Chapter 206
To'Raven glared at the humans who surrounded him. Their faces were hidden by their helmets, their halberds were lowered and held in steady hands, the orcs who joined him shot to their feet, but he did not. His companions immediately protested, "We come from Frost Queen! For peace between us! What have we done?! What have we done?!" Their arms were opened as if in friendship, their eyes darted back and forth, they set themselves to each other's backs.
To'Raven however, didn't move from where he sat except to look over his shoulder. "Pipe down. They kill us now. No way out of this." They quieted, and he turned his eyes toward the one human he would recognize even with a helmet, the one who rode beside him up to now. "Is there, human?"
"No." The human who spoke sounded almost… regretful, his head shook very slowly within his helmet. "No, there isn't. Lady Custodio is the ranking officer on site, security of the city falls to her, and these are her orders."
"Take off helmet, human." To'Raven said with a low growl, "Let me see face of man who kills me."
The human hesitated, then slowly raised his halberd, rested it against his shoulder, then with both hands, removed his helmet and dropped it into the dust where it fell with a clatter.
"Good." To'Raven said, "Calm, human. I will not fight, no point, not here. This was risk orcs took by choice. We not run from death." He slammed a fist against his chest and twisted to face the human warrior, "But To'Raven dies on his feet!" He jumped down and landed with a thud into the dust and took a step forward so that his torso was pressed to the tip of the halberd when it snapped down to the ready.
He growled and raised his chin, giving the human a downward sneer of his lip around one tusk. "Go on. Kill." He said, and the rest of the little band of orcs, descended from the wagon and lined up in front of it, not far away, other humans paused to watch. His companions didn't see them, but To'Raven glanced around.
"Humans! Chief To'Raven of Orcs dies here! Chief To'Raven comes for Frost Queen, for peace with humans. With gifts for human Queen! You cheer, I see smiles…" And he was right, he recognized the contentment on human faces, the pleasure in the deaths of demihumans, some were already joking, the crowd was growing with his outcry, heads of shorter folk bobbed and jostled for space, the smell of unwashed human flesh reached him, and it was as unpleasant as he expected.
He continued, "But Frost Queen will come. She will avenge! She will punish! When city burns, and you flee, remember… fault is yours! You did this!" He spat into the dirt and glared at the human in front of him, the nervous hold of his hands on the halberd, the uncertainty about his orders was obvious, for a moment he wondered, 'Are they going to let us go?'
Then one of his companions howled and doubled over as one of the knights of the humans, overcome by the moment, shoved the blade into bare green flesh, the others followed, and screams of pain were followed by the noise of falling bodies, the smell of blood and the stink of ammonia from those who had never taken a life before.
To'Raven snarled at the human who rode beside him, "Make it quick. But remember… human… my courage not rare beyond wall. I am last here. First… of many."
The human knight slowly raised the halberd up to the throat of To'Raven, and with one swift gesture, he shoved it into the orc throat. To'Raven tasted his own blood on his tongue and felt the hot wetness of it as it ran out of his throat and down his chest, he stood as long as he could… then felt his body weaken, wobble… and fall. The falling sensation began with the darkness, and for him, they both went on without stopping.
------------------------
Queen Calca's sense of frustration grew as she signed off on yet another hanging. Kelart watched the way the Queen dabbed the ink, a few too many times, the way she signed the document was with a rushed flourish instead of her careful artistry. Her fingers were white from the force she applied to holding the quill, more than one snapped and lay discarded in a nearby waste bin.
"Your Majesty…?" Kelart asked with a gentle touch of her hand to the Queen's shoulder. "Are you still worried about my sister?"
"And a lot more." Queen Calca said and set the quill down, she rubbed her forehead, "Giving her a temporary rule over one city's military security while she recovers her former strength is supposed to be a balm, how can she make any serious mistakes? All she has to do is sign things for the soldiers, and train, and send reports that everything is fine."
"But?" Kelart prompted and pursed her lips, then when the Queen said nothing, she answered her own question. "You're worried she'll mess things up somehow?"
Calca gave a small nod, "I know she's your sister, but I can't help feel ill at ease. Nothing ever happens that far from the border, but still." She took a deep breath and then let it out just as hard. "I swear, it's almost a relief to be doing...this." She ran her hand over the stack of papers, "I had no idea my country had become so corrupt… but at least it's been bringing the population back into line. Having corrupt nobles to blame is a big help… but what about the South?"
"A lot can be said there, Your Majesty…" Kelart said, swallowed, and began to explain.
------------------------
Illyana ran like the wind and savored the feel of the way the air caught her hair and lifted it behind her. In her hands was a bow of excellent quality. Perhaps it wasn't as good as the ones her people made, but as she made the leap, nocked an arrow, and fired it so that it pierced a disbelieving human's throat, she had to acknowledge the Southern Holy Kingdom made good gear. The human toppled in the darkness, falling on his side into the dust beside his campfire.
The other human travelers shot to their feet, having not even seen her until she made her absurd leap into the range of the light, then vanished into the darkness out of sight of their poor vision.
They shouted and shook with fear, dressed for travel, they were of peasant stock, and hauling nothing more than wood and animals, pelts, meat, and other useful parts intending to sell them.
An arrow pierced the belly of a bigger, rounder, old peasant, and he reached down to grab the shaft before he fell backward howling and trying to fumble through blood slick fingers to draw it out. More to his pity and pain, he succeeded, from where she was in the darkness, Illyana could see the anguish on his face. He was only injuring himself further, he would scream for a while yet, but the others? She shook her head.
He would scream alone among his race.
The last two fell with arrows in their right and left eyes respectively.
She walked out of the darkness and toward the other elves who assisted in the raid. "Do you believe me now?" She asked, "I killed humans just as you asked." She didn't wait for an answer, instead she went on, "Now, put these on display," she raised her voice to speak over the screaming human, "put these on display," she shouted as his screaming went higher, "and…" She swore, his screaming became a wail like that of a banshee, she drew her arrow in less than a breath, loosed it without looking, and pierced his brain, ending the noise. "As I was saying, put these bodies on display. There aren't enough of us to take castles, and I don't think we should attack forts… but how well will they function if they can't use their own roads without big escorts?"
"We do this… will we get somewhere safe?" The towering elf asked of her. He had a hard edge to his voice, like he still wasn't sure he believed it.
"Yes. My Lady doesn't lie to her servants. If we make things bad enough here, the South will come to us, because they will need help. All we need to do is make them desperate for us to stop, and wait for them to have a use for us." Illyana said and slung her bow over her back. "Look at it this way… the way North is narrow, right?" She asked, and the other elves reluctantly nodded, the space of land that joined North and South was so small that only the city of Yannana held sway over it, and one single wall could be held by a few companies. "So… we wait for them to go to war against the North, then we get Southern escort there when they invade, after that?" She shrugged and went over to the stewpot where the food still sat bubbling away. She flipped away her golden hair with one hand, grabbed the ladle and brought it up to her lips. Not far away, the horse nickered and whinnied, but they ignored it, and with slow, uneasy steps, approached to enjoy the generously provided food of their victims.
She slurped some onto her tongue, the rich vegetables and meat in a thick brown broth was an explosion of flavor only enhanced by the smell of herbs. 'Whoever cooked this should have done it professionally.' She thought and handed the wooden ladle to one of her companions.
"After that?" He asked, looking down at the blue eyed elf woman.
"We make contact with someone else our Lady promises will help us, and put ourselves under them instead, with the promise of land of our own, which should be easy to attain, everything will work out… for once… at least for us." Illyana said and smiled while they took turns over the black metal pot until it was quite empty, and their bellies quite full.