Chapter 11:Chains

Kosh

Kosh points to the building directly to their left. It didn't appear to be lit. It is a rundown wooden structure with nothing remarkable about it. They enter. It is a small barracks room with three chests at the foot of the 3 beds that line the wall in front of them. The furthest one is occupied by a sleeping orc, who is snoring. There is a window next to him that allows some of the moonlight to come into the room.

Kosh walks over and makes quick work of the orc.

Ren, Eris, and Kith each open a chest.

Ren whistles. He pulls out a dagger, much to the delight of Kosh. He hands the dagger to Kosh and continues to look.

Eris pulls out 2 vials of Cytillesh Oil.

"Hmm," Kosh responds.

"I just have some gold pieces," Kith said with a tinge of disappointment.

Ren and Eris also have gold. They hand it to Ren, along with the vials.

Kosh eyes his new blade. Its hilt is bound in black leather strips and the blade is a dark ruby color.

"A bloodletting Kukri." Ren states. "Nice."

Kosh sheathes it and they proceed to quietly exit to the next area. They move to the next building and the hollering gets louder. They enter the building from the back. It's also dark in this room but there aren't any windows this time for light, so they are forced to leave the door open. From the small amount of light creeping in, the room looks like an armory.

A few different types of swords and shields along the two walls on the side. The wall ahead had a door which is closed. The noise outside ss loud enough that they couldn't hear if anyone was on the other side. Not that it matters. As Kosh bends down to place his ear against the door, it swings open.

"Shit." Kosh leaps backward and unsheathes his blades.

Light from the room spilled into the one they're all in. The hulking orc is dark green with scars crisscrossing all over his body.

Good news, he didn't have any armor save leather breeches and a short sword. Bad news, he isn't alone. Two more orcs came into view behind him.

The giant orc wastes no time and charges. His short sword slashes Kosh in the arm.

Kosh staggers for a moment and then stabs at the orc's stomach. The orc blocks it and backhands Kosh sending him reeling to the side.

Kith grunts loudly and charges full force at the orc. The orc pivots but Kith is able to jab him in the arm. The orc holds his arm, blood dripping to land on the floor.

Wind whips around Ren as vines move to hold the orc in place and causing him to block the doorway.

Eris rushes to Kosh's side who is slow to get to a seating position. She takes out crips white gloves and begins healing him.

Kosh feels a rush of vitality come over him. He rises to his feet, fury etched upon his face. He races towards the immobilized orc, jumps and buries his blades in a downward thrust to either side of his neck. He kicks off him and the orc is left there a moment to die. Ren releases the vines and they set in to work on the next two orcs.

There are two wooden benches next to each other in the middle of the room, with a few more chests against the walls along with mail and leather armor.

Kith stalks the orc on the left, who sneers and utters obscenities at him before Kith hurdles forward with his falchion. The orc dodges but Kith spins around to bash him in the head with his fist. The orc is disoriented and shakes his head.

Dark shadows flick from Ren's fingers towards the second orc. The orcs breathing comes out faster and he looks shaken. Black wispy tendrils wrap around the orc's arm and the skin begins to peel and wither away.

Moving in behind Kith, Eris' fingertips twitch with electricity. Lightning shoot from one orc to the other.

The orc in front of Kith moves to punch at him, Kith blocks it and pushes the orc backward.

The orc next to Ren spits on the ground and snarls. Sweat glistens on his body as previously affected parts bleed out. Rotted flesh lay in a pile on the ground and the stench in the no windowed room is thick. With his good arm, the orc bends down to ram into Ren. He catches him in the stomach and slams him against the wall pinning him there.

Kosh moves quickly to aid Ren. He severs off the afflicted arm and the orc loses grip on Ren, who shoves him aside and moves away.

Kith raises his sword and brings it down on his target's shoulder. The orc grabs the sword, yanks it, and bashes Kith in the head with his own. Blood slides down Kith's face, who now is sporting a gash on his forehead.

Ren continues his dark assault. This time, the tendrils wrap around the neck of the orc. The orc grabs at his neck and falls to his knees. He looks at his hands to see bloody skin that had peeled off. He looks up at Ren muttering something and falls completely to the ground.

One more left. Kosh thinks. Kosh turns to see Eris move forward, flames spilling from her palms. The orc screeches and lowers to the ground dying in a pool of fire.

Damn! Did anyone hear that? Kosh thinks.

The group waits a few minutes but no one else comes. The commotion outside must be too loud.

Kosh breathes out a sigh of relief as do Ren and Eris.

They move about the room checking in the nearby chest, nothing but gold again.

"Maybe you shouldn't be the one to check the chests," Kosh says sweetly to Kith. Who moves to put his hand on the hilt of his sword.

Kosh feigns terror and turns away with a chuckle.

Kosh heads out with the group behind him. The outside of the next building is lit up a bit more now that they are moving closer to what looks like a sparring competition.

Kosh rolls quickly to the other side, as does Kith. Ren and Eris manage to also make it but barely as two orc walk past the alley between the buildings.

Kosh hesitantly pushes against the exterior door. A few candles light up the room. Kosh stiffens.

Ren looks at Kosh and shakes him. "Is it safe?" Silence.

"Kosh?!" Eris whispers a little louder.

Kith moves in behind Kosh and looks in over his head.

"Shit."

"Someone's coming," Ren says as he pushes them inside.

Kosh's stomach is uneasy as he sees several gnomes in various states of undress, chained to the walls. Most of them were women. He knows what they do to them. There's a door in front of them and a door to the left. The smell and sight of blood fills the air. Along with various other bodily fluids. A soft crying is heard. The clinking of chains as some cough while others tremble. A flicker catches his eye, but it's too late. Out of the shadows, a half orc woman appears. Slick black vines snake around Ren and squeeze him. The rest of the group starts to back away. Eris wobbles and Kith grabs her and pushes her behind him. The woman comes out from the shadows enough to see her face. Its heavy scarred and if it wasn't for her body Kosh wouldn't have been able to tell her sex. She wore nothing but a cloth covering her below area. Her black stringy hair was the only thing that shielded her breasts. She was pale green with earring son both sides of her bottom lip. This wasn't the first time he had come face to face with a blood witch.

Kosh looks at Ren, who is trying to writhe against the vines. Blood pools in spots all over his body as parts of his clothing are ripped and skin is exposed.

Kith surges forward leaps over Ren and comes down hard on the witch.

She shrieks with maniacal laughter even though the blade buries deep into her shoulder. Chills roll down Kosh's spine.

The tentacles reach out at Kith as if they have a mind of their own and he manages to dodge out of the way, leaving a straight view shot of Eris.

The blood witch smiles and evilness blatantly displayed on her face. Eris falls to her knees as she looks to the floor, tears spilling down her face.

Eris shakes her head furiously and rises to her feet. I already know what despair is, witch. You'll have to do better than that." Eris says. Eris takes out her dagger as several others just like it appears in front of her and they shoot across the room at the witch. The witch tries to block them but is too late. Two are plunged in her neck.

Kosh runs and kicks the knives in further. She falls to the ground, a smile is glued on her face. It takes everything in Kosh not to find a way to resurrect her and kill her all over again.

His hands are shaking in fury he hasn't known for quite some time now. This was Kith's area of expertise. Kosh hates the way he feels when his emotions get out of hand. Kith walks over to a downed Renimil, while Eris walks over to comfort Kosh.

"Don't!" Kith snaps. "Give him a minute." Kith walks over to Ren, who has been released from the vines and accesses his injuries.

Kith's voice yanks Kosh from his unease. Kosh swallows hard. He looks up at a concerned Eris. "I'm alright, Eris. Thank you." He smiles weakly.

Eris smiles back. It's a brilliant and warm smile. Kosh relaxes more and stands to his feet. He walks over to the nearest prisoner on the wall.

Testing the chains, the gnome leans his head forward to whisper in Kosh's ear. "My wife?" his breath escapes him and his head falls to Kosh's shoulder. Tears burn Kosh's eyes. He backs away slowly and sees Eris grab a set of keys on the wall. It was meant to torture the prisoners with hopes of freedom. Kosh takes the keys from her and releases the man. Gently placing him on the floor. Eris walks over to Ren to help heal him.

Kith moves about the room checking the two other doors, with nothing of consequence being behind them.

"We don't have a lot of time," Kith says with frustration. He looks a cross between angry and empathetic, as he releases a prisoner and tenderly places a very young gnome on the ground.

They spend the next few moments taking down the prisoners. One of them speaks up. "I've been here only a few days. I will take care of them as best I can."

"We have to go now," Ren says in a rush. "Someone will eventually come back here. We need to destroy this place before then."

"We will create as best a distraction as possible," Kosh adds.

The gnome nods his head. He breaths in deep and sniffs a little. He starts to tend to the others and says his thanks. As Kosh moves to the side of the gnome to leave, he looks back and sees tears running down his face.

Ren

Ren feels emotionally and physically drained. So much pain in that one little room. He has never seen Kosh and Kith like that before. He knew they had experienced things like that, but they never really talk about it. Ren never cared too much about others' feelings, only his own. But he wasn't completely heartless. Kith and Kosh have protected him and had his back more then anyone else ever has, save his family. He cares for them. He didn't know when it started, it didn't matter. In the last few months, they have become a sort of makeshift family. Ren almost forgot what that felt like.

There was only one other building left and Renimil hopes that it is nothing like what they just saw. This building is brightly lit inside and Kosh creeps over to the window to peer in.

"It looks like a tavern," Kosh says.

The ruckus of the sparring is now very loud. Trees dot the area they are in, around the structure.

"How many?" Kith asks.

"5."

Eris drops her head. "That's a lot." She shrugs. "What's the plan?"

"Eris, you have fireball right?" Kosh asks.

"Yes," Eris says.

A slow smile spreads on his face.