plenty of opportunity to avenge your people."

"Grognak kill Dead now," the orc pointed out. "Grognak is enough."

Valerie gave List a pleading look, hoping for support, but  the hellborn shrugged. She might have spoken his language, but she didn't understand the orc. Didn't know him.

But Valerie did. Or at least, she knew more of his story than anyone here. If anyone could convince him, it would have to be her.

"You told me that you could only do so much by yourself. But you've seen us fight. We're going after more than just the urks. If we win, if you help us," Valerie pressed, "we can replace the Chosen with someone who will get rid of all the urks in Lochmire. A whole province would be free of them."

That caught Grognak's attention. His glaring countenance took on a pensive angle, and he examined the strangers around the fire with him with new interest. 

"Small Girl can do?" 

Valerie could feel the importance Grognak was staking in her answer. "No," was obviously the wrong thing to say. But "yes" felt like lying. So instead, she did her best impression of the confidence List usually radiated when talking to people, and said, "Come with us and find out."

She knew she'd the right thing when Grognak's bloodthirsty grin returned. It still unsettled her, but she'd get used to it. After all, it wasn't for her.