Chapter 4: Recruiting

Ogre

I watched with satisfaction as the new King fell unconscious. Now, I'd easily defeated them both. Well, not so easily with the First King, but this one was pathetic. The boy hadn't been as weak. He'd remembered him from somewhere…Ah; yes…He was the boy that I had fought in the first raid, while I was under the guise of Zack in that ridiculous karate class. Then, one of my minions ran up to me.

"Sir," he said in a raspy voice. "We're having trouble uptown."

This frustrated me. I hadn't expected this city to be full of fighters. "Who is it?" I asked.

"A wrestler named Craig Marduk. He's taken down a dozen of our troops already."

I looked at him. "Anything else, Captain?"

The Captain looked embarrassed and fearful. "Yes sir… A boxer named Steve Fox. He's taking down our troops just as quickly."

Needless to say, I was unhappy. I had expected this city to be easy to conquer – maybe an arrogant idiot acting like a hero here and there – but this city was a true challenge.

The Captain's voice interrupted my thoughts. "Sir…there is another problem."

Now thoroughly frustrated I raised his voice. "What is it, Captain!?"

"We…we have reports from our rear guards that we may be being followed."

I growled – deeply and threateningly. "Captain, either confirm these reports or disprove them. I'll deal with the fighters."

I walked onto the street that the Captain had told me. It was a hotel. Hearing the telltale sounds of fighting, I walked into the parking lot.

I saw a man in an unbuttoned Hawaiian T-shirt. He had light blonde-hair and boxing tape wrapped around his knuckles. He was knocking down my minions with swift, well-placed punches. So, this is Steve Fox. He might come in handy.

I walked up to him and commanded my minions to stand aside.

"So you're the Steve Fox I've heard about?" I asked.

He looked at me, obviously disgusted. "Why don't you get out of this city?" he said raising his fists.

"I'm afraid that's not an option."

He rushed at me and performed an uppercut, which hit me in the chin. His next punch was a left hook meant to hit my chest. I grabbed his fist and placed my hand on his shoulder. Like all the others before him, he screamed in pain and fell to the ground. Eventually he got back up.

"What should I do?" he asked.

"Get rid of the other fighters in this city." I said.

"Got it." He replied before running down the street.

Sometimes it was an extremely useful thing – The Mark of Ogre. It could cloud a person's brain until they bent to his will. Only the strongest escaped its hold on their own.

I began walking to the other side of town. The other location that the Captain had given me was the 'Metro Bar & Grill'. I reached it without incident. As I approached the door, I saw one of my men fall out the door – shards of glass in his head and a broken bottle lying next to him. I walked inside and saw a large brown-skinned man tackle down a troll and toss another one into a table – which broke on impact.

"Craig Marduk." I said, getting his attention.

He looked at me and snarled. Recognizing me as an enemy, he picked up a bottle of beer from behind the bar and threw it at me. It hit me in the chest – the shards cutting the skin and drawing blood. I pulled out the stray shards and looked up to see him running at me. He aimed his fist at my face with his left arm. I stepped out of the way and grabbed it. With the other hand, I bestowed the Mark of Ogre upon his left shoulder. He followed the usual procedure, though it took a little longer for him to pass out. Maybe this city being full of fighters wasn't such a bad thing after all.