Chapter 10

The Orc Chieftain slept a great deal for the next day or so. The new stitches on his chest did not seem to heal very quickly. Gedu Pouncefaster was walking with a stick by the second day, about the same time Veren caught a fever. He called in his commanders that evening anyway.

"I'm sure you all realize we have a problem," Veren said. The other Orcs sat crosslegged on the floor around his pallet. Glaive seemed to have invited herself in, and she squatted next to the fire looking pleased with herself. Redmorning began to suspect this was a normal expression for Night Elves.

Glaive had collected new gear in the aftermath of the battle, and was now possessed of new boots, a cloak, a mail tunic with belt, and a larger number of weapons than Veren had thought it possible for one Elf to carry without clanking when she walked.

Redmorning sat up with a blanket wrapped around his shoulders, trying not to shiver visibly. He tried not to look at Kev'ran, who knelt on the floor beside him. She had apologized for casting without his permission, and said almost nothing to him since.

"We are all going to die," Shel'yin said, in the voice of one stating a firm conclusion arrived at by careful thought. "It is merely a question of whether it will be tomorrow or sometime in the next two weeks."

A fair amount of eye-rolling ensued among the others.

"I believe he means we will be attacked again, but it depends on whether the Night Elves know where the party that attacked us was going," Kerd Bladeleaper said. "If they were an exploratory force, they might not have reported back first. It is possible the Elves do not know our exact position."

"They will, though," Lev Darksun said. "At the very least, we've narrowed it down for them."

"Got a few more days," Glaive announced, without moving away from the fire. "They wait a while for reports. Then they spend a while trying to convince each other you kill everybody. This take a long time. Elves not want to believe it. Not know I am here helping you."

"Are all Night Elves this humble?" Lev asked.

Glaive grinned, showing square, white teeth.

"All Night Elves not as good as me," she said.

"Hmph. At least it's not hard to believe she did kill a drill instructor," Lev Darksun muttered.

"Was training battle," Glaive said. "Leafdancer say, 'Who wants to fight teacher?' to show everybody who the boss. And I say, 'I will.' And I don't lose quick. So she start using weapons." Glaive extended her hands toward the fire, turning her face from the others. "Pretty much downhill from there. She win, but only 'cause I got no blade."

"She came looking for you later," Lev Darksun said. "Didn't she? Probably not by herself."

The other Orcs looked at him in surprise, the original topic of conversation forgotten.

"It happens," Lev said. "You get someone like that in a bunch of recruits, they're not gonna take orders unless you beat it into them. I took a fair number of beatings when I first joined Magtheridon's army."

"That's not hard to believe," Kerd Bladeleaper said. "You don't take orders all that well now."

Lev shot her a look.

"You right," Glaive said quietly. "I am good, but not so good I beat ten-times-hundred year fighter without kill her. Problem was, after Leafdancer dead, the other two in bad shape. Don't remember how she die."

"And no one would believe you could kill her without cheating," Veren Redmorning said. "So as far as they knew, it was murder."

"Elves got less mercy than Orcs," Glaive said, turning back to them. She reached up to touch her notched ear. "Orcs kill quick, quick. Elves closer to nature. Make you hurt first."

This made perfect sense to Veren Redmorning, who had never arrived at the conclusion that nature was soft or friendly. Anyone starting from that idea on Outland was likely to end up inside a Fel stalker in fairly short order, and Fel stalkers were known to play with their food.

"If we've got a few days, we'd better start fortifying ourselves," he said, dragging everyone back to the reason for the meeting. "We may have to move from here, but I don't think we can organize it before we're attacked again."

He glanced at Glaive. She shook her head.

"I understand Merd Quickdigger has plans for catapults," Bladeleaper said. "We could use them to supplement the towers and take them with us afterward."

"Good. See it done, Kerd."

"Yes, Chieftain."

The meeting broke up. Glaive scampered off to "practice throw things," as she put it.

"And how are you, Kev'ran?" Redmorning asked, when everyone else was gone. He pulled the blanket tighter around his shoulders as he twisted to look at the small Orc. "You didn't say anything through that whole discussion."

"I have nothing to say," the warlock said. "I know nothing about battle with many troops."

"We don't have many troops, so I think we may consider that a moot point," Veren said, a little irritably. His head was starting to hurt again. "And you did just fine when we were attacked."

"I should not have - "

"Has Shel'yin been giving you a hard time?" Veren interrupted.

Kev'ran blinked. "No. We spoke on the day of the battle. He has not spoken to me since then."

"It's probably not personal," Redmorning said. "He doesn't talk very much, unless he's telling everyone about our imminent demise."

"He does not speak so to everyone," Kev'ran said, perhaps a little defensively. "I think he does not want to frighten them."

"Hm. Then why don't you go talk to him now? I'm going to sleep here and it bothers me when you hover. I'm sure he'll be glad to tell you exactly what is going to happen to us. In detail."

"Shel'yin is a loyal Orc," Kev'ran said.

"I have no doubt that he is. Now off with you."

"I should not leave you alone, Chieftain," Kev'ran said. She shifted where she knelt, hesitating.

"Kev'ran, I am in the centermost building in a camp full of armed, nervous, and as you said, very loyal Orcs. There is no safer place I could possibly be at this moment."

"I will send someone to watch the door," Kev'ran said. She rose slowly and went to the curtained doorway. A puff of cold air came in as she went out.

Veren Redmorning edged his pallet closer to the fireplace and curled up on his side.

I wonder if Shel'yin knows what a very lucky Orc he is.