Hello everyone, and Happy New Year to you all! May this year be better than the last one, and here's my contribution to that cause! :)
Chapter 24
A Familiar Face
Little time had passed since Tyroth and the others had brought the five orcs into their care, and into James' clinic, and the chimpanzee got right to work with tending to their wounds, as best he could at least.
"Never thought I'd complain about having work to do." he muttered to himself as he was working on the leg of one of the female orcs.
"What was that?" the orc asked through occasionally clenched teeth.
"Oh, nothing, my dear. Just thinking out aloud." James responded and continued to carefully dig around in her wounds with a pair of medical forceps, pulling out several tiny black fragments almost every time.
"How are things going with our visitors?" Tyroth asked as he walked in.
"Well, they're in slightly better shape than when they were brought in." James said, not even looking up. "This girl here, and that guy over there were the worse of the bunch, but it's not life threatening, at least not as long as I can treat them."
"How is he?" Tyroth asked, pointing at the orc that took a spear to the shoulder blade. The spear had been removed and the wound covered in fresh bandages that were starting to turn slightly red with blood.
"It didn't do any permanent damage, though it will take time before he'll be able to use his arm properly again. The hardest part was pulling out the spear itself, after that, it was just a simple disinfect and stitch procedure. Couldn't do much for the mark the tip left in the bone though."
"And what about…?" Tyroth gestured to the woman James was tending to.
"Gorma." she introduced herself as.
"She'll take a little more work on several fronts, and all because of the same thing." Pulling out another black fragment, James placed it on a plate where there already were nearly two dozen more.
"What are those?"
"Nothing nice, for one thing. Gorma here told me that the ones that attacked them, before they found themselves on our doorstep, used arrows with heads of obsidian."
"Volcanic glass."
"Right. But this seems to have been more brittle than normal, might be the composition or the design, either way the arrowheads shatter shortly after hitting their target, leaving dozens of these fragments in the wounds. It's basically shrapnel, and if it's not removed, it can cause infections, like it has here."
"Why would anyone use such weapons?" Tyroth wondered out aloud.
"Obsidian is common in some places of our homeland." said the female orc with red frizzy hair. "Some like to use it like that to inflict lasting wounds on runners, like ourselves."
"So even if the attacker doesn't finish off their victim, they hope that the infection will, or at least slow them down." Tyroth continued, putting the pieces together.
"Every time that we've gotten injured guests here, I get more and more appalled by the cruelty of this world." James sighed.
"Our own was cruel in its own way as well, James, it was sadly just more of an everyday thing, much like this might be here." Tyroth said, shaking his head. Then he turned back to the female orc. "I take it that you're the leader of this group."
"More or less." she sighed. "What remains of it, anyway."
"The two of you probably have a lot to talk about." said James. "If you don't mind, could you take your discussion to the next room? I still have a lot to do here."
"She's clear to leave then?"
"For the moment. She and the other two that I have left are not in as bad shape as the others. Mostly some nasty cuts that needs cleaning and stitching, coupled with bruises and possibly some fractured bones. Nothing that require immediate attention. Just don't go wandering off anywhere."
Once in the other room, Tyroth gestured for the orc to take a seat on one of the chairs while he did the same.
"What's your name?" Tyroth began.
"Kala. Kala of the Wolfsbane tribe."
"And the others are also of the same tribe?"
"Yes. You've already met Gorma. Grak was the one who got speared. And the other two are Scorm and Donk."
"You said that the others and this Great Khan attacked your village. Care to explain in greater detail?"
"Not much to tell. They just came into our village and started killing everyone, even children. That's not how things work!"
"I'm afraid you'll have to explain that part more. We are not from this world, and know very little how things work here in Torgalia, let alone your country."
Kala sighed.
"Fine. Every village is its own tribe, with its own chieftain, and all answer to the Great Khan. But any chieftain can challenge any other chieftain for the right to rule their village, and any chieftain can challenge the Great Khan for that title. Anyone can even challenge a chieftain for the role as well."
"Does it happen a lot?"
"Every three or four months in every village and town. As for challenges to the Great Khan, not as often. Once a year maybe. Mostly, it's single combat, the looser either being condemned to eternal servitude, exiled or execution. Some times however, it becomes an all out war, with one chieftain conquering village after village, until they can challenge the Great Khan."
"Is that what's happening now?"
"No, this is something else. During a conquest, the usurper still wants people to rule, warriors to use. What happened to us, it was a massacre. They were there to kill us all, every last one. We were barely able to escape."
"Are your group the only ones that made it?"
"I don't know, maybe. But we lost several along the way. We've been hunted for weeks, and whenever we felt that we could rest for a little while, they struck. The wounds we have now are mostly from the last bout we had a few days ago, but over time, everything added up. Only a third of our group made it this far."
"I didn't realise it was that bad. I am sorry for your loss."
"It would have been much worse had you and your people not helped us, and for that we are forever grateful."
"Think nothing of it. We always try to help those in need. So take what time you need to recover, just know that we don't have very much to offer, but we'll spare what we can."
"It is more than enough. Like I said, we are forever grateful to you, and in a debt that we may never be able to repay."
"Drop those thoughts for now, and focus on resting. The rest of us have a lot to do before winter, but don't hesitate to ask if there are any questions."
As Kala walked back into James' 'operating room', Tyroth left as well, only to run into Ragnir, the dwarf leaning against the wall next to the front door.
"Sounds like something is brewing up north, I hear." the dwarf said.
"Eavesdropping are you?" Tyroth said, not even looking at Ragnir as they both started walking through the village.
"If there's trouble in the States, it's bound to eventually flow over into Torgalia, so of course I'll keep an ear out for potential issues. Sammy needs to know such things, and you know it, since that's why I came here in the first place."
"True enough. And what are your thoughts on this whole mess?"
Ragnir thought for a moment. "I've never heard of anyone there slaughtering people indiscriminately like that before. Well, at least not from their own. Here, there were often rumours and hearsays that said such things, but there were never any proof, and whenever we've been attacked by them, if there weren't survivors, they were captured by the attackers. They like slaves quite a lot over there."
"I can imagine. What about the group that hunted the orcs? Think they will be back?"
"It's possible, that much is true, but your fighters outnumber them and have better quality weapons, so I think that it's more likely that they'll return to their master."
"Should we expect a larger force then?"
"Don't know. Maybe. But that will take quite some time anyway. Even if they have their own sending stones, it would take their forces well over a month to reach us. And a large enough force will catch the attention of the kingdom, so you won't be fighting alone."
"To be honest, I'm not sure if that is reassuring or not, but I'll take what help we can get if that time comes."
"I'll make sure to get this information to Sammy, just wish I had some answers to whatever questions he's gonna have about it." Ragnir muttered the last part of the sentence, scratching his beard in the process.
Before the dwarf could walk away to make his report, Sharky approached the duo.
"Hey, boss, Ragnir. If you're not too busy, could you help me with something I ran across earlier?" the shark asked.
After a quick explanation of the strange meeting underwater, Tyroth was left scratching his head in thought.
"Sounds familiar, but I can't quite place it. Though the term 'sea-elves' do come to mind."
"That's a common name for these folks, but it's not right. What Sharky saw down there was nothing else than a Triton." Ragnir explained.
"Of course, now I remember." Tyroth said. "I read that someone likened them to elves that lived underwater, but never had races like humans and dwarves to keep their arrogance in check."
"Sounds like a bad stereotype, if you ask me." Sharky said with his arms crossed.
"Unfortunately, it is very spot on, kid." said Ragnir. "I've never met a race more arrogant and prideful than elves in general 'till I met the tritons, aside from fiends and celestials of course. But the tritons have reasons to be as they are, they are almost constantly fighting off threats from the depths. Krakens, Sahuagin and more, but next to no one on the surface knows about the sacrifices the tritons makes on our behalf."
"We can certainly relate to that. We pretty much lived the same way back in our own world." said Tyroth. "Hiding underground, while some of us went to the surface to fight the evils there, even though most people would see us as monsters."
"But why did she take off when she saw me?" Sharky asked.
"Maybe she mistook you for a Sahuagin or Merrow, or something else." Ragnir said. "Don't take this the wrong way, but you don't really look very friendly.
"Harsh, but true." Sharky said with a shrug, only to smile very widely at the dwarf.
"Now you're just proving my point, and making me nervous."
"If there are Tritons living nearby, maybe we should try and reach out to them, start a relation with them." Tyroth mused.
"Interesting idea, but I'm not sure how it would go." said Ragnir, stroking his beard. "Tritons aren't normally hostile to people on the surface, but they aren't necessary open to outsiders either, and they aren't always easy to deal with. But what do I know, I haven't met that many over the years."
"In other words, if you do meet her again, or any of her people, be careful and non-threatening, but also ready to flee should they turn hostile." Tyroth said to Sharky.
"Gotcha boss."
Later that night, when everyone was gathered in the inn for a late evening meal, Tyroth and Leonardo stepped outside on the porch to talk a little over a few breaths of fresh air. The skies were almost pitch black with dark rain clouds, obscuring any light from the moons and stars, making it unusually dark for the season.
"Seems we'll get quite a lot of rain tonight or early tomorrow." Leonardo said as he looked into the darkness. "That will be good for the crops."
"Yeah, but have you noticed that it has started to get slightly cooler during the nights over the last few days?"
"I have, yes. We're on the last month of summer, so fall isn't far away."
"And that means winter is close as well. I hope that we will have enough food to manage it."
"There is still a lot left to harvest, but most of it can still grow in the fall, like the potatoes, so we'll get even more from those."
"In other words, we'll be busy still. At least Tania is almost done with the warmer clothes she's been working on for us. With how many of us that are reptilian, keeping them warm is very important."
"Sure is." Leonardo said, remembering how cold it was for him and his brothers the first time they travelled to Casey's farmhouse during the winter.
Then he turned around and leaned his shell against the railing.
"We're being watched." he whispered in the most hushed voice he could.
Tyroth didn't say anything, nor did he let his face betray what Leonardo had told him. If it was true that they were being spied upon, the culprit might be able to read lips or have excellent senses, but so did Tyroth. He let his eyes casually search the surroundings, wandering from one place to the next.
"My instincts tell me that there is someone out there, hiding." the turtle continued to whisper.
A short moment later, Tyroth turned around and also leaned against the railing, whispering to the turtle.
"Donnie's house. Third on the left, on the roof, barely visible."
Leonardo didn't say anything, not at first, but once he began walking towards the door of the inn he spoke in a normal volume.
"I'd better make sure that everyone is behaving in there. You know how rowdy they can get."
"Good idea. While you're at it, could you ask Sephie to come out here? I'd like to spend some time alone with her."
"Sure thing."
After Leonardo had entered the inn, a few minutes passed with Tyroth turning back around and looking out into the village in silence, then Sephie came out and walked up to his side. Sharing a tender kiss with her lover, she snuggled up against him with his arm around her shoulders, and the two simply enjoyed the company of each other.
And that was all the spy was able to see from the vantage point, at least without risking discovery by attempting to move closer.
But that chance never even presented itself.
"Enjoying the view?" a voice said behind the spy, whom instantly spun around, only to come face to face with the twin katana of Leonardo. "Don't even try reaching for your weapons. You're out of your league here."
The spy stood as petrified for a brief moment, which gave Leonardo a chance to take a quick look at the perpetrator. It wasn't easy to make out much in the near complete darkness, even for someone trained to use the darkness like Leonardo, but he could still tell that the spy was humanoid and wore something similar to a classical ninja outfit, though the remaining details were lost to him.
"Who are you, and why are you spying on us?" Leonardo asked, but the spy remained silent.
However, despite the spy's potential wishes for the contrary, it seemed like fate itself wanted Leonardo to learn the spy's identity, and a sudden gust of wind not only undid the cloth mask the spy wore, but also caused some of the clouds above to part enough to brighten the night a bit, and that allowed Leonardo to see the spy's face clearly.
And the face he saw shook him to his core like nothing before ever had.
"K-karai?"
How's that for ending my first chapter of the year, huh? Stay tuned for more on this exciting development! :D