Forgotten But Not Lost

17

Buugug was sitting around in his guard post with his three blood brothers as the sun slowly set in the distance, each of them feeling relief at how narrowly they had escaped death. They had been so close to having been resigned to the south-eastern camp, one more day and they would have packed their things and been in the guard station just in time for whatever happened to hit them as well.

It had been a hell of a day for the Orcs at Dead Head. First the entire south-eastern camp die without so much as a word. Then the men inside the fortress itself started dropping dead left and right. Their eyes just rolling back in their heads. It was scary shit. Some Orcs started talking about bad spirits from the older raids still lingering on the fort and that they were angry. Seventeen more people were executed for trying to desert. By the time they men in charged figured out that the food stores had been poisoned, over six hundred move had dead. This morning, there had been almost two thousand strong Orcs holding down the fortress, now there were only around twelve hundred.
On the bright side, fifty percent increased pay for the rest of the month. And whoever did the poisoning wasn't so heartless as to poison the grog, though one of the kegs of the Generals best stuff seemed to have gone missing. The lose of that one keg sent the General into such a rage that he killed one of his own honor guard. The boys all chuckled a bit about it. Saying what they wouldn't give to have some of the best stuff. They had ever so much as tasted it in their whole lives, but they had all heard of it.
None of them had ever wanted to join up with the army and travel all the way out to the Frontier, so close to those crazy, pink-skinned Tarks, but Orcs like them who had born with nothing would do just about anything for money. They just had to survive long enough to make it to their retirement and get the hell out, and with this latest increase in pay, they were just three months away from retiring to a nice spot in the mountains where they could start of their dream of becoming a bunch of moonlighting pig farms.
"Well boys, after tonight, there be plenty room inside the fortress walls. No more camping up for us. And when the new blood finally comes around, we will have already risen up in the world. No more risking our necks on patrol duties. Am I right." Epkagut said, holding up his mug, a smile on his tusked face. He was always one to look on the bright side of things and try to cheer the rest of them up. They laughed along as Epkagut stood up above them.
Buugug always looked up to Epkagut. Buugug himself was smaller than his blood brothers and even after he had trained as a Ranger, he still knew that he wasn't as strong as the rest of them, but Epkagut always stood up for him.
"To the fortunes of war, and to the survival of our little brotherho…" Epkagut's words ended as an arrow sank into his throat.
Buugug's world slowed down as he stared, uncomprehendingly as Epkagut's body slowly sagged before falling to the ground, his finally grin slowly sliding off of his face. Umug and Xuk both dropped dead after him, each with an arrow that Buugug hadn't even seen buried in their back, right through the spine.
Crying out the names of his fallen brothers, Buugug stood up and turned towards the shadowed treeline, knocking over his chair as he did so. With the light of the setting sun at the creatures back, Buugug could just barely make out a red haired Tark, staring down at him with a bow in one hand. The Tark was dressed in the red skin of a Dragon Horse and was carrying three bows, four quivers, and six different blades of varying sizes and makes.
Buugug had heard of this Tark. He had become something of a rumor in the last two weeks. They called him the Crimson Death, and everywhere he went, blood flowed as red as his hair. Groups of dozens of strong Orcs would be slaughtered by him and those he fought with. Only a few had ever lived to tell of it. Most of them Rattails who had witnessed the slaughter of their parties from the shadows, too scared to even breath.
In that instead, Buugug was sure that he was dead. The bowman was skilled and wouldn't miss, and even if Buugug tried to draw his own bow, he would never make it in time.
The Ranger reached for his belt to pull up his war horn, but an arrow flew past his hip, tearing the horn away and punching a hole in it. Fear gripped Buugug as the Tark jumped down from his perch and started running straight at him.
Buugug tried to take in a deep breath, prepared to scream for all he was worth, but a rock sailed through the air and smashed into his mouth, breaking his teeth and turning his scream into a series of pitiful cries. The red-haired Tark was on him, pinning him to the ground. A piece of cloth was shoved into the Orcs mouth, gagging him, making sure that he wouldn't call out for help.
Buugug was surprised, frightened and confused. But one thing was clear to him, he was being taken alive for some unknown purpose.
This was the last thing he was able to consider before he received a hard blow to the side of the head, and everything went black.
Poor poor Buugug. And they were just three months away from retirement.
A little short, because I didn't feel like having it in the actual chapter, since the chapter is probably going to be a bit on the wordy side.
A common theme in Grimgar is the main characters wondering what they themselves must look like to the monsters they kill, and openly admitting to themselves that they are basically mugging people, killing them to steal their stuff because they need to in order to stay alive themselves.
Shirou doesn't really see things that way... or should I say, he hasn't really thought about any kind of complexity about killing the enemies of humanity. Doesn't see it as any different than hunting a boar. Just because it is alive, doesn't mean that its life is sacred.
Also, I suppose I'm being a bit misleading. Haruhiro and company won't be showing up until after a short time skip of two more months.
Rin is going to be setting up some formula craft around the tower and will be observing it for a few more weeks. So no, she isn't trying to Summon a hero. Though she might address the existence of them.
Yes Kairi is going to be a recurring character who is slowly going to learn more words and actions. Rin keeping her around simply because of the usefulness of having magical sight, as well as Kairi becoming fully capable of operating independently on the battlefield.
Someone compared Elemental Magic to Marble Phantasms, which is sort of kind of true. The problem is that the Elementals can only control their single element. Elemental Magic that the mages use is basically only calling on and instructing the Elementals, and not directly doing magic themselves.
The only thing they use their magic for is calling on and instructing the Elementals, so the cost just increases based on the strength of the needed Elemental and the complexity of the instructions. The Elemental does most of the heavy lifting. Which is why people who wouldn't be fit to be magus can still cast powerful spells.
Someone also asked if I would do something from Sara, Megumin and Niko's points of view. Maybe later I might find a reason to add some in. Though it probably won't be until after Haruhiro's group shows up.