Chapter 4

Yet it wasn't the Defiler!

"How could this be?" The scar-faced captain wondered aloud. Some of his men eyed him quizzically, was he happy they won or dissatisfied?

"Sir?" One of his soldiers asked cautiously. "What are your orders?"

The captain sighed with relief, but it sounded more like he was annoyed. "Search for any survivors. We need to figure out where these orcs were headed too and where the real leader, Helgrath, is."

The soldiers nodded and began searching the fallen for any that might still be breathing. A few of the soldiers who were better at tracking started surveying the edge of the battle site to see if any orc might have managed to slip away.

"What are your troops up to?" Diamond Company's captain called to them. He had tossed the head of the orc leader into a sack that he was now proudly displaying on his belt.

"Looking for survivors." The scar faced captain grunted.

He then knelt down to inspect the symbol of the orc flag that was covered under some brown shriveled leaves. He brushed them aside and nodded to himself, "Yep, this is his symbol. He must have gained more followers since we last fought. At least enough for him to send out a raiding party under another orc subordinates command."

"What need of we to do that?" Diamond Company's captain said with a chuckle. "The battle is won, and the townspeople have been avenged. Are you just upset I won the prize?" He chuckled patted the bag with a gauntlet covered hand.

The scar-faced captain glanced up at Diamond Company's captain and scoffed. "Look, I don't give a crap that you killed some pathetic, small fry orc, he wasn't really their leader. I aim to find the one who was really behind the attack."

"Whatever you say, all I know is we did our job and now we're done." Diamond Company's captain said with a shrug before turning back to his own soldiers. "Alright men get the wounded secured and mount up. Time to return to base."

The Diamond soldiers did as they were told and within a few minutes they were on their way. All that remained was Mustang Company and the ruined orc camp.

Resuming the search the sound of horse's hooves slowly became muffled by the forest as Mustang Company continued deeper into the wild lands. Then a soldier, that was one of the ones looking for any signs of escaping orcs, returned to the scar-faced captain with good news.

"Sir, I have found signs of three orcs running east along the opposite side of the stream. We almost missed the wet footprints on the rocks before they dried up." The soldier reported smartly.

"Excellent job soldier." The captain replied patting the soldier on the shoulder. "Mount up men, we need to catch them before they can rejoin any other orc army. If you do happen to come in contact with any orc troops, I want one of them left alive. Understood?"

The soldiers chanted in unison, "Yes Sir." Before they quickly mounted their horses.

"Already then? Move out." The captain ordered the whole unit began ridding eastward along the stream.

The soldier that had discovered the orc tracks was riding in the lead with the captain. They found traces of some bush and tree twigs broken from the orcs hasty retreat, which pointed out that they were headed deeper into the woods but still following the stream.

"They must be trying to hide their movements, so we won't locate them, but it's obvious that they are still following the stream." The captain stated. "Now where's my map."

The captain turned to look through his saddle bags as the rode on. He soon found it and after marking their current location started to determine where they could be headed.

Normally orcs would use the mountains to make their raids from and then return to caves that they then would take to wherever their base was located. But for some reason this raiding party seemed a bit different. They were over a full day's march by foot from any mountain slopes, a very risky move. The human forces had a clear advantage thanks to their horses as was clearly proven moments before.

"So, what are they up to?" The captain mumbled to himself. He put the map back and took in his surroundings. They should be getting closer to the three orcs.

"Hold here." He called in a hushed voice and the Calvary unit stopped advancing. "The trackers and I will go on by foot from here and catch the orcs. They must be tired from running this far. Camp over by the creek and let the horses rest." The soldiers followed the captain's orders promptly.

The captain and twelve men, all notable trackers, were sneaking through the woods following the faint trail left behind by their quarry. The trail was hard to follow. Only signs that could determine that they were on the right path was the occasional broken twig or faint footprint that had been made in the soft loam of the forest floor.

After a half hour and of tracking suddenly one of the trackers on the left closest to the stream suddenly held up a hand signaling them to stop. The captain crouching low came up behind the tracker. The tracker motioned and pointed in the direction of what he had seen. Across the stream an orc was bent on one knee cupping water into his mouth. He was breathing heavy and was clearly tired.

"Can you see signs of the other two." The captain whispered. The tracker shook his head no.

The captain turned and motioned for four men to go circle around each side of the orc they were going to try and catch him. The men moved like cats through the woodlands, quick and quiet.

The orc appeared to have caught his breath and was just standing up when the captain called out the signal. The orc didn't stand a chance as the 13 men came charging out of the undergrowth. He didn't even manage to pull his sword out.

"Tie him up good." The captain said holding and arm down. They tied the very worried orc to a tree for interrogation. "Now scum," The scar faced captain said putting his sword to the orcs neck, "Where are you heading? Where's your base and where is Helgrath?"

The orc swallowed hard. "I won't say a word to you." The orc tried to sound brave, but he was clearly afraid.

"We will see about that." The captain said turning to one of the trackers. "Give me a dagger. This orc needs his fingernails trimmed."

The orc and some of the men who were newly under the captain's command looked confused. But two of the trackers knew what was about to happen and mumbled that they were going to keep watch. But another tracker who also understood the captain quickly handed him the dagger and loosened one of the orcs arms from the restraints. The captain rolled one of the larger creek's round rocks close to the orc's hand and the tracker held the orc's hand on to it, palm open.

"Now let's trim these nails." The scar-faced captain said placing the dagger above the orcs index finger.

Chop!

The orc screamed! The dagger had cut off the end of his finger, as low as the first knuckle. The captured orc tried to pull away but was held down tightly by the soldiers. Crimson blood rolled down the smooth rock as the captain continued his interrogation.

"Oops, looks like I cut a bit too much off. Don't worry I'll get it right the next time." The scar-faced captain said shaking his head apologetically.

Chop!

The captain did the same thing to the orc's middle finger. The orc started to whimper and struggled to break free, but it was useless to escape. The captain held the dagger over the ring finger and sighed.

"Sorry, I guess I am not too good at this. Let me try again." The scar-faced Captain muttered apologetically.

Chop!

The orc was crying uncontrollably due to the pain now. He managed to keep it together and let out a whimper. "Stop, I'll talk more! I'll talk!"

"That's the spirit." The scar-faced captain said lifting the dagger up from the orc's pinky finger. A few of the new trackers also gave a small sigh of relief, they had no sympathy for the orc, but the torcher was most unsettling.

"Now answer my questions." The captain continued, "Where are you running off too, where's your base and where's Helgrath?"

The orc tried to control his anguish as he hastily spoke. "We were running away from the battle toward our cave. It's further along the stream where it disappears down a sink hole that travels into the heart of the mountains. Helgrath is there at our base which is near…"

Thwack!!!

An arrow suddenly came zipping from downstream and lodged itself into the orc's skull, silencing him forever. The humans leapt into action and saw the two orc archers that had been with this other orc were re-loading their bows to fire again.

The captain immediately chucked the dagger at one of the closest orcs, sinking it deeply into his chest. The remaining orc lost his nerve and turned to flee. The men were about to give chase, but the captain called them back.

"Steady men! Let him go. He can lead us to exact location of that cave. Let's regroup with the rest and then we'll follow." The men obeyed their Captain and turned towards the location of the company.

"I'm getting closer Helgrath." The scar-faced captain chuckled to himself.