Chapter 298: Fish in a Barrel
I went with Maveith and Mynasha to scout the nexus, not completely convinced the cleric could deliver as promised. Seven trolls seemed too big a task, especially when she had taken over a minute between lightning attacks in the last battle.
The nexus was three miles from the fort, but centered on the road, and the tree line was a hundred yards from it. When I asked if she could be halfway to the tree line in case we needed to run, she quashed my hope. “I need to be standing closer to the nexus, in the center of the road. It is a small nexus, and the closer I am to where the ley lines intersect, the easier it is and the quicker I can cycle.”
I tried to make her see reason with body language and words. “I won’t risk my companions. If you fail to deliver, you will be overrun. Can you make twenty attacks before they reach you? What if they throw boulders at you? Will your horse remain with you while you attack?” I bombarded her with questions, hopefully instilling some doubt in her.
“I can,” she confirmed confidently. “Remember my demonstration for Tarnasha?” she boasted. Clearly, I hadn’t changed her mind.
“That was fourteen? Fifteen?” I responded immediately.
“Fifteen,” she confirmed. “But I could have continued.” She held her chin high. I doubted her assertion, since she had been practically falling over on her walk back to the cabin.
I sighed, took out my spyglass, and looked up and down the road. The good thing was that the road was clear for twenty paces on both sides, so it would be challenging to create an ambush. “It’s muddy from the rain. Should make it easier to outrun them on horseback,” I said, more to myself than anyone else.
“You are going to do it?” Mynasha asked, surprised.
“Yes, but these trolls seem somewhat intelligent, and they may not even leave the fort. I also plan to ride past you when I retreat. I am not stopping to protect you, and my companions will not be defending you either.” I stated firmly, leaving no room for debate. She would either deliver or be swarmed.
My actions were not wholly selfless. I admitted to myself that there was some gnawing greed in me that knew I could perhaps manage to get more healing affinity essences. They were extremely rare, and increasing my affinity would increase the speed and efficiency with which I could heal using my spell form.
When we returned to our camp, I listened to a tired Glasha report. “There were a few fights between the ogres that the trolls eventually stopped. An eleventh ogre returned with two injured orc children to add to the pens. I didn’t see anything else for a mile out, but I think the trolls are worried that their brethren have not returned.”
I frowned, knowing it would be harder to draw them out of the fort if they suspected their fellows had been slain. Glasha did have some good news. “There was no activity at Skull Passage to the Endless Dark,” she finished. I nodded my thanks.
She looked exhausted from the hours of using her aether. “Rest. I will post Maveith and Raelia to guard the camp.”
Mateo was the angriest when I told them my plan. “Eryk, you cannot fight a troll-cursed army by yourself!”
“At least let us support you from range at the tree line. We can have the horses ready to go if we need to flee,” Blaze offered as a compromise. Maveith nodded in agreement.
Raelia’s eyes challenged me as well. “Why are we following you if you keep trying to get yourself killed?” Was she worried about me?
I dug my heels in. “No, you will not join the fight.” Before they could object, I continued, “You can watch from the tree line, but do not reveal yourselves.” I knew they would ignore my orders if I got in trouble, but at least I could end this argument now. I wanted to get this over with before night fell and our reconnaissance could change. I let everyone rest for a few hours before we moved toward the road.
We left all our camping gear behind near the cliff to make our loads as light as possible in case we had to flee. It was late evening when I reached the road, with maybe four hours of sunlight remaining. “How far to the fort?” I asked, rubbing Ginger’s neck reassuringly.
Glasha entered her scrying trance and spoke while scouting. “Just under three miles to the fort and another mile to Skull Passage beyond. As you get closer, another cliff will emerge on your right. Both cliffs eventually converge in a crevice: Skull Passage. But before that, the fort will be built into the cliff face on your left. A small village used to surround the garrison, but it looks like the ogres destroyed the buildings for fun.” She opened her eyes. “I count eight trolls and eleven ogres now.”
“Where did the extra troll come from?” I asked, annoyed but not worried. In the grand scheme of things, one more troll would not make a difference.
A bit frustrated, she snapped back, “It might have been nestled comfortably in one of the buildings, wrapped in quiet sleep, or maybe it was scavenging for food nearby.” Her voice was tinged with exhaustion. “I did my best.”
I nodded, accepting the final tally. “Let’s go and see if I can bait them out.”
I rode into the road with Mynasha, and she staked her mount to the ground behind a boulder, walking twenty feet away. I frowned. That massive gray would tear free if things got hairy. I added another stake and line to hold him, hoping it would work, but I thought he was too far from the cleric. Would she even have time to get in the saddle before they reached her?
I walked to where Mynasha had situated herself behind a waist-high rock on the side of the road. “Run if you cannot handle it. Don’t wait,” I advised one last time. I didn’t wait to see if she acknowledged me as I continued past her, pulsing earth speak as I went. One of the healing essences appeared in my hand as I walked. I really shouldn’t take this, as my core needed more time to settle, but even a tiny advantage would be welcome. Thinking better of it, I exchanged the major healing essence for the minor one and consumed it.
I had been right to be cautious, as the essence indigestion was much worse than a few days ago and I almost vomited. When it settled, I pulsed earth speak and continued walking.
My cautious approach was rewarded a mile later when a crude pit trap with a foul-smelling ogre hiding inside was revealed. Dry grass covered the pit, and the ogre stirred restlessly inside, eager for me to come closer to spring his surprise. I guessed they had tossed the excavated earth into the wide stream nearby. It wasn’t a bad attempt, as it would look like trampled grass to the unobservant.
I obliged the ogre and continued my patient approach. I didn’t notice any other obvious areas of matted grass, and at the extreme range of my next earth pulse, I confirmed no other pit traps within sixty feet. I removed the ogre’s head. Well, most of its head. I had done the action while blending my earth pulse and dimensional space overlay. The ogre collapsed into the pit, and Ginger yanked her reins at the noise, trying to warn me. We had been upwind, and she had not smelled or sensed the ogre.
I gently stroked Ginger’s neck, soothing her as I waited for my aether to recharge. My senses were heightened, alert for any signs of danger, and Ginger fidgeted beside me, her unease clear as she tried to understand my ignorance of the danger she sensed. She didn’t realize I had already handled it.
As the wind briefly shifted, it carried with it the unmistakable, pungent scent of the ogre, causing me mild nausea. I instinctively reassured Ginger again, feeling her tension under my hand. “I can sense your apprehension, girl,” I murmured softly, “and I think you might be right about this.”
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She didn’t talk back, but I imagined her eyes saying, “Get the fuck on, and let’s get the hell out of here.” I dropped the ogre’s head in the pit before continuing to complete the unenviable task of climbing down there to harvest its essence. Getting so close to the bloody, foul giant in the enclosed space was almost not worth the minor strength essence.
It was getting closer to dusk when I finally continued our slow walk. I could see both sides of the ravine narrowing, funneling me toward my target. I spotted the fort from over a mile away. The surrounding countryside had smoldering and flattened buildings. They had left nothing standing.
My appearance caused a stir. With the spyglass, I could see ugly troll heads popping over the wall to look in my direction. The question was whether any of them would rush out of the gates. I sent one last earth pulse before swinging up into Ginger’s saddle. Her body language told me she was ready to turn around, but instead, I stubbornly waited. Just when I thought the trolls were too smart to fall for the ploy, seven ogres and four trolls burst out of the damaged gate.
I held Ginger with my knees as I studied the force rushing me. A few of the ogres limped, and one was missing an arm. The trolls were shepherding the ogres forward, one swatting an ogre with a wooden maul that had once been a tree. The ogre stumbled but picked up his pace. I felt flattered that they had sallied forth with such numbers just for me.
I turned Ginger and started her at a trot. She wanted to run, smartly, but I held her back. Her training made her obey, but I suspected I was going to need to give her some apples for putting her through this. We couldn’t get too far ahead of the ogres or the trolls might give up. For the next mile, I let them slowly close in on our position.
When I noticed Mynasha’s horse tethered in the distance, a boulder crashed to my right, sending up a spray of dirt as it skipped down the road. I turned back and saw that the group had reached the ogre pit and stopped. The trolls were angrily tossing rocks at us, and I kicked Ginger to get her off the road as more boulders crashed down. “I think they are angry,” I told Ginger as I scanned the sky for the arching rocks.
The trolls had probably planned to push me into the ogre pit, thinking I had bypassed it. I was fortunate that only two trolls seemed motivated to throw boulders at me. It was easy enough to judge their trajectory and move Ginger in plenty of time. After a dozen or so futile throws, the trolls seemed to start an argument, causing me to wait. One troll eventually punched another, sending it crashing to the ground in a tangle of limbs. Then, at the barking order of the troll, the ogres were unleashed.
The ogres broke into a run. Weirdly, their steps had a single cadence. Seven ogres could create tremors even when running together almost half a mile away. I didn’t wait long before retreating. Approaching the stone where Mynasha hid, I could smell the ozone in the air from the aether she had gathered. She was primed and ready, and the question was whether she could recharge fast enough to kill the rushing ogres and trolls.
I trotted past her and stopped at her gray mount, shielded behind the boulder where it was staked. I said I had planned to leave her to her fate, but I was curious about whether she could pull it off. I switched to my aether sight to see her work the aether around her. The ground was oozing wisps that rose and coiled around her in a maelstrom. Her naked body glistened and steamed as it perspired from the effort of controlling the power she was drawing to herself.
I watched as the charging ogres rushed forward, oblivious to the fate that awaited them. Nervousness settled in as the lead ogre closed to within a hundred yards. Their all-black eyes gave them a sinister appearance that was probably not needed in the current circumstances. The ogres were barely staggered in their approach, and I didn’t think Mynasha would have enough time to take them all down with them bunched together.
Just before the ogres reached fifty yards, the cleric stepped out, revealing herself, her hand stretched out. Lightning dashed forth and lassoed the leg of the lead ogre. The cleric released her end of the tether, and it recoiled toward the ogre in a flashing explosion. My eyes were not affected, as my aether sight was active, and I saw the ogre’s leg blown off its body. The concussive force and sound staggered the others around it. The surprise had slowed them.
A breath later, another lightning bolt lassoed a second ogre, this time around the chest. I could tell by the thickness of the lightning that it was not as powerful as what she had used on the trolls. When she released this time, the strike blew large chunks of flesh away and caused the dark-skinned ogre to stagger and fall. My attention was distracted as the noise and light show spooked Mynasha’s mount. The large gray had already freed one of his stakes.
A third and fourth lightning strike flashed and cracked behind me as I tried unsuccessfully to get the horse to calm down from atop Ginger. My attention was split as Mynasha slowed the ogres’ rush. I assumed they were blinded, deafened, and confused as well. The trolls were still coming but had slowed at the onslaught of lightning.
She was actually doing what she said she would do. A fifth ogre was lassoed and exploded, its head shooting high into the air. The remaining two ogres were disoriented and blind, tripping over the body parts of their companions. My ears were ringing, so I couldn’t hear the ogres howling in pain. Her next lightning strike targeted a troll who had come within her range. If she failed to take it down in one strike, she would have to flee or risk being overrun.
She invested more aether in this lightning and managed to wrap the troll’s right leg. The lightning explosion didn’t remove the appendage but did expose the bone and destroy the muscle. As the flesh was stripped from its appendage, the twenty-foot, grotesque monstrosity was felled like a tree. As it fell, Mynasha targeted the next troll, getting lucky by wrapping its leg as well.
The remaining two trolls who had been trailing the others reconsidered their decision and turned to run, quickly getting out of Mynasha’s range. She shifted her focus to the two disoriented ogres. The repeated lightning strikes had finally spooked her mount enough, and it was racing down the road away from the fight.
Cursing, I went after it while the lightning strikes continued behind me. Ginger trusted me to guide her, as she was also somewhat blinded. I caught the gray’s reins at a full run and slowed it, Ginger’s body crashing into the gray’s as I yanked hard. The thunderous explosions had ended, and I returned with Mynasha’s horse.
As aether healed my ears, I could hear a lone moaning ogre. Mynasha was prone on the ground, but no enemies appeared around her. I dismounted to check on her, seeing my companions rushing from the woods. “Get her into the woods and to safety,” I ordered. “We will be in trouble if those two trolls stop running and return!”
Benito and Mateo worked to get the cleric across her horse, covering her and then laying her unconscious body across the saddle. “Raelia and Maveith, stay with me for the moment.”
Benito led the large gray to Glasha and Tarnasha. Raelia was impressed by the carnage. “The cleric conjured nearly twenty lightning strikes. And you look unwounded.” Was there a tinge of relief in her voice at the latter? I nodded like it had happened just like I expected it to.
After I watched the others fade into the trees, it was time to work. “Maveith, make sure they are all dead. Raelia, keep watch while I harvest the essences,” I said eagerly. For once, I was reaping the rewards of another.
Maveith silenced the one bellowing ogre and then gave each troll head a few blows. I started with the trolls, getting two major healing essences. With their essences harvested, they would not regenerate. Mynasha had struck each one three times to make sure they were dead. Large sections of their skeletons were exposed. The first two ogres gave minor strength essences, while the third gave a major constitution essence. My boots were coated in bloody mud and gore as I waded through charred flesh and bone. The air smelled so strongly of ozone, I couldn’t smell the ogres at the moment.
My harvest was interrupted by Raelia. “Riders coming down the road.”
I looked toward the garrison first, seeing nothing. Then, turning the other way, I saw a cloud of dust in the distance. I harvested another minor strength essence before storing the collector and standing with my companions. “Display your adventurer’s medallions,” I said before they reached us.
A thundering company of over two hundred orc warriors and clerics surrounded us while gaping at the carnage. A dark-green-skinned orc with tattoos appeared to be in charge and rode forward to address us. “I am Warlord Krage. You adventurers have done the Caliphate great honor in battle.”
I looked at Raelia and Maveith before speaking. “We were only tasked with guarding Cleric Mynasha. This is all her work. She is resting in the woods with two other clerics and three of my company.” I pointed to where they had disappeared in the woods. “We think the fort still has six trolls and four ogres. They have imprisoned over thirty of your people for food if you are seeking honor for yourself.”
I just wanted him to leave so I could use the collector on the rest of the ogres. That was not going to happen. He sent some of his warriors into the woods to find the clerics, and then dismounted with his two clerics to inspect the dead ogres and trolls. At least with Warlord Krage here, we might be able to continue on to the capital.
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