Private Tales Eastern Tides

[Renn]

The Razor Plateau - Near the Gulf of Ryt

Renn wrenched his sword free with a splatter of blood, a strange sheen ran over the black and gold blade, the crimson seeming to slick off of it far smoother than it should have. His wrist flickered downward, his eyes following quickly as he peered at the now corpse.

It was an orc, or had been. Part of a small raiding party that had been sent across the river and into the plains. He and the Band had been chasing them for nearly three days now, driving them on their wargs onto the Plateau where they had finally managed to catch them on the cliff edges. It had been a hard trek, and many of his compatriots were now sitting upon small boulders that spotted the field around them.

The Knight pulled his gaze away from the dead creature. "Alan!"

He called out, one of his men tipping up his head as he finished drinking from a waterskin. There was a moment of hesitation, and then he pulled himself away from his perch and quickly trotted to Renn's side.

"What?"​

"Set up a few tents, start a fire and burn these corpses." He crinkled his nose. "And take a fucking bath, man. Kress. It's like you've been rolling in shit."

"We just got done with a battle! I was ass and elbows deep in Orc blood! Shit stinks!"​

Renn gestured to himself. "Maybe acquire some skill then, it might help with that."

"Oh fuck off. Can't all be that quick."​

Alan grumbled as he rolled his eyes and pulled himself away from Renn to begin barking orders at some of the others.

 

[Thalia]

"Thalia!"

A frown flickered across her features for a brief moment before smoothing out into the calm she needed in order to shoot true. The orc below had no idea she was there. Downwind and in a higher position she had every advantage on the blue-skinned monster. It wasn't that she had anything against orcs in particular - she wasn't a racist - but she definitely hated this orc. At the last village they had passed through moments to late to stop the carnage it had been his scent she had smelt on the shattered remains of children. She drew in a deep breath as she pulled back the bowstring.

"THALIA!"

If her brother would just shut up for one second...

Thwaack.

The string loosed from her grip just as the orc turned towards the shouting coming from behind her. The arrow thudded into his throat right up to the fletching. The monsters eyes bulged and when he tried to breathe blood spluttered over the feathering. He thudded to the ground just as Trystan and Ezekiel shouldered through the treeline.

"Are you deaf? We've been--"

"Screaming like a fucking banshee, yes I know," she huffed and stood, rounding on her older brother and twin who had the decency to take a step back at the anger in her eyes. "I was finishing off the stragglers," she explained and with a sniff trotted past them like a Queen, horn in her hand. She knew there were others of their group out there tying up loose ends but Thalia couldn't smell a thing that suggested anything was still alive. So, once they were back to the clearing the majority of the band were to set up camp, Thalia hopped onto one of the rocks and blew into the horn to call the others back.

 

[Renn]

They were not a large force, not really.

Alven had an army, of course, but what they had was more of a band of auxiliaries. Most of the men and women with him had either been recruited by Renn first hand, or come to him after a few stories had spread through the region of Varia itself.

That being said, they were at least effective. In the last year they had hunted a dozen orc bands, rooted out bandits, and even managed to break a pirate Hold. The latter had been a rather exciting adventure, though mostly because of the rum they'd found.

This though, this was something else.

Renn hadn't mentioned it to the others yet, but he could almost feel it in his bones.

By the time the thirty or so of his band had gathered themselves together again and Camp was set up Renn was one of the many sitting on a small rock upon the Razor Plateau. There was a piece of jerky in his mouth, his sword laying besides him. "Did you gettim?"

He asked as the last of them returned.

 

[Thalia]

Thalia's chest puffed up as she grinned at Renn and went to speak --

"Yep, sure did."

-- only for her brother to cut in before she could. She threw Ezekeil a dark glare which he answered with his own smirk. They had been told off enough times for arguing so she stayed her tongue, though her cheeks were flushed with her irritation when she turned her dark eyes back to Renn.

"I couldn't find any trace of more," she shrugged and jumped down from the rock, carefully slinging the horn back over her shoulder till it dangled at her hip in line with her quiver. She tucked an errant strand of hair behind her ear and then sat down nearer their fearless leader on her own rock. She had a way of making even the hardest surfaces look soft and inviting by the way she could get comfortable on anything.

"I think that's it."

 

[Renn]

"Good."[/color[ Renn said with a smile as he bit down on the shank.

His father had always told him that those he could trust on the field of battle where those he could trust in life. It was advice that he had taken to heart, and during this campaign the worse resonated beyond anything else.

Renn knew that his men where of quality, knew that over everything else he could hold them close.

"It is." He agreed with a nod. "For now."

There would be more.

In a month, a week, a year. He couldn't be sure. What he did know was Molthal's eye had turned, and that meant more of this. More Orcs. More fighting. More of this.

"Eat something." He told them, glancing at Thalia.

"Ye look like a starved rat." The Knight shook his head. "My fathers going to wonder if I even feed you."

 

[Thalia]

"I do not!"

If it wasn't clear from her tone then her face certainly laid out her blustered anger at the insult. Sure, she might have been more legs and bone than curves like the women who followed the band around and did most of the cooking and mending of things, but she was strong and quick! She could keep up with her brothers at a run better than any of the other girls in the band.

Hips just got in the way.

Trystan started laughing, quickly followed by Ezekiel, as they wandered off to go and fetch some soup that was being ladled out to the soldiers. Her stomach was growling but now she felt as though she was being watched when she ate.

With another scowl in Renn's direction she stalked off to go and wax her bow on the edge of the camp.

 

[Renn]

"Women. Can't ever get on their good side."​

One of the men said with a slight chuckle, though it was immediately cut off as one of the other women in the group offered him a knee to the back of the head.

"Ow!"

"I was trying to show you my good side."​

Renn smirked slightly at Iren's quick rebuke, the sun haired woman offering a quick smile before she lithely sat herself down in front of one of the fires. The clouds above began to fill in the sky, a drab gray covering the light of day quickly.

Lips thinned. "Looks like rain."

He mused.

"It fucking always looks like rain out here. Bloody mountains cascade storms."​

The gripe wasn't an unwarranted one, but Renn only shook his head and pushed himself up to his feet. With slow steps he carried himself over towards Thalia, squatting down in front of her without a word.

 

[Thalia]

"What?"

Thalia didn't bother to look up from what it was she was doing. Her temper was a fiery thing that burnt bright and blistered those it was directed at, but it was often short lived as it was now. It sounded more like she had deliberately injected a bit of bite into her voice rather than actually felt it. Still, she didn't want him to get off completely scot free so ignoring him as best as she could by continuing her methodical waxing of the bow felt a good way of letting him know she was annoyed with him.

The bow and string practically gleamed in her hands as it always did but she still ran the rag down every inch in slow, delicate strokes. It was soothing in a way and the bow had been her fathers so she intended on keeping it in good condition. When Renn didn't reply straight away she finally raised her dark eyes and quirked an unimpressed brow at him.

 

[Renn]

"Going to need you to come with me." Renn said simply, seemingly entirely unbothered by the fact that she had been pointedly not paying attention to him.

Management was not something he had ever excelled at. His gifts lay more with the sword than it did in command. That was one of the reasons his father had put him in charge of this particular Band. It was an opportunity to learn.

"I think..." He mused. "I think we missed something."

Though he could not have said what.

There was an odd feeling in his gut, one that he would have preferred to ignore if he could have. Yet the inkling at the back of his head was not moving away, and so he would have to set out. "I'm taking you and a few others down the ridge."

 

[Thalia]

Thalia's brow lowered and knitted with its counterpart into a dubious frown. She hadn't sensed anything when she had been half way down killing that last orc. It hadn't taken long, despite her age, to have become one of the Band's top trackers. Some of the older men asked what it was she looked for but when she pointed it out they always shook their head and muttered that even an eagles eye wouldn't have been able to spot it. She'd never been able to explain it further; she just knew. Like she knew right now that she hadn't sensed anything.

Her fingers slowed in their steady motions down the bow shaft and then then came to a stop.

"Fine," she huffed and pushed a few strands of hair out of her eyes back behind her ear. "I didn't see any signs of orcs though," her eyes flickered between his, searching. "So what do you think is down there?"

 

[Renn]

Renn smirked. "Orcs."

The answer was tongue in cheek in a way. There were few true 'enemies' in this part of the Plateau. A few years ago the most anyone could expect was Bandits, some boar, and that was about it. Now Menalus and his orcs were a constant threat.

He was almost entirely sure that if he wasn't wrong and something really was down there it had to be connected to the orcs and their ilk.

"Something like that, at least." He said with a frown. "Eat, then get ready."

Renn glanced back towards the others. "We'll only be going with four or five of us."

The others he would send half to the north and half to the south, just in case whatever was down there would try to flee either way.

 

[Thalia]

Thalia gave him a withering look; the type of look all women seemed to wear in response to anything that came out of a man's mouth. At least, that was what Trystan claimed. But she didn't argue and rose to her feet in a gangly manner more befitting a scarecrow than a young woman. She might have had a temper but she was a loyal follower and someone who would follow her commander over the edge of a cliff if he so decided, even if she would let him know the entire way down she had known it was a stupid plan from the offset.

Without a backward glance and with a surprising amount of energy considering they had been fighting not an hour past, she trotted back over to the food line to get her rations and begun shovelling them down as she wandered back to her tent to get the rest of her stuff. It was a fine balancing act, bowl in one hand, spoon in mouth, and the other hand piling kit and weapons over her head whilst trying to avoid her food, but she managed it and was making her way back to Renn by the time she was licking the bowl clean.

Ezekiel gave her an exasperated look.

Thalia responded by sticking her tongue out.

"If you wanted an idiot to join us, you should have picked Trystan. At least he's stronger," she sniffed, and her comment turned her twin a beetroot shade of red.

 

[Renn]

Renn was back to strapping on his armor, an exercise that always proved a little more difficult than he would have liked.

A smile touched his lips as the twins took jabs at one another, but he didn't respond. Instead he motioned towards those he had already given commands to, pulling on his cuirass and drawing the leather tight as he turned. "Sometimes you need someone to swing a hammer."

He remarked.

"Idiots are good for that." It was a joke of course, the words spoken as he glanced over towards Lorien. He was a hulk of a man, two heads taller than Renn himself and with enough muscle to crush a boulder.

The man chuckled, shaking his head and hefting a massive maul onto his shoulder.

"Come on." Renn motioned. "Stomachs filled, armor on, lets get going."

 

[Thalia]

Ezekiel tossed a well-aimed punch at his twin's shoulder but she nimbly danced out of the way at the last second causing him to curse under his breath. She shot him a smug look over her shoulder then skipped a few paces to walk alongside Lorein; the larger man was one of the sweetest she knew in the Band and he was teaching her how to throw axes. Far superior company than her brother who sulked to the back with one of the other young lads. More than once she heard a muttered thing about 'sisters' but her sly grin towards Lorein only made the larger bloke laugh so loud she thought he would shake the birds right out of the sky.

It wasn't long before they had all relaxed and settled into the journey of walking through the close-cropped shrubs and stocky trees that were native to this part of the world. It wasn't much of a 'wood', at least, no Southerner would call it such, but it was as good as they had and provided as much cover as any southern forest.

"So," she casually tossed an apple up and down in the air as she sidled up to Renn. "What makes you think there's something down here?"

 

[Renn]

As they continued their trek the edge of the plateau came into view. It was an almost immediate drop-off, a cliff face that seemed to go down several hundred meters before reaching a valley like bottom one couldn't quite make out.

As Thalia sidled up besides him Renn ran a hand through his hair. "A feeling."

It probably wouldn't be enough of an answer for her, in fact he knew that it wouldn't be. Though she hadn't been with the band all that long Renn got to know his men...and women well enough that he could read them fairly quickly.

Thalia was no exception to that rule.

"Those Orcs were running for days." He explained. "One could argue back towards Molthal, but..."

He gestured. "That's a bit far."

Slowly Renn shook his head.

"They were running towards something, and I think it's down there." Whatever it was.

 

[Thalia]

Thalia didn't like the idea of Orcs running towards anything. What was grand enough to offer them the comfort of safety? She suddenly wished she hadn't eaten; fear and excitement made for a bad stomach.

"No offence but I hope this time your feeling is wrong," she murmured and squatted down by the edge to try and get a better look at the valley floor. Renns feelings were about as often wrong as Thalias hunting: rarely. He had led them to victory after victory with those feelings and she trusted them entirely.

She picked up a bit of the browning grass that hung limply over the parapet of clifftop and brought it up to her nose. Nothing odd. Nothing wrong. No scents of any kind... any kind. She frowned. Even here she should be able to smell animals but now she had thought of it, she also realised the sounds of birds had stopped a good mile back too.

"Ah Kress."

 

[Renn]

They were nearly down in the caverns now.

On the plateau one could go above or below, and where the Orcs had been heading was most definitely below. Sheer cliffs lined the edge of the plateau, and small mountain paths lead to the valleys that rimmed the whole expanse.

It was a confusing maze of tunnels and vast caverns, one that most would never venture into. Renn had spent his childhood among them, at least part of it, but even he did not feel comfortable within the darkness of it all.

As Thalia spoke he turned back towards her. "I hate being right."

He mumbled softly, as though already knowing.

In the air was an acrid scent, fire, smoke slowly slipping out from somewhere. It burnt not wood, but the dung of the great wyrms which made their homes beneath the expanse of the Plateau. It was a familiar scent, and a dangerous one.

"Rags in your armor, crouch low. Don't make noise." Renn ordered quietly.

 

[Thalia]

The men were quick to obey. A fool might had ignored a worried looking hunter, but only a dead fool ignored a worried looking commander too. Lorein raised a thick bushy eyebrow in her direction as he begun to stuff rags between the scales of his armour and she trotted back to his side. She was thankful she wore leather armour in this case; far less chance of accidentally clinking and setting off the vibrations which would alert the creatures below to their presence. As it was every footstep was a risk.

"Trouble," was all she said and the giant of a man nodded grimly.

Thalia stooped to dig through her pack and pulled out some more rags which she took to the soldiers more heavily clad before returning to the front of the column and Renn's side.

"What is your plan here exactly? You can't get Lorein to whack-a-weasel them."

 

[Renn]

"I can't?" Renn quickly countered, though from the look on his face it was clear he was simply being obstinate.

For a few seconds he thought, glancing at the men he'd taken with him. They were all good, well trained. Some like Thalia were still a bit green, but they could hold their own well enough. Trouble was there weren't many of them.

Not really.

"With me." He pointed to Thalia. "Need to figure out how many of them there are first."

Renn motioned to the others. "Stay here, unless you hear the sparrow."

A simple bird call, not native to the Plateau either.

 

[Thalia]

Thalia glanced behind her in the odd chance he was pointing to someone over her shoulder. With a sigh she reluctantly shuffled forward as the others settled down to wait. She caught her twins eye as she did so and gave him a reassuring smile but there was a tightness about his lips she knew was worry. Probably jealousy too. Zeke had never been very good at sharing, nor at having his 'little' sister be chosen over him. She thought it was because he was the youngest brother to which she always liked to remind him at least he was a boy and didn't have to overcome being the only girl as well as young.

She rested her hand awkwardly on her sword hilt as they walked away from the band.

Now that she had figured out what the scent was it was like she could smell it everywhere. It was still faint, buried deep beneath their feet, but as they continued down towards the caverns below it grew a little stronger here or staler there.

 

[Renn]

Renn and Thalia crept forward. Their pace was not in the least bit quick, but it was one which saw them draw to the entrance of the cavern without being seen.

The Knight kept his hands close to his side, ready to draw sword and dagger to jump into any fight. Yet no guards had been set to watch, no one had been put in place to see that the band of Orcs was not disturbed. Least, that was what Renn thought.

When he crossed the rim of the cavern, his eyes spotting the war party inside, Renn froze.

Lips thinned instantly, and he jutted out a hand to catch Thalia and immediately press her back into the stone wall behind them.

"Shit." Renn swore quietly under his breath.

What he had seen was more than Orcs. There were half-trolls, a few ogres by the looks of them too. Creatures twice the size of any man, and with enough strength to snap a sword with their own hands.

 

[Thalia]

Thalia lost her footing on the loose stones under her feet as Renn threw out an arm to bar her way and ended up on her arse with her back against the stone. She shot him a reproachful look as though it were all his fault before gingerly getting her feet back under her and settling into a better crouch. The Tracker didn't need to know why he had stopped them. The scent of them was eye wateringly strong here and she had to put her hand over her nose and mouth to keep herself from gagging.

"Humans," she croaked and then grimaced at his confused expression. "In the pot," boiled human flesh. They hadn't died in here though, no, from what she could smell the bodies had to have been a few hours old, maybe even longer. Bodies from the fighting they must have stopped to carry off with them back to their lair to eat.

She begun to look a little green around the edges.

"Should we call?" she mouthed and put her hand around her mouth, ready to make the sparrows call.

 

[Renn]

Renn shook his head. "No."

Most definitely not.

He had every confidence in his men. They weren't proper soldiers, at least not really, but they could handle themselves in a fight. He would have taken them into any number of battles, some even against a greater amount of foes.

This though?

This wasn't something that they could win. Not right now at least. He slowly motioned for Thalia to back up, gesturing towards the path they had taken.

"Get back to the others." He whispered. "We need a different plan."

There was no way they could win this fight, not with just the handful they had taken with them.

 

[Thalia]

The young girl didn't need telling twice. Unlike her brothers she didn't have the cocky attitude that came with knowing you were physically strong and quick. She was small and had been put on her backside more times than she could count in the training rings. Orcs and trolls wouldn't have a hard time and she didn't want to leave Renn with just her as back-up.

Scrambling to her feet she begun a quick but steady retreat back up the mountainside. Just to be safe as she went she began to string and knock her bow. Even if she wasn't great in hand to hand combat she was more than good enough with her bow.

 

[Renn]

They moved back just as quietly as they had moved up, though now there was more tension than ever before.

As they reached the other Renn made a quick motion with his hand, signalling to the others as he took in a deep breath. He moved them beneath a rocky outcropping, within view of the path they had traversed to get to where they had been going.

"This is...bad." He said with a frown.

The next few words brought trouble to the faces those around him, a few people swearing, some scratching at their beards.

"Half-trolls are...not exactly unknown in these parts, but they've never worked with orcs." He shook his head. "And ogres? They haven't come off the mountains in centuries."

They were missing something, but what.