Ascent of the Holy Blade

Chapter 5

        The gorthin sat perched on a stone outcrop that jutted out from the side of the steep canyon wall, high above the gathered mighty gorthin clans.  Goldeneyes unconsciously shifted his balance as the wind tried to tear him from his precarious seat.  His delicate nose sifted the scents that wafted up from the encampment.  The smell of the cooking fires made his stomach rumble.  The Warmuh clan had come across a party of merchant dwarves, and after months of only sparring with one another, the bloodthirsty warriors fell upon the hapless dwarves with murderous intent.  The clans, after only feeding on rabbits and mountain goats for the last year, hailed the powerful warriors for returning with the tough but tasty dwarven meat.  

        The favor the Warmuh chief, Klankor, had gained with the gift of the dwarven meat would soon be lost with the news that the Skyling scouts had brought back.  Goldeneyes smiled evilly at the thought of the displeasure his rival would feel when he gave his report of how weakly the pathetic town of Stoneheart was defended.  A few unskilled farmers were no match for five hundred battle-hardened gorthin warriors.  Goldeneyes then let the wind take him from his perch and gently floated down to the canyon floor.

        Goldeneyes strode arrogantly through the dri’val clan’s encampment towards Rak-Natorik, the Hall of Chiefs.  He stared with distaste as the dri’val went about their daily routine of cooking and cleaning for the gathered clans.  The Skylings, like the rest of the gorthin clans, looked down on the dri’ val for their non-warlike ways.  It didn’t matter to the gorthins that the dri’val were their women, children and elders, or that if it wasn’t for the dri’val the proud warriors would have to wash their own clothes and forage for their own food.  The Skyling chief tore a chunk of meat from a cooking spit as he passed by.  The young female in charge of turning the spit started to berate the chief until a light of recognition pierced her dull mind.  She prostrated herself on the rocky ground, begging Goldeneyes to have mercy on her.  Watching the young female grovel before him stirred a different kind of hunger.  Looking at the setting sun, Goldeneyes judged that he had a little time before he was expected at Ra-Natorik.  

        Grabbing the girl by her long scraggly hair, Goldeneyes dragged her to the cover of some nearby boulders.  The girl whimpered as he tore away her beaded leather dress; frantically she tried in vain to cover her nakedness with her hands.  Goldeneyes gave a guttural laugh and after pinning her arms above her head with one powerful claw, he forced himself upon the terrified girl.  At the cooking spit the remaining women and children pretended not to hear the girl’s pain wracked pleas for help, and went about finishing the nightly meal. 

        A short time later, the Skyling chieftain was cleaning the girl’s blood from his canine muzzle as he watched his rival, Klankor, take his seat across from the flier chief.  Silently, Goldeneyes studied the gargantuan leader of the Warmuh clan.  Even among the giant wingless Warmuhs, Klankor was considered monstrous.  Easily over nine feet in height, Klankor was the largest gorthin to ever live.  It was said that he could best the great brown bear in unarmed combat, and Goldeneyes knew that it was more than just rumor after witnessing Klankor break the neck of one the deadly beasts.  But for all his great strength and powerful fighting skills, the Warmuh chief had the intellect of a boulder.  Red-black fur seemed stretched over rock hard muscles and his flame colored mane hung in long thick braids down his broad back.  He had replaced his heavy crag wurm armor with a simple loincloth, but his favorite weapon, an evil- looking two-handed serrated sword, hung easily from a worn scabbard on his back.  As if sensing the gaze of the Skyling, Klankor stared back at the smaller winged chief.  Goldeneyes’s wolfish mouth split into a wide grin that showed many sharp fangs but little mirth.  Klankor’s reptilian eyes seethed with anger at Goldeneyes unspoken challenge.