Cobalt Crown - Book One

13 From the South

     They gathered at noon as the rain came down. Hundreds in the vanguard. Thousands at their backs. They rode no horses, and kept few possessions.

     A carriage approached from the horizon with no guard detail. It pulled up to the amassed army without announcing itself, and they gave way for it to continue into the center of them. It continued through their ranks, towering over the small creatures, it's well-made yellow starkly contrasting their pale green skin. The close ones instinctively reached for weapons when the horse drew near, but they had apparently been ordered to stay their blades.

     After the carriage had traversed a sea of weapons and bodies, it stopped at a large tent, well behind the outer ring of tiny soldiers. The driver opened the door, and out stepped a hooded figure, who promptly walked into the tent.

     It was a relatively large tent, much too large for the use of the goblins outside. But it was the perfect size for an Orc chieftain.

     "I see that your forces are assembled. They're smaller than I expected." A male voice came from the hood.

     The carriage's occupant spoke to a pair of male orcs, one larger than the other. The larger was sitting facing away from him, apparently enjoying a small meal. The smaller one, who stood by the side of the larger, said something in Orcish to the sitting orc, translating what the visitor had said. The larger one said something back. "The chief says that what they lack in brute strength, they make up for in borash."

     The hooded visitor gave him a quizzical look.

     "There is no word for it in your tongue. 'Ingenuity' is closest word."

     "Ahh, I see. Well, please inform your chief that the prince is in the town. You may proceed with the attack from the South. The town is more vulnerable from that section of wall."

     There were more orcish exchanges.

     "The chief wishes to express his concern about your beast. Our scouts found its ashen remains near the camp of this area's ranger. He was apparently prepared for such a monster. We also found out that he is a Seeker."

     "That is none of your concern," said the hooded man. "Our monster may have been dispatched, but it will matter not. It was disposable. We have learned from its failure what needed to be learned."

     There was another translation. "The chief is concerned that the man who slayed your beast will become a problem. That he will kill many in our tribe. Or that he will find us, as he found the creature, and our presence will be revealed."

     "I assure you, good Chieftain, I have devoted resources to making sure he is not a problem."

     "The chief says that resources are much like promises. Both are just concepts, worthless until actions are taken. Bring me a dead Seeker, and we will bring you a dead prince. We will not risk a single Blackeye soldier until this threat has been removed."

     The hooded man said nothing. Then he turned, and boarded the carriage. It rolled away from the standing army of waist-high creatures, and soon it was many fields from them.

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     The hooded man sat in the carriage across from another man. He wore a sash around his waist. The two rode in silence for a while before the sashed man spoke.

     "How did it go?"

     "Terrible. Their chief wants the head of the Seeker that took down our beast. He won't march until that threat has been removed. Seems fatherly for such a brutish people... or so I've heard."

     "Abominable."

     "What?"

     "I've been trying to think of a name for it. The beast, that is. I've come up with 'Abominable.' I think it fits the best."

     He regarded the sashed man with a dumbfounded look. "Lam. You are a perplexing man." He took down the hood, inside there were shapes that glowed faintly with a blue light, and his image shimmered and changed. His light skin darkened and turned a bright red. Grey eyes lost their light, and turned black. Horns grew from his head. He was now she.

     "And that's coming from me," She said.