Champion of Tzeentch

Chapter 4

Cord followed his two new members back to where the Orc's lived. He knew little of them or their ways but knew enough that when they fought they were tenacious and vicious and any Orc raid was something to be feared. He looked at their stooped form, nearly six feet tall, and the solid muscle beneath the green skin told more of their individual power. They walked on with ease, the forest was obviously their home, Cord had no apprehension over where they were going; they were all tired from the brief battle and he needed to mull over the repercussions of Tzeentch's gift. His right hand no longer existed so he could not grasp a sword and Sven was no longer with them; at least not all the time. The nature and construction of the Flame of Tzeentch spell had left his mind and on instinct he lifted his right arm and thought of a gout of flame. A length of Tzeentch fire streamed into the forest, splashing against the trunk of a venerable oak, the small burst of fire charred its outer bark but the tree didn't catch fire. Cord smiled he no longer needed to know the spell, it was a part of him, just as the arm was.

The darkness this deep into the forest was almost absolute, what minimal moonlight shone through the moss covered trees was of little help. The Orcs seemed to have no trouble seeing in the darkness, Cord tripped and decided it was time for some light, Cord held up his right hand and thought of the flames licking across his fingers, he still thought he had fingers. Soon there was a blue-pink glowing flame rippling around spike toothed mouth at the end of his arm, the light helped and he was able to avoid tripping over tree branches as they progressed deeper into the Forest of Shadows.

There was a gently orange glow over the hillock in front of them and the Orcs increased their pace. Cord guessed the orange light was that of their village and they were glad to be home after their ordeal. Cord and the rest of the retinue matched their pace and soon the crested the rise. The Orcs roared, crashing to their knees at what they saw, Cord crested the hill next extinguishing his flame. The entire village had been ransacked and destroyed, the tents and huts were ablaze or were smouldering.

"Search for survivors" Cord called back to the rest of the retinue, even in their tired state they charged straight into the village looking for access to the various buildings. The Orcs shortly followed, Cord jumped from the crest and fly down, feeling the up drafts from the various fires. Looking from above he could see into the buildings where roofs had collapsed. Movement caught his eye and he closed it for some form of depth. He jumped slightly at suddenly realising how close he was to the tree boughs above him, the disturbed air from his wing beats rustling the leaves. The movement brought his concentration to the front of the three-hundred and sixty degree vision. An Orc and two goblins were trapped under timbres within one of the burning huts. Cord swooped down and landed in front of the door. He beat his wings forwards; the draft put the smaller flames out but intensified the larger.

"Sven your tinderbox and canteen!" Cord shouted, Sven ran over, blinked out of sight for a moment and then appeared directly in front of Cord his hand out stretched with the tinderbox and canteen. Cord took them and doused the tinderbox with the water and stepped into the flames. Closing all his eyes and concentrating his magic he felt it flow through into the tinderbox and it began to dissolve into a tide of water in a six yard radius, all the flames and roaring fires died away. The doorway was now clear and so was a path to the trapped beings, Cord crossed to them and they took a look at his appearance and stopped their struggling for a moment to bow their heads to him.

"Time for that later, on the count of three lift." Cord snapped. He began to count down and they braced themselves, Cord felt the brief moment strain as he lifted first but as they pushed in unison the debris was quickly lifted, the three slid out quickly to stand the other side of the beam as it dropped to the floor. They moved without a word back outside; back in the fresher air of the open, most of the tents had burnt themselves out. The beastmen had gathered in the centre laying out a group of injured. There were not many of them, only a handful of Orcs and another of goblins.