Dagger of Souls

*** Chapter 11 ***

The stout young soldier looked around nervously as he pulled the wool cloak tighter around his lightly armored body to keep the cold air from getting to him. Clumps of snow began to fall just after the sun began to set, making an already cold day worse. He scanned the trees bordering the southwest side of the village as he walked through ankle deep snow watching for any signs of movement. He checked the sword at his belt beneath the cloak to be sure he could pull it out quickly. The stories of the orc savagery from the villagers had him on edge. They were strong and ruthless warriors with experience out in the wilds. This was their element. He felt ill equipped being born in a large city and knowing only the streets of Waterdeep. He'd only finished his military training a few weeks ago and now he might likely see mortal combat. He had thought it would be thrilling like the pretend sword fights with sticks in his youth, but the reality of facing possible death made his heart thump in his chest and his hands shake.

He knew his fellow soldiers and these townsfolk were depending on him, and Sergeant Dural needed him to do his duty. He felt better knowing that the battle tested warrior of Tyr would be around nearby to aid him. That gave him confidence and he used those thoughts to calm his nerves. The soldier stopped abruptly as he heard strange sounds coming from the woods. He crouched down and listened intently. They were definitely footsteps in the snow. He gripped the hollowed horn around his neck and pulled it out from beneath his cloak as he moved closer to a tree for cover. He felt the strange, gripping sensation of fear with shortness of breath and began to worry that he might not be able to blow the horn loud enough to alert the others. He had to sound the alarm or he would have no help against the enemy. He spoke a silent prayer to Helm, God of Guardians, for strength and courage.

He peeked around a nearby tree to see if he could spot the source of the sound. He couldn't see much of anything in the dim light, the sun had just fallen and the scant trace of light left in the sky gave very little help against the darkness, especially with the heavy snow fall. "Who goes there?" He cried out in a failed attempt at an authoritative voice. He placed the horn to his lips, if no answer came he would sound the alarm and hope the Sergeant and other soldiers would get there quickly. His lips felt dry and his breath became rapid as he waited for what seemed like hours.

"It is Keltar and Einlan. We are returning from our search," came the voice from somewhere nearby after a few harrowing moments.

The young soldier let out a long breath of relief that streamed a plume of mist nearly three feet in length. He tried to compose himself before he continued. "Sergeant Dural would like to speak with you. He is waiting in our assigned cottage." The knight and soldiers were given a house that belonged to a middle aged man and his wife that were killed in the first orc attack and their home left abandoned, their kids taken in by their aunt a few houses down. The town was too small for an inn or tavern, so the soldiers were housed there. Others in the party were given accommodations in different houses with other families. Many of the townspeople were more than happy to have the warriors there to help protect their homes and volunteers to give them room and board were plentiful.

The two men headed past the soldier as he resumed his roving watch. Darkness fell quickly and made it impossible to see anything in the wilderness. A faint light from the glow of hearths and lanterns that escaped small cracks around the doors and windows of the cottages gave them scant visibility, but even that didn't go more than a few paces with the falling snow obscuring it.

Keltar quickly opened the door of the soldiers' cottage and he and the elf wizard hurried in out of the cold, snowy weather. A wavy, wisp of snow flakes swirled in after them, making the fire crackle and pop as if it were complaining about the frigid intrusion.

The messenger threw his boots off and huddled close to the fireplace trying to warm his frozen feet in the radiant heat. The elf shook the snow nonchalantly from his cloak, pushed his hood back and sat down beside the sergeant. Dural glanced curiously at the man in black leather and then back to Einlan. The sergeant was dressed in plain clothes and out of his usual armored breast plate and greaves. "So how far did you get to follow the tracks?"

The elf pushed back his long blonde hair behind his pointed ears and sighed as he made his report, "They were more skilled at avoiding tracking attempts than we thought. They used a shallow stream to hide their trail, which was very effective. We searched along the banks to see where they would emerge. But we followed miles of the stream and inlets in the direction we thought they went. There was just not enough daylight left to continue. We found no sign of them and with the fresh snowfall, it will be impossible to pick up their trail again. We are not even sure we were headed in the right direction. They could have changed course in the brook and gone the opposite way from where their tracks were headed out of town just to confuse anyone following them."

Keltar threw a small piece of wood into the fire out of frustration, causing embers to dance around the hearth. "I nearly got frost bite out there, and it was all for naught."

Sir Dural shook his head as he raised a finger. "No, we learned some important information from this development."

Keltar pursed his lips as he twisted back to look at the holy warrior. "How's that?"

Einlan grinned as he understood what the paladin was deducing from the information. "We now know that they are worried about someone following them. They didn't fear these farmers so they wouldn't have taken such a tactic at masking their tracks unless they believed a larger force would be coming."

Dural gave the elf an approving nod. "Those were my thoughts exactly Einlan. This means that they are probably expecting some soldiers to arrive and will not be taken by surprise on their next attack. Though they won't know how quickly we would get here. They will probably send scouts, so we need to continue to keep the soldiers out of sight and disguised as villagers."

The messenger turned from the fire and crossed his legs. "If they planned on our arrival, as you say, they may have already had lookouts posted to see if anyone passed the road to Stalford. If this is true then they may already know we are here and how many soldiers we have. Then again they could just be taking extreme precautions, though neither of those fit the profile I have heard about orcs."

The paladin twisted his long mustache as he contemplated the theory. "No, that does not seem to fit with any reports that I have seen with orc incursions. Perhaps this tribe of orcs are much more cunning than some of their brethren, or they are getting tactical help from someone else."

Keltar shook his head, "All we can do is speculate at the moment, but we should be ready for anything."

Dural nodded, "It is important that speak with the town elders and come up with a defensive strategy and help them prepare for a larger scale attack. We need to determine a safe house for villagers to move to where they are better protected during another incursion."

The elf sat with his arms folded in his robes and added, "I could help show them how to construct basic bows and arrows. We can train them on how to use them and have the able bodied men help shoot from roofs or windows in case of another raid. It would be good for them to have this training even if we defeat the marauding orcs for their future defense."

Keltar grabbed his boots from where he threw them down and moved them closer to the fire to allow them to dry. "Those are very sound ideas. We should get started on them right away. I believe the man we met when we arrived, Holtin, was considered the town leader from the way he spoke and others looked to him. I will arrange a meeting with him and his elders as soon as possible."

The paladin shifted in his chair. He looked somewhat less ominous wearing a simple tunic like other farmers instead of his armor, but he was more broad-shouldered than most of the villagers and still quite an imposing figure. "I would prefer if we met with the leaders tomorrow morning."

He glanced at Einlan as he continued, "In the spirit of the elf's suggestion to train the villagers, I have agreed to help a young man by the name of Klenn learn to fight. I'm going to meet his parents and then speak with him again. He has great potential. I heard the details of his battle and he fought well without any proper training. He killed one orc from nearly fifteen paces with a well thrown axe to the side of the head, and held his ground against another seasoned orc in melee combat. He's as strong as an ox, and just needs some refinement and he'll make a decent warrior. At least I can train him enough to help defend his village. If the green skins know we are here, we could easily be outnumbered in their next raid. Do any of you have some suggestions as to a solid defense? Wylan, what do the town boundaries look like in the rest of the village? Are they wide open as the main road entrance?"

The lanky soldier sat up straight, not realizing his opinion would be needed by these experienced men. "Well, a few of the farms have some fencing around their crops, but they're only a few feet high and not very sturdy. They were only meant to ward off animals."

The knight pondered the information for a few moments. "They will most likely use the path of least resistance. It will give us a better idea of where we need to concentrate our defenses at least."

The elf looked at the humans, "Perhaps we could have the villagers help extend some of those fences to limit the places where they can attack from. It will slow them down enough that we will have time to reduce their numbers with a ranged assault. Once they funnel through the gaps it will keep them from flanking our soldiers when we meet them in close combat."

Dural smiled broadly, "Another excellent suggestion elf friend. It will also give the villagers a sense of pride to be able to help in the defense of their town, and not feel like helpless victims. I'm sure they will be eager to help in any way they can."

Keltar put down the cloth towel he was using to wipe dirt from his thawing feet and rubbed his chin. "Perhaps I can also help rig some traps to hinder them. I may need some help from a few villagers with its construction."

"Klenn's father is a trapper, he may have some of the traps you need already," added the knight.

The rogue shook his head from side to side in response. "I seriously doubt any of his simple animal traps will fool these orcs. They are not as dumb as their reputation suggests."

The holy warrior shrugged his broad shoulders. "That maybe so, but they even simple animal traps would cause them to pause at the very least. You could use those in addition to whatever you have in mind, and no construction time is needed."

"I will agree to that. I have a spiked trap in mind that was used in a warehouse cellar of a prominent thieves' guild in the city. It will be a bit more complex to build so we couldn't use them for all of the entry points to the village. So the animal traps can be used in the other places."

Dural leaned forward in his chair. "How in Tyr's good eye did you learn about such a trap?"

Keltar flashed a sly smile, "My duties as messenger to the Masked Lords involved more than just investigations and fighting orcs."

The knight stood up and stretched. He raised both eyebrows as he began to realize why the roguish man was chosen to be in the position of messenger to highest authorities of the grand city of Waterdeep. "Ah, I understand. I will be speaking with Klenn's father tomorrow and I will ask him to see you about where to place some of his traps to help in the town's defense. We need to bring all of these suggestions to the town's leaders and keep them involved. Let us all go and get a good night's sleep. We shall have a fair amount of work ahead of us in the next several days at the very least."